Welcome back to Precon Recon, the series dedicated to tinkering pre-made decks to feel more thematic and more fun. Today, we're taking a look at one of my favorite heroes from the game and how his smarts can make for an intensely efficient deck. If you want to hear our thoughts on the hero himself, feel free to stop by our BGG article here: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2793439/1-2-punchboards-precon-recon-rocket-raccoon

Galaxy Brained

"Like I told you, I'm a tactical genius. Always looking, always looking, no matter how hopeless things seem." - Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of Infinity #4

While most people get distracted by a little raccoon getting up in their face and screaming about murdering them, Rocket is better represented by his capacity to think himself out of even the tightest of squeezes, using his brains to oil his guns and aim them at just the right targets. This deck looks to capture that idea, allowing his massive THW to deal with a ton of threat, heal him, and clear the way for his guns to start blasting.

Mulligan priorities are as follows:

• Thruster Boots and Heroic Intuition: Increasing your THW is what this deck is all about, so these 2 cards are a must.
• Guns: If you can't pull either of those, guns will allow you to dish some damage and eventually net you some cards.
• Skilled Investigator: It's a free card that will draw you a decent number of cards over the course of most games.
• Crew Quarters: Being a fragile raccoon, you'll need to be able to heal at a moment's notice, and this is one of the most consistent way to do so.
• Allys: This deck is full of some Guardians pals, so if you can't get your tools into gear, you might as well bring some friends along to suffer. Venom is great if the villain starts with 0 threat on their main scheme, and Jack Flag is a generous ally with an output of 4 damage and 6 threat removal.

You might be confused not to see Groot here, but this deck doesn't really need that much blocking, as you'll be flipping every turn, usually healing with Crew Quarters and Making an Entrance.

Much of this deck revolves around keeping threat to a minimum while building up your arsenal for massive damage, then cycling your spent guns for more cards to let you rinse and repeat. While Agile Flight, For Justice, and Impede are here to manage schemes when things get out of hand, you'll often want to use Making an Entrance and I've Got a Plan to work your THW as hard as possible. Even if you don't need the extra heal, the +2 THW from Making an Entrance can make all the difference. And if you've got Justice Served in play, you can often ready yourself an extra time. And all the while, Skilled Investigator will be drawing you bonus cards left and right. Because of this, you'll want to be wary of Confuse status cards, as they're the only thing that earnestly slows your deck down.

As for your weapons, you'll want to get as many of them in play as possible (up to 3 thanks to Side Holster) and pick and choose how you handle each situation. Will you opt for the Sonic Rifle and keep threat to a bare minimum as you flip back and forth each turn? Will you maintain your Particle Cannon with your Battery Packs to deal as much damage as humanly possible? Or will you let loose with your Pistols and start blasting everything that comes into view? There's a decent number of ways to tackle any given villain, so feel free to experiment.

This deck is a beast and, for a Justice deck as efficient as this, packs a mean punch, dealing a ton of damage once you have your weapons up and running. Thematic, brimming with great cards, and versatile in a way that I can't help but gush; give this build a shot when you have the chance.