Dev Download: Rhinar

Fight-master Kox set down the scroll and calmly clasped his hands together.

“More than 80 Solanian soldiers… and only one Brute?”

“That’s right.” Replied the merchant. “We witnessed the massacre from afar as we were passing through the west range.”

“You didn’t think to stop and offer aid?”

“With a caravan of booze? Of course we bloody didn’t!” The merchant grimaced. “Besides… anyone could see the squadron was a lost cause.”

“Good call.” Kox stroked his chin thoughtfully. “What in Rathe is a monster like that doing this far out of the Savage Lands? What does it want?”

“What drives a beast like that is beyond my understanding.” The merchant sighed, pouring them both a horn of ale. “But that’s why I came to see you. It was dead quiet when we picked up our cargo in Thistlefold. Folk were spooked by sightings of a terrifying creature. We didn’t think much of it at the time.”

Kox swilled his ale quietly, listening with intense concentration.

“We stopped for supplies and trade at Tarnish Hill, but all the livestock had been completely torn to ribbons. Villagers said it was a wild animal but I’ve never seen an animal do anything like that.” The merchant paused to let out a shudder. “Then of course, there was the incident in the west ranges…”

Kox rested back in his chair, staring at the tapestries that adorned the fight-master’s quarters.

“So by that trajectory…”

“It could be here in a matter of days.” The merchant finished, nervously gulping down his drink.

Kox leaned forward as a wicked grin slowly spread across his face. The merchant knew that grin well. It meant he had just had a diabolical idea.

“I have just had a diabolical idea…” Murmured Kox.

“I implore you, do NOT try to tame this thing.” Pleaded the merchant. “The sheer size, strength, and speed was unlike any Brute I’ve ever seen! Not to mention the bloodlust…”

“Tame? Oh my, no.” Chuckled Kox. “What you’re telling me is… we just need to show it where the fresh meat is.”

Welcome to Dev Download, where we share red hot tips and tricks fresh from the game devs at Legend Story Studios so you can pick up a deck and play like a pro! We're covering the last of the heroes in Heavy Hitters, focusing on Booster Draft and Classic Constructed!

Today, we prowl a new hunting ground with Rhinar, Reckless Rampage!

Booster Draft

Heavy Hitters has a very dynamic limited style, featuring both multiple heroes of the same class and hybrid cards that are shared amongst them.

Rhinar is a Brute that leans on the power of intimidation to remove the opponent's defensive options, rather than relying on raw strength like Kayo. Many of you will be familiar with Rhinar from Welcome to Rathe, but he plays a lot differently in Heavy Hitters. The most notable difference is you get to use two Mandible Claws instead of a single Romping Club, which offers a wider range of combo potential. The second main difference is unlike relying on random chance, Rhinar has so much more control over how he plays out his turns, as many cards in Heavy Hitters allow you to pick which cards to discard.

Key signals that Rhinar is open are cards with Beat Chest, especially Bonebreaker Bellow and Rawhide Rumble. These cards synergise well with Rhinar and each other, opening up potent game-closing lines. Pack Hunt is another staple for any powerful Rhinar deck, allowing you to string together multiple intimidates. Remember, you don't need to necessarily hit four intimidates in a single turn to win, often the game will come down to pushing 8-9 damage with two intimidates to ensure lethal damage leaks through. The options for discarding cards by choice rather than at random also means you can get away with playing a lower number of 6-power cards, and can prioritise picking up combo pieces.

You've got two claws, so make sure to use 'em! Attacking with both your claws into a third attack with intimidates thrown into the mix is a surefire path to victory. To enable these power plays you'll need to include cards that allow you to discard without using your action point. The Windups are an excellent choice, as is Trade In. Having this built-in go again means Rhinar is less reliant on making Agility tokens to push big damage, so if you're facing multiple options in a pack, consider cards that make Might tokens, or 2-cost attack actions that you can send with your claws off of two blues.

Classic Constructed

Rhinar is a well-known fearsome face in Rathe at this point, and so we won't mess around teaching you the bare bone basics. Play Bloodrush Bellow, discard a 6-power, eat your opponent for breakfast. What we will cover are the new cards from Heavy Hitters and how these will reshape Rhinar's path of destruction.

In the past Rhinar has had limited access to go again, relying on the raw luck of Scabskin Leathers to enable spike turns. While "Rolling Scabbies" is an exciting part of Rhinar's playstyle, it comes with a huge amount of risk that leads many players to hold back on using it. Heavy Hitters unleashes the beast by offering a variety of risk-free ways to generate Agility tokens, a delicious pairing with a Bloodrush Bellow stored in arsenal for the following turn. Having access to Agility tokens gives Rhinar a whole new level of agency and unlocks many different lines of play.

Goodbye Gambler's Gloves! Apex Bonebreaker is a gamechanger for Rhinar, offering some much-needed protection against the aggro decks that have tormented him since the early days. Rhinar players will be used to riding a hot streak early in the game only to die to a slow hand. Apex Bonebreaker smooths out those rough patches by offering a fantastic value trade, allowing you to defend and retaliate with a Send Packing or Command and Conquer for 7!

Rhinar's ability to intimidate has been elevated to new heights, especially with Show No Mercy, a lean and mean attack that packs the potential power of Alpha Rampage with less of the hefty investment. It's extremely easy to trigger the effect, even through the simple act of your opponent defending. While Show No Mercy offers greater flexibility than Alpha Rampage, Rhinar's old specialization still has its place, especially against control decks. Rhinar's blue lineup also receives a quality of life update with Bonebreaker Bellow, opening up several new play lines. Remember, you only have to discard for Beat Chest once in order for ALL Beat Chest effects to trigger that turn!

Brute is back baby, and it's already putting up results! Long have the Rhinar players watched and waited, now the time has finally come to rise up from the Savage Lands and show the world no mercy!