GN’R - Groot N’ Rocket

“I…am Groot”

-TRANSLATED FROM FLORA COLOSSUS-

This deck is paired with a Rocket Justice deck https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/28514/gn-r-groot-n-rocket-1.0.

Build up your counters for both your hero ability and Hall of Heroes while controlling the battle. No need to wait for 10 counters to do massive damage, however, as you can ruin a minion’s day with a large basic attack with overkill!

Groot can swing for big damage on demand, immediately becoming a 4 atk hero with Vine Spikes down. You want to make using any of your counters…count…so this deck looks for big basic attacks with the help of Hand Cannon. Combat Training will push that even further in addition to Skilled Strike.

What’s also fantastic with your big basic attacks is flexibility. You may not need that overkill, and may decide to gain a counter from a minion instead of losing it thanks to Root Stomp. That stomp and "I. AM. GROOT!" become free with this deck with Deft Focus and Martial Prowess.

You will be swapping down frequently, thanks to Rocket or your own confusing allies to keep your counters high, which you’ll have access to plenty, especially once Fertile Ground is out.

Groot should avoid blocking if at all possible, although a clutch Vine Shield can be all the difference. Allies should block, and "We Are Groot" is always worth a few counters to fortify the field.

Lashing Vines should only be used in emergencies, as 2 counters is a high cost. Don’t ready every turn, but instead use it if you had to exhaust for whatever reason. Vine Spikes and your cannons only modify one attack! It’s helpful to clear toughs or stuns in a pinch but again with Rocket helping out you shouldn’t have any issue with toughs. The way I determine to use it or not is if I can’t do more than 4 damage (2 damage per counter) I’m not even considering it.

Playing the decks together you’ll want to coordinate who’s flipping down each turn, as both will want to. Stalwart is, as it always is, a problem.

Surprise Attack is definitely a consideration to add with how often you flip, but I prefer the flexibility of Skilled Strike. Similarly Mean Swing can be awkward to utilize so I opted for it’s counterpart. Jarnbjorn helps set up Overkill for Rocket as he also appreciates overkilling enemies. Fluid Motion wasn’t impactful enough in testing and Follow Through is just too expensive for what you get with all the other upgrades needing to come out.

This deck is geared multiplayer. In solo you’ll need to get all your upgrades out ASAP and use your counters liberally, especially to manage threat.

This (and Rocket’s) deck is a bit of a table hog so fair warning.

My current high score for damage in a turn with Groot is 25, but there’s quite a bit more to go if you can get everything at the right time. This deck would also work for Colossus as well.

Thanks for checking this out!