FaB: Skirmish Season 9 and New Living Legends!

Skirmish Season 9 has ended this week, and, as a result, many Blitz heroes have reached Living Legend status. As we mentioned before when we discussed the September 4th banlist, we'll also take this opportunity to review how the new banned and restricted list will impact Blitz, and comment on the heroes that have now left this format.

After three weeks of Skirmish, the following heroes have reached Living Legend status (alongside their signature weapons) and are no longer available to play in this format:

- Briar (and her weapon, Rosetta Thorn);

- Dash (and her weapon, Teklo Plasma Pistol);

- Zen (and his weapon, Tiger Taming Khakkhara);

- Rhinar (and his weapon, Romping Club).

Blitz has gone through many weird metas and has welcomed many strong decks: Iyslander, Chane, Kano, and Viserai have dominated their metas, but this season was heavily dominated by a single hero: Zen.

Zen

Zen was a problem in every single format. In Classic Constructed, he was polarizing the meta and inspired a whole debate around how unhealthy the game was. Even after yellow and blue Bonds of Ancestry (3) were banned, he remained extremely strong.

If in Classic Constructed the problem was evident, what can we say about Blitz, a format in which heroes have half their life points, decks are smaller (and therefore you can find your key pieces more consistently), and none of Zen's cards were banned? Zen quickly became the best aggressive deck in the format.

With so much card draw, Zen was able to set up explosive turns incredibly fast: you just needed to transcend once, recover your Inner Chi through the equipment Traverse the Universe, and come back "swinging" - either with Descendent Gustwave (1) and Bonds of Ancestry (1), Chase the Tail (1) and Aspect of Tiger: Body (1) and, alongside all of this, Art of War (2) or Ancestral Harmony (3). And his ability got you the combo piece you needed to play this devastating turn.

Very few heroes could handle him. Victor Goldmane had some disruption, Dash and Briar could kill him before he could find his combo pieces, but, when he had just a bit of luck, he was unstoppable.

After just two weeks, Zen got 505 points, and was the fastest hero in Blitz to achieve this status.

What happened with him was extremely negative for Blitz. Not only he didn't let any other aggressive deck play, but he also denied other decks' "value exchange" game plan. To make matters worse, players who dedicated themselves to building Zen weren't able to play him for long.

I pray that we never again have another Zen, and that, in the future, the Flesh and Blood team doesn't let this format return to this state.

Dash and Briar

Dash and Briar have had a similar track record in Blitz. Even though Dash survived in the meta after we got Everfest and Teklo Pounder (3) and became an excellent aggro deck, Briar became very relevant after Chane reached hit Living Legend status. For a long time, they were both the best aggressive decks in the format and often shared victories in tournaments.

Dash would start games with Teklo Pounder and had the most efficient attacks in the format. Zero to sixty (1), Zipper Hit (1), and Throttle (1) threatened a lot of damage, Hanabi Blaster attacked "for free" and Bright Lights brought more consistency to the entire deck with attacks like Fender Bender (1), Out Pace (1), and Twin Drive (1). This meant we were able to play Maximum Velocity (1) faster.

Briar, on the other side, didn't get anything too relevant from the latest sets besides Dyadic Carapace. However, her Channel Mount Heroic (1) game plan, which gave her go again because of her ability, several on-hit effects like Snatch (1) and Coax a Commotion (1), and Rosetta Thorn's shared damaged allowed her to attack on multiple fronts. Even though Chane was better, Briar took up his post and kept it.

These two heroes might have struggled against some decks, like Zen and Victor, but they already had so many points that their Living Legend status was inevitable. They both left us an excellent legacy of aggressive decks, and a very faithful fan base.

Rhinar

Rhinar has always been a controversial hero. His ability, which Intimidates cards, made a few matches seem "unfair", as he'd threaten thirteen damage (for instance) and the opponent couldn't do anything to stop him. Bloodrush Bellow (2) turns only made him feel even more unfair, but more aggressive decks put him in his place, as they presented more damage.

In the last year, Rhinar got many new tools. Besides Scowling Flesh Bag, which disrupted the opponent on their turn, Heavy Hitters brought him some great support (like his specialization, Show No Mercy (1)), and then Kayo's Armory deck brought him one of the best Brute equipment around: Savage Sash. With all of this support, Rhinar could not only execute his midrange game plan, but also execute a much more aggressive game plan.

This way, Rhinar charted a clear path to Living Legend status, and, fortunately for some, easily got there.

As so many heroes are leaving Blitz, let's see how this format will most likely develop until December, when there's another Skirmish season, as well as some new changes.

The September 4th Bans

Even though all eyes were on Classic Constructed when the latest announcement dropped, Blitz was also affected. Most changes didn't affect this format, that's true, but some of the banned cards were widely popular. Art of War (2), for instance, which is probably fresh in players' minds because of Zen, was also popular with Chane, which used it to put cards in the banish zone. Tome of Aetherwind (1) was popular with Kano as well.

These bans came at the right time, considering Aurora and Oscilio are just around the corner. Both of these Lightning heroes could take advantage of Art of War (2) and put us in situations we've seen many times before in the past. Without these cards, any future aggressive decks will be more balanced and easier to deal with.

In a format with less life points, banning these cards was a great way to lower the power level and steer the game more towards attrition.

Victor and Blaze Can Count Their Days

Victor Goldmane almost hit Living Legend status this time, but survived for another season. Ever since he was released, he was already one of the best decks around because of his ability, which blocks very efficiently. Furthermore, cards like Test of Strength (1), Trounce (1), and the newest addition, Visit Goldmane State (3) buy him a lot of time throughout the match.

As the format will be slower, Victor will remain one of the best decks, but he'll be gone after the next season.

Because of how unavailable she was, Blaze, Firemind had a shy start this season, but was considered one of the best decks in the format for multiple reasons. Most notably, she can finish the game on the opponent's turn (like Kano), and is also the only pure Wizard in the format (that is, she is the only Wizard hero in the format that has no other class and/or talent). This caught off-guard anyone who didn't have Arcane Barrier or any other sort of protection to deal with her.

Storm Striders, Waning Moon, Emeritus Scolding (1), and Sonic Boom (2) are a few of the tricks up her sleeve, and these cards, alongside her ability, often give her wins "out of nowhere". Despite her unavailability, she has already conquered half of the points she needs to reach Living Legend status, which is impressive, considering the circumstances. If she keeps this up, she might leave the format next season.

Orphaned Runeblade and Mechanologist Heroes

Briar and Dash will take with them their signature weapons, Rosetta Thorn and Teklo Plasma Pistol. This will be a great loss for their classes too.

The only valid Runeblade hero in the current format (Vynnset) does use her own weapon, that's true, but two new Runeblade heroes will be released soon, and these would definitely enjoy Rosetta Thorn. Aurora may be satisfied enough with her own weapon, Star Fall, but Florian will definitely need a better one for this faster format. Reaping Blade is an option, but certainly both of these heroes would be much happier with Briar's weapon.

On the other side, Teklo Plasma Pistol's departure puts Mechanologist, as a class, in a tough situation. While Dash, Database won't feel its absence that much, Data Doll MKII will have to adapt her game plan entirely, Maxx Nitro will lose his High Octane (1) turns, and Professor Teklovossen will have to find a new weapon that can recycle his hand without Evos.

A new set is almost among us. Aurora, Oscilio, Verdance, and Florian will enter this format, and make equipment with Arcane Barrier relevant again. Though Earth heroes will most likely bring slower game plans, Lightning heroes - particularly Aurora - can become new threats with aggressive decks. We know how arcane damage is strong in Blitz, so the addition of four heroes that can use this type of damage may thoroughly change the metagame.

Meanwhile, we'll also have Dash I/O's new Armory deck, which will bring us not only an excellent set of equipment (very useful for Data Doll MKII), but also one of the best items in the game: Cerebellum Processor. This might put this Mechanologist up there as one of the best aggressive decks in the format.

We still have a few months before December, but this short period of time will tell us what the next Blitz season will look like. In the meantime, let's explore new possibilities in a slower and healthier game.

What do you think the meta will be? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!