This deck is my all-time favorite. Combining many elements into one list, a jack of all traits one could say.
This is the modern version of this deck since the initial Darkhawk and Zabu Nerfs. After the initial nerfs to these cards I lost hope in this deck since stacking up 4 costs would make it bricky, but after the recent stature buff, I decided to try and see if I could bring light back to this pile.
Sure enough it somehow worked, the playstyle of the original version was recreated to a degree. Without Zabu having the ongoing version of his ability the original build became next to unplayable since it had a larger focus on 4 - cost cards mainly Shand-Chi, Enchantress, and Captain Marvel. After that, I stopped playing the deck, and then the Darkhawk Nerf came around making him a 5-cost. That solidified me to stop playing the deck, until the Stature Buff.
I decided to try and see if recreating the deck was possible. so using the old list, I went to the lab (The deck builder) to find solutions to the original problematic changes. These are my findings.
The 4-cost Solution
The biggest problem was the lack of Zabu. Without it, the original build couldn't support many 4 cost cards. The solution? Keep Shang and find another card like Enchantress. Marvel was one of the few flex spots in the deck so she can be replaced. In Enchantress's wake, I found Rogue to be the next best card. Cheaper in cost but does the job close enough. shutting down something like a tribunal lane is crazy but even hitting one of those can be enough to stop the combo. cards like Knull, Dino, other Hawks, and Ironman are prime targets for Rogue.
The Spare Space
Now that the Zabu problem has been solved, I had to find cards to fill in the rest of the remaining slots. At this point the cards chosen were Nebula, Korg, Jeff, Rogue, Rockslide, Shang-Chi, Darkhawk, Black Bolt, and Stature. I needed to fill 3 more slots. then I remembered that in a previous version before the onslaught of powerful 1-cost cards I used a move engine with Nightcrawler, Polaris, and Miles Morales. So I added Polaris and Miles to the list since Jeff can be considered a better Nightcrawler and I needed a 2-cost card. Now to fill out the last slot I wanted a strong 1-cost so I just used Ham since it does a decent job at disruption.
Combo, Cover, and Conclusion
After putting this deck into the ring, I can confirm that it still has the sauce to compete in the current metagame. Is it due to having disruption and counter cards like Shang, Ham, and Rogue? Yes, but that was the point of the deck. It's called Toolbox for a reason. I have received comments from other players about their good experiences with the list and its unexpected Power Swings. So It has worked for others.
If you are curious about the playstyle of the deck it's a very lab out the combo mid-game type of deck. The point of the deck is to have multiple small engine combos that can disrupt the opponent while building up your board. the perfect endgame without using Shang, or Rogue would be as follows:
Turn 5: Black Bolt to discard (most likely a rock)
Turn 6: Darkhawk and Stature (If all goes well it should be around 23 net power that turn)
Now I know the low costs of the deck are higher series so I have prepared a few replacements or covers for these cards.
Nebula, and Spider-Ham: For simple disruption, Iceman is a solid pick, and if you want to play more into the move portion, Nightcrawler is the next best pick.
Jeff: As a single 2 cost Armor is the next best option as it can protect Hawk later in the match. if not I used to run Daredevil before I got the higher series cards. It's served me well in the past.
I'm really proud of how this deck turned out and hope you can give this list a try for yourself. Have fun and stay safe.