Sunday – The Calling Melbourne Top 8
That’s it, readers – we have reached the end of The Calling Melbourne. This has been an amazing weekend of Flesh and Blood; we have seen so much: breathtaking cosplays, skilful plays, friends reunited, talented artists, and 100% great games.
We crowned The Calling Melbourne Champion – Ben Dodd, from Christchurch, New Zealand playing Uzuri, Switchblade. Ben takes home a Gold Foil Crown of Providence, a Professional Tournament Invite, $2,400 USD, and the admiration of Uzuri players globally.
This has been The Calling Melbourne weekend. We look forward to seeing you at the next Flesh and Blood event soon!
We are in the end game now – teammates are high-fiving, friends are hugging, emotions are charged, and the best players in The Calling Melbourne are ready to take their final steps towards lifting the trophy. It has been a tough journey of twelve rounds of Classic Constructed, but it all comes down to the Top 8 now – in order of finish in Swiss:
- Thomas Dowling, Dash I/O – Sydney, Australia
- Michael Feng, Lexi, Livewire – New Jersey, USA
- Kuan Li, Dromai, Ash Artist – Melbourne, Australia
- Kevin Kim, Uzuri, Switchblade – Auckland, New Zealand
- German Glukhov, Lexi, Livewire – Sydney, Australia
- Ben Dodd, Uzuri, Switchblade – Christchurch, New Zealand
- Drew Giessler, Lexi, Livewire – Melbourne, Australia
- Joel Gibbons, Maxx ‘The Hype’ Nitro – Melbourne, Australia
The Top 8 breakdown tells an interesting story, with Joel bringing the hype to carry the sole Maxx Nitro (100% from Top64) into Top 8. The next highest conversion rate goes equally to the undefeated first seed Thomas on Dash I/O plus the Uzuri pair of Ben and Kevin (50% from Top64), while the most represented hero this weekend, Lexi, was converted to Day 2 by Michael, German, and Drew (23% from Top64), and lastly one of the favourites, Dromai, Kuan being the sole surviving player (13% from Top64) to round out the Top 8.
The casters are ready to bring the action live to the nearest screen, and there is going to be plenty of action – get comfortable and get ready; we’re three rounds of Flesh and Blood away from crowning The Calling Melbourne Champion.
Let’s go Melbourne!!!
Sunday – Battle Hardened Top 8
We have a Battle Hardened Melbourne winner – Dr. Daniel McKay, from Christchurch, New Zealand drafting Teklovossen to victory. Daniel takes home a random Gold Foil Legendary Black Envelope, a Professional Tournament Invite, $500 USD, and the beautiful Battle Hardened playmat.
This has been a terrific experience for all the players, and the Top 8 players will be able to take this draft experience into Worlds, for those going.
The weekend is in full swing - more and more great Flesh and Blood events means more great games. The Battle Hardened rounds are done, and we have the Top 8, who are ready to draft Bright Lights and earn a Professional Tournament Invite!
The Top 8 of Battle Hardened Melbourne – in order of finish in Swiss
- Zachary Gardiner – Melbourne, Australia
- Vincent Lim – Melbourne, Australia
- Thomas Bailey – Wellington, New Zealand
- Lucas Ward – Wellington, New Zealand
- Joshua Baines – Wellington, New Zealand
- Eugene C – Hong Kong
- Jonathan Luey – Sydney, Australia
- Dr. Daniel McKay – Christchurch, New Zealand
After sitting down for a challenging draft, the players have settled on a very even balance of heroes, with Teklovossen and Maxx picking up 3 players each, and Dash, Database finding 2 supporters.
Sunday – Gold Foil Side Events
Running alongside the top level competition we have a horde of players contesting for the beautiful Gold Foils on offer today in the side events - these cards are just gorgeous it is such a magnificent prize that is just another great reason to come to The Calling weekends.
We had a fantastic turnout of 15 players for the Commoner Gold Foil Rare side event, with a metagame as varied as all the other events, with only the slightest bit of extra love for the original Flesh and Blood hero: Ira, Crimson Haze.
Congratulations to our winner, who took home a marvellous Gold Foil Rare Achilles Accelerator thanks to the pure damage output of Ira, Crimson Haze!
On the other side of the room, we had an excited group of 12 people ready to fight each other in the Ultimate Pit Fight Gold Foil Silver Palms side event, with a selection of heroes equally as diverse as the players. There was a noticeable lean towards the arcane, with two Iyslander, and a Kano forcing Arcane Barrier into the game.
Congratulations to our winner, Justin Lenihan, who took home a Gold Foil Legendary Silver Palms thanks to the ice power of Iyslander!
Sunday – Battle Hardened Metagame Breakdown
Today we have over 50 people competing in the Battle Hardened, thrashing out 6 Swiss rounds of Sealed Deck, followed by a cut to the Top 8 players. Players receive six packs of Bright Lights, which they will use to build and a 30-card minimum size deck. They’ll have to make the best out of this event which features 3 Calling Champions and National Champions (Hayden Dale, Matt Rogers, and Sam Sutherland) – what a field!
The packs are cracked, and the players have registered their lists (allowing judges to validate decks at any time in the event), which has left us with a metagame dominated by Teklovossen and Maxx, with Dash chasing behind the young magnate and the Hype.
The players are bubbling with excitement to play more Bright Lights, this set has really got people motivated to find that edge – is Overpower the way to push damage through; is fatigue the way to win? Players are deep in discussion ahead of the first-round beginning, with many players eager to make it through to the Top 8 draft as a chance to get top-level practice ahead of Flesh and Blood World Championships in a fortnight.
Some fantastic side events are kicking off alongside the larger events, with a Commoner event awarding a Gold Foil Rare, and an Ultimate Pit Fight event dishing out one of the beautiful Gold Foil Silver Palms – The Calling Melbourne weekend is in full force!
Sunday – The Calling Day 2 Metagame
Welcome back to a beautiful sunny Day 2 of The Calling Melbourne, where the main event is now underway. Today there are 64 competitors who will fight through 5 further Swiss rounds of Classic Constructed to make the Top 8 and earn themselves one of those stunning Gold Foil Legendary cards. We have the metagame breakdown for today, and there are some big surprises.
For most heroes, around a third of the Day 1 entrants made it through to Day 2: Lexi (33%), Bravo (33%), Dash (30%), Fai (38%), and Kano (33%), but interestingly a lot of the Fai are sitting on the top tables seemingly with the better records. Bitterly, for everyone predicting a meta ruled by Dromai, only 8 of 36 registered (22%) were able to find enough Ash to paint themselves in the Top 64.
There were standout performances from: Dash I/O, with 2 of the 4 (50%) entrants converting to Day 2 including Thomas Dowling going undefeated (7-0); and Iyslander, where 6 of the 14 (43%) were able to freeze their opponents out.
There were also some disappointing performances with Vynnset, Boltyn, Prism, and Viserai all unable to get anyone over the line with 5 wins. There was a middle ground of heroes who had many believers but struggled to find enough victories to see more than a handful of survivors: Katsu, 18 wandered in and 2 strode out (11%); Azalea, where 13 held aces but a lone 1 got out of the hole (8%); Levia, with 12 in the Shadow and a solo 1 slithered forward (8%); and Rhinar, where 10 rampaged but just 1 survived (10%).
We have strong individual performances too, for heroes who turned up in small numbers but with a sole survivor bringing loads of passion, such as Kenny Forrester pushing Riptide through to Day 2 with 5 wins, and local hero Damian Moss completing contracts on time and on budget with Arakni for a 6-1 (win-loss) record!
On the other side of the room, we have the Battle Hardened underway, with over 50 people cracking 6 packs of Bright Lights in search of the prestigious Professional Tournament Invite and Gold Foil Legendary envelope.
Saturday - Cosplay Competition
Melbourne is home to a thriving theatre and creative arts space, so the Cosplay Competition feels right at home. This competition rewards creativity and excellent visual design, with the winner taking home a prestigious Taylor cold foil promo card – a truly unique full art card, and part of Flesh and Blood history. It is so inspiring to see the effort the contestants have put into their costumes – they should be very proud.
Cosplay Competition - Melbourne 2023
The judges have a tough job ahead of them today, with these submissions brilliantly showing off the breathtaking artwork of Flesh and Blood:
- Carolina as Avalon, Archangel of Rebirth
- Iain as Zipper Hit
- Lynnette as Contest the Mindfield
- Samantha as Bravo, Showstopper
Ultimately, Carolina’s efforts were awarded the win –a superbly crafted costume that brought the Avalon, Archangel character to life. It was truly remarkable to see the level of details in the wings, and the scale of the costume drew everyone’s attention as Carolina gracefully walked through the venue
As we reach the end of Day 1 for The Calling Melbourne, the room has reached an emotional climax – there is a cheerful excitement as people recall the tough moments that they struggled through, and the best moments of the day that carried them into Day 2.
Join us again tomorrow, as we explore the Day 2 metagame breakdown, hero conversion rate, and see both the Battle Hardened and The Calling to a conclusion, right here in Melbourne.
Saturday - Shapeshifter Sealed
Around 30 players sat down today for the crazy fun format of Shapeshifter Sealed – where each competitor gets packs from 6 different retail booster packs that they can then build a deck from. Today’s event included packs of: Uprising, History Pack Vol 1., Dynasty, Dusk till Dawn, Monarch, and Everfest – what a mix!
The rules for Shapeshifter give players the flexibility to build their decks, where they can:
- Use any token young hero (i.e. Fai) from the sets used OR any non-token young hero (i.e. Kassai, Centari Sellsword) they opened in their packs
- Use any token weapon (i.e. Harmonized Kodachi) from the sets used OR any non-token weapon (i.e. Rok) they opened in their packs
- Use any card they opened in their packs without worrying about Class or Talent, meaning a Dromai hero can play a Disable, with two Kodachis equipped, while having a Carrion Husk equipped
The players were excited and laughing as they cracked packs together, and some crazy strategies were being shown off. There was a Bravo with a wide spread of Ninja attacks backed up by Wizard arcane damage. To combat that, others had worked out a strong deck based around Dawnblade and Ironsong Versus.
Round 6 is almost completed and there are some brilliant performances being lodged with unique heroes. On the Live Stream, Thomas Dowling just took Dash I/O to an undefeated record of 6 wins!
Saturday - Artist Feature: Nathaniel Himawan
Nathaniel Himawan is a professional freelance illustrator based out of Jakarta, Indonesia with a large portfolio of artwork created exclusively for Flesh and Blood. His works include iconic cards such as Become the Arknight, Teklo Core, Blaze Headlong, and Sonic Boom. We are very privileged to have Nathaniel here at The Calling, where he is available to sign cards and offer his unique artwork to the public.
Nathaniel spoke with joy about the illustration he has done for Flesh and Blood, commenting that some of his all-time favourite work has been for the game. He enjoys the creative process working with Legend Story Studios - especially the art direction for brutality and gore, a big feature of heroes like Arakni, Bravo, and Uzuri.
Naturally, he has been playing Uzuri at his local Armory events, where he gets to show off some of his own work. Nathaniel is looking forward to seeing pieces he’s worked on (unfortunately, no spoilers were seen) being released in upcoming sets. One of his favourite things about working on Flesh and Blood art is that he gets to travel to events, meet the fans and players of the works he’s produced – getting the chance to make new friends around the world.
Players in the upcoming Shapeshifter Sealed event will have plenty of chances to open Nathaniel’s work – to date he has illustrated works in 10 (including History Pack) different Flesh and Blood sets!
Saturday - Metagame Breakdown
The numbers are in, and what a superb spread of heroes we have. Earlier we predicted that there would be a dominance of Dromai, Dash, and Lexi – well, what about Bravo? The Showstopper is here in full force, along with Katsu. The old school heroes are back; Welcome to Rathe, aka Melbourne.
Along with those top 5 most represented heroes, there is good support for the next batch of 5 – Uzuri, Iyslander, Azalea, and Levia. The meta is rounded out with another 11 heroes where a handful of believers showed up to support their favourites – Bright Lights has good representation with 7 Maxx bringing the Hype, and 4 Dash preferring the digital rhythm of Input/Output to the other Dash famous for her inventions.
This is an evenly distributed, very open meta – clearly there’s room here for many different heros to convert to Day 2 here at The Calling Melbourne. Besides the top-level competition at The Calling main event, the weekend is special for so many parts of the game that come together, like the amazing artists, talented cosplayers, and the wonderful side events.
Saturday - Welcome Back to The Calling Melbourne
Welcome back, we are kicking off Day 1 of the main event. Today there are more than 260 people who will battle through 7 Swiss rounds of Classic Constructed to make the cut; the Top 64 players, or all players with a record of 5 wins or better will go through to Day 2. The big question on players’ minds today… what is the metagame?
As a window to the meta, we can look at Friday night’s Classic Constructed Super-Armory where the ice maiden Iyslander held other heroes stormbound and was able to send the Lexi home shivering in the finals. Today, the expectation from the crowd seems to be a meta dominated by Dromai, Lexi, and Dash.
Melbournians, and Australian players more generally, usually stick to the heroes they know and love. Pro Quest Season 4 results in Melbourne showcased that variety, with the most recent Top 8 including: Dash, Dash I/O, Rhinar, Iyslander, Bravo, Katsu, Dromai, and Lexi.
Taking in the local scene, the visitors, the decks out on the tables already, and thoughts from the top players – predictions for the metagame today are we will see most of: Dromai, Dash, and Lexi – then a big showing from the big-hitting heroes like Rhinar, Katsu, Bravo, and Iyslander. Many players are expecting spikes of tricksy heroes like Kano, Uzuri, and Dorinthea too.
Friday - Triple-Super-Armory
Over 150 joined in the Friday triple-Super-Armory events, with Classic Constructed naturally the most popular given it is the format of The Calling weekend, followed by the Blitz and then Sealed formats.
There was some competitive misdirection in the room, with many players choosing to play decks other than what they were going to present tomorrow. There was a diverse range of heroes, showing off all the different regions of Rathe and highlighting that the metagame is very open to those who come ready to fight.
Looking at the top tables of the Classic Constructed Super-Armory, there was a strong representation from some of the heroes one would expect like Bravo, Iyslander, Dash, and Dromai. But there were also two Kano threatening to burn the night away. Less represented but still registering wins were Levia, Azalea, Dorinthea, Uzuri, and Katsu. There were a lot of Bravo – it may be time to play Unmovable again!
This will be the last weekend featuring Lexi in Classic Constructed, with the arrow-wielding ranger shortly to move into Living Legend status.
Check in again tomorrow, for coverage of the main event: The Calling Melbourne.
Friday - Crack, Shuffle, Play
With the Bright Lights of Metrix, comes a brand-new way to boost the excitement of opening packs together – Crack, Shuffle, Play! This innovative format allows players to get a game started quicker than they can say “Teklovossen, the Mechropotent”, by simply taking three booster packs, cracking them open, shuffling the cards together, and playing!
The players should first remove the equipment cards, tokens, and then choose a hero, but it’s super simple to get a game started. No need to decide which blue pitch with 0 block to cut, or which red attack - just Crack, Shuffle, Play. Comments from players was that the format was “heaps of fun”, “a lot like playing draft”, and “would make opening packs with friends even more fun”. This is a quick and fun format everyone will enjoy playing.
One lucky player was chosen at random to qualify for the Welcome to Rathe Alpha edition draft to take place later in the weekend, which is about the best reward one can get for opening three packs!
This was a fantastic and fun quick event before players joined in the final events of the day, one of the triple-Super-Armory events that will round out the day.
Friday - Venue Tour
The Calling Melbourne is based at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre; located on the waterfront of Melbourne’s Yarra River. We are in the beautiful Sovereign Room which features wood panelling and coffered ceilings - a prestigious space well suited to crown the next Calling champion.
The big attraction is the Prize Wall where prize tickets can can be cashed in for one of the many delights on offer - oversized cards, playmats, exclusive cold foils, and booster packs. Many of these treasures are quickly swept up, to take pride-of-place in their lucky owner’s collections.
Outside the main room, friendly vendors and talented artists have their stalls ready to share their offerings with players and visitors! Back inside the room, players will find the scorekeeper desk on the left, the prize wall on the right, and then past the rows of event tables is the casting area with its Bright Lights on and ready for action!
Before the main event starts on Saturday, there are heaps of side events running that players are loving – including the new format: Crack, Shuffle, Play!
Friday - Sealed Bounty Event
There is a buzz in the room today with over 100 players lining up for the Sealed Bounty Event where they hope to best LSS team members Anthony Balmes, Kieran McEntegart, and Jacob Pearson to win a bounty prize. The event also awards a beautiful promo cold foil Maxx Nitro just for playing.
The players are seated and there is a quiet energy in the room as they start cracking Bright Lights packs, hoping to find that set of Evo Equipment or Singularity that will make them victorious. Cheers ring out as players open amazing marvels and cold foils, a shared celebration that makes playing in the flesh and blood so rewarding.
Looking across the room, the tables are filled with close games, where players are fighting for any scrap of damage they can get. Players finish their matches and get up to explore the stunning venue where they will spend the weekend, hurrying to see what goodies are on the prize wall.
Friday - Welcome to The Calling Melbourne
The Calling is here in Melbourne, the beautiful garden city at the South-Eastern tip of Australia, regularly voted as the world’s most liveable city. Melbourne is famous for its coffee culture, love of sports, and the arts.
Hundreds of players have come together here in Melbourne from all over the world, fervently talking about secret tech, matchups, and power cards from Bright Lights they’re hoping to crack during the weekend. These events are all about bringing together old friends and making new friends.
One of the hotly anticipated events today is the Sealed Bounty event, awarding the cold foil promo Maxx Nitro – a hero that would feel right at home in Melbourne, with its many laneways featuring colourful street art.
Welcome to the Calling: Melbourne Mini Live Blog!
Stay tuned for exciting snapshots across the whole weekend...
