# Flesh and Blood keywords explained: pitch, go again, arsenal, Dominate, Ward and more

> What pitch, go again, arsenal, Dominate, Ward, Quell, Blood Debt and every other Flesh and Blood keyword do, per Comprehensive Rules 2.15.1, with examples.

- Source: https://tradematches.app/en/blog/flesh-and-blood-keywords-guide
- Author: Joaquin Orozco · TradeMatches
- Published: 2026-11-03
- Language: en

![A Flesh and Blood game on a maroon playmat: a hero with weapon and equipment, pitched cards to one side and a player launching an attack](https://tradematches.app/assets/fotos/palabras-clave-flesh-and-blood-portada.webp)
*Editorial illustration · not a photograph of a real card.*

**In Flesh and Blood, pitch is how many resources a card gives you when you use it to pay (red 1, yellow 2, blue 3), go again gives you an action point so you can keep attacking, and your arsenal holds one face-down card for your next turn.** Those three ideas cover a whole turn. From there, this guide walks through the combat chain, reactions, instants, defending with equipment and every keyword that regularly causes arguments at the table: Dominate, Overpower, Intimidate, Ward, Quell, Arcane Barrier, Spellvoid, Boost, Combo, Clash, Frostbite and Blood Debt. It finishes with what matters when you buy or trade: Living Legend, Silver Age and the difference between Cold Foil and Rainbow Foil. Every rule was checked on 3 November 2026 against Comprehensive Rules 2.15.1, released by Legend Story Studios on 30 October 2026. Rule numbers are in brackets so you can look them up.

Two general rules are worth keeping in mind for everything below. If a card's text contradicts the rules document, the card wins (1.0.1a), and if a tournament rule contradicts both, the tournament rule wins (1.0.1b). And if you own cards printed in Spanish, French or another language, the game always treats a card's name as its English name (2.7.4), which matters for Combo and for any card that names another.

## Every keyword at a glance

| Term | What it does | When it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Pitch](#pitch) | Move a card from hand to your pitch zone to gain 1, 2 or 3 resources | When paying a cost |
| [Go again](#go-again) | Gain 1 action point | When the card or attack resolves |
| [Arsenal](#arsenal) | Private zone holding one card you can play later | At the end of your turn |
| [Attack / Defense Reaction](#reactions) | Cards played only in the Reaction Step of combat | During each attack |
| [Instant](#instants-timing) | Played whenever you have priority, no action point | On either player's turn |
| [Dominate](#dominate-overpower) | Can't be defended by more than one card from hand | When defending |
| [Overpower](#dominate-overpower) | Can't be defended by more than one action card | When defending |
| [Intimidate](#intimidate) | Opponent banishes a random card from hand until the end phase | Usually on attack |
| [Ward N](#ward) | Destroy it to prevent N damage | Whenever you'd be dealt damage |
| [Quell N](#quell) | Pay N resources to prevent N damage; destroyed in the end phase | Whenever you'd be dealt damage |
| [Arcane Barrier N](#arcane-barrier-spellvoid) | Pay N resources to prevent N arcane damage | Arcane damage only |
| [Spellvoid N](#arcane-barrier-spellvoid) | Destroy it to prevent N arcane damage | Arcane damage only |
| [Boost](#boost) | Banish your top card; if it's Mechanologist, go again | When playing the card |
| [Combo](#combo) | Bonus if the previous attack this chain had a given name | Second attack onwards |
| [Clash](#clash) | Each player reveals their top card; highest power wins | When an effect says so |
| [Frostbite](#frostbite) | Token that adds 1 to the cost of your next card or ability | Until you play something or your turn ends |
| [Blood Debt](#blood-debt) | Lose 1 life in your end phase while it's face up in banishment | Start of your end phase |

## The basics: hero, life, intellect and turn structure

**Each player plays as a hero, which sets their starting life, their intellect (the hand size they draw up to) and which classes and talents their deck can use; you win by reducing the opposing hero to 0 life.** Rhinar, Reckless Rampage starts on 40 life with 4 intellect, for example, while his young version, Rhinar, has 20 life and 4 intellect. A card can only go in your card-pool if its supertypes (class and talent) are a subset of your hero's; generic cards, with no supertype, fit any deck (1.1.3).

### Starting a game

1. Both heroes go face up and the first player is chosen (4.1.2–4.1.3).
2. Each player secretly picks their equipment and weapons, at most one card for head, chest, arms, legs and each weapon zone, and then reveals them (4.1.4–4.1.5).
3. The deck is built from the remaining cards, shuffled and offered to the opponent to cut (4.1.6–4.1.8).
4. Everyone draws up to intellect and the first turn begins (4.1.10). The start-of-game procedure has no mulligan.

### The three phases of a turn

A turn has a Start Phase, an Action Phase and an End Phase (4.0.3a). In the Action Phase, the turn-player gets 1 action point (4.3.2) and priority; this is the only phase in which anyone gets priority and plays cards (1.11.3). The End Phase gives nobody priority and runs in a fixed order that explains a good share of the keywords in this guide (4.4.2–4.4.3):

1. "Beginning of the end phase" effects trigger: Blood Debt, Intimidate returning cards, Frostbite and used Quell cards being destroyed.
2. The turn-player may put a card from hand face down into an empty arsenal.
3. Every player puts the cards in their pitch zone on the bottom of their deck in any order.
4. The turn-player untaps their permanents.
5. Everyone loses any remaining action points and resources.
6. The turn-player draws up to intellect. On the first turn of the game, every other player does too.

The last step has a practical consequence. You defend during your opponent's turn with cards from hand, so you start your own turn with whatever survived, and you only refill at the end of your own turn.

## Pitch: what red, yellow and blue mean

**Pitch is what a card gives you when you move it from hand to your pitch zone to pay a cost: usually 1 resource for red, 2 for yellow and 3 for blue.** It's shown as one, two or three resource symbols in the top left corner (2.8.2). The colour strip normally matches, but the rules are explicit that colour and pitch are independent properties (2.1.2a): the symbols are what you pay with.

### One name, three different cards

Many cards come in three versions with the same name. Snatch, a cost-0 generic attack, has 4 power in red, 3 in yellow and 2 in blue. The more a copy pitches for, the weaker it tends to be as an attack or a blocker: Sink Below defends for 4 in red, 3 in yellow and 2 in blue. The rules treat them as different cards, because cards are distinguished by name and pitch (1.3.4). That means each format's copy limit applies to each colour separately, and in a trade "a Snatch" isn't specific enough: say which one.

### How a cost gets paid

- You spend any resources you already have first. If that isn't enough, you pitch cards one at a time until the cost is covered (1.14.2d).
- You can only pitch when you need the resources for a cost, or when an effect tells you to (1.14.3b). There's no pitching ahead of time.
- Leftover resources stay available for the rest of the turn, including for reactions and instants, and are lost in the end phase (4.4.3e).
- Cards without a pitch value, such as equipment and weapons, can't be pitched (1.14.3a).
- Some cards pitch for chi instead of resources; chi can pay resource costs and is spent first (1.13.5, 1.14.2d).

### Worked example

Your hand is a red Surging Strike (cost 2), a blue Snatch and a yellow Snatch. To play Surging Strike you can pitch the blue Snatch and keep 1 resource floating for a cost-1 instant or reaction later that turn. Pitch the yellow instead and you pay exactly, keeping the blue, which only swings for 2. Deciding which cards pay and which cards attack or block is the core skill of the game.

## The pitch zone and end-of-turn order

**Cards you pitch stay face up in your pitch zone until the end phase, then go to the bottom of your deck in the order you choose, and your opponent doesn't get to see that order.** The pitch zone is public (3.14.1). During the end-of-turn procedure, every player, not just the turn-player, puts their pitched cards on the bottom of their deck, and the order is hidden information (4.4.3c).

### Why the order matters

Those cards come back when you work through your deck, and in long games you really do. If you know which cards you'd rather see first, put them nearer the top of that bottom block. Remember too that each player clears their pitch zone at the end of every turn: if you pitched on your opponent's turn to pay for a defense reaction or a Quell, those cards go under your deck at the end of their turn.

### Cards that look at the pitch zone mid-turn

While cards sit in the pitch zone, some effects count them. Luminaris, Prism's weapon, gives your Illusionist attacks go again if there's a yellow card in your pitch zone (example under rule 6.2). The High Tide label switches effects on when there are two or more blue cards in your pitch zone (8.4.18). So sometimes it's worth paying with a specific card even when another would give the same resources.

### Common mistakes

- Shuffling pitched cards into the deck. They go on the bottom, unshuffled.
- Letting your opponent see the order you put them in.
- Leaving cards pitched on the opponent's turn in your pitch zone into your own turn.

## Go again and action points

**Go again means "gain 1 action point": it lets you play another action card or activate another action ability that turn, usually another attack.** Every turn starts with 1 action point (4.3.2), and playing an action card or activating an action ability costs one (8.1.1c). Without go again, your first attack is your last that turn unless something else hands you a point.

### When the point arrives

- On a non-attack action, after everything else on the card has resolved (8.3.5a).
- On an attack, at the start of the combat Resolution Step, so after damage (8.3.5b, 7.6.2). If the attack has left the chain, its last known information is used (7.6.2a).
- An object can't have go again twice. If it already has it and an effect grants it again, that part of the effect does nothing (8.3.5c).
- You only gain action points during your own action phase (1.13.2b). A go again card played as an instant on your opponent's turn gives you nothing.

### A chain of attacks

You start with 1 point. Red Head Jab (cost 0, 3 power, go again) spends it and gives it back when the attack resolves. You use that point on a red Surging Strike (cost 2, 5 power, go again) and get it back again. Whelming Gustwave then uses Combo to gain go again for following Surging Strike. Each card still costs resources, so the real limit on a chain is usually how many cards you can afford to pitch, not action points.

### What go again doesn't do

It doesn't let you play action cards in the middle of an attack: actions need an empty stack and, while the combat chain is open, can only be played in the Resolution Step (8.1.1a–b). Unused points don't carry over either; they're lost in the end phase (4.4.3e).

## The arsenal: saving a card for next turn

**Your arsenal is a private zone where, at the end of your turn, you can store one card from your hand face down to play later; it holds only one card.** An arsenal zone holds one card (3.3.2), and the step that fills it happens in the end phase, for the turn-player only and only if the arsenal is empty (4.4.3b). Cards in your arsenal can be played just like cards in hand (3.3.4, 5.1.1a).

### Why arsenalling is usually free value

Look at the end-phase order: the arsenal step comes before you draw up to intellect (4.4.3b, then 4.4.3f). The stored card no longer counts as part of your hand, so you draw one more card than you would have. With 4 intellect, ending your turn with one card in hand and moving it to arsenal means you draw 4 instead of 3.

### What you can and can't do from arsenal

- Play the card: attacks, actions, instants or reactions, each at its normal timing.
- Play defense reactions on your opponent's turn, as the reminder text on Sink Below or Toughen Up points out.
- Arrows can only be played from arsenal, and only if you control a bow (8.2.6a).
- You can't pitch from arsenal: pitching moves cards from hand (1.14.3).
- You can't block with an ordinary card from arsenal, because defenders are declared from hand (7.3.2a). Cards with Ambush are the exception and can defend from arsenal (8.3.28).

### Risks

Some cards punish a stocked arsenal. Command and Conquer, for instance, destroys every card in the arsenal of the hero it hits. And if an effect tries to put a card into an arsenal that's already full, it fails (3.3.2a).

## The combat chain step by step

**Each attack resolves as a chain link on the combat chain and moves through the Layer, Attack, Defend, Reaction, Damage and Resolution Steps; the chain closes when nobody adds another attack.** Knowing which step you're in decides which cards are legal. The rules update Legend Story Studios published on 30 October 2026 notes that the old "link step" is gone.

| Step | What happens | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Layer Step | The attack is on the stack; players can respond with instants | 7.1 |
| Attack Step | The attack joins the chain and "when this attacks" effects trigger | 7.2 |
| Defend Step | The defender declares cards from hand and equipment | 7.3 |
| Reaction Step | Attack and defense reactions, turn-player first | 7.4 |
| Damage Step | If power beats total defense, the attack hits for the difference | 7.5 |
| Resolution Step | Go again pays out and the next attack can be played | 7.6 |
| Close Step | The chain closes and defending equipment goes back | 7.7 |

Damage is simple subtraction: a 6-power attack blocked by cards totalling 5 defense hits for 1 (7.5.2). A hit is what triggers "when this hits" effects. Losing life any other way doesn't count as being hit (7.5.5a).

## Attack reactions and defense reactions

**Attack reactions are played by whoever controls the attack and defense reactions by the player being attacked, and both can only be played in the Reaction Step of a chain link.** Those are rules 8.1.2a and 8.1.3a. In that step the turn-player gets priority first (7.4.2), and players go back and forth until both pass on an empty stack (7.4.3). Neither kind costs an action point.

### What each does on resolution

- An attack reaction applies its effect and then goes to the graveyard (8.1.2b). Pummel, for example, gives +4, +3 or +2 power (red, yellow, blue) to a club or hammer weapon attack, or to an attack action card costing 2 or more, which also makes a hit hero discard a card.
- A defense reaction becomes a defending card on the chain link, so its defense adds to the total (8.1.3b, 7.4.2d). Red Sink Below blocks for 4 and lets you swap a card from hand for the top of your deck.

### Playing isn't the same as declaring

In the Defend Step, declaring cards from hand isn't playing them, so you don't pay their cost (7.3.2). A defense reaction is played, so you do pay: Toughen Up blocks for 4 but costs 2 resources. For the same reason, anything that taxes or stops you playing cards hits defense reactions but not cards declared in the Defend Step.

### When you can't play a defense reaction

- When a rule or effect stops you defending with that card (7.4.2c). That's what Dominate does once you've already blocked with a card from hand (8.3.4b).
- When the attack forbids it. Command and Conquer says defense reactions can't be played on its chain link.
- When you don't control the hero being attacked (8.1.3a).

## Instants, actions and when each card can be played

**An instant can be played any time you have priority, on either player's turn, without an action point; an action needs your turn, an empty stack and an action point.** Those are rules 8.1.6a and 8.1.1a–c. Sigil of Solace, a cost-0 generic instant, sums it up in its reminder text: it can be played during either player's turn and doesn't require an action point.

| Card type | Who and when | Action point? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Action (including attacks) | Turn-player, empty stack; with the chain open, Resolution Step only | Yes |
| Instant | Any player with priority | No |
| Attack Reaction | Attack's controller, Reaction Step | No |
| Defense Reaction | Attacked player, Reaction Step | No |
| Resource / Block | Can't be played (8.1.7a, 8.1.12a) | — |

### Priority and the stack

Priority only exists during the action phase, and not during the combat Close Step (1.11.3). When you play something it goes on the stack and you get priority back (1.11.5). When every player passes in a row, the top layer resolves, which is the most recently added one (1.11.4a, 3.15.5). Respond to your opponent's instant with your own and yours resolves first.

### Actions played "as though they were instants"

Some effects let you play an action card as though it were an instant. It's still an action for other effects, but you can play it any time you have priority and it costs no action point (8.1.1d). Watch go again here: do it on your opponent's turn and you gain no point (1.13.2b).

## Defending with equipment

**When your hero is attacked, in the Defend Step you can declare the face-up equipment you control as defending cards alongside cards from hand, as long as each piece has a defense value.** That's rule 7.3.2a. A value of 0 still counts as a value (7.3.2b), so a 0-defense piece can block even though it subtracts nothing. Declaring equipment isn't playing it and costs nothing (7.3.2).

### What happens to it afterwards

Blocking equipment moves onto the chain and returns to its equipment zone when the chain closes (7.7.5). Plenty of pieces carry keywords that make blocking expensive, though:

- **Blade Break:** if it defended, it's destroyed when the chain closes (8.3.3). Ironrot Helm, a 1-defense generic helmet, is the classic one-shot piece.
- **Battleworn:** if it defended, it gets a −1 defense counter when the chain closes (8.3.2). It wears down but isn't destroyed by the keyword itself.
- **Temper:** gets the −1 counter and is destroyed if its defense hits 0 (8.3.10).

### Restrictions that touch equipment

- Dominate doesn't limit equipment; it only counts cards from hand (8.3.4).
- Overpower doesn't either; it limits action cards, and equipment isn't one (8.3.22).
- Piercing N gives the attack +N power if equipment defends it (8.3.23).
- An effect can forbid it outright: "they can't defend this with equipment" is a restriction, and restrictions beat allowances (1.0.2).

A lot of equipment does more than block: Quell, Arcane Barrier and Spellvoid, covered below, mostly live on helmets, chest pieces, arm guards and boots.

## Dominate vs Overpower

**Dominate stops an attack being defended by more than one card from hand; Overpower stops it being defended by more than one action card, wherever it comes from.** Those are rules 8.3.4 and 8.3.22. Neither limits equipment, and each has different ways around it.

|  | Dominate | Overpower |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it limits | Cards from hand (blockers and defense reactions) | Action cards |
| Equipment | No limit | No limit |
| Defense reactions | One from hand in total, counting the declared card (8.3.4b) | No limit: a defense reaction isn't an action card |
| Defense reactions from arsenal | Allowed | Allowed |
| Gained after blocks are declared | Existing blockers stay (8.3.4c) | Existing blockers stay (8.3.22b) |

### Dominate in practice

Block a Dominate attack with one card from hand and you can't add another from hand or play defense reactions from hand (8.3.4a–b). That leaves your equipment and, if you have one, a defense reaction in arsenal. Recent printings spell this out in their reminder text. Bravo, the young Guardian hero, can pay 2 resources to give his attack action cards costing 3 or more Dominate until end of turn.

### Overpower in practice

Over the Top, a 6-power Guardian attack, gains Overpower if its power is above its base. Against it, only one action card from hand can block, but you can add all your equipment and any number of defense reactions. If an attack gains Overpower after two action cards are already blocking, both stay (1.0.2b).

## Intimidate

**Intimidate makes the affected player banish a random card from their hand face down; it returns to their hand at the beginning of that turn's end phase.** That's rule 8.5.10. Because it usually lands as you attack, it leaves your opponent one card short for blocking that attack, but they don't lose the card for good.

- The card is random. Neither player chooses it.
- It sits face down in the banished zone, so it's private.
- A player counts as intimidated even with an empty hand (8.5.10a), which matters for effects that check whether you intimidated.
- Each Intimidate returns only the cards it banished (8.5.10c). Two Intimidates cost your opponent two cards, and both come back at the start of the end phase.

### Rhinar example

Rhinar, Reckless Rampage intimidates whenever he discards a card with 6 or more power during his action phase (example under rule 6.6). Alpha Rampage, a 9-power attack, has you discard a random card as an additional cost and intimidates when it attacks. If your opponent had 4 cards, they now block with 3 or fewer. When Rhinar's end phase begins, they get the banished card back, before their own turn starts.

## Ward

**Ward N means that if you would be dealt damage, you destroy the card to prevent N of that damage; it works against any damage type and it isn't optional.** Rule 8.3.20 reads "If you would be dealt damage, destroy this to prevent N of that damage", with no "may". The rules use it as their example of a replacement effect: destroying the source is a sub-event that happens before the damage is dealt (6.4.1a).

### Rules that decide the maths

- It's fixed prevention, so leftover prevention is wasted (6.4.10i). Ward 3 against 1 damage prevents 1 and is still destroyed.
- If the damage can't be prevented, the Ward card is still destroyed and prevents nothing (6.4.10h).
- It covers physical, arcane and generic damage, because it doesn't name a type (6.4.10c).
- It does nothing against life loss, which isn't damage (8.5.3d). Blood Debt goes straight past it.
- With several Ward cards, each applies separately, in the order you choose as their controller (6.5.5).

### Spectral Shield example

Spectral Shield tokens are Illusionist auras with Ward 1, and Prismatic Shield makes three in red, two in yellow and one in blue. With two Spectral Shields out, an attack hitting for 4 drops to 2 and both tokens are destroyed. If you then take 1 arcane damage later that turn, there's nothing left to stop it.

## Quell

**Quell N lets you pay N resources to prevent N of incoming damage; if you use it, the card is destroyed at the beginning of the end phase.** That's rule 8.3.19. Unlike Ward it's optional, and it doesn't destroy the card on the spot: you can use it against several hits in the same turn and the piece survives until the end phase.

### How much it can prevent

A replacement effect can only modify each event once (6.4.5). Quell 1 therefore prevents at most 1 from each damage event, but you can pay again on the next event that turn. Quelling Slippers, Quelling Sleeves and Quelling Robe are generic 0-defense equipment pieces with Quell 1, and each is its own ability: wear all three and you can pay 3 to prevent 3 from a single hit.

### Where the resources come from

You'll mostly use Quell on your opponent's turn, where your resources come from pitching cards out of hand (1.14.2d). Those are cards you won't be blocking with. A blue that pitches for 3 can pay Quell 1 three times in the same turn, because leftover resources last until the end phase (4.4.3e).

### Worked example

You're wearing Quelling Slippers. Your opponent hits for 5 and you pitch a blue: pay 1, prevent 1, take 4. Later that turn they deal 2 arcane damage and you pay again from the floating resources: take 1. At the start of that turn's end phase, the Slippers are destroyed. Had you not used them, they'd still be there.

## Arcane Barrier vs Spellvoid

**Arcane Barrier N and Spellvoid N only prevent arcane damage: with Arcane Barrier you pay N resources and keep the card; with Spellvoid you destroy the card to prevent N.** Those are rules 8.3.8 and 8.3.15, and both are optional. Arcane damage is damage from an effect that specifically says "arcane damage" (8.5.3b), typical of Wizards and Runeblades; neither keyword does anything against an attack's physical damage (8.5.3f).

### The four protection keywords compared

| Keyword | Damage type | Cost | Destroyed? | Optional? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Ward N](#ward) | Any | Nothing | Yes, on use | No |
| [Quell N](#quell) | Any | N resources | Yes, in the end phase | Yes |
| Arcane Barrier N | Arcane only | N resources | No | Yes |
| Spellvoid N | Arcane only | Nothing | Yes, on use | Yes |

### Arcane Barrier

Because the card isn't destroyed, Arcane Barrier works against every arcane damage event, as long as you pay each time. Nullrune Hood, a 0-defense generic helmet, has Arcane Barrier 1. Arcanite Skullcap has Arcane Barrier 3 and +1 defense only while you have less life than an opposing hero, plus Battleworn. If several pieces have Arcane Barrier, each is a separate prevention and you can stack them on one event if you pay for each.

### Spellvoid

Spellvoid is single use. Spell Fray Leggings, Spell Fray Cloak and Spell Fray Gloves are generic pieces with Spellvoid 1. If for some reason you can't destroy the card, you can't use the prevention either (8.3.15a). On Arcanite Fortress, which has Spellvoid X, X is recalculated every time it could apply (6.4.2a).

### Worked example

You're about to take 4 arcane damage wearing Nullrune Hood (Arcane Barrier 1) and Spell Fray Leggings (Spellvoid 1). Pay 1 resource for the hood and destroy the boots, and you take 2. Had the damage been physical, from an attack, neither would have helped.

## Boost

**Boost is an optional additional cost: as you play the card you may banish the top card of your deck, and if that card is a Mechanologist card, the card you played gains go again.** That's rule 8.3.9. The key detail is that paying the cost already counts as boosting, even if the banished card isn't Mechanologist (8.3.9a).

- Banish a generic card or one from another class and there's no go again, but the card still counts as boosted.
- With an empty deck you can't boost, because you can't pay the cost (8.3.9b).
- Boosted cards don't come back the way pitched cards do: Boost thins your deck for good.
- If the card already has go again from somewhere else, a second copy adds nothing (8.3.5c).

### Cards that check whether you boosted

High Speed Impact has Boost and, if it hits, gives Dominate to the next attack you boost that combat chain. Payload, a 6-power attack, has Dominate if you've boosted this combat chain. Both conditions are met even when the boost whiffs on go again, so a Mechanologist deck can run generic cards without losing those bonuses; it just chains attacks less reliably.

## Combo

**Combo gives an attack a bonus if the last attack on the current combat chain had a specific name; that earlier attack doesn't need to have hit.** Rule 8.4.1 defines it as "Combo - If [NAMES] was the last attack this combat chain, [EFFECTS]". It's the Ninja class's signature mechanic.

### Card examples

- Whelming Gustwave: if Surging Strike was the last attack, it gets +1 power, go again and draws a card when it hits.
- Descendent Gustwave: if Surging Strike was the last attack, it costs 1 resource less and has +2 power.
- One-Two Punch: if Head Jab was the last attack, it deals 2 damage to the hero it hits.

### What breaks a combo

- The chain closing. Combo checks "this combat chain"; once the chain closes, your next attack opens a new chain with no previous attack. That's why Combo relies on go again.
- Another attack in between. Swing your weapon between Surging Strike and Whelming Gustwave and the last attack is the weapon.
- A name that doesn't match exactly. Names are compared in English even on foreign-language prints (2.7.4).

Some cards change their name to feed combos. Be Like Water, when it hits, lets you pay 1 resource to give it the name Head Jab, Surging Strike or Twin Twisters, and the next attack sees it under that name.

## Clash

**In a Clash, each clashing player reveals the top card of their deck and whoever reveals the card with the highest power wins; on a tie, nobody wins.** That's rule 8.5.45. Power is what's compared, not pitch or cost.

- A card with no power property loses to any card that has one (8.5.45b). A 0-power card still has power.
- A player who doesn't reveal a card, because their deck is empty for instance, loses to any card with power (8.5.45b).
- If nobody beats everyone else, there's no winner (8.5.45c).
- Revealing doesn't move the card: it stays on top unless an effect says otherwise (8.5.17c). The card Victor, which the rules cite as an example, can turn a lost clash into moving one revealed card to the bottom and clashing again (6.4.11).

### Example

Clash of Might is a Brute and Guardian attack that reads "When this defends, clash with the attacking hero. The winner creates a Might token." Block with it, reveal a 6-power attack against their 5, and you make the Might token. Some cards reward being the one revealed: The Golden Son creates a Gold token when you win a clash revealing it, and since it has no controller at that moment, "you" means its owner (1.1.2b).

That's why clash decks tend to run lots of high-power cards: reds, which usually hit harder, win clashes more often than blues.

## Frostbite

**Frostbite is an aura token that makes your next card or ability cost 1 more resource; it's destroyed as soon as you play a card or activate an ability, or at the beginning of your end phase.** It's defined in rule 8.6.10. It's created under the control of the player it hurts: Ice Quake, for example, creates a Frostbite under the control of each hero hit that turn.

### Counting several tokens

Each Frostbite adds 1 to the cost, and each one is destroyed when you play something. With three tokens, your next card costs 3 more and then all three disappear; they aren't spread across several cards. A cost-0 card like Sink Below becomes cost 1, so you'll need to pitch to play it.

### What Frostbite doesn't tax

- Blocking with cards from hand or with equipment, because declaring defenders isn't playing (7.3.2). It doesn't remove the token either.
- Pitching, which isn't playing the card.

What it does tax: defense reactions and instants, which are played, and activating weapons and equipment. Some recent cards put Frostbite into empty equipment zones: Jarl Vetreiði does it every time he plays an Ice card. Thaw, from the graveyard, can destroy a Frostbite at the start of your turn.

## Blood Debt

**Blood Debt makes you lose 1 life at the beginning of your end phase for each card with Blood Debt face up in your banished zone.** That's rule 8.3.11. Blood Debt cards are mostly Shadow talent cards, and they tend to be strong precisely because of that drawback.

### How to count

- Only public, face-up cards in your banished zone count (8.3.11a). Face-down ones do nothing.
- It only triggers at the start of your end phase, never your opponent's.
- It's life loss, not damage (8.5.3d), so Ward, Quell, Arcane Barrier and Spellvoid can't stop it.

### Examples

Shaden Death Hydra is a 13-power attack that, when it attacks, deals you 13 minus the number of Blood Debt cards in your banished zone: the more you have, the cheaper it is to swing, and the more life you bleed each end phase. Hex Gauntlet, from Usurp the Shadow Throne, can banish itself as an instant to turn a Blood Debt card in your banished zone face down. And the demi-hero Blasmophet, Levia Consumed turns every card put into your banished zone face down and swaps Blood Debt life loss for banishing your top card.

Count your Blood Debt cards out loud at the start of each end phase. In long games it's easy to forget two or three life, and at a tournament that's exactly the kind of mistake that ends in a warning.

## Empty deck and "fatigue"

**Running out of cards doesn't make you lose in Flesh and Blood: if you try to draw from an empty deck, the draw simply doesn't happen, and you only lose when your life hits 0.** That's rule 8.5.6b, and the ways to lose are listed in 4.5.3. The word "fatigue" doesn't appear in the Comprehensive Rules; players use it for the point where someone runs out of useful cards and can no longer block or attack properly.

### Why the deck is rarely truly empty

Pitched cards go back to the bottom of your deck every end phase (4.4.3c). What actually leaves are the cards that block, get played or get banished. In a long game your deck gradually fills with the cards you pitched, often blues that make resources but don't hit hard.

### What changes with an empty deck

- You don't draw in the end phase; you play off what's left in hand and arsenal.
- You can't Boost (8.3.9b).
- You lose any Clash against a card with power, because you reveal nothing (8.5.45b).
- If no player can move the game towards an end, it's a draw by stalemate (4.5.4d).

### At a tournament, the clock

Long games usually end on time before anyone decks out. In Silver Age and Living Legend, according to their format pages on fabtcg.com, when round time runs out the turn-player finishes their turn, one more turn is played, and if there's still no winner the game is a draw.

## Living Legend: when a hero stops being legal

**A hero that reaches 1000 Living Legend points stops being legal in Classic Constructed along with its signature weapon, but stays legal in the Living Legend format.** This comes from the card legality policy and the Living Legend page on fabtcg.com, both checked on 3 November 2026, and from tournament rules 7.1 and 7.2.

### How heroes earn points

A hero earns points whenever it wins certain events: 100 for a World Championship or Pro Tour, 50 for a Calling or the US National Championship, 5 to 25 for a National Championship depending on its size, 10 for a Battleground, and a season total of 1500 split across Pro Quest events and another 1500 split across Road to Nationals events. Points are multiplied by how long the hero has been legal: ×0.75 in its first year, ×1 in its second and ×1.5 after that. The check runs every Monday (US time), and a hero that has crossed the threshold stops being legal from the Friday of that week.

### Which cards lose legality

- The hero and its signature weapon. The official page lists the pairs, such as Cindra, Dracai of Retribution with Kunai of Retribution, or Arakni, Marionette with Hunter's Klaive.
- Cards of that hero's class don't become illegal by themselves. Whether a class card is playable depends on there being a legal hero who can run it, since a deck can only contain its hero's classes and talents.
- Banned cards are a separate matter, listed per format in the legality policy.

### The Living Legend format

It's built on Classic Constructed: one adult (non-young) hero, an 80-card card-pool of weapons, equipment and deck cards, a minimum 60-card deck and up to 3 copies of each card. It has its own banned and restricted lists; on 3 November 2026 Carrion Husk, Crown of Seeds, Kraken's Aethervein, Rosetta Thorn and Zephyr Needle were banned. The formats page on fabtcg.com files it under special formats, next to Blitz.

### Before you buy into a hero

Check the points leaderboard. On 3 November 2026 the heroes closest to the threshold were Dorinthea Ironsong (833), Katsu, the Wanderer (803) and Bravo, Showstopper (775). A hero with a lot of points can leave Classic Constructed within weeks after a couple of big wins, and demand for its cards usually reflects that.

## Silver Age: the young-hero format with commons and rares

**Silver Age uses a young hero and a 55-card card-pool in which everything, the hero included, is common, rare or basic rarity, with a deck of exactly 40 cards and up to 2 copies of each card.** That's tournament rule 7.4 and the format page on fabtcg.com, checked on 3 November 2026. It's still an official constructed format, best of one, with a recommended 35-minute round.

### Which cards qualify

- A card counts as common, rare or basic if it has ever been printed at that rarity. The official page uses Bravo, Flattering Showman: printed at rare in the Bravo demo deck, so it's legal even though it also exists at Majestic.
- Basic rarity is what used to be called token rarity.
- Copies are counted by name and colour: red Snatch and blue Snatch are different cards, and you can run 2 of each.
- The usual class and talent rules apply, and Legendary caps a card at 1 copy.

### Benched heroes

Each season, Legend Story Studios picks up to one hero and the community votes for three more to sit out Silver Age until the next standalone booster set. A hero benched again sits out as many seasons as the number of times it's been benched. On 3 November 2026, Briar, Oldhim and Oscilio were benched until Outbreak (5 February 2027) and Chane until the 2027 release the policy calls "Set 22".

### Banned list

Silver Age has its own banned list, longer than Classic Constructed's, including staples such as Sink Below, Snapback and Harmonized Kodachi. Check it in the legality policy before you finalise a deck.

|  | Silver Age | Blitz | Classic Constructed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Hero | Young, common or rare | Young | Adult, not Living Legend |
| Card-pool | 55 | 52 | 80 |
| Deck | Exactly 40 | Exactly 40 | At least 60 |
| Copies | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Rarities | Common, rare, basic | All | All |

## Cold Foil vs Rainbow Foil: which version are you trading?

**Cold Foil and Rainbow Foil are two different print techniques for the same card, and Cold Foil is far scarcer: in recent English boosters it turns up roughly once every 24 packs, while every pack has a premium foil.** We checked this on 3 November 2026 in the fabtcg.com Collector Center tables for The Hunted (January 2025) and Usurp the Shadow Throne (25 September 2026). The rarity breakdown calls the per-pack slot "Premium Foil", and the set list marks most of those versions as Rainbow Foil. For play it makes no difference: tournaments accept any official printing of a card (tournament rules, 4.2).

### How to identify the version

- The collector number isn't enough. In the official tables a single number such as HNT011 (Mask of Deceit) is listed with both Cold Foil and Rainbow Foil versions.
- The tables show which versions exist for each number and whether any of them is extended art or has a micro text box. In The Hunted, for instance, Mask of Deceit's Cold Foil is extended art.
- In The Hunted, the Marvels are listed as "Cold Foil Marvel".
- Colour matters too: the three versions of a card have separate numbers, like Bite (1), (2) and (3) at HNT017 to HNT019.

### Language

Not every set is printed in every language. The Hunted came out in English, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Spanish; Usurp the Shadow Throne only in English, French and Japanese. Language changes nothing in play, since the English name is what counts (2.7.4), but in a trade you should always state it next to the finish. Our [guide to card languages and editions](https://tradematches.app/en/blog/tcg-card-language-edition-guide) covers that, and the [card condition guide](https://tradematches.app/en/blog/tcg-card-condition-mint-near-mint-lp) explains how to describe a foil's condition.

## Trading for the cards you need

TradeMatches has supported Flesh and Blood since November 2026. Add the exact version (colour, finish and language) to your have and want lists, see nearby matches and talk to other players in your province's chat.

## FAQ

### What does pitch mean in Flesh and Blood?

It's how many resources you get when you move a card from hand to your pitch zone to pay a cost: 1, 2 or 3, which usually line up with the red, yellow and blue colour strips.

### Does go again let the same card attack twice?

No. It gives you an action point to play another action card or activate another action ability, such as a second attack or your weapon.

### Can I pitch the card in my arsenal?

No. Pitching only moves cards from hand. You can play your arsenal card, but you can't use it to pay.

### Does Dominate stop me blocking with equipment?

No. Dominate only limits cards from hand. You can add as much equipment as you like, plus one defense reaction from arsenal.

### Can I save Ward for a bigger hit?

No. Ward has no "may": the moment you would be dealt damage, the card is destroyed and prevents its number, even against a 1-damage hit.

### Do I lose if my deck runs out?

No. Drawing from an empty deck does nothing, and you only lose at 0 life. You can no longer Boost, though, and you'll lose every Clash.

### Can I still use a Living Legend hero's class cards in Classic Constructed?

Not the hero or its signature weapon. The rest of that class's cards stay legal as long as another legal hero of that class runs them and they aren't banned.

## Sources and checks

On 3 November 2026 we went through Comprehensive Rules 2.15.1, dated 30 October 2026, covering game concepts, zones, turn structure, replacement effects, combat and keywords. We checked the constructed formats in the Tournament Rules and Policy, and on fabtcg.com we read the card legality policy, the Living Legend and Silver Age pages, the 30 October rules update and the Collector Center tables. Card text quoted here comes from the official Card Vault database.

- [Flesh and Blood Comprehensive Rules](https://rules.fabtcg.com/en/cr/)
- [Tournament Rules and Policy](https://rules.fabtcg.com/en/trp/)
- [Card Legality Policy](https://fabtcg.com/rules-and-policy-center/card-legality-policy/)
- [Living Legend leaderboard and rules](https://fabtcg.com/living-legend/)
- [Silver Age format](https://fabtcg.com/gameplay-formats/silver-age/)
- [Living Legend format](https://fabtcg.com/gameplay-formats/living-legend/)
- [Rules update, 30 October 2026](https://fabtcg.com/articles/rules-update-30-10-26/)
- [Collector Center: The Hunted](https://fabtcg.com/collectors-centre/the-hunted/)
- [Collector Center: Usurp the Shadow Throne](https://fabtcg.com/collectors-centre/usurp-the-shadow-throne/)
- [Card Vault, the official card database](https://cardvault.fabtcg.com/)