TNN Tall Dorinthea Blitz: Deck Breakdown and Tourney Reports

The Blitz environment has changed dramatically from when I first got involved in the game! I remember writing my first Flesh and Blood tournament report, at which point I was running a deck that was built for a very different meta. Since Ira has become so widespread, times have changed, and in a later tournament report I noted that I would have to adapt and come up with a build that does better against her.

Well, since that time I have been developing a Dorinthea deck that is tailored for the Blitz environment and for Ira in particular. This deck was inspired by a build I saw Rob Cygul using in some Blitz games we played on TTS, and I decided to make my own version of his deck and develop it in order to counter Ira — I had noticed Ira’s defenses were well-suited against Kassai’s “wide” offense, but that a “tall” attack pattern might be harder for her to deal with!

After some further development (shoutout to feffa, EKLiiPZyeet, and firstworld_d for helpful suggestions/discussion on Discord) I recently took it to two tournaments, which went quite well — here’s the deck and the tournament reports!

Decklist

Deck link available over at FABDB! Flesh and Blood and the Dorinthea card art is © Legend Story Studios.

Strategy Overview

One thing you may notice about this deck is that it doesn’t play a single attack action card! Not even powerhouse cards like Enlightened Strike, Scar for a Scar (Red), or Command and Conquer are enough to make the cut. Since going wide can be punished so heavily by Flic Flak, I decided to focus completely on getting those big Dawnblade swings in. This deck has lots and lots of Dawnblade buffs, as well as a colossal 18 attack reactions!

This deck also features a lot of blues. Fifteen blues is as many as I have sometimes played in a 60-card Classic Constructed deck — quite a lot for Blitz warrior. This serves two main purposes — it helps you pay for your big attack reactions like Overpower and it helps you defend a bit against Kano.

The game plan is very simple: hit them in the face with your sword. However, that can be easier said than done — even with a big arsenal of attack reactions — so here are some general strategic tips to help out:

• You are extremely aggro. Your role is almost always going to be the aggressor. Don’t be afraid to block with your face when necessary. In one of my games this weekend I voluntarily took something like 15 damage and went on to win — I knew I had a huge turn coming and it was worth it.

• In general you often want to go second for the tempo advantage. However, your attack reaction options mean that you are less disadvantaged by going first than some other Warrior builds — if you swing the Dawnblade and your opponent doesn’t overblock, you might be able to sneak a bunch of damage in!

• If another deck tries to race you, you will probably win the race. Attack!

• Don’t be afraid to use equipment blocks (and equipment abilities) early in the game to maintain initiative. Tempo is often more important than damage! Maintain the aggression!

Matchup Guide

Against:

• Ira: Equip Arcanite Skullcap, Braveforge Bracers, Courage of Bladehold, and Refraction Bolters. Ira plays a lot of defense — try to make her play out her reactions inefficiently if possible. Use your armor to block her second Kodachi hit at crucial times and turn off Mask of Momentum, allowing you some “breathing room” to facetank or “underblock” a followup attack and throw out an aggressive turn of your own. Ira will usually defeat you if she can turn it into a long and grindy game with lots of blocks on both sides — don’t let her take it into that territory!

• Kano: Equip Nullrune Hood/Gloves/Robe and Refraction Bolters. The defense there is broadly “incidental” — your main goal is to get Kano before he can get you. No amount of Arcane Barrier is enough to fully stop a Kano given enough time to set up his big attacks! Try to exploit Kano’s lack of Defense Reactions and push damage through quickly.

• Viserai: Equip Nullrune Hood, Braveforge Bracers, Courage of Bladehold, and Refraction Bolters. Save your armor for their “big turn” if they’re playing a buildup deck, you may need it against Arknight Ascendancy. Attack aggressively!

• Kayo: Equip Arcanite Skullcap, Gambler’s Gloves, Courage of Bladehold, and Refraction Bolters. Use Gambler’s Gloves to reroll their die if they get the big attack boost off and otherwise play “standard” — watch out, though, as Kayo has a lot of “explosive” damage potential. Try to pressure Kayo and prevent him from getting a full hand for a big Intimidate combo.

• Dorinthea Mirror: Equip Arcanite Skullcap, Braveforge Bracers, Courage of Bladehold, and Refraction Bolters. Try to use your equipment early on and don’t block more than you really have to — you want to be the one forcing the opponent to block, not the one blocking! At the same time, if the opponent starts running away with the game thanks to Dawnblade counters, you may have to block heavily and try to “reset” them. Steelblade Shunt can be a crucial card here, especially if you get it in arsenal.

• Other matchups: Equip Arcanite Skullcap, Braveforge Bracers, Courage of Bladehold, and Refraction Bolters, unless you think it is going to be a really long and grindy game for some reason in which case it may be prudent to run Fyendal’s Spring Tunic. As you may have gathered, you are generally the aggressor! Attack, attack, attack!

Some may have noticed how much I’ve emphasized attacking in this guide and recommendations. The fact of the matter is that this is a very aggressive deck that usually wants to be on offense. While there might be some times where you have to defend more, especially if you’ve drawn a rare nonaggressive hand, in general you want to be attacking and with as many tricks available as possible to get that Dawnblade past your opponent’s defenses. I have emphasized this repeatedly in order to reinforce the core game plan — my apologies if it comes off as “bloodthirsty” or overly aggro!

With that covered, let’s move on to the tournament reports! I took this deck or one quite like it to two recent tournaments, one played on Tabletop Simulator and one played via webcam. The deck was I believe the same for each — further, three of the four games from the TTS tournament were recorded and later broadcast, though I forgot to record the first one and there seem to have been some audio issues with the VOD for the end of the last game. Without further ado, we’ll proceed to the:

Alara Games Armory Blitz

This event was put on by Alara Games, a Swedish store that has been running weekly Armory events via Facebook. It was I believe a twelve-player event that ran with four rounds and no cut, so not the biggest event in the world but still a lot of fun!

Game One: Ira

This time I was up against an experienced UK player, BigMedSi. I have faced off with him before in various events, and last time we met I believe his Ira defeated my Kassai. This was a long and gruelling game, nearing fatigue for both players, but my attack reactions were able to burst through in the end and secure the win. If he had somehow survived that turn, the rest of the game would I believe have been a draw, as I was basically “out of gas” in terms of powerful attack reactions but he would have only had two copies of Drone of Brutality and would have had to block my Dawnblade every round with both!

Victory! (1-0)

Game Two: Ira

This was my second Ira match of the day, but I was feeling confident after my first win against a strong opponent. This game wasn’t as close as the first — I was able to get two counters on my Dawnblade and then come in with a red Overpower to smash through my opponent’s defenses for the win. This opponent had several cards that only blocked for two, which put him in an awkward position with respect to trying to stop my Dawnblade aggression!

Victory! (2-0)

Game Three: Ira

Once again I found myself facing off against Ira! This time I got a huge turn very early in the game with Steelblade Supremacy, dealing 8 damage and getting me a counter on Dawnblade. Next turn I blew through his initial block with a red Overpower, allowing me to retain my +1 counter even though he blocked the second attack. The counters ended up building up this game, culminating with an Ironsong Determination + Warrior’s Valor on a three-counter Dawnblade (ouch!).

Victory! (3-0)

Game Four: Dorinthea

This was a near-mirror against an opponent who was also using a tall Dorinthea build and had cut his own way to 3-0. This game was incredibly aggressive, with neither of us blocking almost at all at first except with our armor and both having the Dawnblade powered up at the same time! In the end I was able to prevail, though, leading me to…

Victory! (4-0, won tournament)

After this event, I decided that this deck was in a pretty good place. I may have tinkered a little bit (at one point I was running Twinning Blade though I don’t recall if I’d cut it before this event), but ultimately decided to take the build on to the weekend, when I would play Skirmish for the first time! On to the…

CompetEsport Skirmish

This was the biggest Flesh and Blood tournament I have played in to date, featuring a massive 64 players! With this many players the format ended up being six rounds of Swiss into a top eight cut, so potentially as many as nine games in a day! I wasn’t sure how this would go, having mostly played on Tabletop Simulator rather than on webcam before this, but was excited for the opportunity to test out my build in a bigger environment.

Game One: Kano

Kano is one of the stronger decks in this format and my opponent started the game with a Timesnap Potion, which definitely had me concerned a bit! However, I was able to land a Steelblade Supremacy hit on turn one thanks to an Ironsong Response, break my Bolters, and come in with another hit (tanking a Cindering Foresight -> Crucible of Aetherweave -> Snapback to do it). At the end of turn one I was at 15 and he was at 7 with no cards, and I luckily got an Ironsong Determination that I could pair with Warrior’s Valor to close out the game on turn two.

Victory! (1-0)

Game Two: Rhinar

This game was against an aggressive Rhinar who was using the Mandible Claws. My opponent went first and intimidated my whole hand, then came in with Alpha Rampage for some strong early damage. I was able to strike back myself though and the game quickly turned into a “damage race”, with my opponent letting me get a second Dawnblade counter in exchange for keeping a full hand + Arsenal on 2 life. He proceeded to initiate a huge turn including a Beast Within — if he had hit an attack I might have been in big trouble, but luckily the top card was a non-attack action and he died to his own Beast Within before he could combo me.

Victory! (2-0)

Game Three: Rhinar

Once again I found myself against Rhinar. This time it was a very different style of play though, with more defense reactions and the Romping Club. Ultimately my Dawnblade aggression was able to wear him down and I prevailed with (IIRC) an Ironsong Determination-powered aggressive turn, though it was a substantially longer game than my previous match against Brute.

Victory! (3-0)

Game Four: Kavdaen

I was a bit worried to be facing off with Kavdaen, having seen James White’s performance with Kavdaen control on the Blitz-a-Thon stream. My opponent was able to stop my early aggression with defense reactions, but didn’t have too much aggression of his own, draining me once with Kavdaen’s ability and playing out a potion. However, my attack reactions managed to push through and get me a Dawnblade counter and then a second counter on the next turn, On the third turn of aggression I led off with Warrior’s Valor into Ironsong Determination for a strength 10 Dawnblade with Dominate and Go Again on hit, at which point my opponent conceded.

Victory! (4-0)

Game Five: Ira

This game was against Dante, a player I’ve encountered before in various online events and who I knew to be an experienced opponent. Unfortunately it didn’t really play to my strengths - I was able to make some inroads early on, only to get worn down over an extended midgame. By the end of the game neither of us had won but my opponent was clearly far ahead (I was on 1 life and he was on 14 before the last overtime turn, and while I had a Sigil we would both fatigue out soon but he had Drone of Brutality), so I ended up conceding the game.

Defeat! (4-1)

Game Six: Ira
Once again I found myself facing Ira, but this game went a lot better — I ended up taking some heavy hits in order to maintain my momentum, culminating in a crazy turn where I went down to two life but was then able to do a very aggressive turn with no energy at all — Courage of Bladehold made my Dawnblade swings free, I got Go Again from my Refraction Bolters, my pre-attack buff was Ironsong Determination, and I used Ironsong Response to buff up my damage for the final blow!

Victory! (5-1)

With a 5-1 record I was able to make the cut to top eight, which meant even more games of Flesh and Blood! My first round opponent was:

Top Eight: Dorinthea

This game was against Thargor, a player I knew from Discord and Twitch chat. We both had the same armor equipped and this turned into a very aggressive mirror. Both of us pulled off very powerful aggro turns early in the game, scoring each of our Dawnblades a +1 counter. My turn was especially wild, featuring Spoils of War + Steelblade Supremacy + Ironsong Determination + Red Overpower, drawing into Sharpen Steel and another huge Dominated swing — 15 damage got through by the end even after defense! Amusingly, neither of us could actually keep our Dawnblade counters on the next turn, but I was able to play a Potion that let me fuel lots of aggression later, knocking my opponent down to one life! On my opponent’s next attack, I had the Steelblade Shunt (drawn and put into arsenal after the second hit on the Supremacy turn) to close out the game.

Victory! (6-1, made top 4)

Semifinals: Ira

Next up I had to face the winner of an Ira mirror — the only decks left at this phase were me and three Iras, so it was time to put my tech to the test! I had caught the end of their game and seen him take the win with a Heron’s Flight. Since my deck doesn’t have any attack actions at all I was very worried about getting hit by that! I ended up playing perhaps more conservatively midgame than was necessary in order to dodge that combo.

Ultimately he used his Snapdragon Scalers and Breaking Scales (normally used to enable Heron’s Flight) on an earlier turn, which knocked me very low on life but meant that I was no longer afraid of his Heron’s Flight. I went for an aggressive attack reaction turn, turning an inconspicuous “pitch and swing Dawnblade for 3” turn into something really big with Refraction Bolters and “surprise damage” from attack reactions. In the end, I barely managed to break through his final defenses for the win.

Victory! (7-1, made finals)

Finals: Ira

The finals was against Dante, the same player who had defeated me before in Swiss! Since he had the higher seed, he got to choose to go second (a rule which we forgot in many instances). This time though I came out strong, playing an Energy Potion on the first turn and getting into the swing of things very quickly. In the end I was able to get a second counter on my Dawnblade after bluffing that my Arsenal card was an Ironsong Response and getting a second swing from my Steelblade Supremacy draw — ultimately he was able to block it down to 1 and try to maintain tempo, but on the next turn I had a Steelblade Shunt to end the game.

Victory! (8-1, won tournament!)

Overall, I was happy to be able to “beat the meta” in the way I did — across two tournaments I ended up going 6-1 against Ira and winning both events! While I won’t say this deck is the be-all end-all, I feel much better against Ira with it than I did with my previous Dorinthea build or with Kassai. At least in my view, the Blitz meta (and the game as a whole!) is still quite open for innovation and development.

Shoutout to all my opponents and to the folks at Alara Games and CompetEsport for hosting — I really enjoyed the events and would be happy to play against any of these players again. Until next time, happy gaming and good luck out there!