When we approached the subject of limited format, something that we wanted to highlight in Flesh and Blood, one of our biggest constraints was the number of cards you can use to build a deck.
In order to make deck construction interesting and test a player’s skill, there needs to be meaningful choices about which cards to include or dismiss when constructing a sealed deck or participating in a draft. This lead us to determining 30 cards as the correct number for both sealed deck and booster draft formats.
The next question we had to answer was on the topic of life. What is the correct ‘starting life total’ for 30 card decks at the limited format power level? After thousands of limited games over many years of development, the answer to that question became apparent: half the adult hero’s life total.
All four of the Welcome to Rathe heroes used for official constructed play have 40 life, meaning that all four young versions of these heroes, used for limited format play, have 20 life.
During the development of Flesh and Blood, we considered making a rule that you simply halved the starting life total of a hero card when playing limited formats. However, as we continued to develop the world of Rathe and work on the stories of our heroes, we realised that there was an amazing opportunity to capture the journey of the heroes themselves - from aspiring youth, through to the impressive figures they became as heroes of Rathe.
And so, the concept of the young hero was born. Each piece of young hero art captures an important moment or iconic trait of that character from their pre-hero days. The stories behind the art will be told over time in the lore section of our website, and through our published books, such as the Welcome to Rathe World Guide (Vol. 1).
From a gameplay perspective, we felt that young heroes perfectly captured the feeling of an apprentice learning their craft and refining their skills. When people are young and learning, they have rough edges, unrefined thoughts, amateur skills. As they grow, learn, and gain experience, their skills, physical prowess and strategies become polished and refined. We think that this perfectly captures the essential difference between limited and constructed formats.
Even an excellent sealed or draft deck will have cards that a refined constructed deck would not include, and that is where you can find the journey from young apprentice to mighty hero!
The next time you’re playing sealed deck or draft and draw a hand of “terrible cards," remember to give your hero a break. They’re still young!