Hawkeye - He's Hunting You [Aggression]

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Hawkeye Aggression - Solo Champions League S3R2 1 0 0 1.0

RolandWright · 2516

Welcome

So finally, after a CRAZY year, we get our first campaign box, which I've been hyped for since its announcement. Hawkeye is release and he is pretty awesome. He's a very versatile Hero who prefers to stay in Hero-form through the entire game and utilizing his arrows every turn if possible. I believe identities that function in this way require different strategies depending on their aspect.

In an Aggression Hawkeye deck, the goal is to defeat the villain as soon as possible. Hawkeye is primary an early to mid-game design, with only his Expert Marksman cards serving as his "ramp-up" mechanic. He also suffers from a fairly weak alter-ego form, which gives us even more reason to stay in Hero and end the game quickly.

Please note; all of my play-testing and deck building is generally for solo play. I do play these decks in multiplayer, but multiplayer is a dramatically different experience than solo play. I will provide some MP insight throughout my guide.

Resources

Here's a list of all the cards that act as resource generator's in this deck:

  • Expert Marksman: Hawkeye doesn't bring much in the way of resource generation and doesn't really benefit greatly from it. His main mechanic (Hawkeye's Bow) acts as a limitation device for how much value Hawkeye can bring to any individual turn. For this reason, Expert Marksman serves as our primary resource generator for the entire game.
  • Hawkeye's Quiver: This is an awesome and thematic card that effectively lets you store a free card to use in future moments. I consider this soft-resource generation, since the cards played from the Quiver aren't coming from your hand, and thus, it's not a resource you've lost by playing it.
  • Quincarrier: I talked about this card quite a bit in my Dr. Strange guide; but I really like Quincarrier. Helicarrier is always going to be more useful in multiplayer games because of its supportive nature, but Quincarrier is excellent in single-player games. Like Helicarrier, Quincarrier will pay itself off after 4 turns. If you draw this card after turn 3; I would probably just ignore it. This card needs to be dropped early or not at all for Hawkeye. Best case scenario, this is in your opening hand and you have literally 0 arrows to play.
  • Martial Prowess: This is just a filler card for the most part. It's pretty useful for Hawkeye since it pays for 3 of his 5 arrows and also pays for another card we're running (Drop Kick) but overall, this is a pretty low-priority card and can easily be replaced. Keep in mind, you can attach this to other players in multiplayer.

Priorities

In order:

  • Hawkeye's Bow: Of course, you pretty much want to grab this card as soon as the game begins and throw it down. For a 0-Cost card, the Bow is really powerful and obviously integral to playing Hawkeye. It provides +1 ATK, which puts Hawkeye at 3 ATK, which is great against the lower echelon of minions. It also provides Ranged for your Arrows, which is an excellent counter to villains like Zola and MODOK or the various attachments that provide Retaliate.
  • Hawkeye's Quiver & Expert Marksman: Both of these are awesome cards for the Hawkeye arsenal. Expert Marksman is your usual resource generator while quiver is an awesome search tool that lets you store you cards for future use while also getting a glimpse at what's on top of your deck. Which is particularly useful for Hulk.
  • Your Arrows: Hawkeye's main selling point are his arrows. They're super versatile and allow Hawkeye to dabble in a little bit of everything. You should always be firing off at least 1 arrow per turn. Two if the stars align. They're all pretty straight forward to use, just remember that Electric Arrow and Sonic Arrow can buy you a free turn in whichever form you need.
  • Down Time: This card is one of my staples in most decks and I would argue is a staple for any identity that is Hero-form focused, like Hawkeye's. Hawkeye really can't do much or contribute much while in alter-ego; so ideally, you're in Alter-Ego only to get a huge burst of HP back.
  • Your Allies: In some cases, an ally card may be better than dropping Down Time. If the goal is to win as soon as humanly possible, you may only use Down Time once per game. A good ally; however, can achieve a lot. I've played around with a lot of the available aggression/neutral allies that are available to Hawkeye, and found that these four suit him the best. Hawkeye's resource management is pretty strict, any ally over 2 cost is too expensive. Hulk and Spider-Girl serve great places in Hawkeyes deck as both blockers and additional sources of damage as needed. Remember that Hawkeye's Quiver works well with Hulk. Brawn and Mockingbird are my luxury drops. Mockingbird is exceptionally strong and shouldn't be ignored - but, there will be a lot of occasions where you cannot afford to drop a 3-cost card that turn.

General Strategies

In no particular order:

  • When it's comes to opening hands - generally, you're free to do whatever you want. You'll have to spend 1 resource to get your Bow on turn 1 and play it. Ideally you have at least 1 arrow in your hand (Electric Arrow, Sonic Arrow, and Vibranium Arrow are the best). I prefer to not pitch cards in my opening hand as Hawkeye since he doesn't critically need other cards to function. I would always recommend keeping Quiver and Expert Marksman though.
  • Hawkeye can easily and consistently deal about 9 to 11 damage in one-go. He can do this by firing a Vibranium Arrow, followed by a basic attack (3 ATK) for 9 damage. If you drop a Skilled Strike, it goes to 11 damage. Most Villains in expert mode have 14-16 health in Stage 2. This very easily advances the game to stage 3 by turn 3.
  • Why is Drop Kick in this deck? This card will likely be resource-fodder most of the time; but in the off-chance that you have 3 physical resources (Martial Prowess, Quincarrier and Strength can help), this is a great drop and fits in perfectly with Press the Advantage. Drop Kick provides us 4 cards that can stun the Villain, while also dealing a considerable amount of damage.
  • Press the Advantage: Not an amazing card, but pretty solid given the two Electric Arrows, Sonic Arrows, Drop Kicks, and the Spider-Girl. This card can be played as a 0-cost, deal 2 damage but in a pinch it can be used to break Stun (on yourself) or the enemy Tough. Works great with Martial Prowess.
  • "You'll Pay for That!": A good emergency thwart remover. I would only play this card if it's removing at least 3 threat, or you absolutely need threat removed for whatever reason.

Scenario Specific Strategies

Will continue to add on to this as I have time to.

  • vs. Zola: Play the long game; chip away at Zola primarily with your Electric or Sonic arrows while using your Allies and basic attack to deal with minions. Save Explosive Arrows in quiver if possible to blow down 3-4 minions at once. Feel free to use a Hall of Heroes for this match-up.
  • vs. Red Skull: Focus on getting Allies into play while doing damage to Red Skull directly. Use Cable Arrow or "You'll Pay for That!" to quickly take down high-priority or highly-rewarding side-schemes.

Achievements

Will continue to add on to this as I have time to.

First Try Clears

  • Expert Crossbones (3 Turns)
  • Expert Absorbing Man (3 Turns)
  • Expert Taskmaster (4 Turns)

Expert Clears

  • Expert Zola
  • Expert Red Skull

Replacement Options

You're free to experiment with these slots (or improve it when new packs release).

  • Martial Prowess and Quincarrier can both be pulled out for more offensive and high-value cards. I would say, that if there are cards in the future that further synergize with Stunning/Confusing a target; go for those.
  • Drop Kick could definitely be replaced if there was a better alternative.
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