Bravo swings his mallet overhead, bulging biceps straining against the scarlet fabric of his coat. His moustache twitches as he brings the mallet down, narrowly missing the head of the actor who faces him, garbed in a dark cloak. As the actor falls to his knees, faking a pained gasp, the crowd leaps to their feet. Cheers fill the tent, climbing to a crescendo, as the audience calls his name.
Bravo, Showstopper
Anothos
The Star of the Show
Bravo, the star of the Everfest Carnival and Welcome to Rathe, carries the weight of high expectations from fans across the world!
Carrying weight is something Bravo does better than anyone, being the reputed "Strongest man in Rathe" and all. Bravo's strength is showcased through having the most powerful attacks in Welcome to Rathe.
Disable
Where the agile classes of Flesh and Blood occupy the low cost end of the spectrum, Guardians are the exact opposite, with Guardian attacks starting at 3 and scaling to a whopping 7 resource points to play!
Cartilage Crush
Crush Confidence
One of the heavy considerations when building a Bravo deck is making sure you include an appropriate number of cards that pitch for 3 with consideration to the high cost of cards in your deck.
Some of the aggressive decks in Flesh and Blood can play as little as 0 cards that pitch for 3, while some of the control decks that have come through development have played as many as 45. Working out where your deck build fits in this spectrum is an important part of deck construction.
Barraging Brawnhide
Raging Onslaught
Buckling Blow
Going Over the Top
Each of the 4 classes in Welcome to Rathe has its own way of creating what I refer to as "an overlap". This terminology probably comes from my origin as a New Zealander, which by default makes me a fan of the All Blacks, the greatest Rugby team of all time (*braces for angry backlash from Australian fans*). In Rugby, when you achieve an overlap, it means you have created a game state where you outnumber the opposition in a certain area of the playing field, making it impossible to stop an attacking play (unless the attacking team makes a mistake).
In Welcome to Rathe, Katsu creates his overlap by going wide, stretching the defense thin. Rhinar creates his overlap by intimidating cards from the defending hero's hand, removing defensive options. Dorinthea creates her overlap by playing in the reaction window, outmaneuvering defending cards. Bravo creates his overlap through his hero ability that gives his power plays dominate, pushing them over the top of the defensive line.
Like all Guardian cards, activating Bravo's hero ability does not come cheap. Two resource points is comparable to an entire card. It takes planning and timing to use Bravo's hero ability to its full potential. Pro tip: The key is understanding when not to use it!
The payoff for investing resources into Bravo's hero ability is pushing through powerful crush effects that, in and of themselves, take control of the tempo of the game.
Spinal Crush
Know Your Lines
Becoming a top Bravo player is knowing when to step into the spotlight, when to make the big play, and when the correct thing to do is defend and swing with Anothos.
Anothos is the cornerstone to the control strategy. It allows you to play conservatively while progressing the game state. It provides a legitimate game-ending threat, without requiring threat density in your deck.
Anothos
Playing the Supporting Role
The Guardian hero class has a very different ebb and flow to the pace of play compared to other classes. Guardians have no attacks with go again. Doing more than one thing in a turn for a Guardian is about setting up supporting auras for a forthcoming power play, hunkering down the defenses, or investing into the long game.
Guardians have many auras that give no immediate benefit, but provide an effect for the following turn. This is reflective of Guardians being physically slower than other classes in balance to their superior physical strength.
Stonewall Confidence
Blessing of Deliverance
Emerging Power
Go Big or Go Home
When Bravo comes to town, he brings the big show with him. If doing the biggest thing possible is how you roll, step right up my friend, for the stage is yours!
Crippling Crush
Spinal Crush © 2019 Legend Story Studios. Illustrated by Sergey Gurskiy.
Take the stage, and pick up a Bravo hero deck. A cohesive 60-card deck, playable right out of the box, the hero deck includes a hero card, weapon, equipment set, and rulebook.
(MSRP $10.99 USD / $17.99 AUD / $19.99 NZD.)
Check out Bravo's hero page to see more of Flesh and Blood's star performer, and see more cards from Welcome to Rathe in the card preview gallery!
Welcome to Rathe releases October 11th in local game stores across USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Preorder now at your local game store, or refer them to b2b.legendstory.com to order stock now!