Dev Download: Maxx-imum Hype

Learn how to play the new heroes from Bright Lights in both Booster Draft and Classic Constructed with hot tips and tricks straight from the game development team at Legend Story Studios! Today on Dev Download, we learn how to blow it all sky high with Maxx 'The Hype' Nitro...

Apparently ‘breakneck speed’ wasn’t fast enough.

Maxx careened around a corner, the thrusters of his speeder spewing flames like a dragon with a hangover. The enforcers were still only mere metres behind him, droning “HALT!” over and over as if it was the only word they knew how to say (it was).

He bobbed and weaved between smoky alleyways and rusted junctions, desperately trying to lose his pursuers. Maybe he had pushed it too far this time.

Actually, no. Not far enough.

They were rapidly approaching a ramshackle upwards-curving off-ramp, plastered with bright yellow caution signage to indicate demolition works dead ahead. Good, that meant they were probably using explosives.

Maxx unstrapped Banksy from his side, comforted by its familiar weighted balance. He used the wrench to pop open a panel on the side of his speeder, revealing way too many Hyper Drivers. Like every vehicle Maxx got his grimy mitts on, this speeder had been juiced up beyond anything that could be considered even remotely safe.

He had one shot to time this just right.

The moment the speeder made contact with the ramp, Maxx cranked the Hyper Drivers. The engines roared, releasing arcs of multi-coloured energy, and Maxx nearly broke his fingers trying to hold on as he rocketed up the ramp and high into the air, completely clearing the worksite below, killing the engines just before he touched ground on the other side. The enforcers weren’t so lucky, making it a few metres up before plummeting straight down into the worksite.

No explosion? Lame.

As he revved his speeder to take off, a colossal BOOM burst his eardrums, immediately followed by a gigantic fireball. He watched the distant worksite eruption with awe as shockwaves rippled through his blue hair, coils of flame threatened to blind his eyes, and the lingering heat reached far enough to slightly pepper his skin.

Who ever said cool guys didn’t look at explosions?

Are you ready for the hype train? Our boy Maxx ‘The Hype’ Nitro has got you covered. He’s bad, he’s boosting and he’s ready to blow it all apart!

Thanks to the inherent efficiency of boost attacks, Maxx's curve can come in very low to the ground, but this isn’t even where his true power comes from. Despite not looking like much of a thinker, Maxx has the ability to manipulate resources from turn to turn. Deciding when and where to utilise your pitch is key to unlocking Maxx’s full potential. Unlike other Mechanologists who tend to stray from expensive boost attacks, Maxx can easily weave them into his turn cycles, provided we have been cranking those Hyper Drivers every turn and swinging in with a cheeky Banksy hit or two or three!

Draft

Bright Lights will differ greatly from your previous experiences with Flesh and Blood draft. It's a single class set with no additional talents in the playable card-pool, which means you can switch up the pace at the table whenever you wish. It's very easy to switch strategies mid-draft without trainwrecking your deck. So take advantage of that by staying open to Maxx.

His biggest key ingredients are red boost attacks and big overpower attacks. These also play reasonably well with the other heroes which makes them a strong start to your draft. When you see a late copy of any of Maxx’s best cards, like Rev Up, Re-Charge, or Hyper Driver, it's time to go all in!

When drafting Maxx you need three key ingredients: Boost, Hype, and Payoff.

Boost is the bread and butter of Maxx’s kit, as without boosting he can’t make Hyper Drivers. If he can't make Hyper Drivers he struggles to crank. If he struggles to crank he can’t swing Banksy. And if you ain’t cranking the bank then how will you get anywhere?

Next, we need to build the Hype! We want to snowball our resources from one to turn to another to build momentum. Making sure we have enough cards to create, put counters on, benefit from, or otherwise manage Hyper Drivers will really set you up to Maxx-imize your inner hoon. Cards like Big Bertha, Crankshaft, and Gas Up are what we’re looking for to generate the hype needed to drive towards victory.

Lastly, we need Payoff. Momentum is nothing without a way to seal the deal. You don’t need lots of payoffs but the ones you do play need to be devastating when they hit the board. Think heavy hitters with overpower. There is a lot to tinker with with in the city of Metrix, plenty to explore, and more than one or two unique builds that differ from this recipe. But following these basic guidelines should ensure Maxx is happily firing on all cylinders.

Classic Constructed

Boost, Hype, Payoff is also a great plan for getting started with Maxx in Classic Constructed. But surely a Mechanologist with a plethora of efficient boost attacks would struggle to make use of all these free resources? Wrong! Introducing the titanic, overpowering, and monstrous Nitro Mechanoid!

We have never before had a hero able to manage Hyper Drivers this efficiently, making the requirements of Nitro Mechanoid become very reasonable. When this powerhouse hits the arena it often spells lights out for the opponent. Being able to attack with efficient go again attacks into a 0-cost 6-power attack (using Galvanic Bender) with overpower every turn is incredibly hard to defend.

Then, when you account for the crazy amount of defense value our suit provides, and the potential of High Octane shenanigans on the horizon, it's easy to see how Maxx can throw a one-two that flatlines the enemy out of nowhere.

Nitro Mechanoid perfectly fulfills the Payoff aspect of our plan, but Maxx is a flexible guy! If you're looking for even more spice we can work towards massive Moonshot or even double Maximum Velocity plays!

But wait, there's more! With most of your deck having a defense value of 3 or greater, Maxx can consistently pivot from being the aggressor to being the defender, especially by galvanizing his items!

Playing attacks with go again that can also defend break points enable us to shift tempo whenever we want, especially when combined with the new legendary Adaptive Plating. If we don't end up building Nitro Mechanoid, having an equipment piece that can defend for 3 is huge!

However, once Maxx starts throwing his equipment in the bin he no longer has enough metal to assemble his favorite suit. Going into each matchup it's really important to know where you are heading - if you think you need Nitro Mechanoid to close the game, or if you can lean on your equipment to block and finish with Moonshot or Maximum Velocity.

Now you know how to get cranked, giggling all the way to the Banksy. I look forward to seeing you all at your local game store burning rubber and leaving your foes in the dust! Get hyped and crank that bank! It's Show Time!