Tigra's Pet Store (MCDC 2026)

The idea behind this deck is to turn Tigra into a minion hoarder. Normally, minions are problems that need to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Here, we're going to use Pinned Down to neutralize them, reducing their attack by 2 so they can stick around without causing trouble. That lets Tigra take advantage of her ability to draw cards when minions are defeated, turning the board into a steady source of card draw while keeping the villain's minions under control.

The trick is to stop thinking of every minion as a target that needs to die immediately. With enough Pinned Down upgrades in play, you can keep several minions around, safely collect the value they offer, and build a surprisingly effective defensive engine.

Welcome to the pet store

Pinned Down is the most important card in the deck. The goal is to get all three copies into play, attached to minions whose attacks you can comfortably manage. With their attack reduced, those minions become much less threatening, and you can keep them around to fuel Tigra's card draw when you're ready to defeat them.

Of course, you still need minions to work with, so Hunted and Come Get Me, Bub! help you find more. The faster you get minions into play and establish your Pinned Down upgrades, the faster you can get the engine running. Just be mindful of how much attack you're leaving on the board; a neutralized minion is useful, but an unpinned one can still cause problems.

The Cat's Head Amulet engine

The other key piece is Cat's Head Amulet. Three-cost cards are particularly appealing here because the amulet can generate three resources each turn, making it much easier to afford your more expensive plays. Once it's established, you can keep paying for cards like Forcefield Generator without sacrificing your entire hand.

The three copies of Forcefield Generator give you a reliable way to absorb attacks. That helps you take attacks aimed at you without having to defend every time, leaving you free to use your basic activation to defend for another player when needed.

Sharp Claws and Cat-Like Reflexes provide additional support for Tigra's own kit, while Superpower Training is included largely to find the amulet. Build Support helps get another important support into play, and Helicarrier offers a little extra help with resource costs.

A surprisingly good defender

Although the deck's main gimmick is collecting minions, it also makes excellent use of Tigra's DEF stat. Defensive Conditioning, Innate Reflexes, and Armored Vest can get her DEF up to 6, which makes her basic defence particularly valuable.

That high DEF is especially important for In Harm's Way. With DEF 6, you can use the event to remove 6 threat and deal 6 damage for 3 resources. That's a remarkable amount of value from a single card, and it gives Tigra something productive to do even when there aren't any minions you want to defeat.

Unflappable fits perfectly into the plan, too. With your high DEF, you should be able to defend an attack without taking damage reliably, allowing you to draw a card. Stand Alone provides another way to get an additional defence, while Indomitable isn't in this list, so you'll want to plan your readies carefully.

Keeping everyone safe

The deck has several other ways to protect the table. Hard Knocks gives you access to Tough, allowing you to absorb attacks without having to exhaust to defend. That keeps you available to protect another player when the need arises.

Powerful Punch is a great emergency tool. You can use it to take out a rogue minion that you haven't managed to pin down, or redirect an attack aimed at another player toward yourself. Tackle provides stuns to keep allies safe, while Feline Senses and Tooth and Claw give you additional options for keeping Tigra active and contributing to the fight.

How it plays

The first priority is getting Cat's Head Amulet and Pinned Down into play. Once you've reduced the threat posed by the minions on the board, you can keep them around while building up your defensive upgrades and letting Tigra's card draw do its work.

You aren't trying to prevent every minion from ever attacking; you're making their attacks manageable so you can choose when to deal with them. Meanwhile, your high DEF lets you protect teammates and turn defensive cards into efficient threat removal and damage.

The main thing to watch is the board state. Pinned Down makes minions manageable, not harmless, and you need to be careful about leaving too many active enemies around. But when the engine is running, Tigra gets to do something unusual: keep a collection of troublesome minions under control, draw cards from dealing with them on her own terms, and act as the team's defensive powerhouse.

After all, if you're going to have a pet store, you need to keep the animals from getting loose.