The Calling is coming to Indianapolis! We're a little over two weeks out from the event, hosted in partnership with our friends at Star City Games. Running from March 18th to 20th, there'll be over USD20,000 of cash prizes on the line, as well as PTI's, and Gold Cold Foil Legendary drops!
If you want the chance to compete for the title of Calling Champion, check out the Go Again package, which includes three exclusive Arcanic Shockwave rainbow foil promo cards, and a Tales of Aria Limited Edition storage box.
If you can't make it to the Calling, don't worry! You don't have to miss out on the action. We're bringing you live coverage of the main event, and today, we'd like to introduce our commentary team. Tannon Grace, who was a commentator at our US Calling events in 2021, will be joined in Indianapolis by Bryan Gottlieb and Craig Krempels. We caught up with each of our commentators, and asked them about their background in FAB, what cards and heroes they've got their eye on, and what they're looking forward to the most this year.
Tannon Grace
Tannon Grace is a lifelong gamer with a background in trading card games, video games, and “a poker guy on and off for a long time, too.” In addition to his work on the commentary team for the US Calling series, Tannon streams on Twitch and has recently been a guest on several podcasts and YouTube channels.
I recently got into Flesh and Blood after getting hired to do the Callings- I had actually never played a game before they hired me. And I went, how hard could it be? It was very hard! But 100% worth it.’
How did you get involved with Flesh and Blood?
‘Let’s be real, let’s be honest, the first thing that got me in was a job offer. I wanted to get my foot in the door when it came to this stuff. I had looked at the game, I had heard nothing but good things. It wasn't just purely like, “oh, yeah, it's a good opportunity to make a quick buck.” I had heard nothing but good things, especially from one of my local best friends who had switched to Flesh and Blood. There was another local guy as well, and they were both like, “you're gonna love this game. Try it, trust us.”’
What drew you to the game?
‘When I get a new game, like a new puzzle to solve, I get really into it, and Flesh and Blood has been really great for that lately. I’m bad about having hobbies in a casual way. Every hobby that I’ve ever had, I’ve tried to be professional in it or tried to make a realistic career out of it, something like that. And with organized play actually happening with Flesh and Blood, that was a huge draw for me.
I like the richness of the game. It seems simple, right? There’s a couple stats, and there’s not even that many cards because a lot of cards have three different versions of themselves. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. I think the game is extremely deep, rich, and I think still really under-explored, in a lot of ways. I still feel like I learn a ton every time I play.
I think a good example is what Tariq Patel did last year during the competitive scene, just coming up with a new way to play the game, a new kind of deck. And I don't think that's the only time we'll see something like that happen in this game.
But I have to say, I think the most important thing for the game that draws me to it is LSS. I think they’re a company that just gets it. They seem to be really in tune with the community, listen to the community, and they’re open and honest with the community about everything, and I absolutely love that. It seems like everybody who works at the company is a gamer first and an LSS employee second, which is great. I absolutely love it.’
What made you want to become involved in the community?
‘Everybody is super positive- this is one of the most positive communities that I’ve ever been a part of. A big thing that people talk about a lot, like “hey, this community might not be the greatest, but-”... but I’ve never heard that problem with Flesh and Blood. Everyone has been great; they’ve been really welcoming to me. Especially- I don’t go to Reddit, right, if I can avoid it. I don’t go to Reddit, I don’t read the Twitch chat; if I need to interact, I will, but it’s going to do nothing but distract me during the broadcast. But I have seen some of the comments, and they’re overall really positive or just there to have a good time. You have a lot less negativity in this game, and I think that’s what draws me in. At my age, I just don’t want to deal with that anymore, and this game is perfect for me when it comes to that.
What is your favorite part of competitive events?
‘High-level play. I absolutely adore watching some of these best players in the world just go at it, play each other at the super high level with something on the line. You can feel the energy in the room; you can feel the nerves. I can’t wait to see what the energy is going to be like at the first Pro Tour. Everyone’s super excited to be there, which I think is great. Also, just the community in general, getting to see people has been really big- like I said, everyone’s super excited to be there, everybody’s super positive.’
What would you most like to see in the post-Everfest meta?
‘I think one of the things I want to see is that aggro will still be there. Aggressive decks- with the nerfing of Briar, and a couple of cards being banned, I feel like we lost a few of the tools that aggro needed to be good in that format. I agree with the exact cards that were banned, but I don’t want to see a format where it’s just control decks going at each other, because while that’s good for some games, I don’t want an entire tournament of everyone fatiguing each other. That’s going to make for long matches, and maybe not the style of broadcasts that you want to watch. But I think we’re gonna be surprised by some of the aggro decks coming out, and then with Bravo, Star of the Show, that one’s going to make a lot of waves in the new set, too.’
What card from Everfest are you the most excited about, and why?
‘High Striker. No, I’m joking. That was my preview card. Overall, I think Bravo, Star of the Show is a card that’s extremely exciting. We’re seeing a completely different kind of guardian deck than we’re used to; every other guardian deck is generally trying to block, block, block, maybe attack you with its weapon or find a way to get a big attack in the game. But that’s not what’s going on with Bravo, Star of the Show. They’re attacking you every turn, and they’re doing it in quite the crazy way. And while we thought this deck would be pretty flash-in-the-pan and inconsistent, I don’t know that that’s necessarily true. We were starting to see big results already with the one event we’ve had (Battle Hardened Philadelphia), and I think that early on the season it’s probably going to be the most represented deck. So I think that's going to be the most exciting card because it's going to lead to the biggest, craziest turns.’
What hero build do you think is flying under the radar at the moment?
‘Prism. And what I mean by that is the new Prism, where we’re further away from what you’ve come to know and love with Prism over the last few [months]- the “I’m just gonna attack you with a giant angel,” those giant illusionist attacks. It’s going to be more of “I’m going to play one to two auras every turn and go kind of wide on you with Spectral Shields.” I think it's a deck that could actually do well in the current meta, too; if you're gonna get a ton of guardian matchups, guardian really struggles with that kind of deck, so I think that that's kind of flying under the radar, for now. While we say that might be completely different after the first weekend of the PQ season.’
Who do you think is the biggest threat to Bravo, Star of the Show?
‘Who is the biggest threat... Right now? I wish I could say Briar, because in my heart, I'm a huge Briar fan. She's my favorite. But I think Chane is actually one of the biggest threats, because- it's kind of funny that we're almost going to do the 180 here, right? At this time last year, there were rumblings of "oh, Chane is really good," and then we got into the competitive season, and it was "no, Chane is too good," right. You know, we knocked it down a peg multiple times. And then we're gonna be at the point where like, is Chane the hero that we need this season if Bravo is too good, right? So it'd be funny to have that kind of backward. And so I think Chane has a chance with... the fact that it can still put together these big aggressive turns, but do it multiple ways, as well. He can attack you two to three times a turn because, unlike most guardian decks, this Bravo, Star of the Show deck doesn't block that well, especially for a guardian deck. So if you can make them block from their hand, their deck gets way, way worse.’
What competitive events are you most looking forward to in 2022?
Easy answer: Pro Tour. I will go no matter what. If I have to walk there, I'll leave tomorrow to make sure I make it to New Jersey on time. I think it's going to be absolutely huge for the game. It's going to bring you into a realm of legitimacy on a grand stage that we haven't had yet in Flesh and Blood. I think it kind of needs that; it's going to help solidify some of these players as actual titans within the game, which I think is going to be huge too.
You know, we're gonna have these heroes within the game of like… Tariq, Michael, Matt Rogers getting to play on the biggest stage against people from other countries because he's the best player in the game. But you know, what about Tariq? What about Mike Feng? Some of these other guys that have put up absurd results, too, and if we can see them butt heads in the Top 8 of a Pro Tour? I think that if this game is still around 10 years from now, which I hope and think it will be, we're going to be going back to the video of that. It's going to be 'instant classic' kind of stuff. So if I'm a part of it, I just hope we get it right. That's the biggest thing for me this year.
I'm thinking, if I can get one thing right, I want to make sure this Pro Tour is what it needs to be for everybody, and I think it's going to be an absolute party the whole time we're there. I hope some of the LSS people can make it because I know it's a little difficult with the traveling, so I hope everybody's there, and I hope James gets to come because I want to meet him in person really bad. I'm looking forward to that more than anything else this year.’
What deck would you take to compete at the Pro Tour: New Jersey?
‘Right now, I think it would be Chane, the deck that I would feel remotely comfortable with because I've done some work with it, and I think it has some decent matchups across the field. And if I couldn't get that one right, I think it'd be this Viserai. Some kind of runeblade. But I think Viserai is really good right now, because I think it's the most flexible deck, right. You can play control, you can play aggro, and you punch through different matchups, so something of those two.’
What would you most be looking forward to at the first Flesh and Blood World Championship?
‘So I've actually thought about this a lot, believe it or not. I've thought about what I would want to see at the World Championship. I think for the actual World Championship itself, like how to crown an actual World Champion, I would want to see a tournament on the smaller side from a Pro Tour. The Pro Tour, I think, is going to be, what, we're going to see about… maybe 200 to 400 players? I don't know the exact numbers on that and how many people would qualify. I'd wanna see a much smaller dense field of top-level players, the players who have put up the best results in the last few years, etc.. However we measure that. I'm seeing them butt heads and just go at it to where we get just the best matches to crown an actual World Champion, right.
But I'd also want to see one other thing, and I think this would be harder to pull off. I would love to see some kind of team format. Maybe not teams playing against teams, but some team format with a pool of these players, where- let's say we take the top three or four finishers from Nationals, in a bunch of these countries. We bring them to Worlds, and they have that other tournament going on at the same time.
Like, can't you see an American-led team with Tariq and Michael going against Matt Rogers and these guys, and Hayden Dale… that makes it awkward as he would represent Australia, since he's actually from New Zealand, but he won [the Australian National Championship]. But I think it would be really cool to see that, and take a lot of the pride into the matches as well. Can't you see people with sleeved-up decks that have their flag on it? That'd be really cool. I get really patriotic when it comes to that kind of stuff.’
Do you have anything that you’d like to say to players who are going to attend the Calling: Indianapolis?
'Have fun. Make sure that you actually have fun while you're there, enjoy the time. Don't put everything- don't put so much pressure on yourself that the entire trip is dependent on whether you do well or not in the tournament. There's going to be another Calling, there's going to be another tournament for you that you're gonna play in another day. Don't tie your self-worth to your record in a tournament, because only one person can win, and very few other people are going to Top 8.
I have a feeling this might be the biggest Calling ever. I think that this might beat Vegas; I really do. So just try to take it in, especially with your first one. I think we're gonna have a decent bit of first-timers; I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the field is their first [FAB event] ever, and I know there's a lot of big names coming to this. I know some of the New Zealand players are coming over, I've heard some Europeans talking about coming over, as well; some actual big names in the game. So get your card signed, get your playmat signed by your favorite player, get your hero signed by your favorite player that represents that hero, and share it with your friends.’
Bryan Gottlieb
‘I'm Bryan Gottlieb; I hate introducing myself because I never know what to say. I have played TCG’s for over 25 years; all forms of gaming have just been an integral part of my life. I now work in gaming professionally, be it broadcasting, writing, some game design work- all of the above. Previously, I’ve been in other roles as a lawyer, a bartender, a poker player; I’ve done it all. I’ve been playing Flesh and Blood since I picked up the game at the tail end of Monarch, and then just went absolutely ham Tales of Aria season and never looked back. I’m completely on-board and in love with the game.‘
How did you get involved with Flesh and Blood? What drew you to the game?
‘I was just hearing this buzz, and it was permeating around Twitter and the spaces I occupy, obviously a lot of gamers. It just seemed like something people were talking about, and whenever there's that kind of organic buzz, I always take the time to find out for myself what's going on and understand, make my own conclusions and hypotheses about the game. So I went to the store, picked up some blitz decks, and got together with my younger brother, who lives close to me. We started playing, and it very quickly became clear to me that there was something very legit about this game and at that point, like I said, it's just full “dive in and learn everything possible.” Learn the metagame, learn every hero build, every deck… and it was off to the races.’
What made you want to become involved in the community?
‘There's been something just kind of missing from competitive spaces with card games lately. It's something that was present in the earlier days, where you would kind of find your group and you would work with them, you would learn from them, you would share your excitement with them, and it was sort of... it was just tight, and just this commonality you all got to share and bonded over, and it even permeated into friendships, right? You traveled together and shared all these things, and it just made for such a special environment that has been lacking.
As soon as I started participating in Flesh and Blood, it was there; it was just people who wanted to share their love of this game. You know, if you were attending an event, someone would go out of their way to lend you a deck if you needed it, and if you needed to travel somewhere, people were always [organizing] travel arrangements and making sure everyone gets where they wanted to go. And it just felt real, it felt motivated by joy and excitement over what was going on, and it was just really cool to find myself drawn into it. The second I played my first competitive event, the vibe was so good; people being kind to each other and wanting everyone to have a good time and really embrace the game. It does a great job selling itself honestly.’
What is your favorite part of competitive events?
‘Yeah, so as I've gotten older, it's changed. When I was younger, it was about competing, improving myself, and wanting to distinguish myself and be the best. Now I've gotten older, and I want to go to competitive events and... I care a lot more about seeing other people achieve their dreams, and that moment of crowning a Champion is always really special. Now, I'm in it for the times. I want to bond with people who love the same things I do, and you find that in the competitive spaces for sure.’
What would you most like to see in the post-Everfest meta?
‘I think that same space is still there, and there is still a tendency to gravitate towards the hivemind's knowledge, and that's just that is what it is. That's how TCGs work; that's how metagames work. People are always going to be drawn to what is succeeding. But when I look at Everfest, I see so much space for new things and exciting things. I have cards that I'm over the moon about, that I'm convinced are the best card in the set, that I don't see anyone else playing right now. So- you asked before about why I enjoy events- maybe there's still a little bit of... I don't necessarily need to win the event, but I do still like to prove I'm right about my theories, and if I believe a certain card is good, I want to prove it sometimes. So I think that space is definitely still there in Everfest.’
What card from Everfest are you the most excited about, and why?
‘Earthlore Bounty. The guardian equipment by a million miles, because the more I play this card... look Tunic is a staple, right? We all love Fyendal's Spring Tunic, and every three turns, you get one resource. And then I play my games with Earthlore Bounty, and I have Tome of Harvest in my Bravo, Star of the Show deck, and I'm drawing three cards here, and then I have Tome of Fyendal and I'm drawing two cards, and then there's the arsenal effects where I just get one card... and I'll find myself on turn six or seven of a game, actually cataloging how many resources Earthlore Bounty has produced for me. And sometimes the output is 10 resources, 11 resources, and that kind of effect from a piece of equipment that you're starting on the battlefield with, which is also negating three points of damage throughout the game? The output seems so far beyond what anything else can do in the chest equipment slot that I'm legitimately shocked I haven't seen more people playing it.’
What hero build do you think is flying under the radar at the moment?
‘I want to say Azalea, but I don't really believe it. I want that to be the answer! I would probably just say Lexi; I think the ranger class, in general, has a lot of tools, specifically as they relate to Bravo, Star of the Show. I think Fatigue Shot is a really interesting card, and I want to see all the ranger builds leaping on that a little bit more. I flirted with the idea of Azalea being the best way to do that for a while... I just think Voltaire's too good to give up, though, so I'm kind of committed to Lexi at this point. But even though Lexi has had some spot success in the early weeks of the ProQuest season, I think it'd be a top-tier competitor for sure.’
Who do you think is the biggest threat to Bravo, Star of the Show?
‘I think it's Lexi. I really do, I don't think that's really been meta-ed out yet, and it hasn't reared its head, but be it ice Lexi or lightning Lexi, there are so many tools for disruption. Bravo is really at its best when it gets to do its thing unchecked, and Lexi has so many different tools to check a Bravo. I think that's what we're gonna see as the metagame moves forward. Although, I'll also say Prism builds feel unfocused at this moment, and I think it's possible that you just find the best build of Prism, and it could be better than absolutely everything.’
What competitive events are you most looking forward to in 2022?
‘I think I'm just looking forward to new people coming on board, finding the game, and realizing how special it really is. There's such a good foundation here, and it's one that has the potential to nurture a competitive scene, a casual scene, every type of scene you can imagine and can do it for years to come. And I think the more people who dip their toes in the water, either just because they're looking for a competitive experience or because they see their friends getting into this thing, there's so much to love in this game. And I just want to see, you know, faces I've known for years starting to drift in this direction and play more Flesh and Blood with me. I think it'd be really cool.’
What deck would you take to compete at the Pro Tour: New Jersey?
‘Right now, I would play Bravo, Star of the Show with Earthlore Bounty. Like I said, I just think it's kind of a missing piece that nobody is leveraging. The Tome of Harvest package fits really well into your elemental ratios... and next up is Lexi. Those are the two decks I've really been working on this season, and both seemed promising to me.’
What would you most be looking forward to at the first Flesh and Blood World Championship?
‘I think national pride is very cool when it's distributed in a healthy manner. You can definitely cross the line to problematic, but there's something about going out to represent your country, and seeing people adorned with their country's flag and playing to represent their entire nation, and say, "look, this is a really good region for Flesh and Blood, we have a lot of talented players." Especially when it's a region that you wouldn't necessarily put at the forefront of your mind, because there are regions that are establishing themselves as really strong Flesh and Blood places. New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada, I think those would be at the top of many lists. But I want to know regions who haven't quite gotten that same spotlight on them, what the players there are able to do, and the underdog story of a lesser-known region, putting together a great run at Worlds, and doing so while representing their country. I think that's the coolest thing about any World Championship event.’
Do you have anything that you’d like to say to players who are going to attend the Calling: Indianapolis?
‘I think we have a unique opportunity to build a competitive scene that makes sure everyone feels welcome, everyone feels included, everyone feels able to compete and never intimidated, never like they have to be on guard. You know, there's such a unique opportunity to create a space where everyone's going to get to participate in the thing we all love. We wouldn't be here if we didn't love it. And I don't want to see that opportunity go to waste. So I would just say welcome everyone who sits down across from you, and make sure you're doing your best to make an awesome environment for people to play this great TCG.’
Craig Krempels
Craig has been playing TCGs with friends for most of his life before moving into commentary work, describing himself as a "powerful magician, a compassionate husband, and an aspiring professional." He previously competed at the US National Championships, finishing out Round 12 with 11 wins but ultimately falling just short of the Top 8 cut.
‘I’m Craig, I’m turning 40 tomorrow, and I’m excited to be a part of the FAB team.’
How did you get involved with Flesh and Blood? What drew you to the game?
‘I've always played competitive card games from the time I was in middle school. So obviously, I've got quite the network of friends at this point that play all sorts of games. So a group of my friends… we played a lot of card games together, we used to hang out a ton; we’re in a fantasy football league together, we do all that kind of stuff, but we just hadn’t been spending much time together as a group. So when Flesh and Blood came out, someone played it at a local store, kind of got hooked, and then sent the invite to all the group. “Hey, new game, we should all play this.” And so that was the hook for me- it was the social outlet, getting together with my friends, and doing something I’d enjoy.’
What made you want to become involved in the community?
‘Like I said, my friends were a big aspect of it. I mean, the game is super fun; I think the artwork is evocative; there's already people doing cosplay... One of the things I love about gaming is all the facets that there are to the game, and so each person can kind of engage with the community in a way that they're comfortable with. So you have some people that are very competitive, and that's generally where I fall, but I appreciate that some people love playing casual games, and that's all they want to do, is get together with your friends and play casual games. There's people that are into the art, there's people that are into the collecting, people that modify cards- I just think that's so awesome. So all of these different facets already seem to exist in Flesh and Blood, and it's a pretty young game for this to already be happening. All of these things just excite me about the game.’
What is your favorite part of competitive events?
‘Oh, it's definitely the community. Traveling has just exposed me to so many things and so many people, and doing those things with the people that I love and want to spend time around is just invaluable to me.’
What would you most like to see in the post-Everfest meta?
‘I think we’re all expecting Bravo, Star of the Show to be the cornerstone of the metagame, and things to develop around that. We’re only a week or two in; it’s so early… I want to see the developments, the iterations of the decks, almost like a revelation where after it’s happened, it’s almost obvious, but I couldn’t have gotten there myself. You know what I mean? That’s always the stuff that fascinates me.’
What card from Everfest are you the most excited about, and why?
‘I usually don't single out one or two cards. There's cards that I like, but you know, I'm so competitive. I look at a body of work; I look for something that's really going to vastly improve a deck. There are certain things... I know that the full art cold foil Arcane Lantern just- for some reason that card, I thought, “wow, that card looks great.” It's just a rare, so you can buy like a 50 cent version of it if you need it, but if you want this awesome cold foil version, you spend 25 or 30 bucks, and you have that too.’
What hero build do you think is flying under the radar at the moment?
‘I really think ninja has a lot of promise, but I think it can't fight into Crown of Seeds and Rampart on a turn-by-turn basis. So I think if Bravo was pushed out of the metagame, that would be a deck I'd be looking towards.’
Who do you think is the biggest threat to Bravo, Star of the Show?
‘It might be Prism. It's tough. I don't think we've seen a Prism deck that can consistently get multiple auras onto the battlefield yet, in a way that disrupts Bravo enough, you know? Bravo just hits so hard turn after turn. But I think there's a lot of people working on Prism, and that could be a problem.’
What are you most looking forward to in 2022?
‘I'm a little biased because I live in New Jersey. So the announcement of the Pro Tour coming to New Jersey first was just so exciting to me. I was like, alright, almost all my friends are from Jersey that I'm playing with now. We're thinking, man, we need to work our tails off to qualify for this event because we can go home and sleep in our own bed every night, and it's such an edge not having to fly halfway around the world to play in an event. So I mean, it's the first big Flesh and Blood event- Nationals, great event, I had a blast, but the first Pro Tour, I think, is the one where someone's really going to plant the flagpole as one of the defining players of the game moving forward. And so I want to be part of that.’
What deck would you take to compete at the Pro Tour: New Jersey?
‘Hmm. It’s too far out right now. I think that, like I said, with so many people working on the game that there’s going to be iterations of decks that are moving forward, evolving, and it’s all about the metagame. So even if I like one deck, if it’s not positioned well for the metagame, I won’t be playing it. Right now, I think Bravo, Star of the Show is top of the pile, but we’ll see what happens over the next three to four weeks. He just has the biggest card pool available right now, and it’s doing something that’s so fundamentally- he just gets these pumped, huge attacks that don’t naturally have go again.’
What would you most be looking forward to at the first Flesh and Blood World Championship?
‘I hope you guys have it near your home base, in NZ. I think that would be great. You know, to bring all of the players into New Zealand, show them HQ, and we get exposed to a little behind-the-scenes of what you guys do. I think that would be an awesome experience.’
Do you have anything that you’d like to say to players who are going to attend the Calling: Indianapolis?
‘It's tough because, at big events like this, you're gonna get such a mix of players showing up, where some players are newer, and some players are veterans; some players are ultra-competitive, and some people are- they're just having an awesome weekend with their friends and have a good time. The community is great, I always see everyone getting along, and I hope... Just have a little extra patience for a big weekend like this.’