Welcome to this week's What's the Latest!
The red hot Road to Nationals season has concluded and it is certainly one that will be remembered! Uprising's new heroes, Dromai, Iyslander and Fai made quite the impact on the metagame and the Classic Constructed environment is more diverse than ever. This week, we take a retrospective look at the Uprising Road to Nationals season.
Skirmish Season 5 fires up this weekend! Over 600 stores are hosting events all around the world this season, so whether it's Blitz or Uprising Sealed Deck, find your nearest tournament get down there and get involved!
We have more Skirmish season content than ever before, with six guest writers showcasing some key concepts and strategies.
This Skirmish season we have both Blitz and Sealed Deck gameplay video series for you to view! The first of the two three-part series is the Season 5 Blitz Gauntlet, brought to you by The Tall Timmy. Our second video series for the season is the fantastic FaBrika's Uprising Sealed Showcase.
This August, summon dragons from ash and wield the essence of the Draconic Aesir with the Dromai Armory Kit and BURN THEM ALL!
Flesh and Blood fans worldwide have been treated to some world class cosplaying over the past few months! We take a detailed deep dive into the design and construction process of guest writer and cosplayer Morgan McKenyon's jaw-dropping Dromai cosplay from the Las Vegas Uprising World Premiere event.
We have teamed up with world class grading service Premier Card Grading in an exciting partnership providing assurance and confirmation of value to all collectors with some upcoming Flesh and Blood prize cards.
Battle Hardened events have been coming through hot and heavy! This weekend we see Auckland and Portland take place and we look forward to events going down in Minneapolis and Denver in October!
The Calling Utrecht took place last weekend and between the European Champions' Battle, the Battle Hardened and of course, the Calling main event, a lot went down! Check out the full recap below.
The Calling Singapore is under a month away and the pinnacle of organised play, Pro Tour Lille is going down one week after that in August!
Keep reading for the Latest!
Road to Nationals
The Road to Nationals season is in the books and after partnering with over 300 local game stores around the world to host events for players to get started on the path to greatness, it's time to take a retrospective look at the RTN Classic Constructed Metagame and events from the last four weeks.
We're pleased to welcome back Yichin Liu, a Level 1 FAB judge and one-third of the OK&Y podcast who is known for his community involvement as MalZenith, writing articles and creating guides for new players. Be sure to check out the second article in his two-part series discussing the Road to Nationals metagame, taking a look back on the last four weeks of events!
Catch up on all four weeks of Road to Nationals action with the Retrospective article below.
Skirmish Season 5
Skirmish Season 5 fires up this weekend and runs from July 30 to August 21! This casual-level event series features both Blitz and Uprising Sealed Deck tournaments, so you can either pick up your favorite Blitz deck, or crack some packs and play as Fai, Dromai, or Iyslander! Over 600 stores will be hosting events all around the world this season, so there's never been a better time to join the Skirmish.
We have six sensational guest writers this Skirmish season to share their thoughts, tips and tricks with you.
From New Zealand is Kiki Labad, a player, tournament organizer and 2021 Calling Auckland runner up. Next up we'll hear from fellow New Zealander, rune decoder, and Mechanologist master, Rhys Robin.
Then, we'll check in with Ireland's Ciaran Harrigan, better known as The Ragamuffin Man as well as Singapore player and 'Restaurant' owner Brandon Peh (aka BeeftheNoob).
UK Nationals Top 8 finisher Sean Knowelden has some Shadowy secrets to share and finally, we'll be rounding out the season with Calling Cincinnati Top 8 finisher Rylie Groff.
This season's prize kit includes Fai and Dromai Cold Foil hero promos, Silver tokens appearing for the first time in Cold Foil, and two playmats for the finalists of each event, featuring the artwork of Aether Ashwing and Phoenix Flame!
In addition to some brilliant written content this Skirmish Season we have not one, but two new video gameplay series for your viewing pleasure.
Skirmish Gauntlet: Uprising Gameplay Series
This three part Blitz Constructed game series will feature three games and six different heroes selected and piloted by charismatic community fan favourite and content creator king, The Tall Timmy, and friends.
This Skirmish season, over the next three weeks, Tall Timmy and friends will go one on one, smashing some of their personal top Blitz hero picks into each other, in what will no doubt be another must-see Blitz Gauntlet series.
This week, The Tall Timmy takes on fellow superstar content creator and box-breaking behemoth Fluke and Box in an extraordinarily spiced encounter!
In the first match of the Skirmish Gauntlet: Uprising Blitz Constructed series, we see Fluke soar across Volcor’s smoking skies with ferocity and flame and take us to new heights as he plays as Dromai. On the other side of the arena, we see Tall Timmy, embraced by the Hand of Sol, bring light and knowledge to all, striking with power and precision, as he plays as Boltyn.
Uprising Sealed Showcase Series
This three part game series will feature one of each matchup between Dromai, Fai and Iyslander, piloted and produced by worldwide fan favourites and some of the slickest content creators in the game, FaBrika!
Over the coming weeks this Skirmish season, FaBrika will face off against each other, constructing and running Dromai, Fai and Iyslander into each other, in a gameplay and deckbuilding series sure to inspire your sealed deck Skirmishes.
In the first match of the Uprising Sealed Showcase series, we see FaBrika build and battle with the Draconic Ninja, Fai and the Elemental Wizard, Iyslander.
From August 1, players will have the opportunity to earn a Cold Foil Storm of Sandkai for winning their weekly Armory Event. Players in each Armory Event will also be rewarded for their FAB devotion with a Rainbow Foil Extended Art Red Hot for participating and supporting their local community.
Deserving players from each community will have the chance to be awarded a People's Champion playmat Rake the Embers. In addition stores will also be provided an Uprising playmat to use for Armory events at their discretion.
Flesh and Blood fans worldwide have been treated to some world class cosplaying over the past few months! We take a detailed deep dive into the design and construction process of guest writer and cosplayer Morgan McKenyon's jaw-dropping Dromai cosplay from the Las Vegas Uprising World Premiere event.
Legend Story Studios is proud to announce a partnership with Premier Card Grading (PCG) that will ensure Flesh and Blood’s coveted prize cards truly are the gold standard.
Starting from the Calling Singapore (August 20-21) all Gold Cold Foil prize cards will be PCG raw grade authenticated 9+. Moving forward, this will expand to also include Gold Cold Foil prize cards awarded through programs such as ProQuest, Battle Hardened, and National Championships.
For the crème de la crème, being the Calling champion prize card (currently Crown of Providence full art) and Pro Tour champion prize cards, these will be fully graded and slabbed at PCG 9.5 or better.
2022 National Championships
The 2022 National Championship events will run from September 10-25, with events split between invitation-only events in larger countries, or open-entry events in smaller countries.
Invitation-only events will be limited to players who have qualified through Road to Nationals, receiving an invite via 90-day XP, or redeeming a PTI. There are 15 invitation-only events: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. XP-based invitations will be issued based on standings as of 5pm Tuesday 26 July PDT, directly following the end of the Road to Nationals season.
Open-entry events will be open to all players, up to the player cap. All players who have qualified through making the Top 4 of a Road to Nationals event will automatically receive free entry to these events, while other players will be able to purchase a ticket to the event.
Updates on National Championship information coming soon!
Pro Tour Lille
Registration for Pro Tour Lille, the Calling, Battle Hardened and side event packages are now open!
Pro Tour qualified players can register for the event now. Registration is necessary, and must be completed by 11:59pm (PDT) August 4th, 2022 in order to ensure your place in the tournament.
The Pro Tour weekend also features a full slate of public events, including the Calling, Battle Hardened and three action packed days of side events. We've got a range of ticket packages available, so head on over to the tournamentcenter website and check out all the options. If you are planning on coming, please consider buying your tickets early; a number of recent events including Krakow, Sydney and New Jersey have sold out, and we want to avoid any disappointment for players who are travelling to take part in the events!
Europe and the UK
The Calling Utrecht went down last weekend and set the world ablaze!
Read our full recap below to get all the details from one of Flesh and Blood's hottest weekends yet which featured the European Champions' Battle, Battle Hardened and of course, the Calling Utrecht Uprising draft and Classic Constructed main event!
North America
Two more Battle Hardened events are coming to Minneapolis from September 30-October 2, and Denver from October 29-30! These will be some of your last chances to get a PTI and attend the World Championships in November. Both events will be offering two PTIs at the main Battle Hardened event, and one PTI each to the winner of the Professional Tournament Invitational. These events are not to be missed!
Asia-Pacific
The Battle Hardened series returns to New Zealand this weekend July 30! Hosted by Card Merchant (with support from ADEPT Events), as part of the Cancer Society Games Fair at the iconic 'The Cloud' venue, players will have the chance to put their Classic Constructed skills to the test to compete for coveted PTIs, cash prizes and more.
Over the past 18 months, South East Asia has established itself as one of the most intense competitive Flesh and Blood environments in the world. The leaderboards consistently feature players from across the region at the top of the standings, and casual Sunday Skirmish events have featured Top 8s with over 8,000 XP between them. Singapore was the only country in the world to have their National Championships cancelled due to lockdowns, so we're very happy that the Calling will be coming to Singapore August 20-21.
