Oldhim

The Calling Dallas Fort-Worth was always going to be a tale which would be told for many winters to come. This was the first time the world would see Tales of Aria in sealed and draft formats on the stage known as the Calling. With the event taking place a month after the worldwide pre-releases, players around the globe had become well travelled in their journeys across Volthaven, Isenloft and Candlehold.

There was much talk across Aria that Briar had a stranglehold on the format with her arcane artistry and direct damage. Despite the Elemental Runeblade’s earth shattering strategies and Lexi with her lightning speed, Oldhim made his presence known, hammering away at his opponents, chilling them to their very bones, drawing from them every last card from their decks and breath from their lungs.

After 7 rounds of sealed deck and 2 draft pods, the top 8 draft commenced. Briar’s popularity was in full bloom as five players chose to venture into Candlehold and draft the Elemental Runeblade. Two players drafted Lexi and one lone drafter weathered the storm and trudged across the peaks of Isenloft to become the only Oldhim player in the Top 8.

Now just 2 of the 502 heroes who entered the Dallas Fort-Worth arena remained. In a final with no Briar in sight, the time had come for the last battle. Volthaven vs Isenloft. Ranger vs Guardian. Lexi vs Oldhim.

Lexi unleashed on Oldhim like a violent winter storm, relentless and remorseless. Furious fusions and blasts of Blizzard Bolts came at Oldhim over and over. Frostbites hampered Oldhim, and the battery of dominated arrows came flying through the skies like a blizzard, yet Oldhim’s resolve remained firm. Nam Vo had ascended the frozen peaks of Isenloft a thousand times over a hundred lifetimes and had learned throughout the annals of time, that sometimes the best offense is a great defense.

Nam defended Lexi’s attacks for what seemed like an eternity and slowly hammered away at her life total until the time came for her to be completely snowed under. Nam’s dedication to defense will go down in history, and his victory as the only Oldhim player in the top 8 forever remembered as a historical moment frozen in time.

Nam Vo - Oldhim - 1st place The Calling Dallas Fort-Worth (October 17, 2021)

The Calling Dallas Fort-Worth - Final Match - Nam Vo vs Nick Zimmerman

The Calling Cincinnati began not unlike other Tales of Aria limited format events. Briar the Elemental Runeblade tore through the field early on in the sealed deck rounds as 273 of the 549 players in the field decided that the Warden of Thorns was the heroine they'd been looking for to make the Top 32 draft cut. Lexi players were out in force too with 114 players picking up the Elemental Ranger and her bow while Oldhim's popularity and presence snowballed as 140 players chose to become the Grandfather of Eternity.

After 8 sealed deck rounds and two booster drafts of Tales of Aria, the Top 8 players were set. Briar had four drafters in the top 8 while the representatives from Volthaven and Isenloft, Lexi and Oldhim respectively, saw two drafters each.

The finals of The Calling Cincinnati saw the top two seeds face off! Briar and the essences of Earth and Lightning in one final battle with Oldhim and the essences of Earth and Ice. Lightning flashed and the skies opened up, the Earth moved as the ground fell from beneath both fighters and Ice froze bones to their breaking point as we saw a very tight titanic back and forth game by two of Flesh and Blood's finest in Tariq Patel and Michael Feng. In the end, Michael's love for big rocks and the brutal beatdowns they bring manifested in the rock-solid Guardian strategy of pump, Thump and clobber and we saw a gigantic red Glacial Footsteps smash Michael's name into the history books and see him become The Calling Cincinnati 2021 Champion!

Michael Feng - Oldhim - 1st place The Calling Cincinnati (October 24, 2021)

The Calling Cincinnati - Final Match - Tariq Patel v Michael Feng

The Calling Orlando was a historic event and being held on the same weekend and the first ever United States National Championship, there was a lot on the line. The Calling Orlando saw 526 heroes from around the world face off in Classic Constructed action.

After narrowly missing out on a spot in the finals at The Calling Cincinnati the week prior, Michael Hamilton found a way to make it to the final, win and freeze the one last Briar, Warden of Thorns in her tracks on his way to lifting the trophy. The Calling Orlando final saw Michael put the Grandfather of Eternity in the right place at the right time. Cleverly anticipating a shift to an aggressive Lightning Briar meta, Michael and Oldhim were prepared for the storm ahead and packed plenty of Arcane Barrier, made great use of Crown of Seeds, defended well with Rampart of the Ram’s Head and had an avalanche of Ice cards at almost all times to chill the hyper quick metagame down a degree.

In a very tight final match Michael Hamilton’s Oldhim managed to lock down Joel Repta’s Briar, slow things to a grinding halt and finish him with a dominated Glacial Footsteps to earn the right to call himself Champion of The Calling Orlando 2021!

Michael Hamilton - Oldhim - 1st place The Calling Orlando (November 7, 2021)

The Calling Orlando - Final Match - Joel Repta v Michael Hamilton

Yorgos Samaras and Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity traversed the frozen peaks of Isenloft, and became a bastion of steadfastness and resolve as they hammered and crushed enemies on the path to a victory that will be remembered over infinite winters until the end of time. Yorgos showed that the best offense is a great defense as he froze opponents in their tracks with Rampart of the Ram’s head and a suitable suite of defense reactions. Glacial Footsteps and Spinal Crush closed out many games and earned Yorgos the title of Greece National Champion!

Yorgos Samaras Oldhim Deck - Greece National Championship 14.11.21