(Arakni, Solitary Confinement | Art by Tomasz Jedruszek)

Who is the Spider?

As Flesh and Blood grows, we see more heroes getting variants. Today’s article is about the young-only variant of everyone’s favorite spider, Arakni, Solitary Confinement.

Arakni was released with Outsiders as one of the six available young heroes for the set. They focus on using the stealth attacks printed in the set in a different way than Uzuri. They give the first stealth attack you play each turn go again. This makes the deck great for fans of the Ninja class. The stealth attacks basically become copies of Head Jab with the added benefits of some having on hits and blocking three.

The Outsiders tokens help give Arakni enough disruption to play out their plan while keeping the opponent on the back foot. You can swap which token is your focus depending on what hero you’re playing into. These things make them a very versatile hero with the ability to adapt to what is happening in the game.

Methods of an Assassin

Arakni has a lot of potential builds. This is due to the general utility of their card pool. When building the deck, there are a lot of possibilities, ranging from full-out aggression to a grindy end-game pitch stacked build.

Poisoning

Sometimes the best way to take out a target is slow and steady. Arakni can play a midrange game plan where their goal is to play two cards and block with two cards most turns. With a midrange deck, you want to play cards that give you the maximum possible value. Because of this, these builds usually contain two to four defense reactions, some generally good attacks (think Command and Conquer), and a good handful of attack reactions.

On top of all that, it’s playing a pile of stealth attacks. This helps keep Arakni’s ability online and keeps the three block density up. This deck’s main plan is to play smart until you see a hand that does a lot. Then you’ll try to pivot tempo hard in your favor with a blowout turn. Being able to read your opponent is huge for these lists.

Stabbing

There are other times when the best method is to just get the job done quickly. Aggressive Arakni is a really fun deck and can have some giant turns. This list drops the defense reactions for more aggression. When it comes to staying alive, the deck is relying heavily on using on hits to keep the opponent off of their game plan.

This pile plays a lot more attack reacts than the midrange style; forcing the on hits is just that good. This build’s absolute favorite token is Bloodrot Pox. Putting your opponent in a corner where their choices are to take damage or play fewer cards really helps Arakni keep snowballing towards a win.

This list can have the standard problem into control decks, so try to always be mindful of what your deck size is and bring a plan for fatigue.

Tools of the Trade

The Assassin card pool has quickly become one of the strongest in the game. This gives Arakni SC a lot of good choices when it comes deckbuilding and tools to play around various strategies.

The Illness Stealth Attacks

Infect, Wither, and Sedate are your main stealth attacks – your (poisoned) bread and butter. Being able to choose which of these to play and which to block with in different matchups makes them a great tool. Make sure to prioritize the ones that will will create the most trouble for your opponent.

One of the best things about these is that the on hits make your opponent need to respect the blues as well as the reds sometimes. Getting an entire card for one damage is usually a winning situation. This is especially evident when it’s followed by a reaction to make it hit anyway.

The Spikes

The three Spikes (Bloodrot, Inertia, and Frailty) are some of the best reactions in the deck. In combination with a blue card, you have the correct pitch to swing a dagger and play one of these on your attack action. Bloodrot is particularly strong when played correctly. It represents five damage and forces two on hits (its own and the attack’s). When it’s not five damage it’s getting a card or two from the opponent’s hand to prevent the Bloodrot damage.

Spike with Frailty is also nice because it represents a value swing by reducing the opponent’s damage output by a little. Inertia can be great to keep control decks from pivoting or setting up on you.

Isolate

I pick Isolate as my choice for stealth attacks after I’ve got the main three. Dominate pairs really well with a react to finish out games.

Prowl

Prowl is a great card for Arakni. The red represents four damage if you have another stealth attack in hand. It also helps to put the red stealth attacks on break points to make blocks awkward.

Leave No Witnesses

Leave No Witnesses is one of the generically best Assassin attacks, and it’s an amazing thing to end a turn with. When you have a bunch of Inertia creation and Leave, it becomes hard for the opponent to plan too far ahead.

Razor’s Edge

Razor's Edge is the trickiest card in the deck. It costs zero, and that makes it pop out of nowhere, catching opponents off guard.

Nerve Scalpel

When a deck is using attack reactions as much as this one, defense reactions are a problem. Nerve Scalpel is here to help with that. When combined with Flick Knives, the opponent’s defense reactions become much worse. If you know when to flick this dagger, you can typically use it to win the game.

Well, the Emperor is Dead. Now What?

Arakni, Solitary Confinement is a very diverse and fun hero. When Outsiders came out, they were the hero I was most interested in building, and I enjoy playing them when I want to play something fun that can hold its own.

If you want something different and like classes like Ninja and Ranger, this could be the deck for you.

Further Reading:

The Blitz Format is Great, and You Should Be Playing It!

Pro Flesh and Blood Players Tank, and You Should Too!

Make Every Flesh and Blood Game Count!