AntGressive Stomping

Hi, this is my first published deck. I hope it it helps in your deckbuilding skills and progress on your expert campaigns. Every suggestion will be welcome. There may be some spelling, or semantic errors in the text, because English is not my native language. Feel free to point out any mistakes and help improve the writing.

Ant-Man may be small, but his aggression is not to be underestimated - he's got a "mighty ant-titude"!

The Mulligan: You want Helicarrier, Quincarrier, Avengers Tower, Avengers Mansion, Ant-Man's Helmet and Army of Ants. Preferably not all cards at once, but definitely some mix alongside with double resources cards.

The Basics: All cards here, in my conception, is a must in every deck and I really mean it EVERY DECK.

• Energy, Genius, Strength: I think I don't need to elaborate much on this: generating 2 resources is always better than generating 1. Even the Hulk - with some ease - realizes this.

• Helicarrier, Quincarrier: More resources every turn = more and powerful cards you can play. Quincarrier is the Avenger themed for resource generation, but if you are playing a X-Men you have access to The X-Jet instead. Guardian heroes, wait until Milano is released with the same effect.

• Avengers Mansion: Drawing cards usually is always a thing you want in a deckbuilding game and Marvel Champions isn't an exception. Drawing in this game means having more options AND having more resources to play cards.

The Allies: 8 allies in a deck without Leadership looks like a lot, but a lot of people don't realize how broken Allies are even without playing in Leadership. Let's look at Tigra: she, in the worst case scenario, is going to deal 2 damage at the villain and tank a hit afterwards. So, for 3 resources, you dealt 2 damage to the villain and gained and used a Tough . For 3 resources, it's a good deal already, because gaining Tough worth around 3 resources when you are not playing Protection (Invulnerability) and 2 damage worth 0-1 resources in Agression, but imagine a scenario when you just tank it the hit from villain activation, the villain schemes or you just defend it in the Giant form. Tigra is going to deal 4 damage and you still can sack her afterwards for a big hit (without Overkill). Having all that in just one card, plus the flexibility when you go for the sack is bananas good - and Tigra specifically is great for dealing with minions (Ant-Man is not!) and just cleaning them up. Don't be afraid for the cost of allies! With all the setup (Avengers Mansion, Avengers Tower, Helicarrier and Quincarrier) you are definitely playing one ally each turn. I really hope I helped you realize how Allies are good in Marvel Champions and incentivized you in put a bit more Allies in your deck.

After all that, let's talk a bit more about the Allies I had pick. All Allies have the Avengers trait to maximize the effect of Avengers Tower:

• Sentry: have crazy good stats for the cost for the little price in have another encounter in the turn. In my experience, just one encounter for playing this worth the cost. Of course against some villains and some scenarios it can screw you, but try it to remember all easy encounters you can encounter too in a villain's deck.

• She-Hulk: the optimal with her is just going for damage (4 resources for 10 damage is better than Dive Bomb), but if you really need it to control the main scheme or deal with some side schemes, you can thwart first and going for the damage afterwards and leaving with just one life for tanking a hit or another thwart (4 mana for 4 Thwart, 3 damage or 2 thwart, 3 damage and a Tough).

• Thor: already have Tough so wait to tank a hit and go for 6 damage afterwards or just 3 damage and tanking two hits. Thor is awesome dealing with minions too, which is a great upside in Ant-Man.

• Tigra: we already talked a bit about her. Just remember to dealing the last hit against minions to maximize her effect.

• Valkyrie: again another ally with the ability to deal with minions. Often you will don't have the Energy resource to gain the bonus effect, but, ususally, it's not a big deal. Don't stress too much about it.

• War Machine: like Thor, wait to tank a hit first to deal damage or thwart afterwards. The Ranged is whatever for 95% of the time, but it's oddly satisfactory when you capitalize from it.

• Wasp: 3 attack is crazy good (9 damage for 3 resources). At first glance, it seems hard to play with 3 health without Energy and because usually you always want to play Giant Stomp and Giant Strength, but remember you have the Pym Particles and Quincarrier to give you the Energy resource too. Too bad you cant use the Avengers Tower or Helicarrier discount, but Wasp is still a great card.

The Events:

• Quick Strike: it's a great card for mid/late game. Why? Because assuming you are in Giant form and without any upgrade, Quick Strike is dealing 3 damage for 2 resources (Haymaker level) which in Aggression is bad. We are aiming for at least 5 damage (Fusillade and Relentless Assault level). With 2 Giant Strength or 1 Giant Strength and 1 Combat Training in play and you are ready to go.

• Surprise Attack: for me, it's a already a decent card even playing with a Hero you don't change forms too much, but in Ant-Man it really shines cause you are constantly changing forms to already profit from cards like Ant-Man's Helmet and having access to Resize to even change forms twice in a turn. You even make Warren Buffet envy you when you trade just 1 Physical resource for 4 damage.

The Supporters:

• Avengers Tower: we already talked a little bit about this card. It's a no-brainer when you have ALL Allies with the Avengers trait.

• Boot Camp: maybe the most controversial card. For 3 resources, you want at least 7-8 damage from this which means 8 basic attacks from Allies. Thinking that your Allies will attack at least 8 times is possibly equal to believing that Cyclops sees things blue, but often that extra 1 damage makes a difference. If you really don't like this card, or it is performing poorly, you can use another copy of Lie in Wait or, if you like to take a bit of a risk, put in a copy of The Power of Aggression. It's up to you. If you are playing multiplayer with a Wasp on the team, go for a Swarm Tactics.

The Upgrades:

• Combat Training: we already show why this card is here. Basically, it's a third copy of Giant Strength. With 3 copies of Ready to Rumble, you often will make two basics attack a turn and will buff the damage of Quick Strike too.

• Lie in Wait: 3 damage for just 1 resource is good. I like this card for helping Ant-Man dealing with some minions and having the Energy resource symbol is a bonus.

• Ready to Rumble: this card is very good in Ant-Man because you are changing hero forms pretty often, but is a great card to capitalize with Giant Strength and, as mentioned above, the Combat Training buffs.

The Ant-Man Deck:

• Wasp: often you want play it when you draw it. The flexibility is great.

• Giant Stomp: one of the two main reasons why you want to build Ant-Man in Aggression. 3 resources for 8 damage is top level damage (alongside Swinging Web Kick) and the 1 damage in all minions is a good bonus (Ultron and his Ultron Drones agrees!). Generally speaking, you always want to play it. Just generate resources with this if you really need to play other cards (it's always better to do something than nothing in a turn) or play cards like Avengers Mansion, Helicarrier or Quincarrier.

• Hive Mind: one of the worst cards in the deck, imho. Why? You need to setup all Army of Ants first to become even barely good.

• Resize: 99% of the time you want to play straight away. It's feel great when you combo it, but 99% of the time playing to just get the 1 damage/thwart and drawing a card is great for a 0 cost card.

• Pym Particles: usually, you will use the heal, but drawing is often great too. Again, the flexibility is great.

• Army of Ants: the second reason why you want to build Ant-Man Aggression. For measly 1 cost, you give every* turn 1 damage (when the 3 are in play, it's 3 damage every turn). You can easily rid of Tough status, finishing off a minion or not wasting damage to advance the villain stage too.

*: Generally speaking, you are just going to Giant form when you are playing Giant Stomp or really needs the 1 (Giant Nuisance ability) + 3 (basic attack) damage. Otherwise, you will stay in Tiny form to draw 5 cards, instead of 4.

• Ant-Man's Helmet: top 3 cards of Ant-Man. You will notice how easy the game is when you play this card in your first two turns.

• Giant Strength: an average card. You want to play it ASAP, of course, to capitalize it in the long run and make Quick Strike good, but don't sacrifice a setup, or maybe playing some Allies for it.

• Wrist Gauntlets: from my experience, another below-average/average card. Why stun it, when you can simply kill it ? The confusion cost have the same problem as playing Wasp.