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October 3, 2025 33 mins

Unbreakable and unstoppable. Haka is the quintessential bruiser-tank: he builds a big hand, turns those cards into huge burst damage, and protects the team with damage prevention, redirection, and self-heal. This guide focuses on tight sequencing so you smash threats without running out of gas.

What you’ll learn Core game plan (3 pillars)
  1. Stock Up – Grow your hand size and table presence. The bigger your hand, the bigger your punches and shields.

  2. Stabilize – Use team protection / DR / self-heal to blunt villain spikes while you keep drawing.

  3. Cash In – Convert cards into massive burst (or full-board safety) at the turn that matters.

Priority cards & why (category-based, spoiler-light)
  • Hand-Size Engines: Effects that draw extra or reward you for destroying/controlling environment cards. Haka scales directly with a fat hand.

  • Self-Heal / DR: Reliable heals and temporary damage reduction let you soak hits so others don’t have to.

  • Team-Wide Protection: One-turn damage shutdown / prevention tools that blank a villain alpha or a nasty environment round.

  • Redirection / Guarding: “Hit me instead” effects that let glass-cannon teammates keep their engines in play.

  • Weapons / Multi-Target Lines: Repeatable powers or attacks that hit multiple targets; perfect for minion waves.

  • Burst Amplifiers: Cards that let you discard X to add big damage to a hit (or supercharge an AOE). These turn your hoarded hand into a finisher.

  • Utility / Control: Spot removal for problem ongoings/environment, or ways to bank/recall power for a later spike.

Turn sequencing (first 4 rounds)
  • T1: Play a draw/hand engine or a solid repeatable attack. Use power conservatively; prioritize ending the turn +1 or +2 cards.

  • T2: Add self-heal/DR or a multi-target tool. Keep building hand; don’t discard for burst yet unless it removes a must-die target.

  • T3: If the board is stable, keep drawing and set a protection piece. If unstable, use team protection to blank the spike and buy a full round.

  • T4: Cash in: Convert cards → burst damage (single boss or AOE), or lock the table again with prevention if a second spike is coming.

Rule of thumb: Draw → Defend → Then Detonate. Don’t spend the hand until it wins a swing.

Matchup plans
  • Wide swarms: Lean on multi-target attacks; save your big discard-burst for the highest-HP minion or the boss after the field is trimmed.

  • Tall bosses: Build to one or two mega-hits (discard-powered) while maintaining DR/heal so you can stay in front.

  • Environment-heavy fights: Make use of environment control that turns cleanup into draw/tempo. A clean board = more Haka turns.

  • Ongoing/Equipment hate: Stagger your key plays and keep a protection card in hand; don’t dump your whole plan into a known wipe.

Team synergies (who loves Haka, and who Haka loves)
  • Global damage buffs / enemy debuffs: Small +1s explode Haka’s multi-hit turns and make discard-bursts outrageous.

  • Extra power use givers: Double dip—repeatable strike + heal/protect or strike + strike in one round.

  • Card draw engines: Feeding Haka cards is feeding the team safety and finishers later.

  • Fragile engines / glass cannons: Haka’s redirection/DR lets them keep combo pieces on the table.

  • Turn-order control: Let Haka blank damage before fragile allies act, or finish after allies stack debuffs.

Common pitfalls (and fast fixes)
  • Spending the hand too early: You nuke once and stall.

    • Fix: Don’t discard big unless it kills a phase/boss or saves the game.

  • Face-tanking without a follow-up heal/DR: You’ll drift to low HP and lose tempo.

    • Fix: Pair every big commit with a heal/DR the same turn or the next.

  • Forgetting table safety tools: Damage prevention often out-values raw damage.

    • Fix: Keep one team shutdown in hand for villain spikes.

  • Ignoring environment snowballs: Those tiles will tax your HP and hand.

    • Fix: Clear them early—especially ones that ping each turn.

Advanced tips
  • Two-turn lethal: Turn N: play a hand engine and pre-buff; Turn N+1: discard-burst for boss flip/finish.

  • Overkill math: If a boosted base hit already kills, save the discard for the next target.

  • Protect the stash: If a wipe is coming, delay your equipment/ongoing; your hand is your real battery.

  • AOE timing: Use team prevention first, then AOE on your next turn when enemies coul

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