Rocket Raccoon - Never Defend

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Rocket Raccoon - Solo GMW 0 0 0 1.0
Rocket Raccoon - Protection (Never Defend) 0 0 0 1.0
Rocket Raccoon - Ready for a New (Re)Purpose 0 0 0 1.0

niolty · 168

I created this deck to clear the GMW campaign on standard difficulty. I cleared all scenarios on the first or second try apart from Ronan that was a tad bit harder, I have yet to try it on expert mode.

The idea of the deck is simple: make up for Rocket's poor survivability without forcing him to ever defend. This is important since you want to use Rocket's activation for thwarting nearly every single round. He can thwart for 7! with Thruster Boots and I've Got a Plan. So how do we do this? Well, mainly by ally blocking. You might ask why we don't use leadership in that case? The answer is simple: The Night Nurse, Energy Barrier and Side Step. The nurse is a real MVP. Getting confused can be devastating in a solo environment, and you will get confused quite a lot in this campaign. A lot of damage is indirect in the campaign so both Energy Barrier and Side Step are crucial for Rocket's survivability, especially when you can't find an ally that can block for you.

Strategy: This deck is slow. You almost always want to prioritize allies that can block for you. Once you feel like the board state is in your favor you can start dishing out those guns to do some damage. The mulligan is thus quite straightforward: You want to start with either Iron Fist or Multiple Man as they allow you plenty of time to start building your board. Always mulligan Lockjaw as you can get him back from the discard.

As noted, you want to use almost all hero activations for thwarting, you will need it. Don't be afraid to play a 1 cost tech early game and discard it with the AE ability. This way, you'll cycle through the deck faster early game. Also, Particle Cannon is your best weapon. Use all batteries for it to keep it up as often as possible, this will help you with the minion swarms and trigger card draws. If possible, try to combine Groot, Flora and Fauna, Particle Cannon and Reload: this is probably your biggest burst opportunity.
Also, don't waste The Night Nurse for healing.

Late game looks like early game: cycle allies who can block for you while dishing out damage and thwarting.

Some thoughts on allies: Lockjaw is part of the deck simply because he is always available for blocking as long as he is in the discard pile. You could instead throw in Starhawk but he is very situational and you can't expect his ability to trigger that often since you mainly want him for blocking. Sure he is cheap, but not always available. Also, try to avoid using Clea as a resource as you want her to cycle back into the deck after blocking.

Good luck, and enjoy!

9 comments

Apr 09, 2021 Siris101 · 18

This is interesting. Was this your 1st GMW attempts at the campaign? I haven't talked to anyone who has gotten through the collector stages so easily.

Apr 09, 2021 neothechosen · 9918

Hi! Same question as @Siris101.

I have a similar deck (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/8626/rocket-raccoon-tech-and-protect-1.0), but getting through to Collector (infiltrate the museum) was so damn frustrating I gave up and built another deck instead.

Problem is, say you play Multiple Man... that's pretty soon 3 cards in the collection, plus the starting ones. Lockjaw can block, but then goes into the collection as well...

Same goes for Energy Barrier, recycled guns...

Apr 09, 2021 neothechosen · 9918

@niolty

Oh, sorry! My bad for not reading your description well enough. I actually tried on expert. Maybe I'd pull through on standard, haven't tried.

TBH anyway, I don't think I'll play this campaign on expert level anymore. Way too exagerated. The Collector expert and Ronan expert... good God! Ronan downright kills you turn 1. Turn 2 IF you're lucky (or play leadership and throw 2 costed allies in front of him all game long).

What's it gonna be when Thanos comes along?

Apr 09, 2021 Taurenrider · 11

Nice deck. I've also been running rocket protection that never defends (it is real similar to your deck). I run 2 copies each of perseverance, fighting fit and momentum shift but no clea, lockjaw, downtime, mansion, 1 less side step, and no nurse (though I think I should slot her in)

Apr 09, 2021 niolty · 168

@Siris101 Yeah it was my first attempt, but I looked into plenty of playthroughs so I had an idea of what to expect. The first collector scenario puts up a real fight, and you have alter the strategy a bit. @neothechosen It's indeed a hard fight. I've found that playing it slow is actually really good, so you can keep the collection as empty as possible. Also, Clea, Groot and Iron Fist are probably the best allies for this setup. Stuns are really good in this scenario since there are tons of boost effects that alter the board state.

I guess the main strategy to aim for is to either kill minions OR defend with allies each round. If only one card enters the collection each turn you can keep it empty with ease. Dont discard the techs you have, unless you do it with AE, and that is something you can control and thus do when the collection is small. Optimally you want to setup Particle Cannon and Rocket's Pistol with two counters each and Reload for 12 dmg. This is nearly his entire stage health. I did another Collector run today (campaign mode) and KO'd him as soon as he entered stage 2. Pretty neat.

Apr 09, 2021 niolty · 168

Also, I pretty much ignore all side schemes.

Apr 11, 2021 dr00 · 39715

yeah, this deck looks really great! i was actually wanting to test something like with First Hit and Hard Knocks (from Gamora/Drax, respectively). i'm still waiting for my box and haven't tested any of it, but i'm glad to see it's already working well without those cards.

just a couple things i've noticed (but haven't played it), throwing away an energy barrier with 1 counter on it is actually insane value, but that one damage prevention and damage dealt could be a game-changer. i think first hit will help that a lot

i think Starhawk doesn't have to bounce to hand to find value. imo, you play him, use him to attack for 2, and then wait for an attack. if he blocks something, great. if not, you can thwart for him and do it again for 2 resources out of hand (or a power of protection if you have one of those). with Team-Building Exercise, he only costs 1 either way. i think in solo it's a bit different as there will often be an attack to block, but i think his ability is just giving you value until he can chump an attack.

anyway, thanks for sharing your ideas. i can't wait to try this out!

Apr 18, 2021 Cogahan · 8

@niolty I would also recommend using one or two The Power in All of Us. Especially for Lockjaw, so you basically have a Signal for when you could play lockjaw. Also when using one Nerves of Steel for the occasional free Sidestep I had a lot of success.

May 05, 2021 Ryson · 139

Hello @niolty! Nice deck. It showed me the utility of Multiple Man.

Have you considered the inclusion of Booster Boots ? It prevent 1 more damage per attack, and it is a disposable Tech card in case you are in need of some more cards.