{"id":3478,"date":"2024-01-26T06:30:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/?p=3478"},"modified":"2024-01-25T09:12:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T13:12:59","slug":"heavy-hitters-set-review-generics-and-the-expansion-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/heavy-hitters-set-review-generics-and-the-expansion-slot\/","title":{"rendered":"Heavy Hitters Set Review &#8211; Generics and the Expansion Slot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> is almost upon us, and it&#8217;s set to really shake up the card pools for Brute, Warrior, and Guardian. But outside of these heavy hitting classes, there is a smattering of generic cards for us to evaluate, as well as some choice class cards that come to us via the expansion slot. So let&#8217;s just dive straight in, shall we?<\/p>\n<h2>Generic<\/h2>\n<p>As always, we&#8217;ll start with the equipment. And one thing becomes clear straight away, which is, to coin a phrase, the situationalization of power creep. <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Balance of Justice\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Balance of Justice<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is a straight upgrade to our lord and savior <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Crown of Providence\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Crown of Providence<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> &#8211; but only if your opponent is likely to be drawing cards on you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Balance of Justice\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Crown of Providence\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The big one here is <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Art of War\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Art of War<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. If the meta-defining decks are all running Art of War, <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Balance of Justice\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Balance of Justice<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is here to be a big balancing factor. LSS has tried something like this before, with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Vambrace of Determination\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Vambrace of Determination<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, which was basically designed to specifically hose <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Crown of Seeds\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Crown of Seeds<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> where necessary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Art of War\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Vambrace of Determination\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Crown of Seeds\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>But this time around, I believe the power level is there; blocking for two and straight up drawing a card, rather than filtering a card from hand or arsenal, is a big power play. And it&#8217;s important to note that the draw isn&#8217;t bound to the block. You can conceivably block and then save the draw for when your opponent draws their cards.<\/p>\n<p>Another indicator that LSS is looking to mainly print cards that are only situationally nuts is <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Down But Not Out red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Down But Not Out<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, a two-card eight damage play with evasion and a devastating on hit effect &#8211; that only comes online when you&#8217;re losing in terms of life, equipment, and board state.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Down But Not Out red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>This is deceptive. It looks like a defensive card meant to catch you up, but it&#8217;s actually much more of an aggressive power play. Use your <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Snapdragon Scalers\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Snapdragon Scalers<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> or <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Vexing Quillhand\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Vexing Quillhand<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> early while your <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> opponent is conserving their equipment economy, then tank a hammer hit with your face while they block out and you can enable a very nasty early power spike.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Snapdragon Scalers\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Vexing Quillhand\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The limiting factor &#8211; and it&#8217;s a big one &#8211; is the fact that this costs three resources to play, which makes it an awkward inclusion in the decks that actually want it, since I don&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s going to see play in defensive decks. While it does block three on defense, it has to contend with more efficient and flexible defensive options, and once it&#8217;s online, the defensive deck most likely hasn&#8217;t put up enough pressure for the on hit and the damage to matter. Still, it&#8217;s a card to keep in mind going forward. The power is there, and it could be the next <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Wounded Bull red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Wounded Bull<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> if a deck materializes that can consistently enable it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Standing Order\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Moving on to a card that offers much more flexibility: <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Standing Order\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Standing Order<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. The stat line isn&#8217;t impressive, but it passes the vanilla test. That makes it both a passable, if sub-optimal, chain ender for aggressive decks and a fair card on defense. But the standout is the utility of cycling out a bad arsenal while increasing its block value, its offensive potential, or becoming a popper in a pinch.<\/p>\n<p>This kind of consolidation of utility into a single card is where sideboard stars are born, and I think this one is no different. Going forward, I&#8217;m for sure going to consider whether I want this card with every deck I build, even if I can see myself saying <em>No<\/em> a fair amount, too.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Nasty Surprise\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Nasty Surprise<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is aptly named, since if your opponent is looking to tax your hand or mill you out, you get a pretty sizeable advantage &#8211; and, say the line LSS, it&#8217;s a blue block-three. The hook is the difficulty of triggering its effect while still being able to take advantage of it &#8211; since you have to remember that all the tokens you get from its effect will be destroyed at the start of your next turn.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Nasty Surprise\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>So if you get hit with a dominated <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Crippling Crush\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Crippling Crush<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, your hand is just as likely to leave you with no way to use the free resource, the go again, the buff, or all three. Ideally, you want to include <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Nasty Surprise\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Nasty Surprise<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> against targeted hand disruption like <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Aether Icevein red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Aether Icevein<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> or against a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Victor Goldmane, High and Mighty\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Goldmane, High and Mighty<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> opponent looking to fatigue you out with their <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Miller&#8217;s Grindstone\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Miller&#8217;s Grindstone<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Crippling Crush\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Aether Icevein red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Miller&#8217;s Grindstone\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ripple Away\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ripple Away<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is looking to pre-emptively hose the generation of tokens. Its statline is a tad awkward &#8211; since it doesn&#8217;t cost three, its a painful inclusion in the blue base of a controlling <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> deck &#8211; but if your opponent is looking to create many different tokens, the instant-speed disruption is incredibly potent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Ripple Away\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Seduce Secrets\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Seduce Secrets<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> gets an honorable mention for being a free cantrip that doesn&#8217;t cost an action point. I don&#8217;t believe the information you get is all that relevant considering the downside of it being yellow &#8211; fixing your clashes likely isn&#8217;t worth it in a notoriously blue-hungry Guardian deck. But in the future, it might enable some kind of combo for the people whose brains are big and powerful enough to play Wizard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Seduce Secrets\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Tenacity\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Tenacity<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is the last generic card we&#8217;re taking a look at. While it doesn&#8217;t look exciting, I believe that, given the right meta, this might find inclusion in Ninja decks. The yellow pitch doesn&#8217;t completely cripple the card in low-cost decks, it costs zero to enable <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Katsu, the Wanderer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>&#8216;s hero ability, and it can be a big zero-cost chain ender if your opponent is hell-bent on blocking out your big <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Crouching Tiger\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Crouching Tiger<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> turn.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Tenacity\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Crouching Tiger\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Overall, the theme for the generics in this set seems to be &#8220;situationally useful.&#8221; There are very few obvious power cards, which I believe is very healthy for the state of the game going forward. The cards LSS really juiced are the class-specific cards and the specializations, as we&#8217;ll see in just a moment.<\/p>\n<h2>Assassin<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Coercive Tendency\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Coercive Tendency<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> finally gives a contract-focused <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Arakni, Huntsman\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Arakni, Huntsman<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> list a reason to exist. It&#8217;s blue and blocks three (we may as well start taking shots whenever I point this out at this point), but it does so much more beyond that. It helps fix your contract hits with the reordering of your opponent&#8217;s deck. It gets you an extra banish and it helps you craft wide turns that were otherwise impossible. Very exciting indeed!<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Coercive Tendency\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Graven Call\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Flick Knives\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Graven Call\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Graven Call<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, on the other hand, I find difficult to evaluate. Is the ability to double its power that relevant? Its undeniably exciting to get to recur this after throwing it with your <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Flick Knives\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Flick Knives<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in a late-game scenario, but how much Silver are you going to generate in that kind of game? And if the game is that late, doesn&#8217;t your opponent have to block it anyway, no matter its power? Still, there&#8217;s no denying the fact that it speeds up the clock, and having options is always nice.<\/p>\n<h2>Runeblade<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Sonata Galaxia\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Sonata Galaxia<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> might as well be a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Viserai, Rune Blood\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Viserai, Rune Blood<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> specialization &#8211; an OTK Viserai one to be precise. If you&#8217;re stacking <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Runechant\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Runechant<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>s, this gets you your <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ninth Blade of the Blood Oath\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ninth Blade of the Blood Oath<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, or whatever finisher the deck is going to run.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Sonata Galaxia\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Ninth Blade of the Blood Oath\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Arknight Ascendancy\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The challenge comes with the floor of this card. Until you have the room to build up your stash of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Runechant\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Runechant<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>s and play the card you tutor in the same turn, this is a two-block red card that doesn&#8217;t do anything. I&#8217;m not sure if this makes up for the loss of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bloodsheath Skeleta\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bloodsheath Skeleta<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, which all but killed the deck, but LSS seems intent on giving it the tools it needs to become a contender again. It will be interesting to evaluate the deck with this new addition.<\/p>\n<h2>Mechanologist<\/h2>\n<p>Coming off of <em>Bright Lights<\/em>, Mechanologist players probably didn&#8217;t need to get much this set, but <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Evo Magneto blue\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Evo Magneto blue<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> still might turn some heads. It&#8217;s an Evo equipment for those brave souls still tinkering with their <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> decks, and it has some utility with all the <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Gold\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Gold<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> tokens that will be lying around once Guardian stans get their hands on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Victor Goldmane, High and Mighty\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Goldmane, High and Mighty<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. It doesn&#8217;t need to be much more than that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Evo Magneto blue\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Ninja<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Fai, Rising Rebellion\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Fai, Rising Rebellion<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> won the last Pro Tour, while <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Katsu, the Wanderer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> only got one deck into Top 8, but <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ancestral Harmony\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ancestral Harmony<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is here to fix that: A zero-cost blue that blocks for three (take a shot) that also offers an <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Art of War\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Art of War<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>-like effect <em>and <\/em>it cantrips?<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Ancestral Harmony\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Wow. Just wow. This is going to be exciting for sure, and with all the copies of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bonds of Ancestry red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bonds of Ancestry<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> that Katsu, the Wanderer decks run these days, the payoff isn&#8217;t even that hard to consistently enable. Still, it can&#8217;t hurt to keep in mind that there will be times where you don&#8217;t draw a card off of this. Time will tell if those whiffs are numerous enough to make the card less exciting. For now, it certainly doesn&#8217;t look that way.<\/p>\n<h2>Ranger<\/h2>\n<p>Did <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Azalea, Ace in the Hole\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Azalea, Ace in the Hole<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> really need a <em>fourth<\/em> copy of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Red in the Ledger\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Red in the Ledger<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>? Or, more accurately, a tenth, since you can already tutor it with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Nock the Deathwhistle\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Nock the Deathwhistle<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> and recur it with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Memorial Ground yellow\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Memorial Ground<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Codex of Frailty\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Codex of Frailty<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Red in the Ledger\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Nock the Deathwhistle\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Judge, Jury, Executioner\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Well if that wasn&#8217;t enough, we get <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Judge, Jury, Executioner\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Judge, Jury, Executioner<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, which has the added caveat of requiring an aim counter. I&#8217;m not sure if this is what Azalea needs to push the deck over the edge, but the small difference of forcing a discard at least gives you an edge in match-ups where your opponent is looking to fatigue you.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Reel In\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Reel In<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is an insult to me, personally. I love <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Riptide, Lurker of the Deep\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Riptide, Lurker of the Deep<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, which is no secret around these parts. And while I welcome LSS looking to make traps more relevant, this is NOT the way to go about it. Without pitching extra cards into it, you get to look at one measly card, and even pitching a blue alongside it just gives you four cards to look at.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Reel In\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>You&#8217;re only ever finding more than one trap (or any traps, if we&#8217;re being honest) with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Reel In\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Reel In<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> if you&#8217;re running almost nothing but traps &#8211; which means you&#8217;re running something akin to the <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Nourishing Emptiness\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Nourishing Emptiness<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> fatigue list, which is boring as hell. If I have one big disappointment with <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> so far, it&#8217;s the fact that <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Reel In\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Reel In<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> isn&#8217;t a card that rewards you for running traps and arrows. Maybe next time.<\/p>\n<h2>Illusionist<\/h2>\n<p>We saved the best for last. Illusionist players made out like bandits this time around &#8211; maybe to compensate for the naturally popper-dense Brute and Guardians getting so much love this set?<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Dissolve Reality\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dissolve Reality\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dissolve Reality<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is a nice bit of utility for Illusionist, offering arsenal disruption in the same way that <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lost in Thought\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lost in Thought<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> offered hand disruption. But this is yellow, which is relevant in <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Prism, Awakener of Sol\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Prism, Awakener of Sol<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> lists, and it also blocks for three. You can&#8217;t ask for much more than that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Luminaris, Angel&#8217;s Glow\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>But LSS gave them something better anyway: a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Luminaris\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Luminaris<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> variant that isn&#8217;t just good, but also gives you some plausible deniability in front of your opponent. Gone is the effect that turned auras into weapons (thank god), but the nutty goodness of giving <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Herald of Erudition\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Herald of Erudition<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> go again remains.<\/p>\n<p>You can&#8217;t chain attacks as easily anymore, since the effect only applies to the first Herald attack action and the first Angel attack each turn, but if you&#8217;re running a fair mix of both, <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Luminaris, Angel&#8217;s Glow\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Luminaris, Angel&#8217;s Glow<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> is likely to treat you almost as well as its predecessor did.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>And there you have it, the most important cards from the generic card pool and the expansion slot. I really like the power spread here &#8211; relegating generics to situational counterweights to even out the meta and establish safety valves while powering up specific decks. LSS is doing a lot of things right these days, and <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> is looking to continue that trend. Be sure to check back for our next set review!<\/p>\n<h3>Other <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> reviews:<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/the-best-heavy-hitters-cards-for-commoner\/\">The Best <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> Cards for Commoner<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/a-review-of-the-2024-celebrational-with-heavy-hitters\/\">A Review of the 2024 Celebrational with <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/was-heavy-hitters-supposed-to-be-a-talented-set\/\">Was <em>Heavy Hitters<\/em> Supposed to Be a Talented Set?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does Heavy Hitters have anything to offer outside of Brute, Guardian, and Warrior? Absolutely! Check out this review of the generics and expansion slot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25,35,36,155,359,179,199,26,27,148,151],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Heavy Hitters Set Review - Generics and the Expansion Slot - FABREC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does Heavy Hitters offer anything outside of Brute, Guardian, and Warrior? Absolutely! 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