Coming in hot with the second installment of the Precon Progression series, where we take Blitz preconstructed deck lists and discuss upgrades to further bolster the deck. Today we’re here to talk about a Flesh and Blood metagame mainstay that has experienced a resurgence due to the Heavy Hitters expansion: our old Brute buddy, Rhinar.

What’s In the Rhinar Blitz Precon Deck?

Rhinar is all about unbridled rage. The game plan is simple: me go face. With his fierce demeanor, he lets primal instincts take over him, which leads to self-detrimental effects such as self-discard, but he likewise uses this to his own advantage.

Let’s look at the deck list first:

Fortunately, the Rhinar Heavy Hitters Blitz precon is filled with attack action cards that have six or more power, which is the essential breakpoint to activate many a Brute’s effects. Let’s pare down the deck by listing out some of the standouts.

Best Cards In the Rhinar Blitz Precon

There is no hurting for good attacks in the deck, with the likes of Bare Fangs and Rawhide Rumble all having discard effects, which lines up perfectly with Rhinar‘s own ability. We can also toss Pack Hunts red and blue into the mix as a supplementary mid-tier attack.

On the other hand, Assault and Battery and Pound Town are great inclusions due to their Beat Chest effect, which again, synergizes with our hero. Beast Mode can be seen as a budget Swing Big, and is our biggest attack out of the box.

Mighty Windup red and yellow and Agile Windup red and yellow are all amazing in this deck. Not only do they have six or greater power, their instant effect essentially means we can trigger Rhinar‘s intimidate ability on demand, with no other cards needed. This can be game-ending when we can whittle the opponent down to a few cards in hand, then strip the rest off with the Windup discard effect into another intimidate attack.

Smashback Alehorn is a great blue pitch, although the two block might matter in a few games. Mandible Claw is a Brute staple; we’re keeping it. Monstrous Veil, meanwhile, isn’t all too bad and will be our headpiece for a long while.

Initial Upgrades for Rhinar

The shell that remains is filled with great, albeit costly, red attacks. This means we have to be more mindful of what attacks and colors we include in the deck going forward.

First and foremost, though, the first upgrade should be Alpha Rampage. It’s a cheap specialization card and will be played until the final versions of the deck. Barraging Beatdowns red, yellow, and blue are amazing pickups for rares. They give us more closing power due to their on-demand intimidate akin to the Windup series.

Pulping, Savage Feast, and Savage Swing red and yellow are all just efficient attacks.

Wrecker Romp allows us to pay for these attacks a little bit better. The fact that it’s blue with six power is already enough to warrant inclusion. Reckless Swing is one more way to pay for our attacks, although it’s also a great, if not funny, way to close out a game!

The budget Brute equipment suite consists of Barkbone Strapping, Beaten Trackers, and Goliath Gauntlet. Skullhorn and your choice of Arcane Barrier lets us pack Arcane Barrier 3, which should be the general minimum any deck should have.

Looking at the current list, the deck still feels too red-heavy, so we must be mindful of how to compensate with better-pitching cards.

Some considerations include Smash Instinct red, yellow, and blue, perhaps in place of the Agile Windup and Mighty Windup.

Assault and Battery red could be swapped to the yellow version. Same goes for Pound Town red in exchange for yellow. Sand Sketched Plan is another Rhinar specialization. It won’t make the final cut of the deck, but it could be considered should we feel the deck needs more pitch.

Here’s what the deck looks like after the initial upgrade:

Mid-Term Upgrades for Rhinar

The low-budget version is still rather high-costed, with more efficient Brute attacks – power-wise and pitch-wise – being locked to higher rarities. However, these are some quick upgrades to pick up to power up the deck.

Savage Beatdown and Massacre are amazing attacks and should be immediately acquired when budget permits.

Skull Crack is one way to gain more resources for a big turn, while Erase Face is another attack that may be seen in sideboards. Replacing weaker red attack actions is the play here and should give the deck a huge boost.

Long-Term Upgrades

Due to the homogenous nature of Brute decks, the best upgrades are locked behind more expensive cards, as most Brute decks run them.

Swing Big is a prime attack, while Bloodrush Bellow and Beast Within allow us to pitch better.

Send Packing is an amazing card and an on hit for Brutes, finally! This can be played as a Command and Conquer substitute, or be played alongside it. Smashing Performance or Argh... Smash! are also great tech cards for item-heavy matchups.

Finally, the last echelon of upgrades are reserved for the Brute-exclusive equipments, such as Apex Bonebreaker, Scowling Flesh Bag, and Scabskin Leathers.

Next installment, we’ll look into Kassai, then rotate back into Betsy, and then Kayo to wrap up our Heavy Hitters coverage.

The Precon Progression column is a work in progress, so any feedback on how to better improve the series to further cater to newer players is always appreciated. Till next time, happy shuffling!

Further Reading:

The Case for the Not-So-Reckless Rhinar Reprint in Heavy Hitters

Heavy Hitters Blitz Deck Review – Kayo & Rhinar

The Best Heavy Hitters Cards for Blitz