Michael Feng has been playing Flesh and Blood since January, participating in a number of tournaments as he worked his way towards the Calling. He played in a number of Skirmish events, narrowly missing out on the Top 8 several times; he reached the Top 4 of Highlander Games' Skirmish in June, and coming 2nd at a Road to Nationals event hosted by Final Turn Games. He also owns and runs Magnolia Gaming Hoboken in New Jersey, which opened its doors in June, as well as running his own YouTube channel, Cards with Michael. This, he says, is how he first got into Flesh and Blood.
"Many people mentioned the game to me as something I should look into or play on my box opening / TCG card discussion YouTube channel (Cards with Michael). I asked my friend Joe to host a Welcome to Rathe Unlimited sealed event in Jan 2021. The turning point for me was also at Joe's place where we hosted our own Magic the Gathering pre-release (Strixhaven). I kept thinking the entire day "wow, I wish I was playing Flesh and Blood instead!" The rest, I'd like to say, is history."
Considering that Michael not only runs a local game store, but also his own YouTube channel, he has experiences with the Flesh and Blood community not only as a player, but as a store owner, tournament organiser, and content creator as well. So how has the community been thus far?
"Fantastic of course. There's a level of comradery that I've never experienced before. I especially want to shout out Mike Hertz at A Hidden Fortress (game store in California) as his free (yes, free!) tournaments this year really got me into the game. Mike took time out of his schedule to host these tournaments and shipped Armory kit prize support to winners all on his own dime. During a time I couldn't find a LGS to play, Mike was there to give me a space to learn and compete."
Throughout the year, Michael has been working his way up to participating in the Calling events, and slowly honing his skills as he approached the first of four major tournaments in the United States. Michael made it into the Top 32 at both the Calling: Las Vegas and the Calling: Dallas Fort-Worth, but didn't make it into the Top 8. Going into his third Calling event, his expectations were 'admittedly low.'
"I don't mean to sound like a debbie downer, but my expectations/goals for this event (and in general, sealed events like this) are quite low. I have opened card pools that were weak before and I know all too well how it feels to lose games that way. My goals were to (a) have fun!, (b) compete with integrity, and (c) make more connections.
This weekend (and honestly even in Dallas) I was blessed with a decent variety of cards, namely Briar-playable cards. This event was significant for me as I had a really poor showing at the Day 2 Top 32 draft in Dallas and I really wanted to improve on that record. Now that I've managed to win, I hope to use my new found status to become an exemplary ambassador of the game! I believe in the game and winning an event like this helps me prove (at least to myself) that I am genuine about my beliefs."
Of course, like many players, Michael had support from others along the way; drafting and travelling with friends in his Calling journey. Michael is quick to acknowledge and thank the people who have been a part of his FAB experience, and his testing process.
"I want to shoutout my two friends Yuanji and Yongji for traveling and rooming and hanging out with me through both Dallas and Cincinnati. We drafted together and theory-crafted together. Yongji actually told me about how oppressive a good Oldhim deck was *before* Dallas. I wish I listened to him then! For testing, I drafted regularly about 1-2 times a week. For sealed, I played 3 pre-release events and hosted another sealed event at my store.
Going into the event, I wanted to focus on Oldhim, specifically Oldhim fatigue. I had just watched Nam take down Dallas with the earthy frosty giant and I just assumed everyone would 'in on it.' Friday I came to the event hall and drafted Oldhim in two side events. I went 3-0 in both pods (shoutout to @Garbage_Andy for being one of my draft final round opponents!)I ultimately won with Oldhim in every draft I did for the weekend: 6-0 from two side event drafts on Friday, 3-0 from top64 draft on Saturday, and 6-0 from top32 and top8 draft. I would like to state for the record I did try to remain open, but I had a huge bias for Oldhim coming into Cincinnati."
"The general theme of all of my decks were (1) a lot of earth cards, particularly blue pitch ones, (2) a lot of blue cards in general, and (3) very few or no cards that don't block for 3. The goal was to fatigue and block out my opponents good turns, but also have a good mix of cards that any average hand could still be completely utilized to take advantage of my opponents weaker/set-up turns. Stand out cards for this strategy are Turn Timber (honestly any pitch), Rejuvenate (ideally red pitch), and red pitch Snow Under and Entangle for their ability to be perfect damage breakpoints with a two card hand."
Having participated in drafts across all three Calling events, Michael expressed surprise at the lower number of Oldhim drafters, particularly in the Top 8.
"I initially thought there might be more, but by the end of Pack 1 in Top 8, I realized there was probably only another Oldhim drafter. Otherwise, most of the statistics (high number of Briar's making day 2 in sealed, Lexi being the least prominent to name a couple) all seemed to be on par with my expectations."
One of his highlights from the day came during one of the final drafts of the event.
"My 3rd pack had two yellow Bramble Sparks (one foil, one non-foil) and a Sutcliffe's Suede Hides. I had just gotten baited by a pack almost identical to this (it had two Bramble Sparks, one red-pitch Explosive Growth, and Suede Hides) in Dallas last week. That was the pivotal moment for me to hard cut Oldhim by taking a red-pitch Biting Gail. If you watch the CFB Twitch stream, Tariq (who is sitting between me and Matt Rogers) ends up taking the yellow-pitch Bramble Spark. This is because in my Pack1 Pick1 I also had a Suede Hides, which I passed, and which he had taken as his 2nd pick.
First of all, being able to play Matt Rogers was amazing. Since Matt's draft was broadcast, we both got to see each other's decks. A standout moment for me was when Matt read that I had 30 guardian cards registered - he said '30 guardian cards?? jeepers!'
Secondly, the final attack I did vs. Tariq. Red-pitch Glacial Footsteps to take the game. It was a calculated risk that I'm not sure I'll ever have the opportunity to attempt again, but I'm so glad it paid off."
Between rounds, Michael quotes his wife as being a massive highlight.
My wife Leslie!! Between games she brought me (1) 2 bottles of water, (2) a gyro on Saturday, (3) a chicken sandwich with fries on Sunday, and most importantly (4) unlimited amounts of emotional love and support everyday and every moment. She was the real MVP for me all weekend.
Understandably, after a year of honing his skills and testing decks, it was the winning moment that sticks out for Michael, a moment captured on stream.
"The moment I realized I had won. I've never won any large scale tournament I played in. I came 2nd in a Road to Nationals, but this was on a whole other level. I think I am more of an introvert and not one to want to show off, but my hands just went straight up in the air. I was so excited."
"There were some subtle mistakes (misblocks, mispitches) that I did during the tournament. The scariest moment for me during the weekend was during the sealed swiss portion, I had shuffled my extra equipment into the deck (I had a Runaways and Plume of Evergrowth that I didn't play, instead opting for Crown of Seeds and Suede Hides) when presenting. Luckily I only got a warning, but I thought my run was going to end right there when I drew them! Huge thank you to my opponent for understanding, and thank you to the judge team for giving me only a warning there."
So what does the future hold for Michael Feng?
"I will continue to host more games at Magnolia Gaming Hoboken (the store I own with Spencer Thomas, who is the owner of the brand and flagship store in Alabama). I will continue to play. I will continue to listen and talk to players, particularly new players. I hope to one day be a recognized name in the Pro Tour / Calling circuit and that this tournament is a sign of things to come, and not a fluke!
I may have won this one time, but I know Matt Rogers is still the reigning champ. Orlando will feature a lot more Classic Constructed and you can test for that a lot better in New Zealand. I'll be nervous to see what he's cooked up, but excited to see a great player demonstrate excellent Flesh and Blood play!"
