(Dorinthea Ironsong | Art by Lius Lasahido)

Welcome back to CnC! Through this series, we’ll break down just what each hero brings to the table, from abilities, to playable cards and equipment, and interactions with other heroes. Looking at Blitz, CC, and UPF, we’ll see which heroes are winners, playable, fun, or need more support.

With spoilers slowly coming out for Dusk till Dawn and new specializations being revealed, Dorinthea seems to finally be in the spotlight – at least for a short while. The lovable Warrior who’s been here since day one doesn’t have much presence in the FAB scene, but there isn’t a person who doesn’t know of her. So, if you’re unsure of which hero to try next, maybe this will convince you that Dori just might be the right one for you.

Note: for the purpose of this article, I will not be talking about Dorinthea, Quicksilver Prodigy.

What Does She Do?

Young Dorinthea has 4 intellect and 20 life, while Adult Dorinthea (Dorinthea Ironsong) has 40 life. She is a Warrior and can play generic and Warrior cards. Her once-per-turn effect allows you to attack an extra time with your weapon this turn if your weapon hits. This works with any weapon she can wield.

Weapon and Equipment

Dorinthea is best known in combination with her signature weapon – a two-handed sword known simply as Dawnblade. For one resource you may attack with Dawnblade for three physical damage. If Dawnblade hits, and it’s the second time it has hit during a turn, put a +1 counter on it. However, if at the beginning of your end phase Dawnblade did not hit at least once this turn, remove all +1 counters from it.

If two-handed weapons aren’t your thing, the axes – Hatchet of Mind and Hatchet of Body might be the thing for you. They also cost one resource to attack, but for two physical damage. Their effect? Whenever you attack with Hatchet of Mind, if Hatchet of Body was the last attack this turn, Hatchet of Mind gains +1 until end of turn and vice versa.

As far as equipment goes, you’ll need to cash out a pretty penny to make the most out of your attacks while also making sure you can defend. Arcanite Skullcap or Crown of Providence (your poison of choice here), Braveforge Bracers, Courage of Bladehold and Valiant Dynamo will be your best friends and also the part of your board that your enemy will be paying a lot of attention to.

You can switch up some parts of these for cheaper options such as Refraction Bolters, but the effect won’t be the same by a long shot. For example, if you choose to play with axes, you won’t get the same effect with Dynamo and with Bolters.

Core Cards

A game with Dori is pretty straightforward – dish out as much damage as you can as quickly as you can. She rarely wants the game to last a super long time (unless you for some reason want to play fatigue Dori), and on a good day she can have you thinking hard with only two pitch floating and a card in hand. However, she still needs some time to get to her “true form.”

There are multiple ways you can pilot her, but you’ll have the most fun with attack reactions, such as ones that give piercing, or the fan-favorite Rout, and other reprise sweethearts. Because what’s better than showing your opponent what happens when they block from hand? Zero-cost attack reactions such as Glint the Quicksilver or Ironsong Response will draw a smile from your face if you get them in hand, but don’t forget – when you play with Dori, you’re basically playing a poker game.

Your deck will also need some non-attack actions, so Spoils of War and Warriors Valor, as well as the Classic Battles specialization Glistening Steelblade will give your Dawnblade unconditioned go again (so that’s one less thing to think about).

The backbone of any Dori game is giving your weapon go again, and there are a few ways you can do that: with a non-attack action before striking, activating Bolters, using a Quicken token, giving it with a reaction, and the list goes on. You want those go agains so your Dawnblade can get those juicy counters in case your enemy decides they won’t be blocking in the early game.

The Dori specialization Steelblade Supremacy is also a very loved card. The effect lasts till the end of turn, and if you can attack a third time with Dawnblade, it’s a huge threat to your opponent. You can also combine it with Ironsong Determination for dominated attacks till the end of turn.

The third specialization, Singing Steelblade yellow, fetches another reaction from your deck, provided that your enemy blocked from hand. This can go multiple ways depending on what you need at that given moment and what’s left in your deck.

Let’s take a look at the formats she can be played in and see if she’s a winner, playable, fun, or needs more support.

Blitz

The blonde beauty of Solana can catch your enemy off guard if they’re not careful. Swing and react is the way you’ll be going 90% of the time, but the spice is in which reaction you play. You could just give Dawnblade extra damage with one of those zero-cost attack reactions we mentioned, or spice it up with something more expensive. You could also just give your blade go again. If your opponent starts blocking with their full hand if you’re going vanilla three, take that as a compliment, even if you don’t have anything special in hand. Let them pass their turn and continue playing until they deck themselves out.

On the other hand, a professional player will read Dori in the blink of an eye. Always keep an ace (or should I say, a reprise?) up your sleeve. Keep an arsenal at hand at all times and don’t be scared to block with two cards from hand. Your opponent will do the thinking for you most of the time. Also, with your 7+ block equipment, you should be safe for the first turn or two before you start sweating.

Classic Constructed

Your deck will look pretty different for each matchup, but some core cards will always stay. Long games and formats allow Dawnblade to grow in power. More health gives you more time to get those counters. With Dori, however, you will have to do a lot of planning and thinking a few turns ahead. When to play your reactions or when to use Courage. Dorinthea isn’t a simple hero to learn to play, so only practice will make your turns as close to perfect as possible.

If you find yourself at a big competitive event, don’t lose hope. Depending on your matchup, you’ll have to either pitch more red cards for the second cycle or try to rush your opponent. Also remember that some matchups will just be difficult or almost impossible (or just not fair), so if you enter a matchup against heroes with on-hit triggers or ones that do a lot of dominated damage, keep your cool and stay focused.

UPF

While every hero can be played in Ultimate Pit Fight, maybe she’s not the right choice of hero for this specific format. Sure, you’ll swing your Dawnblade once or twice for some damage, but that is all you’ll do.

If you still want to play her in UPF, axes are the way to go. Most Hatchet decks are defensive and if your goal is to just have fun and not think about winning, Merciless Battleaxe your way through your enemies, overpitch it, and don’t think too much about all the ways you could die by the next round.

Overall Score: fun to play / needs more support

Players who started in Welcome to Rathe will have a special place for the Ironsong warrior in their hearts. Watching your opponents squirm while your arsenal is literally a Sigil of Solace will never not be fun. And trying to hold back tears of laughter is something every new player should experience. But for competitive plays, Dorinthea is in need of some TLC. Maybe Dusk till Dawn will give her that.

Further reading:

The Competitive Edge of Specialists in Flesh and Blood

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

The Future of Fatigue in Flesh and Blood

Valera

Valera tried Magic in highschool then forgot about it. Some years later, she fell in love with broken FaB heroes (like Data Doll MKII) and tribal commander MTG decks. A shapeshifter, collector, traveller, writer... Who needs free time?