It’s my great pleasure to reveal today what I think will be a staple Majestic for the Brute Class moving forward. FAB Family, meet Send Packing!
Wow. I bet if you reread the card, you’ll find a part you didn’t realize at first glance. Let me take some time to talk about why this card is an awesome demonstration of LSS’s design philosophy, which is what I’m going to dub as “creative sideways power creep”, as well as applications that make this card both strong and a staple for the class.
“On No Hit, Defending Hero Gets Reward”
becoming part of the Brute identity
Send Packing is a yellow pitch, 3 cost, 6 power, Brute Attack Action with 3 block! This style of hit trigger has been dubbed “on no hit, defending hero gets reward” and we’ve seen it before:
Swing Big, which came out two years ago in Everfest, rewards your opponent for blocking out. Send Packing is slightly different; It’s not “above rate” like Swing Big is, but it does have a higher potential upside. In a vacuum, we often assume a FAB card is worth 3 value, so banishing your opponent’s arsenal could make Send Packing a 3 resource 1 card “9” value – 6 damage + banishing your opponent’s arsenal. Now you may be wondering, Swing Big rewards your opponent with a Quicken token for blocking it out, what does Send Packing reward your opponent with?
“When the chain link resolves Return the banished card
to its owner’s hand”
That’s right, it doesn’t go back to your opponent’s arsenal. This is almost always an upside for your opponent. For example, as Bravo, sometimes I play Rouse the Ancients, reveal two blue attack action cards, then swing Anothos, and arsenal a blue attack action card. I’m rarely happy about the blue attack, and I often use Crown of Providence to sink it away for a fresh card. At the very least, letting your opponent return his arsenal card to hand often gives your opponent flexibility on their turn.
There are some instances where returning an arsenal card to your opponent’s hand is a downside, mainly cards that care about being played from arsenal, cards that care about you having an arsenal (Skullbone Crosswrap, looking at you!), or decks that rely on their arsenal as a safe haven to guarantee they don’t discard certain cards, randomly…
Command and Conquer Meet Brute Life
I expect initial reactions to heavily compare Send Packing to Command and Conquer. Both are 6 power attacks aka “poppers” (attacks that trigger Phantasm on Illusionist attacks). Both interact with your opponent’s arsenal in a negative way, and punish them for not fully blocking the attack.
But there are actually quite a few differences, here’s a non-exhaustive list:
1. Send Packing is an “attack” trigger, in other words, the arsenal card is banished before blocks are declared. This is the most important and immediate difference to me because one of the simplest ways to deal with Command and Conquer currently is the ever-present Generic Legendary, Crown of Providence. By the time your opponent can block, well, there is no arsenal to “sink” away with the Crown. Your opponent is going to have to offer up enough block value to make sure Send Packing doesn’t hit, or else their arsenal is banished… forever.
2. Defense Reactions can be played to the chain link of Send Packing. This is mostly a downside of Send Packing, as one of the reasons C&C is so oppressive is how it can’t be interacted with defense reactions. Note that the Defense Reactions would have to come from hand unless the defending hero has multiple arsenal zones.
3. Pitch values. This is a game about efficiency, and most decks do not want to pitch red cards. For those who haven’t played Brute, pitching yellows sadly has become somewhat expected. I’m far more embarrassed to pitch Command and Conquer in most of my decks than Send Packing, so that’s a plus for Send Packing.
4. It costs THREE resources. Ahhhhh. The most important card I think about here is Pummel! Command and Conquer costing 2 means that if your tunic is on 3 counters, and you have a card in hand or arsenal with a resource floating… you can represent the mean mean pummel. I’ve heard European players (apologies, unsure of which country) mention that they call Tunic at 3, Command and Conquer pitching a blue, one card left “Command and Conquer with a Smile.” You can’t do that with Send Packing. Costing 3 resources can actually cause some friction in current Rhinar and Levia decklists, though I imagine less so for Kayo who has more functional “6” power attack blues.
5. Banish “a card” from their arsenal, not destroy all cards. It’s simply worth noting that Send Packing only can banish one card from your opponent’s arsenal. This is mainly relevant currently if your opponent has New Horizons.
6. Information! Send Packing gets you valuable intel!
(It’s banished face-up.)
Even if your opponent blocks out Send Packing, you still get to know what the arsenal card was. This type of intel can be extremely valuable or almost irrelevant, but strong players can and will use it to their advantage, especially since you’re also the class with a cool helmet…
7. BRUTE Attack! If you’ve ever played Rhinar, the most important card is Bloodrush Bellow. The most common play pattern of Bloodrush Bellow (aka BRB) is pitching a blue, playing BRB, discarding a 6, and hoping to draw an additional 4 to 5 resources. Why 4 or 5? Well, assuming you’re not a one-handed hero, you’re really hoping to swing both Mandible Claws which costs 4 resources, and then end with a Brute Attack action costing 2 or 3 (that you’ve parked in your arsenal waiting to do this.) Personally, I prefer “planning” on playing a 2 cost Brute Attack, but the effect of Send Packing is strong enough that I’m happy to prioritize trying to play it.
While impactful, drawing Command and Conquer off Bloodrush Bellow loses some synergy. This lack of synergy is so evident that in Ethan Man Sant’s recent Levia CC deck, he doesn’t even include Command and Conquer in the decklist!
8. Banish vs. Destroy. While Command and Conquer threatens to destroy your opponent’s arsenal, Send Packing banishes and keeps the arsenal banished. It’s a subtle difference, but it is relevant against heroes that care about the banished zone or have cards that can be interacted with from the banish zone. When your opponent is Teklovossen or a Shadow Hero, banishing their cards may not actually disrupt them and/or may even potentially benefit them.
On the other hand, Command and Conquer destroying arsenal cards and not banishing arsenal cards can situationally benefit your opponent. There’s a quite a few heroes that benefit with having more cards in their graveyard, such as Levia having more fodder to banish, Katsu having more cards to banish for Bonds, and the entire runeblade class with Rattlebones.
9. Against Blasmophet, Levia Consumed. My favorite difference! When Levia transforms to Blasmophet, Levia Consumed, she gains the following ability:
Whenever a card is put into your banished zone, turn it face down.
When you attack with Send Packing against Blasmophet and they have an arsenal card, one may ask - will Blasmophet get the arsenal card back if they block out the Send Packing? I asked Joshua Scott, Rules and Policy Manager for LSS…
The answer is no, the Levia wouldn't get the card back. Because the card is first banished face-up, Blasmophet's effect triggers and turns it face-down. This causes it to be a new card and thus Send Packing's effect loses its "reference" to it. This is covered under the rule:
3.0.9. If an object enters a zone that is not in the arena and is not the stack zone, or a public object becomes a private object, it ceases to exist and becomes a new object with no relation to its previous existence.
Think of it as a secret achievement you can unlock with Send Packing!
Implications of Send Packing Existing
Send Packing occupies a space that Brute hasn’t really had before - disruption. Opponents without 6 armor block (or more if you pump the attack) can’t keep a 5 card hand against the attack, and it helps matchups that typically have been harder for the Brute class - the aggro race matchups. My favorite part about the card is how there is tension between the card being disruptive but also potentially helpful for opponents. In other words, it’s not pure upside, and it takes skill to identify situations where the card is good, average, or perhaps not so good.
Send Packing also “doubles” (in air quotes as not all Levia decks I’ve seen play 3x Command and Conquer) the number of cards that Brute can run that interact with your opponent’s arsenal. I think it helps Brute cross a certain threshold where not just on Bloodrush Bellow turns, but in general, placing a card in arsenal against Brute might sometimes make his attack actions better. In other words, the existence of Send Packing could cause your opponents to play differently (read: inefficiently.)
In Rhinar specifically, due to intimidate, the existence of Send Packing creates an interesting dynamic with experienced opponents where on your Bloodrush Bellow turns, opponents are heavily incentivized to play their defense reaction from arsenal on the first attack you send. This way, they are insulated from the banish clause of the card. Because of this, cards like Pulping and Barraging Beatdown become better on these Bloodrush turns, as the best way to counter both of these cards is to keep a defense reaction parked in your arsenal.
In other words, the existence of Send Packing makes the tried and true strategy of “parking a Defense Reaction in your arsenal until it is good” higher risk!
Send Packing also “doubles” (in air quotes as not all Levia decks I’ve seen play 3x Command and Conquer) the number of cards that Brute can run that interact with your opponent’s arsenal. I think it helps Brute cross a certain threshold where not just on Bloodrush Bellow turns, but in general, placing a card in arsenal against Brute might sometimes make his attack actions better. In other words, the existence of Send Packing could cause your opponents to play differently (read: inefficiently.)
In Rhinar specifically, due to intimidate, the existence of Send Packing creates an interesting dynamic with experienced opponents where on your Bloodrush Bellow turns, opponents are heavily incentivized to play their defense reaction from arsenal on the first attack you send. This way, they are insulated from the banish clause of the card. Because of this, cards like Pulping and Barraging Beatdown become better on these Bloodrush turns, as the best way to counter both of these cards is to keep a defense reaction parked in your arsenal.
In other words, the existence of Send Packing makes the tried and true strategy of “parking a Defense Reaction in your arsenal until it is good” higher risk!
Send Packing will be a Brute Class Staple
Alright, I’ve mentioned that I expect this card to be a class staple. I’ll focus on CC here, but I imagine the same concepts apply to Blitz. For Rhinar, the easiest change is to replace a less good yellow Brute 6 power attack (which… there are plenty). For example in my Top 8 Battle Hardened Pittsburgh list https://fabrary.net/decks/01HF089DE9MYKYD1Z5CET39VAF I would easily replace all 3 copies of yellow Reincarnate with Send Packing.
While I’m not a Levia expert, I would likely aim to replace Shaden Death Hydra. I know, I know, the Hydra is sweet, especially if you can attack with it after playing a Tear Limb from Limb, but I know Levia deck lists are often quite tight when it comes to attack actions. While Send Packing is awesome, it does not turn off blood debt and does not have blood debt. It also is a great card to get buffed by Tear Limb from Limb, attacking for 12 “on no hit” banish your opponent’s arsenal is just as sweet!
The card is definitely an increase in power for the Brute Class. The easiest way to see that is by comparing it to the Welcome to Rathe staple, Smash Instinct. Imagine if Smash Instinct said “When the chain link resolves, if this didn’t hit, return the banished card to its owner’s hand.”
Wow, it sure would be an awesome card!
It’s not just the increase in power that brings me joy, but the creative method of merging Brute mechanics of Intimidate and “on no hit” in making a card that may not be *strictly* better, but often better in a majority of scenarios. The easiest way to make a class more powerful is simply taking the same cards and adding numbers. The Dev/Design team at LSS did not choose the easy way. This is the hard way, it takes time, creativity, iteration, and I give ‘em tons of respect for doing it this way.
I want to warmly thank the LSS Marketing Team for providing this spoiler. I also want to acknowledge all of the awesome Brute content creators, I feel you all work so hard, remain so loyal to your class, and this could have been your spoiler easily. I hope I was able to do this card justice.
In just a few weeks local stores near you may be hosting Heavy Hitters Pre-release events. I hope to see you at one, and I hope you’ll be able to SEND [them] PACKING.
It’s not just the increase in power that brings me joy, but the creative method of merging Brute mechanics of Intimidate and “on no hit” in making a card that may not be *strictly* better, but often better in a majority of scenarios. The easiest way to make a class more powerful is simply taking the same cards and adding numbers. The Dev/Design team at LSS did not choose the easy way. This is the hard way, it takes time, creativity, iteration, and I give ‘em tons of respect for doing it this way.
I want to warmly thank the LSS Marketing Team for providing this spoiler. I also want to acknowledge all of the awesome Brute content creators, I feel you all work so hard, remain so loyal to your class, and this could have been your spoiler easily. I hope I was able to do this card justice.
In just a few weeks local stores near you may be hosting Heavy Hitters Pre-release events. I hope to see you at one, and I hope you’ll be able to SEND [them] PACKING.
Written by Michael Feng
