Ira, Crimson Haze — Silver Age Strategy Guide

Archetype Overview

Ira, Crimson Haze is a Ninja tempo deck. It plays a pile of cheap attacks that chain into each other, then lands one big hit when the chain is already long. This build, which Tatsuya OKANISHI piloted to 1st place at Sunday Showdown: Kyoto 2026, runs two separate combo engines on top of a set of hard-hitting generic attacks. That gives you a lot of ways to build a turn from a four-card hand.

The Hero and the Shell

Ira has 20 life and an intellect of 4, and one line of text: your second attack each turn gets +1 power. Every turn you want at least two attacks. The deck is built so that two is the minimum, not the goal. Most of the red attacks cost 0 or 1, and many have go again, either printed or switched on by a combo condition. A four-card hand can often play three or four of them while pitching a single blue.

Edge of Autumn is the anchor. It is a 1-power attack for one resource with go again, usable once per turn. Its damage is small. What matters is that it is a free first attack that hands Ira's +1 to whatever comes second.

Engine One: Edge of Autumn Into Vengeance

Both colors of Seek Vengeance gain go again if Edge of Autumn was the last attack this combat chain. The standard opener is:

1. Swing with Edge of Autumn.
2. Follow with Seek Vengeance. As your second attack it gets Ira's +1, and it keeps the chain going.

Legacy of Ikaru gives a Ninja attack +1 power, and it draws a card on hit if Edge was the last attack. That turns the opener into card advantage instead of just damage. Feign Vengeance is another go again link that draws whenever the opponent defends it. Your opponent has to choose between taking damage and feeding you cards.

Engine Two: The Crouching Tiger Package

The second engine creates Crouching Tiger tokens in your banished zone that you may play. They come from five sources:

• Pouncing Paws: destroy it at instant speed for a Tiger you can play this turn.
• Aspect of Tiger: Body: makes a Tiger and gets go again when it follows a red attack action card.
• Blessing of Qi: sets up a +3 power Tiger at the start of your next turn.
• Tiger Eye Reflex: makes a Tiger when it defends, so even your blocks feed next turn's offense.
• Buffs on the way: Growl and Untamed are go again attacks that pump the next Tiger you play this combat chain. Tearing Shuko adds +2 to the next Tiger this turn.

Once a Tiger is the last attack on the chain, two payoffs turn on. Pouncing Qi gains power and go again. Qi Unleashed gains +4 power, which turns a 1-power blue into a real threat. Blood Scent pays you back a resource once you have attacked with a Tiger.

The Closers

Long chains need a payoff:

• Flying Kick: gets +2 power as chain link 3 or higher. The red becomes a 7-power swing at the end of a combo turn.
• Double Cross Strap: refunds a resource once you have hit twice in the chain, which helps pay for that Kick.
• Generic heavy hitters: Sirens of Safe Harbor in all three colors, Bluster Buff, and Humble.

Humble stands out. On hit, the opposing hero loses all abilities until the end of their next turn. Against a hero whose game plan is its own text, that can wipe out their whole next turn. Scar for a Scar gains go again when you are behind on life, so the deck keeps its pace even when the race is going against you.

Why the Plan Is Strong

Redundancy. Two independent combo engines mean a hand rarely does nothing. A hand without Seek Vengeance can still go Growl into Aspect of Tiger into a Tiger. A hand without Tiger pieces can lean on Edge and the generics. Because the equipment makes Tigers and resources at instant speed, part of your engine is already in play before you draw a card.

Defense in the deck. The deck is not all-in on offense.

• Blocking blues: most blues defend for 3, so pitching and blocking compete for the same slots in a good way.
• Dedicated defense: On the Horizon and Reinforce the Line give you sturdy blocks.
• Sustain: every copy of Sirens of Safe Harbor gains you a life when it hits your graveyard, whether you attacked or blocked with it.
• Weapon attacks: Blade Beckoner Helm gets +1 defense while defending a weapon attack.
• Arcane damage: Mask of the Swarming Claw has Arcane Barrier 1 plus Spellvoid that grows with your chain length. Double Cross Strap adds another Arcane Barrier 1, and Arcane Polarity gains you 4 life instead of 1 if you have been dealt arcane damage this turn.

Long chains punish blocking. Multiple cheap attacks with go again force the opponent to decide on every link. If they block early, your later links connect and Double Cross Strap pays out. If they hold their blocks, the chain-link 3+ Flying Kick and the combo-boosted Qi Unleashed arrive with maximum power.

Who Should Pick It Up

Pick this deck if you like tempo, solving puzzles, and having a lot of decisions on your own turn. The skill is in:

• Ordering your attacks so every combo condition is live.
• Counting chain links so Flying Kick lands at link 3 or higher.
• Choosing when to cash in single-use equipment like Pouncing Paws, Tearing Shuko, Blood Scent, and Double Cross Strap.

Each of those pieces works only once, so spending one too early is a real cost.

At roughly $66 (TCGplayer market prices, approximate), it is also an affordable entry into competitive Silver Age.

Skip it if you want a deck that plays the same line every game. Ira rewards players who look at a four-card hand and see three different turns. It punishes players who autopilot the first one they find.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

Ira wins by attacking in chains: several cheap attacks with go again, ending in one big swing. Nearly every red attack costs 0 or 1, so a normal hand can make three or four attacks while still keeping a card to defend. Ira's ability gives your second attack each turn +1 power. That means every turn you are thinking about two things: how to keep go again alive, and which attack goes second.

Posture: Proactive, With a Real Floor

You are the beatdown in almost every game. You turn cards into damage efficiently, and Ira has 20 life and an intellect of 4. That means you cannot sit back and let the opponent set up. The list still has a solid defensive floor:

• Blocking cards: On the Horizon blocks for 4, and Reinforce the Line adds +4 defense to an attack action card you are blocking with.
• Arcane protection: Arcane Polarity, plus Arcane Barrier on Mask of the Swarming Claw and Double Cross Strap, cover you against arcane.
• Life gain: each Sirens of Safe Harbor gains you 1 life when it reaches your graveyard, whether it was blocked with or attacked with.

Your default is to present damage every turn. Block only with what the next turn doesn't need.

Engine One: Edge of Autumn

Edge of Autumn is the cheapest way to open a chain. For one resource it attacks with go again, which makes your next card the second attack and gives it Ira's +1. Its two follow-ups:

• Seek Vengeance: costs 0 and gains go again when Edge was the last attack. The red one swings for 5 in that slot and keeps the chain going.
• Legacy of Ikaru: put it on the attack right after Edge. It adds +1 power and draws a card on hit.

Edge into Seek Vengeance is your baseline turn. It costs one resource, makes two attacks, and leaves the rest of your hand free for a third attack or for blocking.

Engine Two: Crouching Tiger

Your second engine creates Crouching Tiger attacks in your banished zone and then plays combo cards off them. Ways to make a Tiger:

• Aspect of Tiger: Body: when the last attack was a red attack action card, it gains go again and makes a Tiger you can play this turn.
• Pouncing Paws: destroy it to make a Tiger you can play this turn.
• Blessing of Qi: destroys itself at the start of your turn and gives you a Tiger with +3 power.
• Tiger Eye Reflex: when it defends, you get a Tiger to play on your next turn. Your block becomes part of next turn's offense.

Ways to boost the Tiger itself:

• Growl and Untamed each give the next Tiger +1 power.
• Tearing Shuko gives the next Tiger +2 power.

Combo cards to play after the Tiger:

• Pouncing Qi gains +1 power and go again.
• Qi Unleashed gains +4 power. The blue one goes from a 1-power attack to a 5-power finisher.

A typical chain is Growl → Aspect of Tiger: Body → Tiger → Pouncing Qi. Aspect is your second attack, so it takes Ira's +1. Growl's buff lands on the Tiger, and Pouncing Qi keeps go again alive at the end.

Equipment as Burst

Most of your equipment destroys itself for one effect:

• Blood Scent gives you a resource once you've attacked with a Tiger this turn.
• Double Cross Strap gives you a resource once you've hit twice this combat chain.
• Pouncing Paws and Tearing Shuko add a Tiger and the +2 power to go with it.

Each of these pieces works only once. Save them for the turn they turn into lethal, or into a swing your opponent cannot block cleanly. The two resources from Blood Scent and Double Cross Strap are what let you pay for Qi Unleashed or Flying Kick at the end of a long chain. Flying Kick gains +2 power at chain link 3 or higher, so it belongs at the end, never at the start.

Closers and Tools

• Scar for a Scar: gains go again whenever you have less life than the opponent. When you are behind in a race, it becomes a free chain extender.
• Bittering Thorns: has go again, and on hit gives your next attack +1 power.
• Humble: on hit, the opposing hero loses all abilities until the end of their next turn. Use it when their hero ability is the thing beating you.
• Bluster Buff and Sirens of Safe Harbor: big single swings for turns where go again has run out.

The Ideal Game

1. Early turns: pitch a blue and run Edge into Seek Vengeance, adding a third attack if your hand allows. If your hand is weak, play Edge into Blessing of Qi to bank a Tiger with +3 power for next turn. Keep your equipment intact.
2. Middle turns: alternate between your two engines so the opponent can't block the same way every turn. Start turns with the Blessing Tiger when you have one, then follow with Pouncing Qi or Qi Unleashed. When you defend, block with Tiger Eye Reflex when you can, so the block also sets up your next turn.
3. Closing turn: once the opponent's life is within reach, destroy your equipment all at once. Use Pouncing Paws and Tearing Shuko to add a large Tiger, and take the resources from Blood Scent and Double Cross Strap. Then finish with Qi Unleashed or Flying Kick at chain link 3 or higher.

Every turn, check one thing: is there a card with go again in the slot that needs it? A chain that ends a card early wastes the rest of your hand.

Card Choices & Breakdown

Every slot in this pool feeds one of two jobs: chain enough cheap go-again attacks that Ira, Crimson Haze's +1 lands on a real threat, or cash in Crouching Tiger tokens for resources, damage, and combo payoffs. The format caps you at 2 copies of each unique name and colour (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page, accessed 2026-10-19). So the real numbers question is never "two or three." It is which colours of a card you run.

Weapon and Arena Cards

Edge of Autumn is a 1-power, once-per-turn attack with go again for one resource. Its job is to be your first attack, which hands Ira's bonus to the second. It also switches on the Seek Vengeance and Legacy package.

The pool carries two head pieces and two chest pieces, so the choice is per matchup:

• Head: Mask of the Swarming Claw gives Arcane Barrier 1 plus Spellvoid that scales with your own chain links. Blade Beckoner Helm gives 1 defense, or 2 against weapon attacks.
• Chest: Blood Scent is a one-shot resource once a Crouching Tiger has attacked. Double Cross Strap gives a resource after two hits on one chain, and carries Arcane Barrier 1.

Pouncing Paws and Tearing Shuko are always on. Paws makes a playable Tiger on demand. Shuko adds +2 to your next Tiger.

All six published Ira lists in the window run this exact weapon and equipment suite (source: fabtcg.com decklist API, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Treat it as fixed.

The Edge Package

Seek Vengeance costs 0 and gets go again when Edge of Autumn was the last attack.

• The red copy swings for 4, plus Ira's +1 as your second attack.
• The blue copy is a 2-power link that keeps the chain alive while pitching for 3.

Legacy of Ikaru adds +1 to a Ninja attack. If that attack hits and Edge was the last attack, you also draw a card. It also pitches for 3, so it is never dead.

Feign Vengeance is a 0-power, 0-cost go-again link. It draws whenever your opponent blocks it. It pads link count for Flying Kick and the Mask's Spellvoid, and it taxes opponents who block everything.

The Crouching Tiger Engine

Generators make Tigers in four different ways:

• Pouncing Paws makes one on demand, as noted above.
• Aspect of Tiger: Body costs 0. It gets go again and makes a playable Tiger if a red attack action came right before it, so sequence a red attack first.
• Blessing of Qi is a 1-cost aura. It turns into a +3 Tiger at the start of your next turn, which is free pressure on a turn you would otherwise spend defending.
• Tiger Eye Reflex blocks for 3, has Ambush so it can defend from arsenal, and banks a Tiger for your next turn. It is your best yellow because it plays offense and defense at once.

Buffs: Growl and Untamed each give the next Tiger +1 power this chain, and both have go again. Growl costs 0 and Untamed hits harder for 1.

Payoffs fire when a Tiger was the last attack:

• Pouncing Qi gets +1 and go again. Both colours run because both cost 0.
• Qi Unleashed gets +4, turning a blue 1-power card into a 5-power finisher.

Qi Unleashed is a blue that is also a closer. That makes it a deliberate pitch-or-play decision every hand.

Go-Again Glue

Bittering Thorns is a 4-power go-again attack, and on hit your next attack gets +1. That stacks with Ira's bonus when Thorns is your first attack.

Scar for a Scar gets go again only when you trail on life. Expect it to be a plain 0-cost 4-power hit early, and a chain extender once you have taken damage. Its defense of 2 means you would rather play it than block with it.

Big Hitters

These are what end turns. Your go-again cards set them up.

• Flying Kick: both colours gain +2 at chain link 3 or higher. The red copy becomes a 7-power threat, and the blue copy still swings for 5 while pitching for 3. Its condition rewards the long chains everything above is built to make.
• Bluster Buff: 6 power for 1, provided you pay the extra resource when it attacks. Otherwise it is 5.
• Humble: 6 power, and on hit it strips the opposing hero's abilities through their next turn. It is your answer to hero abilities that would outscale you.
• Sirens of Safe Harbor: all three colours run. Each gains you 1 life whenever it hits the graveyard, whether you attacked or blocked with it. That makes it the most flexible card in the pool: a 6/5/4 attack that is never a bad block.

Defense and Life

Reinforce the Line gives +4 defense to a defending attack action card. Since most of your attacks block for 3, it turns any of them into a 7-point block at zero cost.

On the Horizon blocks for 4 and lets you check the top card of your deck, which helps you plan your next hand.

Arcane Polarity is 1 life by default, or 4 if you took arcane damage that turn. Together with the two Arcane Barrier pieces, it is your answer to arcane damage.

These three are the slots to cut first when you expect a field of decks that do not interact with you.

Colour Spread

The pool holds 48 deck cards for a 40-card deck, and it is weighted heavily red.

• Red pairs: 15.
• Yellow pairs: 2.
• Blue pairs: 7.

That weighting works because so much of the offense costs 0 or 1:

• Seek Vengeance
• Pouncing Qi
• Growl
• Scar for a Scar
• Aspect of Tiger: Body
• Feign Vengeance

With Blood Scent and Double Cross Strap adding resources on top, a single blue often funds an entire turn. The blues were chosen to stay playable, so if you draw too many, you can still attack with them instead of being stuck.

The Decklist

This is the 55-card pool Tatsuya OKANISHI used to win Sunday Showdown: Kyoto 2026, at an estimated $66 on TCGplayer market prices. Silver Age pools are 55 cards including weapons and equipment, and the deck starts each game with exactly 40 cards (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page, accessed 2026-10-19). Here that is 7 arena cards plus 48 deck cards, so eight deck cards sit out every game.

Cards marked Flex are the ones this list plays that are not shared by every published Ira, Crimson Haze list. All six Ira lists published on fabtcg.com ran the same seven arena cards and the same core of twos marked Core below (source: fabtcg.com decklist pages, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19).

Hero, Weapon & Equipment

You have two heads and two chests, and you pick one of each every game. Take the Arcane Barrier piece against arcane damage. Otherwise take the piece that fits your plan.

Pitch 1 (Red)

Pitch 2 (Yellow)

Pitch 3 (Blue)

Reading the List

The 48 deck cards split into 30 red, 4 yellow and 14 blue. That is a heavy red count, built around free and one-cost attacks, with blues there to pay for the two-cost hitters.

The flex package leans one of two ways:

• Extra Crouching Tiger makers and payoffs: Aspect of Tiger: Body, Blessing of Qi, Qi Unleashed and blue Pouncing Qi.
• Generic value: the full Sirens of Safe Harbor cycle, Humble and On the Horizon.

When you cut down to 40 for a game, those are the first places to look.

Hand Planning & Pitching

With no mulligan and intellect 4, every opening seven-minute decision comes down to one question: which line does this hand support, and what does it cost? Ira's hands sort into three shapes. Identify yours before you pitch anything.

• Edge hand: you hold Seek Vengeance, Legacy of Ikaru or a chain-link-3 payoff like Flying Kick. The line starts with Edge of Autumn.
• Tiger hand: you hold Pouncing Qi, Qi Unleashed, Growl or Untamed and can make a Crouching Tiger from Pouncing Paws, Aspect of Tiger: Body or a Blessing of Qi already in play.
• Brick hand: mostly cost-2 finishers and blocks. Defend well, arsenal something, and set up next turn.

What to pitch

The pool is overwhelmingly red, so blues are your fuel and you rarely have more than one or two per hand. Pick the blue that does the least in this hand:

1. Qi Unleashed or blue Pouncing Qi with no Tiger source. Without a Crouching Tiger as the previous attack, they are a 1-power card. Pitch them.
2. Blue Flying Kick when you can't reach chain link 3, because it is a 2-cost 3-power attack with no go again.
3. Blue Sirens of Safe Harbor. It is a fine block, but a weak attack. Note that pitching it gains no life, because pitched cards go to the bottom of your deck, not the graveyard.
4. Keep Legacy of Ikaru, blue Seek Vengeance and Feign Vengeance in Edge hands. All three cost 0 and extend the chain. Pitch them only when they have nothing to attach to.

Pitch a red only when you need exactly 1 resource, such as an Edge of Autumn activation. Use your worst red for it. Arcane Polarity is the usual pick against an opponent with no arcane damage. The two yellow Sirens of Safe Harbor cover a cost-2 card exactly, so pitch one for Humble or red Flying Kick. Hold Tiger Eye Reflex for defense rather than pitching it.

Template: the Edge hand

Say your hand is blue Pouncing Qi, red Seek Vengeance, red Flying Kick and Bittering Thorns.

1. Pitch the Pouncing Qi for 3 resources.
2. Swing Edge of Autumn for 1 resource. It has go again.
3. Play Seek Vengeance for 0. It gets go again from its combo, and as your second attack it gets +1 from Ira, so it swings for 5.
4. Play Flying Kick as chain link 3 with your last 2 resources, for 7.

That is 13 damage from three cards, and Bittering Thorns goes to arsenal or stays back to block. If Seek Vengeance connects twice on the chain, Double Cross Strap can refund a resource. Use that refund to fund a fourth card instead of a second pitch.

Template: the Tiger hand

Count your resources after equipment refunds:

• Pouncing Paws creates the Tiger.
• Tearing Shuko gives it +2 power.
• Growl and Untamed each add +1 if they attack before it.
• Once a Tiger has attacked, Blood Scent gains you a resource, which often pays for Qi Unleashed behind it.

Remember the cost of those refunds. Every piece you destroy is one less blocker for the rest of the game. Spend the equipment only when the turn converts it into real damage, not just to keep a blue in hand. Also, Blood Scent and Double Cross Strap are both chest pieces. Plan around whichever one you are actually wearing.

Blocking and the arsenal

• Best blocks: Most of your attacks defend for 2 or 3.
  • A defending Sirens of Safe Harbor gains you 1 life when it hits the graveyard.
  • On the Horizon defends for 4 and shows you the top card, which tells you what next turn's draw looks like.
  • Reinforce the Line turns any 3-defense attack card, such as Aspect of Tiger: Body, Flying Kick or Pouncing Qi, into a 7-defense wall for 0 resources.
• What to keep: Defend with cost-2 finishers you can't fund next turn. Keep 0-cost go-again cards, because they are what make Ira's second-attack bonus and chain-link-3 payoffs work.
• Arsenal priority:
  • Tiger Eye Reflex comes first when you expect pressure. Its Ambush keyword lets it defend from arsenal, and it creates a Tiger you can play next turn.
  • Next is a finisher you couldn't afford this turn, such as red Flying Kick or Humble.
  • Last is Legacy of Ikaru if next turn's hand already looks like an Edge turn.
• Blessing of Qi: If you have 1 spare resource and nothing better to do with it, play it as your last action. It becomes a +3 Tiger at the start of your next turn and turns a weak draw into a Tiger hand.

Going first vs. going second

Going first, your life equals your opponent's, so Scar for a Scar has no go again yet. Treat it as a block or a chain-ender, not a link in the middle. Prioritize lines that leave something behind:

• a Blessing of Qi in play, or
• a strong arsenal card.

Avoid burning Pouncing Paws or Tearing Shuko on turn one unless the damage is substantial.

Going second, you defend before you attack:

• Block with Tiger Eye Reflex from hand whenever possible. The Tiger it creates turns your first turn into a Tiger hand automatically.
• Once you are behind on life, Scar for a Scar becomes a 0-cost go-again 4-power card. Stop pitching or blocking with it at that point.
• Against arcane damage, keep Arcane Polarity in hand rather than pitching it. Taking any arcane damage that turn upgrades it to 4 life.

Sequencing & Key Lines

Choosing Your Opener

Every turn starts with one decision: lead with Edge of Autumn or lead into a Crouching Tiger. Ira, Crimson Haze puts +1 power on your second attack. A 1-power weapon swing in the first slot moves that bonus onto a real card for the cost of a single resource. Lead with Edge when you hold Seek Vengeance or Legacy of Ikaru. Lead into Tigers when you hold Growl or Untamed plus Aspect of Tiger: Body, or when a Tiger is already waiting in your banished zone.

The Edge Line

Sample hand: red Seek Vengeance, red Flying Kick, Legacy of Ikaru, blue Pouncing Qi.

1. Pitch the blue Pouncing Qi for 3 resources. Swing Edge of Autumn for 1. It has go again.
2. Play red Seek Vengeance. The combo gives it go again, and Ira makes it 5 power.
3. Put Legacy of Ikaru on Seek. It goes to 6 power and draws a card on hit, because Edge was the last attack.
4. Close with red Flying Kick as chain link 3, for 7 power.

That chain spends exactly 3 resources. If Edge and Seek both connect, Double Cross Strap can be destroyed for an extra resource. That resource can fund a Bluster Buff without the power penalty, or fund an arsenal card. Watch the opponent's defense here. If they let Edge through to save cards for the bigger links, Strap pays off. If they block Edge, Strap needs hits on two later links.

Bittering Thorns is a second opener. If it hits, your second attack gets its on-hit +1 on top of Ira's +1, so spend that stacked bonus on a card that ends the chain hard.

The Tiger Line

1. Growl or Untamed first. Either one has go again and banks +1 for your next Tiger.
2. Aspect of Tiger: Body second. A red attack action was the last attack, so it gets go again and creates a Tiger. Ira also makes it 4 power.
3. Play the Tiger with the stored bonus. If this is the kill turn, destroy Tearing Shuko first for another +2.
4. Follow up with Pouncing Qi (+1 and go again) or Qi Unleashed (+4). A Flying Kick at link 4 or later gets its +2 automatically.

Once a Tiger has attacked, Blood Scent can be destroyed for a resource, so keep it in mind before you pitch an extra card. If you hold Qi Unleashed but no Aspect, Pouncing Paws makes the Tiger that turns on the combo. Paws, Shuko and Blood Scent are all Battleworn defensive pieces, though. Spending them costs you blocks on later turns. Use them when they decide the game or enable a combo, not just to add damage.

Setup Turns: Blessing and Tiger Eye

Blessing of Qi has no go again, so play it as your last action. Next turn you open with a Tiger at +3 power. That Tiger is your first attack, so Ira's bonus lands on the Qi card that follows it.

Tiger Eye Reflex works the same way from the other side. Keep it in arsenal and Ambush-block with it on the opponent's turn. The Tiger it creates opens your next turn, which means you defended without losing tempo.

Branch Points

• Feign Vengeance as opener: If they block a 0-power attack, you draw. If they don't, you lose nothing and your next attack still gets Ira's +1. Lead with it against opponents who block early.
• Scar for a Scar timing: Go again is checked when you play it, against your life total at that moment. Sirens of Safe Harbor gains life when it hits your graveyard from anywhere, including after it blocks. That gain can close the gap and switch off Scar's go again. Count your life before you block with Sirens if Scar is in hand.
• Humble goes last: It costs 2 and has no go again, so it ends the chain. Fire it on the turn before your opponent's hero ability matters most. On a hit, they lose all abilities through the end of their next turn.
• Defensive sequencing: Reinforce the Line only targets a defending attack action card. Block with a 3-defense attack card such as blue Pouncing Qi, then add +4. On the Horizon shows you your top card, so use that information to plan your next turn before you pitch.
• Chain length and Mask of the Swarming Claw: Its Spellvoid equals the number of chain links you control. Longer chains on your own turn give you more protection against arcane damage during that turn.

Playing Around Arcane Polarity

Arcane Polarity is in 17 of the 27 published Silver Age lists (source: fabtcg.com decklist API, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Every damage source in this list is non-arcane, so each opposing copy gains them only 1 life, at instant speed. Copies are capped at 2. When you count lethal, budget 2 extra damage against any opponent who has cards in hand. That instant life gain can also push their total above yours right as you play Scar for a Scar, which costs it go again. When they hold cards, put Scar early in the chain rather than relying on it to extend a chain late.

Your own copies follow the reverse logic. Hold Arcane Polarity until arcane damage has actually been dealt to you that turn. That turns a 1-life card into 4 life. Early on, pitching it is usually better than playing it for 1.

Matchup Matrix

Your field is a handful of heroes and then a long tail. Levia was the most-played hero at Atlanta with 27 of 184 entries, and Ira led Bilbao with 10 of 72 (source: fabtcg.com Round 1 pairings, Atlanta 2026-10-04 and Bilbao 2026-09-27). Expect Levia, Fai, Bravo, the mirror and Iyslander, then everything else.

Levia — Favored

Levia is a Brute deck. It wants a few large attacks, and you want many small ones with go again. Make them answer four or five links a turn, because every card they spend blocking is a card they don't attack with.

• Defense: block with your 3-defense attacks. Save On the Horizon and Reinforce the Line for their biggest swing.
• Weapon attacks: if they swing a weapon, Blade Beckoner Helm gets +1 defense against it.
• Humble: a hit with Humble strips their hero's abilities through their next turn. Time it for the turn their hero matters most.
• Closing: you are almost always the faster deck, so don't trade blocks when you could be adding chain links.

Fai — Even

Fai is a fast go-again deck. It was the second most-played hero at both Atlanta (16) and Bilbao (8) (source: fabtcg.com Round 1 pairings, 2026-09-27 to 2026-10-04). Both decks want to race, so the game turns on efficiency.

• Tiger Eye Reflex: it blocks at instant speed with Ambush and gives you a Crouching Tiger for your next turn. A defensive turn becomes offense.
• Racing tools: once you fall behind on life, Scar for a Scar gains go again. Each Sirens of Safe Harbor that reaches your graveyard gains you a life point.
• Pacing: don't pitch away all your blockers chasing one big turn. Steady chains that keep two cards back win this more often.

Bravo, Flattering Showman — Even

Bravo is a Guardian deck built to absorb your links and punish you back. Your 3-power attacks are what it blocks best, so give it awkward choices instead.

• Flying Kick: play Flying Kick as chain link 3 or higher for +2 power.
• Feign Vengeance: lead with Feign Vengeance. If they block it, you draw.
• Big swings: Bluster Buff and Humble are 6-power attacks that make them commit real defense.
• Humble timing: a Humble hit turns off their hero for a full turn cycle. Land it when their hero ability is lined up.
• Clock: this matchup runs long, and rounds are 35 minutes, best of 1 (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page). Play quickly.

Ira mirror — Even

Both decks know the routes. The edges are in sequencing.

• Ira's bonus: Ira gives your second attack each turn +1 power. Make that second attack one that benefits from it, ideally a combo payoff like Qi Unleashed after a Crouching Tiger.
• Humble: a Humble hit removes their second-attack bonus for their next turn.
• Your own life total: Scar for a Scar rewards being slightly behind on life, so don't overspend defense just to stay ahead.
• Equipment: spend your Battleworn equipment for tempo. Mirrors are decided by damage, not by how well you block.

Iyslander — Favored

Iyslander is an arcane-damage deck, and your list already holds several answers.

• Arcane Barrier: Mask of the Swarming Claw and Double Cross Strap each carry Arcane Barrier 1.
• Spellvoid: the Mask's Spellvoid scales with the chain links you control, so a long chain makes it stronger.
• Arcane Polarity: Arcane Polarity gains 4 life on any turn you've taken arcane damage. Hold it for that turn instead of firing it for 1.
• Pressure: keep your chains wide so their reactive pieces can't keep up.
• The field around them: Arcane Polarity appears in 17 of the 27 published lists (source: fabtcg.com decklist API, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Other arcane-hedged decks exist too.

Other aggro — Even

Count damage every turn. Block with the cards whose value you've already used up, and keep Reinforce the Line for a defending attack action card that needs to hold. Life gain from Sirens of Safe Harbor and Arcane Polarity adds up over a race.

Heavy-block control — Unfavored

Decks that defend every link efficiently are your worst opponents. Your cheap combo attacks lose value when they're blocked one-for-one.

• Make blocks cost cards: lean on the 6-power attacks, Flying Kick as a late chain link, and Feign Vengeance draws.
• Use the Tiger buffs: after Growl or Untamed, the Crouching Tiger from Pouncing Paws hits harder. Tearing Shuko adds +2 more.
• Watch the clock: a stalled game risks a timed-out draw. Push damage every turn.

Card Pool & Matchup Configuration

Silver Age is a card-pool format. You register 55 cards (weapons and equipment included), and each game you choose your arena cards, then your deck cards, from that pool. The deck starts with exactly 40 cards (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page). At Showdowns the pool is locked at online registration and can't change during the event (source: fabtcg.com Event Structure and Decklist Requirements). Because matches are best of 1, every configuration choice happens once per match, before you see a single card from the opponent's deck.

This pool has 7 arena pieces and 48 deck cards. That means 8 deck cards sit out every game, and your only real arena decisions are the head slot and the chest slot. Under the pre-game trial announced 2026-09-17, heroes are revealed first, then arena cards, then decks are presented (source: fabtcg.com B&R announcement). If your event runs it, you pick equipment knowing only the opposing hero, but you build your 40 after seeing their arena.

Arena Decisions

• Head: Mask of the Swarming Claw against arcane damage. It has Arcane Barrier 1, and its Spellvoid grows with every chain link you control, so it gets stronger on your long turns. Blade Beckoner Helm against heroes whose weapons you'll be blocking. It defends for 1, or 2 against a weapon attack. Bravo FS is the clear Helm hero, since every Bravo FS list in the brief registers Titan's Fist.
• Chest: Blood Scent is the default. Its resource is easy to unlock because Pouncing Paws, Aspect of Tiger: Body, Blessing of Qi and Tiger Eye Reflex all make Crouching Tigers. Switch to Double Cross Strap when you need a second layer of Arcane Barrier, or when the opponent blocks so little that two hits on a chain is routine.
• Edge of Autumn, Pouncing Paws and Tearing Shuko go in every game.

The Toolbox

Most of the 48 deck cards are the engine and never leave. The matchup-dependent pairs are:

• Arcane Polarity: a 4-life swing against arcane damage, and a weak card otherwise.
• Reinforce the Line and On the Horizon: defense for opponents who hit hard.
• Humble: for heroes whose ability drives their turns.
• Scar for a Scar: best when you'll be behind on life.
• Bluster Buff: costs an extra resource to stay at 6 power.
• Blessing of Qi: pays off a turn late.
• The Sirens of Safe Harbor cycle: life gain in races.

Arcane Damage

Blocking cards don't stop arcane damage, so the dedicated blocks lose most of their value. Arcane Polarity comes in and becomes a real heal. The yellow Sirens of Safe Harbor and Bluster Buff leave to open space while keeping your blues intact. Your plan is pressure: long chains turn on Ira's +1 on the second attack, Flying Kick's chain-link bonus and the Mask's Spellvoid all at once.

Big Swings and Weapon Heroes

Here Reinforce the Line and On the Horizon earn their slots. Reinforce turns any of your defense-3 attacks into a 7-defense block. Humble stays in because a hit strips the opposing hero's abilities through the end of their next turn. Those keyed turns are often what a big-swing hero is building toward. Scar for a Scar goes out because, if your plan is to race ahead, its go-again condition won't be met. Arcane Polarity goes out because, with no arcane damage incoming, it's a 1-life pitch card.

Fast Aggro

Every card has to matter on the turn you draw it. Blessing of Qi spends a card and a resource now for a Tiger next turn, and Humble costs 2 to start a chain. Both go out. Scar for a Scar stays because you'll often be the one behind on life, which turns on its go again. Tiger Eye Reflex and the Sirens of Safe Harbor cycle stay too: one blocks from arsenal and banks a Tiger, the other gains life whenever it hits the graveyard, whether it was pitched, blocked or attacked with.

Configuration Rules of Thumb

• Protect the blues. The pool holds 14 blue cards against a lot of cost-2 attacks. If a configuration cuts a blue, cut a cost-2 red with it.
• Decide head and chest from the hero alone. Settle this before the reveal so you aren't burning clock.
• Treat Arcane Polarity as the first card out against anything without arcane damage. Treat Bluster Buff as the second, since its resource tax competes with Edge of Autumn activations.
• Don't over-defend in 35-minute rounds. A slow configuration that can't close in time turns wins into draws. If time looks tight, lean toward the aggro build rather than the defensive one.

Tech Choices & Variations

The registered pool is 7 arena cards and 48 deck cards, and the deck starts each game with exactly 40 cards (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page, accessed 2026-10-19). Every game, 8 deck cards, one head and one chest stay on the bench. At Showdowns the registered deck can't change during the tournament (source: fabtcg.com Event Structure and Decklist Requirements, accessed 2026-10-19), so tuning for the field happens before you submit the list. "Flex" therefore means two things: which arena pieces you wear, and which cards earn registration in the first place.

The Locked Core

Don't cut these. The Edge of Autumn package is Edge of Autumn, both colors of Seek Vengeance and Legacy of Ikaru. The Crouching Tiger makers are Aspect of Tiger: Body, Blessing of Qi, Tiger Eye Reflex and Pouncing Paws. The tiger payoffs are Pouncing Qi, Qi Unleashed, Growl, Untamed and Tearing Shuko. These cards turn Ira, Crimson Haze's second-attack bonus into multi-link turns. If you trim any of them, the combo checks start failing.

Arena Flex: Head and Chest

Against arcane decks, wearing both Mask of the Swarming Claw and Double Cross Strap stacks barrier on two slots. Against everything else, Blood Scent gives you more value from the same tiger turns you were already planning.

Deck Flex, Most Movable First

• Sirens of Safe Harbor (6 copies, all three colors). This is the deepest flex block. Each copy costs 2, has no go again and ends your chain. The life gain triggers whenever it hits the graveyard, including after blocking. The tension is with Scar for a Scar, which wants you behind on life. If you lean into racing, trim Sirens. If you're grinding, trim Scar.
• Humble vs. Bluster Buff. Both are generic chain-enders with 6 power. Humble earns its slot when the opposing hero's ability is the engine, because a hit strips it through their next turn. Bluster Buff is the cheaper body: it costs 1 for 5 power, or you pay one more resource to keep all 6. It's the better pick when your hands are resource-tight.
• Flying Kick (blu). As a blue it's worth 3 resources. As an attack it's only good at chain link 3 or higher. If your field gives you room for long chains, keep it. If you're often forced into short turns, a defensive card serves you better.
• Feign Vengeance. It's a 0-cost link with go again that draws when the opponent blocks it. It pushes your chain count for Flying Kick and Mask of the Swarming Claw. It's weakest against opponents who simply take the 0 damage.
• Defensive suite. This means Arcane Polarity, Reinforce the Line and On the Horizon. Arcane Polarity gains only 1 life without arcane damage, so it's the first defensive card to bench against physical decks. Reinforce the Line turns any of your 3-defense attacks into a 7-defense block. That makes it a strong answer to single big swings.

Tuning for Your Expected Field

Scout your local scene by strategy, then shape the 48 deck cards around what you'll actually face.

• Arcane-heavy field. Both copies of Arcane Polarity become real life swings, and the barrier arena pieces become your default. To make room in the 48, register fewer Sirens of Safe Harbor (blu). That keeps your blue pitch intact through Qi Unleashed and Legacy of Ikaru.
• Big-hitter field. Prioritize Reinforce the Line, On the Horizon and Tiger Eye Reflex. Your blocks also feed your next turn: the Reflex creates a tiger, and Sirens gains life when it hits the graveyard. Keep Humble if the opponent's hero ability is what makes their big turns work.
• Fast aggro or race field. Scar for a Scar gets go again more often here, because you'll frequently be the one behind on life. Lean on cheap go-again openers like Bittering Thorns and Growl, and cut toward the 0- and 1-cost attacks. Cost-2 chain-enders without go again are the weakest cards in a race.
• Grindy or control field. Card flow matters most. Keep both Feign Vengeance, value the draw on Legacy of Ikaru, and keep the full Sirens package for incremental life. Scar for a Scar is the first card out.

Whatever you register, protect the pitch curve. The pool carries 14 blue cards to fund cost-2 attacks under intellect 4. If you cut blues for red tech, your Qi Unleashed and Flying Kick turns become unaffordable.

Budget Options

The full list comes in at about $66 at TCGplayer market prices (approximate). Silver Age only allows common, rare and basic rarity cards, and a card counts if it was ever printed at one of those rarities. So no single card blows up the budget the way a Classic Constructed staple can. Budgeting here is mostly about acquisition order: what to buy first so the deck you register works, and what to fill in later.

Where the Cost Likely Sits

Check current prices yourself before you buy. As a rule of thumb, the pieces most likely to carry a premium are the generics that other heroes want too. Across all 27 published Silver Age lists, Arcane Polarity showed up 17 times, Blade Beckoner Helm, Scar for a Scar and Sirens of Safe Harbor 10 times each, and Humble 8 times (source: fabtcg.com decklist API, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Cards that every archetype buys tend to sell out and climb.

The Ninja-only cards compete with fewer buyers. That's good news, because they are the cards you can't do without.

What You Don't Cut

All six published Ira, Crimson Haze lists in the window ran the same Ninja core (source: fabtcg.com decklist API, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Treat these as mandatory before any upgrades:

• Weapon line: Edge of Autumn, both colors of Seek Vengeance, Legacy of Ikaru and Feign Vengeance. Seek Vengeance only gets go again off an Edge of Autumn attack, and Legacy of Ikaru only draws a card if Edge of Autumn was the last attack. Without the sword, this whole package does nothing.
• Crouching Tiger engine:
  • Tiger creators: Aspect of Tiger: Body, Blessing of Qi, Tiger Eye Reflex and Pouncing Paws.
  • Tiger payoffs: Pouncing Qi, Qi Unleashed, Growl and Untamed.
  • Cutting a creator turns off the payoffs. Cutting a payoff leaves your tigers as plain attacks.
• Tiger equipment: Blood Scent and Tearing Shuko. Both only work after or alongside a Crouching Tiger, and they're the cheap way to get an extra resource or extra damage out of the engine.
• Chain-length attacks: Flying Kick and Bittering Thorns. These are your best second and third chain links, which is where Ira, Crimson Haze's +1 power and Flying Kick's +2 power both apply.

Acceptable Budget Swaps

The deck starts each game with exactly 40 cards, and this pool holds 48 deck cards. That means some deck cards sit out of every game. Those slots are where you can compromise first. Weaker stand-ins can fill them while you collect the real cards.

Equipment is the other budget lever. You only wear one head and one chest each game, so you can start with one of each:

• Start with Blade Beckoner Helm and Blood Scent. The Helm gains +1 defense against weapon attacks. Blood Scent supports your tiger turns.
• Add Mask of the Swarming Claw and Double Cross Strap next. These give you Arcane Barrier, and Spellvoid that grows with your chain links. Until you own them, arcane matchups are worse.

Upgrade Path

1. Playable core: Ira, Crimson Haze, Edge of Autumn, the complete tiger and sword packages above, Pouncing Paws, Tearing Shuko, Blade Beckoner Helm and Blood Scent. Fill the remaining slots with any legal cards you have. This build already does what the deck is built to do.
2. Defensive generics: Reinforce the Line and Arcane Polarity. These fix the life-total problems that a 20-life hero can't afford.
3. Arcane equipment: Mask of the Swarming Claw and Double Cross Strap. These are your second head and chest, for matchups where the first set isn't enough.
4. Damage generics: Sirens of Safe Harbor in all colors, Scar for a Scar and Bluster Buff.
5. Finishing pieces: Humble and On the Horizon. You can win without them at locals. Buy them last.

Showdowns lock your registered deck for the whole event. So aim to have every slot filled with the real card before a premier event, even if your locals build sat on stand-ins for weeks.

Common Mistakes

1. Breaking your own combo conditions

Every combo in this list checks the attack immediately before it on the chain. Seek Vengeance only gets go again directly behind Edge of Autumn. Pouncing Qi and Qi Unleashed only turn on directly behind a Crouching Tiger. Aspect of Tiger: Body needs a red attack action card in front of it. The common error is swinging Edge and then casting Aspect. Edge is a weapon, not an attack action card, so Aspect gets no go again and makes no Tiger. The fix is a red Seek Vengeance between them. It takes go again off Edge, and because it is a red attack action card, it also turns on Aspect. A blue Seek Vengeance doesn't do the second job. Before you commit the first resource, build the chain backward from the card you want to end on, and check that each link's condition holds.

2. Spending Ira's bonus on the wrong link

Ira, Crimson Haze gives +1 power to your second attack each turn, once. A Tiger from Blessing of Qi becomes playable at the start of your turn. If you play it first without thinking, it is your first attack, and the +1 goes to whatever comes next by accident. Decide which link the +1 should land on: the one that pushes damage past a single block card, or the one your opponent is least able to defend. Sequence so that link is second. Leading with Edge of Autumn is often the cleanest way to do this, because a one-resource weapon swing uses up the "first attack" slot.

3. Cashing equipment out of order

Pouncing Paws, Tearing Shuko and Blood Scent all destroy themselves when used. Once they're gone, they also can't block. Each one has a timing window, and players miss them:

• Tearing Shuko: buffs the next Tiger you play this turn. Activate it before you play the Tiger, not after.
• Blood Scent: gains a resource only after you've attacked with a Tiger this turn. It funds the back half of a turn, never the opener.
• Double Cross Strap: needs two hits on the current combat chain. Don't build a chain that relies on it unless two earlier links are likely to connect.

Popping Paws early for a lone Tiger with nothing behind it throws away an equipment slot for very little damage. Save it for a turn where it lines up with Shuko, a Growl or Untamed buff, a Qi follow-up and a Blood Scent refund.

4. Letting Tigers and Tiger buffs expire

Tigers from Pouncing Paws, Aspect of Tiger: Body and Blessing of Qi must be played this turn. The Tiger from Tiger Eye Reflex must be played during your next turn. When you block with Reflex, you have already committed part of your next turn to that Tiger, so plan that turn around it.

The bonus from Growl and Untamed only applies to a Tiger played on the same combat chain. If the chain closes before the Tiger arrives, the +1 is lost.

5. Reinforce the Line on a block card

Reinforce the Line targets a defending attack action card. On the Horizon and Tiger Eye Reflex are block cards, so they can't be targeted. If you plan to Reinforce, defend with an attack card such as Aspect of Tiger: Body, Flying Kick or Pouncing Qi. Each of those turns a 3-defense block into 7. Players who block with their dedicated block cards and then reach for Reinforce discover too late that it has no legal target.

6. Life gain turning off Scar for a Scar

Scar for a Scar gets go again only if you have less life than your opponent at the moment you play it. Sirens of Safe Harbor gains you life whenever it reaches your graveyard, whether it blocked or its attack resolved. Arcane Polarity gains you 1 life, or 4 if you were dealt arcane damage this turn. When life totals are close, either play Scar before the life gain resolves or hold the gain. Also, don't fire Polarity for 1 out of habit when it could be worth 4 against arcane damage later.

7. Playing Flying Kick and Bluster Buff without setup

Flying Kick costs 2 and gets +2 power only as chain link 3 or higher. Playing it as your opener means paying full price for a weaker card. Cheap go-again links fill the early chain so the Kick lands in its real slot: Edge of Autumn, Growl, and Feign Vengeance, which also draws you a card if something defends it.

Bluster Buff loses 1 power unless you pay an extra resource. Count your pitch before casting it, not after.

8. Choosing arena cards on autopilot

Each game you pick one head and one chest from the pool:

• Head: Mask of the Swarming Claw gives Arcane Barrier 1 and Spellvoid that grows with your chain links, which is for arcane damage. Blade Beckoner Helm gains defense against weapon attacks.
• Chest: Blood Scent pays off Tiger turns. Double Cross Strap pays off multi-hit chains and adds Arcane Barrier 1.

Make this choice against the hero in front of you, not by default. The wrong head against an arcane deck costs you life over the whole game.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice

• Chain math at speed. A typical turn stacks several modifiers at once: Ira, Crimson Haze adds +1 to your second attack, Growl or Untamed adds +1 to the next Crouching Tiger, and Tearing Shuko adds +2. Drill full turns until you can announce the final power of every link without recounting. A miscounted chain is wasted damage, and wasted damage loses races in a 20-life format.
• Pre-game choices from the pool. You register a 55-card pool online before a Showdown and can't change it during the event. Each game, you still choose your arena cards and then your deck cards from that pool (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page and Event Structure page, accessed 2026-10-19). This list carries 48 deck cards for a 40-card deck, plus two head pieces (Blade Beckoner Helm, Mask of the Swarming Claw) and two chest pieces (Blood Scent, Double Cross Strap). Settle your default cuts per opposing hero before the event so the choice takes seconds, not minutes of a timed round.
• The pre-game order. The trial procedure announced 2026-09-17 for the IAR season has heroes revealed at the same time, then arena cards, then decks presented. That means you pick your head and chest after you know the opposing hero. Confirm with the head judge whether your event uses it.
• The likely field. At Atlanta, Levia was the most-played hero with 27 of 184 entries (14.7%). Fai was second at both Atlanta and Bilbao, and Bravo, Flattering Showman put up 3 Top 8 slots and a win (source: fabtcg.com Round 1 pairings and decklists, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). Ira was 13.9% of the Bilbao field (source: fabtcg.com Round 1 pairings, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19), and all six published Ira lists share the same equipment core. Expect the mirror, and practice it.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• Know which window each card uses. The wording differs, and it matters:
  • Growl and Untamed buff the next Crouching Tiger you play this combat chain.
  • Tearing Shuko and Pouncing Paws work this turn.
  • Tiger Eye Reflex lets you play its Tiger during your next turn.
  • Blessing of Qi makes its Tiger at the start of your turn, with +3 power.
  Don't let a buff expire because you broke the chain or passed the turn.
• Weapon-first lines. Edge of Autumn has go again and counts as your first attack, so the follow-up is the attack that gets Ira's +1. Seek Vengeance only gets go again if Edge was the last attack this combat chain. Legacy of Ikaru on that Seek Vengeance draws a card on hit under the same condition.
• The Body requirement. Aspect of Tiger: Body needs a red attack action card as the previous attack. Edge of Autumn does not qualify. Lead with a red attack action, such as Growl, Untamed, Bittering Thorns or red Pouncing Qi. Body then gets go again and makes a Tiger, and that Tiger turns on the combo of Pouncing Qi or Qi Unleashed.
• Equipment conditions.
  • Blood Scent pays out only after you've attacked with a Crouching Tiger this turn.
  • Double Cross Strap needs 2 or more hits this combat chain.
  • Mask of the Swarming Claw gets Spellvoid equal to the number of chain links you control, so it is strongest deep into your own chain.
• Defensive details.
  • Reinforce the Line targets a defending attack action card. It does nothing for On the Horizon, Tiger Eye Reflex or equipment.
  • Sirens of Safe Harbor gains 1 life whenever it goes to your graveyard from anywhere, including after it blocks.
  • Arcane Polarity gains 4 life instead of 1 only if you've been dealt arcane damage this turn. That makes timing it after the arcane damage worth waiting for.
• Conditional pieces.
  • Scar for a Scar checks life totals when played. Compare totals before you commit it as a go-again link.
  • Flying Kick needs to be chain link 3 or higher for its +2.
  • Feign Vengeance draws only if a card is defending it.

Clock Management

Swiss rounds are best of 1 at 35 minutes. When time runs out, the turn player finishes their turn and one more turn is played, and then the game is a draw. Top 8 matches at Showdowns are untimed (source: fabtcg.com Silver Age format page and Event Structure page, accessed 2026-10-19).

This deck is fast in game turns, but its turns are long: multiple go-again links, trigger tracking and resource bookkeeping. To keep the clock under control:

• Plan the full chain while your opponent finishes their turn.
• Announce buffs out loud as they apply.
• Use a clear marker for created Tigers in your banished zone.

In a best-of-1 round, a draw is a game you didn't win. Late in the round, take the line that closes the game over the line that squeezes out a little more value.

Final Assessment

This is a tight, proactive list. Twenty red attack-centric slots feed combo triggers. Every piece of equipment either makes Tigers, buffs them or refunds resources, and the defensive package is matched to its card text. Arcane Polarity appeared in 17 of the 27 published Silver Age lists in the window (source: fabtcg.com decklists, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19), and this list's Mask, Strap and life gain are not wasted slots in that field.

Ira held 5 of 24 published Top 8 slots with 2 wins across three Showdowns (source: fabtcg.com decklists, 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19). This exact build won Sunday Showdown: Kyoto in Tatsuya OKANISHI's hands. At an estimated $66, it is also cheap enough that you can own it outright and get your practice reps in early.

The deck rewards accurate math and clean sequencing more than reads. Put in the reps, and you can bring it to your next Showdown with confidence.

Metagame Context

Built from Tatsuya OKANISHI's 1st Place list at Sunday Showdown: Kyoto 2026 (2026-10-19), via fabtcg.com official decklists. Metagame context comes from a research brief dated 2026-10-19 covering 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19, drawn from fabtcg.com (official Flesh and Blood site). Card text and prices: the-fab-cube card dataset and tcgcsv.com (TCGplayer prices).

Source: tournament results. Decklist and placements as reported by the event organizer.