With Pro Tour: Baltimore only a week away, we thought we'd drop in and say hello to three players who have each won prestigious titles from the pinnacle of competitive Flesh and Blood.
Pablo Pintor - Pro Tour: New Jersey Champion
What's changed for you since Pro Tour: New Jersey?
Pro Tour: New Jersey was one of the most important moments of my entire life, and it pretty much defined how much I can travel and participate in Flesh and Blood tournaments all over the world (like Pro Tour Lille or Worlds 2022 in San Jose), and it also gave the final push for me and my friends to create our team (Sunflower Samurai) and get serious about creating content, which has been a blast!
Which players will be the biggest threats at Pro Tour: Baltimore?
There's this one guy named Michael Hamilton who has a lot of potential. Jakub Irzyk has always been one of the toughest rivals I have ever faced, across different games and tournaments. And finally I would also like to avoid playing against Sergio Sanz, one of my teammates, as he specializes in defeating his own friends during big tournaments!
What's the biggest challenge you expect to face?
Drafting! I love playing draft, and Outsiders is one of the best limited experiences out of all the sets in Flesh and Blood, but it's always a really intense experience.
What are you looking forward to most over the whole weekend?
Catching up with all the friends I have made from all over the world, playing Flesh and Blood, and having a great time with them. Even Pheano.
Which hero do you think will win Pro Tour: Baltimore?
This is a tough one! Rangers look amazing with all the new tools they got in Outsiders, but Ice heroes have proven themselves over and over, so I believe it will be a fight between them.
Matthew Foulkes - Pro Tour: Lille Champion
What's changed for you since Pro Tour: Lille?
Pro Tour: Lille had a massive impact on my life - things were not in great shape for me prior to the win. The prizes allowed me to live life on my own terms again, and to reinvest that income into other sources that have been very productive for me. Being able to call myself the very best at something was also a goal I'd had since I was a child. These days I'm more focused on getting my life outside of the game on track. But my desire to compete burns as brightly as ever.
Which players will be the biggest threats at Pro Tour: Baltimore?
Me. I genuinely believe there will not be a more dangerous opponent than me in the room and people should feel a combination of dread and sadness when they open GEM to see that they are paired against me. Michael Hamilton and Brodie Spurlock are also exceptionally difficult to beat.
What's the biggest challenge you expect to face?
Making time to get a workout in with the Tall Timmy while in Baltimore. He is one of my personal icons and if I can make that happen it will be a dream come true. And also seeing how much weight I can gain in just 4 days by eating American food.
What are you looking forward to most over the whole weekend?
People always say about TCG's that it's more about getting together - that is absolutely not true for me. I come for the games, I come for the competition, I come for war. Nothing makes me feel more alive than being in the late stages of a tournament, deep into a game that both competitors desperately want to win.
That, and I hope to hit some banging burger spots while I'm in the United States so if anyone has recommendations hit me up at twitter.com/MATTHEWFOULKES.
Which hero do you think will win Pro Tour: Baltimore?
Whichever one I end up registering will likely be the best deck in the room, so as a betting man that is where I'd put my money.
Michael Hamilton - 2022 World Champion
What's changed for you since the World Championship?
The M-n-R Cast and the Wolfpack have both grown a lot!
Which players will be the biggest threats at Pro Tour: Baltimore?
There's too many great players out here to list names. The FAB scene has been getting better and better, and I will consider every opponent I run into a big threat!
What's the biggest challenge you expect to face?
The hybrid format of Draft and Classic Constructed makes preparation time very split. I love a split format event but I have been pouring more time into content creation and a lot of personal things, so doing the best I can without practicing quite as much as I did for Worlds will be a huge challenge.
What are you looking forward to most over the whole weekend?
Meeting up with everyone from the Wolfpack again! Everyone is so awesome to be around and I love the team. I'm also really looking forward to seeing some of the other friends I've made playing FAB that I only get to see at big events. I'm also excited to see the breakout decks and heroes. I think the Classic Constructed format has changed quite a bit since Worlds and I'm looking forward to seeing what all the great players out there bring to Baltimore!
Which hero do you think will win Pro Tour: Baltimore?
I think the Rangers are quite a force to be reckoned with. Codex of Frailty and Premeditate are two of the strongest cards we've ever seen. If it isn't one of the Rangers that win the event, it will be a deck that was super prepared to fight against them.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views of Legend Story Studios.