New Year, Nuu Deck: Setting Goals for FAB in 2025

If you follow my writing on the Rathe Times, you probably know me for my love of Sandscour Azalea. Last year, I dedicated 9 months to refining and representing that deck - most notably, with an appearance on stream at a Pro Quest. I made significant developments in the Sandscour concept, and drove interest in the list across the wider Azalea community. Moreover, when people ask about Sandscour Azalea now, other players refer them to me. My lists and my articles are treated as source material.

None of this would have happened if, last January, I hadn't sat down in my gaming space and thought to myself, "What do I want to accomplish in FAB this year?" It was a new practice for me - setting goals for my hobby - but in retrospect the timing makes sense. After picking up FAB during the pandemic, I sought ways to enmesh myself with the wider community. I wanted to write articles, which became editing and managing the Rathe Times.

A year passed before I was talking with a newly-opened game shop about hosting organized play. Alexandria Games worked with me to demo Flesh and Blood, and together we built a community. But two years later, Alexandria closed, and we had to relocate to a shop twice as far from me. With that, my ability to push community growth was drastically diminished.

Without formally laying them out, my goals for FAB had consistently developed and guided me. So when, in those early days of 2024, I found myself wondering what I was working toward next, I settled on this: instead of experiencing absolutely everything FAB had to offer, I wanted to focus on my favorite heroes and really develop specialized skills on them. I'd done the math and realized that, if I kept building decks at the rate I was going, rotating through every new hero just to see what gameplay they had to offer, I was going to end the year having played my favorite heroes only 2-3 times. If novelty was what I sought, the widening array of heroes was providing that - but if I wanted to build up any kind of expertise, I needed to focus. 

And I did want expertise. I wanted to be known as an Azalea player; to possess the earned wisdom to make developments in her decklists without having to refer to any higher authorities; and if I could pull off a notable placement with her, all the better - but honestly, if I could get on a stream, that would be the biggest thrill.

Despite attending a personal record of 3 'major' events last year (an area Pro Quest, a Calling at US Nationals, and a Calling in Milwaukee), I never reached the upper heights of tournament placement - but in every other way, I used 2024 to become the kind of Azalea player I wanted to be. (To honor that mission, we're unlocking my Sandscour Azalea content for the rest of the month - including a subscriber-exclusive Pro Series piece.)

So now it's 2025, and again I'm asking myself, "What are my goals this year?" 

I could keep pushing forward with Azalea, but honestly, it's been too long without significant changes, and I have to acknowledge that other side of me: the gamer who craves exploration of all a game has to offer. I'm sure we'll have Ranger in a new set by the end of the year, and hopefully it'll give enough ammo to Aim strategies that I'll feel irresistibly called back to my primary hero - but until that time, I've hung up the bow and given my locals a break from the disruption of Red in the Ledger.

Last year's ambitions brought about an unscripted development in my local scene: three of my fellow FAB players found their competitive streaks as well, and we found ourselves forming a sub-identity among the wider group as 'those with competitive aspirations'. We are none of us 'going the distance' yet, but those weekends together at Callings were some of the highlights of 2024. That's something we all want to continue, and it's helped to shape my 2025 goals. I've also expanded my goal-setting, because I found the narrow goals for Azalea grew thin by the fall.

1. Get good with Nuu.

Since her debut, Nuu has absolutely enchanted me. The Assassin class is thematically one step removed from Ranger, and its emphasis on disruption and knowing your matchups speaks to the sort of gamer I inherently am. Arakni and Uzuri both fell short of my hopes for the class (I regularly tried to build both heroes, but never found a decklist that clicked with me), but in Nuu I found a hero who relied on deception and fake-outs to gain advantage; and as an added bonus, the Mystic trait emphasized blues, a strategic angle I've loved since Ice debuted.

If Nuu has a drawback, it's her popularity. The hipster in me struggles with jumping on the bandwagon of a hero who claims such a large share of the meta - but the flipside is, unless I plan to skip playing her entirely, I need to play Nuu now before the masses drive her to Living Legend. (And it will be the masses, because in my opinion, it's quantity, not quality, driving Nuu's LL score. She's not all that well positioned into the wider meta, and with each expansion her sideboard needs to answer more strategies.) In the past, I reconciled this by playing 'my own version' of Nuu, insisting on using fringe cards in the same way I had with Sandscour Azalea - but I lack the years of experience with Nuu and the Assassin class in general, and have to acknowledge that I'm not yet at that phase of my growth journey with her. For now, I need to learn from what works.

In 2025, I expect to bring Nuu to competitive events.

2. Find a viable Verdance.

But while I'm fairly certain of Nuu's competitive potential, I have a strong desire to see Verdance reach her potential as well. My relationship with Wizard has been slow to blossom (Kano was just not my type), and I credit Emperor for overcoming my distaste for the arcane. With Verdance, I've found a similar hybrid hero, and the puzzle of making her work is irresistible.

With Nuu, I need to get on the bandwagon and learn from the mainstream; but as I work on Verdance, I'm allowing myself to approach her with a little less deference to conventional wisdom. As long as she remains in the comfortable middle of the meta, it's easy to justify straying from the fold.

That said, my intent isn't to prove my own theories on Verdance, and if someone builds a list that resonates with me, I'm happy to adopt it. What I really need is more reps and better instincts, to develop that baseline of skill upon which I can build a successful deck. Then when the meta shifts, or Verdance gets a new card that really unlocks her potential, I'll have the experience to harness it.

1. Get Dash I/O into the Mechanoid.

Even with the loss of High Octane, I firmly believe there's a viable build in Mechanoid Dash I/O. The upsides are obvious: incredible blocking, free 6-power attacks each turn, and the visual of equipping a mech suit to close the game. But since losing High Octane, the endgame has had to redefine itself. No longer a combo finisher, Nitro Mechanoid is now a value engine.

Dash I/O is still a fantastic way to get your Hyper Drivers into play. Searching the top of your deck, she can play them out at instant speed, sidestepping the cost of an action. But using Hyper Drivers means we're not using crank as much as we'd like to. Moreover, Hyper Drivers generate resources - which the traditional aggro builds haven't needed. And if we're trying to get value out of Nitro Mechanoid across multiple turns, we're in trouble if we boost away most of our deck.

So I turned to the other end of the Mechanologist card pool: those 2-cost 6s that, if you need it, can pick up go again with a boost. This way, we can approach similar levels of damage output while conserving our deck a little longer. We're also using those resources that we so effortlessly produce. And because we're no longer relying on wide aggro turns and constant pressure - remember, we have an incredible late game with the Mechanoid - we can block a little more and play from 2-card hands if needed.

This concept - of a Dash that goes tall and preserves a deck for a stronger late game - has become a favorite of mine, and it's totally refreshed the often-stagnant Mechanologist class in my esteem. And while it's not there yet (what I'd give for a relevant weapon!), I want to be on the front lines when it comes of its own. I claim this as a concept goal, because I don't believe it's truly competitive today, but I want to keep actively toying with it.

2. Whatever's happening with Warrior, I want Kassai to be a part of it. 

Back in Crucible of War, Kassai was my best Blitz deck; and since that time, no other Warrior has clicked with me like she did. Heavy Hitters upgraded her to Classic Constructed, and for a time - specifically, during the era of peak numbers efficiency that defined that set - she was fairly legit. But Kassai's glory days have passed, and with the banning of Cash In my last sparks of interest in her deck died.

I want that spark back.

The fourth and final hero on my list of 2025 VIPs is Kassai, and she has a lot of work to do. First, she needs to break out of the 'too fair' label that plagues so many Warriors. Second, she needs to incorporate some unpredictability and variety - things I believe she's perfectly capable of, but haven't been part of her mainstream identity in quite a while. And third, she needs to find tools in The Hunted.

Of all my goals thus far, this one is the least defined. I think it's most accurate to say, "I want to stay plugged into Kassai's development", because I don't actually want to play her right now, but I want to be aware of when that changes. I'm putting her on the list so I don't lose sight of that.

1. 3-0 an Armory every month.

The first of my performance goals is about not letting myself slip or get too caught up in janky decks - something I'm prone to do if I don't watch myself. I consider myself one of the better players at my locals, but I'm also predisposed toward off-meta decks and personal favorites. Often, I use Armories as testing grounds for new ideas, rather than a place to refine my skills on my main decks. I envision this as an easy goal, but when I looked back at my 2024 Armory stats, I only managed to go 3-0 twice. Look, I'll settle for 2-0 and a loss in the finals...

2. Make Day 2 at a Calling.

The first goal really lays the groundwork for this second goal, which is much loftier: I want to survive to the second day of a Calling. Last year, I was focused on representing my favorite hero, knowing that the odds of piloting an off-meta version of Azalea to Day 2 were rather long. But having found encouraging results during that experience, I'm now ready to buckle down and aim for more.

When 2025 wraps up, I expect I'll look back and see that I didn't manage to accomplish everything I set out to do. But by giving myself concrete goals, I'm accomplishing a few things that improve my hobby experience.

First, I'm narrowing my focus. As someone who's historically dabbled in everything FAB has to offer, I need to narrow the scope or risk overspending on every Runeblade Legendary that comes along - only to play my Runeblade decks twice a year. Last year's vow to focus on my favorite heroes - at that time, Azalea, Dash, Prism, and Kassai, but soon expanding to include Nuu and Enigma - successfully kept Levia Redeemed out of my cart for over a year now (I've only ever dabbled in Blitz Levia, so there's no reason I need to own that card).

Second, I'm giving myself external motivation to do better - and by actively preparing and working at improvement, my game nights are more satisfying. When you're working and parenting and meeting life's obligations, it's easy to leave your cards on the shelf between Armory events, only to roll in with the same deck - built for an outdated meta, known and solved by your regular opponents - and take another round of foreseeable losses that leave you questioning why you even came. By tying my Armories into a larger project of building a competitive deck and developing the skills required to win with it, even an 0-3 performance serves a purpose. Learn from it, improve, and move forward.

Finally, I'm creating a larger narrative about myself in the space of this hobby. Last year, I doubled down on Sandscour Azalea; I proved her at my locals and in casual testing; I took her to a Pro Quest where I started on a winning run until a misplay into Uzuri changed my course (but I learned from that mistake, and would likely win the matchup on a replay); I overcame Kano and Enigma at Calling: Minneapolis before 3 matchups into fatigue proved that I needed to solve that matchup, not dodge it; and in a final effort, I forced Azalea into the fresh Rosetta meta at Calling: Milwaukee, only to find that fatigue had only grown stronger. It wasn't the victorious ending I'd hoped for, but it was a neat resolution to the year's question: how far could I go with Sandscour Azalea? The answer, as it turned out, wasn't found at an event, but in a community: after inspiring many to give Sandscour a fair shot, talking through play patterns and exploring variations, it was the player who inspired me, Jacob Kissel, who put a Sandscour list on the fabtcg website after rediscovering his love for the deck - in part through my proselytizing.

This year, try setting goals for yourself. Build a narrative about your FAB career in 2025. Be intentional about your hobby, and make note of your progress. Whether that's a winning record or simply more time spent with your favorite hero, you'll set yourself up to get the most out of your precious recreation time if you push aside the noise and keep your own priorities in mind.