We're on track to learn all that we can about each of the classes in Flesh and Blood. We've taken a good long look at the knights in armour and prize fighting combatants in the Warrior Class, but now let's get savage.
While drafting these articles, I was wondering what the best order would be to put these out. I know Warrior fairly well, having played a lot of Kassai and Fang competitively. Starting with the other class I know best, Illusionist, would be something of a trip. I want to keep these class spotlight articles as something to welcome new players in. My heart always sinks whenever I have to teach a new player how Spectra works.
Instead, I decided to go in order. The first two expansions introduced the majority of classes, with some new classes appearing in other expansions, and the upcoming High Seas introducing both Necromancer and Pirate classes.
Brute Class
Brute is one of the classes that appeared alongside Warrior, Guardian, and Ninja in Welcome to Rathe, the first expansion.
For those who like playing Berserker or Barbarian in an RPG, Brute has that element to them. For those who want to send large attacks at your opponent every turn, Brute is definitely able to do so, with a moderate degree of consistency.
The way they stopgap that, so that they aren't just beating down their enemies with such large attacks is that there's a true element of RNG to Brute gameplay. Effects which roll dice are not present in any other class (but are in the Chaos Talent). The need to discard a card at random is the done thing in Brute, and it's featured on their cards in all rarities.
There's a level of understanding probability needed to play Brute effectively. Knowing the odds that you'll miss if you discard the wrong card, or roll badly with Scabskins, is all part of the turn maths in playing Brute. Accepting variance and mitigating that playing accordingly is all part of the Brute strategy. Even if knowing those odds is not in all likelihood for the actual Brute hero characters.
Hero Spotlight
There are currently three Brute heroes legal in Classic Constructed.
Rhinar
1hp001-rhinar-reckless-rampage-history-pack-1-booster was the first Brute from the first set. All of the Brute effects that care about discarding cards with 6 or more power are all paid off by Rhinar's triggered hero ability, removing cards from the opponent's hand.
As Flesh and Blood has evolved, a lot of the tangible value of a card has been readily explained. We know that the repeatable attack power that a card like Ira, Scarlet Revenger adds up over the course of a game, or that the defencive power of a hero like Oldhim could tip the favour of a game. The trouble with Rhinar is that the value his consistent Intimidating brings is highly variable. Against decks that want to profitably block, denying that option for them is usually pretty strong. Against decks that do not really want to block, they'll accept the damage coming for them, and then send back comparable numbers.
Nevertheless, Rhinar often puts your opponent in uncomfortable blocking situations. Some of his key cards and specialisations also help with that game plan.
1hr016-barraging-beatdown-1-rhinar-blitz-deck-precon is an additional form of intimidation, that puts the already on rate Brute attacks to an above rate stat-line. His original specialisation r-wtr006-alpha-rampage-1-welcome-to-rathe-unlimited-revised-booster sends an above rate attack with two cards taken away from potential defence.
His newest specialisation, hvy013-rf-show-no-mercy-1-heavy-hitters-booster offers surprising ways to end the game if you're able to intimidate during the attack.
In a defensive format, Rhinar is capable of producing good numbers, but there are decks that can outrace him and do not need to care about his intimidation.
Levia
win011-cf-levia-shadowborn-abomination-pro-tour-champion-cards-promo is currently the only Brute with a Talent. Shadow has a lot of effects that care about you banishing your own cards, to play from banished in addition to cards in your hand.
The downside to Shadow is that a lot of cards have "Blood Debt", all pinging you for damage while they're in the banished zone. While Levia doesn't have many ways to play cards from her banished zone unlike the other Shadow heroes, Vynnset and Chane, she does mitigate the downside with her hero ability.
Levia has access to the same Brute staples and key cards, but her own Shadow Brute cards all care about banishing cards with 6 or more power from your own Grave. Cards like lev011-dread-screamer-1-levia-blitz-deck-precon perfectly exemplify the strategy. A 2 for 6 that easily gets Go Again. A lot of Levia's cards are templated this way, or are cards that care about you having banished something with 6 or more power, like lev013-graveling-growl-1-levia-blitz-deck-precon.
mst236-shadowrealm-horror-1-part-the-mistveil-booster is one of the few cards that lets you play from Banished. It's been popularised by noted Levia enthusiast Ethan "Mansant" that the Blues should usually include lev019-convulsions-from-the-bellows-of-hell-3-levia-blitz-deck-precon. Having a way to give a big attack Dominate in the late game is an efficient way to send some efficient damage. It's similar thinking as to why the vast majority of Guardian decks run Blue Macho Grande.
To reflect an interesting possible moment in Flesh and Blood's lore, there also includes the Demi-Hero form of dtd164-levia-redeemed-blasmophet-levia-consumed-dusk-till-dawn-booster. It represents the possibility that Levia overcomes her demonic influence, however the more common occurrence is that we see the the demon Blasmophet take over. Both reflect a strong late game where the downside of Blood Debt is mitigated, by no longer losing life, or to turn your Banished cards into more attacks to send in addition to your hand.
Levia appeals to all those who deeply want to beseech demonic powers, or for those who want to send large attacks while accepting the variance of the Shadow talent.
Kayo
It's widely regarded that the Heavy Hitters expansion was a huge turning point in the design of the game. It brought the vast majority of the staples that Warrior relies on today, brought arguably the strongest Guardian hero to the game, and brought both to the Brute class.
cru002-kayo-berserker-runt-crucible-of-war-booster was a strange Blitz only Brute that took the chaotic and high variance gameplay of Brute to its most extreme. The same character reappeared in Heavy Hitters, after having his arm eaten by a monster in the savage lands, but somehow losing an arm was the best thing that ever happened to him?
ako001-kayo-armed-and-dangerous-armory-deck-kayo-armed-and-dangerous-precon is the most consistent at what he does, simply because of the nature of his hero power. Brute cards care about discarding cards with 6 or more power. I like to think of it that Kayo can't count, because he sees a 5 and thinks "close enough". He rewards you for his inability to count by deciding to give you the usual Brute benefit whenever you discard something that has 5 power, and he gives your first attack the next turn +1 thanks to a Might token.
They balance out Kayo's damage output by the fact that he has only one arm. He can't attack with two claws on a Bloodrush Bellows turn.
It may seem small, but there are a great deal of Brute 5 powers, such as dyn016-madcap-charger-1-dynasty-booster, that suddenly become viable just because of Kayo's passive ability. The only true misses that Kayo plays are the aforementioned Bloodrush Bellows.
Despite being one armed, Kayo is widely regarded as the strongest Brute. During the initial Heavy Hitters metagame, he was the consistent, aggressive deck, immediately falling from grace when Zen was producing even more absurd numbers.
Staple Equipment
ako002-mandible-claw-armory-deck-kayo-armed-and-dangerous-precon is Kayo's signature weapon, but pretty much each Brute uses it. Being able to send a smaller attack with Go Again in between Brute attacks is essential for fully converting the hand. There has to be a considerable reason for you to want to use any other weapon.
fab003-gf-scabskin-leathers-premier-organized-play-arcane-rising-promo is a notorious card, and one that embodies the Brute mentality. If you talk to any Brute player, and ask them about their relationship with Scabs, they'll talk at length about how they won handily on the games they rolled a 6, and lost badly on the turns they rolled a 1.
Despite the fact that it is inherently random, Scabskin Leathers is a very skill intensive card. There are turns and hand textures where it is in your best interest to activate it and roll. There may be turns where you look at your hand, and wish a card in your hand has go again. The vast majority of the time, the card will roll a 2 or 3 and do nothing, or will roll a 4 or 5, effectively giving your first action Go Again. Do not be afraid to roll Scabskin Leathers.
Not only the screen name of a dear friend and Twitch creator, fab140-gf-scowling-flesh-bag-premier-organized-play-dusk-till-dawn-promo is an excellent disruption tool. It forces decks that can convert all the cards in their hand to play differently, or it utterly punishes them for sandbagging a card in hand.
/hvy008-cf-apex-bonebreaker-heavy-hitters-booster was the new Brute Legendary equipment from Heavy Hitters. Being able to pair it with a card to block 5 and then 4 is an effective way to cover a breakpoint, whilst fuelling their next turn's attack.
ako004-rf-savage-sash-armory-deck-kayo-armed-and-dangerous-precon was printed in the very first Armory deck. It immediately became the best in slot for all three Brutes, though in some matchups, Levia still plays fab018-gf-carrion-husk-premier-organized-play-monarch-promo. It being able to discount the majority of your attacks is very powerful on a turn where you can send multiple attacks. It's worth noting, that Kayo gives your cards in hand +1, so even 5 power attacks get the discount from Savage Sash if you use it.
Staple Cards
r-wtr007-bloodrush-bellow-2-welcome-to-rathe-unlimited-revised-booster. Need I say more?
Yes probably, this article is intended for new players. So if you look a little at the maths of how Brute attacks are templated, they're exactly on rate because of the card to play, pitch, and discard. The overall damage output needs a consistent buff across multiple turns. That's part of the reason why Kayo is so strong, that he provides that +1 pretty much every turn. On a particularly strong turn, where you're able to convert that 4 or 5 card hand, being able to give everything +2 is crucial.
Sometimes you don't need to think about the numbers you're sending, and you should just evr002-swing-big-1-everfest-booster. It's above rate, and the effort to give two cards an equipment to block it makes the Quicken token it gives barely worth it. LSS have gone on record saying that this card in its current form should never have seen print.
This trio of cards are the core of a large number of Brute decks. There are some versions that don't play them, but their power to move through your deck cannot be understated. Bare Fangs works as a build-your-own Swing Big, with Pulping and Wild Ride being able to extend your turn.
hvy012-send-packing-2-heavy-hitters-booster has become a Brute staple. While there's an obvious incentive to play dyn000-cf-command-and-conquer-1-dynasty-booster, having another Arsenal disruptive effect, that receives a buff from Bloodrush, that is also a yellow for pitching is too good for any Brute deck to pass up.
Meta Share
Kayo was the strongest deck in format during the start of 2024. While he didn't post a great many results, the consistency of his damage output was something other decks needed to respect. With that said, his meta share utterly vanished overnight as Zen produced considerably better numbers, Nuu disrupted him consistently, and Enigma built a ward board state that was impossible to play through.
Thanks to Mistveil, Brute's place in the metagame vanished overnight along with Warrior's.
Wrap Up
Brute is a particularly fun class for those who enjoy sending big numbers at your opponent. Despite the inconsistency, and the high variance nature of their gameplay, the thing they do is send big numbers. They do so surprisngly consistently, assuming one is good at rolling dice, and have built their deck correctly.
Brutes have been able to do that for a long time, and with big shakes to the metagame, they may be able to again.
