Venus Fly Trap

It's Groot's time in this journey of mine and he is paired with aggression. This is the point where I make the argument that there are NO bad heroes. This deck requires a bit of patience but that's okay because so does Groot.

I've never talked about mulligans before but it is important to get Fertile Ground and Deft Focus out as quick as possible. Fertile Ground for the counter and card draw, while Deft Focus can target every card in his kit except Fertile Ground.

Let's touch on thwarting real fast. Until Entangling Vines is out thwarting is at a premium. Looking for Trouble is there to help with the main scheme. That minion it gives you also combos nicely with Root Stomp for a counter and Lie in Wait is included to make sure you can get that. War Room and Smash the Problem are there to help with side schemes or main depending what is needed. Combat Training to help get a little more out of Smash the Problem or just extra damage.

It wouldn't be a deck of mine if I didn't try to feature at least one odd card, and As One! is that card this time. To get the most out of it I've included 3 cheap(ish) guardian/avenger allies. Boost their attack further with Boot Camp and you're looking at 7 damage for 3ER but since it is an alliance card you don't have to pay for it yourself. Ideally you'd push your allies to the edge and keep them around till they could be replaced, but until Boot Camp is out treat like you always would.

Now let's talk Groot. People like to say that Groot is a bad hero. People are wrong all the time and this is another example. Groot in my opinion is one of the most misunderstood heroes and one of the more versatile. I've read that his kit is at odds with itself both with wanting to keep counters and wanting to use them but it's really not. Groot is an amalgamation of SP//dr and War Machine. Think of his counters as their own unique resources and his upgrades as the events in that economy. 2 for Lashing Vines is the standard cost of a ready. 1 for 2 thwart/damage matches up to Making an Entrance and Skilled Strike. 1 for 3 health for Vine Shield is always worth it because it will also protect that economy. Also "We Are Groot" is the cheapest tough you'll see outside of Colossus if paid for by Deft Focus.

You might have to start off playing him a little bit risky at first. The goal is to add counters in the first 3 rounds. You want to get to 4-6 counters as fast as you can. Don't hesitate to flip down, especially if there is little to no threat on the main scheme, even if you have 4+ counters. Don't be afraid to let stage 1 go unless it's the only stage because Groot thwarting/attacking for 8+ will make up for it. Once you're at 8+ counters you'll have 3-4 turns in hero before you need to even consider flipping down for more counters. Depending on how you use your counters "I am Groot" and "I. AM. GROOT!" should still be above curve. Once you're at 6 counters it should be easy to maintain that as a minimum if you've got Entangling Vines out to support you're thwarting. Groot will naturally thin his deck getting to those events quicker. This deck has 10 cards alone that will stay on the board permanently allowing you to get to those big pay off events quicker.

I'm building decks for experimentation and proof that all heroes are viable in all aspects. This deck is probably leans a little more to the experimental but is still viable. Truthfully Groot is probably better in an overkill deck but there are plenty of solid decks that do that so I went in a different direction. At the very least I really hope this write up at least encourages people who build for effectiveness to delve into the heroes who need a little love like Groot.