Dimos Kaloupis

Bravo has long been the hero of Rathe that represents patience, with strong defence and a consistent weapon. His Guardian cards deal a disappointing amount of damage compared to other classes, and a big four-card attack can be effectively defended by two cards from the opponent. With such lackluster damage from his class cards, he has to find power elsewhere. This is done in two places: his weapon, and his on-hit effects. Anothos is, I believe, one of the best, if not the best single card in the game. Many Guardian players have won at least one game by doing nothing but swinging the hammer and defending. Nowadays, Bravo has access to damage-efficient turns, courtesy of Zealous Belting, Rouse the Ancients, and Anothos. However, his main threats still lie in his Guardian Crushes. The remainder of this article will go in-depth in evaluating the new toys Bravo has.

When I refer to a “regular” Bravo deck in this article, I mean a deck that runs mainly 3-cost blue cards, defence reactions, crush cards, and some tech for whatever the top meta deck of the day is. With the new Guardian cards in Tales of Aria, Bravo has access to three new tools. I am only going to discuss the in-deck cards, as equipment and weapon choice is an entirely different article. Tear Asunder is a no-brainer in any Bravo deck. “Costs 3, blocks 3, pitches for 3” is the gold standard, and Tear Asunder meets all of those criteria with an added bonus of buffing Anothos (previously only possible with Pummel) and offering a discard effect on-hit. Embolden meets the general 3/3/3 criteria, but unless the Bravo deck is running plentiful Auras, half of the card text is irrelevant. This is not a card that can be put into just any Guardian deck; it is a resource-intensive card that requires building around. Building an Aura archetype deck to work around the constraints of Embolden is too slow in the current meta, and too susceptible to disruption in a hypothetically slower meta.  

From this point on, we get a bit technical. To fully discuss this topic and all the factors that go into making deckbuilding decisions, in addition to in-game turn cycle decisions is a  topic of massive scope. Here is my mediocre attempt at discussing some of those elements. So let’s talk about Thump. An amazing card in Tales of Aria limited formats, it is the subject of much debate in the world of Classic Constructed. Thump is a fine card. It meets the 3/3/3 criteria, and poses some threat. Oldhim can do some very interesting things with it, courtesy of cards like Earthlore Surge and Strength of Sequoia. However, Bravo finds the card generally lacking without access to those pumps. Red Thump fits more into the buffing Aura archetype mentioned earlier, in conjunction with Cards like Embolden, Come to Fight, or Plunder Run. All of those cards do not fit into a regular Guardian deck. Thump does not have the Crush keyword, and therefore cannot receive the buff from Crater Fist, meaning that it’s main equipment synergy is Goliath Gauntlet. Sacrificing two armor and a sideboard slot for a single synergy is a very high price to pay. Without those synergies, the only way to buff Thump is through Pummel, which renders the “this card gains dominate” half of the text irrelevant. In order to fully evaluate blue Thump, I think it is worth exploring how an entire turn cycle works for Bravo, what he is looking for, and where he can gain advantage. Additionally, Bravo has an extensive amount of options for cost three, block three, pitch three cards. One must consider if Thump is better than an existing card in the deck. 

I struggle to think of instances where I would rather have a blue Thump in my hand over any other 3- or 4-cost Guardian attack. The other Guardian attacks have more power, making Bravo’s dominate on them more effective at pushing damage. Additionally, if one is going to pummel either card, odds are that both the on-hit effect of Thump and the Crush effect of Debilitate, Chokeslam, or Crush Confidence will land as well. This is because, usually, the only point in the game you are playing 4-card hands with blue attacks and Pummel is near the end. At that end phase of the game, an average opponent is likely out of defense reactions and has a low life total. This makes the higher damage of the other Guardian attacks even more relevant. Any other 4-cost Guardian attack will do two additional damage compared to Thump. A 3-cost Guardian attack will still deal an additional point of damage, but has an added benefit. With a 4-card hand and a Seismic Surge token, 3-cost Guardian attacks can be Dominated with Bravo and still have enough resources to Pummel. A dominate before the reaction step is much more relevant for pushing late-game damage. The overall trade-off is one or two extra points of damage and a potential crush effect versus a second discard. Overall, I think the utility and damage of the other cards outweighs the potential discard effect of Thump. 

So, should Thump be in your Bravo deck? Here is the key decision maker for me that will keep Thumps forever out of my Bravo decks: in any hand where there is not a red Pummel, a 4-damage Thump is not even in the discussion. However, a 6-damage, 4-cost blue can still be dominated. This threatens a crush, encourages a block, and pushes 3 points of damage if the opponent does not have a defence reaction. If the opponent does have a defence reaction, Bravo would love it if they used it on a blue Debilitate rather than the Spinal Crush that was pitched earlier. Thump and blue Pummel requires Bravo to have a four-card hand, and can be entirely defended by two cards. A standard Bravo deck has no other ways to pump Thump, but it has better cards to use red Pummel on. 

Side Note & Post Script: I’ve seen a lot of discourse about Thump online. In order to fully explain why I prefer other cards to Thump, this article should be a complete series about how to play Bravo. The deck-building decisions that many people dismiss as “resource cards” are oftentimes more in-depth than those that go into the red power cards. For example, Crippling Crush has a very clear purpose. It is used for damage and to strip cards, or to buff Anothos and make a Seismic Surge. A blue card in a Bravo deck needs to play more than an offensive role. In addition to providing “pitch 3, block 3, cost 3” utility, they also need to contribute some degree of unique threat or further utility. This can range from enabling other cards (such as having a high base power to help Rouse the Ancients and Zealous belting), or provide its own relevant damage, on-hit/Crush effect, or special buff. To highlight some of these differences and further utilities, continue reading below for an in-depth example of a hand cycle. In it, Bravo can decide between Thump and Debilitate with Pummel. Let’s examine a hypothetical scenario, a dream hand for blue Thump:

The game is reaching the end phase, Bravo has 14 life and his generic opponent has 11. Bravo has just drawn a red Pummel, a blue Thump, a blue Debilitate, and a Show Time, and has no arsenal. In total, this hand blocks for 11. The opponent has 2 cards and a card in arsenal. They play a red Scar for a Scar from hand for four damage with go again. Bravo is quite confident that the card in arsenal is not a defence reaction. Before Bravo declares any blocking cards, he should consider what he wants to do on his turn. His options are:

• Saving three cards to pummel Anothos for 10 damage and no additional effect could be an option as it nearly presents lethal. This option also allows Bravo to block 3 damage. Additionally, Bravo could likely dominate a 6-power attack next turn with a three-card hand to seal the last few points of health. However, the most likely response to Bravo swinging Anothos for 6 with two resources floating will be a 2-card block for 6, leaving Pummel to either get put in the arsenal for later, or to be played out to push the additional 4 damage.
• Swinging Anothos for 6 could be an option, and allows for Bravo to either block for five or block for three and a chance to put Pummel into the arsenal. 
• One could also swing Anothos for 4 and block for 6 or 8. 
• Playing Thump and Pummel for 8 damage and threatening 2 discards could be an option, but would not allow for blocks this turn.
• Playing Debilitate with Pummel for 10 damage, threatening one discard and a -2 debuff on his opponents first attack. 
• Bravo could also dominate a Debilitate for 6 damage and block with or arsenal the pummel. This is not worthwhile as the Crush effect will be easily blocked by a single card, and the 3 damage that leaks through is not threatening when life totals are as high as 10 or 12. 

Based on these options, Bravo probably wants to close out the game, as he has some good tools to do so. Swinging Anothos for 6 or 4 presents neither disruption nor enough damage to be frightening. Unless he play a disruptive next turn, he will lost tempo back to his opponent and it is unlikely that Pummel will have an opportunity to see the board if it is arsenaled. This rules out Pummeling Anothos for 10. The remaining options are to play the 4-card hand with either Thump or Debilitate as the showstopper. Bravo declares no blocks, takes 4 damage from Scar for a Scar, going to 10 life.  The opponent then pitches a blue to play a blue Brutal Assault from arsenal, threatening 4 more damage. Having already committed to taking damage this turn, and not being too scared of going down to 6 life, Bravo once again declares no blocks. The opponent’s turn ends. Now it is decision time. Playing either attack on the four card hand is viable, but Debilitate threatens more damage and 10 damage cannot be blocked by three normal cards, and would discard the 4th card. If Bravo knows that his next hand cycle is a powerful red card pitched earlier in the game (a Spinal Crush or a Crippling Crush), this leaves the opponent with zero cards to respond with, guaranteeing a dominated red Crush. If the Bravo does not have a big attack upcoming, the Pummel can be arsenaled after either play in response to a 3 card block. This leaves another 4-card hand with a Pummel for Bravo next cycle, assuming that he blocks the opponents weapon swing or attack next turn with one card. The upside to Thump in this instance is the same as Debilitate, but debilitate deals more damage. Debilitate in this above example could be replaced with other three- or four-cost Guardian attacks, and the decisions may change, but the thought process would likely be the same. Thump would lose out in most instances in lieu of other attacks because of their higher power. 

TL;DR: In short, I really don’t think that Thump should be making it into Bravo lists as it’s damage output is lackluster in comparison to other Guardian attacks, of which there are more than enough to fill out a Classic Constructed deck list.