Often referred to as Axe PvP, Axe and Shield is a defensive, barebones kit that is often seen as the staple 1.9 kit, as was seen in the iconic 1.9 Dream vs Technoblade fight, which brought a large portion of the current playerbase into the 1.9 community. Axe is a good starting kit with a very high skill ceiling and currently has the most competitive HT3 pool. Many top players from other gamemodes struggle to perform in axe due to the short time to kill, unique defensive gameplay, and general strategic nature. The axe community and competitive practice are extremely rooted in PvP Legacy, where the kit was originally popularized.