Embrace Variance with Levia

A mainstay in the UK community, Sean Knowelden took Katsu, the Wanderer to a Top 8 finish at the 2021 UK National Championship, competed with Chane, Bound by Shadow at Pro Tour: New Jersey, and finished in the Top 4 of the Madrid Team Blitz Calling with Kassai, Cintari Sellsword. He joins us today to share his thoughts on the young Levia, and how you can take her to your final Skirmish events this weekend!

Levia’s ability can be difficult to appreciate at first glance - if you try to just compare her hero ability to some of the all-stars that you’ll see at your local store such as the intimidating Rhinar or the dual wielding Kassai it can be difficult to see why you’d want to try to temporarily stave off the inevitable blood debt. But appearances can often be deceptive, and a lot of Levia’s power lies not in the power of her ability, but the some of the incredible cards she’s able to play. Let’s go into some detail into exactly where the power lies, factors to consider during your games and why you should be taking the soon to be Shadowborn young hero to your next Skirmish.

The Power(ful Equipment)

Carrion Husk defends for 6! That's more than any other equipment in the game, and the downside of triggering blood debt can even be mitigated with some help from Levia.

Scabskin Leathers defends for 2 and then 1! Even without considering the ability, this is the most armor defended in the leg slot of any armor in the game.

Ebon Fold can give a helpful last chance barrier against arcane damage with spellvoid, but is a critical safety net that helps ensure not to fall prey to our debts in the late game, without even using an action point.

The weapon suite might look unusual, but Ravenous Meataxe shines in quick games where there will be a lot of defending, while the Hexagore is most effective in longer games as it eventually gives a powerful play when combined with go again effects or extra action points the boots might provide. As the list isn’t reliant on weapons for the key game plan, it’s even possible to get access to an arcane barrier 1 equipment in the form of the Arcane Lantern while still getting to use the other equipment slots.

Gamblers Gloves help as the panic button if things don't go as planned when rolling for the boots! And if the 1 comes up on the second roll of the dice… such are the risks when you gamble with Shadows.

Using the Banish Zone

One of the reasons that deck isn’t too reliant on weapons early on is there are some powerful attacks to help utilize our action points from the banished zone itself. Ghostly Visit and Deep Rooted Evil are key role players in this deck, as their ability to keep coming back time and time again helps to keep up the pressure even with a smaller hand.

While there's only one copy of Howl from Beyond, with two copies of Shadow of Blasphomet to help find it early, they can be a powerful boon to make the classic big brute hits sting that all important few points more.

Shadow Talents

Shadow Puppetry fits perfectly with our gameplan, giving any attack go again, a small power boost, and even threatening to gift a little value if they let the damage through.

Dread Screamer is often a powerful go again attack that helpfully has the all-important 6 power.

Doomsday is a powerful card capable of summoning Blasmophet, the Soul Harvester to aid in battle, so long as the Blood Debt owed to the demon is kept high. A 0 cost instant that allows an attack which can even enable Levia in a pinch is an incredible card, and Uprising has been reminding us all what a powerful ally can do to turn the tide in your favor.

Big Hits

A Balancing Act

When trying to use Levia’s true power, there are some constraints to consider in the 40 cards available:

• Blood Debt
• Go Again
• 6 Power Attacks
• Defending
• Resources

Let's go through each factor and examine why it's important, and how it's ensured that the criteria are achieved in deck construction.

Levia's Debt

What does this help with?

• Getting to play Doomsday and Summon Blasmophet to harvest a few souls.
• Getting to attack with Hexagore when we have a spare action point without taking 6.

How to get there:

• Mark of the Beast is absolutely perfect, helpfully banishing itself when needed to trigger Levia's hero ability, and even helps to get to the all-important 6 Blood Debt cards every once in a while by defending.
• Ensuring there is a density of cards that banish from the graveyard, starting with the powerful red attacks (Dread Screamer, Boneyard Marauder, and Hungering Slaughterbeast), and taking note of the important blue non-attack actions that defend for 3 but can occasionally help to banish from the graveyard (Convulsions from the Bellows of Hell, and Unworldly Bellow).

Going Again

What does this help with?

• Two large attack actions are a good way to break through the opponent's defenses, especially against a Guardian looking to hold the fort.
• Blasmophet, the Soul Harvester and Hexagore, the Death Hydra both appreciate an extra action point for them to utilize.

How to get there:

• Art of War and Shadow Puppetry can make any attack gain go again along with some extra value.
• Dread Screamer and Pulping are two excellent go again attacks that help keep up the pressure.

The Power of 6

What does this help with?

• Levia’s hero ability needs six-power attacks to feed, so we’ll have to accommodate that.
• Cards such as Shadow of Blasphomet and Pulping are significantly more powerful with a six-power attack discarded.

How to get there:

• Thankfully although an important constraint to consider, this is an easier one. There are plenty of powerful cards with at least six power, and we’re playing a lot of them.
• Beyond the obvious attacks, we’ve got a few yellow and blue six-power attacks, which can be useful in a pinch, or good to banish after being used to defend.

Stayin' Alive

What does this help with?

• A more classic Brute role is to defend with the quantity of powerful three-defense cards available, and then come back with heavy hits
• Some of the cards unfortunately don’t have the ability to defend, so there’s a need to be aware of that and accommodate accordingly

How to get there:

• Sink Below helps both to defend and to send a card with zero defense to the bottom of the deck in a pinch
• Every card in the deck that does actually defend is the full three defense to help keep our defense potential high

Resource Debt

What does this help with?

• In between the banished zone and potential for extra action points, there’s often a need to get a decent amount of resources to get everything going

How to get there:

• The list is playing a high amount of resource-producing cards, as well as a few more yellows than usually seen to try and strike the balance between cards that are aimed to play and cards that are looking to be pitched

General Guidance

• Blood debt doesn’t need to be accumulated early on, so the requirement to use Levia’s hero ability is also not needed.
• There are five cards that can be played from the banished zone, using them well can be the difference between victory and defeat.
• Don’t be scared of rolling the dice for Scabskin Leathers - it’s incredibly unlikely to roll a one and then roll again into a one after using Gambler's Gloves (less than 3%!), and that’s sometimes just how life is.
• If in doubt, choose the modes to banish and give your next attack go again with Art of War. With the weapons and cards in the banished zone you can usually use the extra action points somewhere, and choosing to banish for Art of War will satisfy Levia’s thirst for blood in a pinch.
• Nourishing Emptiness is great on turn one, but keep in mind that if you banish the attacks in your graveyard with a non-attack card, the ability is active again!

Starting Points For Your Experimentation

• A Bloodrush Bellow-based build, with more of a focus on six-power attacks and utilizing the power of the Mandible Claws
• A more defensive build, looking to rely on defense reacts to buy the time to set up your late game value engines
• A more aggressive build, using Wild Ride and Bare Fangs to try to pressure the opponent with big hits for cheap costs
• An evolution of this hybrid build we’ve discussed, here are a few cards close to making the cut that could give you a starting point:
  • Enlightened Strike
  • Fate Foreseen
  • Guardian of the Shadowrealm
  • Swing Big
  • Reckless Swing

The Most Important Point

We've investigated how to play Levia, how to build her, and some things to consider as you start one of the most fun parts of Flesh and Blood - putting your own personal touch in place. I wanted to wrap this piece by mentioning Skirmish specifically - it's really a great place to try things and have fun with people in your local store. Of course try and win some of those sweet prizes, but if the cards don't fall your way or the dice betray you - make sure to remember to have fun.

Personally, I highly recommend making sure to roll the dice with a flourish to add to the excitement - there’s nothing quite like the anticipation as the dice come to a stop and the opponent leans over with their fingers crossed… That’s the fun of playing in the flesh and blood right?

Sean Knowelden is a competitive Flesh and Blood player and author of content relating to gameplay and strategy. The opinions expressed in the above article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Legend Story Studios.