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Value is a key component in any game, but it manifests itself in an interesting way in Flesh and Blood. Every turn you draw back up to four cards. So, it stands to reason that in order to maximize your value, you want to use all four of those cards in one way or another. One of the first things that new players learn in this game is that holding cards and not doing anything with them puts you at a disadvantage quickly. What separates a lot of good decks from great decks is the value that one can generate outside of the cards in hand and arsenal.

• Board state value. This includes tools such as items, equipment, weapons, and auras. By “floating” some tools from one turn to another, you can expand the capabilities of your four or five card hand on a single turn. This allows you to push through what your opponent is able, or willing, to defend against. 

 

• Information value. Your opponent can’t play perfectly against you if they don’t know what you’re doing. Warrior has stayed one of the strongest classes in FaB because you can never be 100% sure what they will do. You can use reactions to assist in this, allowing you to hide information and cause your opponents to gamble on uninformed decisions.

 

• Breakpoint value: Blocking against three damage is easy, its one card. Blocking one damage or four damage is hard. Forcing awkward blocks to push on-hit effects and damage is extremely effective. Ira’s domination of the Blitz meta is almost entirely based on this premise. 

This three-piece series will cover each of these points in their own article. This article will speak to value in the form of the board state.

 

The advantage of board state values

 

The core of the game is to deal enough damage to win. In most other popular TCGs, the game hinges entirely on your board state. Although in FaB this is less true, board state is still hugely impactful. While most of the time, you don’t know what four cards you are going to draw next turn, you can always rely on what is already on the board. Thus, building a strong board state results in more wins through consistency. Legend Story Studios know that board states are extremely strong, which is why items block for zero and putting them into play consumes action points. Players tend to underestimate the impact of board states, as these states test the limits of the opponent’s defence and allow more success in pushing damage. 

 

There are many ways to build a potent board state, listed below in descending order of potency:

 

• Always-available tools: These include hero abilities, weapons, passive or once-per-turn-use equipment, and permanent items. It is possible to squeeze value out of these tools every single turn.

 

• On-demand one-use tools: These include potions and equipment that must be destroyed for its effect. They are not as strong due to their one-time-use nature.

 

• Fixed-time one-use tools: These include some auras such as Show Time! and Quicken tokens. These are the weakest board state elements because your opponent has partial control over them by pressuring you.

Always-available tools: These devices can make or break a deck. Guardian and Brute define archetypes of themselves purely on the basis of the value of their always-present weapons. A hammer or club for four damage is a great one-card play, and enables a strong control gameplay that Warrior, with a sword that swings for three, cannot emulate. The strongest example, and bogeywoman of the CC meta, is Dash and her pistol suite. I say “suite” because Dash’s pistol alone is below par. One resource for two damage is below the curve of other two-handed weapons that cost one, such as Dawnblade or Reaping Blade.  The existence of Induction Chamber Chamber changes the math significantly, and Plasma Purifier even more so. A single Induction Chamber, which Dash automatically starts with thanks to her hero ability, changes one pitch for two damage into three pitch for 2+2. This is better than an Anothos or Romping Club  swing because if they choose to block with one card, your opponent will still take two. Dash has the ability to build the strongest permanent weapon in the game through multiple Induction Chambers and Plasma Purifiers. This is the secret to the midrange and control decks’ success. By building the best weapon, Dash builds the best board state because she gets the most value outside of her hand every single turn.

 

Pitching for a weapon is inherently more useful than playing a 0-cost attack such as Scar for a Scar Scar because the pitched card stays in your deck and strengthens your long game. Dash’s loading mechanic also provides additional value by effectively letting you float resources from one turn to the next. By taking a turn off and pitching to load all your Chambers and Purifiers, the next turn can provide 12 damage by pitching for only two resources (assuming 2 Purifiers, 2 Chambers, and the first pistol shot were pre-loaded). This frees up the remaining cards in hand for boosted attacks or blocking, allowing her to get over the standard 12-block limit for each hand and force either defenses from arsenal or armor. By building value on her board, Dash pressures her opponent without even having to look at her hand, and this has caused her to be a top-tier hero.

 

Ira functions similarly, where one pitched card allows for multiple, tough-to-block attacks via  Harmonized Kodachi which are strengthened by the always-on threat of Mask of Momentum, but I will speak more to this in the breakpoint value article.

 

On-demand, one-use tools: Potions and equipment that can be destroyed to gain effects. I will take the example of Energy Potion in this instance since any hero can make effective use of it. Although having a card in your deck that doesn’t block is dangerous, once in play it effectively allows you to have a 6th card on your turn, by negating the need to pitch one. If there is an Energy Potion on the field, there is always the threat of an attack reaction. Pummel off of an Energy Potion is an extremely potent play that can generate threat so long as you have one card in your hand or arsenal. Paired with a Command and Conquer , or against a deck light on defense reactions, it forces the opponent to consider overblocking. And if they do overblock, that’s totally fine, because you don’t have to play the Energy Potion or Pummel, you can save them for next turn. And oftentimes, the bluff of the threat enabled by Energy Potion is just as good.

 

Fixed-time single-use tools: Cards like Show Time! and Quicken  provide strong threats for (usually) the very next turn. If I can see my opponent is using Auras to set up, I will do my best to pressure on my next turn, before they can benefit from their set up. In this situation consider using your one-time use equipment to force them to block and weaken the big turn they are trying to set up for. While still very useful, these one-turn effects are the weakest because they can be exploited and easily pressured to reduce their efficacy. They remain a strong way to get over the natural five-card hand limit, either through direct card advantage, or providing other tools that you do not need to pay for.

 

A brief and general comparison: Ranger vs Guardian. 

 

Currently, in Classic Constructed, Bravo is one of the higher tier heroes, while Azalea is at the bottom. The starting board state between a Guardian and a Ranger is different for two very different reasons: the quality of weapon, and the amount of armor. Bravo shows up with nine or ten points of armor and a weapon that swings for four damage with one card, or six with two cards. Azalea shows up with either two or four armor and a weapon that takes two cards which enables you to play two cards. From turn one, Bravo knows he can block with several cards and swing for four or six, bide his time, and then when it matters most use those ten points of armor to survive, block on hit effects, and swing back with a big attack. He gets to choose when this happens because his options are constant and static. He can always swing the hammer, and he can choose when to block. In contrast, Azalea needs two cards to use her weapon (unless you have Red Liner and a 0-cost arrow in hand), and her other activated abilities (from herself and Skullbone Crosswrap), all requiring dependencies (having a card in arsenal, costing resources, having a card to arsenal, etc.). In order for Azalea to generate value, she must have the pieces of the puzzle every single turn, while Bravo just needs any blue. This difference in value can lead to games where Bravo wins by doing nothing but swinging his hammer over and over and over, without needing to play a single card from the deck. This is purely because he has more native value turn-over-turn, even if it is at the expense of having a weaker five-card turn than an explosive Azalea. 

 

Do you want to make a devastatingly strong deck? Find value on your board.

On balance, the deck with more value will win, because your cards simply do more. Utilise the three different types of tools to build that board state, control the game, and always have an end game plan. Another advantage is to get creative, people can’t plan for what they can’t see coming, but that is for another article.