What Is a “Specialist?”

In Flesh and Blood, this term refers to players who only play one hero, with a special devotion, love, or affinity for the playstyle of one deck.

Some players are known for their heroes: Yuki Lee Bender for her Lexi, Livewire, Mara Faris for her Empress Dromai, Ash Artist, and Cayle McCreath for his Bravo, Showstopper, to name a few. Even in your local scene, while there are players who are feared regardless of their deck, some players are known for their prowess on their pet hero.

Traditionally, success in TCGs has been exclusive to a handful of decks that edge out their contemporaries in power. The eternal nature of FAB’s main format, Classic Constructed, and heavy theming has led players to find identity within their heroes, with some players only playing one hero or a specific class, or, at most, a particular style (e.g. aggressive or control). Contrary to its predecessors, however, Flesh and Blood leaves specialists room to succeed. 

Advantages of Specializing

Flesh and Blood is a deeply complex game. It takes many games to master the intricacies of a deck, as well as learning how to make optimal decisions with it. And this is without accounting for the interaction between your deck and each possible matchup in the game. Knowing how your deck’s strategy interacts with your opponents and squeezes out victory is uniquely different against each opponent. Just think about how any deck plays against the four Welcome to Rathe heroes. Not understanding a matchup thoroughly often results in being outplayed, and a loss.

After three years of playing Rhinar, Reckless Rampage, I’m still finding new lines of play – and Rhinar is one of the simpler heroes. Mastery of each and every matchup is a huge advantage, despite any differential in power level. This doesn’t even account for the ever growing card pool available and options that allow for further optimization.

Flesh and Blood is also a game whereby mathematics is built into every card. Each card aims to deal four damage to be efficient, and most strategies ultimately aim to achieve this efficiency, or better. Most heroes have a matchup spread that leaves them opportunities to succeed, depending on how the metagame shakes out. There will always be a best deck, but those best decks have weaknesses, and poor matchups as well. This leaves the power differential between top decks and other decks in the game as manageable, and to some extent, the difference can be made up with skill.

There’s also the advantage of time. A specialist who plays one hero utilizes their practice most efficiently. They don’t have to ponder which deck to bring to a tournament, just how to configure it against the metagame. When the games begin, they also have better preparation than their opponents in the matchup. That edge is often enough to bring victory. It’s not about whether I’m bringing Lexi or Dromai, it’s about how I can perfect my 80 cards. And for most people who engage with Flesh and Blood as a hobby, budgeting your time for effective preparation is key to success.

However, being a specialist has its drawbacks.

Drawbacks of Devotion

Firstly, each hero in Flesh and Blood has different matchups, and most heroes lack the tools to handle all metagames. This can be difficult, as there comes a point where most of your games are uphill. Let’s take Riptide, Lurker of the Deep, for example. Riptide is deceptively powerful against heroes, however he lacks the tools to deal with Wizards due to his reliance on traps and heavy redline deck. Playing Riptide exclusively means suffering through metagames where Wizards are present.

Secondly, power differentials are an inescapable truth of constructed card games. This has been more obvious in the past, with Chane, Bound by Shadow, Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light, and Bravo, Star of the Show having an oppressive presence with tools far more powerful than the other heroes at that time. Luckily, for the most part, the differential is less severe in the current meta. However, as a specialist, it will certainly be on your mind when you’re playing Viserai, Rune Blood into Katsu, The Wanderer chaining Bonds of Ancestry.

Lastly, while specializing on a hero gives you an advantage, this advantage wanes the tougher your opponents become. While at a local ProQuest, it’s unlikely my opponent has put in the reps to thoroughly master their deck. But at the level of the Pro Tour or Worlds, the best of the best attend and they most definitely will put up a fight. While it’s certainly still possible to win, the greatest players in the game are more likely to understand your deck, and play well on the fly to maximize their own deck to edge out a victory.

Path to Mastery

Firstly, above all, find a deck you love. A deck you can play hundreds of games on that fits your playstyle. Do you enjoy an aggressive deck focusing on perfecting sequencing? Or do you prefer restricting your opponents on their plays and forcing them onto your terms? Or setting up powerful hands which blow your opponent out of the water?

To some players, themes are important as well. I love to sell Flesh and Blood as a game where the themes are always on point and are crucial to enjoying the game. Rhinar, Reckless Rampage makes me feel like an angry berserker disarming my opponent’s defenses for massive blows, and Uzuri, Switchblade makes me feel like I’m a patient assassin, finding opportunities for disruptive strikes. Play what you like, and you will go further.

Once you’ve chosen your deck, play tons. Intricacies of each deck will uncover themselves as you find small edges to master your play. Tracking cards you’ve boosted as Dash gives you minute advantages on what tools you have left in your deck, while memorizing your pitch stack perfectly unlocks end game inevitability as a Kano, Dracai of Aether. Don’t dismiss the weaknesses of your deck as inevitabilities, but attempt to find solutions. Every deck has intricacies; find them and master them.

Then, when you can play your deck near perfectly, learn your enemy. Flesh and Blood is a two player game, and knowing how your deck interacts with opponents is important. Know their key play patterns, their goals in the matchup, and how your deck maximizes its game plan against them.

Let’s take Iyslander, Stormbind versus Dorinthea Ironsong.What does Dorinthea’s five-card hand look like? Can I take a turn off to set up Insidious Chill? Or do I need to disrupt them to keep them off Dawnblade counters? Am I playing the tempo game or setting up a Frost Hex end game? Just an example of one matchup, amongst the many possible opponents you could face.

If you’re particularly competitive and facing trouble with a matchup, it could warrant picking up that deck for yourself to understand its play patterns and weaknesses to be exploited. Even in adverse matchups, your commitment to your deck choice leads you to potentially finding innovative methods of solving problems, rather than switching decks. Knowing your outs and windows of advantage lead you to potentially pull wins out of the blue that others less adept at your deck would fail to find.

Lastly, as a tournament approaches, analyze your metagame. Figure out your common opponents, and adjust your 80 cards accordingly. What’s your defensive package looking like? Are you a deck that can utilize Reinforce the Line? Or is Sink Below better in a metagame where the premier aggro deck is a wide one. Or are Wizards up and about and Oasis Respite is the premier defensive option? Utilize your knowledge of your hero and your opponents to perfect your 80 and maximize your advantages in each metagame.

Closing Thoughts

As for decks I would recommend specializing in, well-rounded heroes tend to be better suited for specialization over decks that lack flexible options to approach metagames.

The Mechanologists, namely Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire, come to mind. Dash is very adaptable, with tools to handle most matchups and a flexible plan to deal with aggressive and defensive decks. It’s always ‘powerful enough’ to be a relevant deck, and if you’d prefer to explore further, trying out the new heroes in Bright Lights after Dash might be a consideration. Dash has also had several specialists succeeding: Sam Sutherland crowned himself as Australian National champion, and here in Singapore, Bryan Kong piloted Dash to a Nationals top eight in consecutive years. 

Speaking from personal experience, Rhinar is also a great deck to specialize in. His matchup spread against non-aggressive decks is great, always being a powerful Level Two option in the metagame. He’s not dead in the water to aggressive decks as well, flexing between Pummel variations, Defensive Club strategies, and outright racing them to attempt to pull out a win. While never the best, Rhinar has seen decent success with Chandler To‘s win of Calling:San Jose and several ProQuest top eights and wins.

Lastly, once you’re satisfied with your mastery, do feel free to diversify. I recommend experimenting with heroes that play similar to what you’re used to, but have a vastly different matchup spread so you’re less vulnerable in adverse metagames. Apart from the practical perspective, it also freshens up the game and keeps you always engaged with more to learn. And at worst, if running anything besides trusty Anothos feels wrong for you, return to your old love with a new sense of appreciation of their strengths, and insights of their weaknesses.

I’ve personally practiced both Uzuri, Switchblade and Rhinar, Reckless Rampage in depth. Uzuri has great matchups against aggressive decks, while Rhinar finds his comfort against control decks. This gives me an option depending on the metagame I’m expecting, with both being comfortable for me as midrange strategies that are good with blocking.

While picking the best deck might bring success, specializing in heroes has their own advantages. Play what you love, and Flesh and Blood will reward you.

Jose Lau

As a known brute aficionado, Jose’s placed in several top 8’s throughout various Road to Nationals, ProQuest events, bringing Rhinar to a win at PTI Singapore. Jose also alters trading cards, and can be caught on instagram at @tornadususedsketch! Jose looks forward to participating in Worlds Osaka, 2024!