Ronin Without Fear

Despite the fact that his base DEF stat is the worst candidate to pair with the new Protection cards in Echo's precon from the (currently upcoming) Fear No Evil expansion, there's deep comics lore of Clint Barton as Ronin.

But there's some potentially great synergy with the hero-specific Mockingbird ally and all of the cards that cost more when an ally is in play. Mockingbird can consistently return to hand to prevent all damage from a major villain attack (maybe Kingpin?) then only return after events like Army of One and In Harm's Way are played. In this deck these cards have the placeholders Limitless Stamina, & Hit and Run.

Ronin buffs base DEF by 1, then Armored Vest and Defensive Conditioning add another +2. Clear Specialized Training to become the Defense Specialist and get another +1 DEF and a card drawn.

To mill the deck for Arrow events, Taunt the villain. Mockingbird's interrupt can be triggered since she is not defending, per se. Ops Room can prevent damage while removing threat, including from side schemes. Exhaust Hard to Ignore to remove a threat from the main scheme.

Unflappable will draw a card in a perfect defense. Electrostatic Armor pings a damage when defending. Cuts Both Ways will add another retaliate on top of the Ronin upgrade as will Dauntless. I Can Do This All Day allows Hawkeye to defend an attack without exhausting. Indomitable provides a ready even when taking damage.