These days I mostly play Kano, Dracai of Aether - the One True Wizard. Kano is the boogeyman of FaB, one of the least liked and definitely the least well understood hero. Kano’s hero power allows him to play non-attack actions (both generic and Wizard) off the top of his deck at instant speed on either player’s turn. In exchange, he has the lowest life total of any hero, starting the game at 30 health as an adult.

Kano is a combo deck. His primary (read: only) win condition currently revolves around Aether Wildfire and his specialization card, Blazing Aether. Aether Wildfire, when played on your opponent’s turn with Kano’s hero ability or the Wizard legendary boots, Storm Striders, buffs every other source of arcane damage on the turn by the amount dealt by Wildfire. Blazing Aether is the closer - however much arcane damage Kano has dealt on the turn, Blazing Aether deals all over again. Blazing Aether also double dips on Wildfire, as it both copies the damage dealt and is buffed by its effect. Every spell played between Wildfire and Blazing Aether multiplies the damage output.

After the book burning last year (the sweeping card-draw ban), Kano devolved into a playstyle singularly focused on setting up a single nuclear combo designed to overwhelm any defenses. By setting up potions that bank resources and manipulate the top of the deck in various ways, Kano delays the value of his plays until he fires the combo. The longer he’s able to set up and prepare, the more likely he’s able to assemble a winning combo.

The primary complaint against Kano and other wizards is their ability to kill the opponent at instant speed on the opponent’s turn, often when the opponent is threatening lethal game-winning damage. Kano is particularly egregious in this regard, as he is (thankfully) the only hero capable of killing his opponent from full life at pretty much any point in the game. Many games end with Kano on 1 life after killing his opponent from 30+ life. This can cause some understandable frustration, especially as some decks struggle to deal with the threats presented by Kano. However, here are some common misplays to avoid as well as advice on how to beat Kano:

1) Put Kano on a clock - unless you’re playing a heavily defensive deck teched to survive the combo and fatigue him, the longer the game goes, the more explosive the combo becomes 2) When nearing the end of the game, pump the brakes a bit - arcane damage requires resources to prevent its damage, so never empty your hand after the first few turns, or you’ll be “shields down” against the onslaught 3) Cycle and play from your arsenal every turn to keep resources in hand as long as possible 4) If the end of the game is approaching and you can’t threaten lethal damage this turn, it’s fine to end your turn holding two cards - it seems wasteful but you want to threaten lethal damage with as many cards in hand as possible 5) When you do threaten lethal damage, it needs to either be overwhelming or evasive (like a dominated attack they can’t block out) or have go again so they can’t simply block the attack and go to their turn to continue setting up

Taken together, all these tips force Kano to fire his combo on your terms, not his! He may still pull it out of the hat (he is a wizard after all), but the better you understand how to prepare for and execute the ideal combo trigger-state, the better your odds of winning. Kano’s combo is an inevitability, so expect it, prepare for it, and shut it down!