Heavy Hitters Preview: Clashing on the Defensive

Our Heavy Hitters preview supports the growing Clash strategy exemplified by Victor. But beyond that, this card is surprisingly flexible, and I think it'll have an evergreen role to play in both Warrior and Guardian moving forward.

Shen Fei delivers another action-packed battle scene engulfed in and informed by the setting of the conflict - something we've come to expect from their work.

Clash of Vigor is a dual-class 2-for-6 that blocks for 3 - which puts it in that elite range of attacks like Command and Conquer, Nourishing Emptiness, and Amnesia. Which is a really hype way of discussing this card, because as an attack, this is a Brutal Assault.

But we've all been trained by Illusionists to take note when an attack hits 6. At that point, it's ready to shatter phantasms - an incredibly valuable asset that's shaped sideboard configurations for years.

Where this card becomes especially interesting is in its defensive text. Like Fyendal's Fighting Spirit, Clash of Vigor attempts to give you a little something back when you have to give it away to a block. In this case, you've got the chance to, essentially, get Clash of Vigor's pitch value stored away for next turn in the form of a Vigor token. This makes Clash of Vigor an incredibly flexible card, well suited to its role in a sideboard toolbox. This is a 3-block that might give you a resource on your next turn, or a 6 attack that only costs 2/3rds of a blue pitch.

Clash of Vigor plays very different roles in different decks. For Dorinthea, it provides an out for those turns where Dawnblade has go again, but you didn't hit and thus can't swing it a second time. A blue pitched to the first Dawnblade swing leaves you with enough to pay for either reactions or Clash of Vigor, and now your opponent can't be sure which it is. Of course, integrating Clash of Vigor probably comes at the exclusion of Nourishing Emptiness, which frees you up to include more attack actions that further diversify your attack patterns. If you hope to actually win that clash when defending, you'll want a higher density of attack actions anyway.

Of course, that's what we already expect to see with Boltyn and Olympia. To that end, Clash of Vigor is an easy and obvious inclusion for the latter, and Boltyns who are less concerned with the Light will probably welcome it also. If there's one thing Boltyn could always use more of, it's resources!

Kassai's final form remains to be seen, but already Clash of Vigor is looking like a good fit when trying to meet quotas both for red cards and for phantasm-breaking 6s. Like Dorinthea, we'll have questions to be answered about the ratios of attack actions and whether there's any reward to be found in that defensive clash.

Guardians will look at this another way: the clash is all but guaranteed when you turn over an attack action card, and Guardians always have need of resources. Obviously, Victor is looking at this card intently, but Betsy's also well suited as a more aggressive Guardian hero. Simply stamping Guardian on a 2-for-6 opens doors for the buffs available within the class card pool. A neat trick about clashing on the defensive: you're getting a peek at what will be in your opponent's hand when it comes time for them to defend against you.

Together with Clash of Might and Clash of Agility - previewed over at FABREC - the clash trio serve as the backbone for defensive clashing - something that we've seen pointed towards already with cards like Boast and Stonewall Impasse.

Be sure to check out our 3-part series bridging the gaps between what you currently play and what Heavy Hitters is bringing to the table. Find your niche in the new set!