"Tech Nova" (2.0) - Iron Man / Protection

I had 5/6 solo plays of this deck this evening. I found Rhino expert quite easy to deal with. However when trying against Klaw he destroyed me every time. If you are not able to build enough of the suit in the first hand then you are restricted to staying in alter ego early game. Twice Klaw blitzed the first stage and I was never able to get on top of the Masters of evil. There just didnt seem to be enough damage capability in the early game to fend off minions,

@Howez92I have an updated version of this deck that will probably fare a lot better. I'm going to also update the write-ups on these and be a lot little more consistent with all the decks.

But to respond to your specific problems with Klaw. I agree, Klaw is tough because he himself schemes for a lot and then the whole suite can bring out some tough minions pretty quickly. I just played a game with the 2.0 version of this deck to test for you and won. But I also got a good opening draw: Arc Reactor, Mark V Helmet, & Repulsor Blast.

I would keep anything on mulligan that is going to help you with scheme be it those cards or Black Widow. For this deck, we're kind of waiting for lower cost minions to really help us with that threat early that haven't come out yet, as it is, BW is our best bet because War Machine is really no help at all.

I actually flipped first turn just because you have to get rid of those two side schemes or you lose, and then I played the Repulsor Blast and one-shotted Whirlwind. Repulsor Blast is pretty good early, you haven't pulled out all the Energy Barriers and Med Teams -- don't be afraid to use it, It's your best bet vs those early tough minions.

From there I like to try and get Enhanced Barriers down to protect and kill minions that are coming out and I'll toss stuff I won't use til later even if it's his suit, like Powered Gauntlets or Rocket Boots if I absolutely have to.

The updated deck gets rid of Down Time & x2 Enhanced Reflexes for x3 Emergency. See how that helps you vs Klaw Expert. Thanks for the feedback and your playthrough! :)

P.S. You may even want to experiment with Nick Fury in the deck for the early thwart. If so, replace x1 Emergency with him. He's a so at least he can help you with Aerial. I hate that he would stay in your deck and work against your Repulsor Blasts, but might be a sacrifice you have to make.

I tried the addition of x3 emergency as recommended and Nicky fury by removing a Med Team. Found this worked much better with some wins against Klaw and Ultron expert.

@Howez92 Nice, thanks for the comment. Made me go back and revisit/tweak this deck a little to make it a touch better. I think you were spot on. I appreciate it & awesome that you're having fun with the decks!

Great Job, the version 2.0 is fantastic! Thank you! I state that I have not tested yet, but also insert 1 Counter-Punch instead of 1 Preemptive Strike or Black Widow?

@AndreaGPL Thanks! I'm starting to go back do updated versions after playtesting a lot of these decks more. I've also been thinking about doing recorded play-throughs, not sure if it would actually help or if people would watch them though.

As for your question, I think you're asking about adding a Counter-Punch in place of something? Hmm, I'm not sure I see the benefit of that. You really don't have to defend with Iron Man, his DEF isn't great and his ATK wouldn't give you a great counter punch. Or did I misunderstand your question?

When you list Mulligan cards, do you mean discard any card that’s not those cards?

Thanks

@Steel_Web Exactly, I mean pay attention to the cards listed and most likely keep those when you mulligan. :)

Is Endurance really necessary given that you get+8 hp from armor? Is there something else that could replace it?

@Lanthal I do like Endurance in this deck for a few reasons actually. It's an resource, so works very well with Repulsor Blast and Nova. I find that with Iron Man, if you lose, it's because you lost early when you were building your suit. Late game, with his suit set up he's a beast. That makes Endurance a good heal/HP increase early, as often in the early game while you're building your suit, you can't afford the cost of Mark V Armor. It's my personal preference, but definitely encourage you to try it without it and go with what you feel works best for your play-style. Thanks for the comment! Stay healthy/safe.

I love the deck! I play with less emphasis on Nova, but Energy Barrier is amazing for Iron Man - I love the flexibility and consistency it gives to building Iron Man’s hand size. Looking forward to hopefully getting a Tech in the other aspects some day.

I drop all three Preemptive Strikes and all four Enhanceds and instead I’ve got two Emergency, two Armored Vest, and three Honorary Avenger. I haven’t yet played Armored Vest, but I consistently use it to go aerial and gain another 6 damage and 1 threat removal on a turn where I use Supersonic Punch. Honorary Avenger combos with Med Team and Black Widow to keep her on the table and able to use her ability.

Have you tried using Defensive Stance yet? I just got BW and built Thor Protection to see how it would go against standard Rhino. Lost one and won one. I think Iron Man will work much better as protection than Thor, but I wanted the challenge of trying something other than Thor Justice.

@KingOfRohan Less emphasis on Nova certainly works, however he is good against villains where you see a lot of minions. He's like a cool little Jarnbjorn, and also great because the trigger is "initiate" so if you kill the minion, you take no damage. I think it's personal preference and definitely don't have to include him.

Great minds think alike, in my 2.0 version I did drop some Enhanced for Emergency. Honorary Avenger is one of the best cards in the game, and for your version that relies less on for Nova and Repulsor Blast, it's a good idea. I haven't played this deck in a little while, but getting consistent big damage from Repulsor Blast with was really important early when Iron Man is weakest. However, you're right, I do love the Honorary Avenger & Black Widow combo and when I come back to this deck to revise it, I'll probably include it.

Thanks for the comment and thoughts on some good revisions. :)

@McV0id I have not tried Defensive Stance yet in this deck, just because I haven't this particular deck in awhile. Although, I don't think I'd include it even though it is a . I generally do not like paying for a card while I'm defending. It basically takes two cards out of your hand (or at least 1 and a resource) and really limits what you can do on your next turn. I will probably still try it just to test, but that's my first thought when thinking of including it. That and Iron Man can also untap easier than others with Arc Reactor. Thanks for the comment, and I'll give it a test when I come back to this deck soon. :)

@Brian-V thanks for the response! Speaking of Nova, I just pu together a Nova / Lightning Strike deck for Thor, just focusing on building an storm... and it's so fun! You're right that Nova shines with minions, and Thor drags them out to play.

@KingOfRohan Nice! You should post it! I really like Lightning Strike, just wish there were 3 instead of 2 for Thor. Pairing with Nova is a great idea for when you don't draw it.

@Brian-V What's your take on `Electrostatic Armor? It's Tech and it's Energy. You do need to defend to deal the dmg, which you rarely do, but I think there is value and you could even add a couple of them to this deck for a total of 42 cards.

And I just realized that Electrostatic Armor combos nicely with Desperate Defense - also an Energy resource

Great deck! Took me a couple of games to figure out the dynamic of it, but I finally beat Rhino on Expert with it.

Played this deck yesterday against Wrecking Crew. Had massive problems going aerial cause of missing mental ressources... Couldnt use helmet and dmg bonus of gauntlets...

I have a similar Ironman protection deck, but utilizing Dauntless and Electrostatic armor with some of the newer green cards (Side Step and Nerves of Steel) to get the most out of retaliate. Successful against expert Risky Business and Ultron.

I did something similar with Ironman long time ago, you have better cards to add for sure. This deck have less sinergies and it feels less thematic. Will post that older deck soon.

@Vortilion Interesting even with enhanced awareness. I haven't played this in awhile, but the other thing I would do is not play the 2nd Rocket Boots and constantly recur that with Stark Tower to ensure you have a . @Felipaodk I made this deck 2 years ago, for sure there are better cards to add now that the card pool is probably 4-5x what it was. Will look out for your version, I will think about updating this one soon! Thanks for the comment :)

Thank you @Brian-V For all the work you have put in. This is one of my favorite decks you have created. I appreciate the fact you spend the time to walk us through it. I love playing Iron Man and cannot wait for a Tech Nova 3.0. There are so many new cards now it’s hard to choose which to include and, more importantly, which to not. I also appreciate your videos. Very insightful. Thank you!

@Brian-V excellent build, i'm excited to see if you will update this again. This is my second deck of yours that I have absolutely destroyed villains with.

@Brian-V Thanks for sharing this. I’ve never played Iron Man. I’m for playing this deck as is according to the updates you suggest up top. It can help in the learning process.

However, if you feel there are great cards to replace/update on 2024 protection cards, please let me know. I want to love this hero and work to do that