{"id":1287,"date":"2023-08-16T06:30:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T10:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2023-12-21T20:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T00:05:04","slug":"evergreen-bravo-showstopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/evergreen-bravo-showstopper\/","title":{"rendered":"Evergreen – Bravo, Showstopper"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><\/span><\/span> | Art by Alexander Mokhov<\/a>)<\/h6>\n

James White bursts into a room of developers in 2015, “I’ve an idea for a new hero.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“What?!” They all shout in equal parts surprise and excitement. He holds up a crude drawing with <\/em>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power‘s Sea Hawk, <\/em>Fullmetal Alchemist‘s Alex Louis Armstrong, and <\/em>Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston, all with an alchemic circle surrounding them all.<\/em><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

So now that we’ve covered the 100% true, completely historically accurate birth of Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><\/span><\/span>, let’s talk about how you can take him to the top at your local events!<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

This is Rhys, back with another edition of Evergreen<\/em>, a series focused on helping you unlock the power deep within the heroes of Flesh and Blood<\/em> in the Classic Constructed format. Together we’ll look at an individual hero for each part of this series. We’ll go beyond what just appears on the text of the card and discuss how to release a hero’s full potential, a required skill as Flesh and Blood<\/em> continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Show Time<\/h2>\n

One of the first heroes to see print in the game, this Welcome to Rathe<\/em> hero focuses on a straightforward, albeit disruptive, approach to the game. With such a simplistic approach, how can we beat other decks doing unfair things?<\/p>\n

The fundamental approach to a turn over turn is ensuring we present an equal or greater amount of damage than we take each turn. This can be changed by card effects, but how we evaluate that will make all of the difference between winning and losing with Bravo.<\/p>\n

Anothos<\/a><\/span><\/span> means we’ll always have access to a reasonable damage output, so difficult blocks can be smoothed over a little bit. Bravo can struggle to catch up if we fall behind, but a well timed Spinal Crush<\/a><\/span><\/span> or Crippling Crush<\/a><\/span><\/span> can sometimes be just what the doctor ordered. These are also cards that can be worth hidden damage values in certain matchups, offering more value with the Crush effect than just the damage itself.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n

With Dusk Till Dawn<\/em> adding a piece of disruptive support for Bravo’s card pool with Star Struck<\/a><\/span><\/span>, paired with Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity<\/a><\/span><\/span> reaching Living Legend status, new excitement has been generated for this Guardian. Let’s look at a deck and talk about how we’d play it! We’ll be referencing Pablo Pintor’s decklist<\/a> from the most recent Calling in Birmingham, which finished at an impressive second place!<\/p>\n

Instead of referencing a sample hand, we’ll just look at the deck in sections. Guardian is a consistent class with many similar cards and effects, so we’ll see the decks constructed almost entirely of cards that block for three, a heavy bias for blues over reds or yellows, and armor primarily selected for blocking.<\/p>\n

Power Cards<\/h2>\n

If it has a red color strip in this deck, its primary purpose is to turn our opponent into a crater. With the exception of Zealous Belting<\/a><\/span><\/span>, used for hunting Dromai, Ash Artist<\/a><\/span><\/span>‘s dragons, or presenting multiple attacks in the mirror, every red attack in this deck has an on-hit or Crush effect that disrupts the opponent’s turn. Chokeslam<\/a><\/span><\/span> can keep Rangers from going big with arrows, Command and Conquer<\/a><\/span><\/span> stops opponents from setting up hands that go wide, but the rest stop our opponent dead in their tracks. Spinal Crush<\/a><\/span><\/span>, Star Struck<\/a><\/span><\/span>, and Crippling Crush<\/a><\/span><\/span> can all simply take an opponent’s turn away, so presenting these consistently will get us ahead quickly in games. If we draw multiples of these effects, they’re fantastic to arsenal, or put into our pitch rotation.<\/p>\n

Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><\/span><\/span> is one of the best second cycle decks in the game, so as you play your games, pay careful attention to where your power cards go. If you find yourself struggling in the late game, reflect on where you might have lost access to a big attack that you didn’t have to. Don’t marry them, meaning don’t take fifteen damage in a turn to give them ten back because you committed to playing it when you saw it.<\/p>\n

Patience is rewarded with this deck, and when we turn the corner, our opponent will find themselves emergency blocking until it simply doesn’t matter what they do anymore. Bravo’s hero ability is a great closing ability in the late turns as well, just be careful when using it in the early and mid game, as you can pull your opponent into a race if the Crush effects don’t connect, and racing can be a struggle sometimes. Bravo wants to take as many of the opponent’s cards away as possible so their return volleys are blocked easily.<\/p>\n

An exception would be something like Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn<\/a><\/span><\/span>, where he may want to block you for a while, setting up a combo turn. Playing this hero is like playing an all-rounder in a fighting game; adapt to what our opponent is doing effectively, and we’ll be in control of every turn.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n

As one plays Bravo, Showstopper, there are some games where he just “does the thing.” There will be three blue cards and a power attack, and we get to dominate Spinal Crush, throw Crippling Crush, and dominate Star Struck at our opponent every turn until they stop moving. That’s a good reason to play the deck, to be sure, but we can’t pick the order of our deck before the game starts.<\/p>\n

That being the case, what if we find ourselves with a hand that doesn’t grind our opponent into a fine paste? Pummel<\/a><\/span><\/span> is here to help! This can sit in our arsenal, waiting to make an otherwise off-turn to present a surprise on-hit that both sneaks in extra damage and takes an entire extra card from the opponent. Playing the red Pummel means that if they block for exactly enough, a Crush effect can also trigger!<\/p>\n

Some of the blues in this deck have relevant damage effects, such as Cranial Crush<\/a><\/span><\/span>, or Tear Asunder<\/a><\/span><\/span>, giving our weapon a formidable on-hit. Be mindful when using Bravo’s ability to give the blue attacks dominate in the early game, as their total damage output is low, so a solitary three block can turn off the Crush effect. It’s likely that that hand can be used differently to greater effect, even if it’s just blocking with that extra card.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n

This brings us to the topic of defense. Fate Foreseen<\/a><\/span><\/span> and Sink Below<\/a><\/span><\/span> are powerful defense reactions against Ranger and other heroes that present detrimental on-hits, and Staunch Response<\/a><\/span><\/span> can stop a lot of damage other Guardians or Brutes present. Unmovable<\/a><\/span><\/span> can be stashed away in arsenal as an on-rate defense reaction, but can meet the damage bonus requirements for Anothos or Titan’s Fist<\/a><\/span><\/span> when pitching as well. Be mindful you don’t overload on these in any one matchup and dilute your game plan. Rather, pick the ones that best suit your needs against the hero you’re facing. Sigil of Solace<\/a><\/span><\/span> is a defensive card, but is at its best as a turn zero play, since you draw back up anyway. It can have you start the game above forty life, a frightening proposition for a Guardian.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n

Common Pitfalls<\/h2>\n

Every new Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><\/span><\/span> player does each of these things, and it usually ends in losing the game, so keep these things in mind.<\/p>\n