Being a Brute Player in Flesh and Blood: Embracing Chaos and Aggression
Written by DarkestLivia
23rd October 2024
Flesh and Blood is a card game that offers players a multitude of options when it comes to strategy, play style, and hero selection. For me one of the most distinct and exciting hero classes in the game is the Brute.
As a Brute player, you are more than just a participant; you embody the wild and unrestrained chaos that defines the very nature of this class. Playing a Brute isn't just about brute strength - though there’s plenty of that - it’s also about managing risk, outlasting your opponent, and making bold, devastating plays that can turn the tide of battle in a heartbeat. At its core, the Brute class is known for its high-risk, high-reward play style. This manifests in many ways, from managing hands full of powerful attacks to gambling on random discards that can unleash incredible bonuses. It's not the class for those who prefer calculated, controlled moves. Rather, playing a Brute feels like embracing the chaos of battle, trusting your instincts, and hoping your raw aggression overwhelms them enough so they don't have the opportunity to strike back
The Essence of the Brute
The Brute heroes in Flesh and Blood currently are Kayo, Rhinar and Levia, they rely on powerful attack cards, often with the cost of discarding a card, but this can bring its own reward, for example Kayo Armed and Dangerous gives you a might token when you first discard a 6 power this way.
These heroes embody primal forces of aggression, utilizing brute strength and raw physical power to punish their opponents. But this strength comes with a price many Brute abilities require discarding cards or banishing random cards from your hand to unlock their full potential. For instance, Rhinar’s Intimidate mechanic, which forces an opponent to temporarily set aside cards from their hand, creates openings for heavy, unguarded attacks. When playing this class, you aren’t just following a script, you’re living by instinct and on the bounce dissension making. This randomness means that you have to adapt on the fly, but it also adds an element of surprise that can catch opponents off-guard. Experienced Brute players learn to manage this volatility, leveraging it as a weapon rather than a hindrance.
Brute Play style: A Balancing Act of Risk and Reward
As a Brute player, every turn presents you with difficult choices. Do you hold onto a big attack for a later turn when you have more resources, or do you discard recklessly, hoping for a devastating blow now? This constant balance of risk and reward is what makes the Brute class so thrilling to play. Brute cards are often incredibly powerful, but as mentioned above they typically come with the catch of discarding cards, risking damage, or requiring you to give up valuable resources to play them. Some of the key mechanics for the Brute class are:
Intimidate : which forces your opponent to banish a card from their hand temporarily, reducing their ability to block your attacks. This can be crucial for pushing through high damage attacks, especially if your opponent relies heavily on defence. Knowing when to trigger Intimidate and how to capitalize on the reduced defence is a vital skill for any Brute player. Intimidate allows you to punch through defences, setting up for massive damage turns where your opponent simply cannot block enough to survive.
Beat Chest: When playing a card with the beat chest mechanic, this allows you to discard a card when the card is played to create an agility token for the next turn, this is fantastic, as giving a brute go again to continue the damage is what makes the brute class so punishing.
Dominate: Probably in my opinion the most punishing mechanic, playing a brute card with dominate, means the opponent can only block with 1 card from hand, (they may use equipment or arsenal) , but in brute you have the ability to up the dominate value with might tokens Bloodrush Bellows or tear limb from limb to name just a few, giving you the potential for 24 go again.
The other major element of Brute play is discarding cards to power up attacks. For example, many Brute attacks require you to discard a card as an additional cost. If the discarded card has a high attack value, you often get a bonus whether that’s more damage, an additional action point, or another ability triggering. This leads to an incredibly satisfying play style, where you’re constantly looking for ways to discard the right cards to maximize your turn. The randomness of discarding can sometimes feel like a gamble, but it’s a gamble with immense payoff. Take Bloodrush Bellows, you pitch 1 to play it then you have to randomly discard a card from hand, it needs to be a 6 attack power, kayo's ability to make fives into sixes is crucial here. But it you have a miss in hand say a cast bones or a reckless swing, this could easily go wrong, and leave you with a blown out turn. On the up side when a 6 is discarded this way you get to draw up by 2 cards and all brute attacks have +2. Cards like this are the bread and butter of Brute deck, they make big, aggressive plays that require careful setup and timing, but when they land, they can swing the game in your favour in a heartbeat.
Understanding Brute Heroes: Rhinar, Kayo and Levia
Rhinar, the Reckless Rampage, is perhaps the quintessential Brute hero. His ability to trigger Intimidate when you discard high-attack cards sets the tone for how he plays: aggressively, with a focus on overwhelming his opponent's defences. Rhinar rewards calculated risks. The Intimidate mechanic creates windows of opportunity where your opponent is unable to defend, allowing you to push through significant amounts of damage. Building a Rhinar deck often revolves around maximizing the Intimidate mechanic and finding ways to consistently discard cards with high attack values. Cards like "Savage Feast" and "Bloodrush Bellow" are staples in a Rhinar deck, offering both high damage and additional effects when cards are discarded. Bloodrush Bellow, in particular, is a key card for Rhinar, allowing you to discard a card, draw two new cards, and give all your attacks a power boost for the turn. This kind of explosive turn can swing a game, especially when paired with Intimidate to prevent your opponent from effectively blocking.
Kayo, Armed and dangerous. Like Rhinar, Kayo relies on discarding cards, but instead of intimidating this is to create might tokens, he also has the ability to make discarded fives into six's making them a hit for discard triggers, Kayo is all about getting the most power through again and again, but unlike Rhinar and Levia, Kayo only has one weapon slot, as he only has one hand (something that could easily be rectified with a mech arm creating my personal dream class Mech/Brute, but that's a story for another time)
Levia, Shadowborn Abomination, takes a different approach to the Brute play style. While she shares Rhinar’s and kayo's love of powerful attacks, she introduces the unique Shadow mechanic, which requires you to manage your banished zone. Levia’s abilities often banish cards from your graveyard, and if you run out of cards in your graveyard, she begins dealing damage to herself. This adds another layer of risk management to the Brute play style, you must ensure that you always have enough cards in your graveyard to fuel Levia’s abilities, or risk self-destructing. Levia decks often focus on managing resources carefully, balancing between attacking aggressively and maintaining a healthy graveyard to avoid the self-damage that can quickly end your game. Cards like “Shadow of Blasmophet” and “Doomsday” provide powerful attacks but require careful setup and resource management to avoid their drawbacks.
Strategy and Deck Building for Brutes
Building a successful Brute deck is about understanding your hero’s strengths and weaknesses and tailoring your deck to maximize your ability to deal explosive damage while managing risk. A Brute deck typically focuses on high attack cards, cards that trigger discard effects, and a handful of defensive cards to help you survive against aggressive opponents. Key cards for any Brute deck include powerful attacks like ,“Smash Instinct,” “Swing Big.” and “Pulping” These cards offer tremendous damage output but usually come with a cost , discarding cards, requiring resources, or relying on the Intimidate mechanic to push damage through. Additionally, Some Brute players often include resource generating cards like “Rally the Rearguard” to ensure they can pay for their expensive attacks. Defence is also a crucial part of playing a Brute, though it’s easy to overlook in favour of big attacks. Cards like “Reckless Swing” provide valuable defensive options while also giving you opportunities to deal damage in return. Balancing your offence with enough defence to survive against aggressive opponents is key to long-term success with the Brute class.
The Brute Mentality: Embrace the Chaos
Being a Brute player requires a certain mindset. You have to be willing to embrace chaos, to live on the edge of control, and to accept that sometimes your best laid plans might fall apart due to a random discard. But that’s part of the appeal, Brute isn’t about perfection or precise execution, it’s about raw, untamed power. It’s about rolling with the punches and knowing that when things line up, you’ll hit harder than any other class. Playing a Brute in Flesh and Blood is an exhilarating experience, full of high-stakes decisions and massive payoffs. When you take up the mantle of a Brute, you’re stepping into the shoes of a hero who thrives on chaos, aggression, and risk.
I'll leave you with some final words of advice I got from a friend; "Never let anyone make you feel bad for playing a Brute."
