Flesh and Blood: High Seas Review

Arakni's hunt to avenge the death of the Emperor is still on in Volcor, but, in other places in Rathe, pirates are seeking eternal glory and gold. Some journey through the air, others face huge sea monsters, and some are still looking for glory even in death. Which ship are you getting on, sailor?

Today, let's review the new Flesh and Blood set, High Seas, one of the most anticipated sets of the year! It features new classes and innovative mechanics, as well as a few paradigm shifts for our beloved TCG.

High Seas features four new heroes (only one of them is a young hero, too), and is a draftable set. It also introduces two new classes (Necromancer and Pirate) to the game, and brings back two others (Mechanologist and Ranger).

All heroes in this set are Pirates besides their other classes, and bring several new mechanics to the game.

Before we review our heroes, let's explore the new mechanics and classes we have been mentioning.

Tap

High Seas introduced a new mechanic to FaB called "Tap". As the name suggests, this mechanic centers around "tapping" a permanent, and is represented by an arrow in a circle pointing down.

Let's unravel this a bit better by exploring one of the new heroes, Gravy Bones, Shipwrecked Looter.

To use his ability, you need to destroy a Gold and "tap" it. This means that you must physically set this hero 90 degrees sideways to "tap" him (just like you'd do with Magic: The Gathering lands) and use his ability.

A few ground rules:

- Once you tap him, you can't "tap him again" to use another "tap" ability, at least for as long as he remains tapped.

- These permanents don't have summoning sickness: so you can "tap" them as soon as they enter play.

- You'll untap all your permanents (including your hero) in your end phase, but some cards can also "untap" them, like Perk Up, for instance.

Crank

This mechanic was originally from Bright Lights. It is essential for Mechanologists.

When permanents with "Crank" enter play, you may remove a steam counter from them. If you do, you get 1 Action point.

Usually, these permanents don't have go again. However, as we've seen with Dash I/O, we can do a lot with this mechanic.

Galvanize

Galvanize was also originally released in Bright Lights. It is featured in many Mechanologist cards.

When you use a card with Galvanize to block, you can, as an extra cost, destroy an item. If you do, then you can activate its effect. So far, this effect was often "block 2 more with this card", as we've seen with Soup Up (1) and Adaptive Plating. In High Seas, however, this mechanic expanded and features new effects, like in Golden Skywarden and Teeth of the Cog (1).

Watery Grave

Watery Grave is a new mechanic featured in some generic cards and in the Necromancer hero. It is actually quite simple: when a permanent with Watery Grave leaves the board, it goes to the graveyard face down, so it can't be targeted by another card or ability. We'll see why this matters when we discuss Gravy Bones.

Go Fish

Only the Pirate Ranger uses this ability. All Arrows with this mechanic have an "on-hit" discard effect. King Kraken Harpoon, for instance, forces your opponent to show a card, and, if it is a Non-attack Action, they'll have to discard it.

However, if you activated a Cannon on that same turn, you get to pick the card. We'll explore this mechanic a bit better and show you how to use it when we discuss Marlynn.

Steal

Steal is mostly featured in Pirate cards, but it also shows up in some generic cards.

"Steal" is quite simple: you'll steal an item from your opponent (that is, you'll take control of it). Some cards let you steal Gold, such as Gold-Baited Hook, but others, like Jolly Bludger, let you steal any item.

High Tide

"High Tide" only shows up in Pirate cards. It adds an effect to an Attack if you have, at least, two blue cards in the Pitch Zone.

Some cards with this mechanic, like Battalion Barque (1), are easier to use at the beginning of your turn because they cost more, and, as such, don't need an elaborate setup. Others, like Swiftwater Sloop (1), are cheaper, so they will be more useful at the end of your turn, after you set it up with other cards.

Perched and Companion

High Seas also includes a new type of card: Companions. Companions are Allies that start the game in play, but not all heroes can use them. Polly Cranka, for instance, is a Puffin Companion. So, only Puffin can play it.

These Companions have an ability called "Perched": Companions are equipped as "off-hand" equipment (like Ranger Quivers), and, despite being Allies, can't be targeted by attacks until they're unequipped by their abilities.

Please note that, though your opponent can't attack them, they can still target them with abilities and Non-Attack Actions, like Arc Lightning and Zap (3).

All the heroes in this set are Pirates, so let's take a look at Scurv first.

This set only includes young Scurv, and he is also a rare. You'll have to get him from a Booster if you want to play him in limited formats.

One of the first things you'll notice in this card is that he interacts with Gold. Besides the other heroes in this set, several cards in it interact with Gold, like, for instance, Gold Hunter Longboat. Besides these interactions, the Pirate class can create Gold in many ways: Sunken Treasure, Portside Exchange, and Sea Floor Salvage, for instance, all do this.

Furthermore, Pirate interacts with yellow cards, and heavily benefits from it. All of Gravy Bones' Allies, Golden Skywarden, and even Scurv's specialization, Not so Fast, are in this color. Furthermore, many cards that create Gold interact with this color.

The High Tide mechanic also encourages Pirates to use many blue cards. Cards like Murderous Rabble and Saltwater Swell (1) encourage us to add even more blue cards to decks like this.

To sum up: Pirate, as a class, centers around Gold tokens, and features strong synergies between yellow cards and blue cards. Because of this, Pirate heroes don't really use red cards.

High Seas had a lot in store for Mechanologists. In fact, this is the first set that didn't include new Boost cards for this class, and, because of this, it introduced a new synergy: Cogs.

While this hero, on her own, already creates Golden Cog, there are many other cards that do that too. Teeth of the Cog (1), Goldwing Turbine (1), and Cog in the Machine are a few of them, but why would we create these items, you may ask?

Puffin benefits a lot from these items. Let's take a look at, for instance, Sky Skimmer (1): it costs zero, has four power, and blocks for three, but, if you tap a Cog, it gains "go again" or attacks with +1 power. You'll find many other cards in this set that interact with Cogs.

Puffin herself deserves her own article, as we surely, at one point, must comment on how Mechanologist is evolving and how this hero can work without Boost, but, for now, let's stick to her overall game plan in this set: create Golden Cogs and put your attacks on another level.

Gravy Bones is definitely the most anticipated hero in this set, and definitely the one who most stands out. For a long time, the Flesh and Blood community has asked LSS for a Necromancer character, and now we finally got one. Gravy Bones will make his incredible debut with mechanics centered around the undead and an enticing game style.

The first detail that stands out in this class it how many Allies it plays. However, unlike Illusionists, who "summon" these Allies (with cards like Invoke Suraya or Invoke Miragai), Necromancers play them directly from the hand (or the graveyard). This makes them Actions without "go again" and any block value. So, how does all of this even work?

Besides this hero's "looting" ability (that is, effects that draw cards and then discard other cards), several cards let you play these Allies in your graveyard (either from your hand or the top of your deck). Jittery Bones (1), for instance, gains "go again" if you do this.

To "bind" all of this together, you'll play Off-hand Compass of Sunken Depths. It will not only let you look at the top card in your deck, but also "summon" your Watery Grave Allies from your graveyard and literally "raise the dead". That's why this mechanic is so important for Necromancers.

Please note that, once an Ally leaves your battlefield, they go to your graveyard face-down because of Watery Grave. So, you can't summon them again.

Necromancer is an excellent puzzle full of Allies, Looting effects, and Attacks. Raise your dead Allies and let them lead you to victory!

It's been a while since the last time we got a Ranger. Ever since Outsiders, Ranger fans had to work with either Azalea or Riptide. High Seas brought us Marlynn, as well as a new way to play this class.

This Ranger uses her weapon, Hammerhead, to set up big attacks with Overpower. This means you'll have to play many blue cards in her deck to pay for everything, but that shouldn't be a problem.

With some useful blue Attacks and Go Fish, a new mechanic, Marlynn is a "Ranger Guardian" that plays lots of disruption and highly evasive arrows. If you prefer "go-wide" strategies, don't fret: she also comes along with an array of cheaper cards.

You can be a lot more aggressive with Redspine Manta, many Arrows with "go again", and by playing more Attacks one after the other.

Regardless of how you build her, though, you should use her ability to keep an Arrow in hand at all times. You might struggle to put cards in the arsenal, but remember that drawing cards (usually with Gold) is the key to winning with this Ranger.

High Seas is full of new mechanics, but some cards in this set actually stand out because they'll be very useful to other heroes in the game.

A new cycle of items called "Amulets" will be incredibly useful for other heroes. All of them have Legendary - that is, you can only play one copy of it in your deck - and Watery Grave. Despite their restrictions, some are a "fourth copy" of a few old items, which will make heroes like Kano, Dracai of Aether more consistent.

In this set, LSS also reprinted this highly popular card, which was what most players wanted. Similar to how they reprinted Command and Conquer in The Hunted, Codex of Frailty is one of High Sea's expansion slots as a Legendary. Despite its rarity, it is very welcome, as all reprints are.

These cards, which are supposed to deal with certain matchups, will also be in High Seas' expansion slots. Wizards have always wanted to use Burn Bare to deal with Illusionists, Undercover Acquisition is the first Assassin card that steals items, and Arcane Compliance deals with the great mounts of Arcane damage Wizards deal. There are many other decent cards in expansion slots in this set. In fact, most classes got excellent cards.

High Seas is one of the most anticipated sets of the year. But will two new classes and new ways to play Mechanologists and Rangers be enough to change such a fragile meta now that Part the Mistveil and Rosetta's Runeblades are finally in the past?

Split Mechanologists

Mechanologist, as a class, has been quite weird lately. Maxx 'The Hype' Nitro got his own Armory Deck, but that didn't mean much to him, competitively speaking, and not many players remember Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate exists nowadays. To make matters worse, High Seas didn't give them any useful cards either.

Dash I/O is, so far, the best Mechanologist hero, but, though she enjoys "Crank", High Seas wasn't particularly useful to her. It gave her, at most, a new card and a relatively odd "build", if we can call it that.

Puffin is an excellent hero and her decks should be very efficient, but her cards don't really help other Mechanologists, so she is even more torn between Boost, Evo, and Cogs. A new age approaches Mechanologists, and it seems Boost will have to stay in the past.

But... What do we do with the older heroes? They need support, but High Seas didn't give them any.

For Rangers, Some Maintenance

As Azalea, Ace in the Hole is nearly a Living Legend, Rangers needed a new hero. Though Riptide got to use a few cards in the last set very well, players who like this class seemed out of options. Marlynn will not only give them more options, but also offer them two "builds": one centered around fatigue, and one more aggressive.

With so many new options, it's hard to say if this class will actually become competitive again. The sheer number of Defense Reactions in the meta could make getting value out of Hammerhead, Harpoon Cannon's Overpower rather difficult. Plus, more aggressive builds will struggle with putting Arrows in the arsenal. We'll have to wait and see how this class reacts to the meta.

Necromancer: The New Challenge

Just like every new class, Gravy Bones should struggle to find a place in the meta not because he's bad, but because he has a smaller card pool as well as less answers for the meta. However, besides High Seas, LSS will also release an Armory deck for him soon, so he'll get even more new cards that aren't in the main set.

So, Gravy will probably have a solid card pool to face the meta. His Armory Deck includes incredibly strong cards, such as Sawbones, Dock Hand and Loot the Hold. Furthermore, he also seems like a terrible opponent for a few decks, like Guardians. Unlike Illusionists, though, he could be a fair opponent for these decks because you can't play his Allies one after the other.

What did you think of High Seas? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!