Will Kano Rise With Iyslander Gone? – A True Lesson In Lava
December 8, 2023 by
Peter Buddensiek 
(Kano, Dracai of Aether | Art by Alexander Mokhov)
Kano, Dracai of Aether has always been one of the most interesting heroes in Flesh and Blood. Being the first hero with less than forty life came with a big responsibility, and now it’s his time to shine.
Through many years of the game the power of Kano had to be kept in check because of the explosive and flexible power of playing on both turns. With under-rate cards and no blocking armor to play around, he is the true test of using your life as a resource. With already having to start at a ten fewer life disadvantage, he has to overcome great odds. And he smirks at those odds, as he takes his opponent on a true Lesson in Lava.
Deck Building Without Iyslander
Without Iyslander, Stormbind in Classic Constructed, we’re now at a crossroads in deck building for the majority of the metagame. The more deck slots getting tighter and tighter to make regular metagame matchups better, the more taxing the requirement is to tech for Kano.
The main defense against Kano’s flurry of spells is Arcane Barrier, which most commonly only comes in instances of AB1, meaning to get a full blue pitch of value for your card you need three whole slots dedicated to your plan against a deck that has struggled to ever be more than 5% of a premier event meta game. And even with the full three Arcane Barrier aggro decks, barring a couple outliers, they can’t reliably have the resources to stop Kano at what he’s doing. Which makes him so deadly right now.
With that being said, wouldn’t he have a larger meta share in the future and people be prepared for him? Well, not entirely, unfortunately. Kano comes with a lot of inconsistencies, making him not the most loved in the room.
The Disadvantages and Entertainment of Kano
Kano innately has to hit the button and hope to find the correct cards in order to win the game, which isn’t the most reliable game plan. Other disadvantages Kano has are how under-rate his cards are, his low life total, lack of armor, complexity, and his lack of playable card pool. These challenges do set him back, but his game play makes him super unique and super rewarding to play.
To overcome incredible obstacles is what Kano has to do, and it’s what he does best. As the only character in Classic Constructed that can win on his opponent’s turn reliably, the puzzle has gained an almost cult following of the hero. Not only do people love playing the deck, but watching gameplay and streams of the deck is at an all-time high. The energy Kano brings to a table and a stream game is unmatched.
Who wouldn’t want to watch a match where anything could happen at any time? Sometimes the uncertainty is the most appealing.
Where Does He Piece in Now ?
Kano has been, and will be, compared to other metagame boogeymen, like Dredge in Magic: The Gathering. His playstyle and how to counter him require very specific interaction and tools that come at a great cost for his opponent in deck building. When his head pops up and does well, I fully expect the amount of hate for the deck to go up drastically. But when he hasn’t been doing well and late at night people are cutting hate cards for him to fit in other sideboard plans for other matchups, that’s the time when Kano will shine.
This careful balance will always be a talked about decision point with both sides being correct at all times. The general principle I’ve used is that if the deck can use the Arcane Barrier efficiently, and it doesn’t take a huge amount of slots away from other matchups, it can be a good option. Classes like Mechanologist who can have Arcane Barrier 3 and have the amount of blues to back it up make it a deadly pairing vs. the Wizard. But decks that don’t have that careful mix should not try to force it. Damage, disruption, and resources is how to carefully beat the Dracai of Aether. But he might still have a play in response.
Ending
Thank you all for reading my thoughts on Kano after his Wizard companion Iyslander has left him in the Classic Constructed metagame. I’m excited to see where he ends up and how people react to him tournament-to-tournament.
If I left anything out or you have a question about Kano, let me know in the comments down below! Until next time, let’s see if the Dracai of Aether ends up on top or is still waiting in the shadows to show up with his Lesson in Lava.
Further Reading
Starting From The Back Foot – Wizards In Flesh and Blood
The Competitive Edge of Specialists in Flesh and Blood
Playing on Both Sides of the Coin – Wizards In Flesh and Blood
