By: Yuki Lee Bender

Much to my surprise I haven’t seen many people talking about this card.

Here’s my hot take: I believe Fatigue Shot will be the most played Ranger card from Everfest, and is in contention for being the best arrow ever printed. I think we will see 6 copies of Fatigue

Shot in Red and Yellow pitch in every 80 card Ranger deck. Additionally, I wouldn’t be surprised for decks that can give +1 with their bow and/or decks that focus on buffing their attacks to play the blues as well. 

Perhaps part of why I feel so strongly about Fatigue Shot is because, just days before the card was spoiled I had pitched this exact card design to my playtesting group, a tool I wished Ranger had that would also be fairly balanced.

If anyone from the LSS play design team is reading and looking to hire someone, feel free to hit me up! Jokes aside, why do I think this seemingly innocuous card is so incredibly good?

Before we begin, let’s evaluate the average value of Fatigue Shot’s on hit effect. The vast majority of attack action cards people play hit for at least 4 damage, as this is an important breakpoint that requires a defense reaction or more than one card to block efficiently. Against these 4 or 5 damage attacks, Fatigue Shot gives -2 attack on hit. We will use this -2 attack as our baseline for evaluating the card, keeping in mind that it scales up higher against larger attacks.

One reason Fatigue Shot is great is that it’s one of the best arrows in the game on rate alone. If Fatigue Shot hits for 5 and gives -2 attack on hit, this represents an overall 7 life point swing on the turn cycle and is absolutely fantastic in racing situations. A 7 point swing from a single arrow is comparable to all-stars like Remorseless, Buzz Bolt and Frazzle on an average turn, and completely eclipses other arrows like Head Shot and Hamstring Shot. Not to mention, Fatigue shot is untalented, comes in all pitch values and does not require you to fuse. Not only that, but the rate on this card can be even higher if your opponent wants to play an attack with 6 or more power.

But wait, there’s more!

Fatigue Shot is not only great on rate and for racing your opponent, it also helps Ranger solve one of their biggest problems: poor defensive options and difficulty blocking on-hit effects. Just how powerful is our previously established baseline of -2 attack? Well, in general it means our opponent's red-line attack is essentially a blue that pitches for one. Another way to think about this, is that -2 attack is similar to when pre-errata Briar blocks using one non-atack action with two embodiments of earth, except you don’t have to block to get the effect. The defensive value of giving your opponent -2 attack is absolutely huge, and Fatigue shot can offer more than that against large attacks.

Giving a 4 power attack -2 means you can block all star cards like Snatch with a 2 block, or with your trusty Perch Grapplers or New Horizon in a pinch. Similarly, 5 and 6 power attacks can be blocked with a single 3 block. This has very far wide reaching application across almost every matchup in he game. Here’s a list of a few attacks that are extremely problematic for Ranger to deal with, that can be shut down with a single card if Fatigue Shot hits:

• Leg Tap and Meat and Greet red become 2 power.
• Surging Strike red becomes 3 power.
• Command and Conquer becomes 3 power.
• Herald of Erudition, or any yellow herald becomes 3 power.
• Any red arrow in the game becomes 3 power.
• Disable yellow or blue becomes 4 power, any block turns off the crush effect.
• Spinal Crush becomes 5 power, one 3 block stops the crush effect.
• Crippling Crush becomes 6 power, one 3 block stops the crush effect.

Anyone who has spent a decent amount of time playing as Ranger or against it, should understand this is a total gamechanger. Command and Conquer is a ubiquitous card that hoses Ranger, and Guardian is Ranger’s most feared adversary. Ranger can now punish Bravo for taking damage to try and pivot with a dominated Crippling Crush or Spinal Crush by dropping a Fatigue Shot at the end of the combat chain. The punish becomes even more powerful if you have an attack reaction to push it over their armor block. Furthermore, Voltaire Lexi builds can leave a Fatigue Shot in arsenal face up to remind Bravo that if he doesn’t block, you are ready to throw a wrench in his plans. 

The defense provided by Fatigue shot is also a huge tool for Ranger decks that want to go tall and dominate their attacks. Typically, the biggest issue these decks have is that when you dominate your attack, you leave your opponent with their whole hand. While this is a problem with dominate in general, it is compounded by Ranger’s lack of defense. Some players have tried to overcome this with tall Ice Lexi builds, as it also provides on-hits that slow your opponents offense, but up until now you just haven’t had enough premium options to reliably stymie their aggression. Fatigue shot is an easy 6 of in these decks, and blues are worth a consideration. Fatigue shot might be exactly what they need to make them viable.

While it is true that Fatigue Shot doesn’t work against weapons, Ranger usually is very hungry for tempo and is quite happy if the opponent is only swinging their weapon. Additionally, this has a lot of hidden upside, because it means that decks that get easy go again on their weapons like Katsu and Dash can’t get around Fatigue Shot’s hit effect. Kodachi, kodachi, Leg Tap still means their red Leg Tap is coming in for 2 damage.

The final praise I will sing for Fatigue Shot is that it has an on-hit that is relevant against just about every class in the game. Virtually every hero wants to hit you with attack actions, the only exceptions to this rule being Dorinthea and Kano. This is a big improvement over arrows like Sleep Dart, Hamstring Shot and Blizzard Bolt which vary wildly in the effectiveness of their detrimental hit effects. One thing that does deserve extra mention is that Fatigue Shot is the bane of Boltyn. His hero ability will not give enough power to enable go again, even if we block. Even V of the Vanguard charged twice, yellow Courageous Steelhand or Beacon of Courage for 1 or 2 won’t get the job done; this card is an absolute nightmare for Radyn Boltyn.

For all of these reasons, I think Fatigue Shot is absolutely fantastic. It might not be as exciting and flashy as some of the Majestics in this set, but don’t be fooled. This card is the real deal and is an instant staple for any 80 card Ranger deck.