As Cool as Lightning

Harnessing the power of the storm and frost gives Lexi a unique quality to create tempo in her gameplay. The speed of Lightning allows her to dish out attacks with lightning speed, while the power of Ice disrupts her opponents’ moves.

The exciting thing about building a Lexi deck in Limited and Constructed is playing around with the balance between her two elements - Lighting and Ice. Each side fulfills a unique role, but when combined together, they can really create a rift between you and your opponent - speeding you up, while slowing them down.

Lightning not only helps Lexi push out a tonne of attacks each turn, but the shock infused arrows deal a bunch of non-physical, non-arcane damage that is really tough to deal with. Lighting helps Lexi get the opposing hero's life total down to zero in a blink of an eye. With cards like Frazzle, Shock Charmers and Buzz Bolt, the damage potential is exponential.

The Elemental Ranger has some exciting Ice infused arrows in her arsenal. Following the Ranger theme from previous sets, these have a variety of on-hit effects that leave her opponents struggling to make a good play on their turn. This gives Lexi a hefty window to draw up another powerful hand without a hit back and lets her continue to put on the pressure.

Sealed

When playing sealed, the first thing I like to do is have a look at how many arrows there are. Even though the element attacks are powerful, it is important to check the power level of your arrows before committing to Lexi. As a Ranger, you don’t have a weapon that deals damage, so it is important to see there is enough damage in your deck to get your opponent to zero life. Shiver helps with this, as the extra +1 attack power does add up over the course of the game. The next thing I like to do is see if the Lightning and Ice cards are compatible with the arrows I want to fuse. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of Lighting fuse arrows and no Lightning cards to fuse them with! Finally, I recommend planning out your turns to see if the deck flows well. Personally, I like to mix Lightning attack action cards and Ice non-attack action cards, or Ice attack action cards with Lightning non-attack action cards. This allows you to flip over a Lighting card with Lexi’s hero ability, give your attack go again and play out the rest of your hand. Sequencing is very important with Lexi - mastering this will make winning games a piece of cake.

Constructed

One of my favourite things about Lexi in Constructed is the multitude of ways you can build a Lexi deck. Going pure Lightning or pure Ice makes it easier to guarantee those fuses and makes the deck very consistent. On the other hand, you end up missing out on the benefits of the other element, as they complement each other very well. On top of that, you have a range of bows to build your deck around. Mixing and matching bows with elements and playstyles means there is not only one correct way to play Lexi. There are many ways to play her successfully. The addition of New Horizon is a huge boost for Lexi. Being able to consistently create six card hands means you can topple over even the most defensive opponents.

While Lexi leans towards an aggressive playstyle, she has a decent toolbox to play around with older goodies to create powerful and fun interactions. These combos create very dynamic game states, where you can play upwards of five arrows in one turn and swamp your opponent. Simply play a Snap Shot, fuse it, and use Death Dealer as an instant to put another Snap Shot into your arsenal - get your action point back and draw a card! Rinse and repeat. If you have never tried a one-turn-kill Ranger, the release of Tales of Aria is definitely the time.

Lexi is definitely my favourite hero from Tales of Aria, purely from the amount of ways there are to play her. She is a fierce addition to the Flesh and Blood hero roster and I cannot wait to see all the wonderful ways players will find to play her and win!