Images courtesy of Legend Story Studios
Characterized by their sheer offense, Essence of Lightning heroes have made a mark in the Flesh and Blood metagame as terrors which any player should prepare for should they wish to join tournaments; Lexi, Livewire and Briar, Warden of Thorns have both had their time under the limelight. The latest to join their ranks is Aurora, Shooting Star, an Elemental Runeblade hero who is considered one of the fastest decks in the format.
Priced at $39.99 USD, Armory Decks offer a quick route for new Flesh and Blood players to hop into the game at a reasonably competitive level. It’s one of the best ways to get into Classic Constructed, the main format of the game.
What’s in the Aurora Armory Deck?
Designed as an introductory product, these Armory Decks outfit new players with a fully playable deck. This Aurora deck in particular already contains most of her core cards, which lessens the logistics on the player to acquire upgrades.
Right from the get go, we’re presented with three copies each of Sizzle and Static Shock. These two cards were previously only available (and only in two copies) in the Aurora 1st Strike Precon, which meant grabbing a playset necessitated the purchase of two copies of that product.
The deck has already met the bare minimum expectations from my end; everything else is gravy.
Here’s the decklist:
Aurora Armory Deck Key Cards
Speed is the name of the game. Entwine Lightning, Flittering Charge, and Photon Rush are above or on-rate attacks with go again. This helps chain together long sequences of attacks without pitching any cards.
Arcanic Shockwave, Burn Up // Shock, and Static Shock are ways to ping the opponent with Arcane damage and give a little bit of reach to the deck.
Electrostatic Discharge, Lightning Press, and Sizzle pump our attacks and act as additional copies of three-for-zeroes, which are pretty much the bread and butter of aggresive decks.
Arc Lightning is one of Aurora’s most defining cards and allows for a huge and unexpected way to close out games once the opponent reaches a low life total.
Meanwhile, Skyward Serenade and Skyzyk are a new package of cards meant to be played together – though both also have merits of being included just for their standalone effects. If anything else, with Arc Lightning, Skyward Serenade (choosing the first two modes) is already two Arcane damage pings!
Written in the Stars lets us extend our go again chains by drawing an extra card. I’m not sure how else we can use this card in the base deck other than in conjunction with Arc Lightning. Spark Spray has finally been printed in red and could be a decent include while we wait for upgrades.
Shock Frock, Starlight Striders, and Zap Clappers are all serviceable equipment cards which can serve us for a long time. At worst, they can defend for extra life points. Cap of Quick Thinking seems to be the only dud, though do note we can proc this more than once a turn.
Star Fall is Aurora’s go-to Weapon. Definitely glad they included the same one here.
Upgrading the Aurora Armory Deck
The current Aurora builds seem to be set in stone. And if any meta shifts happen, it should revolve around the new cards Written in the Stars and Skyward Serenade – which we already have in the deck.
The cheapest upgrades are Second Strike, Ravenous Rabble, and Scar for a Scar, which all make the deck more consistent with more zero-cost go again attacks.
Sigil of Suffering and Sink Below have found a home in Aurora as defensive options, so definitely pick those up.
The third copy of Arc Lightning is definitely mandatory. The earlier we pick this up, the better.
As for more pricey upgrades, Gone in a Flash increases the power level through the roof (or skies, in this case). Channel Lightning Valley is more gas for each of our turns; the game should ideally end before we need to destroy the Aura, but if not, we still have more copies in the deck. Current Funnel is yet another way to make the deck more consistent.
Out of the generic majestics, Enlightened Strike should be the first pickup for Aurora. Command and Conquer can follow later, though some players forgo this expensive staple altogether.
Aether Ironweave and Snapdragon Scalers are both common equipment that should be easy to pick up. Meanwhile, Grasp of the Arknight is definitely an aspirational upgrade equipment-wise, but is definitely a Runeblade staple.
Make sure to pick up a set of the Nullrune equipment as well; Legend Story Studios should definitely include these in their Armory Precons going forward if the intent is for new players to buy Armory Decks and immediately play in the Armory event.
The Card Gamer Verdict
Despite only having two copies of Arc Lightning, the Aurora Armory Deck is definitely the best introductory product for new players to jump straight into Classic Constructed – even better than the Dash I/O Armory Deck. Being easy to pilot is a huge bonus as well!
