First teased during the Keynote Pro Tour London, Calling Auckland was set to be a double feature. A two format, double Calling with Classic Constructed AND Welcome to Rathe Sealed and Draft.
For those who appreciated the nostalgia of the first set getting a return to play, the limited gaming was a welcome sight, that brought Dorinthea, Katsu, Rhinar, and Bravo back to the fray.
At the same time, the Classic Constructed Calling was the first with Mastery Pack Guardian as legal and playable. There is much to talk about from this prestigious event.
Calling Auckland - Welcome To Rathe
The first ever set still has a limited feel that holds up to this day. Comparing it to how the sets feel now to play both Draft and Sealed, there's a big difference in relying on certain generic cards, as well as checking the overall card quality of the pool of whichever Classes' cards are strongest.
Over the course of Sealed deck play throughout day one, a Draft on day 2 with Alpha packs of Welcome to Rathe, and a top 8 Draft to cap off the event, we saw Logan Boyd take down the entire Calling. His performance in the final few games, playing as Dorinthea (a hero he plays a great deal of in Classic Constructed) is a treat to spectate.
The finals match against UK powerhouse Jacob Clements is a clinic of a game, which you can watch back for yourself right here. Even if Limited from a set that's 6 years old isn't your thing, I would encourage anyone who cares about the fundamentals of high level Flesh and Blood play to watch that game.
The reason I encourage you to watch it is because it's the best example of how a player can get the win through the elusive concept of "Fatigue by Damage".
In Flesh and Blood, the paths to victory can change part way through a game. Knowing your different outs to victory, and knowing when to pivot in the game plan is the difference between being good and being great at the game. There was a moment during Jacob's most powerful turn where Logan Boyd was facing down a Snatch, then remembered how aggressively Jacob had been blocking, so he asked "cards in deck". Seeing a number below half, Logan decided to block 2 cards.
Now this may not seem like a game winning play, but it most assuredly was. He knew that the card quality in his deck was higher, and the card count was higher. With the split of "starters" and cards with Combo blocked with, the ability for Jacob's Katsu deck to mount any reasonable aggression was low, and then attacking with Wounding Bull and Barraging Brawnhide was enough to demand enough cards on defence to lock out any reasonable aggression and close out the game.
This is the very definition of "Fatigue by Damage". By sending out enough tall damage to insist on some defence, the other deck was unable to mount any respectable tempo. Blocking on the Snatch was what curtailed that above rate number of cards, and allowed Logan to win this historic Calling.
CC Calling
There was also a Classic Constructed format calling going at the same time. This was the first competitive event where Mastery Pack Guardian was legal, to which the metagame saw... 10 Guardians out of a field of 126 players. Further cooking is required.
The top 8 consisted of 2 Arakni, 5L!p3d 7hRu 7h3 cR4X, Dash I/O, Fang, Dracai of Blades, Gravy Bones, Shipwrecked Looter, Kano, Dracai of Aether, Oscilio, Constella Intelligence, and Prism, Awakener of Sol.
The event was taken down by CYK Lionel piloting Dash I/O to one of the most aggressive finishes against Kano. The matchup is always a race, but there's only so much a person can do in the face of multiple copies of Maximum Velocity on the same turn.
Wrap Up
This first Calling after Mastery Pack Guardian has shown the look of the metagame. Ira, Scarlet Revenger and Dash I/O's play rate are on the rise thanks to their being reasonable counters for both Gravy Bones and Slippy, so decks which can prey on them, such as Warrior, may be on the rise come Kansas.
Find news and guides from Flesh and Blood TCG right here.
