In Flesh and Blood, a single card can be the lynchpin of a whole strategy. Combo decks are some of the most fun and rewarding ways to play the game. Today, I will be looking at how Berserk, the new Brute majestic, can turn Rhinar or Levia into a savage combo machine. Best of all, this deck can be accessed on a budget and expanded on as you build out your collection! The list works for Blitz and Classic Constructed, simply remove one copy of each main deck card for your initial Blitz version.
Class: Brute Hero: Rhinar, Reckless Rampage Weapons: Mandible Claw,Mandible Claw Equipment: Beaten Trackers, Deep Blue, Goliath Gauntlet, Heartened Cross Strap, Skullhorn (3) Bare Fangs (red) (3) Barraging Big Horn (red) (3) Breakneck Battery (red) (3) Pulping (red) (3) Savage Feast (red) (3) Skull Crack (red) (2) Smash with Big Tree (red) (3) Swing Big (red) (3) Wild Ride (red) (3) Barraging Big Horn (yellow) (3) Beast Within (yellow) (3) Berserk (yellow) (3) Bloodrush Bellow (yellow) (3) Reincarnate (yellow) (3) Riled Up (yellow) (3) Savage Swing (yellow) (3) Smash Instinct (yellow) (3) Wrecker Romp (yellow) (3) Madcap Charger (blue) (1) Reckless Swing (blue) (3) Wrecker Romp (blue) See the full deck @ https://fabrary.net/decks/01GR39R13DCJJKGBHPG29KWV9D
Going Berserk
The whole concept of this combo deck heavily relies on Berserk. This card is able to generate a ton of value when played correctly. Discarding cards as a Brute is part of the savage cost of unleashing powerful attacks; what Berserk does is allow us to get that cost back. The more we discard in a turn, the more cards we draw. This is especially useful with cards that draw and discard, as we end up gaining a card in these types of exchanges. This is why cards like Wild Ride and Pulping are pivotal to this strategy. They give us extra cards, while allowing us to continue with the attacks.
Equipment
Our equipment suite is tailor-picked to promote the Berserk game plan. Each piece is exactly what we need on the big turn. Starting off with Skullhorn, when Berserk is played, this card basically reads “Draw a card, intimidate your opponent.” Gaining an extra card on the turn we go off means we’re raising the ceiling of our potential damage exponentially. This is where Heartened Cross Strap comes in. Again, having to pitch one less card means we’re optimizing everything we have in our hand. Now, this chest piece is a great Classic Constructed choice, but it’s not available in Blitz. For Blitz, I recommend either Vest of the First Fist or Deep Blue. As for the arms, Goliath Gauntlet should do the trick. Sometimes extra two damage is all we need to close a game. Action points are crucial to get value from cards like Savage Feast. This is why Beaten Trackers are our choice. Unlike Scabskin Leathers, this piece always works on our big turn and it’s the main turn we need that action point.
Synergizing with Berserk
The other piece of the combo that lets us push insane amounts of damage is Bloodrush Bellow. This card not only gives us another intimate thanks to Rhinar’s hero ability, it means each and everyone of our attacks is pushing two additional damage. This is especially powerful with Mandible Claws. Each Claw attack gaining +2 power means we can over five attacks in a single turn to gain the bonus. Pulpings and Wild Rides replace themselves with Berserk, making them the prime attacks we swing with. Cards like Breakneck Battery and Barraging Big Horn give us more control over our discards, but are less efficient in terms of card use.
Beaten Trackers are our safety valve if we end up running out of go again attacks. Savage Feast is the prime target for our boots, but attacks like Bare Fangs can also benefit from these as well, and potentially let us draw another go again attack.
With Bloodrush Bellow, our damage output is close to being able to take out the opponent in one turn. Best thing about it – it stacks! Hitting a Bloodrush Bellow off another Bloodrush Bellow makes it possible to threaten over 40 damage with the backup of Berserk. However, even 40 damage could not be enough to end a game. This is why it’s important to chip damage early.
Sneaking in Damage
Cards like Swing Big, Pack Hunt and Smash with Big Tree are especially useful early game to threaten some damage. Your opponent is presented with a lose-lose dilemma. Do they take a bit of damage and then lose to our Berserk combo or use their hand to stop the damage and slow down their own pressure? Either way, our objective is achieved. Smash with Big Tree and Swing Big are extra useful, as they present annoying breakpoints for our opponent. Taking even one damage could be risky, as it makes our explosive turn potentially lethal.
Remaining Slots and Upgrades
We could take a much safer, controlled approach to this combo. Running cards like Sink Below, Fate Foreseen and maybe even Springboard Somersault can help and stop the onslaught of aggressive decks and detrimental on-hits. But we should ask ourselves the question – is that the Brute way? Not only that, any card that is not a six power attack is a whiff on our Berserk triggers and can severely limit out big combo turns, so choose wisely. Each defensive card can help us get to the combo, but it could also stop the combo in its tracks.
The two main types of cards to consider are extra blues and more attacks with defense value. If your local metagame has a lot of aggressive decks, I would consider adding more six-power attack action cards with three defense. The two attacks without a defense value I wouldn’t take out are Pulping and Wild Ride. These are the core of continuing attacking on our big turn.
The blues are the biggest tension point in the deck. The more we run, the bigger chance of whiffing on our Berserk triggers. But if we only run the three blue Wrecker Romps, we are low on resource points on our big turn. Ideally, we would have at least 12 blues, but that’s just so many whiffs on Berserk. Personally, I found between six to nine to be the best number.
Swing Big and Beast Within are the two of the more expensive cards in the deck. Out of the two, I would definitely prioritize Beast Within, as it can help push our combo turns. Other than these two attacks, generic six-power attacks like Command and Conquer and Erase Face are the two cards that can give us disruption.
Stepping into the Shadow
Berserk embodies the Brute playstyle to a T – huge, explosive turns, lots of random draw and discard to keep us on the edge of our seat and some serious blowout potential. The cool thing about this deck is that the same cards can work in Levia! If you’re willing to trade in those intimidate triggers for four extra blues in the form of blue Deadwood Rumbles and Soul Harvest, you can also gain from the natural go again on Dread Screamers. It becomes harder to push damage across, but the consistency is noticeable.
Either way, I highly recommend giving Berserk a go. It’s a great budget introduction to the Brute class as a whole, while also allowing you to familiarize yourself with how combo can work in Flesh and Blood.
