(Briar, Warden of Thorns | Art by Othon Nikolaidis)

Hello there! We’ve moved past Nationals season and there’s less then a month left before the format changes, courtesy of Bright Lights and a Banned and Restricted announcement. This will also be the first time I will have followed up my first power ranking, which can allow some reflection on my part through this process.

As a reminder, these power rankings are intended to be used as a starting point as either the decks to beat or the best decks in the format. I’ve scoured the internet and combined that information with my own experience in order to give you the top five decks to take to a tournament today.

1.Lexi Livewire by Natan Tomeo (Italian Nationals – 1st)

Previous Rank: 2

Last month I wrote about Lexi being the most powerful deck even though Iyslander, Stormbind was having consistent results in tournaments at the time, and yet I still understated just how powerful this deck is. There is no more 1 and 1a talk, Lexi is the deck to beat going forward. With a Calling Champion in Yuki Lee Bender and many, many Nationals Champions, Lexi, Livewire has eviscerated the competition in a way that very few champions have.

Something that Lexi excels at over other heroes is her floor. The worst Lexi turns are still presenting about nine damage, which, compared to something like Runeblade or Wizard, is absolutely insane. The worst Lexi matchups are still absolutely winnable because those heroes can fumble hard, and Lexi cannot. Her game plan, while predictable, is the fastest of all the aggressive decks and almost impossible to stop by other strategies, which makes her so deadly.

Natan Tomeo took Lexi to 1st place at Italian Nationals and showcased a few ways to take the deck that I absolutely love. First, don’t overdo it on the poppers (six+ attack cards used to “pop” Illusionist phantasm cards). Yes, Dromai, Ash Artist is a threat, but putting too many poppers in your deck can really take away the consistent damage that Lexi presents. And instead of stopping Dromai, it actually lets Dromai get ahead. Second, the Ice package is brilliant when you expect to play the mirror a lot. Third, the return of Remembrance is going to be pivotal in defeating the new Briar, Warden of Thorns lists that have been running around since U.S. Nationals.

2. Iyslander, Stormbind by Adam Matecki (Luxemborg Nationals – 1st)

Previous Rank: 1

Although Iyslander didn’t exactly crush Nationals season, she still did well enough that she warrants a high priority for the end of the season. She picked up two wins in the last week alone, which puts her firmly into second place territory. If Lexi is the breakout deck of the season, then Iyslander is the deck that provides consistent, but not dominant, results. 

For the rest of these decks we’ll talk about weaknesses. Iyslander, like the other heroes on this list, is very attackable through card choices. Some of those card choices are very obvious. Oasis Respite doesn’t exactly shock anyone when you tell them it’s good against Wizard. Playing extra blues or playing a different version of a deck (such as big dragons) can also be a way to attack Iyslander and turn the odds in your favor. 

What can you do in the face of the hate? Well, Adam Matecki kept it simple at Luxemborg Nationals and played a pretty stock Bullander list on the way to first place. Playing into Iyslander’s consistent game play is the way to go in order to rack up the victories. It’s important to make sure to slow down Dromai by playing at least seven phantasm poppers in your Bullander deck, and Adam goes up to nine in order to get Command and Conquer into the deck. Outside of the number of poppers, the list is only remarkable in how unremarkable it is, and this is exactly where you want to be with a deck like this. 

3. Dromai, Ash Artist by Marcel Harz (Germany Nationals – 1st Place)

Previous Rank: 3

Another deck with middling results coming out of Nationals season, Dromai, Ash Artist seems to be always a bridesmaid, never a bride, but always seems to put a pilot or two into the top 8. Dromai is the only hero that will stay ranked exactly where they were last month. (Pat myself on the back). 

Dromai has a very obvious weakness in decks that are able to split up their damage well. Fortunately for Dromais all around the world, those decks are not at the top of the meta game right now. Instead, every single one of these decks is preying on Dromai’s second weakness, which is attacks that pop phantasm. Although it’s important to not overdo it by stuffing too many poppers into the deck, cards such as Command and Conquer, Battering Bolt, and Evergreen have other uses and happen to satisfy the Dromai tax. 

I played big dragons for U.S. Nationals and Invoke Tomeltai is an automatic win in some matchups. This is why I’m such a big fan of Marcel Harz’s Dromai list. In order to take on Lexi, it’s important to be able to race them with cards like Snatch and Miraging Metamorph. Snatch and Dustup are excellent ways to abuse Invoke Cromai and make Lexi really choose whether they want to block or not. On top of this, Dromai can absolutely thrash the next deck on this list, making it a really good choice going forward. 

4. Briar, Warden of Thorns by Charles Dunn (U.S. Nationals 1st Place)

Previous Rank: N/A

The first newcomer to the list is the soon-to-be Living Legend Briar, Warden of Thorns. Charles Dunn and the Runaways brought the first surprise to Nationals season with a fatigue Briar list that preyed upon a format not ready for it. With Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity gone, many players shed their Remembrance‘s and disrespected fatigue. Going forward, Briar is going to be hard to sideboard against until it gets taken out by the Banned and Restricted announcement, which will officially sideline Briar until Living Legend format. 

The weakness of the fatigue Briar list is that once you know that a player is on this deck and you have the tools, it becomes a knowledge check to beat the Briar list. Although Briar has some tools in the Embodiment of Earth that Oldhim doesn’t have, Oldhim is still the far superior fatigue deck, leaving Briar just a step behind. With no fatigue deck in the format, Briar is the perfect gotcha deck to fill that role.

Charles Dunn’s Briar deck brings an infinite supply of three-for-seven attacks and defense reactions to back it up. In order to combat Lexi, the plan is to run them out of arrows as opposed to racing them. Evergreen will make the end of any game a nightmare for heroes trying to out-fatigue you. The coolest part of the deck is every blue is a block-three (or block-four with Embodiment of Earth), making it extremely easy to block out huge turns from opposing aggro decks.

5. Bravo, Showstopper by Kok Bin (Malaysia Nationals – 1st Place)

Previous Rank: 4

This month there’s no Darkhorse pick to take it all, instead just one S-Tier hero in Lexi, Livewire and four solid A-tier heroes chasing behind. Bravo, Showstopper takes up the Guardian slot in our rankings as it tries to run even versus all decks. Bravo is another deck that can go the fatigue route, but it doesn’t have the tools that Briar does. The best direction for Bravo at this point in time is a regular smash-face type of strategy.

Bravo will struggle when an aggressive deck has too big of a turn or against a fatigue deck that can go over the top of it. It really just always does its thing and sometimes that will be good enough and sometimes it won’t be. Primarily fatigue Briar is a bad matchup that leaves Bravo just a peg lower then when we last checked in.

The list that Kok Bin used to take down Malaysian Nationals is pretty much stock Bravo (similar to the Iyslander list). The presence of Star Struck gives the deck so much more consistency when presenting relevant on-hits. I also really like Sigil of Solace as an added card to fight against Wizard primarily. Ultimately, Bravo is consistent at what it does and can take down any tournament when given the right matchups.

6. Uzuri, Switchblade by Nathaniel Meserve (The Calling: Las Vegas – 3rd Place)

Previous Rank: N/A

Well it turns out that we actually have space for a Darkhorse deck after all. Huge thank you to Legend Story Studios for giving me the extra slot to write about one of my favorite decks, Uzuri, Switchblade. Uzuri has started to crop up into some of the top rankings in tournaments. Part of this is because it’s one of the few decks that boasts a good Lexi matchup. The other reason is that Uzuri is one of the few good midrange decks in the entire format (Bravo is another). 

Uzuri struggles into decks that can fit defense reactions in. On this list alone that is Iyslander, Dromai, and Bravo. If your local meta is over half Lexi then Uzuri might be the deck to take. Uzuri is one of those decks that can sneak up on a format and surprise you. I’m excited for future iterations of this deck as it continues to evolve through different sets.

The list that Nathaniel took to a top four at the Calling: Las Vegas is fairly typical in that it plays all the Stealth cards and big on-hits. One of the biggest reasons to play Uzuri comes in the form of Death Touch and Codex of Frailty, which work as a primary combo in the deck. Nathaniel does take the list in a slightly cool direction with the addition of Looking for a Scrap to give slightly more go again in a deck that can struggle to utilize all of its cards. Ultimately, Command and Conquer, Frailty Trap and Leave No Witnesses all combine to give Lexi and other arsenal reliant decks fits. 

There you have it. We’re currently in September and headed towards a new format, and with the addition of Bright Lights things will get shaken up. New heroes will rise, but the perfect place to start will be with the heroes that did well in the last format. Until next time!

Tyler Horspool

Tyler won the first ever major Flesh and Blood event in the world (The Calling Las Vegas 2021) and has been rated as one of the top classic constructed players ever since. He top 8ed the first US Nationals and has top 64ed every Pro Tour to date. Tyler hopes to continue playing Flesh and Blood at a high level and share his passion for card games with others.