It’s no secret that the life totals in Blitz shift the flow of the game when compared to Classic Constructed. This can be especially true when we start looking at the value that’s offered from equipment. Starting with equipment value on board is huge for any game of Flesh and Blood, but can be pivotal to for many Blitz strategies. This is part of what makes the Blitz meta different than the CC meta.

Understanding the Equipment Slots

Equips have many ways they can generate value over a game. Each equipment slot interacts with a different core gameplay element. The head slot is dedicated to card draw and intellect, a good example being Helm of Isen’s Peak.  Arms are for damage. This is most evident with cards like Cracker Jax. Chest pieces affect the costs of cards; Coat of Frost is a good example of a card that does this negatively. On the other hand, Vigor Girth makes you a resource for next turn. Finally, the legs slot interacts with action points, the most straightforward example being Time Skippers. Once you understand the types of value that can be associated with the different equip slots, you’ll have a better idea of what to expect from them.

Your Game Plan and its Effects on Evaluating Equipment

Equipment have different values based on how your deck is planning on playing. Most commonly, this can be seen when talking about how quickly a deck wants to win a game. In an extremely aggressive deck, you may want to consider playing Blossom of Spring over Fyendal’s Spring Tunic because you want to have a resource before turn three to take a tempo swing you can ride out to a win. On the other hand, if you plan to wait your opponent out to fatigue, Tunic is a great choice. This same time versus on-demand utility can be seen when comparing Nullrune Gloves to Spell Fray Gloves. Arcane Barrier allows you to have a consistent source of damage prevention, but Spellvoid lets you have one prevention for free. Nullrune tends to be the choice of decks that want to play a slower game and Spellvoid is a favorite for aggressive decks.

There are also factors besides how long a game will go that should affect your strategy’s preferred equipment. Some equips just synergize perfectly with a strategy. Dromai plays Flamescale Furnace as a way to cheat on resources as well as a good way to make Ash for her dragon friends. Guardians have been playing Tectonic Plating to get two three-cost cards in pitch for Anothos since Alpha was released. Valiant Dynamo is an amazing choice for any consistent two-weapon Warrior as it adds one block almost every turn of the game.

Block vs Utility

When it comes to blocking, more is usually better in Blitz. Having half the life that you do in CC makes equip blocks preserve a larger portion of your starting life total than they would in the 40-life format. Blitz is often an aggressively slanted format, and as such, more cards in hand is a good thing. Blocking with equips keeps cards. When you look at an equip, its block value can effectively be added to your life. For instance, if you play a 20-life hero and play Scabskin Leathers, your hero has to take 23 damage to lose after you account for your Scabs block. This leads to fatigue Yoji having effectively 34 or more life on board at the start of the game.

There are also some equips that have block and theoretical value attached. Scowling Flesh Bag is one of the strongest equipment available in Blitz (and CC), but getting full value out of it requires knowing when to block with it to get more than two value off of it. Stopping a Maximum Velocity is huge! Another good example of an equip that you have to evaluate extra value on is Civic Steps. Steps is a great equip but a wrong block with them can easily lose you a game.

The easiest slot to judge the value of its utility in a deck is usually the arms slot. When you crack a Goliath Gauntlet, you know it’s two damage at minimum. It get’s a little harder with others but the floor of Flick Knives is often one damage and potentially making your opponent’s blocks super awkward. Breaking Scales is a deceptively simple equipment that, when paired with Katsu, can make massive damage by extending his combo lines. Even when it doesn’t, it can get lethal in when your opponent forgets about it.

The Sweet Spot

Equipment often trade off on their block values and their utility. The strongest equipment mix these two concepts. For example, Crown of Seeds is promised to be banned partially because it has so much utility and damage prevention. Cycling through your deck, preventing damage, leaving resources up for defensive cards, and fixing bad hands is enough to earn this card a spot on the ban list (on July 8, 2024).

One of the biggest things to look at in Blitz are the Battleworn and Temper Equipment. Being able to get block value out of an equip and then continue to use it as utility makes sure that a deck rarely has an off turn and that their life total stays in a healthy range. Some good examples of these are Beaten Trackers, Ironsong Versus, and Earthlore Bounty.

Other cards don’t balance utility and block but do their job so well that they’re worth noting. Some standouts here are Valiant Dynamo, Carrion Husk, Storm Striders, and Snapdragon Scalers. These all manage to create enough advantage to offset what they lack in the other area.

Go Open the Wardrobe and Make an Outfit

Equipment are some of the most powerful parts of the game. Accessorizing your hero correctly can be the difference between winning and losing games in Blitz. Next time you build a deck, I hope it makes more sense why your hero is wearing something like a dress, a shuko, armored legs, and a mask.

Further Reading:

What to Expect at a Flesh and Blood Skirmish

The Best Equipment for the Commoner Format

The Blitz Format is Great, and You Should Be Playing It!

Jo O'Brien

Jo is an avid Flesh and Blood player, judge and, writer. She is one of the blitz specialists here at FABREC. Jo has played a lot of classes and heroes but, she has an affinity for two heroes in particular, Enigma and Valda. When not playing FaB, Jo is typically filling her free time playing guitar, playing Apex Legends, or building their next Rube Goldberg machine of a deck.