262. Should We Trust The LSS Process? | Flesh and Blood TCG Podcast

Story / Theme (What the episode is “about”)

This episode of Fresh and Buds discusses whether players should “trust LSS’s process” (LSS = Legends Story Studios) amid recent community backlash and uncertainty—especially after the reveal of Mastery Pack Assassin. The hosts compare LSS’s history of course-corrections and format decisions with the moments where players feel support or design choices missed the mark.

They also spend a large portion of the episode on current Flesh and Blood (FaB) meta chatter, including:

• Warrior vs. Olímpia interactions
• Assassin expectations
• Siege of value cards/equipment
• Spoiler-season card design

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Gameplay highlights & current meta chatter

Warrior & Olímpia (equipment/blocking loops)

• Ellie describes recurring “Kabuto” blocking, followed by recycling/playing the loop through sequences resembling Dominance / rake back value engines, driven by recursion and comparable “equivalent value” patterns.
• Main takeaway: if you can repeatedly generate huge Kabuto value, it becomes extremely demoralizing for most Warrior variants trying to attack twice. Ellie frames it as “toxic,” though she admits Olímpia players enjoy it.
• Tommy notes that hate counters like Blunt exist:
  • Blunt can be devastating in mirrors
  • but the discussion suggests it’s easier to play around than some “block-10 equipment style” problems.
• “Watch/hope” moment:
  • Ellie jokes about making a mission to demonstrate the Kabuto / Rake Back / Olímpia loop on stream at a major event (worlds-related framing).

Hala sharpen mechanic & “Truth” decks

• Ellie says she’s moving beyond only testing and increasingly enjoys Hala, because the deck feels inevitable (high consistency and hard-to-interrupt game plans).

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“Fresh Faves” (Cards/features the hosts are enthusiastic about)

Hala / Sharpen mechanic (play pattern excitement)

They love the Sharpen mechanic overall, especially:

• Big satisfying “d6 drop” moments
• Converting setup into lethal tempo via zenith blade-style sequences

Equipment & weapons

• Hope Merchant’s Hood
  • Seen as a Sage staple
  • Enables more “combo/aggro go-wide” style play in younger hero formats.
• Medax weapon evolution
  • Noted as being adapted across multiple heroes (e.g., Levia Medax, Reinar Medax)
  • Even mentioned: seeing Toughnut play it
  • Appeal: Medax is no longer just a “historical default”—it has real modern tech.

Other notable cards they called out

• Overcrowded
  • Praised as very strong
  • Compared to “Wararmonger’s” effect space, but argued to be less annoying and more meta-flexible.
• Revel in Rune Blood
  • Enjoyed for its design and especially the payoff when it’s properly resolved in rune-supporting heroes.
• Dows in Rune (shown in subtitles as “Dows and Rune Blood”)
  • Liked for similar rune-centric incentives
  • The discussion shifts toward possible rune-seed synergy ideas.
• Rune Blade mode
  • General hype for upcoming Rune Blade spoilers.
• Levia / Hexagon-consuming style designs
  • Hosts believe the set design is clearly built around hexagon/consuming-X resource loops
  • They emphasize how it ties into resource denial and “blood debt” concepts
  • They strongly want future cards that can banish specific cards (non-randomly) to enable combo lines like “Shadowp-typed” plays.
• Shadowp detail
  • They name Slytherin Shadow Feed as particularly excellent—very hype and likely on LSS’s balance radar.

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Mastery Pack Assassin: why LSS revealed it first (and whether to trust it)

Key arguments for trusting the choice

• Marionette and Assassin have been top-tier meta shapers for a long time—roughly a year and a half of strong presence among popular Assassin heroes.
• The hosts argue that after Assassin’s power era, LSS may be:
  • Planning ahead to prevent future “bad timing” or class gaps when key heroes/decks rotate out
  • Releasing support early to avoid periods where Assassin players can’t play the style they like
• They interpret Mastery Pack Assassin as intentionally targeting the idea that Assassin’s “fan favorite” class options remain playable and viable in an evergreen way.

Speculation about future Assassin support (downstream effect)

• They speculate mastery packs may follow a different development timeline than main sets.
• Their expectation: this first Assassin mastery pack may reduce the need for additional Assassin support later.
• They even float the possibility of not much (or any) Assassin support coming in 2027 (speculative).

Community backlash acknowledged

• They note initial outrage but argue it settles once players see the set tools in practice.
• Specific praise: Dr. Mortimer and “Azouri” support are described as hits.

One cynicism/complaint raised

• Tommy’s main criticism:

  • Why make Codex/Codex of Frailty-style elements stronger (subtitles reference “CEX strong,” meaning Codex of Frailty ecosystem).

• Ellie’s response:

  • More of a “we needed to strengthen the other parts too” justification.

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Why not Ranger in the Mastery Pack? (design/product constraints)

The discussion includes a theory based on what Ranger already has:

• There are already two Ranger variants in the game:
  • one “traps guy” identity
  • and another “talented hero” identity (multi-classed/talented theme)
• They suggest adding a “crack-shuffle” style Ranger plan would be difficult without either:
  • introducing too much high-roll/fatigue variance, or
  • requiring too many new Ranger heroes/cards (costly in development time).
• They also frame mastery packs as:
  • more like simpler onboarding-like products
  • with less need for major hero introductions requiring extensive development cycles.

They also address:

• Hopes for reprints (e.g., Lexi / Aelia) but argue those might be better suited to main sets if they’re iconic.

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Examples where LSS “process” worked (and why)

1) Remembrance ban (or changes) improved gameplay

• They treat Remembrance as a “wait-and-break-the-format” type card, analogous to Mishra’s Bobble in Magic.
• Even if it sometimes had uses, it became oppressive once the meta found the right fuel.
• Key effect: the “get it gone” feeling—removing long-term format hazards.

2) Living Legends voting (Sage rotation discussion)

• The hosts acknowledge the voting system can have uncertainty, but argue it’s improving the format.
• They praise LSS’s developer intervention clause:
  • LSS can override if the vote results become problematic
  • preventing the “popular vote locks in the wrong outcome” scenario.

3) Ability/willingness to admit what didn’t work

• They point to changes in non-mainline formats:
  • sometimes pushing Living Legends
  • and sidelining/retiring Blitz rather than forcing it to stay as the older model
• Their argument: LSS shows flexibility to alter course when assumptions don’t pan out.

4) Creating Sage as a budget-friendly niche

• They praise Sage for addressing a key access question:
  • “Where can I play <$1000?”
  • more specifically, “where can I play around $20?”
• They also argue Sage likely couldn’t coexist with Blitz in the same space without conflict.

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“Iffy” parts / criticisms of the process

1) Cultural/content direction: “Savage Lands” delay

• Both hosts express confusion over the prolonged absence of Savage Lands.
• They speculate possible reasons:
  • product re-scoping (orc/gladiatorial arena themes blending into other brute support concepts)
  • and/or cultural sensitivity concerns requiring extra care before release

2) Fabled rarity direction / playability of certain fables

• Ellie’s practical gripe:
  • she doesn’t feel she needs certain expensive fabled pieces for her deck (examples include Riches and equipment compared to Authority of Attaya).
• They discuss the transition where fabled rarity is going away, but they’re unsure how the market will normalize and what will replace the removed structure.

3) Set power/format feel: fear of a “stale pool noodle meta” return

• Ellie and Tommy debate metas described as:
  • low excitement
  • lots of blocking and back-and-forth
• They cite Heavy Hitters into Mistveil as a comparable experience:
  • Heavy Hitters was enjoyed by some
  • but criticized for dull gameplay due to defensive loops.
• Hope: upcoming sets like Shadow Throne will have engaging synergy and decision-making so it doesn’t become “too flaccid.”
• They explicitly say they don’t think Shadow Throne will reach Mistveil power levels based on spoilers seen so far.
• They describe Rosetta as the “sweet spot” model:
  • powerful, but not so dominating that you can’t meaningfully fight back unless you play its own heroes.

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Listener questions: key answers

• Assassin multiplayer box name
  • They joke about “Ass Palace” (bonus if someone says “Ass Palace”).
• Bolton in Silver Age
  • Ellie calls Bolton “nasty.”
  • She highlights Long Sword leggings and a defensive-to-tempo line:
    • block one
    • end turn with go again
    • make a Flurry
  • She also mentions a current Sage pet project:
    • triple swing QuickSilver (etc.) with Dawnblade Respendant.
• Biggest winner of Mastery Pack Assassin
  • Tommy: Riptide broadly (attack reaction synergy).
  • Ellie: hopes for Zuri, but concedes.
• Miz/Rhinar “funner more powerful”
  • Ellie references a “Mau Shrill Rhinar” concept with a stepwise combo:
    1. “baring beat down”
    2. “aggressive pounds”
    3. “romping club”
• Brewing Killjoy or Zayn
  • Ellie: Killjoy is “drow type,” Zayn is the big minotaur-like bruiser.
  • She hasn’t started brewing yet, but notes they’re legal in Silver Age.

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Strategies / key tips mentioned

• Olympia Warrior loop mindset
  • If playing Olímpia Warrior, aim to recur Kabuto interactions (block and then bounce back) to force repetitive high-value trades.
• Plan around hate cards
  • Even cards like Blunt can be played around with sequencing:
    • example: activate effects to “get safe” so Blunt doesn’t change the key lines.
• Runes synergy for Revel/Dows style cards
  • Build around heroes that have incentives to generate runechants/rune chances, because the fun payoff is resolving rune payoff cards.
• Levia “hexagon” / consuming X design exploitation
  • When building Levia, value pieces that:
    • fill/mitigate “blood debt” timing
    • curve into consuming payoffs cleanly.

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Gamers / sources featured (mentioned at the end)

• James White
• Poopy (from the table pit; “friend of the show”)
• Toughnut
• Yuki
• Craig (shoutout for hosting a river float)
• Mr. Viz / Gary (Cole for backup)
• Deadlock (referenced as a game Ellie mentions; not a gamer)

No other gamer handles/sponsors were clearly credited beyond the named individuals above.