Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Firepower is the latest and (in my opinion) most powerful archetypes in the game and I've been having a blast playing it with the Winter Soldier.

Imagine this: you find your weapons, get them into play, and then unleash ridiculously efficient events that deal some serious damage, turn after turn. The best part? Nearly any character can use this archetype, especially those heroes who already have some built-in thwarting capabilities, which is super handy for solo play.

The Core of Your Firepower Deck I believe there are 18 core cards that are essential for any Firepower deck. These are the backbone, and you'll want to include them no matter what. The remaining 7 (or more, if you prefer a deck larger than 40 cards) can be tailored to your hero's specific kit and your preferred playstyle.

Here are the core cards you'll want:

• 3 copies of Firepower
• 3 copies of Fusillade
• 3 copies of Directed Force
• 2 copies of Aggressive Energy
• 1 copy of Sharpshooter
• The Keep Up the Pressure and Lock and Load player side schemes
• At least 4 copies of weapons, whether they're part of your hero's inherent kit or come from the Basic and Aggression sets.

Rounding Out Your Deck For those last 7 cards, you've got some flexibility:

• If your hero isn't exactly rich in resources, consider adding some double resource cards.
• You'll likely need 2 or 3 allies to help with thwarting, especially in solo games.
• Cards like Aggressive Stance, Fluid Motion, or Martial Prowess can be great additions, depending on your needs and what synergizes best with your chosen hero.

Heroes That Shine with Firepower Many heroes can really lean into this style of play. Heroes who can recur events to quickly get Firepower back into their hand are especially potent. For example, I've been having a blast with a Winter Soldier deck using these 18 core cards. I've rounded out his deck with:

• The Nick's (Nick Fury Nick Fury, Sr. and Melinda May as allies.
• Double resources to help get those allies and weapon upgrades onto the board quickly.
• Keep Them Busy for extra thwarting in solo play.
• Test the Defense, because you'll be spamming events, and it'll fill up quickly, giving you another excellent option.

This deck is incredibly exciting and fast-paced, allowing for some truly magical turns. Imagine this sequence: popping Keep Up the Pressure to grab an event and boost event damage by 1, using Winter Soldier's arm to pay for Firepower (and getting another +1 damage), exhausting three weapons, using Bambino for 3 damage and overkill, and then topping it all off with Directed Force. Glorious.