Noble Dracrifice

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
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VillainTheory · 28963


"MANTIS, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Does that sound like you in the middle of a Drax game? Desperate for healing, unwilling to flip down and lose your precious counters?

As of Magneto's pack we now have Noble Sacrifice, a new card to keep us healthy and tough. That's really, really good for Drax!

We're combining it with another new card, "You Got This!". This card readies your hero. Spoiler alert: readies are also crazy good for Drax.

Put them together and it's a revolving door of expendable henchmen ready to be Dracrificed!

If you've never played Drax in Leadership, what are you waiting for?!

Don't miss this opportunity - Drax wouldn't. His reflexes are too fast. He would catch it!


Overview:

  • Archetype: Ally Discard
  • Difficulty: Low-Medium
  • Play Style: High Tempo
  • Recommended Player Count: 1-4
  • Ideal Aspect Partner: Justice

Mulligan Priorities:


Why Is Gamora? (and other allies)

The challenge this deck faces is that both of the new Leadership events here require you to discard allies and, until your counters and DWI Theet Mastery are drawing you a bazillion cards every turn, you have to work with a puny hand size of 4. In other words, it's easy to run into a situation where you have these events and no allies.

That can really slow you down. So incredibly slow that you might think you become invisible.

The solution is simple: bring Gamora and a whole freakin' army of allies! Like 10+ allies!

It works extremely well. We always have targets for our events, and the ally limit is never an issue since we're discarding them so frequently. Sure, taking so many allies isn't perfect but - like Mantis - it's beautiful. On the inside.


I Hate Stories Where Everybody Lives

Noble Sacrifice is the clear priority - so discard those allies! This card keeps Drax's gameplan alive. Remember, Drax wants to get hit to gain counters. Chump blocking is for chumps. ...Well, and emergencies.

When it comes to readying, I admit I've generally preferred Limitless Stamina over "You Got This!" - but you're generally playing whatever readies you can get your hands on for most of the game. Combine "You Got This!" with Knife Leap to hit 12-13 damage in one basic ATK with piercing and overkill. Nice.


There Are Two Types Of Beings In the Universe

Some allies are better off being discarded by one event over the other, but sometimes even a non-ideal ally is worth discarding if the event does the thing you really need. It's something you need to weigh up on a turn-by-turn basis.

Ideal for Noble Sacrifice to discard (3+ printed hp):

Blade
Gamora
Machine Man
Mantis
Nick Fury
Rocket Raccoon
Wonder Man

Ideal for "You Got This!" to discard (2+ ATK):

Blade
Gamora
Kid Omega
Nick Fury
White Tiger
Wonder Man

Other Allies:

Major Victory - This guy has a built-in ready! Just don't discard him through an event.


Looking For the Legendary Kevin Bacon

DWI Theet Mastery is THE CARD for Drax that you're looking for. Mulligan to try and find this or Superpower Training (which should be used to get this still).

Nick Fury is great to dig into your deck and find DWI Theet or Drax's Knife. He can block for you if you really need it but, since Drax wants to get hit directly, he is a perfect candidate for any of the new Leadership events which discard allies. He might even draw that card for you!

If your deck is about to reset, consider using Noble Sacrifice or "You Got This!" to discard an ally you want to look for in the next deck pass instead of a slightly better option in that moment. Drax isn't good at planning ahead - but you can be.

While Drax does want to get hit, if you have a drought between Mantis/Noble Sacrifices, you can totally chump block or - notably if you have readies - even exhaust to defend until you start finding some healing. This is generally preferable to going alter-ego.

And then there's Face the Past. Drax is good at damage, so carving through a minion is typically very easy making this a low-risk play - especially if you are at this deck's cap of 5 ATK which will one-shot your nemesis. I recommend keeping a 3-cost ally and Face the Past in hand if you are going to play Face the Past. In the "worst case scenario", you just use the three cards you drew to play the ally. It's great. (Just don't play this on Turn 1 when your ATK is also 1!)


Other Considerations:

The great thing about Marvel Champions in 2024 is there are sooo many good options for almost any deck. This leaves a lot of ideas on the cutting room floor that could be swapped back in to make any number of viable variants.

I tried to keep this version of the deck simple for two main reasons.

1) Starting off with a hero hand size of 4 is rough. Bringing together different elements, or investing in something slow tempo, might not come together or pay off in time. With Drax, I really heavily prioritize getting through the early game - especially the first 2-3 turns. If it's going to take 2-4 turns to pay off, or is only good if you have max counters, it probably didn't make it in.

2) Ease of understanding. This is a pretty simple deck all things considered. You play allies - and you throw them away while laughing maniacally like Drax when Mantis tells everyone Quill's deepest, darkest secret. Yet it has a write-up this long! Decks are complicated - so I really wanted to focus on the core idea. If people feel confident in understanding it, by all means tweak it. I bet you were planning to anyway, weren't you?

Here's some options I considered and/or had in previous versions of the deck, and why I personally didn't include them here:

  • Blaze of Glory - This card is great, but deck space is tight and our late game damage is already crazy.
  • Squared Off - On the one hand, I think this card works great for Drax with his ability to carve through enemies. On the other hand, it's begging for even more 3-4 cost allies which Drax can't always afford when he doesn't draw the combo together. It also adds another card to the deck reliant on allies, dangerous for a 4-hand size hero. Also deck space...
  • Call for Backup - It's excellent. I've just used it way too much and early-game Drax can struggle to clear a side scheme while keeping up with the scenario's tempo, meaning this can either "block" Superpower Training or be wasted.
  • Deadpool - An excellent ally for this deck, there's just limited room for 3+ cost allies if you want to keep the early game smooth. Groot - Drax wants to get hit, and Groot wants to block, which puts them at odds. There's also limited room for 3+ cost allies. But Groot has 6 hp, making him an amazing target for Noble Sacrifice and one of the better cards to swap in for that reason alone.
  • Maria Hill - C'mon guys, it's Maria. She should really already be in this deck, I'm just a little tired of using her and she doesn't work great with our central events.
  • Professor X - He's Professor X. And a great Noble Sacrifice target. But the confuse isn't that useful for us if we never plan to go alter-ego (although yes, still good). Combined with him blocking an attack being less useful for us, well, he didn't make the cut.
  • U.S. Agent - A bunch of thwarting and then 5 hp for Noble Sacrifice is great. But he's slow tempo for his cost. But I do like him a lot here.
  • Knowhere - If I was to include a support, this would be it. But we only have 4 Guardian allies giving this ambiguous value from the card draw. Especially since, if we do cycle our deck again, we're probably very close to winning because we're Drax. The ally limit increase is nice but we do have 6 ways to discard allies.
  • C.I.T.T. - A staple among Drax decks due to readying - but you'll be hard-pressed to set this up and/or spend on it while playing allies, paying for Noble Sacrifice or "You Got This!", and paying for Drax's own cards. But it's still good and worth considering.
  • Specialized Training - The ATK boost is soooo good. But introducing and thwarting 5 threat is typically something Drax can only do when he's already in a winning position. This is great for someone else to bring in multiplayer, though.
  • Booster Boots - I used this in an earlier version of the deck but it doesn't gel well with the Toughs we're prioritizing from Noble Sacrifice. It's still a fine inclusion but deck space is so tight.
  • Band Together - So many allies, so much money! There are a few issues with this however, notably that it discourages you from doing what this deck is built to do (discard allies), but especially the fact that Drax's own cards are dirt cheap.
  • "Welcome Aboard" - Much like Squared Off, I'm reluctant to add yet another card to this deck reliant on allies. Our basic doubles are already mostly used just for allies. But it has potential if you want to get a little riskier, or can even help your other players out in multiplayer when you yourself lack a good target.
  • Unshakable - I dislike its low impact but it's crazy good for certain stun-heavy scenarios and should be taken against them if you're willing to tech.

Finger Across Throat Means Death!

And that's it! Drax sacrifices his allies - then his other allies tell him "You got this!" and run off before they too are sacrificed upon the altar of vengeance. What's a little death among allies if it means bringing death to your enemies?

I hope you enjoy this deck as much as I have! Drax has never had this much synergy in Leadership before. Good luck!


22 comments

Nov 22, 2024 Nuggette · 1

Looks like a fun take. Drax with allies? I'll have to give this a try later today.

Nov 22, 2024 boomguy · 1424

New VillainTheory deck? Don’t mind if I do.

Nov 22, 2024 saintmatthew · 39

VT posting decks again? I'm in!

Nov 22, 2024 N1GHTCRAW73R · 32

Always stoked to see a new VT deck! Moves to the top of my list to try out.

Nov 22, 2024 mv2392 · 110

Nice deck. I've been using a one of for Noble Sacrifice, which is a pretty good one of IMO. Drax needs the three of course. I do need to play him outside of protection at least once.

Nov 22, 2024 corbintm · 2170

I'll have to try this! Haven't had much luck in Drax L in the past. Love face the past to help accelerate setup!

Nov 22, 2024 teamcanadahockey2002 · 9067

I'm surprised Welcome Aboard was at least part of the considerations section. A deck like this is exactly why this card should exist.

Nov 22, 2024 VillainTheory · 28963

@teamcanadahockey2002 I did consider "Welcome Aboard" so I'll add it to the considerations along with Booster Boots which I did have in an earlier version of the deck. Sadly the "didn't make the cut" section is already bigger than any other but I guess the Guardian-specific stuff was going to come up.

Regardless, I disagree that the card exists for decks like these. Not on Drax at any rate! Or at least in the way I build decks now.

To cut a long story short, I don't like running too many resources on low hand size heroes these days - I didn't even put all 3 basic doubles in my Psylocke 'Pool deck. But in this deck specifically Drax already has 9 cards reliant or almost-reliant on allies - the new Leadership events and the basic doubles. Adding more gets kind of dangerous before your card draw engine is online. Too much potential for dead cards for my liking.

Nov 23, 2024 teamcanadahockey2002 · 9067

@VillainTheory Fair, fair...

It goes in the version I have on this one, just because of Drax's ability to draw more cards. Dead hands totally can happen. I guess I'm of the opinion that I want a few more doubles for 4 hand heroes though. Especially early on.

Suppose you have a hand with both Drax's Knife and Mantis. Or Too Stubborn to Die with Limitless Stamina. Any essential 2-cost card means that you can't play anything but a 0-cost card otherwise. With a 5-hand size hero, I usually want to be able to play a 2-cost and a 1-cost (without generators) on early turns. Otherwise, I'm probably playing a 3 cost only (and I really hate to only play only a single card a turn early in the game - huge loss of tempo), or two 1 cost cards. So without more doubles, this can price me out of any 2-cost card that are important, and I think Drax clearly has 2-3 of those in his kit that are priorities during the 1st deck pass.

If I draw 2 doubles and don't have anything to play that's 2-cost, I don't mind 'wasting' the extra resource to play a 1-cost if needed. So interestingly enough, doubles are actually more of a priority for me for 4-card heroes with a cost curve like Drax.

Anyways, interesting the differences in strategies here. Thanks for the reply!

(Also, I really have a soft spot for finding uses for cards that don't receive a lot of love and finding them a home in decks.)

Nov 23, 2024 Caldias · 2498

This looks awesome! Can't wait to try it!

Nov 23, 2024 MrSelfDestruct · 10

Been looking for a new way to play Drax outside of Sidekick and the standard Protection kit - this looks great!

Nov 23, 2024 wehehe · 222

I'm not a big fan of nick fury with Drax. You can't play it with your handsize if you don't have a double or a resource generator. Apart from that, I really like the deck, eager to get my copy of Magneto HP and build it!

Nov 24, 2024 VillainTheory · 28963

Thanks to everyone showing interest! I wasn't sure if I would publish again here. Might post a couple more decks some time.

@teamcanadahockey2002 Makes sense! Different approaches, different weighing of risk and reward. I am tempted to try swapping 1 in for something. You also got me thinking about swapping a basic double or two out for them in multiplayer - in the worst case you just help pay for someone else's ally.

@wehehe Totally fair. I absolutely love Nick Fury at turn 1 to dig deeper into the deck despite not really wanting his block in solo play, anything to get almost a whole hero hand size closer to DWI Theet Mastery. Admittedly Nick is a bit unwieldy on turn 2, sometimes 3, but as soon as you have DWI Theet Mastery or 3 vengeance counters he's able to be played at any time.

Nov 24, 2024 captainfire · 382

@VillainTheory Didn't follow why you're hesitant to post more decks but just know this deck (like most of your decks) looks like pure perfection to me, will try it ! :)

Nov 24, 2024 andyr · 8779

Super glad to see you here again. I loved playing this deck this morning. I wasn’t a big Drax fan, but this is changing my mind. Also, it’s cool to see Kid Omega show up!

Nov 24, 2024 Proust · 187

Nice game plan. Why no groot?

Nov 24, 2024 VillainTheory · 28963

Thanks!

@Proust Ultimately I had to cut a bunch of good 3+ cost allies to prioritize cheaper allies, to smooth over Drax's early game, and Groot was part of that. Groot usually isn't good for Drax since he wants to get hit but Groot is so good for Noble Sacrifice so he's one of the better allies to swap in.

Nov 25, 2024 wehehe · 222

@VillainTheory Totally agree with your thoughts. But I'm still a bit Stubborn ( not as much as Drax) and I prefer to not play 4 cost cards with Drax, just a personal decision.

Even so, this feels like one of the most solid builds I've seen for our Green Friend. (Not you, you're not my friend) Hopefully today I'll get my Magneto and I'll be able to play the deck ! (After many plays with Magneto, of course, he is the star of the show today...)

Nov 25, 2024 Proust · 187

@VillainTheorygroot is good for noble sacrifice and you got this ! I think hé is better than rocket here imo

Nov 25, 2024 Man-is-Obsolete · 5879

Going to run this with Drax’s other sidekick, Cable. Those two pair extremely well!

Nov 26, 2024 wojciech · 8

Any exp with tough villains? How on true solo and about thwarting?

Nov 27, 2024 MAXFightMan · 1

This is excellent. Keep it up.