Calling Auckland was an unforgettable event for those who enjoyed retro limited and Classic Constructed. During this event, and the upcoming Callings in August, we have seen the new cards coming from the Super Slam Expansion Slot, including stunning expansion slot cards for Riptide, Lurker of the Deep and Kassai of the Golden Sand.
At the same time, we've seen the first look at the two next incoming Armory Decks. These new decks are expected to be signpost releases at the end of 2025, and will really shake up their respective heroes going into the end of the year.
New Armory Decks
We've seen Armory decks over the past few years, and they've brought power house cards to their hero, such as Skyward Serenade to Aurora, Shooting Star and Saving Grace to Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn.
We've also seen cards from those decks truly shake up entire classes. Savage Sash is a staple for the whole Brute Class and Okana Scar Wraps giving Katsu, The Wanderer a new lease on life.
It's been teased on some older road maps that there are two more Armory Decks, after Armory Deck Pleiades, and it was shown as shorts on the Flesh and Blood TCG Instagram page what we can look forward to.
Armory Deck Rhinar
The first Brute and the true form of Eugene C is getting his own Armory Deck. As one of the original Welcome to Rathe heroes, Rhinar, Reckless Rampage is the original Brute hero, but one that has been somewhat power crept over the years.
Kayo, Armed and Dangerous is what is consistently regarded as the strongest Brute hero, simply due to the consistency of the gameplan. Rhinar offers a great deal of potential value in the form of the Intimidate mechanic. Rhinar against a defensive deck can utterly rob a hand of the blocking power they need, whereas against anything aggressive, the Intimidate keyword would do nothing against a deck which seldom blocks.
This deck offers Brute players an easy on ramp to the hero, while offering an alternative to Kayo.
During the trailer, we saw the card artwork for Beast Mode, Beast Within, Pack Call, and Show No Mercy. It's clear that the new Armory Deck is leaning heavily into the Intimidate keyword; with cards that intimidate, cards that want to be discarded, and cards care about intimidates having happened.
As with any new Armory deck, there are always new cards. During the trailer, we saw the artwork for a new legs and chest equipment. Art for a card which thematically symbolises Intimidate, and a card that the community has nicknamed "Swing Bigger".
The only card we've seen so far is a dream of Brute players around the world, and also a point of deep sadness the world over. All Brute players have been begging LSS for a Blue Brute 6 power attack. r-wtr031-wrecker-romp-3-welcome-to-rathe-unlimited-revised-booster is a staple for all Brute players, but it's not enough. This is what makes Kayo so strong, since Blue 5's like Run Roughshod and u-cru018-riled-up-3-crucible-of-war-unlimited-booster count as 6's.
Rhinar and Levia, Shadowborn Abomination have to work a little harder for their playable Blues, but this new Armory deck gives a Blue 6 just to Rhinar.
Alpha Instinct also gives us a look into the play style. Beat Chest is a keyword that was seen in Heavy Hitters on cards like Rawhide Rumble and Pound Town which let you discard a 6 by choice rather than at random like most Brute cards. Alpha Instinct has the upside of giving you a Might Token for next turn in a similar vein to Sea Legs.
Armory Deck Rhinar will be releasing on November 14 and you can see the official reveal on the FaBTCG Instagram right here.
Armory Deck "Slippy"
It's a prevailing belief held by the player base that the best decks in the format, as of the time of this article coming out, is Gravy Bones, Shipwrecked Looter and win042-cf-arakni-5lp3d-7hru-7h3-cr4x-pro-tour-champion-cards-the-hunted-promo.
"Slippy" receiving an Armory Deck is a pleasant surprise among the player base. I myself will be eager to get my disruption game going for the first Assassin Armory deck.
The trailer for this deck is somewhat more chaotic, and leaves us players more room to speculate as to what could be included in the Armory Deck. There are clips of the card art for Riddle with Regret, To the Point, Bloodrot Trap, Back Stab, Bite, Stab Wound, and Infect.
This is a somewhat confusing spread of cards to put into an Armory deck. There are some key Stealth cards with with disruption, and then there's some trap synergy but not quite as much outside of Arakni, Marionette and a Mask of Deceit deck. Stab Wound however is a daggers matter card, and it's usually one of the "Bad Blues" that Ira, Scarlet Revenger plays. The clips from the trailer are mostly assets that were recycled from the trailers for Outsiders and The Hunted, but there is likely some inclusions of these cards. We will have to wait and see what the deck will offer.
The trailer shows us the art for all 4 new Equipment pieces - the mask was very brief at the beginning of the trailer. It would all be cards that work towards Stealth in some way or other.
We've seen one new card from the new Armory deck:
It's nice to see the Chaos Assassin border on a card, and a Red Stealth attack is a welcome one, but that's where the utility of the card ends. It being a random effect fits the theme of the Chaos talent, but the randomness is a strong point against its favour. There are effects like Persuasive Prognosis and Mark of the Black Widow which are more consistent ways to take a card from hand. Very few Slippy and Mario deck ever play Mark of the Funnel Web. There are better ways to banish the top of their deck, and unless you're playing strictly for Fatigue (which current builds of Slippy rarely do) then that on hit effect is very low impact.
I expect the deck to be a good split of Stealth attacks and attack reactions, all to fit to the classic Slippy game plan.
Armory Deck Arakni will be releasing on December 12 and the reveal clip is there for you to see right here!
Wrap Up
You can expect guides on how these decks play and further updates about the world of Flesh and Blood TCG right here!
