Drax - Vengeance on a Budget (Legacy) [P]

This deck is part of Project Post-con: building a ready to use deck for each existing hero, just using the available card copies of buying each pack once. This does not only enable fast pick-and-play, but it also makes each deck feel unique, as not everyone is using the same powerhouse cards. Each deck is intended to be fun and usable in expert mode, but none will be the absolute strongest possible due to the card limitations. Looking for other decks? Search for the Post-con tag.

Project Post-con Version 1 (Cards up to a and including Valkyrie release)

I LOVE Drax. Definitely a top tier hero for me. Drax is a powerhouse who wants to stay in hero mode as long as possible. As a result, protection remains his best fit. His aggression-like protection style furthermore makes his deck unique among all the protection decks of this project. His main limitation is his hand size of 4 in hero mode, which is completely counteracted by DWI Theet Mastery and the extremely low cost curve of this deck. But don't be fooled, it's low cost for high output. He lacks a bit in thwart, but makes up for this with an occasional Intimidation and the fact that never flipping really limits threat build-up.

RESOURCES

Well this is awkward... there are none. Mainly cause Drax doesn't need any. His small hand size favours flexibility by keeping his cost curve extremely low. The added gain of using only 1- or 0-cost events strongly outweighs missing out some 2-cost cards. And don't be fooled by the cost curve. 2 Knife Leap cards count as 3-cost each, but in practice will never be played above 0-cost. Furthermore those few cards with a cost above 1 tend to stick to the table or pay themselves back in resources along the road. Happy side-effect: this frees up some basic resource cards to use for other decks in this project, since we are bound to 1 card pool.

ALLIES

Again a slightly deviating section from typical decks. Drax does not need allies to chump block and favours 0-/1-cost cards. As a result, this deck is even lighter on allies than usual.

• Mantis is his core ally and you'll want to keep her around to continuously heal Drax. First Aid suddenly becomes a 6 HP value if used to heal Mantis. You won't want to attack with Mantis, but in a pinch she can assist in thwarting, as Drax sometimes struggles there.
• Starhawk is in there mainly to camp for minions. With a reliable Minion attack he often return to your hand, thereby reducing his long term effective cost.
• Gamora is the odd-one out in this deck as a 3-cost card. However, due to her ability she pays back her investment on each attack or thwart, strongly reducing her effective cost. As Drax's deck is mainly consisting of events, you will not have to discard much either to use this. Just make sure you have DWI Theet Mastery and Drax's Knife out first.

UPGRADES

A bit more to say here. Let's start with Dra'x hero kit:

• DWI Theet Mastery is most often his top priority. As Drax likes to attack and this deck makes sure he is readied to do so, this basically makes him a regular 5-hand hero or even better.
• Drax's Knife is probably his second most important card, as not only does it increase damage output, it also increases thwarting (Intimidation) and defensive (Parry) capabilities.
• Drax's Other Knife is less critical than the other two base upgrades. But as Drax likes to defend against the villain a lot, the damage starts to add up over time.
• Too Stubborn to Die is a great card that should not be overlooked. Having the confidence to play risky, without actually having the risk of going down can really help build and maintain momentum. This more often than not counteracts the momentum loss of paying the 3ER.

Then for the added cards we again focus on defence and resource management:

• Armored Vest is a given for how often Drax needs to defend.
• Booster Boots further help reduce the need for healing at a minimal cost of discarding 1 card from your deck. Again, make sure you have DWI Theet Mastery out first.
• Indomitable is great to make sure Drax can either defend again for a team member (and draw a card or build vengeance) or still do a massive attack after defending (and draw a card with DWI Theet Mastery).
• Nerves of Steel further frees up his hand size by paying for some 1-cost defence events. Furthermore it helps provide the kicker for Side Step.

EVENTS

Finally we get to the bulk of Drax's deck with cheap events. All of these in practice are 0- or 1-cost, leaving flexibility and not ending with a dead hand in the hero phase:

• "Fight Me, Coward!" is great to get the most out of your attack, build up vengeance/draw more cards from his own ability or DWI Theet Mastery.
• Intimidation is critical to aid with Drax's otherwise low thwarting capabilities. As your attack can build to 5 (1 + 3 vengeance + Drax's Knife) this is a very efficient card. Even better if you play with an aggression teammate who can give you Combat Training.
• Parry has a similar effect, but boosting you defensive capabilities. Maling sure you can take the hits of even Ronan, without even exhausting.
• Knife Leap just adds onto you attack and with this deck you should always be readied and able to use. Overkill and piercing really are with a lot on Drax.
• Payback and Counter-Punch fill the same niche: making sure Drax's massive attack for a protection hero is maximally utilised. The former works only on the villain, the latter requires you to defend. But don't forget Parry and Side Step count as defending too.
• Side Step and Desperate Defense both have the goal of not taking too much damage and still being readied after the incoming attack. Remember, an exhausted Drax can't smash anymore.
• First Aid is obvious to keep health high for low ER, but is better used on Mantis than Drax. Med Team could be substituted for consistency. But I often find the cost is too high for this deck compared to the gain.
• Leading Blow finally is a special card on Drax. Once at 5 ATK, this card will always land you the hit, meaning with DWI Theet Mastery it is 0 ER for a free tough removal, minion slay or some extra damage on the villain.

In conclusion, Drax is a very alternative type of protection style deck, but he can certainly hold his own against any villain.