Introduction

The latest wave of S.H.I.E.L.D. cards has breathed new life into older characters. Hawkeye is famously on the weaker end of the spectrum in terms of power, but this deck boosts his power level while maintaining his core identity.

Our specialty is dishing out huge damage. The Firepower + Directed Force combo can unleash 15 damage for 3ER once we're fully set up. Throw in an extra arrow or two and we're easily keeping the board clean or bursting down the villain.

Although our specialty is big damage, we're reasonably well-rounded thanks to a healthy serving of versatile allies.

Allies

• Agent 13 is nearly free if we have Helicarrier in play. She costs 5ER, but can ready up Helicarrier four times.
• Captain America boosts our tempo, allowing us to extract value out of our allies faster. Grant Ward is an ideal target, since using him up faster means we are less likely to hit treachery cards.
• Deathlok brings his own gun, which helps set up Firepower.
• Grant Ward is just insanely efficient. Even if he manages to see two treachery cards, he's still above curve.
• Psylocke doesn't really fit our theme, but she's crazy good.
• Winter Soldier has fine baseline efficiency, but if you set up his response he's an absolute monster.

Events

• Directed Force has a disgusting combo with Firepower, allowing us to get an extra 6 damage for 1ER. However, what makes it amazing for Hawkeye is that every arrow is a ranged attack, so we have 13 cards in the deck that combo with it. Explosive Arrow is particularly noteworthy.
• Firepower is the centerpiece of the deck. Our bow is a weapon, so we just need two more weapons to get full value out of this powerhouse.

Resources

• We're running only one copy of The Power of Aggression because we barely have enough cards to justify its inclusion. It is not essential, however, and could be cut or replaced with Aggressive Energy.

Supports

• Helicarrier synergizes with Agent 13 and is really useful in multiplayer.
• Quincarrier allows us to squeeze out an extra upgrade or arrow every turn.

Upgrades

• Bambino is here to set up Firepower and put out some extra damage here and there. We typically want to spend 2 ammo and then leave it in play for the rest of the game. Note that Bambino doesn't exhaust for its ability, so we can use it for Firepower and use an ammo counter in the same turn.
• Combat Training gives us something to do with our basic activation. Combined with the bow, we'll have 3 ATK, which is respectable.
• Endurance gives us more wiggle room with our HP.
• Jarnbjorn is primarily here to set up Firepower. Similar to Bambino, it doesn't exhaust for its own ability, so we can use the action and also pay for Firepower in the same turn.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Deputy smooths out requirements for cards like Bambino and Captain America. We are playing it on Clint.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Sidearm is a non-restricted weapon, making it ideal as a Firepower enabler. We have two copies; one for Deathlok, one for ourselves.
• Sharpshooter works with our arrow cards, although you might want to avoid using it until the second deck pass (to avoid milling past critical upgrades).
• Side Holster allows us to hold Bambino, Jarnbjorn, and the bow. We can skip it if we use a Sidearm instead.

Sideboard

• Add Sunfire if the villain has nasty attachments.
• Replace Quincarrier with Avengers Mansion to avoid collisions with other players.
• Aggressive Energy works pretty well with Firepower and all of our arrows. Feel free to bring it instead of The Power of Aggression.

Special mentions

• Government Liason can discount our allies, but not much else.
• Assault Training can give us extra copies of Firepower, but that's not always a good thing since we can only afford to play one per turn.
• Hand Cannon is a cheaper alternative to Bambino. Bambino doesn't exhaust and does more damage, but both are good options.