(No Fear | Art by Eilene Cherie)

As the arena roars with each new exciting brawl, a simple booth sits inconspicuously in one of the corners with potions on display. A sign hung over the booth reads: “The Alchemists Coffer.” The proprietress sits, awaiting events to unfold and coming up with new brew ideas.

Strong and Fearless Jank

With Heavy Hitters in full swing, there are some cards known to be amazing and some less so. So today we’ll dig through the set and look at cards that are interesting, but maybe not the best.

Let’s start with Kayo’s new specialization. Reckless Charge takes betting on luck to the next tier, with a chance to gain three action points and bring the beatdown, or to get none and end the turn. Ultimately, this card is a one-use copy of Scabskin Leathers, with the added possibility of drawing a card if you rolled a six in the turn. With the universal use of Scabs, one would think Reckless Charge would be a good card, but the inherent worth is also a lot of risk to end your turn and do nothing. Even if you gain action points from reckless charge, you don’t replace the card you spent for it unless you’ve rolled a six during the turn.

With Reckless Charge it’s a gamble, but for No Fear it’s something completely different. Risking setting your entire hand aside for temporary damage mitigation of two per card banished can theoretically mitigate eight damage if played from arsenal. Which is good for decks that like to go tall, like Betsy or Bravo, but bad against wider, aggressive decks like Fai or Dash. Due to this duality of the card, it’s interesting and can be good in the right situation, but not always.

Big Bop and Bigger Than Big share a spot here for the interesting aspect that is delayed buffs. Guardian has had a few of these in the past, applying a bump in power for your next turn. These add a wager on top of it to either increase the snowball of a big swing or backfire if it wasn’t well-planned. Speaking of plans and what may come of them, Nasty Surprise is here to punish discard opponents. Whether it’s Crippling Crush, Pummel, Tear Asunder, Judge, Jury, Executioner, or even Command and Conquer. If your opponent makes you get rid of Nasty Surprise, they’ll be the ones to suffer the consequences from your token surplus. Even if they may be Down But Not Out.

Gold and Bad Beats

In Heavy Hitters, Gold is the name of the game with most of the heroes able to profit off of it. If you don’t have any Gold, Starting Stake is here for you to get you started with a Gold, so long as you don’t have any already. While nothing too fancy or notable, Starting Stake can help get the ball rolling on a gold engine at least. If your opponent has a stake in the fight with a Gold, Pay Up is here to act as a counter to that, stealing away their Gold and gaining overpower in the process. While not a Starting Stake or making them pay up, Performance Bonus is here to help generate Gold if it hits and keep your turn going if played from arsenal. It’s far from a standout, but can still give valuable pressure on your attacks with the Gold generation and go again.

A punishing card for the opponent that will see actual play in Fai and punish those who do block is Tenacity. While it’s simple and straightforward, Tenacity can be a genuine threat, gaining power for every card they use to block your combat chain. It’s boring, but an effective finisher regardless. Standing Order is here to provide the flexibility of six power and five block at the cost of returning your arsenal. Blocking five is already relatively decent even if you’re sending your arsenal to the deck. But this card also goes up to six power when you do so, which means that it also pops cards with phantasm, such as the dragons and angels. For useful but odd, Seduce Secrets is here to save the day, taking a peek at your opponent’s Sink Below draw or just one of their cards for their next time. There’s also the bonus effect of replacing itself if played from arsenal, which can fuel Kassai‘s ability to swing her swords for free just by drawing that card.

Regardless of your inclination, be it strength, the flash of swords, or just the cards from the expansion slot, Heavy Hitters has plenty of new cards to mess around with and experiment. Be you a Warrior, a Guardian, or a Brute, may you brews be ever so interesting until we meet next.

Further Reading:

Flesh and Blood’s Living Legend System, and the Power of Storytelling

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

Alternative Ways to Play Flesh and Blood

Mari Groh

Mari is a Flesh and Blood player who enjoys a good session of deckbuilding more than playing the actual game at times, though both sides of the game are her passion. A former Azalea main she has put her bow away in favor of concocting odd brews, having yet to find a true favorite deck again. Coming from a slew of different card games including Magic The Gathering the resident jank specialist is here to brew and jam games... so long as she isn't distracted by other games or creative writing.