Daredevil gathers the Defenders (Expert Ronan)

With the recent release of Fear No Evil, many decks have opted to pair Daredevil with the new “zero allies/high defense” archetype for protection. What a shame! Daredevil’s arrival is actually the perfect opportunity to bring his Defenders friends back into the spotlight—they’ve been forgotten for far too long. It’s time to give Iron Fist and Luke Cage a second chance—and, while we’re at it, take advantage of Daredevil’s masochism to incorporate some cool combos!

Exploiting Dealt Damage

Energy Barrier is the key card for this deck's combos. In my experience with Daredevil, he doesn't need to boost his defense at all to survive the villain's attacks. Energy Barrier is included here not to reduce damage taken during attacks, but to take advantage of the damage dealt as costs by The Man Without Fear and Elektra. Damage dealt as a cost is considered paid even if it is cancelled. This way, Daredevil can ready, and Elektra can activate, while dealing additional pings and limiting the number of RECs required.

Rogue is included in the deck to take even greater advantage of this effect. In fact, Rogue has two interesting targets here: She can target Daredevil, so that the damage he takes is cancelled by Energy Barrier, or she can target Elektra, who doesn't take consequential damage anyway and will therefore have plenty of health to spare for Rogue's activations.

Readying and Additional Masochism Synergies

Since Daredevil has great, well-balanced stats and two (!) readying options in his kit, we want to make the most of his activations. Repurpose is the perfect card for this purpose. Thanks to Energy Barrier, its provides a +2/+2/+2 bonus that we’ll ideally use 4 to 5 times on the turn, thanks to Acute Tactility, The Man Without Fear, What Doesn't Kill Me, and a defensive activation during the enemy’s turn. That's often enough to really clean up the board.

What Doesn't Kill Me is also incredible here, because we can choose to take damage on command if necessary—since, as we'll see, Daredevil often remains unscathed by the villain's attacks.

Staying Alive, Staying Aliiiiiiiive

We do not want to suffer any damage other than what we choose to endure. There are several ways to stay alive without having to worry too much about the villain’s attacks. Daredevil already has a built-in solution with Nelson and Murdock, but that’s not our priority. However, its presence, combined with that of Karen Page, Foggy Nelson and Deposition, indicates that we want to switch to our alter ego as often as possible. The inclusion of Ready for a Fight is therefore a natural choice here.

Hidden Base is therefore our top choice for ensuring our survivability. The deck offers three (!) tough tokens, which—combined with the nearly free RECs provided by our numerous readying options—is more than necessary to withstand the villain’s attacks. Of course, tough tokens must be used wisely, as they seem to contradict our masochistic strategy. It is therefore important to use them at the right moment—when you expect to be attacked by the villain right after. These small moments of reflection are rewarding during gameplay.

Our other options to stay alive are:

• Professor X, who can confuse the villain if no side scheme can be exploited with Nelson and Murdock;
• Luke Cage, who provides an additional tough defense and 5 activations that boost our DPS;
• Iron Fist, who nullifies 2 of the villain's attacks while also boosting our DPS.

Conclusion

The average cost of the cards in this deck is above the curve, but the inclusion of 5 resource cards and the particularly low cost of the Daredevil kit make the deck well-balanced and affordable. No high DEF, no deck centered around minions or side schemes: I hope you’ll enjoy this thematic—and apparently less common—way of playing Daredevil. In any case, it proved effective against Ronan and his hammer in Expert mode. Enjoy!