If you’ve played Flesh and Blood for a while, then you know that the game has seen all of the classes rise and fall across the meta. Among these, we saw Prism gate-keep some great decks from the meta, Guardians strong-arm their way to the top, Ninjas overwhelm with cheap go wide attacks, and many iterations of Runeblade combo across the scene. Across all these shifting landscapes, there has been one class that hasn’t gotten it’s share of the spotlight: Ranger.
Ranger has been around since Arcane Rising, the second set of the game; and in that time, Ranger has been the only class consistently in the back of the meta looking on as everyone else claimed victories. There was a tier named after Azalea. And while Tales of Aria gave us Lexi, Ranger has still been inconsistent at the top tables.
That changes with the introduction of Outsiders. If you look at your FaB calendar, you will see we have entered the Year of the Ranger. And in my estimation, Lexi will play a significant role in driving that movement.
A Proven Contender
Lexi is the earliest case of success with the Ranger class. While overshadowed by her companions in Tales of Aria - Briar and Oldhim present stiff competition - Yuki Lee Bender and other champions of the Livewire were able to take Lexi and stand a fighting chance against what were thought to be impossible odds. After Pro Tour 1, we saw many Lexi players hit the field, but slowly backed away as they didn’t feel the character click.
Uprising provided Lexi with additional Ice tools, and her disruption was able to keep Fai at bay even during his prime. She had enough blues to stand up to Iyslander.
Lexi has been able to play into a majority of the meta for some time. While she isn’t viewed as the best in show, she’s had a presence that can’t be ignored. Prior to Outsiders, she had begun to reach the top 8 frequently at major events, and she's claimed quite a few Pro Quest/Road to Nationals wins. She’s nowhere near the threshold for Living Legend points, but no one would blink an eye if she took home a major event. As such, she's a safe bet to pick up if you want to take time to develop proficiency without fear of leaving the meta through Living Legend.
The Largest Card Pool
Between Dynasty and now Outsiders, Lexi has had a whole new card pool open up to her. For those keeping count, that's 5 consecutive sets of support for the Ice Ranger! Being the only Ranger out of 3 with a talent, she has access to every card Rangers have (sans specializations). She is the only Ranger with access to Elemental attacks, Ice cards, and Lightning cards.
Right from the get go, we see there are many options we can utilize to build a Lexi deck. Ice has the potential to manage the game through control and disruption. Lightning adds an amplification effect to the damage, allowing her to create huge blowups. Fuse-less type builds are now becoming prominent with Lexi, featuring a go-wide build that fires multiple arrows every turn. With Outsiders, we can add a different type of disruption by playing with the Pits' diseases. That's 4 different disruptive tokens we can deal out now!
With all of these cards available to Lexi, it makes her easily one of the most malleable Rangers on the docket. But beyond the card in her deck, she has the ability to incorporate different strategies based off of her equipment. Bows are integral to Rangers, and Lexi has access to more than anyone. With Death Dealer, Lexi can get a draw engine going. If Lexi wants to emulate the abilities of her Arcane Rising counterpart, then she can use Shiver to ensure her arrows gain dominate. But Lexi's signature bow is Voltaire, Strike Twice. Voltaire allows Lexi to load twice, and to give arrows go again or +1 damage. Paired with the head piece New Horizon, Lexi is able to keep up multiple attacks per turn. This makes Lexi the premiere go-wide Ranger.
Optimized for the Elements
Some cards that all Rangers use are the most optimized when used by Lexi. Going wide and having access to a bow that loads multiple times can have many advantages - especially buffs that apply to all attacks that turn, like Rain Razors and Art of War.
Three of a Kind turns allow Lexi to maintain pressure after blocking, expand her toolkit, complete fusions, or just dig for better cards than she started with. The drawback of no cards played from hand is easily circumvented with the combination of Voltaire and New Horizon.
Endless Arrow is a Ranger staple; and while it doesn't have go again inherently, Lexi can grant it with either her bow or her ability. While the other Rangers may end their turn with this card, Lexi can fire the same Endless Arrow multiple times in one turn.
Outsiders from the Outside
The shadow of the Pits looms heavily over Outsiders, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there for Lexi. While a significant proportion of new arrows use Aim counters, many are only getting a +1 from it - which Voltaire can make up for if you don't need to go again.
Amplifying Arrow is a new attack action that provides great resources for fuse-less and Lightning builds. By default, loading it into most of Lexi’s bows will give it +2 for a total power of 4. If Rain Razors were to modify it, that's +3. An Art of War buff will also provide +2. While Amplifying Arrow does have a low floor, the ceiling is undoubtedly high; it wouldn't be hard at all to get it to a 9 or more. And when you're playing Lexi, that's probably not the only arrow you fired this turn!
One new tool available to all Rangers is the quiver. While Lexi didn’t get a specialized quiver, she does have two she can consider. The legendary Quiver of Abyssal Depths aids in fatigue matchups by offering an always-in-play Remembrance for 3 resources. With this, she has the ability to more confidently block without the worry of losing as much tempo in late game situations. Quiver of Rustling Leaves adds a tool that helps Lexi consistently go wider beyond what the bow can provide. The most significant piece of Rustling Leaves is that if you don’t reveal an arrow, you don’t destroy the quiver and can try again. The payoff of this action allowing you to fire one more arrow on a turn can easily provide an extra 5 damage, with the possibility of more disruption.
And again, the new ailments add significant threat to letting Lexi hit. By adding Frailty, Lexi can counteract wide attack patterns from Ninjas, ruin on-hit effects from Assassins, and impede Dorinthea's progress. Inertia can be damaging against other heroes who heavily utilize the arsenal. An Oldhim with Crown of Seeds will feel the pressure as Inertia removes their options; and Iyslander will lose her option to play a card on your turn if she has no arsenal. Bloodroot creates a situation where an opponent has the choice to take damage or pay to remove them. While this isn’t hard disruption, it may put the opponent in a situation where they deny taking more damage by paying the bloodrot, which gives Lexi more room to breath. If they simply take the damage, you nabbed +2 value.
The most notable and divisive card is the Codex of Frailty. This card helps Rangers get around the limitations of having a bow in the late game by bringing back a devastating arrow from their discard to fire. Be mindful, as this can be a double edged sword. If you notice your opponent has an arsenal already, there's no downside to playing Codex out.
Sticking with Lexi
Each class in Flesh and Blood has it’s own engine, and your hero pick changes how the game will be played. That thought is also relevant for Rangers, as the current trio steps into the forefront and shows the community what they are actually capable of. The notion of independence rings even further across the three heroes as they develop their own gameplans and styles - and Lexi has no shortage available to her. She is one of a handful of heroes who can tailor their deck around a specific theme or incorporate multiple types of attacks into her gameplan. Between Ice, Lightning, disease, and no fuse, she has many paths to follow, making her the most diverse Ranger we have to date.
One advantage Lexi will have over the other rangers is that she can show up with an unexpected game plan, where most of the other Rangers with have well-known angles of attack. This makes Lexi the largest threat, as she's the most difficult Ranger for the opponent to prepare for.
Lexi’s lore describes her as a wayfarer, searching for the truth and seeking answers. Ranger players are now also seeking answers as what it means to be boosted into a place of relevance.
