Next weekend, Flesh and Blood players across the world will be hopping into a time machine and traveling back to the Summer of 2021. While that was a, uhhhh, not so great time for most of us, it was an exciting time Flesh and Blood fans, as it marked the release of Monarch, the massive 307-card set (FAB’s largest, at the time), which introduced us to four of the most iconic and flavorful heroes in the game: Prism and Boltyn, representing the Light talent; and Chane and Levia, representing the Shadow talent.
Due to the pandemic many FaB players did not get the chance to draft this set in-person, so in the lead up to the Dusk till Dawn’s release on July 14, LSS and LGSs across the world are hosting War of the Monarch Drafts to refamiliarize players with the lore and mechanics of Light vs. Shadow.
The typical FAB draft structure that most will encounter has players constructing 40-card minimum decks from a card pool drawn from a typical “choose a card and pass” format that many MTG and other TCG players are familiar with. Weapon cards with the Token (T) designation are put into the middle of the table during the draft for players to collectively choose from before starting the game or the draft organizers will have a communal Weapons cache that players can choose from.
Equipment is different and (depending on the specific event) usually must be drafted. It is not uncommon in a draft for players to run heroes not fully kitted-out, since drafting enough equipment cards can’t be guaranteed. Players will most likely see common equipment cards, either class specific or generic, when they play. But there are four legendary equipment cards in Monarch that are incredibly high value, both at the table and on the secondary market. For players who have been with the game for a long time, you likely already know the list below, but for new players who may have come in post-2021 or even as late as Outsiders, you may not have seen these cards at the table. Will you pull these cards? Probably not, but hey, the hunt and surprises are a big part of why we love drafts. Here are the big pulls to look out for when you’re drafting Flesh and Blood War of the Monarchs.
Phantasmal Footsteps
Prism’s legendary leg equipment piece, Phantasmal Footsteps, is about as good of an insurance policy that you can get and veteran players know this card is essentially a must-include in any competitive, constructed Prism deck. Prism’s big Herald attacks all have Phantasm text, which says: if x card “is defended by a non-Illusionist attack action card with 6 or more, destroy Herald of X and close the combat chain.” While your Illusionist attacks will likely have Go Again, through Luminaris, if they are destroyed, Go Again won’t apply and you will not get that action point back. Phantasmal Footsteps lets you pay one resource to effectively reclaim that action point. This equipment piece will be extremely useful against Levia’s big, Shadow Brute cards. Additionally, it lets you pay one resource to block for one and won’t be destroyed unless it blocks against a six or more non-illusionist attack.
Valiant Dynamo
Just like Prism, Boltyn gets his own legendary leg armor in Monarch. Valiant Dynamo basically lets you nullify the Bladebreak effect if you’ve attacked two or more times with a weapon in a turn. This complements Boltyn’s dual-wielding hatchets (Hatchet of Mind and Hatchet of Body) beautifully, giving you a consistent mechanism to remove the -1 counter on the leg armor and have a consistent blocking tool each turn.
Carrion Husk
This chest armor is an absolute monster for either Chane or Levia. Being able to block six damage in a turn without using cards in your hand can totally flip the tempo of a game where you are backpedaling or help you keep the pressure on if you’re ahead. The negative effects of the card can be somewhat negated by the fact that draft matches will be very quick and you won’t have to eat the blood debt for too many turns. Additionally, both Chane and Levia have ways to significantly control or totally negate blood debt damage, if played properly.
Vestige of Sol
Playable on either Prism or Boltyn, this card is most meaningful with Prism. Simply put, this card enables you to pitch a blue and get four resource points of value out of it. This is huge if you’re playing a control style, aura heavy, grindy approach to Prism. Most auras cost four, so this discount effectively lets you develop a highly threatening board state without having to waste resources.
So keep an eye out over July 7-9. You may just pull one of these iconic equipment pieces and wield it in the War of the Monarch!
