Maxx 'The Hype' Nitro

By Brage Sekse Aarset

Table of Contents

Maxx 'The Hype' Nitro Banksy

Maxx is a mechanologist focusing on Hyper DriverHyper Driver and the boost mechanic. While his weapon could be used with any crank item, it is most commonly used together with Hyper Drivers, since they have crank thanks to Maxx’ hero ability. It is common to see equipment with Hyper Driver synergy such as Puffer JacketPuffer Jacket, Breaker Helm ProtosBreaker Helm Protos and Drive BrakeDrive Brake. Using efficient boost cards, he can present decent damage while building up a board of Hyper Drivers with cards like Speed DemonSpeed Demon (red) and SupercellSupercell (blue).

Maxx’ gameplan

Generally, Maxx builds up Hyper drivers for the big payoff card Construct Nitro MechanoidConstruct Nitro Mechanoid (yellow), with Galvanic BenderGalvanic Bender adding an additional power. This can be done even while taking a somewhat aggressive stance with efficient or disruptive boost cards like Fast and FuriousFast and Furious (red), Zipper HitZipper Hit (red), Jump StartJump Start (red) and T-BoneT-Bone (red). The cards Speed DemonSpeed Demon (red), Gas UpGas Up (red) HeistHeist (red) and SupercellSupercell (blue) help build up Hyper Drivers which of course provide “free” resources in addition to eventually enabling the transformation into Nitro MechanoidNitro Mechanoid.

Playing against Maxx

Maxx has a very powerful payoff in the late game but doesn’t apply as much pressure as true aggro decks in the early game. This gives you some space to be a bit aggressive and disruptive. Try to end the game before or very shortly after Construct Nitro Mechanoid is played, since they get a lot of value out of it over the course of several turns. This can even be accelerated if they have Hit the GasHit the Gas (blue) lined up, which allows the Mechanoid to attack multiple times in a turn for a big burst of damage. Worth keeping track of the number of Hyper Drivers in the banished zone.

Since Construct Nitro Mechanoid requires all four pieces of equipment it can be made entirely obsolete via equipment destruction. If you have access to those tools it’s a good idea to apply pressure to his equipment with traditional disruption and then destroy a piece of equipment once it has a -1 counter. Note that some Maxx players use Cogwerx Base LegsCogwerx Base Legs which can be destroyed by Batter to a PulpBatter to a Pulp (red).

Try not to get caught by T-BoneT-Bone (red). Maxx can hold one in arsenal and wait until they have a turn where two T-bones can be played in the same turn, which can make things awkward if you defend with your equipment too eagerly. Since Nitro Mechanoid has overpower, you might need your equipment to cover some of its damage to get across the finishing line in the end game.

Keep in mind that Spinal CrushSpinal Crush (red) is not a slam dunk against Maxx, since he can get action points by cranking Hyper Drivers. Speed DemonSpeed Demon (red), Gas UpGas Up (red), SupercellSupercell (blue) and of course Hyper DriverHyper Driver itself are key cards that are unaffected by Spinal Crush. Still, there are turns where Maxx would like to start off by boosting to get resources from existing Hyper Drivers and then use those resources for other cards. This is how Maxx can make his biggest plays. Spinal Crush is therefore most impactful if Maxx already has a few Hyper Drivers and perhaps also a card in arsenal.

Useful cards against Maxx

Equipment destruction is king against Maxx:

  • MangleMangle (red)

  • BuckleBuckle (blue)

  • HeadbuttHeadbutt (blue)

  • Exposed to the ElementsExposed to the Elements (blue)

  • Frozen to DeathFrozen to Death (blue)

  • Colossal BearingColossal Bearing (red)

  • Batter to a PulpBatter to a Pulp (red) (if they are using Cogwerx Base LegsCogwerx Base Legs)