Swinging for the Fences

Batter Up

The time of low health minions may have come to an end, but this doesn't mean the end for Thor. With a full team to support him, he's ready to step up to the plate. Bunting isn't an option anymore - he's going for home runs only from now on.

Art Credit: Al Milgrom - West Coast Avengers (1985) Annual #2

Thanks to Thor expert Tjjj for some tips that helped bring this deck over the finish line!

A Swing and a Miss

Striking out with Thor? You're not alone.

Minions are Thor's economy, and it can be hard to face off against minions that have only gotten stronger over time. Making the board state harder to accelerate setup, especially early in a game, can often feel like a trap and lead to quick losses.

While he's received some support over time, these cards haven't given him the buff that some other heroes have received.

• Limitless Stamina and Godlike Stamina can be strong, but having a hand full of them leads to very little you can do to affect the board.
• The Bifrost can help get Asgard allies into play, but needs those allies to be cheap to use reliably
• With a low thwarting potential, even Build Support and other player side schemes aren't as viable

Even though he wants to tear down minions, minions aren't always easy to defeat for him.

• Area of effect builds can be fun, but a Lightning Strike that could tear down hordes of Goblin Thralls only goes so far against Dragons and Trolls.
• Attacking for 3 just isn't enough for most minions anymore - you'll need multiple activations to take them down
• Hammer Throw is probably his best tool against minions, but between playing it and getting Mjolnir back on board, it's an expensive play to take down a single minion

That doesn't mean that Thor isn't worth playing - he just needs to work around some of these weaknesses. How can we still focus on minions while making sure they can be dealt with?

Building a team that helps to reduce their health so we can focus on throwing big attacks at them that splash onto the villain.

Swinging for the Fences (Deck Strategy)

Thor is our cleanup hitter and he's ready to bring everyone home. This deck is an event focused overkill build that leans into all of Thor's minion focused kit to deal massive amounts of excess damage to the villain. Our team here includes a roster of allies with minion interactions to help whittle them down and prime them for strong attacks with excess damage.

Rather than focusing on readies or area of effect attacks, instead here we're taking down one or two minions at a time. This allows for strong burst healing, counters for Hall of Heroes and threat removal. The team here also help take hits, provide strong anti-Loki tech and allow for sporadic flips to alter ego to grab those Hall of Heroes counters.

Changeup

Not every pitch is exactly what it seems.

Why would you do a Full-Body Charge when you can throw a hammer?

It's cheaper.

• Hammer Throw is 4 effective resources (3 to play, card itself)
• Mjolnir is 2 effective resources (1 to play, card itself)

In total, that's 6 effective resources while Full-Body Charge is only 5!

With 2 copies of The Power of Aggression, you have 5 doubles that can hit Full-Body Charge compared to 3 for Hammer Throw. When you play this, you've kept Mjolnir out on the board for the attack buff and saved Team-Building Exercise to help play a low cost ally or upgrade.

Bases Loaded

The opposing team has some real hitters now. Thor alone can't always hold his own. He's brought 8 extra teammates for a full batting lineup, all working to help round out the team.

• Most of the team has a discount from Team-Building Exercise with either the Asgard trait, the Avenger trait or the Aerial trait
• Aside from Heimdall and Lady Sif, every ally here has an interaction with minions, perfect for synergy with Thor's kit
• 5 allies here are Asgard, allowing you to play them via The Bifrost. Our aggression allies are our main targets, with 2 out of 3 making for good The Power of Aggression targets
  • Throg can block huge villain attacks and increase survivability
  • Valkyrie can help clear out minions if needed or tee up minions for a large attack. You'll almost always hit the kicker
  • Angela works to get almost guaranteed card draw, mitigating dead hands full of overkill events
• Heimdall and Vivian make up an anti-Loki taskforce
  • Vivian can blank his text box and ping a tough off of a character
  • Heimdall can help get encounter card knowledge to make his response whiff and also help offer free flips to alter-ego
• Professor X can offer burst thwarting, alter-ego access and can even stun a minion for stalwart scenarios

Most of all, many of these allies have at least a 2 attack stat, helping along with Thor's attack to get larger minions primed for attacks with excess damage.

Can't play an ally but need access to alter-ego? Keep Them Busy to remove threat from the main scheme, taking advantage of this not being a thwart to bypass crisis icons. Only takes a single basic attack with Mjolnir to clear!

Grand Slam

Knock your enemies out of the park with 7 events that overkill onto the villain.

• Hammer Throw can take out just about anything
• Keep Mjolnir on the board and Full-Body Charge a minion instead. No minions? Just throw yourself at the villain directly
• Relentless Assault is a cheaper option to help take out a minion, perfect for taking out a 4 HP minion and hitting a tough status card off of the villain

Combo your home run and Chase Them Down for some thwarting or celebrate with a Moment of Triumph to heal back up to 7 HP. If you're at low health, a Full-Body Charge or Hammer Throw followed by a Moment of Triumph can even the odds back in your favor.

Benchwarmers

We've got a full 9 player team here and many players had to sit this one out. If you want 40 cards, I'd recommend taking out a copy of Chase Them Down, Spider-Girl or Heimdall.

• Brawn is a great ally to help ping Toughs off of characters and help with threat. Unfortunately, he has no common traits to help reduce his cost and his high health reduces his utility as a potential blocker.
• "Bring It!" can help have some strong card draw, but Thor can struggle with minion swarm. This isn't an area of effect deck, so keeping minions out causes more problems than it solves!
• Deft Focus and Martial Prowess are both strong resource generators generally but had limited targets here. There are already so many cards that build out the board that feel almost mandatory, so keeping these out kept things simpler
• Face the Past was good in theory but in practice was very frustrating. While Vivian and Heimdall make up some strong anti-Loki tech, I couldn't rely on them getting in play all the time. Whiffing on a Hammer Throw is not my idea of a good time
• Godlike Stamina is a nice healing card for Asgard characters, but all of the excess damage made Moment of Triumph a stronger option. Unshakable works to help mitigate stunned status cards just as easily and stays on board
• Hand Cannon works with the overkill theme but relies on a basic activation. With no focus on readying or Limitless Stamina, there's just no space here!

Bottom of the Ninth

Had a blast making this one, even though I wasn't completely sure this would be viable. Definitely a bit weaker in solo, but still strong enough to take down a villain with the right decisions. Most of all, it feels like Thor should - with massive attacks that can take out almost anything on the board!