"What Could Go Wrong?" -- Nothing (Expert Ronan & VG w/vide

Card draw simulator

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Daring Lime · 1532

Star-Lord is my favorite hero (Along with Phoenix). I used a slightly modified version of this deck to take down Ronan on expert mode in true solo which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgbnp7xWmoU

I used this exact deck to take down Venom Goblin on Expert in 2 turns which you can see here: https://youtu.be/KxMApmIiRbI

This deck is the generic version of the deck that will work well in any scenario.

If you like this deck, feel free to give it a ❤ ! Thank you!

Overview:

Star-Lord has some of the highest damage output in the whole game. Daring Escape and Sliding Shot can end games in a hurry. 30+ damage in one turn is not an issue. The key to playing Star-Lord is knowing when to deal yourself encounter cards. In general, I would say deal yourself an encounter card on turn 1 if you can't afford both an ally and your Element Gun. Otherwise, save the encounter cards for a final push. Against the easy villains you can afford to deal yourself an encounter card every turn, but against Ronan and the like, that is not my recommendation.

Star-Lord's only weakness is his survivability (kind of). But this weakness is entirely mitigated by leadership and Build Support. With this deck you will easily be able to play 2+ allies every turn. Use them to block for you. Then find Bad Boy. If you can afford to wait, don't use Build Support to search it. Play Build Support and just leave it in play. With Leader of the Guardians Star-Lord, and many of his allies have 3 THW, meaning you can finish it whenever you want. The optimal play is to use bad boy normally to negate all damage, flip to alter, and draw 2 cards. Then thwart Build Support and finish it with just one basic thwart. This way you have build support ready whenever you need it. You are essentially invincible. The only issue is villains with overkill like Ronan, in which case you may want to just finish Build Support immediately if he has Fanaticism already, but even that isn't much of an issue.

Star-Lord is a complicated hero that needs more that deserves more than just a MCDB writeup. I will make strategy guides on him in the future. But for now, I will offer general strategy advice.

Tips:

  1. Only use "What Could Go Wrong" for a final push or on turn 1 to get Element Gun if you can't afford it otherwise, or Bad Boy in most situations (but try to recognize the exceptions).
  2. Play at least 1 ally every turn.
  3. Leader of the Guardians is your most important upgrade other than Element Gun, the other ones are nice, but are not necessary and in fact if you are just looking to win I would avoid playing Jet Boots and Star-Lord's Helmet in most situations.
  4. Determine early on if you are going to build out or rush the villain.
  5. Use Bad Boy on the villain phase before your final push to get the extra cards.
  6. Use Black Panther to store Blaze of Glory for the final push.
  7. Only play Nova Prime if there is a strong minion out.
  8. Nick Fury is your best friend.
  9. Blaze of Glory with 1-2 Daring Escape and 1-2 Sliding Shot is enough to one shot any villain.
  10. Stay Zesty - Daring Escape is his best card, but don't use it unless you are on a final push or there is no other option.

Modifications To The Deck:

  • White Tiger is not as good if you are playing standard.
  • In multiplayer add in cards such as Avengers Mansion and Helicarrier to boost your economy. (It isn't necessary in solo).
  • You can use basically whatever allies you want because he makes all of them guardians, so don't feel like you have to copy the list exactly. Gamora, Nick Fury, and Black Panther are the ones I would recommend keeping.
  • Rapid response could be replaced by using 3 copies of Make the Call and "Welcome Aboard", or adding in economy supports. I only have 2 copies of Make the Call and "Welcome Aboard" because I wanted to improve the consistency of Gamora adding Daring Escape and Sliding Shot to hand.
  • Tech in whatever allies you feel counter the scenario. For instance, Snowguard is fantastic against Ronan because the 8 health option can absorb the overkill.

Above all, just have fun with Star-Lord! I don't think it is optimal to lean into dealing yourself encounter cards every turn, but it sure is fun! He is one of the most fun and rewarding heroes.

6 comments

Jul 02, 2024 josseroo · 696

There's only one thing better than one Bad Boy,...

Jul 02, 2024 Daring Lime · 1532

@josseroo two bad bois

Jul 04, 2024 snejk · 1

Great deck! Played it in a 3p against red skull last night and oh boy the thwart AND damage potential was great.

I have some questions if you don't mind:

I don't have [Kaluu](/card/21014), [Major Victory](/card/21053), [Groot](/card/16047) or [White Tiger](/card/21013) yet. Do you have any suggestions to use as replacement? I used [Spider-Man](/card/13019) and [X-23](/card/45012) instead and it worked out fairly well. [Spider-Man](/card/13019) came in clutch and was a great addition, and [X-23](/card/45012) also made some significant impact (I also planned to include [Adam Warlock](/card/17011) and [Ant-Man](/card/12011) but i opted to cut them in favor of Mansion and Hellicarrier in MP.). Any suggestion on what to cut for [Avengers Mansion](/card/01091) and [Helicarrier](/card/01092) in multiplayer? In yesterdays game i cut 2 allies. Didn't feel too bad "only" having 9 allies, but there was a few turns I didn't draw any allies. What is your stance on [Star-Lord's Helmet](/card/17010) in MP? I felt that I got great value out of it yesterday, since I had a few turns were I had to burn a lot of "Star-Lord Juice" to keep control of the board. I agree that in Solo it can be a bit of a trap to play it (and to be honest, against Red Skull it was rough drawing 4 encounter cards, but thwarting 20+ threat in one turn was also very satisfying..).

Jul 05, 2024 snejk · 1

Edit of my above comment since the formatting doesn't seem to work..

Great deck! Played it in a 3p against red skull last night and oh boy the thwart AND damage potential was great.

I have some questions if you don't mind:

  1. I don't have Kaluu, Major Victory, Groot or White Tiger yet. Do you have any suggestions to use as replacement? I used Spider-Man (Miles) and X-23 instead and it worked out fairly well. Spider-Man came in clutch and was a great addition, and X-23 also made some significant impact (I also planned to include Adam Warlock and Ant-Man but i opted to cut them in favor of Mansion and Hellicarrier in MP.).

  2. Any suggestion on what to cut for Avengers Mansion and Helicarrier in multiplayer? In yesterdays game i cut 2 allies. Didn't feel too bad "only" having 9 allies, but there was a few turns I didn't draw any allies.

  3. What is your stance on Star-Lord's Helmet in MP? I felt that I got great value out of it yesterday, since I had a few turns were I had to burn a lot of "Star-Lord Juice" to keep control of the board. I agree that in Solo it can be a bit of a trap to play it (and to be honest, against Red Skull it was rough drawing 4 encounter cards, but thwarting 20+ threat in one turn was also very satisfying..).

Jul 06, 2024 Daring Lime · 1532

@snejk That's great to hear that you enjoyed the deck! This is one of my favorites that I have built. You should join my discord server and we can talk about Star-Lord builds (it seems like you like him as much as I do) discord.gg

I will still answer all your questions here though!

  1. Groot is mainly there to block big hits from villains because I was fighting Ronan and Venom Goblin on expert with this deck. To fill the same role I would recommend Snowguard. You can use the option of having 8 health and retaliate 1 which is really solid, and if you don't need the beefy blocker 3 ATK or 3 THW is really solid. Major Victory is basically only good for a final push to ready up another guardian. He isn't super necessary. If you are looking for another chump blocker I would recommend martin x perhaps, but since you don't have kaluu I'm guessing that you don't have Mad Titan's Shadow. I think it is a great expansion and worth picking up especially if you can find a deal! Adam Warlock is fun hero to deck build with, and Kaluu and White Tiger are amazing. Your choices of Spider-Man (Miles) and X-23 I think are perfect. X-23 was actually in the deck. The only reason I didn't include Miles was because he doesn't work with power in all of us, but that really isn't a big deal. He is one of my favorite allies, and I think a fantastic choice. Especially on final pushes with Blaze. You mentioned Adam Warlock and Ant-Man, which are also great choices. Honestly, the thing I love about Star-Lord is that every character is a guardian, so you can just include whatever allies you enjoy, and outside of the toughest scenarios in the game on expert, I think you should just pick whatever ones you like.

  2. I'm actually making a youtube video right now that will address this. I would say just add them in and don't cut allies. I don't think 40 card decks are necessary. I often will cut a deck down to 40 just because people prefer to have a streamlined deck. But for the majority of heroes 42 I think is totally acceptable. If you have a valid reason for including it, i.e. multiplayer is easier to build out in so you want Mansion and Helicarrier, it's totally fine to just add them and play 42. In earlier drafts of this deck I had both of them in. I just cut down to 40, because against expert Venom Goblin and Ronan I needed hyper efficient 1st turns. But that isn't necessary for the vast majority of the villain cast, especially on standard and in multiplayer. There are some heroes that I think it is worth running 40 card decks. For example, Iron-Man and Black Panther want their suits as fast as possible, and in that case I would for sure restrict my deck to 40 cards. Star-Lord, if you are not doing a rush strategy doesn't fall into the 40 card deck requirement in my opinion. And another thing to keep in mind is that if you plan on building out, supports and upgrades won't be in your deck the second pass through so it really doesn't affect it that much! Let alone Mansion let's you see more of your deck anyways. Just throw them into the deck for multiplayer!

  3. The helmet facilitates you dealing yourself an encounter card every turn. Or multiple if you need it. It isn't the strongest way to play him in my opinion. Against the tougher villains each encounter card could mean death, so if you are dealing them to yourself and you don't have the damage to take out the villain "What Could Go Wrong?" is often just losing the game on the spot. But I don't think Marvel Champions is all about playing the strongest deck! In standard multiplayer games the Helmet is a fun card. Pair yourself with a protection and justice player, and then have a field day with it. If you are looking for the optimal strategy though, I would say that the weaker villains won't require you to play 100% optimally and the helmet is fun and fine. But the stronger villains will punish you, and the helmet is something I would put on the table as protection from caught off guard and a failsafe if you just need to deal yourself the encounter card to stop yourself from losing on a turn. Play the helmet if you can afford it without missing out on a key ally or support and the board state is under control. Thwarting 20 threat against Redskull sounds like a great time!

I'm really glad you enjoyed the deck! And I would like to hear how your multiplayer games go with the Mansion and Helicarrier thrown in!

-Stay Zesty

Jul 06, 2024 snejk · 1

@Daring Lime Wow what an amazing answer lol, appretiated. He is among my favorites! I'll join your discord for sure, thanks!

Yeah I'll get mad titans some of these days. I just bought AoA though so will have to wait a while :).