Kassai Still Has Legs: Walk With Her Straight to Vegas

High on Kassai

Kassai of the Golden Sand has been my go-to hero in the Classic Constructed format since the World Championship in Philadelphia last year. Despite winning two Battle Hardened and a Calling during the Super Slam competitive season, Kassai is still dismissed as a mid tier hero and overlooked by most of the player base. But even though she got little support in Flesh and Blood’s newest supplementary set, Kassai still has everything she needs to take on the new meta and remains one of my top choices for the Pro Quest Las Vegas season.

“Why would I play Sharpen Steel and swing a saber with Kassai when I could play Savor Bloodshed and swing a Chelicera with Arakni?”

A fair question, and one I hear asked often. Arakni Marionette is no doubt a strong choice in Classic Constructed, but anyone who thinks Kassai doesn’t get a good rate or return on her offense is severely underestimating the power of her activated ability. With Kassai, on-hit create a Gold is worth just as much as on-hit draw a card off Savor Bloodshed. Gold tokens are more than just a payoff when playing Kassai, they are the entire game plan. Whether you’re stacking them to build your army, or cracking them to get more than a full card’s worth of value against aggro, Gold tokens are how Kassai wins games.

While Kassai can push above rate numbers on offense, she also generates incredible value on defense too. We here at AGE love to gawk over how much value our Valiant Dynamo accumulates each game. Every time you convert your hand into two weapon swings, you can add 1 point of value to those legendary boots. The more Kassai is able to trade small doses of damage with the opponent and the longer the game goes on, the more value she will get out of her armor suite. Therefore, Kassai players should lean more defensive with their play and be willing to block for 3 on defense more often than (but not always!) push 3 more damage on offense.

Most defensive decks in Flesh and Blood tend to have the common issue of converting their full hand if their opponent takes a turn off to set up. We’ve all been in that situation where we pass against a Verdance or Guardian and ask if they can convert their four card hand. But Kassai is different. The deck is constructed with cards that can generate value on both offense and defense. Even extra blues can be converted into extra damage from Braveforge Bracers or Vigor tokens from Grains of Bloodspill that will help pay for your future turns.

Combine Kassai’s incredible hero ability, high value fridge, and the modality of all her cards on offense and defense and you have one of the best midrange decks Flesh and Blood has ever seen. But wait - there’s more! We’d be remiss not to talk about Kassai’s access to allies, the Centari Sellswords. Kassai might be the best Illusionist in Classic Constructed right now, too!

The Deck that Won Some Flexors

One of the biggest selling points to get me to register Kassai at Worlds Philadelphia, was her new specialization from the Super Slam expansion slot - Blood Follows Blade. Obviously, the card checks all the boxes for what Kassai wants. Another strong yellow, block 3, extender, and incredible value if you manage to connect with it.

Early on in our testing for Worlds, it was apparent how much easier the games felt when you get a hit in with Blood Follows Blade against all opposing heroes including Cindra, Gravy Bones, and Verdance. But if your opponent was willing or wanting to play defense and block your sabers, Kassai’s new card didn't feel as powerful. It was too easy to block a naked saber for 2, but when we paired Blood Follows Blade with Outland Skirmish it felt amazing, 5 is much more annoying to block. That’s when I decided more front pumps were the way. A couple copies of Sharpen Steel replaced In the Swing, and when we saw how well it flowed with both Blood Follows Blade and Sharpened Senses (it’s in the name!) we were soon on all 3 Sharpen Steel and it’s a mainstay in all my lists now.

Kassai was already great into Cindra and Gravy Bones, and the added front pumps plus life gain from Sigil of Solace gave us so many points against Verdance. The list performed very well for our team in Philadelphia and we saw no reason to stop playing it after Worlds. I took the same list to the next Battle Hardened in Las Vegas, and won my second Battle Hardened! Then I took a very similar list to the next tournament in Seattle and ended up winning my first Calling! Kassai is real.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Now we’re in a new competitive season with a slightly different meta thanks to Compendium of Rathe, but Kassai’s role still feels the same. She is very happy to take on the expected aggro decks of this season like Kayo (or whoever will replace him, RIP) and Dash I/O by trading damage efficiently while fully blocking out the spike turns or any relevant hit effects. On the opposite end of the meta, Kassai’s ability to raise multiple armies should make her excellent into the fatigue-style guardians that were rising in popularity a couple months back. Her biggest weakness in this format will still be the Elemental Wizards, but if you dedicate some sideboard space to these matchups then Kassai can have the answers and get there against Oscilio and Verdance! I’ve been testing Kassai vs everything in preparation for the upcoming ProQuests, and I’ve come up with a list that I feel comfortable bringing to my local Pro Quests and upcoming Callings.

Most of the changes for this season are seen in the sideboard. The main core remains mostly the same, though I do like to make small changes to the numbers and splits of attack reactions between local tournaments - just to keep them guessing! The sideboard all the options you could need to bring in nine more cards for the matchup you have in front of you. The new Warrior majestic Blunten easily slots into Kassai decks, replacing That All You Got? in my list, and is expected to be an all-star against Marionette, Fai, and other warriors. Our other tech slots in the sideboard are dedicated to Hold the Line and Amulet of Echoes. You can expect to face some number of opponents on Dash I/O, Fai, Gravy Bones, Kayo, and Oscilio this Proquest season, so we’re back to Hold the Line as a powerful defensive tool that works well with Balance of Justice against decks that will be drawing cards on their turn. Amulet of Echoes is a sad but necessary tech card against Oscilio, who many expect to be the boogeyman of the new format, and I’ve found that playing all 3 copies gives us the best chance against the Essence of Lightning Wizard. Keep in mind, even though this list was just updated for the new format, the Classic Constructed meta is expected to change a lot throughout this season with so many heroes close to reaching living legend. 

Kassai is Shakeup-Resistant

As the format evolves, the Kassai list will need some updates to adapt to the new expected field. Kayo and Fai are already very close to living legend and may be some of the first to rotate out of the format this season which might make Hold the Line less attractive than other defensive options like Fiddler’s Green or Shelter from the Storm and Balance of Justice worse than Crown of Providence. If Verdance leaves the format, I will rejoice and look to replace the life gain from Sigil of Solace with either extra pumps/reactions to be more aggressive or alternate cards that help combat fatigue decks. One pet card of mine that I’ve been testing is High Current Currency which can create an absurd amount of Gold against those fatigue decks playing Fyendal’s Spring Tunic and help you raise the largest army Rathe has ever seen! All the cards I’m always considering are in the “Maybe” section of the Fabrary link, and if you ever have any questions or suggestions about inclusions in the list feel free to reach out to me on Discord or social media! I wish you all the best in this Pro Quest season and hope all the tools available to Kassai of the Golden Sand will help you qualify for Pro Tour Las Vegas!