Pesky Raccoon Baffles and Befuddles

Remember when you opened Cyclops' hero pack and proceeded to completely ignore Befuddle? Sick of it just sitting around, taking up valuable storage space?

Enter this deck, my attempt of taking an unloved card and giving it its best home possible. There are a few other contenders for the best user of Befuddle, Phoenix in particular, but at the end of the day Rocket is rewarded for defeating minions and that's what Befuddle is all about!

Rocket also gets access to "Think Fast!", a great card for the theme of the deck with Rocket bewildering and confusing his enemies. You might be thinking that, if this deck is meant to be thematic, then why is Rocket (a Guardian) running around with Professor X and Nick Fury? Well! If you're confused about that, then I'm afraid to say you've already been befuddled by the pesky raccoon! ;D

At the time of posting, I have handily defeated both Expert Drang and Expert Magneto with this deck.

If you like this deck, feel free to give it a ❤ ! Thank you!

(Note: This deck, as posted, is ideal for 1-2 players. If you want to play this in 3-4 player, keep in mind that this deck is an all-rounder and will not be able to reliably handle all the threat for so many players. Think of it as taking the Leadership role of providing whatever is necessary. More details can be found in the Strategy section, and ways to adapt the deck for 3-4 player threat removal can be found in Alternative Cards.)

Key Cards & Abilities:

• Befuddle - This card is the center point of the deck, from which all other choices have been made. Slap it on a minion, and now you're dealing damage to it equal to your THW when you attack. So how do we make this work?

• "Murdered You!" - This is Rocket's hero-form ability. Deal excess damage to a minion, draw a card. It's extremely potent card draw that only gets better based on the quantity of minions in a scenario. Befuddle helps us trigger it more often and should be kept in mind throughout.

• Heroic Intuition + Thruster Boots - More THW means more damage from Befuddle, and that's where these upgrades come in. Mulligan hard for these as top priorities - only Ingenuity is higher priority, and even that is arguable.

• C.I.T.T. - Spend two resources, ready up. When your upgrades have gotten your THW up to 4? This is a great card that then gives you a minimum of 8 threat removal a turn. Combine it with Befuddle? And now you have a minimum of 8 minion damage - enough to ensure most of the toughest minions are defeated and trigger Rocket's "Murdered You!" ability.

• I've Got a Plan - The beauty of this card alongside Befuddle is that Befuddle turns that +1 THW into +1 damage. It's not the most efficient combo in the world, but it's very convenient. Combine it with C.I.T.T. for maximum value.

• Professor X - The Professor is obviously a powerhouse card on its, and confuses are especially good for Rocket to help him go alter-ego without the villain scheming (and so use his "Tinkering" alter-ego ability without worry), but the good Professor also loves Befuddle. No threat left on the main scheme? Slap Befuddle on a minion and turn Professor X into a two-wheeled battering ram of death, effectively giving him 3 ATK against the minion!

Other Cards

• Basic Allies/The Power in All of Us - These are one of the most powerful groups of cards in the game, and Rocket is one of their best users with access to both the coveted Genius trait as well as Guardian. The card draw from Nick Fury, Moon Girl and Ironheart is an excellent way to increase your chance of seeing Befuddle at the same time as a minion being in play, as well as finding your THW upgrades early.

• Gamora - A great ally in terms of value, just beware that your deck runs few events and you risk discarding half your deck. However, when our key cards - such as Befuddle or Nick Fury - are in our discard pile? Speeding through our deck to shuffle them back in becomes an advantage!

• Groot + Mockingbird - While Professor X can stop two villain activations, so too can these allies which makes them key parts of your defensive strategy. While Groot risks being annihilated in one hit on Expert, particularly against certain villains, he will usually survive an attack - I then recommend using his ATK and/or THW until he is down to 1 hp, then defending again. On Standard, he can often simply defend 3+ times in a row.

• Plan B - Plan B is a great way to spend excess cards in hand, such as when you draw multiple "Think Fast!" or Befuddles in one hand with no way to use them. The C.I.T.T. is also good for this, but Plan B should not be underestimated on a hero who loves softening up minions.

• "Think Fast!" - This card might as well be one of Rocket's own cards. If you're playing him in Justice, you want it! Going alter-ego is always worth it when you can use his "Tinkering" alter-ego ability! While Sonic Rifle is technically better value per confuse, it's a lot less flexible to play and takes up your coveted Restricted slots for your weapons. And let's not forget about the theme of the deck, to baffle and bewilder your enemies!

Strategy:

Use Befuddle to deal with minions whenever possible after setting up your THW upgrades - whether this means outright defeating them, or softening them up so that your weapons can finish them off. You generally always want to try and trigger "Murdered You!" if you can keep the excess damage down to 1 (and often even at 2!).

With Befuddle dealing a significant amount of damage to minions, your weapons are freed up to finish them off or lay into the villain. Remember to try and save Particle Cannon to get the last hit on minions where possible! This should give you more than enough damage for most scenarios in solo play, and make you a significant contributor to damage in multiplayer.

With a potential THW of 4, multiple ways to ready, and a suite of great allies to remove threat (Moon Girl, Nick Fury, Professor X)? Threat removal should never be an issue in solo play. In multiplayer, you may run into troubles at 3-4 player count. Remind your other players that this deck is more of an all-rounder than a threat-removal specialist, preferably before the game, so they can choose appropriate heroes and decks to support the team's threat control.

While Rocket is a 9hp and 1 DEF hero, your array of excellent allies and ample access to Confused should give you a rock-solid defense. As mentioned before, Professor X, Mockingbird and Groot can usually block multiple villain activations! And whenever there's a confuse, be it from Professor X or "Think Fast!", you'll want to duck into alter-ego.

Due to the great value from basic allies and the ample amount of confuse, you'll likely find yourself with an excess of allies from time to time. In solo play, you shouldn't hesitate to use their last hp on using an ATK or THW if it's helpful to you. Blocking with allies is great value, but one of the strength of allies is their flexibility. In multiplayer, however, you might even find yourself regularly defending other players!

Alternative Cards:

• For 3-4 player, consider bringing Making an Entrance and extra copies of Overwatch.
• Avengers Mansion is a great card in general, though with various sources of card draw I've yet to find it necessary despite how easy The Power in All of Us makes it to play. Still, this is a great card - especially for multiplayer.
• For allies, Spider-Man is a great card that always comes in useful. Vivian also has some great uses depending on the villain and modulars!
• Flora and Fauna is a handy card, and while I prefer consistent cards that are always available to use, this card can give you a lot of charges if Groot is in play.
• And lastly, but certainly not least, Under Surveillance is a great option against villains with low threat-threshold main schemes or only 1 main scheme.

Good luck and have fun!