(Kayo | Art by Jessada Sutthi)

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

Every since Welcome to Rathe, Brutes have been a Flesh and Blood classic. When we first saw Kayo, back when he was still just a young hero, it was a special kind of gamble. That all changed when Heavy Hitters came out, as our Kayo got a complete makeover. As more and more older heroes are reaching their LL status, is Kayo finally getting his five minutes of fame, or does he still need more work?

For the purposes of this article, I will not be talking about Kayo, Berserker Runt.

What Does Kayo Do?

Young Kayo has four intellect and 20 life, while Kayo, Armed and Dangerous has four intellect and 40 life. He’s a Brute hero, which means he can use generic and Brute cards. Kayo only has one hand, so you can only use one one-handed weapons with him. His passive effects let him get those six-attack cards easier, as long as they’re not on the combat chain. So discarding a five attack card from hand technically means you’ve discarded a six. He also gains Might the first time he discards a six-attack card, which is is a pretty nice combo.

Weapon and Equipment

Just like Rhinar and Levia, Kayo uses Mandible Claw, but unlike them, he can only use one Claw. As far as equipment goes, you’ll need Scowling Flesh Bag, Apex Bonebreaker, Savage Sash and Scabskin Leathers.

You can swap out your Flesh Bag for Skullhorn depending on your matchups or Sash for Fyendal’s Spring Tunic if you’re playing a pricier deck.

Core Cards for Kayo

Playing Brute means your favorite number is six. Logically, you want a lot of six attacks, but being Kayo, five attacks are also good. This means that rainbow cards are very welcome in any Kayo deck. Especially since most of the cards you play will cost two or more. So which cards work best in Kayo?

Heavy Hitters gave us Agile Windup and Mighty Windup which you’ll want in all colors. They’re your discard cards, as they give you both their own effect, as well as Kayo’s effect. Then you have the classics: Wild Ride, Savage Feast and Assault and Battery, all of which give you another chance to discard a six.

Discarding them isn’t only good for your token generation, but for other cards that want you to discard a six during the turn they’re played in, such as Run Roughshod. As for other attack actions, we can’t forget about Beast Within, as well as the best Brute mechanic, intimidate. Pack Hunt and Smash Instinct both should be a part of your Kayo deck. Don’t worry about instants or d.reacts; if you play your cards right, you won’t need them and they’ll only take slots for more valuable cards.

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

Blitz

With a bit of luck, you can split your opponent’s health during turn one. While Rhinar might be better than you in this super fast format, you have an ace up your sleeve: that plus one from Might as well as the go again from Agility. You want to force cards out of your enemy’s hand, not because they want to block, but because you want to kill them faster. Unlike Warriors who play a bit of a poker game, or Ninjas who will poke you for lots of tiny damage, Kayo will hit with a tree and then drive over you with a truck. And have go again.

UPF

While Kayo might not be your first pick in UPF – nobody’s really going to stop you. Go all out with Gambler’s Gloves and have a blast. No diplomacy = no problem with Kayo, just hit everyone with everything; somebody will get to zero HP eventually and hopefully it won’t be you. If you’re scared you’ll be targeted, just gently point out that you have literally a single Claw in hand and that should calm the table a little bit. If not, Wild Ride for six with go again into Assault and Battery should do the trick.

CC

Don’t block. You’re beefy enough to take a hit and your cards are more useful as attacks than defense cards. Agility will give you the extra attacks you need, but you need to find ways to make your attacks hit for more. Bloodrush Bellow is a choice, as well as Bonebreaker Bellow. In certain matchups you might even want to clash with your opponent, so Clash of Agility and Clash of Might, on top of being six attacks, also give you a chance for another token. Go wide while your opponent blocks, arsenal as smart as you can, and let your opponent do the thinking for you. Rinse repeat till you win!

Overall Score: Fun to Play / Winner

Both Kassai and Kayo got their glow-up in Heavy Hitters, and it seems that Kayo is the strongest Brute in the current meta. He takes the discard six mechanic and makes it his own. Could he use a new specialization that doesn’t rely on his old abilities? Definitely. But till then, Kayo fans will continue having fun and winning with this big Brute.

Further Reading:

Bonk ‘Em with Kayo in Blitz

How to Build Kayo on a Budget in Blitz

Building Kayo in Commoner

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?