Fight Fire with Fai - A Fai Limited Primer

Hi everyone and welcome back to another article. Today I will be showcasing Fai and give you all some red hot tips on how to approach him in the Sealed and Draft formats for our newest set Uprising!

First of all, as we can see, Fai's hero ability has the power to start the game off with a Phoenix Flame in the graveyard has the ability to return a Phoenix Flame from your hand for free if you control 3 Draconic chain links. Now, this ability is extremely powerful as you already have access to three Phoenix Flames, whether they are in your pool or not, making deck building a lot easier! Phoenix Flame also helps set up your powerful Rupture abilities that will burn and break your opponent. Don’t forget Fai’s powerful weapon, Searing Emberblade which helps contribute to your Draconic chain links, as the weapon attack itself is counted in the pursuit of that coveted fourth chain link!

Go Again. And Again.

As evident by all the Draconic and Ninja cards in your deck, the common theme is Go Again. You want to build your deck around this mechanic as much as possible, so you can output the most damage and enable your hero ability so, cards that cost 0 or 1 with Go Again are very important to maximize Fai's potential. A standard turn sequence for Fai might look like; Attack action, Attack action, Attack with Searing Emberblade, return Phoenix Flame and attack with it. This play pattern allows you to do 10+ damage in a turn as well as enabling you to play cards at the fourth or higher chain link, triggering Rupture to play cards such as Breaking Point, Red Hot and Lava Burst that have powerful abilities if they hit or when you play them.

Red Cards are at a Premium!

You heard that right, as soon as you see a red Ninja or Draconic card I would advise you to pick it. I like to play Fai aggressively and to do that I need a lot of red cards in my deck such as Blaze Headlong, Mounting Anger and Flamecall Awakening. These cards enable powerful on-hit triggers that make it very awkward for your opponent to defend well, while reducing the likelihood of them returning a flurry of Go Again attacks in your direction. Red Cards also enable a lot of powerful Draconic cards that you can play in your deck to make your turns a lot more explosive, such as Inflame and Flamecall Awakening!

While drafting, after picking as many Red cards as possible from your early packs you should start looking for Blue Draconic Ninja cards that defend for 3. Those cards should be the cards used mostly as resources and as cards that you're happy to defend with. Normally, a powerful turn requires a Blue card, so you're able to attack with a Searing Emberblade and play out a 1 cost card along the chain. Such Blue cards play a multi-faceted role in serving Fai's goal of gathering a critical mass of Go Again attacks to add to your Draconic chain link as well as having the option to pitch it and attack with Searing Emberblade, really rounds out the flexibility and range of Blue cards in Fai. Of course, you will see a lot of Yellow Ninja cards- don't be afraid to take them! They are equally important in Fai’s strategy.

Whether it's draft or sealed, I believe everyone will enjoy playing as Fai in Uprising Limited formats. Fai is a very fun hero who is simple to pick up, but challenging to master and is able to execute explosive plays which will burn, break and rupture your opponents.

Head down to your Local Game Store and get involved at an Uprising Pre Release near you!