Iron Man - Rocket Punch!

This week on deck of the week we get back to our adventure through the Champions core set. We are looking into an aggressive Iron Man deck focusing on many smaller combos and maybe even using Iron Man's attack stat? If Iron Man worthwhile beyond his suit? Let's find out!

Audiocast: https://mcm-podcast.com/2021/09/26/dotw-9-iron-man-aggression/

Three Pieces - One Deck

Like a classic Tony I can't handle an Iron Man deck that does only one thing - so I've focused on three strategies - you could cut this down to two and make a more streamlined deck but I enjoy the choose your own adventure flair (okay in reality it's more likely your shuffle chooses your path).

1.) Repulsor Blast is still an insane care. We've included 16/25 cards with Energy resources so we are expecting out Repulsor Blasts to hit high. Ideally - we want to use Iron Man's big attacks Repulsor Blast and Supersonic Punch to hit the villain (see strategy 2) but we also have some fun tech to combo with it. Moment of Triumph can be used for insanely valuable heals. I've had it heal me for 8-9 into an Ultron Drone keeping me in hero form for longer.

2.) Lots of chip-damage. Iron Man always had good chip-damage. You could ping minions close to death off the board using Powered Gauntlets or use them to remove tough. We've included Jarnbjorn to enhance this even more. We can turn each Gauntlet ping into 2 damage by going Aerial and into 4 with the use of Jarnbjorn! Keep those minions out of the way for your big swings. Iron Man is just so full of attacks it makes Jarnbjorn a really fun card.

3.) Oh an use Tony's basic attack! It feels more like a slap (what with the 1 base ATK) but when you can Jarnbjorn off it it gets fun. I often try to set up Bug with an Energy Spear and Boot Camp so I open my turn with a Bug attack for 4, follow up Tony punch (healing bug and triggering jarnbjorn), ready to thwart and then follow up by starting to spend resources!

When to Flip

It's pretty easy to fall off the rails if not careful. You are going to want to prioritize combo pieces like Jarnbjorn and Bug early and maybe hold off on Endurance. Your allies don't have a ton of Thwart so I tend to have to flip by the end of turn 2-3. You'll be short changed for a round or two but it makes the game a bit more intense and fun.

Hard Pivot

This is the barebones of a deck - it's not perfect but it's maneuverable and very versatile in a multiplayer setting. Typically I offer deck swaps but in this case it's almost entire deck pivots to jump into a more specific role.

Let's Get Physical

Ditch the Repulsor Blast non-sense and go all in on Tony punches. This is going to combo in many ways. We are always able to fuel Jarnbjorn, Tony's attacks become more attractive while you wait for Jarnbjorn and we can more reliably hit a physical resource with Hulk.

-2 Lie in Wait -3 Moment of Triumph -2 Relentless Assault -1 Endurance +3 Skilled Strike +3 Mean Swing +1 Combat Training +1 Downtime

Feel the Thunder

Ditch the physical package and go all out-pew-pew-pew. We are going all in on energy resources and flying high for Repulsor Blast.

-1 Mockingbird -1 Nick Fury -1 Jarnbjorn -2 Enhanced Physique +1 Sentry +1 Relentless Assault +3 You'll Pay For That

Whichever path you take a more focused or diverse build Iron Man is sure to be fun in red!