It's the Little Things (CoH '26)

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Justice Reigns from Above 2 1 0 1.0

Footballcoach · 1785

Minion Slayer Riri uses Honed Technique. But you'll notice that I haven't packed the usual busted kit, because I'm not looking to leave the Villain as a smoking crater in the first deck pass. No shade to those that play Ironheart that way, but there are several gates built into this deck that bring her down a little bit and mitigate her Height Advantage.

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(1) Ironheart doesn't have a problem with consistency. In fact, she can outpace most other heroes in multiplayer games in her rush to Stage 3. 50 cards in the deck reduces her access to her own kit, slowing down her climb to dominance.

(2) Honed Technique is really fun. This isn't news. What you might find hard to believe is that it's STILL fun when you're not abusing it. I've included only 1-cost aggression events in this deck, and you can clean the table with them. Also, because we'll be playing lots of little attack events, I put in Test the Defense. Is it a good card? Meh. But I haven't used it before, and one cost for five damage is a good deal (just not a good tempo for it).

(3) The Villain is immune to Maximum Efficiency. They just are. You can clean minions with your progress counters, but you cannot hit the Villain with it. Sorry. And look: you don't need to hit the Villain with Maximum Efficiency. You can do 3 damage or 4 damage or 5 damage, and don't forget Test the Defense (which isn't an attack itself, but a response to an attack).

For healing, Precision Strike. For thwarting, Chase Them Down and Spoiling for a Fight (which allows Ironheart to basic thwart after summoning a minion).

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I'll be bringing this deck to CoH '26 along with these others:

4 comments

May 06, 2026 phobiwan · 1

Why is the villain immune to maximum efficiency? I did not know that.

May 06, 2026 Footballcoach · 1785

@phobiwan I'm speaking poetically and rhetorically there. No rule in the game on the cards makes the Villain immune. But from a design perspective, having a button that says "I blow up everything and I win the game" isn't fun for other people at the table. THEY don't feel like they won, it feels abrupt and unclimactic. I would even argue that it's not fun for the Ironheart player either... it feels like cheating. You can look at the table and say "Haha I win" but then you still have to clean up the cards with a hollow feeling like you cheated. It's too "gamey" to be fun, because you can orchestrate your counters in such a way as to dodge or avoid the "Final Boss" of the game. Like the secret item that, if you picked it up along the way, defeats the final boss for you.

No one else gets this "easy button". So I'm asserting here that Ironheart is more fun to play (and certainly more fun to play alongside) without it.

May 06, 2026 eroush · 1383

@Footballcoach I was toying with building a Justice support deck for Ironheart to just thwart to allow other heroes time to build and take down the villain.

May 06, 2026 phobiwan · 1

Oh, okay! That makes sense. I kind of agree with that although personally I don't remember winning like that when playing with others :) I like house rules (when playing with my wife and older children) so maybe Ironheart would just be limited to using one counter per phase or turn however you want.