A Friend of Mine, Tree

"Oh by the way, this is a friend of mine. Tree."

-Thor

Here's my shot at a Groot protection deck. The general goal here is to stack growth counters on Groot and keep them there. When our favorite tree is fully built, he can deal 10 damage for 2 cost or thwart 10 for 3 cost - that's insane value!

The protection aspect allows him to get to this point. Energy Barriers and Booster Boots prevent sneaky indirect damage from knocking off those precious growth counters, while cards like Desperate Defense, Never Back Down, Side Step, and Armored Vest help Groot defend like a champ. In a pinch, you can use Vine Shield to keep Groot healthy too, although that should be your last resort - we're trying to stack growth counters, remember? Iron Fist, Mockingbird, and Never Back Down sprinkle some healthy stuns into the mix.

Groot can get some good action economy going for cheap - Fertile Ground, Deft Focus (14 of Groot's specialty cards have the "superpower" subtext, although Fruition is free), and Unflappable are 1-cost cards, while Nerves of Steel fuels the defense event cards for a 2-cost investment.

At the beginning of the game, mulligan for Fertile Ground and Fruition. Get those growth counters in the bank!! If the villain starts with a minion in play, a nice juicy Root Stomp is useful. Booster Boots, Armored Vest, or an Energy Barrier is always a worthwhile investment too.

Happy growing!