"So Anyway, I Started Blastin": Hanabi Dash in Blitz

While hybrid lists continue to dominate Mechanologist lists in the CC environment, Blitz remains open for innovation. This list is optimized to attack 3 times a turn with boost attacks to leverage the advantages of Hanabi Blaster and Maximum Velocity. It's a relentlessly aggressive deck that likes to play every card in each hand. From a more mechanical standpoint, the list is a deck made of the most efficiently costed Mechanologist cards available to enable some of the strongest payoffs in the format.

In the tradition of animal-named Dash variants, I present: Toad Dash.

Toad Dash is a perfect deck for anyone who loves to present as much raw damage as possible. I also think that Toad Dash falls perfectly into a category I once heard Bravo, Star of the Show placed into: “Dad Decks”, in the sense that the floor of these decks is super accessible and effective for someone that doesn’t have time to learn the nitty gritty details of a particular deck. Learning the basics of Toad Dash takes about 2 games, and you’ll be ready to take the deck to an Armory.

This list is ideal for a first foray into non-budget Blitz decks. Mech has managed to stay relevant in some capacity for multiple set releases in a row, and I don’t see it being knocked out anytime soon. This deck will familiarize a new player with the aggressive archetype play patterns and teach them how to assess risks when trying to make the most out of every card.

We can't begin this conversation anywhere but with Hyper Driver. As our starting item, it's a central piece for enabling our strategy. With Driver giving us an extra resource each turn, boosting 3 times to make Maximum Velocity and Hanabi Blaster reliable is easy.

But there’s the problem. Driver only last 3 turns and then it’s gone. Fortunately, LSS gifted us Driver players with a few new cards that can help. This list is relying on 5 copies of Crankshaft to try to keep our Driver out for an extra turn or two.

Then there are the 2 tools that make this deck so explosive. Maximum Velocity is the main goal of this whole build. One Max Velo is typically enough to secure - and sometimes end - a Blitz game. In combination with Goliath Gauntlet, Max Velo comes in for more than half of every hero’s starting life total - and that's after you’ve already attacked at least 3 times.

Once the Hanabi Blaster is loaded, it's the most efficiently costed weapon in the game. When compared to Dash’s traditional choice - the Teklo Plasma Pistol - it presents 5 damage vs. 4 over 2 turns, and doesn't cost a resource to fire. You might also be thinking about Talishar, the Lost Prince, which has been popular in other Dash builds; but the 2 resources to activate it each turn goes against the core gameplan of the deck. For its resource efficiency and ability to be added to the end of a big turn, Toad Dash plays Blaster into a majority of the meta.

For the most part, Toad Dash will play like a standard Dash deck. You play the card and boost one off the top of the deck. There are a few moments, though, that call for atypical lines.

When you’re given the option of boosting a third time or having an arsenal, you go for the boost. Blaster is extremely important to keep the game moving in your favor, so we prioritize any opportunity to get it reloaded.

Another thing that needs to be considered is Goliath Gauntlet. While typically it feels right to use it to buff a Max Velo, there are times where you should be targeting other cards. One of the key times that you do this is into decks predominantly comprised of 3-block cards and lots of equipment blocks. In this situation, you use it to either enhance a Jump Start (or Crankshaft) above the breakpoint, or to send Payload for lethal.

During testing, I attempted builds with 0, 1, and 2 Teklo Pounders in it. In the end, I settled on 1, and that’s intended for 2 opening plays.

1. If you draw an opening hand that doesn’t boost 3 times but has a Spark of Genius and a blue pitch, you retrieve Teklo Pounder from the deck.
2. Alternatively, if you draw Teklo Pounder in your opening hand and the hand doesn’t boost 3 times, play it and pass.

This should make up for not having Blaster on turn 2 by adding 6 damage over 3 turns and pushing attacks for 2 and 3 above the next break point.

This deck runs 2 equipment in the sideboard for specific matchups. Viziertronic Model i is used for Wizard matchups. Sometimes we need more arcane barrier than what Achilles Accelerators can provide - and that's the entire job of Vizier. While it may be tempting to pop it to filter into a big turn, that’s when the Wizard players will capitalize on your low amount of arcane barrier and kill you while you’re presenting lethal.

Our other sideboard equipment is Galvanic Bender. This is used in 3 matchups. The first two are Azalea and Bravo. These two heroes have specializations they play with dominate that can completely derail Toad Dash’s whole game plan. Luckily, we can usually get away with blocking 8 (with one card and equips). If they haven’t over buffed them or drawn an attack reaction, this will let Dash play her turn but she’s just down one card. The third use is a mirror that you know is also playing Toad Dash, and you’re going second. In this scenario, you know they will be ahead because their turn 1 likely puts a counter on Blaster. The extra 1 life can go a long way, as you’re forced to find a way out of the tempo they’ll have from an early Blaster.

The deck also runs 2 additional weapons in the sideboard. Talishar, the Lost Prince is played into Azalea and the Toad Dash mirror going second.

Into Azalea, we’re using it as Red in the Ledger insurance. Getting hit by RitL is extremely detrimental to the core gameplan. Talishar is ran here to insure that there is something relevant to present on those turns. (It should also be noted that on blaster you end up 2 turns behind if you get hit by Red. There’s the obvious turn that you only attack once, but it also ends up being a turn that you don’t load Blaster - meaning you either aren’t firing it that turn or you aren’t firing it the turn after.)

Into the mirror going second, Talishar is used to be able to have a weapon on the end of your first turn into your opponent. This is to exploit the deck’s no blocks playstyle. It also has more cards getting pitched back into deck. This can be extremely relevant to win the potential late fatigue game state.

Teklo Plasma Pistol is mostly used into Oldhim and Iyslander. These two decks will send the game long, and we want to do 3 things that Pistol encourages:

1. Have an attack ready on board,
2. Float resources for any potential arcane damage or Blizzards, and
3. Avoid fatiguing too quickly.

These matchups are going to be a giant puzzle. Fortunately, Pistol helps a lot with that. I recommend pitching blue to Pistol at the start of most turns; having resources is key because of these decks' ability to give you frostbites in your turn or disrupt you with a defense reaction.

It should also be noted that the deck runs 9 equipment and weapons. There is room to bring in 2 more for your specific meta and tune the deck to your personal equipment tastes.

All in all, Toad Dash is a great deck with a lot of power available to it. The pile is fun, potent, and gives plenty of time for a snack between rounds! If you like going fast and having fun, you should try Toad Dash out at an Armory and maybe even consider it for this upcoming Skirmish season.