Part the Mistveil Primer

The mist beckons you to uncover ancient truths and traditions steeped in the waters of time.

Those who venture beyond the veil will soon find their mind, body, and soul reformed by the effervescent glow of moonlight.

With the changing winds snapping at your heels, you shall re-emerge guided by true purpose.

Empty your mind. Discover your Inner Chi.

It’s time to transcend…

Part the Mistveil is the exciting and mysterious new way to play Flesh and Blood, beckoning you to explore the hanging villages suspended between the perilous terrain of Misteria's canyons and gullies. Featuring three brand new heroes across Assassin, Ninja, and Illusionist classes, as well as the brand new Mystic talent, Part the Mistveil offers unlimited potential hidden just below the surface.

Unlike previous Flesh and Blood sets, Part the Mistveil Sealed Deck uses EIGHT booster packs instead of the usual six. Open your packs and remove the last two cards in each pack, which will be either tokens, cold foils, Legendary-rarity cards, and/or Expansion Slot cards. Set aside any non-token cards removed this way, as they cannot be used in your limited deck. From your remaining cards, build a main deck of EXACTLY 30 cards. No more, no less. Do not include any cards with the ephemeral keyword in this starting 30.

Please note, we have updated the legendary keyword to mean:

• Legendary (You may only have 1 of these in a constructed deck.)

This means that if you open two or more of the same card with legendary in your limited card pool, you can still use all of them in your deck. This update is especially important for Part the Mistveil to ensure that all players have an equal opportunity to utilise similar numbers of transcend cards in their games. This change will also retroactively apply to previous limited sets, but will realistically only have a minor effect on the Monarch and Outsiders limited format.

Next, choose a token hero and token weapon(s), and prepare for battle! We strongly recommend using card sleeves as Part the Mistveil contains some double-sided cards. When you’re ready to hop into a game, make sure to check the following:

• De-Chi. Go through your deck and flip any Inner Chi cards back to their front-face.
• Check your main deck doesn’t contain any arena-cards (weapons, equipment, etc), or cards with ephemeral.
• Count out exactly 30 cards before presenting your deck to your opponent.

Path Well Travelled

Let’s jog your memory on some of the returning card types and keywords contained in Part the Mistveil.

Attack reactions are played by the attacking player in the Reaction Step after the defending player has declared defending cards. They let you perform combat tricks to slither past your opponent’s defenses.

Instants are played during either player's turn whenever you have priority. You can use them to respond to your opponent’s plays, or even in response to your own plays to pull off some neat tricks!

Auras stay in the arena when played, until an effect makes them leave.

Ephemeral is a keyword that applies to special token-rarity cards you can create with other card effects. They do not start in your deck, and when they hit the graveyard, you simply return them to the token pile instead. Because these cards can be created in the hand, or may sometimes find themselves placed into the deck through other card effects, you need to sleeve them in the same manner as your main deck cards.

Combo is a keyword used by Ninjas. When you play a card with combo, it gains a bonus effect if the last attack before it is a specific named one. String together the correct sequence of attacks for a devastating blow!

Ward is a keyword that protects you from damage. If you would take damage and you control a card with ward, it will destroy itself and prevent damage equal to the amount listed in its effect. If you control multiple cards with ward, you can choose the order in which to use them.

Stealth is a keyword that does nothing by itself. What stealth does depends on the Assassin using it. Nuu has a unique hero ability that applies to her stealth cards.

Under the Cloak

Some equipment in Part the Mistveil have the new cloaked keyword. Cloaked equipment are placed face-down in the appropriate equipment zone at the start of the game. For example, an equipment card with the arms sub-type must be placed face-down in the arms zone during the start of game procedure.

While cloaked equipment are in a face-down position, none of the card’s printed text are active in the game. They are simply just cards that are equipped to those zones. Players will be unable to do some of the common game actions like declaring them as defending cards as long as they are face-down. Players that have cloaked equipment in their zones will be able to look at them; however, their opponents will not be able to look at those face-down cards unless an effect permits them to do so.

Cloaked equipment have ‘hidden’ abilities that can result in a face-down equipment being turned face-up. Some of these abilities can be activated while face-down, requiring the card to be turned face-up as part of its activation cost. Others may have an ability that triggers while face-down, but only turns face-up when the triggered effect resolves. In either case, players using these abilities must show to their opponents the card to demonstrate that the card’s ‘hidden’ ability is being used at the appropriate time and in the correct way.

When the game ends, any remaining face-down cards in the equipment zone must be revealed to the opponent, tournament official, or judges when asked. This is to ensure that players have the correct face-down cards equipped to their appropriate zones. More on this will be covered in the next upcoming Back Alley Oracle.

Make sure to check your equipment to see if it has Blade Break or Battleworn. Equipment with Blade Break are destroyed after defending, while equipment with Battleworn have reduced defense after defending, but still stick around for you to use the abilities. Some cloaked equipment do not have either of these, and are instead destroyed at the start of your turn. This means you can continue to defend with them multiple times during the turn they are face-up, provided your opponent closes the combat chain.

Time to Transcend

Mystic heroes have access to special cards with the new keyword transcend. This keyword activates when you have played another blue card this turn. You can tell if a card is blue by the colour strip at the top. Play any blue card, then activate a card with transcend. When it resolves, the card’s controller will flip the card from its front-face to its back-face and place the card into its owner’s hand. These cards become Inner Chi and will remain this way for the remainder of the game.

Inner Chi are blue Mystic resource cards that generate 3 of a new asset - Chi - when pitched. The heroes in Part the Mistveil each have a special ability that includes the cost of 3 Chi. While paying regular resource costs for cards, abilities, and effects, Chi can be used just like regular resources to pay for these costs. However, Chi costs must use Chi to pay for it and cannot use regular resources.

If you have both Chi and regular resources generated and waiting to be used, you must use all generated Chi first before using any generated regular resources when paying for costs.

When the game ends, remember to De-Chi, flipping any Inner Chi cards in your deck back to their original front-face.

Pro Tip: If you have two blue instants that transcend, you can play one, then play the other before the first one resolves. They will both check each other as another blue card being played, and will both transcend!

Nuu

Nuu is a Mystic Assassin who seduces her targets into thinking they are safe, only to strike when they least expect it! She uses stealth to hide her true intentions, keeping the opponent guessing while she handcrafts their demise with their own deck!

Nuu’s ability allows her to banish any action cards the opponent uses to defend her stealth attacks. Most of her attacks focus on banishing cards from the opponent’s deck and graveyard while stealing their life force, using sneaky attack reactions to force them to hit. Later in the game, Nuu will try to transcend and activate the second part of her ability, finishing off the opponent with their own banished blue cards!

Most of Nuu’s regular Assassin cards are stealth attacks, while most of her Mystic Assassin cards are attack reactions powered up by blues. When building a Nuu Sealed Deck, look for a strong mix of red and blue stealth cards and some powerful red attack reactions to back them up, as well as 2-4 transcend cards.

Be patient and keep a good poker face, as often you will win by preying on the opponent’s mistakes rather than having better numbers.

Zen

Zen is a Mystic Ninja who follows the winds in search of true purpose. Empowered by years of training and discipline, Zen uses the martial art of the Crouching Tiger to overwhelm his foes with perfect strikes in quick succession.

Zen is equipped with a variety of attacks with go again, numerous ways to create Crouching Tiger attacks, as well as various ways to increase their power. Zen will focus on constantly applying pressure to the opponent, leaking small amounts of damage that aren’t worth defending. Later in the game Zen will try to transcend and use his hero ability to fetch a devastating combo card from his deck to pull off a massive turn, often going beyond what the opponent is able to defend!

Most of Zen’s regular Ninja cards are combo attacks, or they make a Crouching Tiger in your banished zone when they hit, while most of his Mystic Ninja cards are attacks that make a Crouching Tiger in your hand when powered up by blues. When building a Zen Sealed Deck, look for a solid number of red combo cards to fetch off Zen’s ability and some ways to recycle at least one back into your deck for late game, as well as 4-6 transcend cards, and blues with go again to support them.

Don’t be fooled into taking damage every turn just to play a full hand. Sometimes it’s better to defend and set up for a turn where you have all the correct cards and resources to unleash your attacks at full power!

Enigma

Enigma is a Mystic Illusionist who wards off danger with spectral auras. She carries centuries-old tales and traditions within her ancestral tapestry, an ever-changing mystery like the waxing and waning of the moon.

Enigma is very complex, with many cards that can be activated during either player’s turn, and the constant threat of damage always forcing her to make decisions about her ward auras. An easy way to get into the flow of Enigma is to play an aura on your own turn and attack with it, then it be destroyed on the following turn to protect your life, and repeating the cycle. Later in the game when the opponent is at lower life, Enigma will try to transcend and start forcing the opponent to defend her Spectral Shield attacks. This limits their ability to remove your auras, allowing you to eventually overwhelm them.

Most of Enigma’s regular Illusionist cards are actions that have a bonus if you control no other auras when you play them, while most of her Mystic Illusionist cards are instants powered up by blues. When building an Enigma Sealed Deck, look for impactful red auras that you can rely on for damage, and a variety of blue instants that can be paired with 4-6 transcend cards. Tools to protect your big auras against daggers and tigers such as Battlefront Bastion are also important.

It’s a good idea to prioritise keeping your auras with +1 counters, as these gain go again from your weapon and can be part of some truly wicked turns. But don’t trap yourself into protecting a board that is inevitably going to be wiped. Think about what your opponent might do next, and whether you can afford to protect your best aura, or whether you should cut your losses and rebuild.