Nightcrawler

Boosting Defense

• Synch, Specialized Training (Defense Specialist), Armored Vest and Defensive Conditioning each boost our defense by one
• Desperate Defense and Expert Defense temporarily boost our defense

Defense Payoff

• Dauntless and Electrostatic Armor ping our enemies back
• Unflappable and Specialized Training (Defense Specialist) draw us a card
• "Stop Hitting Yourself" deals massive burst damage
• Desperate Defense readies our Hero again

Making use of our Downtime

• Taunt and Face the Past let us defend during the player phase (Azazel's Quickstrike is actually good here and his low Health is easily shredded with our multiple sources of Retaliate, so we can finish him off with a basic attack) and help us dig deep for our upgrades. Also, defending during the player phase allows us to be flipped down during the villain phase, letting us dodge minion attacks while still getting our payoff cards activated.