(Mask of Momentum | Art by Kate Fox)

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

It’s your second Armory. You see familiar faces in the room and have a sense of comfort knowing what decks you’ll have to face. Few surprises are left, so now it’s time to execute. You sit down to goldfish some hands and realize… Is this actually helpful? What about when I’m in game?

Playing Flesh and Blood is a test of awareness, and complacency is extremely punishable, not just by your opponent, but by forgetting your own place in the game.

Join me in another What to Ask & How to Answer as we walk through a bit of a checklist for your turn-by-turn decision making. Perhaps a ‘checklist’ is a dangerous way to phrase it, since rigid thinking in FAB is a dangerous game, but to read my thoughts is to develop your own and improve upon what I’ve learned in my past two years of play.

Ask HOW Your Hand Gains the Most Value

As a baseline, hands in Flesh and Blood have a floor of 12 value. There’s a couple reasons that this number is agreed upon as the baseline, from mathematical deep dives in card design, to average turn value from gameplay data, or just this: even the worst hand should block for 3+3+3+3=12. 

Consider this: it costs you nothing to block with a card for three. To attack with a card costs your action point. This means that when you spend an action point, you want it to equate to more than just three. Go again on a Be Like Water, a hit effect on a Snatch, or some permanent value on an Energy Potion, are ways to do more as the turn player than stick to a baseline value. 

So then what is your highest value line? Let’s look at a starter scenario in a game of Bravo, Showstopper versus Katsu, the Wanderer. Bravo’s hand is Unmovable, Chokeslam, Show Time!, and Spinal Crush with Tectonic Plating and Anothos equipped. This is a hand with a plethora of options:

• Do you block nine and swing Anothos? This is 13 value.
• Do you block three, make a Seismic Surge, and send Spinal Crush? This is a delayed 13 value.
• Do you block six, make a Seismic Surge, and Anothos? This is a delayed 13 value.
• Do you block nine and arsenal Unmovable? This is a delayed 12 value.
• Do you block six and Show Time!? This is a delayed 12 value.
• Do you block nine and arsenal Spinal Crush? This is 12 value.
• Do you block 11 with Unmovable? This is 11 value.
• Do you make a Seismic Surge and Dominate Spinal Crush? This is a delayed 10 value.

By the numbers alone, the ceiling of your turn, hit effects aside, is about 13 value. However, FAB is not a game of absolutes; it’s not always the optimal line to stick to a value game plan, but to understand your potential ceiling is the first step to evaluating your hand. Reference my first article to understand some game state checks to help you make the right choice.

Ask WHERE You Get Punished on Blocks

Since you draw up at the end of your turn, the first choices you make with your fresh hand are all about blocking (barring Wizard shenanigans). With a grasp on your hand’s highest value line, you may be priced into blocking to unlock the three value floor per card. This is not a choice to be made willy-nilly. Instead, you should block where you best protect yourself from giving your opponent more value. 

In that same Bravo versus Katsu scenario, the Katsu leads their turn with two Harmonized Kodachi attacks into a Be Like Water. With Mask of Momentum, you know their third attack that hits will threaten a card draw, which has an assumed three value. Your block can now gain your baseline three value and deny three value in a card draw, so blocking this Be Like Water protects yourself the most from getting punished.

Of course, there are many other factors that affect how blocking plays out, from defense reactions to your armor to your opponent’s attack reactions. In the Lexi, Livewire meta we’re in right now, blocking incorrectly is more punishing than it’s ever been because of the wealth of attacks and hit effects she will present in a turn. Endless Arrow, Heat Seeker, and a surprise Codex of Frailty have made us all better at recognizing poor blocks as punishing.

So how do we master that skill?

Ask WHAT Sequence Withholds Information

It’s no mystery that Bravo, Showstopper throws a big attack, that Dorinthea Ironsong will attack react you, or that Lexi, Livewire will spam you with arrows. Within the obvious plays, though, there are moments where the person on the receiving end will have to consider what information they don’t know about the turn. Does the Bravo have Pummel? Will Dorinthea use Refraction Bolters? What’s Lexi’s last attack? Anytime you can be the one to force your opponent to pause on these questions is an opportunity for a misevaluation on their part. And what do you do to a misstep? Punish!

Let’s consider the Katsu’s point of view in our example game. Attacking twice with Harmonized Kodachi into Be Like Water threatening Mask of Momentum stacks two hit effects onto one easy block and shows two cards to your opponent. If you lead with Be Like Water, then you present a hit effect immediately to the opponent with one less card shown by not yet pitching to Kodachis. Now the Bravo has to contend with an immediate hit effect and three unknown cards. For a Bravo who’s hoping to play Spinal Crush, they only have one card they can block with and are waiting for it to get the highest value. 

Holding unknown cards over your opponent is another prime use of your arsenal. Playing out the Be Like Water when you have an arsenal means you’re holding four unknown cards, making it that much more likely you have an attack reaction or can threaten Mask of Momentum multiple times. However, by letting an arsenal sit too long means a savvy opponent can rule out what that card could be. Consider that if you had an opportunity to attack react but didn’t play out your arsenal, then your opponent can assume they don’t need to play around an Ancestral Empowerment or Razor Reflex next turn. This can work both ways, perhaps you’re just patient and you’re just setting up that sweet sweet punishment.

I just had these starter theories come to bear this week as I taught a new player FAB. As I was explaining them, I was surprised to learn that another friend in the group hadn’t ever directly heard about hand value and had just assumed bigger numbers were always better. You know what? Not the worst way to think about it either! Just remember, every hero will answer these questions in their own way.

In this series of What to Ask And How to Answer, I’ll take you through the questions to ask yourself about Flesh and Blood both in and out of the game. Last time we covered game state checks and now we dove into hand by hand choices. What’s next? We’ll find out together!

Ethan Van Sant

Ethan ‘Man Sant’ Van Sant is known for his commitment to Levia and his coverage of FaB events as Savage Feats. He has a light background with Yugioh and Pokemon, but Flesh and Blood is the first TCG that has fully consumed him… As willed by Blasmophet.