Cap & Cannonball defeat Venom Goblin

This is a tweaked version of a deck I published a couple weeks back. I’ve just used it to take down Venom Goblin on expert (equipped with the dreaded Goblin Gear) so the power level of this deck feels pretty good!

It also feels like a pretty flexible deck with lots of different lines you can take depending on the match up. But most importantly, I’ve found it to be a lot of fun.

Now for the write up…

What drew me to Falcon?

This deck is built around the following things that, as a combination of factors, are unique to Falcon…

• Redwing provides an amazing resource sink which, in my mind, enables you to play a lot more resources in your deck without the risk of a dead hand. This means you can confidently chuck in 3x [The Power of Flight].(/card/42022) to help pay for all those Aerial cards (he has more in his kit than any other hero) knowing they won’t get wasted, and potentially aspect focused “Power of” cards as well.
• Soup Kitchen allows you to play allies a nice 2 resource discount
• Falcon's Flock is an amazingly efficient source of resource (again for all those aerial cards).
• Falcon (on his hero side) has the Avenger so has access to Mighty Avengers, providing a nice ally stat boost as well as Sky Cycle if you’re be leaning into Avenger allies.

This led me to want to build a deck focused on Avenger allies (to leverage Mighty Avengers) with the Aerial trait (to maximise value from The Power of Flight and Falcon’s Flock). The good news is that every Avenger ally with Aerial costs 5 (both in Leadership) and this deck feels uniquely built to pay for them. The bad news - there are only two of them (Captain Marvel and Spectrum. But these are allies that can really pack a punch, especially Spectrum, who can deliver a ton of value over multiple turns, if we’re able to pay for her with a wild. More on that later...

Two allies does feel a little light though…

Enter CANNONBALL!!!

In my previous Falcon decks, there were 3 allies that really stood out - Cosmo, Cannonball and, to a slightly lesser extent, Gambit. Cosmo and Gambit are neither Aerial or Avenger so they don’t really fit the bill. But Cannonball does have Aerial, so can be paid for with Power of Flight or Falcon's Flock. And while he doesn’t have the Avenger trait, he does have the potential to not take any consequential damage so he can potentially sit in play the entire game, providing big value every round if he has access to readies. And given Falcon has the highest density of Aerial-traited cards in his kit in the game, he can help you consistently meet the criteria of having two Aerial-traited in your hand and avoiding taking any consequential damage.

Fixing the lack of Avenger trait is not a huge issue either. We can fix that by making him a Honorary Avenger and because we’re running Leadership, we have access to Suit Up too, making the set-up fairly consistent. And once he has the Avenger trait you can attach a Sky Cycle to him to too, for maximum value. Now we’re cooking!

Once fully set up Cannonball we’re looking at…

Cannonball + Honorary Avenger + Mighty Avengers + Inspired + Sky Cycle = Up to 8 damage or 8 threat removal every turn, 12 if you trigger a ready off Talon Line. That’s the ceiling (not taking into account the potential of playing a Get Ready for an extra ready!) but even having him attack or thwart for 2 each round early game while sticking on the board is still great value.

Piloting Cannonball

The slightly tricky thing with Cannonball is there can be times when you don’t have two Aerial cards in your hand. This is especially true early game, less so late game when you’re built out a bit and your deck has a higher density of the Aerial-traited events.

However, if you do find yourself in a bind due to lack of Aerial cards, do not fear, Redwing is here! Use his effect to send him back to hand (pinging damage or threat removal in the process). Worse case, Cannonball is now taking 1 consequential damage but in the majority of cases you’ll have at least 1 other Aerial card in hand to compliment Redwing.

Redwing Assembles

His ability to be a resource sink, manipulate the encounter deck and be an Aerial-traited card in hand makes him an all-star.

But it’s also worth noting that Redwing is both Avenger and Aerial traited so Mighty Avengers is still online when he is in play. So you can attack or thwart for 2, have him in play for the start of your next turn and then bounce him back to hand, increasing your hand size while ensuring he’s eeking out some extra value before triggering his bounce ability.

Falcon takes one for the team

Firstly, Falcon is no slouch when it comes to packing a punch. With Battlefield Awareness and Soaring Acrobatics down he has the potential to hit and thwart for a hefty amount.

But often he’s focused on doing the dirty work of protecting his allies by taking the hits himself. Given the long-term value allies like Cannonball provide, we ideally do not want to block with our allies if we can avoid it (although Redwing can block in a pinch when needed and you can be easily recurred in alter-ego). Thankfully Falcon can take the hit. Firstly we can manipulate the encounter deck to ensure we minimise the boost we take from the villain’s attack. Vibranium Microweave is an important upgrade for him, reducing the damage he takes while pinging something back, while Draw Their Fire and Aerial Evacuation can be clutch.

You know what… such a selfless leader deserves a bit more protection. Give this man a shield!

Captain America

There are three reasons why the Captain America title provides extra value in this deck.

1. It boosts Falcon’s DEF and provides retaliate. He’s defending a lot so appreciates the boost and this + Vibranium Microweave pings the villain back for 2, so we’re creating extra value while he takes all those hits.
2. He darn well deserves it.
3. It provides him with the on-demand ability to exchange a strength for a wild resource by sending Captain America’s Shield to your hand. Which is important because…

Wild Spectrum

Promoting Sam to Captain America provides access to the interaction above - by spending a strength resource you can put Cap’s Shield into hand, giving you on-demand access to a wild resource to trigger Spectrum’s stat buffs.

Having access to wild resources is also part of why The Power of Leadership is in the deck. They can be used to pay - and then tucked under - Spectrum, while also paying for other 2+ cost Leadership cards e.g. Captain Marvel, Air Supremacy, Suit Up and Mighty Avengers. At worst, you just use them to pay for some Redwing shenanigans.

Opening hand - Falcon’s consistency

To top it all off, despite the requirement of high cost cards and upgrades, the deck is relatively quick and easy to get going. Ideally you want Cannonball + Honorary Avenger out as soon as possible so you can set up the Sky Cycle and Mighty Avengers.

The easiest way to do that is hard mulligan for Suit Up. Use it to grab Cannonball and Honorary Avenger. Then discard a card to nab Falcon's Flock, use the Flock to pay for Cannonball and put Honorary Avenger on him. Only downside is you likely can’t activate him that turn without taking consequential damage but the game is likely on the up from then on out.

But there are so many other lines and it’s very consistent in getting either Cannonball or Spectrum (with a full buff) out turn 1 due to a combination of Suit Up, high density of double resources and access to either Redwing (with a wild resource) or Falcon's Flock on demand.

And absolute worst case you draw into a bunch of resources, in which case you search for Redwing and use the Redwing loop to gain some early tempo.

Other notes:

• Suit Up becomes less relevant late game but has a strength resource, allowing you to pay for the trigger to send Cap’s Shield back to hand and ping some damage.
• Air Supremacy typically provides nice value as you’ll very likely have multiple Aerial allies in play. Plus it has the all important Aerial trait to help keep Cannonball from taking consequential damage.
• Aerial Recon and Up, Up, and Away are also brilliant Falcon cards that can be absolutely clutch in those tough match ups where the villain has back breaking encounters cards like Advanced Glider in their deck that you have to avoid.

And that’s it. Combine the above build with Falcon’s ability to manipulate the encounter deck and use it against the Villain makes this a really fun deck that has a load of interesting lines and a ton of damage and thwart potential. I hope others give it a try and have as much fun as I’ve had with it. Enjoy :)