The second week of Road to Nationals events saw stores across the world playing host to faces both familiar and new. Our largest event of the week took place in Auckland, New Zealand, with 95 players showing up for Card Merchant's Road to Nationals event. While Chane and Katsu are still regulars in the Top 8 finalists this week, there are some new faces fighting their way to the top, with lone illusionists, warriors and mechanologists attempting to unseat the current reigning heroes. Bravo also seems to be making his claim to fame this week, placing in the Top 4 of multiple events and winning three outright. As we go into another weekend of events, let's take a look at the current shift in the metagame.
ChannelFireball - CA, United States
22 players participated in ChannelFireball Game Center's Road to Nationals event. "Oliver Phi, the winner of the event, went undefeated throughout the event, earning his Road to Nationals title and Tunic after a long and intense game against Jake Russell's Bravo that exhausted both players' minds and decks. A lone Parable of Humility left innocuously on the field was the key to Prism's victory as it softened Bravo's defenses, preventing him from breaking Herald of Triumph with a 7-power attack."
Top 8:
- Oliver Phi - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Jake Russell - Bravo, Showstopper
- Steve Le - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Alan Hoang - Bravo, Showstopper
- Carlos Samaniego - Bravo, Showstopper
- Shin Inoue - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Jose Holguin - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Brooks Mitchell - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
Strefa MTG - Poland
In the Polish city of Mazowieckie, 32 players gathered at Strefa MTG for their Road to Nationals event. Mariusz Suchanecki, the first player in Poland to reach 1,000 XP, faced off against Tomasz' Katsu deck, beating back the Misterian ninja to claim the victory for the Light.
Top 8:
- Mariusz Suchanecki - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Tomasz Żelazko - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Mateusz Sass - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Grzegorz Kowalski - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Łukasz Cichecki - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Hrvoje Hedžet - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Łukasz Szczepanowski - Bravo, Showstopper
- Bartosz Dominiak - Dorinthea Ironsong
Modern Table Top Gaming - VA, United States
Modern Table Top Gaming hosted 33 players for their event, including Max Thomas and Sam Yuen, currently placed #1 and #3 respectively on the 90-day XP leaderboard in the United States. "There were six long and grueling rounds with a 45 minute lunch break. Players had an amazing time and our Level 1 judge Josh Alexander did a superb job. The Top 8 battled it out until it came down to Sam Yuen and Max Thomas. There was eerie silence in Modern Table Top much different from all the clamoring we had when we were almost at max capacity earlier in the day. It was so quiet you would not even think there was anyone in the store at all. They final two traded blows and tried to keep the best poker face as they continued on until around 10:00pm. Finally after 12 hours Sam Yeun prevailed with his Bravo Deck."
Top 8:
- Sam Yuen - Bravo, Showstopper
- Max Thomas - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Don Gallitz - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Christopher Medina - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Larry Johnson - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Stephen Didion - Viserai, Rune Blood
- Todd Rowe - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Daniel Hudson - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
Poke4Dayz - Norway
13 Norwegian players gathered for the Road to Nationals event hosted by Poke4Dayz over the weekend.
Top 4:
- Christopher Reyes - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Peter Bråss - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Mikael Jacobs - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Simon Frøyen - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Mox Saga - Hong Kong
In the city of Kowloon, 55 players gathered at Mox Saga to test their skills, and compete for an invitation to the National Championships.
Top 8:
- Allen Lau - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Kelvin Law - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Chi Shing Tsang - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Jacky Ho - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Kaiser Wong - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Bun Ar - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Alex Lo - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Hung A_Man - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Shuffle 'n' Cut - New Zealand
80 players gathered in Auckland CBD for Shuffle 'n' Cut's Road to Nationals event, moving from the store's usual location to accommodate more players. You'll note that Matt seems to have switched from his Dash deck this week, hanging up his Teklo Foundry Heart to take up the mantle of the runeblade, and join the Chane train.
Top 8:
- Matt Rogers - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Jacob Kingi - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
- Jason Lai - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Dirk Crasto - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Marko Zutic - Bravo, Showstopper
- Mani Gardwell - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
- Jimmy Guo - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Michael Collins - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
Curio Cavern - VA, United States
"27 of Rathe’s bravest heroes gathered at Curio Cavern, centrally located in the United States capital region of Washington, D.C - where a thriving Flesh and Blood community has emerged. The top four games were fought under the umbrella of Rathe’s most recent conflict: Light vs Shadow. One one side of the bracket, Chane and Viserai battled viciously over who would represent Shadow in the final battle, arcane energy and blood littered the playfield with Chane prevailing in the end. On the other side, the skirmish over who would represent the Light was long and hard fought between Bolton and Prism. Bolton swung true and hard, but Prism’s spectral shields protected her - and ultimately brought her victory.
In the final match over who would be the Monarch of Curio Cavern’s Road to Nationals, both Light and Shadow represented was fittingly epic. The final two players representing Chane (Alexander Sinninger) and Prism (Matthew Dantuono) are two long-time members of the DC Metro area FAB community. Players from the DC Community and other nearby communities came together in the flesh and blood to cheer them on, and witness the fantastic display of strategy and cunning. These two individuals were dominant on the day, claiming not only the top two seeds after five swiss rounds, but both players defeated their other Top 8 competitors to reach the final round.
Prism fought valiantly, and represented the Light as a true hero should. Ultimately, Alex's Chane - staying true to form - strung together lengthy attacks - relentlessly battering Matt's Prism over, and over again. In the end, Prism succumbed to the onslaught, and Chane reigned victorious."
Top 8:
- Alexander Sinninger - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Matthew Dantuono - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Stephen Didion - Viserai, Rune Blood
- Menion Croll - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Robert Hutchinson - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Jonathan Julian - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Larry Johnson - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Ryan Rockett - Katsu, the Wanderer
Manascrew - England, United Kingdom
34 players lead the charge at Manascrew, appearing in the LGS' first ten-hour stream, held with the help of Tabletop 24. The team at Manascrew tried out something new for their Road to Nationals event, streaming the event for the first time, and teaming up with sponsors to provide some incredible prizes for their players.
Top 8:
- Finbarr Begley - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Steve Hyde
- Dan Tripp
- Matthew Light
- Michael Bone
- Jack Raven
- Mark Henderson
- Adam Philpot
CompetEsport - SC, United States
CompetEsport's event kicked off with 26 players, representing a diverse range of classes. Rob Cygul rose to the top of this event with his guardian deck, beating back Ryan's Chane in order to take the win.
Top 8:
- Rob Cygul - Bravo, Showstopper
- Ryan Rebish - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Alex Keeler - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Randall Sims - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Austin Sanders - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Alex Laplume - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Ian Hollowell - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Phillip Bradford - Bravo, Showstopper
Game Kastle Sacramento - CA, United States
19 players were in attendance for Game Kastle Sacramento's Road to Nationals event, vying for a spot in the top four, and an invitation to the National Championships. You'll note mechanologist Patrick Requejo fighting his way to the final round, before ultimately losing to Taylor Morrow's Chane deck.
Top 8:
- Taylor Morrow - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Patrick Requejo - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
- Jake Russell - Bravo, Showstopper
- Jonathan Sixto - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Trevor Roddy - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Aidan Sanchez - Bravo, Showstopper
- Brishen Jaimes - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Suryan Bhatia - Bravo, Showstopper
Card Merchant - New Zealand
A grand total of 95 players participated in Card Merchant Westcity's Road to Nationals event, with the notorious runeblade Chane facing up against the classic guardian Bravo throughout the final matches of the day. Aaron Curtis, the winner of this event, carved a path into the Top 8 of The Calling Auckland earlier this year with Ira, then placed in the Top 8 of a second Calling event with Prism.
Top 8:
- Aaron Curtis - Bravo, Showstopper
- Edward Kim - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Sam Payne - Bravo, Showstopper
- Cayle McCreath - Bravo, Showstopper
- Jayden Allan - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Krishaal Kumar - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Tom Penny - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Dirk Crasto - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Atlantis Hobby - MN, United States
37 players participated in Atlantis Hobby's Road to Nationals event, resulting in a Top 8 comprised of two runeblades, two warriors, two ninjas, a guardian and a brute. While Dagan and Katsu fought valiantly, it was the runeblade who came out on top.
Top 8:
- Patrick McGregor - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Dagan White - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Nick Gabler - Bravo, Showstopper
- Evan Ebeling - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Mark MacLennan - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Nicholas Kent - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Adam Bidler - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Michael Berg - Katsu, the Wanderer
Paragon Games - IL, United States
Paragon Games hosted 30 players for their Road to Nationals event, where the runeblades of the Demonastery fought to usurp the ninjas of Misteria in their rise to the top.
"Today's Flesh and Blood Road to Nationals event was a major success! We would like to thank all of today's players and extend congratulations to those who qualified for Nationals!
Evelio took down the event and went home with the beautiful Fyendal playmat and Extended Art Foil!
Ben was the only 5-0 player after swiss, which was a major accomplishment!"
Top 8:
- Evelio Valdespino - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Jeremiah Dotter - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Tim Long - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Scott Sexton - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Benjamin Kehe - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Joshua Kehe - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Tee Thebeau - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
- Brandon Shelley - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Pastimes Comics & Games - IL, United States
In Niles, Illinois, 36 players gathered at Pastimes Comics & Games to compete in their local Road to Nationals event.
Top 8:
- Mark Johnson - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Ben Lang - Bravo, Showstopper
- Mark Garlitz - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Bryce Jones - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Eric Gehrls - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Levi Rauch - Azalea, Ace in the Hole
- Kevin Langland - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Roscoe Rea - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Card Table Republic - MI, United States
36 players participated in the event hosted by Card Table Republic in Davison, Michigan, featuring two Levia's and an Azalea on the field in addition to illusionists, runeblades, ninjas, warriors and guardians.
Top 4:
- Patrick Nelson - Chane, Bound by Shadows
- Matt Davey - Viserai, Rune Blood
- Christopher Walton - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Tyler Cross - Chane, Bound by Shadows
Prime Time Gaming - GA, United States
30 players gathered for Prime Time Gaming's Road to Nationals event in Macon, Georgia, where the only Levia in the tournament cleared a path into the top 8, ultimately losing to Rob Cygul's Bravo.
Top 8:
- Sebastiano Cavallo - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Zachary Porter - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
- Brandon Webb - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Rob Cygul - Bravo, Showstopper
- Roderick Ricks - Levia, Shadowborn Abomination
- Jonathan Sybert - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Nick Mckinley - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Alex Keeler - Chane, Bound by Shadow
Showcase Games - GA, United States
Showcase Games welcomed 27 players for their Road to Nationals event, with three warriors of Light fighting their way into the Top 8 - however, ultimately, it was the ninja Katsu who came out on top.
Top 8:
- Alex Sneed - Katsu, the Wanderer
- William Bradshaw - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
- Jonathan Norwood - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Joshua Lau - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Jamal Salem Saedidaryan - Chane, Bound by Shadow
- Eric Byrd - Bravo, Showstopper
- Robert Fulkerson - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Samuel Blitch - Katsu, the Wanderer