Unmatched
Daredevil
Overview
Daredevil is a Marvel Comics superhero who debuted in Daredevil #1 in April of 1964. Daredevil would soar in popularity, later becoming a member of Marvel’s superhero team The Avengers. Daredevil has also seen several live action adaptations, appearing in the 1989 film The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, the 2003 film titled Daredevil, the excellent 2015 Netflix Marvel Daredevil series that ran for three seasons, and most recently appearing as a cameo in Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk.
Blinded by a chemical spill as a child, Matt Murdock developed incredibly heightened senses. He spends his childhood through his young adult years honing his senses, training in martial arts under his mentor Stick, and attending Columbia Law School. Lawyer-by-day, vigilante-by-night, Matt Murdock seeks out the criminal element in Hell’s Kitchen as both a lawyer and the hero Daredevil. In Unmatched, Daredevil uses his martial arts expertise, superhuman senses, and incredible tenacity to outlast even the toughest opponents.
Daredevil is included in Unmatched: Hell’s KitchenÂ
Hero Stats
Health:Â 17 /Â Attack:Â Melee /Â Movement:Â 3
Special Ability
DURING COMBAT – If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, you may BLIND BOOST your attack or defense.
(If you have other DURING COMBAT effects, choose the order)
Strategies and Tips
Daredevil is the most resilient fighter in Unmatched. With a deck size of only 22 cards and card effects that let you go through your deck quickly, it is easy to feel like the odds are stacked against you; however, have no fear. He is a strong melee hero with a large amount of health, multiple opportunities to heal, card effects that increase his movement and attack power, and he has opportunities to reshuffle cards from his discard pile back into his deck.
Primary Strengths
High health
Healing Effects
Will never meet exhaustion if played properly
Primary Weaknesses
Heroes who can force discards (e.g. Medusa)
Heroes with many Feint effects (e.g. Bigfoot, Sherlock Holmes)
Tip #1: The Man Without Fear
The key to playing as Daredevil is to embrace his character and play without fear. Do not be afraid to blind boost your attacks. Daredevil’s deck, with one exception, is filled with 2 and 3 value cards. This means you will struggle getting through most of your opponent’s defenses without boosting.
Man Without Fear is a 2-value attack card that allows you to blind boost the attack. This effect is in addition to the special ability, so if your hand is low enough you could blind boost this attack twice.Â
Fearless does not mean careless. Just because his ability exists does not mean you should try to activate it as much as possible. If you are attacking or defending and your hand happens to go down to 2 cards, then blind boost when necessary. Do not worry about running out of cards to draw. It helps that Daredevil’s defense options are consistent with all having a value of 3 except for Feint.
Son of a Boxer is a defense card with a value of 3 that, after combat, deals 2 damage to a fighter adjacent to daredevil if you lose combat. This isn’t the greatest defense against ranged fighters, but it is good insurance against melee heroes. 3 defense is a good value, so if they deal more then it will likely be 1 to 2 points of damage, meaning you get to deal back to them roughly the amount of damage you took.
With cards like these, chances are that throughout your game you will feel like you are at a disadvantage. This is by design, and where the true character of Daredevil shines through.
Tip #2: Fight Through Adversity
As a melee hero, Daredevil will naturally have a harder time fighting against ranged heroes with multiple sidekicks, such as Medusa or Robin Hood.Â
Through Adversity is a scheme that helps even the odds. With this card you can move Daredevil up to 4 spaces through opposing fighters while dealing 1 damage to each opposing fighter he moves through.
If you follow tip #1, you will find yourself blind boosting throughout your game. The biggest disadvantage to doing so is discarding important cards. There are 2 cards you want to make sure end up in your hand: Breather and The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.Â
Breather is a scheme card that allows you to choose an attack, defense, or versatile card from your discard pile and return it to your hand. There are 3 of these cards in your deck, meaning you will have many chances to recover important cards that were discarded through blind boosting.Â
Keep an eye out for Take a Knee, a versatile card with a value of 3 that lets you discard the top card of your deck and recover health equal to its boost value. Most of your boost values are 2 with the occasional 1 and 3, so you can pretty consistently recover 2 health. It is best to defend with this card.
If The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen ends up discarded, prioritize recovering it with Breather. This is the key to Daredevil’s success.
Tip #3: The Devil of Hell's Kitchen
The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is Daredevil’s most important card. This attack card has a value of 4 and a during combat effect that boosts the attack value to 8 if you have no cards in your deck. After combat, you then shuffle this card and the top four cards of your discard pile back into your deck.
This card IS Daredevil. If played correctly, he should never meet exhaustion. Make sure these are either in your hand or are one of the last four used before this card is played: Take a Knee, Breather, Through Adversity, and Feint.
Reshuffling these four cards back through your deck endlessly will enable you to recover health, recover other cards and lost cards if your opponent cancels one with a Feint, keep the pressure on ranged heroes, and shut down opponents who rely on card effects. Ideally you will have two The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen cards or a Breather in your hand for when your deck runs out, keeping one for insurance in case of a Feint.
The huge attack value will make you want to save this card for when your deck is empty, but it is predictable. If your opponent is familiar with Daredevil’s deck, it may be more valuable for you to use this card in the early to mid-game to take them off guard. An attack value of 4 is still strong, and the more you can keep shuffling cards from your discard pile into your deck the better.
Final Thoughts
Daredevil emphasizes resilience and endurance. His ability exemplifies this perfectly, allowing him to blind boost his cards when the game is stacked against him. He is especially effective against heroes with no feint cards in their deck; however, he is more vulnerable to heroes like Bigfoot, who have more than the usual amount of feint cards. Daredevil is a unique hero with many favorable and unfavorable matchups. His mechanics make him capable of defeating any hero when played carefully, making each game feel engaging and dynamic.
