Getting Acquainted with Brevant

Brevant, Civic Protector is the newest Guardian hero from Round the Table - an Ultimate Pit Fight (UPF) product from LSS and the Professor. He has the power to become a staple in UPF, even right out of the box. This article will explore his playstyle and the impact of his card pool on constructed play for Yoji, Valda, and Bravo.

We can tell from Brevant's card frame and art that he's from Solana. In the future, he could even be our first Light Guardian! As a Solanian Guardian with an unprecedented amount of armor and the ability to block attacks targeting other heroes, Brevant embodies the archetypal paladin — he protects his friends and smites his foes.

While Brevant starts at the typical 20 health for a young hero, his armor provides an additional 15 points of block to shrug off powerful hit effects and stay in the fight as long as possible.

Just like the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game and hell-inspired computer games from a frozen-over company, this paladin has auras that affect others. Well, at least I’m calling them auras. Each of Brevant’s equipment pieces provides a bonus to another player at the table — notably, this does not have to be the player attacking Brevant.

1. Aura of Protection. Brevant has the unique ability to block attacks targeting other players. He can do this with Chivalry through his hero ability and trusty shield: Bastion of Duty. In the multiplayer format of UPF, blocking for others can bring valuable social capital to leverage later while controlling which heroes get to survive a little longer — as perfectly embodied by Cedric in Shuffle Up and Play's recent Round the Table video.

2. Aura of Peak Performance. Civic Peak allows a player to draw a card. You can beef up a setup deck, fuel your local area Valda player, or spark violence at the other end of the table.

3. Aura of Duty. Blocking with the Civic Duty chest piece lets you grant another player a Vigor token — which is new to Flesh and Blood through the Round the Table product. A Vigor token is an aura that destroys itself at the start of the player’s turn to grant them one resource point. Let the politicking begin.

4. Aura of Guidance. Want to see another player take some damage? Block with your Civic Guide gauntlets and toss out a Might token to an aggressor who can’t attack you. Might tokens are auras that destroy themselves at the start of the player’s turn to give their next attack plus one power.

5. Aura of Haste. Lastly, blocking with the first-ever Guardian boots, Civic Steps, increases the speed of a lucky player at the table through a handy Quicken token. See that pretty tavern bouncer in the corner? Slide her a Quicken token and let her make the Brightaxe name feared across Rathe.

But while the options above may call to mind the aura effects of other games, Flesh and Blood uses the term aura for a slightly different mechanic — and it's present in this deck too!

Both Crash Down and Earthlore Empowerment show us Brevant’s preferred strategy. While waiting for your turn, block anything that comes your way and dole out favors to others. On your turn, play one of these auras to crush anyone unlucky enough to sit next to you with towering physical threats.

Brevant brings more new toys for the Guardian class with Boulder Drop’s unique crush effect and three behemoth-level attacks sporting a new keyword: tower.

Unlike crush effects that have to deal a certain of damage to trigger, tower activates when the attack has 13 or more power.

Using these attacks to their full potential takes a bit of setup from playing one of the previous aura cards a turn earlier, but playing your cards right — and playing your friends in the pit right — will help you eliminate common threats.

When you’re not setting up massive towering swings, you’ll likely be blocking a lot and swinging your trusty hammer.

With 12 copies of Chivalry in the deck, you’ll be able to get the damage boost on Hammer of Havenhold reasonably often. Attacking for four instead of three is a critical break point to push damage through, even when your opponent decides to block.

By adding six new actions and another suite of armor to the Guardians’ repertoire, Round the Table will shake up the constructed scene for multiple heroes in multiple formats.

UPF is a wonderful format to get together with friends and play great games. Many local game stores also hold UPF events. To upgrade Brevant for one of those events — or a higher-level tournament at a Calling, National Championship, or Pro Tour — I suggest these changes:

1. +2 red Pummel, -2 yellow Disable

2. +2 Imposing Visage, -2 yellow Earthlore Empowerment

3. +2 Spinal Crush, -2 yellow Chokeslam

4. +2 Tear Asunder, -2 Lay Down the Law

5. +2 red Thump, -2 Chivalry

6. +2 blue Thump, -2 Chivalry

You may even want to find room for yellow Thump, since Brevant’s supply of Might tokens immediately makes Thump a devastating threat. Players using this strategy will also want to consider switching to Tectonic Plating to decrease Thump’s cost.

In Blitz, Brevant's hero ability might as well be blank, so save him for multiplayer adventures. Instead, players will look to bring in some of these new cards to their Yoji, Valda, or Bravo decks.

Valda receives an immediate upgrade through Civic Peak. In addition to the social politics of letting anyone at the table draw a card, Valda also creates a Seismic Surge token when the card draw triggers. In Blitz specifically, Valda can ensure the card draw is as ineffective as possible — like when the opponent does not have go again and already has a card in arsenal.

In Blitz, Yoji and Valda typically leverage their increased health and strong defense of the Guardian class to outlast their opponents. They can use some of the new cards from Round the Table to advance their game plans.

Notably:

1. Boulder Drop

2. Civic Steps

3. Earthlore Empowerment

As of this writing, Bravo, Showstopper is the only adult Guardian hero for Classic Constructed. With three specializations and a wide card pool, Bravo can take on many forms.

Conventional Anothos-Bravo builds will immediately find room for Boulder Drop. We’ll likely also see a rise in Guardian-aura lists that leverage Imposing Visage to play expensive auras like Crash Down while maintaining an action point to swing their weapon.

Brevant brings powerful new tools to the guardian class and the UPF format. He embodies the paladin archetype and will stand out when you see him around the table.