Iyslander, Stormbind - A Constructed Overview

Iyslander is back but this time with 36 life and is a real contender in Classic Constructed. Today I will be focusing on a quick-start guide on how Iyslander works and the playstyles you can expect from her.

Firstly, lets take a look at why you should play Iyslander by starting off with checking out some pros and cons.

Pros:

• Highly disruptive both with her hero ability, Ice cards and spells with “on hit” effects.
• Arcane damage. This can be difficult to prevent in some decks.
• Consistent resources. You can play an abundance of Blue resource cards that double up as impactful cards.
• Synergy and combos as your cards can help other cards deal more damage and turn your weaker cards into high impact damaging spells.

Cons:

• Low damage output compared to other decks. You run less “power cards” than other decks.
• Starting life total is lower than other heroes.
• There are a variety of play patterns every turn on both your and your opponent's, which could be difficult to maneuver.
• Struggles against heroes that don’t give her a priority window before the first attack is made.

Playstyles

There are many decks in Flesh and Blood that focus on disrupting your opponent but none do it the same way as Iyslander. Not only do you get to play powerful “on hit” effects on your turn, but you can disrupt your opponent during their turn too! A Frostbite half-way through their turn when they least expect it has a higher impact than one that is face up.

On your turn, Iyslander wants to play one of her powerful fuse spells that can leave behind a disruptive effect when it deals damage. This can be followed up by more damage using Waning Moon.

If dealing damage isn’t your thing and you want to do even more to mess with your opponents' plans, Iyslander has you covered. Iyslander wants to set up powerful cards that either make an impact straight away, or a few turns down the line. The timing of these cards is everything and when you stop your opponent from doing what they want to do, you won’t need to invest too many cards to defend the turn after, which allows you to do even more damage the following turn.

The thing which separates Iyslander from other heroes is the ability to disrupt and deal damage- but during your opponents turn. We have a few options;

Iyslander can arsenal a Blue Ice card of any kind and give the opponent a Frostbite as soon as the opponent gives her priority. This shines against decks that are full of Red cards or have go again. Sometimes you even want to slow roll the card to get them with the Frostbite towards the end of the chain and save a lot of damage. Follow this up with Waning Moon to push additional damage.

Iyslander can also arsenal a card that could cause more disruption than a Frostbite, making your opponent really have to think about how to line up their attacks. It's common for your opponent to expect one Frostbite, but when you disrupt them in a different way, that's when your opponent really starts to put on the brakes.

Now that we know how to stop our opponent from playing their game, how do we play our game? Well it’s important to note that we still have to deal damage to win the game. Stopping your opponent from doing anything at all but also doing no damage yourself does not progress the game state at all. There are two strong methods for Iyslander to deal damage over the game and it is ideal to use a mix of both, but you can also build your deck in a way which focuses on doing one very well.

Damage Over Time

The first method is to deal damage gradually. This is best done with your weapon Waning Moon, but can also be done with Frost Hex.

Throughout the game you want to take note of how many cards or resources your opponent has remaining on their turn and when their shields are down either Waning Moon them or give them Frostbites which would translate into damage. You can also gradually deal damage with damage spells, especially blue ones that you can use when your opponent’s defenses are low.

Winter Combo

The other way is to have a more combo finish. Iyslander’s two Specializations really point us in the direction we want to play. Throughout the game place a Frost Hex or three on our opponent. Then when we have an opportunity we want to give our opponent lots of Frostbites on our turn then lay down an Ice Eternal in our arsenal.

Your opponent would either pass the turn or play a card on their turn. If they play a card, you can respond to the Frostbites being destroyed by playing Ice Eternal first. This would count the Frostbites you gave on your previous turn.

There are other ways you can have a Wizard’s combo finish...but I'll leave the rest for you to explore.

Iyslander is a fun hero to play and if you like the combination of disruption and dealing arcane damage like a Wizard, she is the hero for you! Play from multiple angles and leave your opponents frozen in their tracks!