Who is the world’s mightiest Avenger? Cannonball! (Take 2)

First time publishing a deck on MarvelCDB (well technically second, but this is a corrected version from one published earlier). I think it’s a fun one with lots of interesting lines. But then that’s Falcon. Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome!

So here goes…

What’s so interesting about Falcon?

This deck is built around the following things that, as a combination of factors, are unique to Falcon…

• Redwing provides an amazing resource sink which, in my mind, enables you to play a lot more resources in your deck without the risk of a dead hand. This means you can confidently chuck in 3x The Power of Flight to help pay for all those Aerial cards (he has more in his kit than any other hero) knowing they won’t get wasted, and potentially aspect focused “Power of” cards as well.
• Soup Kitchen allows you to play allies a nice 2 resource discount
• Falcon's Flock is an amazingly efficient source of resource
• Falcon (on his hero side) has the Avenger so has access to Mighty Avengers, providing a nice ally stat boost as well as Sky Cycle given you’d be leaning into Avenger allies.

This led me to want to build a deck focused on Avenger allies (to leverage Mighty Avengers) with the Aerial trait (to maximise value from The Power of Flight and Falcon’s Flock. The good news is that every Avenger ally with Aerial costs 5 (both in Leadership) and this deck feels uniquely built to pay for that. The bad news - there are only two of them! And one of them - Captain Marvel - won’t likely stay on the field for long given how much consequential damage she’ll take (although she’s a fun one to land). But the other - Spectrum - can deliver a ton of value over multiple turns, if we’re able to pay for her with a wild. More on that later...

At this point though, the deck still feels like it’s missing something…

Enter CANNONBALL!!!

In my previous Falcon decks, there were 3 allies that really stood out - Cosmo, Cannonball and, to a slightly lesser extent, Gambit. Cosmo and Gambit are neither Aerial or Avenger so they don’t really fit the bill. But Cannonball does have Aerial, so can be paid for with Power of Flight or Falcon's Flock. And while he doesn’t have the Avenger trait, he does have the potential to not take any consequential damage so he can potentially sit in play the entire game, providing big value every round if he has access to readies. And given Falcon has the highest density of Aerial-traited cards in his kit in the game, he can help you consistently meet the criteria of having two Aerial-traited in your hand and avoiding taking any consequential damage.

Cannonball, of course, doesn’t have the Avenger trait, but we can fix that by making him a Honorary Avenger. And once he has the Avenger trait you can attach a Sky Cycle to him to maximise value.

If you’re able to fully set up Cannonball we’re looking at…

Cannonball + Honorary Avenger + Mighty Avengers + Inspired + Sky Cycle = Up to 8 damage or 8 threat removal every turn, 12 if you trigger a ready off Talon Line. That’s the ceiling (not taking into account the potential of playing an Inspiring Presence for an extra ready!) but even having him attack or thwart for 2 each round early game while sticking on the board is still great value.

Piloting Cannonball

The slightly tricky thing with Cannonball is there can be times when you don’t have two Aerial cards in your hand. This is especially true early game, less so late game when you’re built out a bit and your deck has a higher density of the Aerial-traited events.

However, if you do find yourself in a bind due to lack of Aerial cards, do not fear, Redwing is here! Use his effect to send him back to hand (pinging damage or threat removal in the process). Worse case, Cannonball is now taking 1 consequential damage (which you can heal with Inspiring Presence later) but in the majority of cases you’ll have at least 1 other Aerial card in hand.

Redwing

His ability to be a resource sink, manipulate the encounter deck and be an Aerial-traited card in hand makes him an all-star.

But it’s also worth noting that Redwing is Avenger traited so Mighty Avengers is online when he is in play. So you can attack or thwart for 2, have him in play for the start of your next turn and then bounce him back to hand, increasing your hand size while ensuring he’s eeking out some extra value before triggering his bounce ability.

Falcon takes one for the team

Firstly, Falcon is no slouch when it comes to packing a punch. With Battlefield Awareness and Soaring Acrobatics down he has the potential to hit and thwart for a hefty amount.

But early game, he’s more focused on the dirty work of protecting his allies. Given the long-term value allies like Cannonball provide, we ideally do not want to block with our allies if we can avoid it (although if you really need to, block with Redwing who you can be easily recurred in alter-ego). Thankfully Falcon can take the hit. Firstly we can manipulate the encounter deck to ensure we minimise the boost we take from the villain’s attack. Vibranium Microweave is an important upgrade for him, reducing the damage he takes while pinging something back. Draw Their Fire is great too, especially on turns when you need him to avoid the damage while keeping him upright so he’s free to hit back and swing the tempo in your favour.

You know what… such a selfless leader deserves a bit protection. Give this man a shield!

Captain America

There are three reasons why the Captain America title provides extra value in this deck.

1. It boosts Falcon’s DEF and provides retaliate. He’s defending a lot so appreciates the boost and this + Vibranium Microweave pings the villain back for 2, so we’re creating extra value while he takes all those hits.
2. He darn well deserves it.
3. It provides him with the on-demand ability to exchange a strength for a wild resource by sending Captain America’s Shield to your hand. Which is important because…

Wild Spectrum

Promoting Sam to Captain America provides access to the interaction above - by spending a strength resource you can put Cap’s Shield into hand, giving you on-demand access to a wild resource to trigger Spectrum’s stat buffs.

Having access to wild resources is also part of why The Power of Leadership is in the deck. They can be used to pay - and then tucked under - Spectrum, while also paying for other 2+ cost Leadership cards e.g. Captain Marvel, Air Supremacy, Suit Up, Team Training and Mighty Avengers. At worst, you just use them to pay for some Redwing shenanigans.

Spectrum is also another reason why Inspiring Presence is in the deck. With a wild resource + Mighty Avengers, she’s hitting/thwarting for 4 so every extra activation you get from her is pretty significant. And with 5 HP (with the wild) she’s likely to stick around long enough for you to draw into at least one Inspiring Presence.

Opening hand - Falcon’s consistency

To top it all off, despite the requirement of high cost cards and upgrades, the deck is relatively quick and easy to get going. Ideally you want Cannonball + Honorary Avenger out as soon as possible so you can set up the Sky Cycle and Mighty Avengers.

The easiest way to do that is hard mulligan for Suit Up. Use it to grab Cannonball and Honorary Avenger. Then discard a card to nab Falcon's Flock, use the Flock to pay for Cannonball and then put Honorary Avenger on him. Only downside is you likely can’t activate him that turn without taking consequential damage but the game is likely on the up from then on out.

But there are so many other lines and it’s very consistent in getting either Cannonball or Spectrum (with a full buff) out turn 1 due to a combination of Suit Up, high density of double resources and access to either Redwing (with a wild resource) or Falcon's Flock on demand.

And absolute worst case you draw into a bunch of resources, in which case you search for Redwing and use the Redwing loop to gain some early tempo.

Other notes:

• Suit Up becomes less relevant late game but has a strength resource, allowing you to pay for the trigger to send Cap’s Shield back to hand and ping some damage.
• Air Supremacy typically provides nice value as you’ll very likely have multiple Aerial allies in play. Plus it has the all important Aerial trait to help keep Cannonball from taking consequential damage.
• I could potentially put in a cheaper Avenger ally that Captain Marvel but I like her for the Aerial trait again both because of Cannonball and because she makes good use of the The Power of Flight. And just once heal from Inspiring Presence nets a whopping 9 damage, 12 if you have Mighty Avengers down.

And that’s it. Combine the above build with Falcon’s ability to manipulate the encounter deck and use it against the Villain makes this a really fun deck that has a load of interesting lines and a ton of damage and thwart potential. I hope others give it a try and have as much fun as I’ve had with it. Enjoy :)