A Lightning Baller Enters UPF!
October 18, 2024 by
Donnie K. 
Greetings and salutations my fabulous FAB folks! Welcome back to another UPF brew here on FABREC. Today we’re looking at another Rosetta hero in the form of a list that I found on Fabrary. Like most people, I usually look for inspiration from others when I start my brewing process. However, before I made it to FABREC for that inspiration I came across a list that I like a lot, and I feel like it needs to be highlighted.
Coming to us from Mekha079 on Fabrary, we have Rosetta‘s OTHER Runeblade, in the form of Aurora!
Aurora, the Lightning Baller!
As a player, I’m fully dedicated to the best hero in the game, Nuu (she is love, she is life). However, because Rosetta didn’t have much to offer Nuu, I hadn’t given much thought to brewing with the new set. That being said, I know there’s been a lot of hype around Rosetta and around Aurora in particular, and I’ve played a little Vynnset in the past. Runeblades are a lot of fun and have some of the best art in the game, so I get it.
So instead of brewing from the ground up today, I’m going to try to deconstruct Mekha079’s list and explain why I think it looks so good. As always, let’s start with the equipment.
What Kind of Sweet Gear is Aurora Wearing?
There are several benefits to being a Runeblade, aside from having cool art. Having access to one of the best equipment suites in the game is one of them. Between Dyadic Carapace, Crown of Dichotomy, and Lightning Greaves, we have all the Arcane Barrier we could possibly want and extra block value on the chest.
Mekha opted for Fyendal’s Spring Tunic in the main board though, and I think I see why. We’re not expecting the game to go long, but Tunic is the best card for the slot so we can save the resource for a combo turn. We’re trying to line up one of our power cards (more on those in a moment), with the free resource and just go bananas. Or, we’re using that free resource to pop our boots to fuel another combo. Either way, it’s best to let it build and save it for a turn that’s really worth it.
Alright! Sounds Good So Far, What’s Next?
If the previous section wasn’t a blatant enough hint, one of my favorite things about Ultimate Pit Fight is being able to play banned cards. I started the game too late to ever see Ball Lightning in action, but the potential with Aurora is just absurd. Tacking on an extra point of damage to every Elemental or Lightning effect is exactly the kind of silly I want in my casual games.
Coax a Commotion is an all-star in a deck that can give it go again easily and, oh boy, does that apply to this hero. Not only does she have the entire Lightning card pool to work with and all of the sweet new Rosetta things, she can make an Embodiment of Lightning whenever there are spare resources.
Blink, Current Funnel, and Arc Lightning are great at doing this, but so is the old (recently banned) classic Art of War. The Lightning cards also synergize really well with another recent victim of the “Great Book Burning of 2024,” Tome of Fyendal.
Channel Lightning Valley is a Classic Constructed powerhouse and I’ve been on the receiving end of the synergy it has with Sigil of Suffering a few times. One of my locals called the combo Test of Strength for Runeblade, and they’re not wrong.
But, we’ve got to have attacks to take advantage of all that synergy and, you know, win. In that respect, we have some standard breakpoint Lightning cards, including Gone in a Flash, Lightning Surge, and Static Shock, and a suite of attack buffs to push the Lightning synergies to the moon.
Man, This Deck Is Sounding Sweet!
Right!? That’s why I wanted to highlight it. This is exactly how I would have ended up building this hero for UPF. The next thing we need to talk about is the sideboard. I mentioned the equipment earlier, but to rehash, we have an extra three points of Arcane Barrier and a Reaping Blade to keep Count Your Blessings and other life gain shenanigans under control.
That leaves four slots to fill. Mekha chose Blast to Oblivion and Oasis Respite for their list and I’m a fan of both for this deck. After all, you can never be too safe from Wizards, so I often carry Oasis in my lists too. On the other hand, Blast to Oblivion has some niche uses and is an extra attack if we think we need it.
One fun thing (for us) that it can do is target Good Deeds Don’t Go Unnoticed, preventing the opponent from getting the benefit from it when it gets back to their turn (or buy back our own Channel Lightning Valley in a pinch).
With all that said and done, we have a complete list!
The Final List
Mekha079s UPF, I Roar Again!
Final Thoughts
This list is exactly where I want to start with building an Aurora deck for UPF. It’s powerful, synergistic, and fun, and it will make for some great stories to retell later. You know, all of the main things that I want in a UPF brew. So, all the kudos to Mekha079 for providing the inspiration for my next UPF deck!
What do you think about the list? Do you think I should feature another brewer’s list more often or stick to my own whacky creations? Do you want to listen to me and my buddies yap about FAB for about an hour at a time? Hit me up on Twitter or Discord at Dracohominis87 and let me know!
Donnie K.
Donnie is an enthusiastic nerd and family man who grew up playing TCGs, starting when Pokemon cards were the hottest thing on the playground. After playing Yu-gi-oh and then Magic the Gathering for years, he found Flesh and Blood in December of '22, sold all of his other pretty cardboard rectangles, and dived into FAB head first where he discovered a deep love for go-wide strategies involving the use of Ninja cards. Be Like Water is his current favorite card, because he gets to do a terrible Bruce Lee impression every time it's played. (Much to the annoyance of his brother who hears it a lot.) Donnie has been married to his lovely wife since Halloween 2008 and has two beautiful daughters that he couldn't be more proud of.