JAX: Ever worth it?

[luxtizer]

Jax is a pretty rare/expensive card to obtain, but it seems pretty underwhelming. Is there really ever any reason to buy it? It's one energy less to play than inflame, but costs you 3 hp and exhausts itself for the same effect. Seems like a crappier card overall.

It's not even worth it for the druggist event, since you can get the same reward by spending 85 gold whereas the Jax costs 100 gold to obtain.

Bottom line: am I missing something? Is there ever a good reason to buy the card?

[Visual Basic]

It’s an easy enabler for strength gain builds, there is almost 0 downside when you use it on ironclad as you gain hp back anyways. The only downside is it takes up a card slot.

[Yxklyx]

I nearly always pick it up. I tend to always take Feel No Pain as well whenever I see it so it's giving me extra block. I may not have Inflame and it's 0 cost as well. The HP loss is usually trivial.

[Siege Mentality]

There's another encounter that requires the jax card. I never have it when I hit it though...

[robofish126]

1: 0 Energy means you can play it and still unload all your energy into buffed attacks.
2: Its not a power, which means it doesn't provoke Awakened One.

[Yxklyx]

Oh, but I don't think I'd ever BUY the card unless there was nothing left to buy for the rest of the run. Yeah, Powers and Awakened One is serious business since he's already a tough enemy.

[Zu]

Don't underestimate the tempo. Also, it comes with skill and exhaust synergy. Powers don't.

[ZappyDoggo]

Originally posted by luxtizer:

Jax is a pretty rare/expensive card to obtain, but it seems pretty underwhelming. Is there really ever any reason to buy it? It's one energy less to play than inflame, but costs you 3 hp and exhausts itself for the same effect. Seems like a crappier card overall.

It's not even worth it for the druggist event, since you can get the same reward by spending 85 gold whereas the Jax costs 100 gold to obtain.

Bottom line: am I missing something? Is there ever a good reason to buy the card?

I haven't seen much use for it, probably because I only recall it giving something like '4 strength' and an exhaust. I haven't tried it with Strength based/exhaust based synergies, which it might help in. I'm not a fan of the price though (The other ? scenario you run into, I think you can give 45 coins in exchange for a relic, instead of a Jaxx card, Which seems a bit more worth it to do.)

I might try the Jaxx card one day, but right now I feel kinda If-y about it, seeing as I only find the availability of the card on runs where I don't have too much use for it. That or i'm just being dumb/I don't have the money/saving money for Relics which I probably should go for less.

Edit: My bad, 85 coins, not 45.

[JokingJames2]

It's basically Inflame for 0 mana. Inflame is a good card, so the same card for 0 is even better. It also doesn't count as a power, works with exhaust synergy, and enables Limit Break.

[MHC]

I almost always pick it up if I get the chance, assuming I'm not doing something like a poison deck or I'm already desperately low on HP/deck's feeling bloated. Not a major find like apotheosis or noxious fumes or demon form but it's good to have around.

[burningmime]

I've played it a couple times, but 100 is a pretty steep asking price. It's easier to swallow dropping 100 on a colorless card when you're at the store and know your other options, but I'd hate to miss out on card removal, a great relic, or one of the many better colorless cards because I spent my paycheck jaxxing off.

Originally posted by LoganMcvey:

It’s an easy enabler for strength gain builds, there is almost 0 downside when you use it on ironclad as you gain hp back anyways. The only downside is it takes up a card slot.

I can only stay HP neutral on Ironclad in Act 1 normal fights or if if I'm running a high defense build. I'll be dropping HP most fights in Act 2/3. So an extra 3 HP per fight adds up pretty quickly; it's at least half a campfire worth of healing if you're using it every fight. Of course, if it helps you finish those fights more quickly and avoid attacks, then it's worth it.

[Dad Poets Society]

I always buy Jax as that nasty dealer once gave me a free taste and now I'm addicted. I'd sell my mother's car for some Jax.

Y'all got any Jax btw?

[Yoder]

I always buy Jax if I can, though there are clearly some good points against it so maybe I should think harder about it. It's a great addition to a shiv deck for one thing because you are making many attacks per round, all boosted. There are few other sources of str for a Silent.

[Visual Basic]

Originally posted by burningmime:

I've played it a couple times, but 100 is a pretty steep asking price. It's easier to swallow dropping 100 on a colorless card when you're at the store and know your other options, but I'd hate to miss out on card removal, a great relic, or one of the many better colorless cards because I spent my paycheck jaxxing off.

Originally posted by LoganMcvey:

It’s an easy enabler for strength gain builds, there is almost 0 downside when you use it on ironclad as you gain hp back anyways. The only downside is it takes up a card slot.

I can only stay HP neutral on Ironclad in Act 1 normal fights or if if I'm running a high defense build. I'll be dropping HP most fights in Act 2/3. So an extra 3 HP per fight adds up pretty quickly; it's at least half a campfire worth of healing if you're using it every fight. Of course, if it helps you finish those fights more quickly and avoid attacks, then it's worth it.

I find that 99% of the time it will save you hp overall. Also an advantage is if I don’t think it’s going to do anything then I just don’t play it.

[screeg]

Originally posted by Siege Mentality:

There's another encounter that requires the jax card. I never have it when I hit it though...

Not that great, you just trade it for a random relic.

[chiya]

Originally posted by screeg:

Originally posted by Siege Mentality:

There's another encounter that requires the jax card. I never have it when I hit it though...

Not that great, you just trade it for a random relic.

Which means you effectively trade 100 gold for a random relic. If you got an encounter to pay up 100 gold for a random relic, I'm sure you'd take it every time. So I'd say it's pretty good.