On May 15th, the world watched as Pablo Pintor made Flesh and Blood history, winning his final match against Florin-Cristian Loghin with one health remaining and claiming the title of Flesh and Blood's first Pro Tour Champion. Pablo didn't get a chance to play in the Spanish National Championships, and didn't attend the Battle Hardened Madrid earlier this year, instead cheering from home as his friend and testing partner, Sergio Sanz Guerrero, won the tournament.
He had played "a little" when he was younger, but Pablo's proper entrance into trading card games came later, with one game that was popular in the Spanish community. When that TCG was officially retired, Pablo and other players began looking for something new.
"I was playing that game until it died about a year ago, and that's when I started playing. I found myself with this big hole in my time... what do I do now, with all this time that I used to [spend] playing cards? One of my friends, William, I believe he was the first Spanish player to get 1,000 XP, was really excited about the game and talked to us about it... it just clicked." [NB: While he was one of the first Flesh and Blood players in Spain, Gwydion Martín was the first to reach 1,000 XP]
"All of my play-group moved in to play Flesh and Blood. During the hard lockdown due to covid restrictions here in Spain, they were hosting an internet tournament with webcams, and we just jumped in to see some games. We didn't have any cards, we couldn't play, but we were seeing the mechanics and all of that, and it just seemed really, really fun. So when I had my first opportunity to go to my nearest game store... in my town, there isn't one, so I have to go to Madrid. We went to Azkaban Juegos, it's pretty big around here for the Flesh and Blood community, and we got some bulk. We didn't start out buying cases, we were a little more conservative — we still didn't know if we were going to fall fully in love with the game or not. And we played some sealed events, too, I believe Arcane Rising sealed... and it was great. We really enjoyed it.
"When Monarch came out, we were already prepared and we got ourselves some cases. There were very few people playing in Spain at the time, but there was a really big boom when it was released. A lot of players entered the game during the Monarch era. So all the [pre]release tournaments, they were really good, there were a lot of players and all of us were new to the game, too, which made it a little bit easier."
"We fell thoroughly in love with the game, and I started playing a lot. We got competitive a little bit later. There's always this learning curve in TCG's, and it was kind of rough, because there were these really good players in the [other game we played], and suddenly changing to another game... you lost a lot. You have to go through it to get better, that's part of the experience, and I enjoy that too. We got together with other friends from Spain, friends who didn't jump in at the beginning started getting into the game either during the Tales of Aria release, or with the big expansion. More and more of our friends came into the game, and I expect more of them to come in the future."
After the Calling series in the United States last year, followed by the Battle Hardened events which are running as part of SCGCON, a lot of focus worldwide has been on competitive players in the U.S., as they've been a chance for the world to check in on the state of the metagame. However, each country sees a slightly different meta, and after watching Yuanji Li seize the Calling: Krakow, players from across Europe responded in kind at the Pro Tour. Despite the majority of players at New Jersey coming from the United States, the Top 8 featured only two players from the U.S., alongside one Canadian and one New Zealander. The remaining Top 8 players - including both finalists - came from Europe.
Pablo Pintor put a spotlight not only on the Spanish Flesh and Blood community but on the competitive scene across Europe, and alongside Florin-Cristian Loghin, proved that European players are not to be underestimated. When I brought up the topic, Pablo highlighted not only how playstyles differ between local scenes, but also the close-knit nature of the Spanish community.
"With this community, it's useful... you see different patterns in different countries. Here in Spain, we have a really outgoing community, really friendly. Getting into the game was a pleasure, partly because I already knew people, but the community felt so welcoming. I believe our community is... I don't really know how to put it, but it's very connected. We have several other spots with a lot of players in Spain - we have Barcelona, Madrid, Saragossa, and it's normal to see a lot of players traveling from one place to another just to enter some tournaments. It doesn't even have to be a Road to Nationals or some bigger event, even just casual Armory events. You can see people from all over Spain, and they also stay with others even after the tournament is finished, just to get some drinks or eat some food together. I'm really proud of the community we have. We have this really big chat, either in WhatsApp or Discord, and people are always talking. I believe it's growing really, really fast."
Before coming to New Jersey, Pablo had played at six ProQuest and two Road to Nationals events, but nothing approaching the scale of the Pro Tour weekend. On the first night, attending the player's banquet and Q&A with James White, he said he felt overwhelmed but amazed.
"I didn't expect it to be so well-prepared, it was incredible. A lot of things threw me off, I've been in so many tournaments over the years but I believe this was the biggest and the best prepared of all of them. And yeah, at first, I did feel overwhelmed, I'm not going to lie to you. You enter this really big venue for the event, and you see all of the food, the workers, and all of these big names, these players that are streamers or content creators... it was amazing. I didn't have the chance to play at the Spanish Nationals last year, so this was the first really big tournament for me, and it was even better than I expected. I was looking forward to some really good games. Most of us are playing these games because we enjoy the competition, and I was looking forward to having fierce, but kind opponents, and every one of them was.
"I believe the Flesh and Blood community is good, I had a really good time, even with some language problems. Everyone was so understanding and so welcoming, I felt right at home."
Going into the tournament, Pablo didn't have any expectations of reaching the Top 8, let alone winning. When he realised that he'd made the Top 8 cut, the first thing that he did was go out with friends to celebrate.
"I was there with a group of my friends from Spain, and yeah, I could have prepared for my first matchup, but I had already played that one a lot of times because one of my best friends plays Prism. So I had already played that matchup a ton, and I felt really confident about my approach. We were discussing what change I should make with my sideboard to my deck, but we didn't get to play a game. I tried to go to bed early... but that didn't happen [laughs]. We were celebrating a little too hard! We had a great night, we went out to have dinner with some American friends that we hadn't seen in a long time, too, it was so nice. I was excited [for the next day], but I didn't have any expectations of winning."
Except... he did.
In a field of players that included 11 National Champions, 6 Calling Champions (including both two-time Calling winners), and 7 Battle Hardened Champions (including one two-time Battle Hardened winner), the most competitive field to date, Pablo shot to the Top 8 and took out the final, becoming our first Pro Tour Champion. When asked, he highlighted how players shouldn't feel intimidated just because they're going up against an established competitive player, or a "big name". When attending an event, whether it's an Armory or a Pro Tour, the biggest goal is to have fun.
"I believe it's pretty important not to have these really big expectations, because if you're playing a tournament and there's 400 players, only one of them is going to win. That's a really, really low number of players who are winning, you know? So you have to keep those expectations low, and at the end of the day, whether you're a competitive player or a more casual one, it's important to not forget that you're playing a game, and you're going there to have some fun and have a great time.
"So if you're playing against Matt Rogers, for example- it happened to me at the Pro Tour, and that's great! You're going to play against Matt Rogers, you're going to have a great time. Whether you're winning or losing, you're going to learn so much from the game, and you're going to meet someone that is important to the community. Don't be afraid.
"I believe it's really important that people know not to feel afraid to go to a competitive event. I feel that this is one of the driving points for Flesh and Blood. The competitive scene, and everyone that I played in every game at that tournament was really welcoming. I didn't have any problems with any player, and you don't have to be afraid of going to these events. If you're playing against big names, if you're playing against someone that you don't know, but they are a really good player, you're meeting new people, and you're having good times. That is what matters in the end."
While Bravo, Star of the Show came just shy of winning the Pro Tour in a very close match with Florin-Cristian, Mateusz Sass went on to win the Calling that same weekend, which launched Bravo over the threshold for Living Legend. As the ProQuest season passes the halfway-mark, Chane is drawing closer and closer to reaching the same threshold. Pablo, for one, believes that the Runeblade will achieve this feat by the end of the season, and is looking forward to what that might mean for the next Pro Tour.
"I believe the first to follow in Bravo's footsteps by going to Living Legend will be Chane, during this ProQuest season, and then we'll have a really exciting meta for the Lille Pro Tour, as the dominant decks of the format have been removed, and Prism was a meta response mainly to Starvo. So I believe we'll see an enormous change in the game, and we will also need to take into consideration that Uprising will be released for it. I really, really expect for Fai to be good, I would love to play Ninja. We already know some cards from Iyslander, and we know that she will probably be a good response to the usual bullies of the meta - Runeblade. I kind of expect anything, like I can see Guardians being good, I can see the new classes being good, I can see Prism being kind of the final boss. Or maybe Chane doesn't get Living Legend, that's also a possibility at this point. I don't know, we could have anything happen, and I'm excited to see how it turns out."
If Chane does reach the threshold in time for the next Banned and Suspended announcement, and both he and Bravo are officially out of the Classic Constructed metagame when Uprising releases, what is Pablo most excited to play? I asked him about his hopes for the metagame, and which heroes he's got his eye on.
"I used to main Bravo, Showstopper. It's the deck that I love the most. I really enjoy defensive playstyles, and I had a ton of fun with him, but like I said, one of my best friends plays Prism and that is... not a very fun matchup, right? So I started trying out different classes, and I believe I could play any class right now. I would love to see Fai changing the meta, or even playing some hard control with Iyslander. I do not enjoy Oldhim that much, because you get these really long games and most of the time, they are really draining, you can even go to time. I expect Iyslander to have a similar playstyle, but more proactive, doing more damage or just not defending every time. I believe she will put some taxes on her opponent and then try to retaliate, I would enjoy that... but I don't know.
"I used to play the old Bravo, and I have played Starvo in some ProQuests, but he never really clicked with me. So I tried every hero in the game. I was playing Dash, I played Katsu, I played Kano — there were some more intelligent people than me who brought him to the Pro Tour and really did well with him, props to them. I played every class and every hero, so I'm open to any possibility at this point, but it will.. it will probably be Fai. I really liked his art style, so my expectations are on him."
After traveling to New Jersey after the Pro Tour, you might expect to hear that Pablo had a well-deserved break when he arrived back in Spain. However, three days after getting home, Pablo was on a train to Barcelona for a ProQuest, competing for an invite to the Pro Tour: Lille.
"I was so, so tired. I arrived on Tuesday, and only three days after that I was going to Barcelona because I had already purchased the tickets. I was thinking, should I use the PTI I won for Lille, should I wait and go to Worlds, because I was so sure that I wasn't going to go to Lille, but as I won the Pro Tour, I feel like I should go. I really, really want to play another one. But as I won the ProQuest, it's lifted a heavy burden off my shoulders. I will definitely be going to Lille."
Pablo is also attending the World Premiere of Uprising in Madrid, and when I asked about the Team Blitz Calling, he said that he has every intention of competing.
"We don't have a team name yet- I play with Sergio Sanz Guerrero, who has already been interviewed here. He won the Battle Hardened Madrid, he's from the same town, he's travelled me all throughout Spain playing all the Flesh and Blood tournaments. And we're still debating the last member of our team, because we're a really big group, but it will probably be Daniel Correas, who was Top 4 at the Calling in New Jersey. He also went there, he stayed with me in the same house, we played a ton of Chane mirrors, and we went with the same deck. Well, almost - he had one less Belittle because we lost one of them there. I was so excited to see him doing so well in that tournament.
"I believe that will be our team, it may change with time because there are a lot of people in our team. So I believe we [as a group] will have like three or four teams for that event. I'm really excited to play in it and see everyone there."
"I would love to thank so many people that wouldn't fit here, but I will try to make it short. I would like to thank, especially, Sergio Sanz, Gwydion Martín, Adrián Marín and Daniel Correas, for travelling with me and making the trip to New York and our days visiting the city one of my best memories. I really want to thank the Spanish community, they got me into the game, they really got me invested, and they have been supporting us at every tournament. Even when those were really, really late hours to be awake in Spain, they were there on the phone, sending us support and being a great community.
"And I thank my team, they have been my friends for years, but seeing everyone playing together and helping each other to get this to the best deck in the format... we played so many games together, and they made testing so much fun. It didn't feel like a chore. I believe that's part of the reason why we played so much, because we have so much fun doing it, and that's why we were so well prepared."