The Most Jank Flesh and Blood Cards of 2023

January 5, 2024 by Mari Groh

(Moonshot | Art by Jessada Sutthi)

With the new year now fully in the swing of things, I thought it would be a good last chance to look at the Flesh and Blood sets from 2023 and the jank they contained.

Oops, You’re Dead

To start, let’s look at the jank that can be the most fun to brew around: the ones that can kill your opponent with one or two shots. With Moonshot, there’s always the chance to remove the opponent with a single attack, utilizing Plasma Mainline or Maxx Nitro to keep and generate Hyper Drivers for the resources and Moonshot power. Follow that up with Hyper Scrapper to help close out the game. Things that let you build up and be rewarded with a big flashy payoff can be some of the most fun games.

Melody, Sing-along brought the Bard class to Blitz, and while she alone is worth being on this list of jank, Final Act is the card we’re looking at here. While I’ve already covered this deck and thoughts in detail already, the theme of cashing in your musical talents for enough favors to put on a dazzling final act is a great one.

Drawing cards to deal a final blow and amassing trinkets and items to strike through the moon are fun. But there’s another card that presents large damage to strike fear into your opponent: Amplifying Arrow. Amp Arrow is the most odd among these three. It doesn’t immediately kill someone, rather it applies further pressure. Any buff you play grants the arrow even more power.

Set Up and Paid Off

While some of the most jank cards of the year could randomly kill someone, others found it difficult to find homes with fun outcomes. Mask of Malicious Manifestations is once such card. Seeming a bit odd at first, it found uses in a few specific decks to find a certain attack, such as Nourishing Emptiness. While it’s a creative use for an unexpected card, this unique building aspect of the card gives it a slot here.

Next is Morlock Hill, one of my personal favorite cards of the year that I haven’t made work yet. Only legal in Blitz due to needing Minerva Themis, which can only be played with a young hero, Morlock Hill sacrifices the life of your mentor in order to live another day. By banishing the mentor from arsenal or hand you can prevent game-ending damage just once. For this effect and the flavor behind it, Morlock Hill finds a home on this list. If Morlock Hill interests you, find a place where Minerva fits well, like Boltyn, and consider Morlock as a defensive option.

Shaden Death Hydra may not be able to suddenly kill someone, other than yourself, but it’s a fun card that promotes blood debt. Levia has always had to carefully balance blood debt and things to banish so she won’t die to it. While not needed, the hydra is a large attack that needs to be respected, and I am rather fond of that.

Heroes to Zeros

We also got several new heroes in 2023, and some of them… could be better. Riptide was the year’s new Ranger, and with him came a defensive ability and desire to play traps. Or, for some, looping Nourishing Emptiness. Outside of looping one attack, Riptide can constantly refill his arsenal and deal damage to the opponent with triggered traps. While he has his oddities and some niches, there’s a lot of versatility to Riptide to help offset the weakness of the Ranger class in general, loading arrows to the arsenal.

Another hero that can have a chance to shine with the unconventional is Professor Teklovossen. While he was designed for Ultimate Pit Fight, Prof provides a very useful effect in discounting the cost of Evo equipment and letting him equip them from banish as well. Though he can’t equip Evos at instant speed like Teklovossen, having a discount on most of your defensive options can be very valuable, allowing him to play more aggressive and still set up defensive options.

End of a Beginning

It’s nice to look back and reflect upon the impact the last year has had. It’s been one of my favorite years, from my first full year playing Flesh and Blood, to going to Calling: Indianapolis. From Outsiders and Dusk Till Dawn to Round the Table and Bright Lights, this year has seen so many cards, interesting and effective, come out for conventional decks and brewers. While some of the support made the game a slog, it has equally opened up so many new things to try as well.

I look forward to what comes out in the new year and hope you will as well. Until we next meet, may your brews be ever so interesting.

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.