it's pretty standard to just tank the marked for death so you can get more damage out. The main reason is to avoid letting nex teleport around, which drastically reduces the team's damage output. it's pretty easy to tank through the blood phase at any rate. as for melee, some people think you're more accurate with 210+ ranged bonus, than with say, a chaotic maul. you can use ruby bolts to abuse the high accuracy, and many players think this gives you a higher damage output than say, void with ruby bolts. also in response to dragon, I don't think that's what stokenut meant by don't run. I'm pretty sure he just meant, don't run. the marked for death sequence isn't that devastating in reality.