May The Power Protect You: Rocky DeSantos (MMPR Red) V2

When I first saw the new Rocky deck I thought him a tank. It's not hard to see why I thought this: Rocky's Bravery made me want to throw Rocky into all the damage taking situations I could. And that was a disastrous decision: one of my few recent losses was specifically because I kept trying to tank with Rocky. Rocky just doesn't work as a tank, at least for me. But I don't think he's meant to. I think Rocky is a masochistic leader. 

Risky Moves is the lens I've learned to see Rocky through. For one energy you can take up to three damage, giving bonus dice to another player equal to the damage Rocky took. This is one of the best leader cards in the game, hands down.  I've seen such spectacular results from it I'd be tempted to say it's one of the best leader cards in the game! For one energy you get to add three dice to another attack; that makes a normal 2D attack comparable to a frickin Power Weapon. For one energy. You pair up Rocky with someone who can get 3D for no energy (MMPR Zack, Adam, or Kat) and you're dishing enormous potential damage for almost nothing. And that's before you stick this card on a Power Weapon, at which point you're dealing simply ridiculous damage.

Yes, I consider activating zords more costly, because they're normally once a round. 

"But Nathan!" you protest. "Its not just an energy! Rocky takes damage too! That's not nothing!"

I agree. It's not nothing.

It's an opportunity. 

And it's all because of Bravery. Rocky's ability isn't once a battle, it's at your discretion. Which means that, as you take damage, you're going to be able to pick up other cards. It may make Rocky a bit more reliant on recoveries, and you may never see him start a battle. But the opportunity cost I've found to be consistently worth it. You can cherry pick your draws and get more resources to keep the momentum on your side. And this game is all about getting momentum and keeping it.

Square Up is Rocky's second most valuable card. You get an energy and stack your deck. It's meant to be played after Risky Moves, which means that you can effectively get Power Weapon damage for free, so long as you have an energy to begin with. You can then dish out your big and expensive hits and keep the momentum going. If you can get some damage reduction from someone else you can then tank a hit, draw Square Up, and then play it, putting it atop your deck. It's a neat little trick and feels good to pull off!

Power Sword is freaking amazing, especially if you can combo it into Risky Moves next turn! It takes a lot of energy, but your momentum will be huge and it may buy you some time. Or just end a battle entirely.

Sturdy Blow is meant to be fodder for Risky Moves, lowering the sting considerably. Otherwise it's a reliable damage dealer. Given how swingy I've found the dice reliable is always good; I find it better to buff a sure thing than speculate. If your dice luck is better than mine (it isn't hard!) you may not like this card. And that's fine. But I need all the help I can get!

Haymaker is a tricky card. For it to be truly worth its time it has to have another Haymaker or Power Sword at the top of your discard pile. It's not that this is impossible to pull off, but the circumstances you'd find that three shield card at the top of your discard pile are... be limited. But how often do you really want Rocky to be hitting directly anyways? The rest of his deck is centered around Risky Moves. I treat Haymaker as a backup for when other options aren't available. 4D for one energy is good, so when it comes up it's nice to have! But I don't focus on it all that much.

The Red Dragon Zord costs you one card to make it a terrific buff. But who would want to give up a card? Well, Haymaker exists, right? So does Sturdy Blow. Giving up a card you weren't interested in using much isn't really that much of a cost. And who knows? Maybe discarding a Haymaker will set you up for its twin to deliver a bone-crunching 4D. I'm always drawing the two copies together, much to my annoyance. Maybe you have better luck shuffling. But I don't, so I'll take advantage, thank you very much!

Rocky's got a lot of potential. If you play him correctly your damage output will be consistently high, allowing your group to keep momentum going and recover with the extra time if need be. He's not as directly offensive as Jason but I'd be lying if I said that Rocky doesn't now have a special place in my heart. If you're okay with sitting in the back and being pretty roughed up after every fight, despite never taking a hit, then Rocky is your guy.

Or, y'know, if you like dealing incredibly stupid amounts of damage for practically nothing.