By Dimos K

Across Rathe, heroes fight one another for many reasons – pride, national service, survival, and money to name a few – but few heroes are as seasoned in battle as Warriors. Currently tied for the most-represented class by hero count, and likely the most-played class throughout the history of the game, Warriors force the opponent to come well-prepared and knowledgeable. LSS has said that the Warrior class is about “being engaged in battle”, a thematic concept that comes through very well when playing against them. Once again, I am impressed at how well themes make their way into gameplay and feel fitting over the course of a match.

The central theme that connects each of our three Warrior heroes, Dorinthea, Boltyn, and Kassai, is this idea of engagement in battle. Each expresses it slightly differently, but bringing Attack Action cards against any of them weakens your defensive options. Defending with an Attack Action card will either trigger Reprise, or a buff on the incoming strike. Dorinthea is most likely to have cards with Reprise, Kassai most commonly runs Cintari Sabres, which get buffed when blocked by an Attack, and all of Boltyn’s attacks get the same buff and a potential Go Again once he has charged. And all of them can run Glint the Quicksilver, an amazing card that makes any opponent think very hard before they commit to overblocking an attack from any Warrior. Overblocking is tempting because Warriors come with plenty of on-hit effects. Dawnblade becomes stronger as it hits, half of Boltyn’s attacks have on-hit effects that let him draw or build his Soul. Defense reactions are generally your best bet for countering a Warrior’s offence since they can dodge Reprise and prevent any buffs to their attacks.

What all of this adds up to is a very high burden on the defending player. Blocking against Warriors the trickiest in the game (except possibly Wizard). A common reason why Warriors are excellent at beating newer players is because of the knowledge required to block against them. By blocking Dawnblade for six from hand, one could assume safety since most attack reactions grant +3 power. It takes knowledge to know that Singing Steelblade often comes in for +4, or that Twinning Blade and Glint the Quicksilver can nullify the block entirely. It takes knowledge to know when to block Boltyn’s Charge attacks. Do you take 3 damage and let him draw a card from Bolt of Courage and hope his turn ends there? Or do you block it to deny the draw effect if you think he has an Attack Reaction in his hand. Blocking against Warriors is uniquely taxing and is one of their main strengths. Unless you know exactly what your plan is (based on what their plan could be), the only way to effectively block a Warrior is to have half your deck made of Defense Reactions or Non-attack Actions, depending on the Warrior. In a game as strategic as Flesh and Blood, being able to mentally burden your opponent on your turn is a very large advantage. In comparison to a class that does not have on-hit effects and doesn’t care how their opponent blocks, such as Brute (tricky Barraging Beatdown plays excepted), when an opponent is against a Warrior, the vast majority of the game happens on the defending turn. It is an excellent way to disrupt your opponent’s gameplan without running negative on-hit effects like Command and Conquer. Overall, blocking against Warriors is hard, and they will generally force you to play around their gameplan than allow you to play to your gameplan.

With all of those commonalities discussed, let’s move on to what makes each Warrior different. Beginning with Dorinthea, who is the most difficult to block against. This is because most Dorinthea decks are comprised of 50% or more Attack Reactions, many of which carry strong Reprise effects. Which means unless you’re packing 30 defense reactions, you’re going to have to do some guessing as to how to block throughout the course of the game. In an earlier article I discussed how the hidden information Dorinthea has in the form of Attack Reactions is one of her biggest assets since it forces commitments from an opponent who is often lost. And if that opponent overcommits, then that’s a free card to arsenal to come back with next turn. I’m not going to turn this into an article about how to block Dorinthea, since that has been discussed by the experts over at Session Blood here.

Boltyn requires the most game knowledge to play against. I choose the term game knowledge here deliberately, because Dorinthea certainly challenges her opponent to know what is in her deck, but once you understand the relationship between Reprise and the threat of Twinning Blade, you’re pretty much set for the broad strokes. Boltyn has more tricks up his sleeve since he can give anything that is buffed Go Again. Being able to buff cards with his own ability (putting the burden of blocking on his opponent), or through Non-Attack Actions or Attack Reactions leaves him with no shortage of options. Beacon of Victory alone gives him a fantastically adaptable gameplan. It can be an Attack Reaction that hits for +1 and searches for a Lumina, or it can hit for +20 if you spend your game charging Soul – amazing versatility and, I think, the most powerful card that lets you search your deck printed to date. Lumina allows Boltyn to do literally everything he wants to do: get a buff, threaten an on-hit effect, and replenish his soul. Because both of these power cards happen in the middle of the turn, they are less face-up than something like Steelblade Supremacy and can catch people unaware. Obviously, V of the Vanguard is a powerhouse on its own and is one of the few times where Boltyn really doesn’t care what you do because he’s going to power through for free anyways. If you haven’t played Boltyn with Halo of Illumination, do it. It is a fantastic way to get that extra card into your Soul and forces your opponent to fear you even when you have an empty soul.

Kassai is very much the black sheep of the Warrior class. Hailing from Volcor instead of Solana like the other two, her main theme centres around value. Discounting resource costs every turn is a very nice hero ability, and fits very well with her theme as a mercenary. Kassai is amazingly effective at out-valuing her opponents. Red Driving Blade and two swings of Cintari sabre is seven to nine damage off of only two cards. Those numbers rival Ira. Had Ira not been so dominant in Blitz, I definitely think that Kassai could have been a similar menace, but with ten armor instead of four. She also excels at modular hands. Her two-card hands are excellent, as are her three- and four-card hands, meaning she can block as required and will not lose out offense come her turn. This is another strength she shares with Ira, and a large advantage she has over Dorinthea, who has notoriously weak two-card hands. Kassai can have a strong two-card hand with a Driving Blade and a blue pitch, and she can have a very powerful four-card hand by adding a Hit and Run and a Snatch. All of this comes with the well-hidden information of strong Warrior Attack Reactions peppered throughout the deck.

In general, if you want to force your opponent to do a disproportionate amount of the mental work during the match, play a Warrior. And if you are playing against a Warrior, be careful how you engage them in battle. They will always have a Reprise, riposte, or parry waiting for you in the form of an Attack Reaction, card-buffing static effects, or a Steelblade Shunt.