Are you heading to Baltimore at the end of April for a fun-filled FAB fiesta, but not sure where to start?
You don’t need to compete in the main event to have the time of your life - the whole weekend is going to be jampacked with public events and prizes for you to sink your teeth into.
While the Pro Tour, Calling, and Battle Hardened take center stage, we thought we’d go over the casual formats featured in the side event schedule so you can get up to speed and jump right in!
Commoner
One of the easiest formats to pick up, Commoner is simple, fast-paced, and most importantly - very cheap.
In Commoner, you play with 40 main deck cards and an inventory of up to 11 equipment and/or weapons, plus your young hero card. Your hero, equipment, and weapons can be common or rare, and all 40 cards in your main deck must be common.
Since you’re restricted to baseline cards, you’ll find that most heroes will be able to do 1-2 things effectively, whether that’s going wide with lots of attacks, or defending everything until you can pull off a specific combo.
Don’t worry about trying to cover every single angle - just pick a hero that does something you like, and build around that. Preconstructed Blitz decks are a great base to start with, just make sure to replace any rares with commons.
Some of the greatest Flesh and Blood cards ever printed are common rarity, so if you’re unsure how to round out those last few slots in your deck, try out a few generic staples such as Scar for a Scar, Sink Below, or Come to Fight.
You can probably expect to encounter some very aggressive decks like Fai, Chane, and Dash, or midrange decks that block well while chipping in damage like Ira and Kassai, or even control decks that will try to slow you down like Iyslander and Oldhim.
Playing as/against these heroes is very fun, and more straightforward than in Classic Constructed or Blitz, so this is a great option if you want to have some great casual back-and-forth games without too much complexity.
There’s also a prized World Guide book on the table for one of the Commoner side events at Baltimore, so don’t be shy!
Ultimate Pit Fight
When you’re down in the Pits, the rules change. Gone are the laws of survival of the fittest, replaced with the laws of diplomacy, tact, and (dis)loyalty.
Ultimate Pit Fight is the casual multiplayer format, where a group of players will each attempt to climb to the top of the pile by any means necessary.
Played with Blitz format decks with access to additional cards that aren’t legal in other formats, Ultimate Pit Fight throws the perfect balance of regular Flesh and Blood out the window, instead focusing on the dynamics of the people around the table.
You’ll often find yourself in a group with oddball fringe heroes like Kayo, Valda, or Taipanis.
Going into Ultimate Pit Fight it’s important to remember to have fun, as it doesn’t matter how good your own strategy is - if you’re the tall poppy it’s likely you’ll get cut down by the others, so your best bet is to make some friends and find ways to stay alive until the endgame.
You can only target heroes to your left or right with attacks and effects, which often means there will be advantages and disadvantages to who you pick as a punching bag. Weighing up your options (and the possibility that they will incite revenge) is extremely fun, and can produce some crazy unique situations.
When building a deck for Ultimate Pit Fight, don’t worry too much about fine tuning it, as often due to several card interactions occurring, or multiple players attacking, you may not be able to play out your individual strategy very effectively. Focus more on fun or unique cards that you can bring to the table, new combinations that you haven’t tried before, or cards that will shake things up for everyone like Coax a Commotion, This Round’s On Me, or Good Deeds Don’t Go Unnoticed.
Ultimate Pit Fight is perfect for hearty, social fun without a lot of competitive pressure. At Baltimore you’ll have a chance to play alongside Flesh and Blood creator James White, and potentially snag a Gold Foil Silver Palms if you’re the last one standing!
Shapeshifter Sealed
Flesh and Blood’s wackiest format to date, Shapeshifter Sealed is bound to always be full of crazy shenanigans.
First you’ll be given multiple packs from several different sets - you’ll get plenty of time to open them and build a deck of at least 30 cards.
The twist - you’re a shapeshifter! You are allowed to play any young hero token and any weapon token, and your equipment and main deck can consist of cards from any class or talent.
The only thing you can’t do is play Specialization cards from a different hero, or play heroes/weapons that haven’t been printed as a token (you’ll be provided with the tokens of your choice separately).
Shapeshifter Sealed is a wild and extremely fun limited format, where even experienced players have no clue what they’re doing - the possibilities are endless!
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by your choices there are a few fun starting points you can experiment with, such as Dorinthea with Harmonized Kodachis, Riptide with Rosetta Thorn, or Iyslander with Anothos.
There are Shapeshifter Sealed events running across all three days at Baltimore, so get amongst and try something new!
Fresh to FAB
Are you completely fresh to the game and just want to dip your toes into the water? Join one of our Learn to Play events running at Baltimore where you can get your very own Welcome Deck, featuring the vengeful Ninja Ira, Crimson Haze.
On top of that, you can jump into one of our Fresh to FAB Blitz or Sealed events which are exclusive to new players! You don’t need to bring anything but your enthusiasm, as you’ll be given everything you need (whether it’s six packs of Outsiders, or a preconstructed Outsiders Blitz deck) to face off against the other new faces.
The Fresh to FAB events are super casual and new player friendly, with some cool prizes on the side.
If you head to the Pro Tour Registration website (linked further down), you can get access to all of these new player exclusive events with the Fresh to FAB package, which also comes with a classic playmat.
There’s lots to dive into at the Pro Tour: Baltimore weekend, including Classic Constructed, Blitz, Draft, and Sealed side events, a Cosplay Contest, artists, vendors, special guests, and more!
Register through the link below to get entry to the plethora of fun we have in store, rack up some prize tickets to score some sweet rewards, and most importantly - get ready for some great games!