Rise from the Slashes

Edit: Get Behind Me! is a proxy for Shake It Off from Venom’s pack.

Well, how much of a surprise has Drax proven? I think like most on first blush I was a tad underwhelmed with The Destroyer, but after proxying his cards he’s proven to be an absolute hoot!

I’ve mostly been a one-handed true solo player but I’ve been hitting up double-handed of late. I’ve been pairing up Drax with my Gamora Justice deck (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/9617/the-swift-sword-of-justice-1.0), and it’s been paying off nicely. I’ve played some Protection decks that have mostly been about taking all the hits for the team and defending multiple times, so it’s been a lot of fun to just take the hits to the face and return the damage and then some. The idea of the deck is to build up those Vengeance Counters and never flip to Alter-Ego mode if you can help it.

As Drax wants to just take damage over defending, I put in both Preemptive Strike and Side Step in order to either prevent damage or to turn back a nasty boost card onto the enemy himself. Med Team and Mantis have proven fantastic, being able to heal up Dax for 5 health a turn let’s him just take damage to the face so he can remain standing to hit back in the Hero phase. Med Team can also heal Mantis too, to keep her in the game as long as possible. The Night Nurse is in there to take care of any annoying Stun status cards (which always prove to be a problem for Heroes such as Drax and Hulk who focus more on Basic Attacks). One thing to note, because of the Vengeance Counters play, if you draw his Obligation he is pretty much the only hero (Scarlet Witch aside) who you don't want to automatically flip to Alter-Ego mode and exhaust him. Night Nurse can take care of this, alongside the readying effects noted shortly.

One of the more surprising cards was Leading Blow. For a free card, you get to potentially do another 2-5 damage, and with his Upgrade out can draw another card by making a second Basic Attack. It’s proven to be absolute money! Can’t recommend the card enough for Drax. Along with his Hero suite of cards (specifically Knife Leap and Payback, Drax can hit for some nice damage to the villain.

The deck wants to stay in Hero form as much as possible, and having a hand size of 4 to start with is a bit of a bummer. As the deck focuses on doing damage via basic attacks, DWI Theet Mastery is a handy little upgrade to have with Drax’s low hand size. Alongside C.I.T.T. and "Fight Me, Coward!", I can ready Drax, hit for more damage and draw cards to essentially pay for these with DWI out. Edit - as noted in the Comments Drax has some pretty ace card draw going on once you hit those 3 Vengeance Counters

I’ve just added a few el cheapo allies in. Once Drax has his max Vengeance counters, they’re there primarily as road blocks. Ironheart will be a staple of most decks till the end of time as she gives an extra card, and Starhawk and Clea can take some hits from minions and the villain respectively whilst being easy to get back soon (or come back to hand as a second resource).

To round the deck out, I’ve got Nerves of Steel to pay for the important Defence cards (though there’s only 6 altogether, every little helps with Drax, and Helicarrier. Endurance adds to his HP to keep him in Hero form even longer (and the more cards that sit on the table, the better to keep my deck as mostly events) and Target Acquired is mostly there for insurance against Klaw or GMW.

As I say, Drax has been a lot of fun, it’s been so good to play a hero in Protection that plays a little different, and I’ve been so surprised by how much fun the Guardians cycle has been after expecting to be disappointed with them. I think Protection is likely to be the staple aspect for Drax for a while, though I’m going to try him out in Aggression next.

Any thoughts, please let me know! Were I to play one-handed I’d squeeze in Bait and Switch to give the enemy another excuse to attack Drax but also remove Threat, which Drax has something of a problem with. I’ve also been mixing up swapping out the Med Teams for Energy Barriers. Either way. It’s been a blast to see Drax rise from the slashes and deliver his vengeance!