We're pleased to welcome Yuki Lee Bender as a guest writer for the Road to Nationals season! In 2021, she took her Lexi, Livewire deck to victory at the Canadian National Championships, and in 2022, once again showcased the power of the Elemental Ranger at the Pro Tour: New Jersey, making the Top 32. As a competitive player, teacher, and writer of strategy content, we're excited to share her second article for the season!
Hi everyone, I hope your RTN season has been off to a great start! I have received some amazing feedback from players who said my previous article on draft really helped them succeed at their own local events, hopefully this one can do the same.
A common piece of advice that is given out during draft is to “draft a deck, not just a pile of good cards”. The idea here is that often you want to be aiming for specific synergies and achieving the right ratios of different card types in your deck, rather than just drafting a card because it looks strong. While this statement is definitely true, it often can be hard to act on. In this article, I will dissect some of the considerations that go into making a good draft deck including drafting with an ideal end product in mind, and drafting a deck that plays well into the other heroes you are going to be playing against.
Have a Roadmap
It’s often easier to draft a deck when you have a goal for what your finished deck should look like in mind. To do this, I like to think of key types of cards and how many of that type of card I ideally want in my deck. You don’t want to get too hyper-specific, since you can’t control what cards you see during a draft, however having an end goal in mind is essential. During the review period between packs I often like to check in with how I’m doing and take note of things I need to look for or value more highly. For example, I might notice at the end of pack two as Fai I have a lot of good turn-starters with go again and full equipment, but only 4 blues and no chain enders. In this position, I should prioritize picking up some extra blues and a few premium chain enders where I can, even if it means taking a weaker card from that pack, because those are the pieces my deck needs most.
Generally, each player will have a slightly different idea of what an ideal draft deck looks like, and that ideal deck will probably change as they learn more about the format. Because these things are always shifting and because I don’t feel I fully understand all the heroes yet I will refrain from giving concrete numbers for these deck outlines and leave it for the reader to figure out for themselves. I think learning to build these outlines for yourself is a big part of becoming a good drafter. In the next section, I will try to help you get started by highlighting important card types to consider when thinking about what your ideal draft deck for each hero looks like as well as some matchup-specific cards you might want to keep an eye out for.
Draft with Key Matchups in Mind
Regardless of which hero you draft in Uprising, there are only three different heroes you have to play against. As a result, it makes sense to draft your deck in a way that allows you to have a viable strategy into each of those matchups. For example, a good Iyslander draft deck is specifically one that plays well into Iyslander, Fai and Dromai in limited. This means you both need to identify which cards are good in certain matchups, as well as balance how many of each of those card types you have in your deck so that you can cover all of your matchups. A deck which leans too heavily into beating a specific deck, may struggle into its other matchups.
The idea of drafting a deck with specific matchups in mind is something that is unique to Flesh and Blood limited and not something I’ve encountered in limited formats for other card games. The importance of this kind of thinking is especially pronounced in three hero formats such as Tales of Aria and Uprising, but does occur in 4 hero formats too. In Uprising there generics that clearly target specific matchups such as six power attacks like Brother in Arms and Fyendal’s Fighting Spirit that are good against Dromai’s phantasms, or Oasis Respite and equipment with arcane barrier to help mitigate Iyslander’s arcane damage. However, there are also specific class cards that perform stronger in some matchups than others as well. This article will look in depth at how this concept applies to each of the Uprising heroes, but I would encourage you to think about this same concept in future limited sets as well.
Iyslander
First, let’s consider each of Iyslander’s matchups, and what challenges they present for her. Fai is generally much more aggressive and has a far higher damage ceiling than Iyslander, Dromai has access to high amounts of arcane barrier, dragons, and large attacks that often demand multiple cards to deal with which can run Iyslander out of cards, and the Iyslander mirror is often focused on who can get ahead in the race because damage is very hard to block. Keeping each of these unique challenges in mind, we can think about what kind of cards to look for in each of these matchups, and try to ensure we have a good mix of each of these parts in our ideal Iyslander deck.
To overcome Fai’s damage output, Iyslander has to rely on disruption and defensive abilities to help draw the game out over a longer period of time so she can slowly chip away at his health with Waning Moon. In order to support this longer game plan we are looking for key cards like Arctic Incarceration, Sigil of Permafrost, Aether Icevein, and Blue Cold Snap. These cards all look to tax Fai’s resources and decrease the efficiency of his deck, which helps Iyslander on defense. While the aforementioned cards may be some of the most desirable choices, most blue ice cards that cost zero or one resource can also be serviceable as they create a Frostbite and turn on Waning Moon. Blue Strategic Planning also is a card worth noting as it replaces itself, turns on Waning Moon, and can put a Phoenix Flame on the bottom of Fai’s deck in response to the activation of Fai’s hero ability. Finally, red spells that cost zero like Ice Bind tend to be easier to play since Iyslander likely has to spend several cards defending against Fai’s aggression.
As Dromai presents multiple problems in her Aether Ashwings, large attacks and dragons, Iyslander will want a variety of tools to deal with each of them. While drafting six power attacks is desirable for any hero to help their Dromai matchup, it is especially the case for Iyslander as dragons with high toughness can be hard for her to answer. Additionally, Singe is a great way to clear multiple Aether Ashwings. I tend to favor the yellow Singe since it can also pay for a Waning Moon activation, but ideally, these are sideboard cards Iyslander can bring in just for the Dromai matchup. Finally, to be able to answer dragons that have four or more life, you want to prioritize cards that can do damage in larger chunks to allies such as Red Scar for a Scar, Ice Bolt, Aether Icevein, or Aether Hail.
In the Iyslander mirror match there are very limited ways to actually prevent damage and gain tempo, and often once someone is ahead in the race it is very hard for the other player to catch back up. Cards that mitigate damage like Spellfire Cloak, Blue Sigil of Protection, and any color of Oasis Respite or Healing Balm can sometimes give you just enough of a buffer to buy yourself that one extra turn you need to turn things in your favor. Aether Icevein is also an all-star in this matchup as the resource tax will often prevent an attack on their own turn, or deny an arsenal. It is also worth noting that lots of cards also underperform into Iyslander, due to her ability to play at instant speed. For example, Frostbites, freezing the arsenal, and Red Sigil of Protection or Dampen often miss the mark as Iyslander has lots of options to play before those effects resolve to get around them.
When considering what your ideal draft Iyslander deck looks like, you want to make sure you have a balance of cards for each of your matchups, while also just having enough of the right cards to enact your own game plan. When thinking about what I want my Iyslander deck I would try to assign an ideal number or range of numbers to each of these card types:
- Blue non-attack actions
- Six power attacks
- 0 cost red spells
- Big red spells
- Ice cards (this may depend on how many cards you have that fuse)
- Cards that disrupt through Frostbites or discard
- Cards that help prevent damage
Dromai
Next let us consider Dromai’s matchup spread and difficulties in the same way we did Iyslander. Fai is very good at pressuring life totals and has a higher average damage output than Dromai meaning he will tend to win a straight-out race. Iyslander threatens to disrupt Dromai using discard and Frostbites, while attacking with arcane damage which requires resources to block making it hard for Dromai to go wide. In the Dromai mirror match, you both have good block values, can fight for board state, and have efficient attacks which can result in long, grindy games that can go close to fatigue. Overall, Dromai feels like the hero with the widest range of playstyles available to her to combat each of her matchups including being aggressive with attacks, playing defensively and playing to establish a board state with dragons. There may very well be multiple ways to approach each matchup, but here are some of my thoughts on Dromai’s matchups so far.
Since Fai is difficult for Dromai to race, she will usually want to play more defensively against Fai and look to play efficient one or two card hands into Fai in order to win turn cycles. Cards that block for three and are efficient attacks like Red Dust Up, Embermaw Cenipai, and Dunebreaker Cenipai are good examples of the types of cards that Dromai should look for to beat Fai. Additionally, because Fai applies so much pressure and is very good at dividing his damage, in my experience making ash to play most dragons can often feel a bit slow and clunky. The major exceptions to this is Invoke Nekria and Invoke Kyloria as they both can often trade up on cards and are too threatening for Fai to ignore. Since Fai is so incredibly efficient, generally Dromai has to find ways to compete with him on that axis in order to be successful.
Iyslander often wants to disrupt Dromai’s gameplan while chipping away with arcane damage which can often lead to long grindy games in this matchup. Generally, this means that attacks with go again are a little bit less desirable into Iyslander, however highly efficient ones like Dust Up and Embermaw Cenipai are still solid options. Dragons in general are very powerful against Iyslander since she can struggle to clear them effectively but Invoke Nekria, Invoke Ouvia and Invoke Themai are some especially potent ones. Additionally, Dromai can opt to play a more attrition based game plan as she is unique in her ability to prevent arcane damage using Sand Cover, Oasis Respite and Aether Ashwings. Because pitching cards to arcane barrier does not actually remove cards from the deck, often Dromai can run Iyslander out of threats. Since Dromai has so many different tools that are effective against Iyslander, picking cards specifically for the matchup is a much lower priority, than say for the Fai matchup which revolves around a smaller number of cards.
Since the Dromai match can often be long and drawn out, the overall raw card efficiency of your deck is more important than cards specific to the matchup. The one major exception of course, being the aforementioned six power attacks. Other than this, generally attacks that take multiple cards to answer like Embermaw Cenipai or Dust Up are very effective ways to increase the value of your deck. Board state can be very important, so Rake the Embers to create multiple Aether Ashwings and the dragon invocations all are generally quite valuable, but Invoke Azvolai in particular is very powerful — it can clear multiple dragons or ashwings with one attack. The good news is that outside of the six power attacks, these are all cards you want for your Fai and Iyslander matchups anyways, so it makes sense to mostly just draft with those two matchups in mind.
The categories I would consider for Dromai when outlining my deck include:
- Reds with go again
- Cards that spend Ash
- Cards that create Ash efficiently
- Reds
- Blues
Fai
Fai has the most linear gameplan of the three heroes as he is usually very aggressive and has poor block values on his cards, so he naturally has the least number of matchup-specific cards to consider. Usually just having a strong proactive game plan where you can present a lot of damage over multiple chainlinks is the most important aspect of a good Fai deck. Decks with lots of red cards with natural go again like Brand with Cinder Claw and Soaring Strike are key to applying consistent pressure and are the highest priority, although a small number of chain enders like Lava Burst and Breaking Point are also valuable. However, there are a few key pieces for each matchup that can help give you an edge that you should keep an eye out for.
Against Iyslander you can expect to have your resources taxed and for her to try to gradually chip you out with arcane damage over a few turns. The most obvious cards are Oasis Respite and Tide Flippers as they can often save Fai quite a lot of life and may buy him a few extra key turns. Chain enders that require rupture generally go down in value because it is more difficult to consistently reach chain link four, however, keeping a few can still be good and Red Healing Balm can also serve as a solid replacement for a few of them. Generally having a few extra blues in the sideboard specifically for Iyslander can also help deal with Frostbites and give you more opportunities to prevent arcane damage, just make sure you aren’t diluting your own game plan too much when you add these cards to your deck.
Dromai is a hero that Fai is generally fairly well positioned to deal with because he is very good at splitting up his damage to efficiently deal with dragons while still threatening Dromai’s life total. As a result, just relying on your A plan of applying a lot of consistent pressure is the way to go, however a few six power attacks to deal with Phantasm and dragons are definitely welcome additions, they just aren’t as high priority for Fai to pick up as he can do just fine without them. Overall this might be the matchup that bears the least consideration for specific cards or strategies to address it specifically.
The Fai mirror is generally very explosive and volatile and as a result may not have too many specific tech cards. The matchup tends to revolve around efficiency and tempo which rewards players for having consistent decks that routinely threaten large amounts of damage. Since the races can often be quite tight, defensive equipment with quell or offensive equipment like Sash of Sandikai and Heat Wave can be crucial in giving you an edge since you get to start with them in play. Red Sigil of Protection or Red Healing Balm are cards I have played against me that can sometimes change the math on racing just enough. However, I am unsure these are any more effective than strong chain enders that block three, outside of the very first turn of the game.
When considering my ideal Fai deck, the key categories of cards I would consider include:
- Chain starters that have natural go again
- Mid-chain attacks that have conditional go again
- Chain enders that have rupture or do not have go again
- Blues
- Cards that return Phoenix Flames from discard
- Cards that search Phoenix Flames from deck
- Defensive tools for Iyslander
Next time you sit down to draft try thinking about what cards you have for each of your matchups. You may find mid-draft that you have lots of tools for one particular matchup, but need to pick up some key cards to deal with another one. I hope you enjoyed the article, best of luck to you in your future drafts!
Yuki Lee Bender is a competitive Flesh and Blood player and author of content relating to gameplay and strategy. The opinions expressed in the above article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Legend Story Studios.