Card draw simulator
| Derived from |
|---|
| None. Self-made deck here. |
| Inspiration for |
|---|
| None yet |
jrec15 · 152
Just finished taking this deck through Standard GMW and finally got it to a place where I was happy with it.
The main thing to point out is I did NOT try to solely focus him as a minion killer or an excess damage to the max type killer. I see a lot of decks doing this. While it definitely is thematic and leans into some of Rocket's strengths, I just don't think it fully works in solo. Minions in GMW just aren't common enough to build an entire strategy around. In multiplayer, absolutely go nuts with the minion related events/supports/upgrades. For solo, I went for more consistent use that is still going to commonly result in excess damage. The key here is to aim for that ONE EXTRA TAP to get your card but try not to waste damage past that. Rocket has learned to control that temper of his and not go TOO crazy.
NOTE I play all GMW rules except I exclude the Kree Supremacy side scheme for Ronan - I feel this deck will have a much higher failure rate with Kree Supremacy included, but that's kind of par for the course with aggression solo. A 9 threat Hazard on setup is gonna be tough for any solo build that isn't Justice.
Strategy:
Rocket's priorities are somewhat mixed between thwarting and attacking, with a preference towards thwarting. This means Thruster Boots is a key upgrade, and I've Got a Plan is a great event to make use of. The power stone in nebula/ronan helps him thwart even more. However, his base attack is still solid with Cybernetic Skeleton, Combat Training, and/or Hand Cannon, and a lot of times it makes sense to attack to get someone in excess damage territory.
Still, your main fire power is going to be from Rocket's weapons and Drop Kick/Piercing Strike. Particle Cannon is by far Rocket's best weapon and worth keeping up unless you really need to tinker. The 2 Rocket's Pistols are my next favorite, cheap and easy to use. Hand Cannon is next, I don't like it requires a basic attack but it's still fine for 2 cost to use a few times and possibly tinker. Rocket Launcher is ok if you have to take it, but my least favorite due to high cost, only 2 charges, and depending on minions being around for high value.
You should be able to get the stun/draw kicker on Drop Kick fairly often and it's key to put in the villain. I picked Piercing Strike because it's flexible and tough is common enough in GMW to justify it.
The survival strategy is chump blocking and stuns. I highly recommend Safeguard, Wing It, and Grapple as campaign upgrades. Schadenfreude is a little finicky but this deck has a decent chance of getting value out of it with the extra attack events. I tried Moment of Triumph but found it far too situational, chump blocking and stuns has been way more effective. Endurance is insurance in case you need it. The 2x Target Acquired are also insurance that are almost always a great play in GMW.
Any time you can make it to alter ego is great, tinkering can be really useful to get rid of dead upgrades or even just to cycle a fresh 1 upgrade into different cards. This is a little tough to manage though in GMW, you will be in hero form quite a bit. Wing It as a campaign upgrade helps a lot as a source of confuse.
Edit I ended up swapping Brawn for Spider-Man, in favor of a fist over mental, and Miles being a little preferred due to quicker payoff. In some scenarios it could make sense to drop 1x Target Acquired and play both. Or adding Into the Fray in minion heavy scenarios.
| 8 comments |
|---|
Apr 26, 2021 |
Apr 26, 2021
With that change I beat him first try with this deck, in a really close matchup where I was down to 1hp. I just feel it's much better balanced this way, the extra 9 threat hazard is way too punishing for solo. This gets him much closer to his difficulty outside the campaign. I also kind of tend to ignore the extra You Stand Accused! I try to make sure Nebula ends up with the stone but at the end of the day if it's not possible, I hate the idea of punishing myself for Ronan so much, so I just don't do it. |
Apr 26, 2021Seems cool. I somewhat disagree with the minions not being "common enough" because you can use Looking for Trouble to make up for this, but of course this would change the entire dynamic of your deck so, if it works for you, please don't!
I have strongly mixed feelings about GMW: on one hand, some scenarios have proven to be creative (Collector, Nebula, for instance); on the other hand, the difficulty level excludes playing with friends for a casual experience because even standard is rough, and the whole campaign set the bar so high on thwarting that you have to exclude every aspect except justice (in expert at least). I just wished they proposed 3 levels of difficulty instead of this. For example, standard Ronan should be just Ronan and Kree Command Ship. It's already considered Heroic for most every other villain! Expert has the extra scheme, cut the power. And a third level, Insane, with all the actual setup. In all cases, the "Kree supremacy" should be optional and for players who wish an extra layer of craziness. AND it should actually reward you when you get rid of it (like destroying the kree command ship or such). Otherwise it's just really frustrating, impossible to play againts for certain aspects, or certain heroes. In solo at least, I'll admit my play experience is entirely solo until we're out of the pandemic so... |
Apr 26, 2021
Agreed on your thoughts on GMW. I've found my house rules make it more enjoyable for me. I plan to also try an expert like mode where I play with only standard challenges, still exclude Kree Supremacy for Ronan (which is frankly ABSURD on expert), but still run the other expert setups/villains/encounters/health penalty/deck lock. Should still up the challenge significantly and be more fun. |
Apr 26, 2021
|
Apr 26, 2021
Same here, I don't house-rule... usually. However, in this particular case, where maybe 2 or 3 heroes will manage to pull through one time out of a hundred and only 1 aspect seems to fit... I don't like the idea that 90% of my collection is useless. If I wanted that feeling, I'd pick up playing Magic The Gathering lol. |
May 08, 2021After too many failed attempts to count, I was finally able to take down Ronan (stand-alone, not campaign) using a slightly tweaked version of this deck. I swapped out Groot for Bug, since he’s cheaper and another target for Power of Aggression, and I swapped out the 3 copies of Piercing Strike for Into the Fray instead. The high HP minions in the Kree Militants set proved too much to handle without it. I also added a copy of Down Time. The only house rule I had was that no more than 3 encounter cards could be revealed per villain phase. |
May 08, 2021
Missing some of the survivability campaign upgrades like: Wing it, Grapple, Safeguard probably makes this still pretty tough outside of the campaign. Though in the campaign of course Pincer Maneuver/Kree Supremacy side schemes will make things very difficult. Which is why I've been happier since I stopped including Kree Supremacy :) |
This is actually really similar to the deck I just used to beat Nebula. I took it for a spin against Ronan for a few times, and never even came close to taking out his first level. I think I’m going to have to house rule something, because Ronan’s setup in the campaign is just absurd. Universal Weapon, 2 side schemes, the Kree Command Ship. And an extra encounter card if you ended the last scenario with the Power Stone. I was starting the first villain phase with 5 encounter cards once I took out Universal Weapon on my first turn. The unbalanced solo experience in this campaign is really poor design, IMO.