Zero Flaps

I have always felt like the defense stat was by far the most meaningless in Marvel Champions. Disappointingly so as it features so prominently on Spider-Man, my favorite Marvel character in the game so far. The protection aspect was also in a kind of weird place too, and I wasn't really sure where it was supposed to shine. The other aspects seemed to have better options, plus defending, even if you don't take damage, simply prolongs the game and doesn't really move you any closer to victory. Exhausting to defend also usually means forfeiting an attack or thwart action the subsequent turn. So defending always felt to me like a last ditch effort to not die, it wasn't something you wanted to be doing if you could help it.

But then, like a flavorful comic book moment, just before the Rise of the Red Skull campaign expansion dropped, the stars aligned and all the pieces came together for the protection aspect in the the Dr. Strange and Hulk hero expansion packs. Suddenly, hero characters with Retaliate got the three protection cards they needed to push an entire defense oriented archetype over the finish line and into serious viability. Captain America finally got what he needed to protect the world from Hydra, and just in time too.

The three protection cards I'm talking about are of course Unflappable, Desperate Defense, and Electrostatic armor.

There are other great protection cards, mostly from Strange, like Momentum Shift and Clea, but the three above are going to be a staple for Retaliate characters for the life of the game. Captain America in particular. Captain is a very well rounded and solid choice in pretty much every aspect but this lean and well tuned protection build is simply amazing to play. I have described the style as "you attack me but I don't take damage, you take damage instead then I ready and draw a card". Once you have the Cap's shield in play, which you do immediately every game, you gain +1 defense and Retaliate. This in conjunction with Desperate Defense gives you a defense stat of 5 which the vast majority of the time is sufficient to prevent all damage from an attack. Taking no damage readies your hero from Desperate Defense, and triggers a card draw from Unflappable. Retaliate and Electrostatic Armor deal return damage. Armored vest, Preemptive Strike, Shield Block and Energy Barrier do the job of making sure Unflappable triggers every turn that you don't draw into Desperate Defense. Feel free to defend against multiple attacks each villain phase after readying from Desperate Defense or Indomitable because Cap can simply discard to ready on his turn as well. His hero ability basically removes the main drawback to defending in the first place. Retaliate and Electrostatic do the rest. I honestly take so little damage playing this build that I can stay in hero form all but a couple turns a game, which in and of itself keeps threat manageable. I have yet to play his helmet because once Endurance is down I never have to worry about being knocked out. That and Momentum Shift are why I omit Down Time. The low cost curve makes Power of Protection inefficient.

Play tips:

1. Mull: Pitch everything that costs more than 1 (except Serum).
2. Get Shield, Unflappable, and Electrostatic Armor online ASAP.
3. Get your stuff out. Play all your cards. Draw as much as you can each turn.
4. Only hold Desperate Defense. Everything else is either kit or resources to play them. Use your last card to ready Cap.
5. The dream is all the kit plus Nova being steady fed energy. Make it happen.