Hello everyone!
This weekend, I tried something different: I played Flesh and Blood 🤯
The world premiere (WP) of the new Super Slam edition of Flesh and Blood took place in Montreal at the Palais des Congrès, organized by the Silver Goblin.
As the event approached (about two weeks before), I slowly introduced myself to the basic rules of FaB by playing weekly Armory tournaments, where I got destroyed in every match. It was a lot of fun! 😊
Learning a new game always brings a sense of wonder and discovery. Each game is an opportunity to learn a thousand and one things about how the game works, and it's super satisfying.
So I arrived Friday morning with a plan: to play WP Sealed Decks and learn how FaB Limited works, and then jump into the lion's den on Sunday in a Hardened Battle. The latter is a high-caliber tournament that allows the winner to advance to the Pro Tour. So, I was going to go from 0 to 100 in a single weekend in terms of difficulty level.
On Friday, I arrived at the venue and the atmosphere was fantastic. It's really, really cool that Legend Story Studios puts so much effort into organizing events like this. I was able to meet many friends I usually meet online, as well as a large number of familiar faces. It seems I'm not the only Magic player playing at FaB 😅
Even the judges are the same 😂
During the day on Friday, I participated in three Sealed Decks for a total of 12 rounds, where I finished with a score of 4-8. Not bad for a beginner. I asked a lot of people for help throughout the day, and it really helped me understand what the different heroes in the set want to do in their matches.
For Saturday, I took a short break to play a Classic Constructed (CC) event with my Ninja deck. My entry point into FaB was with Ira's preconstructed deck, and that's the deck I started modifying in the hopes of scoring some victories. It must be said that I had a score of 0-9 in Armory before this weekend, so the bar was pretty low 🤣
So, imagine that I managed to finish 2-2 in the tournament! 😎
I won against Dash I/O and Arakni: Marionette, and lost to Dash I/O and Fang. Another great learning experience reading all my opponents' cards 🫡
Saturday evening, my friend Éric, who had just qualified for Day 2 of the Calling tournament - the main tournament of the weekend - spent an hour on the phone explaining to me in detail what he thought was the best strategy for each hero. Thanks Éric, that help was fantastic! 🙏
Ironically, we'd pretty much covered all the heroes...except Lyath. Obviously, when I opened my pool on Sunday morning during Battle Hardened, the only really playable deck seemed to be...Lyath 😅
I still had a good idea of what I needed to do, and I was able to get some help too. In FaB, once you choose your hero for the tournament, the Sealed deck itself can change with each match, which helps a lot in my case.
The first round arrived, and I had a super-close match against Kayo. It would normally have ended in a draw, but my opponent chose to concede. In Flesh and Blood, a draw penalizes both players, and my opponent didn't think he could play all his rounds anyway. So I started with a win!
Then, in the second round, I played another Kayo piloted by a renowned player. I beat him in a very close game. 2-0!!
In the third round, my inexperience cost me the game because I made a small mistake in the first round. This game is very unforgiving of small mistakes 🥲
I started the fourth round with a score of 2-1, and I think I played my best FaB game of the weekend. I won by playing very well, so I was up 3-1.
Being up 3-1 with only three rounds to play and with a chance of making the Top 8 seemed too good to be true, and it was.
I lost the fifth round to a very good opponent who caught me with a surprise twist to finish me off. I was a bit speechless at the time.
At 3-2, I knew I wouldn't make the Top 8, but I still wanted to get the best score possible.
Unfortunately, my lack of preparation with my food cost me another game where I made a mistake that could have been avoided and that would have allowed me to win. At 3-3, I could only hope to win the 7th round.
This time, it was chance that sabotaged me. Seeing my starting hand, I knew it was the end. I still fought valiantly, but it wasn't enough.
I ended up with a score of 3-4 in the Battle Hardened.
To end the weekend, I made one last Sealed deck in the evening where I finished 2-2.
All in all, it was an extraordinary weekend! Each day was filled with twists and turns, learning new things, and great conversations with FaB players from all over the world.
I'm thrilled to have been able to represent Cartes Léo this weekend at the event, and I'd like to thank the entire Team Cartes Léo team for this wonderful opportunity 🤩
Thank you also to those who take the time to read my stories! ❤️
See you next time! 😄