Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a GAU8 Avenger Autocannon

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Máquina de Guerra/ Justicia 0 0 0 1.0
calculated confusion 0 0 0 1.0
Tempo Butterfly 6 5 2 1.0
WAR MACHINE ROX With An 'X'… All Caps 3 3 0 1.0

dr00 · 45482

surprise tool

Requisition Order 8-39j:

Item Specs Misc.
GAU-8 Avenger 1x Autocannon Gatling-Style
Shoulder Mount 1x Left
Screws 3x 100mm Like, really sturdy

Per:

  • Col. James Rupert 'Rhodey' Rhodes, United States Marine Corps


Psylocke is here! Which means many people will be posting Psylocke decks. She's a lot of fun, but I'm more interested in one card in particular: Float Like a Butterfly--absolute game-changer for Justice. No longer are you stuck just thwarting side schemes for value. In fact, this deck has no Player Side Schemes, which, why wouldn't I? Well, you just aren't going to be thwarting all that much.

Mission Statement

The general strategy is to get Float Like a Butterfly down as quickly as possible so that all of your attack damage is +1 against confused enemies. Also get your Munitions Bunker down as quickly as possible and make repeated trips to Alter-Ego and load up on munitions. Once you are ready, you can launch everything with Shoulder Cannon, which now does 2 damage on every use. Almost everything else is also boosted, but remember it's just +1, not double. You get a lot of mileage out of Shoulder Cannon simply because it does 1. However, your Missile Launcher and attack events are also really strong value for their ammo cost. Ideally, you want to use those first and then dump your remaining ammo into your Shoulder Cannon before flipping down.

Seven Swans a-Swimmin'

The first order of business, as in any deck, is setup. Your setup pieces include resource generation and ramp tools like Enhanced Awareness, Helicarrier, Quincarrier, and Gauntlet Guns, with a further complement of many double resources

But once you have some economy, your win condition setup pieces are simple: Float Like a Butterfly, Shoulder Cannon, and Munitions Bunker. Get Float Like a Butterfly and Munitions Bunker down as quickly as possible, and thankfully you won't need Shoulder Cannon until later. Once you're ready, Two Against the World is a good tutor for it.

pewpewpew

Alright big guy, let's dance.

A Ballet of a Thousand lbs. of Corrugated Steel

While you wait for your Shoulder Cannon, there are plenty of ways to confuse: Banshee (any enemy, every time he thwarts), Dazzler (any enemy, when she enters play), Eros (only minions, 1 for each you use to pay for him), Professor X (villain only, when he enters play), Sonic Rifle (up to 2 per Rifle), and the new card: Upside the Head, which pulls double duty by confusing on basic attacks or stunning if the enemy is already confused.

With all of that confusion, you will have plenty of opportunity to flip to Alter-Ego. Munitions Bunker is really valuable, and you can requisition more ammo every round, then dump it all in a game-winning crescendo of glory. Also Upgraded Chassis will help keep you alive with repeated Tough status cards. Just make sure to dump all your ammo before flipping down, because you're going to lose it all anyway. And finally, don't forget about James Rhodes' ability to shuffle in War Machine cards back into your deck (remember that it's received an erratum to be just once per round now). Shuffle back in plenty of your great events and any important upgrades you lose from Caught Off Guard.

boom, you lookin' for this?

BOOM, you lookin' for this?

**

Float Like a Butterfly is a great card but does have a little nuance. It triggers when 'a character you control attacks a confused enemy'.

So what is a character attacking? Do events and upgrades work? Yes. Does that make sense? Well, that's up to you, but when you (not you you, but--you know what I mean) play an attack event or use the (attack) on an upgrade, it is considered to be that character the upgrade is attached to or your hero in all other cases that is attacking. For all intents and purposes for this deck, basic attacks from allies will trigger it, and all your attack events and upgrades with attacks, along with War Machine's basic attacks will trigger as if War Machine is attacking.

  • Full Auto: only works on attacked enemies, so the overkill damage won't be increased like with Wild Wild Mojo, which increases all damage. You will still do 1 extra damage though, and if there's any overkill, that will be still applied to the villain. You just don't get to double-dip.
  • Scorched Earth will not do increased damage. Although it is an event, and it is War Machine by extension performing that action, it is not an (attack) action.
  • Similarly, Sonic Rifle will not do increased damage. Although it is an upgrade, and it is War Machine by extension doing the actions on the card, it is not an (attack) action.

And finally, for multiplayer, Float Like a Butterfly can be 'played under any player's control', and that player does not need to do any confusing to get the benefit. Again, all characters controlled by that player get the benefits, so Leadership with a lot of allies or Aggression with allies, events, or repeated readying and hero attacks will get a lot of extra value. A lot of Protections pinging effects aren't attacks though (but there are some good combos, depending on the deck). There are two copies in this deck to ensure you get one out as soon as possible, but don't sleep on the fact that you can give it to other players.

22 comments

Sep 23, 2023 turtles04 · 832

Cool! I have a War Machine deck using Float like a butterfly too. I included Agent 13 to ready munitions bunker for more ammo counters when WM decides to flip. I also saw two other decks that were similar... looks like a lot of people saw float like a butterfly and decided War Machine would benefit a lot haha. War Machine is a top 10 fav of mine, glad to see he's getting love!

Sep 23, 2023 josseroo · 708

Love this! It is hard to picture a better combo for Float Like a Butterfly than Shoulder Cannon

Sep 23, 2023 dr00 · 45482

@turtles04 yeah, Agent 13 was definitely something i was considering! i think in general it didn't have a lot of the combo potential it has in other decks, especially with me having no healing, but it definitely would put in work here. i also love War Machine, and i'm so happy. this deck is a lot of fun, and i'm glad a lot of people are seeing the potential!

@josseroo RATATATATAT!

Sep 23, 2023 journeyman2 · 26199

I’d like to humbly request you play this our next game!

Sep 23, 2023 NocturnalAnimal · 17900

I will never not get the image of Rhodey in a tutu out of my head now! :D I’ve got this on my list of decks to try out asap

Sep 23, 2023 corbintm · 2195

The synergy between float and shoulder cannon is fantastic, great work here!

Sep 23, 2023 InigoMontoya · 5098

I'm not a fan of War Machine, but this it brilliant and looks like a lot of fun.

Sep 23, 2023 Dansome · 7

I'm imagining a Cyclops 2-hand with Exploit Weakness for some really satisfying cannon turns.

Sep 24, 2023 dr00 · 45482

@journeyman2 deal! i thought i had played it before with you already, so we definitely have to rectify that haha

@NocturnalAnimal i aim to please haha :D

@corbintm yeah, it's so great! feels especially fun if you just mow down the villain all in one turn haha

@Dansome ooooh now we're talkin!

Sep 26, 2023 Lemonshrimp · 2

You should put in an Agent 13, so she can ready your bunker and stack ammo like crazy, and then go AC-113 all over the vilain!

Sep 26, 2023 neothechosen · 10908

Wow! War Machine just got a serious upgrade!

Sep 26, 2023 Sluggie · 4

I've previously seen War Machine team up with Cyclops's Exploit Weakness... We woz drooling then, and now STACKING...

Sep 27, 2023 dr00 · 45482

@Lemonshrimp yeah, the more i think about it, the more i want to take out one Enhanced Awareness for her

@neothechosen i can't stop making the 'boom! y'all lookin' for this?' joke, but it's just so appropriate here lmao

@Sluggie fully unleashed tactical superpower

Oct 08, 2023 Caldias · 2617

I did not expect a Mousekatool but here we are and I'm here for it

Oct 15, 2023 kelann08 · 1

Can you elaborate on how this interacts with overkill?

Let's say I attack a confused minion for 3 damage and overkill. They have 2 health and I'm dealing 4 with Float. The minion dies, do I deal 2 (1 left over plus the 1 from Float) to the villain or am I dealing 1 because Float doesn't carry over because the Villain isn't confused?

Love this deck!

Dec 09, 2023 Siris101 · 18

Wow this deck is really fun! Makes War machine way more fun in solo. Thanks for making it and sharing

Dec 12, 2023 MarvelChampionHQ · 1

Anyone want a playthrough of this deck? I made a Youtube channel and I'm starting a deck test playthrough series.

Dec 12, 2023 dr00 · 45482

@Caldias our memes got some deep cuts

@kelann08 you will deal extra damage to the minion if it's confused. if you overkill onto a confused villain, there won't be any extra damage. Float only works when you 'attack' a confused enemy, and overkill damage isn't an attack against the villain

@Siris101 glad you've enjoyed it!

@MarvelChampionHQ good luck! hope it goes well

Dec 15, 2023 MarvelChampionHQ · 1

Playthrough with this deck here. www.youtube.com -1x • Banshee -1x • Dazzler -1x • Eros I don't have them yet

Apr 13, 2024 dr00 · 45482

@MarvelChampionHQ sorry sometimes i don't get the notifications. that's so great of you! watching it now :D

May 31, 2024 CANAS1AN · 1

how does Enhanced Awareness factor into this deck?

May 31, 2024 dr00 · 45482

@CANAS1AN it can be traded out for any of the enhanced cards imo. it's there to help with extra resources. although it 'only' pays out exactly what you put into it, it also helps you convert doubles (especially the power in all of us) to 1 extra resource over a few rounds. War Machine really struggles with economy imo, since his only resource generators only work with his events that also cost ammo