State of the Game: The race to zero. (Flesh and Blood TCG)

Written by Liam Bosecke

   

Flesh and blood has often been a game of endurance and risk management: How much damage can I take this turn in order to inflict damage next turn? How can I trade my bad cards for my opponents good cards?
It's a simple concept, with a vast array of tools and abilities which allow you to tackle this problem in different ways.

   

   

Chane, young version by Federico Musetti

   

      
Players are constantly figuring out the most efficient way to outpace their opponents. Whether that be through attrition with a control build, or through setting up a one turn kill combo. Upon the release of Monarch, however, the meta game changed drastically with the introduction of the infamous new shadow Runeblade hero, Chane. This is a hero which can very easily pump out 15 damage a turn. Chane is inherently an anti-control deck, since most turns you can only block for 12 maximum.  

Watch out for these...

        

        

        
The strategy Chane employs is quite unique to previous heroes before him: Kill hard, kill fast or be killed. Much like Levia, the other shadow hero of the set, Chane relies on building up a blood debt. Unlike his brute counterpart however, managing and eliminating Chane's blood debt is extremely simple and a lot less detrimental. This means the risk vs reward ratio is almost irrelevant, as almost every card in the deck either costs 0 or 1. 

   


Chane has a vast array of tools at his disposal.
  

     
The way players tackle "The Chane Problem" currently is to not block at all during the game and attempt to race for damage. This is because Chane can do an overwhelming amount of damage by late game (much more prevalent in blitz than in CC, but can be seen in both). This eliminates any control decks from being top tier, as this strategy simply doesn't work against Chane. The top decks are currently aggressive and fast.

   

This can be reflected in how Ira builds have changed over time, as this hero is considered top tier, thus, can be an accurate reflection on the overall state of the meta. Ira had drastically changed ever since Drone of Brutality got banned. Ira was very much a control deck in order to beat the dominant hero of the time, Kano.

   


Original Ira Champion's deck

   

The strategy with this control build involved being able to correctly pitch cards in your deck so you would be able to see them later in the game, thus, setting up an infinite combo with the now banned Drone of Brutality. This strategy inherently changed the game and the way people played. 

   

   

Rift Bind by Ramza Ardyputra