On the third run of the Precon Progression series, where we take Blitz preconstructed deck lists and discuss upgrades to further bolster the deck, we now circle back to Warriors for the spiritual successor of a Flesh and Blood favorite (and Blitz terror), the dual-wielding Kassai.

What’s In the Kassai Blitz Precon Deck?

This Warrior capitalizes on multiple weapon attacks per turn, which is a far cry from the usual single-attack playstyle of the other Heavy Hitters Warrior, Olympia. However, Kassai also enjoys toying around with Gold to further empower her game plan.

Let’s look at the deck list first:

Unfortunately, the Kassai precon seems to be one of the lower-powered ones, as most of its synergy cards prove far too clunky in actual execution. Trade In and Performance Bonus just both don’t seem too powerful for what it demands from the player. Similarly, the precon focuses too much on generating Vigor and Agility tokens instead of upfront go again abilities.

Power Cards

Cintari Saber is a format all-star due to its sheer efficiency, which makes blocking all the more difficult for the opponent – especially when Warriors are notorious for their power-pumping reactions. Hot Streak could likewise be used here as the second card, but we can leave that up to player preference.

Draw Swords is still the main focus of the deck, as it’s a cheap way to get Kassai online, all from a single card. However, it comes at a steep cost of three resources, which means we have to factor in a proportionate amount of blues to ensure we can fire off the effect consistently.

Hood of Red Sand is a precon inclusion which we’ll play until the very tail end of the deck’s upgrade path. This incentivizes us to play aggressive with our red and yellow cards, much like Kassai‘s own ability.

Agile Engagement red and blue, plus Engaged Swiftblade are still somewhat decent options, so we can still run them in our targeted budget version.

Meanwhile, Rising Energy and Rising Speed remain great attack actions which can throw off some opponents, so their inclusion can be justified. However, they only block for two, so we should make a conscious decision to still include a huge density of three blocks.

Take It on the Chin is a great defensive instant. We would probably still run this card in the final, upgraded iteration of the deck. Remember – we can play this card even after defense reactions, so it earns a place even in sideboards.

Initial Upgrades for Kassai

Warriors, especially the dual-wielders, are probably one of the cheapest decks to upgrade, due to much of their power cards being available in the common rarity.

For instance, Blade Runner red, yellow, and blue are all excellent upgrades which will be played until the deck’s final version. Same case for Outland Skirmish red, yellow, and blue – that’s already twelve cards towards building a more consistent deck.

Hit and Run red and blue double up on this theme, as we just need more go again effects – the pump is a bonus.

Speaking of, In the Swing and Ironsong Response are also great pump reactions and still see play even in Classic Constructed. These are just unparalleled for their cost-to-buff ratio.

Precision Press is a gotcha card that may come in and out of our sideboards against opponents with more defensive equipment. Along with Cintari Saber, this makes blocking even more of a headache for the opposition. Meanwhile, Sink Below is just a no-brainer for most, if not all, decks.

Even the equipment suite isn’t too shabby. Gallantry Gold and Refraction Bolters are aggressive in-class options, while Blossom of Spring is one of the few unconditional low-rarity ways to gain a resource in the chest slot.

Finally, we can round off the equipment suite with Nullrune Gloves, Nullrune Hood, and Nullrune Robe.

This is what the deck looks like after the initial upgrades:

Mid-Term Upgrades

Run Through is classified as a rare, but this yellow reaction is from a promo so it fetches a $5 price tag. It does everything we want, though. Definitely a stable pickup for Kassai. Raise An Army is a Kassai Specialty card, so it feels wrong not to use it! It does earn its laurels, though, as it’s an aggressive Gold payoff card. Another payoff card is Cash In, which is a mainstay for any Royal-type decks. All these are also yellow cards, which also improves the deck’s color ratios.

Glint the Quicksilver is yet another way to grant go again, which allows us to yet again drop the precon commons for more consistency.

Gorganian Tome is usually reserved for Ultimate Pit Fight, but it finds a competitive home in Kassai. It’s essentially a free cantrip, which is exactly what the deck needs to discount the sword hits.

Shift the Tide of Battle is a bit more conditional; a lot of Kassai decks don’t actually run it, since they have enough redundant go again effects to guarantee one each turn. Commanding Performance is an in-faction way to destroy the arsenal – and our attacks don’t even need to connect. This now creates a dilemma – do they block and destroy their arsenal, or just take the damage? Of course, they could also play a defense reaction, but normally those are paired with some attack action card blocks from the hand.

Long-Term Upgrades

There are only a few main-deck cards left here. Spoils of War was made for Kassai, especially when paired with Outland Skirmish. These two create a decent source of Copper, which can be activated for the payoff card Blood on Her Hands. Thus, we should only pick up these cards together.

Blade Flurry is probably one of the best Heavy Hitters cards. It would be incorrect to not include this in the tuned list.

Finally, the endgame upgrades include the equipment suite. Take your pick between Crown of Dominion or Crown of Providence – one has Royal synergy, while the other is just flexible across more decks.

For the chest piece, Grains of Bloodspill is the clear winner over Courage of Bladehold, while the latter is much cheaper but may be redundant with Kassai‘s ability.

Ironsong Versus and Braveforge Bracers have similar price tags. If you have one of them, that should be more than playable. If given the choice, though, we should opt for the former for more on-hit threat.

Valiant Dynamo is almost always a free one block each turn, so its value cannot be overstated. It does cost the most among all the pieces and may be saved for last. Balance of Justice is also an excellent sideboard card, so this is another late-game upgrade.

Kassai, Cintari Sellsword plagued the Blitz meta for a long time before she hit Living Legend. While the successor is a bit more toned-down, she can still hold her own ground in the metagame. Both decks also share similar card pools, so former Cintari Sellsword mains can feel right at home in her newest iteration.

Our next installment will be about Betsy, and then Kayo, to finally wrap up the Heavy Hitters Blitz precon coverage.

The Precon Progression column is a work in progress, so any feedback on how to better improve the series to further cater to newer players is always appreciated. Till next time, happy shuffling!

Further Reading:

What to Expect at a Flesh and Blood Skirmish

The Best Heavy Hitters Cards for Blitz

Don’t Let Break-Even Decisions Break You in Flesh and Blood