Shadows of the Past Reflect a Bright Future: Why you Should be Playing LL Format

A New Hope

The Flesh and Blood meta for Mistveil has been underwhelming to say the least. I personally share a similar sentiment with the outspoken community on twitter that this meta has been unenjoyable and frustrating. Because of this, I have taken a break and focused my time on more fulfilling games like Imposter Kings and Mechabellum. But I have not fully given up on FaB, on the contrary. I have spent a massive amount of time over the last month indulging in the Living Legend format. This has been inspiring, rewarding, and extremely hopeful. The deck that I have been playing the most in the LL meta is Levia. Yes, Levia. CC legal Levia. I’m not kidding, for real. For many players that started in the Monarch era like myself, it is a time to reminisce and play your first favorite heroes like Chane, Prism, Oldhim and Iyslander. But to a new player, it can be extremely intimidating to try and participate in a meta with heroes you’ve never even played against. Even worse, heroes that have so much negativity and fear attached to their name that you may feel like it isn’t even worth playing (I’m looking at you Starvo). I would like to dispel those concerns by sharing my experiences over the last month and enlightening players that the memory of these heroes casts a greater shadow than their current counterparts in the meta.

Most importantly, I want players to understand that your CC legal deck is more than enough in a meta with Chane, Iyslander, Oldhim, Prism, and Starvo. As someone who has been playing FaB for over 3 years, the current LL format is one of the best metas I have played in recent memory. I do not say this lightly and make this claim as a testament to LSS’s ability to balance the game. I think you can see this balance as well in the most recent LL Battle Hardened in Amsterdam that had 8 different heroes in top 8 with CC legal Kano winning the whole thing. With the Living Legend skirmish season around the corner and the Calling at the end of the year, I’d like to open the door and invite you into the wonderful world of LL.

Power Creep and Power Balance

Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room, yeah I’m looking at you Starvo with your stupid smile and amazing hair. If you played FaB when Everfest first released, then I understand your PTSD when it comes to Starvo existing in the game. The days when Awakening was at three and the slot machine dopamine was higher than Victor winning a Trounce. Maybe you saw the iconic first LL Battle Hardened event before any restrictions were enforced and every slot in top 8 was Starvo. Or maybe you have watched a video essay on youtube talking about the utter dominance Starvo had in his lifetime and as a new player you think, “why would I ever want to experience that”? I am going to make a definitive statement right now, Starvo’s current form in LL sucks. Yes, you heard me. Yell it to the mountains because he has become a husk of his previous self. The deck can definitely do powerful things and compete in the meta but Starvo is now a fair deck.

This is for two reasons. One, LSS sent Starvo to the Shadow Realm by enforcing restrictions on his most powerful cards. The days of old where you would just get “Starvo’d” to oblivion every turn are few and at a much weaker scale. Two, the rest of the card pool in FaB has gotten much stronger. This has been one of the main benefits to the Living Legend format. Options that never existed when these heroes were in their prime are plentiful now. Armor has gotten much better and more heroes have access to their own power plays that can send the titans of the past whimpering in a corner. One of the best examples of this has to be the brute armor suite. Scowling Flesh Bag and Savage Sash are insane in CC and are insane in LL as well. Balance of Justice is another generic example that was released earlier this year in the Heavy Hitters set. Turns out, there are a lot of decks in LL that draw cards. Briar, Chane, Prism, and Lexi are all decks that draw two or more cards on their power turns and existed during a time when Balance was not in the game (hehe see what I did there). 

Lastly, FaB has always been a self-balancing game. LSS only comes in to enforce bans, suspension or erratas when they feel it is absolutely necessary to maintain the overall health of the play experience. The ability to restrict cards is a very effective balancing method that was previously never seen in CC. In the future, it can become more focused as well with restricting cards only within certain heroes. Currently, Oaken Old is restricted but if Oldhim ever needed a boost in the meta, he could be allowed to play three while Starvo could not. This allows LSS more flexibility with individually adjusting knobs rather than having to do macro changes. The self-balancing component cannot be understated as well. People forget that heroes held their place in power at a time when nothing could balance or contest them. Iyslander and Dromai were unplayable heroes while OG Prism existed in the game. Briar was very powerful at that time because Prism was very favorable. Once she left, Dromai, Iyslander and Oldhim all went up in the meta and Briar went down. But what would the game have looked like if Chane and Iyslander were both in power at the same time? Would we feel like Chane was still as oppressive as he was in the past? Probably not. So I challenge people to look at LL as a new experience and not compare the memory of a hero to their current existence in a completely different meta.

CC Legal Oppression

So, remember at the beginning of this article when I was talking about how the current CC meta is not very enjoyable? Well, when you put those same heroes in the context of LL, their power really comes into focus. The current iterations of Azalea, Zen, Kano, Prism AoS, Kayo, Levia, Victor, and Nuu are indisputably some of the most powerful decks that have existed in FaB’s history. All of these heroes are viable in the Living Legend format. It becomes easy to maybe not realize this because of the rose-colored glasses we wear when thinking of the past and from just adapting with the game as a new set releases. But I challenge anyone to look at Azalea when Monarch released with Chane and OG Prism. Even back then when Azalea was hot garbage, Chane was not a bad matchup. In fact, it was one of the only reasons you could even consider playing the deck. Now let's look at Azalea today. I would make the claim that the deck is “oppressive” in the same context that we used for Starvo back in the day. When Azalea is firing on all cylinders, you don't get to play the game. The only difference is that there are answers. Heroes have better cards, better armor and Warmonger’s Diplomacy exists at three. But in LL context with Warmonger’s Diplomacy at one, you best believe Azalea is causing problems. Codex of Frailty is an LL power level card. Even Tarpit Trap is an LL power level card. Nice Plunder Run. 

I have been a brute specialist since I started playing FaB. Rhinar was my first hero and I have played every brute as the metas have changed. This may come as a shock to some of you, but brutes have been pretty bad for most of FaBs history with intermittent periods of questionable viability. But upon the release of Heavy Hitters, brutes have cemented themselves in the meta as top contenders and more importantly, established their place as bulwarks against the guardians and illusionists. With their stokey explosive playstyle, impressive armor and plentiful resource count, they are able to have a strong matchup spread and remain durable to all sorts of disruption. LL format is still in its infancy and largely unexplored. It is mostly a sandbox for people to revisit and play their favorite heroes that have hit Living Legend status. I am here to tell you that many of people’s favorite heroes are guardians (Starvo, Oldhim), Illusionists (Dromai, Prism), and Ice (Iyslander, Lexi).  Levia has been the hero I have played the most in the current CC meta and has become my main deck of choice in LL for the reasons I stated above. This is quite a testament of power creep for a deck, like Azalea, that has had a long standing history of being one of the worst decks in FaB. Overall, for a class that has spent much of its time struggling to acquire LL points, they could be a true terror in the LL meta. Big number is still good no matter how fancy you are. 

https://fabrary.net/decks/01J5NS41JRZGWGYF2YBK27VGPN

New Cards Old Tech, Old Tech New Cards

I already mentioned how Balance of Justice and Scowling Flesh Bag are massive upgrades in the LL format. But there are also a number of new cards that I have discovered to be very impactful in LL. Some of these cards have yet to even see much play in the CC format. To start, I want to highlight a card that Levi Rauch discovered after we tested a bunch of Iyslander games. I sat back and pondered, “have there been any new cards released that help this matchup? I feel like there has to be something.” I went home and checked my discord messages. Levi sent a picture:

Nasty Surprise [HVY207] (Heavy Hitters)

€3,95

Set: Heavy Hitters Finish: Regular Type: Action Rarity: Majestic Class: Generic Cost: 0 Power: 2 When an opponent's effect puts this into your graveyard from anywhere, create an Agility, Might, and Vigor token. … read more

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The answer was quite a nasty surprise. A card that hasn’t really had much impact in the game since its release in Heavy Hitters has now become one of the best techs against Iyslander. This was very exciting for me. I added it to my Levia deck and can confirm, it’s dope. This in addition to Beast Within makes your hands very durable. I can’t wait to see what other cards people discover as the meta continues to develop. Star Struck and Warmonger’s Diplomacy were restricted immediately after that first Battle Hardened but for good reason. We have new on-hit options in the form of Blanch and The Weakest Link which help counter Prism and Zen. Then we have further defensive options in the form of Hold the Line and, Guardian’s shiny new boots and gloves, Civic Steps and Gauntlets of Iron Will.

In reverse, cards that were banned before they were able to be played in newer decks open up different levels of power. Plunder run for example in a deck like Dromai creates some incredibly aggressive lines that the deck never had an opportunity to explore. Belittle and Stubby Hammers are back and ready to be a nuisance in Zen. Ball lightning has been charging up for its triumphant return in Briar and Lexi but maybe more importantly, for the upcoming heroes in Rosetta. Which leads me to my final point. What does the future of LL look like for the rest of the year?

Rosetta, LLs Supplemental Set 

As people are getting more hype for Rosetta to spice up the CC meta, I’m more excited to see all the new support for the LL meta. Briar, Lexi, Oldhim, Wizards and Runeblades are all getting support in Rosetta which makes up a large share of the best decks in LL. We will see new archetypes and new life breathed into old heroes. What could be even more exciting is seeing how the new heroes will slot into the LL meta. Especially with Florian and Verdance having access to Crown of Seeds which will never happen in CC. With a total of 39 legal heroes to pick from post Rosetta release, the meta could swing any number of ways. It is cool to see LSS always being one step ahead and expanding the game in multiple directions rather than on a linear scale.

Where do I Start?

Over the next few months as we approach the LL Calling, MinMaxGames will continue to produce content for the Living Legend format. Deck techs, gameplay and LL hero retrospectives are all on the schedule to make sure players are as prepared as they can be by the time December comes around. This article is meant to open the door and say welcome. We have cookies, Duskblades, and kittens. Starvo can’t hurt you and we have heated blankets for the frostbites. The hardest part of doing anything new is just getting started. I encourage anyone who is frustrated or displeased with the current CC format to try LL. We have some downtime before Rosetta is released anyways. Grab your CC deck and load into Talishar. The more people that we have playing a diverse array of decks makes the experience more fun. Of course there will still be high rolls just like the CC meta. Berserk Kayo can do 60 damage with 4 cards turn 0. But he can also discard Bloodrush on his Berserk turn and do nothing. I have ended up cutting Berserk entirely because Cast Bones is good enough. Ride the wave and enjoy the wild ride. 

-Sam Dando