It’s new set time, so it’s time to evaluate the new cards! Flesh and Blood’s tenth set, Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) releases on July 14, 2023 and with it comes two new heroes looking to prove themselves in the arena. Vynnset and Prism, Advent of Thrones (angel Prism) are slotted to bring new and exciting strategies to all the formats, but today I’ll be focusing on the set and new heroes’ effects on Blitz.

Lighting the Way

This set review starts at the Light cards. Blitz currently has three Light heroes available, Prism, Advent of Thrones; Boltyn; and the original Prism.

Smoke and Mirrors: the Light Illusionist Cards

DTD has a lot of new toys for the Prism fans, but few feel like they’ll slot into the current Prism decks. Prism, Advent of Thrones is centered around a new card type called Figments, which can be awakened into Angel Allies. Being able to search for these and put them on the field makes angel Prism the home for this archetype. All of the Figments have Legendary in the textbox, so you’re limited to one copy of each. Luckily there are eight to choose from.

Figment of Ravages

There are three Figments that feel particularly powerful in Blitz, the first of which is Figment of Ravages. Though the Angels don’t have the best damage numbers in the game, Sekem, Archangel of Ravages mitigates this by allowing the angel Prism player to remove a card from soul in exchange for two arcane damage. This puts her on one of the most common “good” rates in FAB, the two-for-six damage. The extra two damage has some unique advantages when compared to having the angel swing for six. Most notably, the damage is arcane. Most decks are not bringing in Arcane Barrier (AB) for Illusionist, so for a lot of matchups this is an unpreventable two damage. This is great for ending a game or destroying ward permanents in the mirror. If the opponent does bring AB, it’s common to only bring AB1 and the one instance of two arcane damage still gets to push a damage there.

Figment of Protection

Figment of Protection flips into Aegis, Archangel of Protection, who has the ability to create two spectral shields on attack. The spectral shields having Ward 1 makes this another two-for-six in value, but part of it is conservation of life. This angel is the backbone of any angel Prism deck that wants to run Luminaris as their weapon of choice. Churning out Ward 1 auras and weapons while putting down damage is a huge way to out-value your opponents.

Figment of Rebirth

Figment of Rebirth is the glue that holds the angels deck together. When the figment enters the arena, it automatically grabs the best yellow action card in your graveyard. Then, when you flip it into Avalon, Archangel of Rebirth you can attack and grab any yellow card from your graveyard and put it on top of your deck. Conveniently, all the Figments are yellow pitch cards. So, Avalon is the solution for when your most effective angels have been destroyed and you want their Figments back in your deck. Otherwise, she is a Ward 4 permanent like the rest of the angels and can be used as a buffer to protect the angel that you recurred.

Luminaris, Celestial Fury

The non-Figment cards also have a few things that seem like they could be helpful in Blitz. First is Luminaris, Celestial Fury. This weapon is the go-to for the “oops, all angels” build that I see people excited about. Having go again on a stick (get it?) is extremely helpful when the alternative would be things like Lead the Charge. Luminaris also comes with the unique advantage of allowing you to not have a color restriction on your weapon. The strategy does seem resource intensive though, so I recommend approaching this build with the expectation of a high blue count.

Celestial Reprimand

Lastly for Light Illusionist, I’d like to touch on Celestial Reprimand. This card is great as both a yellow and a blue, depending on what you’re playing. Any deck playing Luminaris can happily run the yellow to power go again from your weapon. The blue slots nicely into a herald heavy deck playing Luminaris, Celestial Fury. Both of them seem like great options if you know that your meta has a lot of go-tall heroes.

The Place Off of Ocean Avenue: the Light Warrior Cards

The Light Warrior players are finally getting their day in the sun, and it’s all about the yellow cards. DTD is loaded with a few that are really going to help Boltyn find more consistency in both his Lumina Ascension game plan and more proactive strategies.

Beaming Blade

Beaming Blade is one of the coolest cards in DTD, and I’m excited to see what people brew with it. This card becomes a powerful combo with Vestige of Sol. Vestige helps pay for the turn in this yellow cards-matter deck, allowing it to push a better damage output from your weapon than Raydn, Duskbane. This sword combines well with Take Flight for a simple, but effective, two swing turn. Beaming Blade should make for a really fun and potentially competitive deck.

Light the Way

I like Light the Way a lot. The card really helps with one of the core problems with Light Warrior. In the past a lot of decks could ignore Boltyn for most of the game. Unless Boltyn was playing to a Lumina Ascension combo turn, you could stop Boltyn from doing much because he wouldn’t meet his condition to give go again. If you have a yellow card to charge, Boltyn now gets to present an attack that’ll have go again if it’s ignored and gets buffed if they block with an attack. This card will be extremely useful into the classes that run mostly attacks. I think Light the Way ends up being a staple in Light Warrior decks from release forward.

Beaming Bravado

Beaming Bravado actually manages to outdo Light the Way in it’s ability to do the Boltyn thing at the cost of charging a yellow card. Bravado getting a buff from its own effect means it’s a legal target for Boltyn and provides its own card in soul to get the go again. Beaming Bravado also ends up on a better rate than a lot of the other charge cards. This card makes hybrid build of Boltyn much more effective because of how well it synergizes with both of the plans. I think this will be a staple in any Boltyn deck going forward, and may show up as a full rainbow in some builds.

Prayer of Bellona

Prayer of Bellona can be really good to start a turn on. Banking on this card charging is a play that has as much variance as rolling Scabskin Leathers. In my testing, this card is really good for two things. The first is the guaranteed advantage of having a buff on your first attack so you can activate Boltyn for go again. The second is a chance to charge off the top of the deck, which has obvious benefits. Though this card will probably block and get charged most of the time, I think it can be a great way to extend a turn when played from arsenal.

Lumina Lance

Okay, Lumina Lance isn’t actually technically a Light Warrior card, but it seems like it does the things Boltyn wants to do. A well timed Lumina Lance can take an okay turn and make it into a good turn by forcing an on hit, making an attack targetable with Boltyn, and adding a draw a card on hit. Card advantage is huge in a deck that’s using cards as inefficiently as Boltyn does in his early game.

The Monster Mash and Other Spooky Occurrences

The Shadow side of the set also comes with some fun and effective tools for our Halloween fans.

Blood and Guts: the Shadow Brute Cards

Levia has gotten so much support for her kit this set that I had to limit it to three cards to avoid talking about all of her new cards. She’s getting a massive buff to her consistency and damage output.

Diabolic Offering

Levia has finally gotten Brute’s next blue six, but it’s conditional. Diabolic Offering will be a staple in Levia decks going forward. Its ability to turn into a blue six-power card with six defense makes it super versatile. The fact that it costs one makes it pair with an Art of War in a great way.

Slithering Shadowpede

Slithering Shadowpede is Art of War‘s best friend. Trust me, they have friendship bracelets. This card let’s our favorite Shadow Brute experience some of that sweet sweet card advantage from banish that Chane has always enjoyed. Paying one for six and getting go again with Art of War is an extremely efficient play, and if you can line it up, I’d recommend trying it.

Blood Dripping Frenzy

Blood Dripping Frenzy wears its power on its sleeve. There are no frills here; the card adds damage, draws cards, and turns off Blood Debt. This card is kind of Bloodrush Bellow three through four.

Emo Music Plays from the Alleyway: the Shadow Runeblade Cards

Shadow Runeblade has been without a hero in Classic Constructed for a while, but Chane never left Blitz. Chane is now joined by a new contender, Vynnset. Along with her comes a whole suite of new cards and a new mechanic.

The Widespread Cycle

All three of the cards in the Widespread cycle are great for similar reasons. The on combat chain close damage effects are very powerful in a deck that is sending a bunch of Runechants. On top of that, all of the cards in this cycle come in for six damage, which is a two card block. The three Widespread cards are going to be really effective at landing their on damage effects to make the opponent’s life a little harder.

Envelop in Darkness

I consider Envelop in Darkness crucial to Vynnset in Blitz. I wouldn’t build the deck without a minimum of the blues and the reds. It makes for giant Rune Gated attacks off of a red pitch and a banished two-cost Rune Gate card. Envelop is also a great tool to help enable your higher cost Rune Gate cards. The best line of text on this card is making a Runechant. It ups the consistency of Rune Gate by a ton.

Funeral moon

Funeral Moon fills much the same space as Envelop, but it’s much more powerful when played right. Funeral Moon may be played at instant speed if a hero has been dealt damage in the turn, so if you combine this with an Eloquence token, you can gain an action point at instant speed and throw off your opponent by going wider than originally expected.

The Misfits: the Cards That Aren’t Related to Monarch

There are some cards in DTD that are printed outside of the four original Monarch class/talent pairings. I’ve grouped them together for organizational purposes.

The Equipment

This set comes with some cool additions to equipment suites.

Scowling Flesh Bag

Scowling Flesh Bag is the best card added to the Brute class since Swing Big. This headpiece blocks two and then whatever damage the opponent was going to add after blocks with the card that’s intimidated. This creates advantage at close to the rate that Stalagmite created for Oldhim. Occasionally it’ll get more advantage, because they can’t pay through the card being intimidated.

One thing to note while talking about this headpiece, the card will be returned to the opponent’s hand before they choose an arsenal. So you won’t be able to deny your opponent’s arsenal off of a Flesh Bag block.

Ironsong Versus

Ironsong Versus feels like it will fill three distinct spots for Warrior. I think this will eventually become the go-to arms for Boltyn because of how good a Courage token is to his archetype. Otherwise, this could be a be a great budget armpiece for new players and a fun equipment to try with the other Warriors.

Dyadic Carapace

Dyadic Carapace is a reminder of a thing I learned in card games a long time ago: keywords are good. While it may not be the most interesting piece of equipment in the game, it comes with Arcane Barrier 2 and Temper 2. These are enough to make it end up in most Blitz Runeblade decks for a long time.

Crown of Providence

So, Crown of Providence seems pretty good based on the fact that it already exists and is a staple. I’m really glad to see Legend Story Studios reprinting the generic legendaries at a decent rate. This reprint should help the accessibility of the game massively.

Buddies for the Pile

There are a few cards that are worth noting in this section outside of the equipment suites.

Mischievous Meeps

Mischievous Meeps is my favorite of the small pool of generics that we’re getting with DTD, and it’s likely to see play in a few Blitz decks. Anything that’s looking to go wide and threaten card draw should be considering it, but it seems most at home in Benji, the Piercing Wind decks. Benji’s ability make this an unblockable from hand, which makes it a powerhouse in the deck.

Alluring Inducement

Alluring Inducement has great story potential, as it’s challenging Kayo, Berserker Runt for the title of most unpredictable effect in the game. I know this will cause a bunch of those moments where the whole Armory has to get up and see what a table is laughing at.

Star Struck

Bravo is getting a very potent and effective new toy in DTD, with Star Struck being added to the list of available threats in his card pool. When Star Struck manages to land its crush effect, it’ll likely have the opponent unable to do anything in their turn. So setting this attack up can be a giant tempo swing. On top of that, the damage isn’t exactly negligible in Blitz.

Closing Thoughts

Dusk Till Dawn is poised to be an impactful and fun set that bolsters some strategies that needed help, and introduces some new ones. I look forward to seeing what the community finds in the cards that I missed.