5 Dynasty Cards to Playtest

With Dynasty out and no major events on the horizon, it's hard to tell where the meta is going. Whether you bought a case of Dynasty or are shopping hot singles in your area, here are 5 cards to sleeve up and add to your decks now! These cards consists of standouts, sleepers and upgrades. 

Upgrades: cards that are all around better than an existing card

Sleeper: an underrated card that has the potential to be a meta game staple

Standout: a card that seems obviously good and ready to make an impact now

Upgrade

Warriors can say goodbye to red Thrust and Razor Reflex. This one-cost attack reaction is a clear upgrade; it blocks three, can threaten 4 damage and has keyword Piercing. The devs at LSS are geniuses for this mechanic because it answers the issue of players armor blocking to shut off Reprise triggers. Piercing on an attack reaction is glorious, and while I don't think it's enough to make warrior mains top 8 the next pro tour, this should be enough gas for local Dori's to claim some cold foils at the next Armory. 

Standout

This card is free. Well not the Marvel version, that will set you back $100, but the cost of this Blaster requires zero resources. Zero. This is a...a reusable Mask of the Pouncing Lynx effect on a weapon? Am I seeing this correctly? Imagine Fai grabbing a Lava Burst every other turn. Now I know it's not the same as mask because Blaster is a weapon, but this is powerful. At the end of an already long boosted combat chain, opponents will be saying oof when Blaster gets added. Did I mention it's free? The gun has evasion as well in the form of Overpower. This weapon should be respected and feared. 

Sleeper

There is a way to break this card but I haven't figured it out. Spitballing here: there's Art of War, Roar of the Tiger, Tiger Stripe Shuko, Razor Reflex, Ancestral Empowerment and ̶S̶t̶u̶b̶b̶y̶ ̶H̶a̶m̶m̶e̶r̶e̶r̶s̶. You can present Crouching Tiger as a 3rd attack, and when opponents don't block, drop an ancestral empowerment and draw two cards. When they do block it, follow up with a combo card like Tiger Swipe or Pouncing Qi next and punish them for blocking the Crouching Tiger. Welcome back Katsu mains, you can also discard this card when it's added to your hand to find a better combo card. Don't sleep on this card. 

Sleeper

I could pick many assassin cards to highlight but blue Shred is my choice because the artwork is disgustingly brutal and it's going to feel like a red Pummel hit you in the back of the head. Arakni is destined to become king of on hit effects; Shred enables the assassin strategy perfectly. Arakni does not need massive amounts of damage to be dangerous, he just needs to hit with the right contract at the right time. For this reason I like pitching blue shred on the first cycle and then using it on the second or third. If Assassins are smart enough to memorize both pitch stacks, we are all in trouble.

Standout/Sleeper

I am not a Wizard player, but I do lose against them frequently at locals. My recent strategy vs Kano is play zero AB, put my hand face down on the table, and take the damage strait to the lifepad. As Flake would say, send me the bill! This card completely throws off my strategy. I don't know what is going to feel worse, shuffling my perfect hand into my deck, or drawing down to three, or god forbid, two cards. I should start running AB in my sideboard. Buff this with a Crucible of Aetherweave, Blessing of Aether or Aether Wildfire, and AB won't even matter. This card marks the possible transition of Kano from an all out Aggressive Combo deck, to a more slow, and controlling wizard with hand disruption and card advantage. 

What other cards are you excited about playing? What is impressing you, and what is underwhelming? There is so much to explore in this set and I have just started exploring the intricacies of Dynasty.

About the Author

Evan McGrew is Flesh and Blood advocate, player and writer in the Washington DC area. He enjoys growing the game one player at a time. He is also the creative force behind FAB TCG CARDS’ playmats and tokens. When he is not putting counters on his Dawnblade, Evan teaches 5th grade in Virginia. 

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