We have a Hulk ... finally

I think everyone wrote off Hulk after his F-tier initial delivery. Several cards came out obviously designed to fix him, though I'm holding out for a 3-cost Gamma card that lets him draw a card after each attack that successfully causes him damage. How many of us have gone through the exercise of trying to fix Hulk's design?

I was sad to see "the most powerful Avenger" dismissed for his poor flexibility and poor thwart, so I did some math. Bruce just needed to dump the resources and pump up the upgrades and events. He stands up now, and boy is smashing fun!

I try to stay thematic to all hero decks that I build, but with Hulk, I became desperate to find something that worked. There's a justice deck with 1-cost thwarts that works, but that wasn't thematic; I had to stick to aggression. I have 3 Hand Cannons in this build, and they're essential for the overkill and benefit to Moment of Triumph, so I pretend that I'm playing Smart Hulk. They're so essential that if I were to play without them, I would house-rule my Gamma card above.

Edit: Replace Martial Prowess used only for Crushing Blows with Enhanced Physique to fuel Hulk events.

Strategy: Mulligan for up to two of three resource generators, Helicarrier, Quincarrier, and/or Deft Focus. Take hits to the face using "You'll Pay for That!" to remove threat. Then bring out Hand Cannons to supplement Moment of Triumphs strikes to minions for big heals. Make Sub-Orbital Leap a higher priority than it should be despite the cost. Flip down only when you need to heal. Obviously, smash!

Blade will attack when you have a strength resource left in your hand, and Bug will thwart when you can use a basic attack to heal him. Both stay out for the whole game unless you have to block with them to survive. Bring out Lockjaw from discard to block when you have more resources in hand than event card cost.

This build has a plethora of upgrades, but you don't need to prioritize any except Combat Training. I tried to find a solution using a Honed Technique deck or minion focused Hall of Heroes deck like Thor's, but Hulk works best with a simple high attack stat manipulated into thwarting and healing.

Your plays will be based on your status, the board, and the puzzle of your hand, which is why this deck is so much fun. Maximizing four cards knowing that you can't keep any adds nicely to the tension.

Some good cards that I chose not to use: Counterattack has a fantastic value versus heavy damage strikes, but Hulk's kit needs more threat mitigation than extra damage. Fluid Motion is also a great card but eventually cut for the same reason. Machine Man counters Hulk's enraged flaw but ditto. I prefer Plan B's consistency to avoid enraged discards. I wouldn't add Side Holster to try to get all three Hand Cannons up at once, since these cards run off charge counters. That card's designed for Rocket and my bestie Venom.

-Stretch

Puny god