As we continue to grow and develop Flesh and Blood we are constantly tracking and evaluating our policies and the impact they have on stores and players. With this in mind, we are announcing the following two changes to our Use of Organised Play Materials Policy.
1) Updated policy for the resale of organised play materials
The core principle of Flesh and Blood organised play is to support local game stores in bringing people together to play the game in person. As such, the organised play materials which we supply to stores must be used to support in-store play and distributed to players and/or judges in accordance to our event guidelines. Surplus promos, play mats and other materials may be used to support on demand and casual events and must not be sold or used as a sales incentive.
We also recognise the role which stores play in the secondary card market and so we have updated our policy for stores with regards to which products are eligible to be purchased from players and resold. For full details of the changes please refer to the Use of Organized Play Materials Policy.
Stores are now permitted to purchase certain materials on the secondary market for the purpose of resale according to the following restrictions:
- Participation, judge, and prize cards , playmats and other prize accessories from Tier 1 in-store event programs (Armory, Pre-Release, Skirmish) must not be resold within 1 calendar month of the final date of the event series. For example, a promo card from a June 2023 event series is not permitted to resold by a store prior to 1st August 2023.
- Participation, judge, and prize cards, playmats and other prize accessories available through Tier 2 (ProQuest, Road to Nationals, Battle Hardened) and higher events, including Gold Foil prize cards, may be purchased and resold immediately following the event.
Stores are not permitted to sell Ira Welcome Decks, sealed/complete organised play kits (including but not limited to Armory, Skirmish, Pre-Release, Road to Nationals or ProQuest kits), or leftover materials/surplus promos from their own events. No matter how a store came about acquiring them, if they are offering materials that are not eligible for resale, they are in breach of this policy. Reports of potential breaches of this policy may be reported to op@fabtcg.com.
Why the change?
Previously, stores were not permitted to purchase and resell organised play materials until December 2022 when promo cards from Tier 2 and higher events were made eligible for resale. This policy was introduced a couple of years ago due to the impact that the Covid pandemic had on in-person play. We continued to provide organised play materials to support stores throughout the pandemic but due to health and safety restrictions preventing in-store play in many regions at different times, stores ended up receiving materials which they couldn’t give out in person. This resulted in a lot of materials being sold on the secondary market, instead of being provided to players as intended.
Now that in-store play has returned we believe that the time is right for us to expand which organised play materials are eligible for stores to purchase and resale, while maintaining some restrictions as to when Tier 1 materials become eligible. Another reason for the change is the positive feedback to our approach to using organised play materials as part of casual play events.
Our team monitors in-store organised play to ensure that materials are being used as intended, and we provide clear guidance on how promo cards, playmats, and other prize materials should be distributed to players and/or judges for all event series.
2) Any number of Armory events per month may be run as Casual Play events
On the topic of casual play, the second update to our policy allows for greater flexibility running events best suited to local players. After the positive response to the allowance of up to 2 Casual Play events per month, we have decided to extend this to a maximum of 4 Casual Play events per month.
What this means is that a store may choose to run any of their 4 Armory events per month as Competitive or Casual. Competitive events award the Cold Foil promo to the first place player, whereas Casual events award the Cold Foil promo as a random draw prize. Rainbow foil promos should be awarded to either top placing players, and/or as participation prizes, at the store’s discretion.
Check Retailer News for more specific guidelines on each Armory Kit.
Why the change?
We have decided to make this change due to the success that stores have had with Casual Play events that offer a beginner-friendly and social-focused environment. We strongly encourage stores to talk to their local community about what kind of events to run, such as Ultimate Pit Fight, Blitz Preconstructed, or Commoner.
We are always looking to find more ways to support and improve casual play, and we hope this latest update will be a huge help to stores in growing their player base.
Both of these policy updates are effective from July 6th.
