Flesh and Blood - Silver Age: Chapter 1 Precon Review

Compendium of Rathe gave us a new line of products: the Silver Age precons. They're very similar to the now extinct Blitz decks, but they come with a sideboard and are much more optimized. Are these decks worth it straight out of the box? Let's see!

The new set gave us two lines: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. In this article, we'll go through all the heroes in Chapter 1, but we'll soon see the other heroes in another article.

Dash represents Mechanologists in this set. This entire class famously centers around the Boost mechanic:

"As an additional cost to play this card, you may banish the top card in your deck. If you banish a Mechanologist card this way, this card gets Go Again."

As nearly all attacks in these lists have Boost, the idea behind this hero is to trade cards for pressure. So, try to be as fast as possible and end the game before you run out of gas.

We'll open with Hyper Driver (1) through Dash's ability (note: this deck does play Boom Grenade (1), but you shouldn't open with this item because Hyper Driver (1) takes center stage). It creates a resource for "free" every turn and some cards in the list benefit a lot from it when it is in play, like Jump Start (1) and Rev Up (1).

This deck also plays several support cards to keep Hyper Driver (1) in play as many turns as possible.

Furthermore, cards like Overblast (1) also benefit from Boost. Together, they will deal a lot of damage and punish any opponents who don't respect Dash.

Nonetheless, this list struggles with a few issues. Because it banishes cards constantly, it is often extremely fragile to heroes that block well (like Guardians and Warriors). This precon itself doesn't play anything to fight these strategies besides Plasma Barrel Shot. So, here are a few cards you can add to this list to improve these matchups:

Suggestions:

Difficulty: Easy.

Iyslander is a very iconic and very popular hero. With Iyslander decks, you'll play in your turn and in your opponent's turn as well. You'll tax them to disrupt their plans and progress your own at the same time.

The precon version is called the "Bullander" version (named after Wounded Bull (1)). In your turn, you'll threaten damage with attacks like Fyendal's Fighting Spirit (1) or Look Tuff and also deal arcane damage with Ice Bolt (1) or Aether Icevein (1). In the opponent's turn, you'll use Iyslander's ability to tax them and disrupt their game plan. You'll also use actions like Winter's Bite (3) and Cold Snap (3).

However, Iyslander brings us a unique challenge. As you play in both your turn and the opponent's turn, you need to know exactly what to put in the arsenal, and understand the enemy plan to tax them at the right time. You'll also have to figure out a way to end the game without letting your opponent answer your strategies.

This precon is a good example of what this Wizard does, but it can be better. Just add more cards that deal arcane damage (so that you can pierce through the opponent's arcane defenses) and defensive cards to deal with aggressive decks.

Suggestions:

Difficulty: Hard

Do you want a hero that's easy to pilot, strong in competitive tournaments, and that plays several tools to deal with all types of decks? Then Kayo is perfect for you.

Brute heroes often center around drawing and discard cards with 6 power or more, so some of them struggle to use blue cards (which usually have, at most, 5 power). However, Kayo's ability fixes that and makes this deck's curve a lot more balanced.

Speaking of Kayo's ability, creating Might can turn your attacks into breakpoints. Like so, defensive decks will struggle to deal with all the damage Brute heroes deal.

This precon also comes with one of the best disruptive cards for this class: Strongest Survive (1), which is often decisive against other aggro lists.

But there are cards in this class (and in this format in general) that are more interesting and flexible for Kayo. These cards can make weak hands (hands with only blue cards, for instance) a lot more consistent.

Suggestions:

Difficulty: Easy-Medium.

Runeblade has always been considered a strong class because it deals damage in two ways (physical and arcane), and this Runeblade hero is no different. Viserai was one of the best Runeblade heroes in the format when it was available, and this precon showcases a part of all its potential with Runechants.

Because Viserai needs to play attack actions and nonattack actions in the same turn, you'll need to know how to play the right sequence of cards. If you master this technique, you'll create lots of Runechants and deal a lot of damage. Furthermore, only a few attacks in this list have Go Again (either by default or gaining it after you meet some conditions), so you'll need specific pieces to set up functional turns, like Mauvrion Skies (1) and Flying High (3).

If your hand and the game get stale, you can spend one turn setting up with a few cards that come in this precon. Read the Runes (1), Spellblade Assault (1), and Malefic Incantation (1) are some of them, but you can also just play an attack with more power, like Amplify the Arknight (1) or Runic Fellingsong (1).

Sink Below (1) and Fate Foreseen (1) are banished in Silver Age, but the Runeblade class has its own defense reactions. Reduce to Runechant (1) helps you set up a turn by creating Runechants, whereas Sigil of Suffering (1) protects you and also threatens damage.

Out of all these decks, Viserai is the most flexible. Nonetheless, it may give you some weird hands, so you need to know how to get out of clunky situations. Experience helps a lot in these cases.

If you want to make this list even better, you can add a few cards that help you set up turns and attacks that have other effects.

Suggestions:

Difficulty: Average

Bravo, Flattering Showman is one of the best heroes in the format. He plays out a bit slower, stretching out the game to create an advantage. His ability makes this strategy more evasive than any other deck in this article, and, thanks to that, you can finish games with a lot more certainty.

Bravo doesn't play cards with Go Again, so he leans more towards midrange. You'll have powerful attacks and very annoying disruptive effects - particularly for aggressive decks.

Boulder Drop (1), Chokeslam (1), and Cartilage Crush (1) are excellent disruptions, and get even better with Bravo's ability. Pummel (1) is the icing on the cake, as it buys time and lets you dominate the match.

There are many excellent defensive tools for the Guardian class in the game, like Staunch Response (1) and the most defensive equipment cards in the format, like Steelbraid Buckler. This is perfect if you enjoy slow decks that also deal a considerable amount of damage, particularly if the opponent underestimates it.

This precon is already excellent straight out of the box, but there's always space for improvement. You can add more defensive cards, including equipment and other types of cards.

Suggestions:

Difficulty: Easy-Medium

Unlike other precons, Silver Age precons are supposed to be competitive straight out of the box, and they do this well. At an Armory level (that is, in local metas), these decks can definitely win a lot. There's always space for improvement, but, if you're a beginner or a casual player, these precons are the perfect way to start playing Flesh and Blood.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!