Picture it, you’re in the vast plains of Rathe surrounded by the elements of nature. In the distance looms the evergrowing trees of Rosetta, flush with life and decay. A cold whisper touches your cheek as a gust of wind comes from the frozen peaks of Mount Isen. A crack of thunder in the distance from Enion, the rocky islands floating among the clouds, spurs you to channel the elements of the Flow. But in what shape do they manifest? Do you reach for your trusty bow, every arrow fired requiring you to draw the tension in your strings? Perhaps you lack a marksman’s patience and would rather unleash your natural arcane prowess, using your sword as a conduit to channel your energy. If the arcane inside becomes too much, you can let the magicks be free to explode from your fingertips. If a stalwart defense is precious to you, then grab a hammer, a shield, and your resolve as you prepare to weather the storm that's to come.
2026 - Year of the Frostbite
Winter is coming so it's time to start preparing your mind for the upcoming storm. I believe 2026 will feature the prominent return of Ice and Lightning to the metagame. For those of you who don't keep up with the lore articles, Mastery Pack Guardian brought Valda back and, while she doesn't channel the elements of Ice and Earth like other guardians from Aria, she's an Aria native all the same who uses the power of seismic surge tokens to represent her connection to the Flow. More importantly, MPG showed us the changing landscape of Aria and the dangers to come.
Long ago in the Third Age, Wayfarers (also known as Rangers) and Ollin Guardians worked together with Rosetta Runeblades and Wizards to fight back the terrors of the Old Ones. While they couldn't be permanently defeated, they were frozen in ice with Jarl and other Ollin guardians for what seemed like an eternity. The first story we received alongside the release of Tales of Aria teased that Oldhim was looking for his brothers and sisters to prepare for the second coming of the Old Ones. While he may not have had much success in that regard, he found allies in Briar, Lexi, Bravo, and even Yorick.
Moving forward to Rosetta, we saw the split of the elemental talents and a new way to harness them. Rosetta’s lore, once again, alluded to the awakening when Oscilio told Aurora and Melody that his own awakening signified the return of the Old Ones:
“Meet Scili,” offered Aurora. “I found him in a vault.”
“Oscilio,” he corrected. “Your ancestors may have had the foresight to delay it, but the changes to which you bear witness are the rumblings of their return. For if I am awake, then so now are the ones of old.” (Seeds of Renewal, LSS 2024)
Now that the people of Rosetta have lifted the veil and accepted Florian’s cycle of decay and rebirth, the residents of Aria are more united than ever. As a result, the future of Aria is likely to lean more into that internal conflict that has been brewing all this time:
“The wayfarer slung his bow. “Listen. We did what had to be done. That ravenir was from the time before, unfrozen with Jarl—””- Orien (Trouble in Larinkmorth, LSS 2025)
Orien, one of the new characters mentioned in this lore drop, is a wayfarer working alongside Jarl to quell the returning Old One threat. Orien’s appearance likely hints that he is one of the new elemental rangers we can expect to be released in a future Aria set. James White also confirmed that Aurora still has a part to play in the story of Rathe and I don't believe they would just drop her re-release in any random non-Aria set.
Earth, Lightning, and the future of Ice
Before we deep dive into the three elements and how they interact with their respective classes, understanding what the elements are at their core is a fundamental step. At a first glance, if we look at cards like Bravo, Star of the Show or Elemental Strike there is a clear pattern:
-Earth goes “tall” by swinging one big attack each turn, imposing and unmovable like a mountain.
-Lightning goes “wide” by sending several attacks and instants in the same turn, a flash of lightning and thunder electrifying the battlefield.
- Ice is about “control” and “limitations.” In the case of Elemental Strike, dominate limits the amount of cards the defending hero can block with.
These are consistent patterns each element touches upon even as far back as the first Aria set and it continues to this day, although the interpretations of the effects on cards tend to change and grow as the game becomes more complex.
However, the three elements aren't just limited to go tall, go wide, and dominate. They also have a few other underlying themes that aren't seen in the “Captain Planet” trinity of elemental cards, but are still prominent amongst the heroes. Earth looks not only to swing large attacks or blast the opponent with big arcane, but also to hold out as long as possible with defense reactions, embodiments of earth, and life gain to make outlasting the opponent easier. Lightning plays at instant speed and blasts the opponent with additional damage riders like unblockable pings or arcane damage. Ice reinforces its control theme with hand disruption in the form of frostbites and on-hits that make the opponent pay additional resource taxes or lose a card from hand in order to shut the opponent out from enacting their typical gameplan.
I know everyone is excited to remember the history of Ice and how it created misery for its adversaries both in lore and on the table top, but we should take a moment to see how the Tales of Aria mechanics evolved from 2021 Flesh and Blood to the modern day. Looking at Rosetta, we can make a few fair guesses at the form future Ice cards will take, and can get ready to theorycraft a solution for the element’s inevitable return.
Earth or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Time and Love the Fatigue
“For Davnir she feels the twin lands tremble.” - Leaven Sheath
Earth was initially about resilience and everlasting life, which is why Florian introducing the cycle of life and death was a struggle for Verdance to accept until she learned it was needed to give way to rebirth. Verdance was actually the aggressor in this story. She struggled with a conflict between her internal values and a changing Candlehold. The recent passing of her mentor, The Queen, left the realm in the care of Florian, who was soft-spoken and knew how to cure Candlehold, but was terrible at expressing his emotions. Here's a quick recap on Rosetta and how it shook up the lands of Aria.
- The seemingly immortal matriarch Queen Celvera permanently sealed off Candlehold from outsiders when “horrors” (Old Ones) threatened to consume it, which created an eternal “paradise” for her people.
- Candlehold is referenced as both a sanctuary and a prison where summer is endless and passion is “dulled by the weight of everlasting life.” (World of Rathe, Aria)
- Fast forward to present day, Rotwood begins creeping into Candlehold’s territory.
- The wildlife of Candlehold willingly enter into Rotwood, gently embraced by Florian, and give their life to decay, much to the dismay of Verdance.
- Verdance believes that Candlehold, its denizens, and its harmony need to be protected and preserved.
- Florian believes the current natural order brings sorrow to Candlehold, and death is a natural part of the cycle.
- Big plot twist: the immortal Queen dies of old age, insisting to a panicked Verdance “I am returning to the earth… As we all must, in time,” (Roots of Change, LSS 2024) leaving behind a Seed of Tomorrow seemingly entrusted to Verdance.
- Verdance wants to replant the Seed, which would eventually reincarnate the Queen and keep Candlehold the same, permanently stuck in time.
- Florian, on the other hand, wants to plant it “beyond Candleholds roots” to “embrace a tomorrow we cannot know” (Essence of Decay, LSS 2024).
- The citizens of Candlehold, exhausted from eternal life, all agree with Florian. Verdance believes he's infecting their minds, *insert big anime battle.*
- The fight ends in a draw, everyone leaves with Florian, and Verdance is left to consider the future of Candlehold.
- Verdance doesn’t understand why everyone would want to give up eternal life and go into an uncertain future that embraces death.
- Verdance discovered a Fruit of the Forest, a grape left behind and forgotten to all as food wasn't needed for immortals.
- She ate it, but she couldn't comprehend the taste except that it tasted like the future. Yum yum.
- Verdance, Florian, and the rest of the Rosetta open the pathway between Candlehold and Aria, thereby meeting Aurora and Oscilio.
- They plant the Seed of Tomorrow outside Candlehold, inviting the people of Aria, time, and the Flow to return to their land.
- The ancient spirit of Davnir, which represents Earth, is reconnected with the Flow just in time for the threats reawakening in Aria.
In Classic Constructed there are three classes representing Earth– Runeblade, Wizard, and Guardian via Florian, Verdance, and Jarl respectively. Before that, we had Oldhim, Starvo, and Briar, all of whom were able to channel Earth along with another element such as Ice and Lightning. With Rosetta, LSS chose to split Earth and Lightning apart, likely to respect game balance– having access to the “go-wide” of Lightning and the disruption of Ice or Earth was likely a balancing nightmare. Splitting Earth into its own thing allowed it to obtain a stronger and revamped identity in Rosetta, so I think it was an overall win.
Mechanically, Earth heroes tend to be slower, build up to strong late game effects over time, and fortify themselves with powerful defensive tools like Rootbound Carapace (dearly departed to a recent B and R announcement). Earth heroes also have access to powerful disruption, Felling of the Crown and Plow Under being (in)famous examples, but Earth disruption is designed in a very flavorful way. When a player is disrupted with an Earth card, they will always return the card to their deck instead of discarding it (signifying life returning to the Earth). This has been a hallmark of the Earth talent dating back all the way back to Mulch from Tales of Aria in 2021. Thankfully for Earth players this lore-forward mechanic allows Earth heroes to recycle a few of their own cards back into their deck and, in so doing, have powerful end game win conditions.
Ramping damage is the name of the game for Earth to represent growth: back in the day there were quite a few bad Guardian pumps in the mix, such as Earthlore Empowerment, and a couple of famously insane ones like Channel Mount Heroic. As a compromise, modern day Earth cards typically have a decompose restriction in order to access power ramp effects, which ties into Rosetta's acceptance of decay and rebirth. Damage ramp and “going tall” even extended to arcane damage with the release of Channel the Millennium Tree. The soil for your plants needs to be nurtured every turn, but with enough decomposition they'll grow into an overwhelming forest!
With Rosetta came the release of two new Earth guardians, Terra and Jarl. Each offered interesting insight on the future of elemental guardians. Surprisingly, after splitting Earth and Lightning, LSS allowed Jarl to keep the dual element identity from Tales of Aria. If I had to guess, it's probably because Earth and Ice compliment each other pretty well, but maybe James White just thought another Ice Earth Guardian was cool. I'll touch more on Jarl when discussing Ice, so instead let's talk about our mono-Earth Guardian. Terra expanded on the theme of Might tokens, recycling excess or “dead” resources into growing power in future turns. If a mono-Earth Guardian is ever revisited in the Classic Constructed format, I wouldn't be surprised if extra Suspense auras were added to their card pool due to how well they line up into the theming of Earth’s slow damage stacking gameplay.
Lightning - Gotta Go Fast
“For Yvor she dances through twice-sundered skies.” - Stormwind Sheath
Lightning, Lightning, Lightning… In my humble opinion, I think this is the most under-hated of the three elements. For how much guff the community gives Ice and Earth, Lightning tends to spawn some of the most degenerate cards (Voltaire, Ball Lightning, Channel Lightning Valley, Electromagnetic Summersault, the Go Again clause on Starvo’s hero text. Need I say more?). It’s probably because Lightning hosts a crowd of fan favorite heroes: the aforementioned Starvo and Briar, but also Lexi (the Ranger to end all Rangers), Aurora (many players’ first introduction to Flesh and Blood), and the infamous Oscilio, who has taken up the mantle where Kano left off. If you like to slam your entire hand on the table but still want the excitement and gameplay intricacies instant speed cards have to offer, then perhaps Lightning is what you've been looking for all this time.
Lightning is known for abusing go again, a yellow pitch strip on some of their signature cards, and a handful of instants to represent a quick flash of power as unpredictable as a thunder storm. Keen-eyed readers may have also noticed that there are quite a few “arcane-like” damage effects. In Runeblade and Wizard this means “honest” arcane damage, but in Ranger I refer to damage rider effects that read “when you deal a damage, deal 1 more damage.” Damage rider effects can be seen printed on cards like Shock Charmers and Frazzle. After all, they say Lightning often strikes twice right? Don't fact check me on that one.
Out of the three elements from Tales of Aria, Lightning changed the least in their transition from Aria to Rosetta. The identity was already pretty strong, LSS just leaned more into what made it great– more instant speed tricks, more go again, and more arcane. The most interesting change was that Rosetta scrapped a lot of Elemental (and all fuse) cards in favor of bona-fide Lightning cards, thereby cutting out the awkward middle man that added a few too many deck building constraints. This really juiced Lightning card synergy, and created a lightning tribal playstyle (the best examples being Volzar and Star Fall). While aggro Lightning decks like Aurora still ran a few good generic go again cards, it wasn't just a pile of the best on-rate generic/in class go again cards being abused by Lexi’s and Briar's intrinsic go again and the gameplay of Lightning finally matched the identity.
Lightning has been distilled from some disjointed fuse cards into a talent as refined as Scotch and no hero is more representative of this than Oscilio. Half of his cards are instants, and he charges his arcane damage like a tesla coil with every Lightning card he plays. This makes his attack actions all the more alluring. Each one pulls crackling arcane energies from the air and brings him further to unleashing a maelstrom.. If you haven't been on the opposite side of an Oscilio when he draws the perfect combo hand, throws the same attack at you over and over to unleash a 30+ damage turn, then count yourself lucky. As much as it pains me to say, I can't help but admire the flavor of being caught in an unpredictable lightning storm as told through gameplay. If you can get over the tilt of losing a game, then you can see that it’s actually quite exhilarating. LSS nailed the flavor of both Lightning and Wizard gameplay here and it really shows how a strong theme of a talent can have a huge influence on a Heroes gameplay.
Aurora 2 is on the horizon and I would speculate that the Orien mentioned in Valda’s lore drop could be our next mono-lightning hero dropped alongside her, Orien being a Lightning Ranger. The name Orien comes from Greek mythology’s Orion and referenced the celestial constellation “The Hunter”- pretty on par with LSS’ on-the-nose naming schemes. Lightning already has a few cards that deal with the theme of stars and constellations such as Written in the Stars, so this doesn’t surprise me.
There are two ways LSS could split a Lightning Ranger that immediately come to mind. The first is the most obvious: the 0 for 4 and 1 for 5 arrow barrage we know and love from our days with Lexi. It’d be pretty on brand for a Lightning Ranger and it’s an easy formula to follow, just apply a few Lightning talent restrictions in order to gain go again and you're good to go. The second, and far more interesting, way is if LSS leans on the bonus damage part of the Lightning talent, creating an “Elemental Archer” that has on-hit damage riders like Flashfreeze, Buzz Bolt, and Frazzle. Fuse as a mechanic may have been left behind with ToA, but a Lightning Ranger can still lean into the enhanced pool of excellent new Lightning cards to breathe new life into a few of the old Aria arrows. The identity is already there for a Lightning Ranger, we just need a quiver-full of Lightning arrows to match.
It's a matter of when and not if when it comes to the return of a Lightning Ranger, and if you want a jumpstart on theory crafting when they start spoiler season I’d consider the following:
- What story is LSS trying to tell? Is this a rookie Lightning Ranger that just knows to go again, or a veteran hunter that patiently stalks their prey and surprises them with a shock of instant speed electrified power?
- When in doubt, Lightning instants are likely your friend. Nothing says Lightning like moving at instant speed.
- Look back at old Lexi and the story she told, not just by her lore but by the real-life misery she created on her ascent to living legend. 1 for 5 on-hit blood rot, instant speed rain razors? LSS likes to do call backs so they might just replace that line with some Lightning arrows and instants to balance out how broken Voltaire was.
- Lightning is a pretty straight forward talent by nature, aside from outliers like Oscilio. Lightning Ranger is likely to follow suit, but make sure to familiarize or reaquaint yourself with how the damage riders of Frazzle, Buzzbolt, and Shock Charmers work together. Just in case.
Ice Ice Baby
“For Glacia she remembers when two worlds touched.” - Frosthaven Sheath
We’ve reached the pinnacle of the mountain. Hopefully you've brought a couple of blues because it's cold up here. Despite Rosetta reintroducing only Lightning and Earth to modern day Flesh and Blood, Ice has arguably had the most time in the spotlight. We’ve been graced with 3 Ice Guardians, an Ice Ranger and even an Ice Wizard. Impressive when you consider that LSS hasn’t released any product featuring Ice since Uprising in 2022, Jarl armory deck aside. Ice has, in my humble opinion, the most flavorful lore implementation. From Frostbite tokens and Freeze, to Jarl’s tendency to shatter equipment, piloting an Ice hero feels like a role-players delight. While Ice was the first of the Aria talents that raced to Living Legend, it has yet to make much of an impact on today's meta game due to modern day heroes having a higher quality of cards to choose from and the constant dominance of heroes that play a high count of quality blues such as those of the Mistveil and Gravy Bones.
A little cold weather never hurts anyone, but prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures will force your body to spend more energy to keep up with the climate and, eventually, frostbite. The devs at LSS captured this sentiment perfectly when translating it to the cards on the table. Ice heroes want to play a longer game by using Frostbites and on-hits to dismantle the opponent’s hand unless they pay resources. Fittingly, I’ve heard many players liken Flesh and Blood to a fighting game– you start your strongest at the beginning of the game and your deck is similar to your stamina. You can block to keep your life higher and endure or attack to break through the opponents defense, but slowly your deck will get smaller and, typically, weaker as you use up all your stamina and have nothing left to give. Ice heroes ask the question: “do you have the extra energy to endure the cold and keep up your assault?” It’s so in line with what you would expect from a hero who channels such harsh elements. Freeze stops a hero in their tracks, making an arsenal card, equipment, or an ally unable to do anything for a turn. Dominate is also featured prominently in the Ice card pool, restricting access on what you can block with and acting as an on-attack effect that freezes your blocking capabilities.
With such juicy thematic implementation of card effects from legendaries to commons, I'm quite excited to see what a modern day Ice hero can offer to Flesh and Blood. Luckily, we have a glimpse into that future: enter Jarl, the highly anticipated Ice Earth Guardian.
When Jarl was announced my draw dropped. He was a character featured on a few notable Guardian cards like Mangle, but never did I expect him to take up the Ice Earth Guardian mantle, especially after LSS splintered the elements in Rosetta. Jarl’s fighting style differs much from his comrade and fellow guardian Oldhim. Where Oldhim played a reactionary gameplan with his hero ability and was a stalwart defender, Jarl looks to shatter his opponents and leave them exposed to an eternal freeze, both in gameplay and in lore. Jarl uses his Earth side to endure and chip away at his opponents armor using effects like Crumble to Eternity and Exposed to the Elements. Once the armor is weakened, his cold grasp will shatter it using ice effects like Frozen to Death, or dominate in conjunction with his speciality– Mangle. His art says it all, a Guardian with an imposing visage who discards his shield in favor of an unforgiving polearm and the Flow of Ice illuminated in his gauntlet. All in all, Jarl is a love letter to the Ice Guardian theme and I can't think of a more enticing armory deck to introduce new players to Flesh and Blood. The imagery is heavier than normal, likely to inspire newer players that aren’t familiar with Ice fundamentals.
With Jarl comes the return of the Old Ones, Iyslander as prominent promotion material for SAGE, and Aurora is confirmed for a 2026 release so I believe we’re fully set up for a return to Aria and to Ice. This begs the question, what other direction could LSS take with Ice? We now have a proactive Ice Guardian to lean on the Dominate and Frostbite mechanics, but there is still a lot of unexplored potential in the Ice card pool, specifically Ice Ranger. If you've ever been on the opposite side of the table from a full-fledged Ice Lexi, you'd understand the real danger that was typically pushed aside in favor of Voltaire and a grip of arrows. I'm not talking about one that splashes Ice utility into Lexi for disruption and calls it a day, but one that runs Shiver and allocats on-demand dominate to any arrow. It’s turn after turn of evasive Chilling Iceveins and Frost Locks that strip away the hand and limit the cards you can play or pitch. LSS has shown that they favor this flavor of Ranger, first with Azalea and now with Marlynn, so don’t be surprised if Ice Ranger is revamped to incorporate the Ice tools of old Aria while firing huge chilling arrows that bury the opponent in frostbite tokens.
Iyslander, on the other hand, became a popular math deck with the rise of Hamilton and his Bull-lander list. She played efficient attacks turn after turn that felt a lot like Verdance to a degree. This, however, was an unexpected result. While LSS may lean into it again, they have an untouched mechanic that hasn't been expanded on since its release in 2022. Frost Hex was an aura that made all frostbite tokens deal 1 damage to their controller at the end phase, but it wasn't just any simple aura like Genesis or Channel Mount Heroic it was an Affliction aura. Affliction auras, as you’d expect, are a curse you give to the opponent that gives them continuous negative effects. There are only two affliction aura’s in the game currently, perhaps Iyslander was unable to live long enough in CC to see this mechanic expanded upon or perhaps giving opponents afflictions felt a bit too sinister for a hero like Iyslander to be focused on. In the future, could we see an antagonistic or ruthless Ice Wizard supported by the Old Ones placing afflictions on the beloved heroes of Rathe? Only time will tell, but with the return of the Old Ones within the lore, the defenders of Aria will need every tool at their disposal to be prepared for the looming threat to come.
After Autumn Comes Winter
It’s a new year and Compendium of Rathe seems to offer us a lot of insight into the future to come, and new revelations of past events. With so much focus on Aria in Compendium of Rathe, (early advertisements featured 5 new Element cards and Isylander is clearly the poster child for Silver Age) you’d think LSS is hyping the community up for something big. While it’s hard to say when exactly Aria will return, I'm confident we will see some form of elemental heroes in either sets 19 or 20, or even in a Mastery Pack:Ice/Lightning. However, Armory Deck: Hala may throw a wrench in this theory. After all, she is from Solana and carries a new keyword, indicating a new set will feature either a Warrior or Solana, but that’s a conspiracy theory for another time. Regardless of what the future may bring in regards to our beloved Aria talents, understanding the vision LSS has when designing heroes will always be a timeless tool when you just want to do a little less math and a little more daydreaming.
Austin Somers
Flesh and Blood Lore enthusiast, member of the Team AGE Pro Team and was pretty good at card games in my youth. Now here to bring you the hidden stories in the World of Rathe until we finally get our Flesh and Blood anime.