All images courtesy of Legend Story Studios
Greetings and salutations my fabulous FAB folks! I’m Donnie K., your usual budget deck tech writer here on Card Gamer and locally known Assassin enthusiast. Today, we’re breaking up the usual routine with something hot off of the proverbial presses. With The Hunted now fully revealed, we’re able to look at all of the “Nuu
Turns out, this set is good. Like…. REALLY good…. Maybe not necessarily for Nuu specifically, but I’ll leave details like that up to the pros.
I’ve narrowed the list of awesome Assassin cards down to the ones that I think will have the biggest impact on the Assassin class in Classic Constructed as a whole and will probably be the most fun to use. With all that said, let the Chaos begin!
Table of Contents
ToggleTop Ten Best Assassin Cards from The Hunted
10. Up Sticks and Run
As our top ten list of Assassin cards progresses, daggers will play a bigger and bigger role. There are a ton of new and exciting ways to break them for value in The Hunted. Up Sticks and Run
Also, it has additional synergy with another card higher up on the list.
9. Orb-Weaver Spinneret
When I first read Orb-Weaver Spinneret
Or, you can just equip the dagger, swing with a stealth attack action and flick the dagger for an extra point of value. While it’s obviously not as powerful as some of the cards we’re getting to, this is a solid role-player card for Assassins going forward.
8. Throw Dagger
Throw Dagger
Yeah, I’ll be picking up a playset.
7. Tarantula Toxin
Since Tarantula Toxin
As a player, I love having options. That’s one of the best things about Flesh and Blood to me, so having a card that can be played so many ways is great.
It blocks three, can buff a “dagger attack” into a breakpoint, or debuff a blocking card if we use it on an attack with stealth. The thing that’s got me the most hyped, and has since I first saw this card, is that first line of text. “Choose 1 or both” means that when this is timed correctly, it can be worth up to six points of value for no resources, and that’s not counting implied value from the on hit effect it’s helping push through.
A solid majestic that is going to see a good bit of play.
6. Take Up the Mantle
Alright, I’ve seen a lot of hate on Take Up the Mantle
The floor of Take Up the Mantle is solid. If you’re not able to meet the conditions of the effect, you’re probably blocking with it, which is fine since it blocks three. When it’s live though, it has an insane ceiling. If you have a red stealth attack in the graveyard, this reaction turns any blue one-power stealth attack into a two-card six with relevant on hits. That’s Just a Nick
With all that said though, there’s a small part of me that wonders if it may just be hype. It reminds me of when Gorgon’s Gaze
5. Mark of the Black Widow / Mark of the Funnel Web
I’m sort of cheating with this one. Well, these two. Mark of the Black Widow
Black Widow emulates the new Chaos demi-hero by forcing the opponent to banish a card from their hand if it hits a marked hero. Funnel Web is the same but playing a softer version of Command and Conquer
4. Pain in the Backside
Ok, maybe I’m just a giant five-year-old, but I love this card’s name. It’s officially become my second favorite name in the game behind Shitty Xmas Present
Fantastic low-brow humor aside, Pain in the Backside
Let’s say we start a standard Assassin turn with a dagger swing. The opponent doesn’t want to deal with the on hit, so they block. They now have to block Pain in the Backside on the next chain link or get hit with the dagger anyway and deal with the consequences of that since Pain in the Backside has go again. For Beckoning Mistblade
3. Savor Bloodshed
First things first, I love this art. The vibe screams chaos and bloodshed – things that I like having associated with my fictional Assassin characters. Like almost everything on this list, and most Assassin cards in general, Savor Bloodshed
This gem gives our next “dagger” attack a four-point buff, pushing it to a breakpoint over most of the game’s relevant defense reactions, so the opponent will have to commit actual cards to the defense if they want to avoid the on hit. And, if they happen to be Marked, Savor Bloodshed replaces itself. I might have hinted at this earlier, but drawing cards is good. Especially in Flesh and Blood, where every card matters. And having a zero-for-four buff attached to the potential draw?
All the flavors of Arakni
2. Kiss of Death
Alright, enough beating around the bush. This card is insane. Kiss of Death
“Assassin Action – Dagger Attack”
So… while this card is on the combat chain, it counts as a dagger for anything you play that cares about daggers. Like Savor Bloodshed
If you give Kiss of Death go again, by whatever means, you can then get a free activation out of your Flick Knives
The sky’s the limit with how obnoxious this card will get, and I’m eagerly waiting to see just how crazy it will be in real games.
1. Hunter’s Klaive
A friend of mine told me that this is the best Assassin dagger we’ve seen printed since Assassins were first introduced to Flesh and Blood. I think they might be on to something.
Hunter’s Klaive
I can see this being the opening move on every one of Arakni, Marionette
This dagger is almost guaranteed to get a card from most opposing heroes, just to prevent the rest of the deck from completely blowing them out. And even then, we have a whole set’s worth of new cards that care about making daggers hit anyway whenever we want them to.
Hunter’s Klaive asks a question with every swing that the opponent just won’t have a comfortable answer for. And that, my fellow Assassin fans, puts them exactly where we want them.
Honorable Mentions
These two cards, Schism of Chaos
Mask is good, but as an Arakni specialization, it’s only as good as Arakni
Oh, and one more thing- I think it’s a little weird that we got a whole new talent, but literally only two cards for it aside from heroes. LSS, what’s up with that?
Bonus! Assassin’s Top Five Old Cards After The Hunted
Just for you, my fellow Assassin lovers, I’ll share my thoughts on five cards that stand out to me as the biggest winners from the older Assassin sets. In no particular order, these are cards you may want to check your collections for.
Flick Knives
The price tag on this card has gone insane recently, and for good reason. Flick Knives
An opponent can never feel comfortable going to two life against us, and being at one life with Flick Knives still on the table is a death sentence. It’s always been a solid equipment piece and, with the new support, it’s incredible.
Concealed Blade
Same story as Flick Knives, but Concealed Blade
Either way, Concealed Blade has more reason to be included on a deck list than it ever has before.
Infiltrate
With Arakni, 5L!p3d 7hRu 7h3 cR4X
Toxicity
Ok…. here me out. There are a lot of new cards that give good buffs at reaction speed. But the most egregious thing that you can do once The Hunted is legal is to play Toxicity
So, you get at least one or two cards to block whatever Toxicity paired with, most likely pulling tempo back. Finally, you Flick the Kiss and the on hit for Toxicity stays relevant until Kiss is destroyed. A two-card nine points? Yeah, that’s not bad. (Assuming the opponent didn’t let the Kiss attack hit, of course. If it hits and then we get another on hit trigger with the Flick…? Yikes.)
Frailty Trap
Since we now have an entire set dedicated to one-power weapons, Frailty
If you give them a Frailty on your turn, they can plan around it. However, with Frailty Trap giving them one in the reaction step, they’ve already mapped out what they want to do, committed to it, and will likely have to reevaluate their entire turn cycle.
Final Thoughts on The Hunted
The Hunted is going to be the most impactful set for Assassins we’ve seen since Outsiders redefined the class. Even Arakni, Huntsman
Every Assassin is going to have unique playstyles and now have access to some of the most powerful disruptive tools in Flesh and Blood. As a dedicated Assassin main, I only have one concern for all the cool cards we’ve got coming.
How do I decide what I want to play first!?
If you want to chat about anything in this article, hit me up on Discord, Blue Sky, or Twitter as Dracohominis87. Or, check out the weekly podcast I’ve been doing with some buddies for a while now.