At first glance, this looks like any other engine building card (Deft focus, Helicarrier, Avengers Mansion etc.) You trade an encounter card for extra card draw. But that tradeoff is something that sets this card apart, to the point that it completely changes how it should be viewed.

The general idea with a lot of engine building cards is that they are really strong early game plays (because you benefit from them for the rest of the game) and they get progressively worse to play as the game goes on. For instance, Avengers Mansion is a great first turn play, because it will let you draw a card for the rest of the game. But on the other hand, it is a terrible end game play. You really don't want to invest 5 resources for only 1 or 2 cards.

IPAC does not follow this rule. Technically, you draw more cards the earlier you play it, but you are also getting an encounter card. Drawing an encounter card in the early game (before you get all of your supports and upgrades out) is usually a lot worse than drawing an encounter card late in the game. If you use this on the first turn to draw 2 cards, on the second turn you may need 2 or more cards worth of resources to deal with that encounter card. But if you use it late in the game, when your damage, thwart, and resource engines are all chugging along, its less of an issue. If you are only a few turns from winning, you may be able to just ignore whatever that encounter card is and push through to victory. And finally, on the last turn, that encounter card will never even get to be revealed. You can actually just play this on the last turn, spending 2 effective resources to draw 2 cards, essentially just cycling cards for something to close out the game!

This is the key protection Aerial event that will allow you to trigger Angel’s draw in the villain phase. You should obviously plan on exhausting an ally to use this, as if you exhaust your hero you could have just defended or recovered for about the same amount of damage prevented and not wasted a card. Outside of Angel’s pack, some of the best Aerial allies you might want to pick up are Starhawk, Vivian, or Snowguard. For heroes besides Angel, it’s still ok, but it’s awkward that it’s not a defense, which many protection decks would prefer, and without those synergies stunning and ally blocking is usually a better way to protect your hero.

The wording is the same as Warrior Skill. So would this cause attacks with multiple instances to have each instance increased? Something like Melee can only target the enemy once (so 4 damage to a confused enemy and 3 damage to another). Buy Gambit's Royal Flush could hit the same enemy three times ans each instance would get plus one, right?

I think this card has a lot of value in multiplayer where one player can confuse and then other players can just pile on the damage. In solo, you can get more out of it by staying in hero mode.

Typically with Basic cards, there is an additional cost levied because these cards can exist in any deck. And since this is a game predicated on reducing costs, a lot of basic cards never see the light of day.

But Machine man is an anomaly. He costs a little extra, but once you have him in play, he is a powerhouse. Think of all the times you have been at the end of the hero turn with cards in hand, and you can't use them. Machine Man provides you with an incredible way to clear your hand that either deals damage or thwarts, and then you can draw up an entirely new hand.

And since he has three health, you can leave him in the background to either strike or defend when necessary. His versatility is incredible, and to be honest, I think he's an absolute steal. Given what he does, I would have expected a cost of 3. Instead, you can chuck this guy into play for 2 and then have him do surgical strikes when you have cards you can't use this round.

He's a mercenary in the best sense. Love Machine Man.

Taunt is one of the most exciting new cards from Angel’s pack. It follows the same mold of some cards we’ve seen before like Bait and Switch and Toe to Toe, but draw 3 is by far the strongest ability of the bunch. This can enable an explosive early turn if your hero has some spare hp to soak up a hit and works especially well with heroes Spider-Man (Peter) and Drax, who draw a card when attacked. Colossus is another interesting hero who is swimming in tough statuses to block the attack and can use help with the small hero hand size. Look for opportunities like these to take advantage of Taunt since between the two resources to play it up front and any potential resources spent to block or stun the attack, you could be net down on resources. Be careful the hero you use and scenario you face (you probably don’t want Venom Goblin attacking more than he needs to be), but Taunt can be an excellent tool in the right deck and might spawn a new archetype entirely.