The newest Armory deck is here. In this article, we're going to take a brief look at the history of the product line, take a look at the contents of the deck, and offer some upgrades to take Maxx Nitro from the box to the battlefield.
Maxx and the Other Armory Decks
Ever since the first Armory Deck came out early 2024, they've been widely regarded as a huge success for introducing people to the game. We've had 7 decks come out since Armory Deck Kayo. They've all had some bearing on the hero that they've featured - providing equipment that have become class staples like ako004-rf-savage-sash-armory-deck-kayo-armed-and-dangerous-precon for all Brutes and aaz006-rf-sharp-shooters-armory-deck-azalea-ace-in-the-hole-precon for both Azalea and Riptide.
The newest Armory Deck is the second one for the Mechanologist class. evo004-maxx-the-hype-nitro-bright-lights-booster has always been a hero that has gone from being heavily combo dependent, all about boosting aggressively, generating token Hyper Drivers, then playing dyn092-rf-construct-nitro-mechanoid-2-nitro-mechanoid-dynasty-booster to present a very powerful late game. He's also the hero that gives you the power fantasy of being in a mech suit in Flesh and Blood.
In the expansion slot for Part the Mistveil, we were given mst227-supercell-3-part-the-mistveil-booster. Thematically it's a card made for Maxx, since the artwork is of all the body modifications on his back. Strategically, it gives your on board 1hd009-hyper-driver-1-dash-blitz-deck-precon a little more staying power and gets back your Nitro Mechanoids that may have been Boosted away.
After they banned arc006-high-octane-1-arcane-rising-booster, the ability to send multiple Mechanoid attacks in the same turn was heavily hampered. Maxx lost a great deal of meta relevance after that. It's for that reason, I believe, LSS created Armory Deck Maxx.
Decklist
On the first glance, it's clear that this precon is built with the amx022-construct-bank-breaker-2-bank-breaker-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon gameplan in mind. It feels aligned with the older gameplan of building your mech suit and working over the course of the game to just set up then push damage.
The card selection and card quality leaves a little to be desired. We're able to closely contrast this deck with the aio001-dash-io-armory-deck-dash-io-precon Armory deck. That one featured a strong gameplan right out the box and some key card choices. The inclusion of evo162-zero-to-fifty-1-bright-lights-booster when there are other cards that actively care about Hyper Drivers such as evo147-bull-bar-1-bright-lights-booster or evo183-rev-up-1-bright-lights-booster that would have made fine inclusions.
A thing which players of every TCG are always clamouring for is reprints. Armory decks are an elegant way to potentially introduce some targeted reprints in a way that doesn't throw the balance of booster packs. The only downside is that these products may be heavily sought after if they print too big a staple in it. I would deeply doubt they'd include fab001-gf-fyendals-spring-tunic-premier-organized-play-welcome-to-rathe-promo or dyn000-cf-command-and-conquer-1-dynasty-booster in the July Armory deck Ira release. All that being said, I would expect a lot more than just one copy of evo138-heist-1-bright-lights-booster or a card of its power level, like dyn090-pulsewave-harpoon-1-dynasty-booster
New Cards
Armory decks are known for being very big Expansion Slots, offering a chance to print new cards specifically for Maxx and this Wrench-Matters strategy is nice.
The big new card is Construct Bank Breaker. The new quest to follow means you really get the chance to build your weapon. The stats on it being able to swing twice per turn, with Overpower is reminiscent of the Mechanoid and evo006-banksy-bright-lights-booster.
A new card in the deck, amx026-clamp-press-3-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon, does well to buff both your Banksy and then Bank Breaker once it's transformed. The other new card in the deck is amx018-twintek-charging-station-1-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon. it's an interesting front pump to a Mechanologist attack, and has the chance to help you rebuy some of your Boosted Hyper Drivers to help stave off the grindy, fatigue matchups.
The new Equipment all has a few corner cases of utility.
The head, amx003-rf-breaker-helm-protos-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon has the double benefit of being Base to play Evos onto. Between ast003-rf-cap-of-quick-thinking-armory-deck-aurora-shooting-star-precon and asb003-rf-helm-of-halos-grace-armory-deck-ser-boltyn-breaker-of-dawn-precon, it's clear that their design philosophy for Armory Deck hats has been to help players filter cards while playing to the deck's strategy. Discarding Hyper Drivers feels very counterproductive in the deck that wants to have them in play.
amx004-rf-puffer-jacket-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon, which is a card that exists in a high fantasy game like Flesh and Blood, actually has a lot of corner uses in this deck. Short version, it makes the Blue Hyper Drivers playable because you can Crank them. By putting extra counters on all your in deck Hyper Drivers, you get to keep them around for longer and the Construct cards that the hero wants to play.
The arm and leg equipment both have the strange condition of caring about whether a Hyper Driver is banished. https://dotgg.gg/fabtcg/cards/amx005-rf-fist-pump-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon providing a buff to the Wrenches, in theory, is strong since it brings Banksy and Bank Breaker to a break point. amx006-rf-drive-brake-armory-deck-maxx-the-hype-nitro-precon is by no means fab020-gf-valiant-dynamo-premier-organized-play-monarch-promo. It's so incredibly situational to get the block value back for Drive Break.
Upgrades
True to the theme for the Mechanologist, there are many cards we can consider to upgrade this deck. I'm going to suggest the most optimal upgrades possible, while they might be pricey, they're the strongest ways to play Maxx Nitro.
I already mentioned Construct Nitro Mechanoid. It's just the strongest finisher for Maxx. You're making and playing Hyper Drivers, so converting them into multiple instances of Overpower is too good to pass up. If you're playing Mechanoid, then you need to consider the equipment cards evo011-cf-hyper-x3-bright-lights-booster and dyn089-galvanic-bender-dynasty-booster. Bender is what's needed to bring Mechanoid up to 6 attack. In a version that plays a lot of in deck Hyper Drivers, then you get to banish those Hyper Drivers under Hyper X3, draw cards, and get extra cards to put into fuel for the Mechanoid.
arc004-cf-teklo-foundry-heart-arcane-rising-booster is easily the strongest Mechanologist equipment in the game. In a deck that plays a lot of Boost attacks, it's always enabled to turn 2 cards in deck into 2 resources. However, with a version that plays a lot of in deck Hyper Drivers, there's a genuine consideration for Puffer Jacket.
The first replacement is the new card Twintek should probably be replaced with lgs202-rf-gas-up-1-armory-season-11-promo/. A plus 4 buff is still very strong and getting the Hyper Drivers to play as opposed to just back into deck is much stronger.
For attacks in deck, the remaining copies of Heist are very needed as a threatening on hit and getting back your Hyper Drivers. As previously mentioned, you should definitely play Pulsewave Harpoon as an aggressive, disruptive card to help carry things over in the early to middle game.
Wrap Up
Armory Decks are always a strong way to get started into Flesh and Blood. Armory Deck Maxx is a fresh look at a cool hero. I believe that with certain impending changes to the metagame, there may be a place for Maxx and all his wrenches, and if you were to pick up this deck, and make the plunge on a few key upgrades, then you have a real path to playing the punk in the weekly Armory.