Blasting Bastions of Baddies!!

INTRODUCTION

Rocket Raccoon is rarely the character who tackles the main villain head on in comic book lore, but rather takes care of supplemental threats (minor enemies, distractions, sabotage, etc.), while others directly engage the “Big Bad”, and thus, this deck reflects that basic idea.

Rocket Raccoon’s hero ability is one that simply LOVES excess damage, and therefore thrives off of minions being an active participant in the game. This deck utilizes his alter-ego ability far less than others, especially in late game when his board is completely set up, and rather focuses on excess damage as a trigger for card draw, healing, and threat removal. As such, it is imperative that when using this deck, you ensure the scenario and/or modular set you are using emphasizes the use of minions. Additionally, because Rocket primarily benefits from minions, and has a minuscule set of cards that can directly target the villain, he is best used in situations with other heroes (i.e. multiplayer, 2-handed solo), unless you wish to engage in a brawling, grueling, slugfest in solo.

PRIORITIES ORDER

Initially

From the get-go, allies bear a great deal of more significance than in the later stages, simply due to Rocket’s petite threshold of health, and their ability to soak up initial villain attacks. Once Endurance and Cybernetic Skeleton (both largely important) have entered the board, allies become a less important supplement, because Rocket will have four ways to regain health in his hero form. However, until that point, Lockjaw is a card that can consistently be thrown back onto the board to soak up damage for Rocket. Angela is an obvious choice, considering she will not only enter the board for free, generally, but will also power up the engine by giving applicable targets for Rocket. Spider-Girl then makes the most of her ability by giving extra tempo in case your hand does not possess the power of pruning opponents. Nick Fury can be switched for other allies; his utility in any deck is generally the card draw, flexibility in attack/thwart, and soaking up a hit, though, which, again, promotes Rocket’s strategy. Having a meager four allies may seem consequential, and potentially irresponsible, but this iteration of the deck has plenty of ways to heal up.

Hall of Heroes and the Follow Throughs are incredibly pertinent to the strategy. The former gives additional card draw when shifting to alter-ego to utilize his recycling ability, and when used at the opportune time, can result in an alter-ego hand size of 11 cards! The latter upgrades build up the efficacy of Into the Fray and Moment of Triumph IMMENSELY.

Midgame

Side Holster (as in most weapon-heavy Heroes [Venom, certain Thor and Gamora, etc. Agg-builds]) has medium priority here, simply because, while it is a free card, thins the deck, and allows an extra restricted weapon to enter the board at any given time, his four weapons are mainly endgame ways to target the villain explicitly.

Combat Training gives extra punch to our friend, and will trigger the necessary conditions for any 2-point health minion (think Expert Ultron III drones, some Hydra guys, etc.) to be “excessed”.

Endgame

The end utilizes his weapons far more to target the villain, and may be a good time to transition Nick Fury from card draw to the additional 4 damage he can inflict on an enemy upon being played. Clobber also finds it’s place as a way to do upwards of 6 damage in a single turn with a single card (and of course the resources necessary to pay).

FINAL NOTES

Once this deck gets going, it is quite an entertaining feat to demolish minions, remove chunks of threat from the main scheme, heal up to full health, draw cards, and power up Hall of Heroes all with a few couple of cards in a single turn. It feels as if Rocket has quite a handle on enemies, and as such, earns it’s name!

Enjoy this deck and God bless you!