Seems like this could be the building block of a solid melee deck, at least in Earthly runs. Start off with Dive for Cover (4), then Shield Block (3), and finish with Lash Out (2). After fighting a Third Eye Ganger or two and getting Brutality, upgrade by swapping that in. Throw in Ghoul Bite (1) if you get any instances of that.
The big stumbling block would be getting your hands on a shield in the first place so you can learn the technique. The Midgard riot shield seems to be a pretty rare drop, and you don't naturally fight many Midgard Security in typical speed reset paths unless you go out of your way. But it's possible there are other, easier-to-get shields somewhere. Anybody tried cracking open an armory supplies lately? Maybe there is some new basic component in there now that you can use to craft a shield. (EDIT: Nope. Used 5 of these and didn't get any new components)
The other big disadvantage of the deck I'm describing here is that unless you're facing purely melee attacks, you'll need to have a shield equipped, which rules out the stat boosts from an unearthly coin. Great if you're doing Earthly runs, but probably not so much if you have a coin.