Three Swords!!!

Protection Nightcrawler

It has been quite the journey trying to figure out a solo protection Nightcrawler deck that I love, which also functions well in multiplayer. Ready for a Fight, Excelsior, Defensive Conditioning, and Cuts Both Ways helped direct me toward this iteration which I landed on.

We Finally Have Three Swords!!!

Excelsior finally gives Nightcrawler a third sword in Protection that he can weird with his Prehensile Tail!

Nightcrawler has been known to have issues with minions at times, but Excelsior, among other tools in this deck like Jump Flip, Side Step, and Cuts Both Ways help solve that problem.

General Game Plan

This deck is relatively straightforward, but there are a lot of nuances as you play it multiple times.

Initially, you want to mulligan hard for key upgrades. Top priorities are one of your 3 DEF upgrades (Kurt's Cutlasses, Defensive Conditioning, or Armored Vest) and Unflappable. I typically prioritize Excelsior over Kurt's Cutlasses though if necessary. It is important to note that you must have your Prehensile Tail out before you can put both on the table.

Let's break it down by card type:

Allies?

We don't need no stinkin' allies!

While this is kind of true, Daytripper does come in very handy when she shows up.

I particularly like paying for her with a Bamf! or playing before I have a Bamf! In the discard pile after a deck shuffle.

Events

Side Step & Jump Flip

Side Step & Jump Flip deserve their own section here...

Thanks be to Caldias for proselytizing the greatness of these two events on Nightcrawler.

They are sneaky great because they allow you to deal with minions in a much more efficient way while still leaving a Bamf! on the villain when you want to. Jump Flip and Side Step are so good due to the extra hidden damage built in. They do both require a , but we have plenty in the deck as well as the from his Prehensile Tail.

Once you have Kurt's Cutlasses, Dauntless, and Electrostatic Armor out Jump Flip ignores 2 damage, deals 3 damage, and removes 2 threat from the main scheme while Side Step ignores 3 damage and deals 4 damage. While both also trigger all your fun defense triggers including another potential Excelsior trigger. That's before increasing your retaliate damage with Cuts Both Ways.

Cuts Both Ways

Speaking of Cuts Both Ways, this card is great when you're dealing with a bunch of minions or defending a whole table giving you extra retaliate for the rest of the phase. You can also use multiple in a single turn or save it and use it for the to trigger Excelsior instead.

Desperate Defense

Desperate Defense provides another to trigger Excelsior, but can also help you defend and ready when you don't have a Bamf! set up. Staying ready is great to help with threat via your basic activation.

Face the Past

I use Face the Past in every Nightcrawler deck. While Azazel can be difficult, I'd rather get some benefit for having to deal with him. Also, if you're playing standard 1, Shadow of the Past won't grab Azazel if you've already pulled him in with Face the Past.

This is another great example of the usefulness of Side Step. Once set up, it can defend and defeat Azazel when he comes out.

Support

Angel's Aerie

You might think:

"what's the point of Angel's Aerie if I'm defending everything?"

With retaliate 1-4 (through use of Kurt's Cutlasses, Cuts Both Ways, and Dauntless) it's sometimes worth taking hits from minions or even the villain, and with all the defenses, you'll have plenty of counters on Angel's Aerie to make use of Ready for a Fight or 'Port Away to flip down for some free-ish healing.

Upgrades

Armored Vest & Defensive Conditioning

With Armored Vest, Defensive Conditioning, and Kurt's Cutlasses you get up to a base of 6 DEF. And with 3 copies each of Bamf!, Desperate Defense, and Indomitable, you can defend while consistently being ready for basic thwarts as needed.

Indomitable

3 copies of Indomitable provides extra emergency opportunities for readying, but also more to consistently trigger Excelsior.

Change of Fortune & Unflappable

Who doesn't like card draw? With Change of Fortune and Unflappable you can relatively consistently get 3 card draw during the villain phase.

Dauntless & Electrostatic Armor

With Dauntless, Electrostatic Armor, and Kurt's Cutlasses you can get a base retaliate 3-ish (Electrostatic Armor is not technically retaliate). But that is also before Cuts Both Ways. It is not uncommon to deal 4 damage back after defending before the additional 2 from Excelsior.

Excelsior

Excelsior makes Nightcrawler sing in solo and multiplayer. You'll be defending nearly every turn. This deck has 20 in it to ensure that you have regular access to the damage from Excelsior.

One of my favorite loops is to get a minion down to 2 health and on the villain phase defend the villain without exhausting via Bamf!, Desperate Defense, Indomitable, Jump Flip, or Side Step based on need, then trigger Excelsior to finish said minion, allowing you to be ready, have dealt some retaliate, defeated a minion before they've attacked, added a counter to Angel's Aerie, and drawn 3 cards from Unflappable and Change of Fortune.

Ready for a Fight

Ready for a Fight is another stand out card for Nightcrawler. We shouldn't need healing often, but this is another easy way to get it from Angel's Aerie.

Even though we have limited in the deck, Nightcrawler can tutor a Bamf! with his ability in order to pay for Ready for a Fight. Then, once you flip down you can use Kurt Wagner's ability to tutor another one to put on the villain to take the incoming hit when you trigger Ready for a Fight on the villain phase.

Wrap Up

I've had a blast with this deck. I have beaten nearly every villain in the game with this deck with only minor alterations to it (i.e. adding a couple copies of Hard to Ignore for Venom Goblin).

A round where you are swarmed by 6-7 minions and defeat them all in the villain phase, half of which before they can even attack has felt so good. It is hands down my favorite Nightcrawler deck. I hope you enjoy wielding Three Swords as well!