Flesh and Blood’s Casual Formats and Why You Should Consider Learning Them.

By Dimos

Currently there is a bit of an off season for Flesh and Blood competitive events. The most recent major event was the largest and most competitive event in the history of the game: the World Championships. That event also had side events in some of the least competitive formats of the game. This article will be looking at those less-serious formats and how players can explore them. World’s had side events for just about any format you can name, some with substantial prizing. There was an Ultimate Pit Fight (UPF) event that had LSS-provided prize support, as well as Commoner, Shapeshifter Sealed, and Team Sealed events. Multiple Commoner events have now run with unique (and valuable) prizing, such as an official FaB lore book. Not only are these events interesting takes on the game that often require a different way of thinking and evaluation as they develop, they can also help you pay off your entry fees and travel costs. There are now direct incentives for having some broader knowledge of these formats.

Alternative formats can also provide some interesting and fun takes on FaB. Politics is an ever-present consideration in UPF, and it can be interesting to see how passively you can play while slowly developing a board state without other players targeting you. Some of my favourite cards in the format are potions, just to provide an on-board threat and threat of retliation even after you’re forced to block with multiple cards. Energy Potion and Timesnap Potion are the favourites. Stacking Runechants is also a great way to accomplish this, but can make you a bit more of a target in my experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When looking at any multiplayer format, consider how turn cycles change. You’ll see an increase in the relative power level of defensive cards that lose a counter each of your turns, or are destroyed at the start of your turn. These include Zen State tokens (made with Find Centre), Chains of Eminence, Runeblood Barrier and Dissolution Sphere. These cards don’t generally see play in more competitive formats, but are definitely worth a second look in multiplayer set-ups, whether that is UPF or the upcoming-but-mysterious Player vs Environment (PvE) format.

 

 

There is an increased utility of arcane damage, as you can often target multiple targets at instant speed. In contrast, attacks need to be directed at one player for the entire Combat Chain. In particular, Runeblade cards that benefit from you having dealt arcane damage this turn may be better targeted at another hero, and not the target of your attack. If Consuming Volition always has its “discard on hit” effect active from dealing arcane damage (in this case to someone who is in league with you), it becomes a much stronger card.

 

 

The other type of card that differs in multiplayer formats are cards that have the words “each hero”, “each other hero”, or “any hero” written on them. Chain Lightning, Coax a Commotion, Reaping Blade, This Round’s on me, and Silver Palms all have the very nature of their card text changed when a third or fourth player is sat at the table. Reinforce the Line and Snag are some of the only ways that you can defend another player from a third-party attack. Some of these can be used politically to try and help or hinder different players (mainly Coax a Commotion, and This Round’s on Me). Other cards, like Chain Lightning, have their power directly increased and allow a Wizard to be even more threatening at instant speed.

 

I am very much looking forward to the teased player versus environment (PvE) format. Although there’s basically no information available other than that it is coming soon-ish, there are definitely some cards to look at prospectively. Silver Palms is the current standout, as it has almost no use in competitive formats, but would be a massive boon to any team-up of players. This Round’s on Me and Coax a Commotion are also good pieces to keep an eye on that give every player a benefit. Helping hand cards like Snag, Reinforce the Line, or Yoji, Royal Protector are some of the only ways that players can help one another out defensively. I hope this format comes out soon because I am more than keen to play it. In the meanwhile, I’ll be enjoying continuing playing in both competitive and casual formats.