Blitz has been dormant for a while with LSS running a Road to Nationals season followed by a ProQuest season. That said, things in the format have been shifting. The addition of Heavy Hitters as well as some of the meta giants going Living Legend have opened the format up for a new set of top decks.

My Top Three Blitz Heroes

Briar

Briar has been a contender in Blitz for multiple seasons, but has really come to the forefront of the meta recently. Her blend of arcane and physical damage paired with her equip suite has made for an extremely consistent aggro deck. Briar has a kit that is hard to beat.

Embodiments do the two things that are best in Blitz: conserving life and extending turns. The one or two life an Embodiment of Earth can save can be pivotal. When you manage an Embodiment of Lightning, it typically enables Rosetta Thorn to come in for a split of two and two damage.

Briar’s equip suite is also a HUGE factor in her success. It blends block values and utility extremely well for her. While her Runeblade options are great, there are two generic options that show up often. Briar finds massive value in Crown of Providence and Snapdragon Scalers for the same reasons as any aggro deck.

Grasp of the Arknight is a Runeblade staple and Briar makes great use of it as well. This is great for slow rolling decks that don’t bring Arcane Barrier. It’s also Battleworn two, allowing for aggressive blocks without losing your utility. Dyadic Carapace is mostly three life over the course of the game, but gives Briar easy access to AB3 with the addition of a Nullrune piece. Spellbound Creepers is a choice for more block and access to some tricky plays. Combining this with cards like Plunder Run or Revel in Runeblood makes for giant swing turns.

Briar’s power cards are some of the best in the format. Channel Mount Heroic creates moderate damage the turn it’s played and then massive damage the turn after. Along with channel Briar has Force of Nature threatening to make big turns into giant ones. These are all paired with their favorite kinds of attacks the zero for four damage ones. Turns out, seven damage is good.

Kayo

The new Kayo has found massive success in Classic Constructed, and the formula has moved over to Blitz well enough that it’s my choice for competitive Blitz at the moment. The deck has the consistency that’s required to make a great Blitz pile along with the tools to have a plan for most odd strategies.

Kayo’s textbox should look familiar if you’ve been playing Blitz a while. Most turns he’s adding one damage to your output. This is makes him hard to block, which becomes extremely relevant with things like Command and Conquer and Send Packing. Otherwise it’s going to cause the opponent’s life total to tick down little by little. The other side of Kayo’s textbox lets him play a bunch of blue fives while not missing on his discards.

Kayo also gets one of the best equipment suites in the game. Heavy Hitters brought Brute Apex Bonebreaker to combine with Scowling Flesh Bag and Scabskin Leathers. Scowling has the abilty to block way more damage than two when placed correctly. It’s great for preventing Pummel and an extra attack. It can also force an arsenal when you have arsenal disruption. Scab Skins is a great way to mitigate spectra and save three life over a game. Soon Kayo will be getting Savage Sash from his new Armory deck, adding three more block or two block and an enabler to equip suite.

Kayo’s power cards are the reason to play the deck. He’s looking to play to Bloodrush Bellow turns. These are used to get the opponent in block to live mode and allow the extra damage from the Might token to really stack up. Another notable card is Swing Big; two for eight is good and sometimes Kayo makes it a two-for-nine to make it even better. In that same vein there is Bare Fangs which is approximately the same as Swing Big but with a little more risk and potentially making a Might token. Two more cards are worth noting but I’ve found they’re better in the sideboard. Reckless Swing andCast Bones supplement the deck to make it nearly unfatigueable.

Emperor, Dracai of Aesir

The Emperor has been kind of overlooked by the competitive Blitz community since he came out. That will likely change now that Kano has LL’d. Emperor is the only way to play Wizard in Blitz right now, and that has everyone’s guard down. That means it’s the perfect time to be on an arcane-heavy build of the Emperor. A lot of people have dropped their lists to AB one for Runeblade and are disrespecting Wizard.

While trying to mitigate the 15 starting life, Emperor does get to run Flamescale Furnace, Braveforge Bracers, and Arcanite Skullcap to keep his life up. For his boot he should always be on Storm Striders to be able to kill the opponent on their turn instead of blocking once he finds the right hand.

When building this deck right now I would recommend trying to prioritize fitting as much arcane damage as you reasonably can. With most people playing AB one or two, the zero-for-three damage cards, like Zap, can be effective as one-card hands to plink away at the opponent’s life total. The big number arcane cards are also important as they are good to arsenal for that late-game kill or on a turn that you’re allowed to keep more cards. Tome of Imperial Flame has opened up the possibilities of this deck immensely, allowing for it to have more big turns than just its one instant speed Emeritus Scolding turn. Overall, the Emperor should be thriving because of all the free damage he can get in this meta. Piloting this deck is going to take some practice though because risk management is huge with 15 life.

Closing Out

There are plenty of viable decks in Blitz, but these three stand out as strong choices for the next Skirmish season. Their combination of armor, evasion, and consistency really make them decks to keep an eye on.

Further Reading:

What to Expect at a Flesh and Blood Skirmish

Is Flesh and Blood Worth Playing at a Casual Level?

How to Improve Your Flesh and Blood Decision Making

Jo O'Brien

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