Team Unbox finally got the elusive Flesh and Blood RTN (Road To Nationals) win during week 3 not just once, but TWICE! It netted the team two Gold Cold Foil cards worth thousands of pesos in addition to three more members securing their National Championships slots! The weekend was also a fun adventure for everyone who made the trip to both southern RTNs, as it is one of those rare opportunities for groups of FaB players from different areas to compete against each other – you know, like one of those anime tournament arcs.
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 3 – Mage-Ring Hobby Shop (Classic Constructed Format)
Saturday started early in the morning at Greenhills, as the team (and several friends) rented a small bus to take everyone to Mage-Ring Hobby Shop in the city of Cavite – around an hour and a half away from Manila.Â
The southern area is home to some of the best local players in the game like Kampai Bustamante, the first Philippine National Champion and Battle Hardened Manila PTI winner, and Paolo Mayo, an Illusionist specialist who won Unbox’s own RTN a couple of weeks back using Dromai.
Dubbed the “Unbox and Friends” bus, the Greenhills contingent made their way to the first RTN of that week. There were a total of 30 competitors who made their way to Mage-Ring, each bringing their Hero which they believed would be the answer to the currently complicated, wide-open metagame. Given the number of people in attendance, the tournament was scheduled for 5 rounds of Classic Constructed before cutting to the Top 8.
Six hours later, Team Unbox’s Captain Justin Cu leads the pack with a 4-1 record on Bravo. He was followed by a slew of other players who also had 4 wins each: Cesar Sevilla on Kayo, me on Fai, Unbox’s resident Rhinar specialist Jonathan Malabed, and Mage-Ring’s very own Renz Mascardo. They were joined by the highest 3-2 players – Unbox’s Big Boss Carlo Ople on Dromai, Michael Villano on Victor, and Block 101 RTN winner Andre See from Team Kachi who is also using Dromai.
The Top 8 saw the two Southern representatives, Renz and Michael, both eliminated and were soon joined by Andre See and yours truly. This meant that the Top 4 were all from the Unbox and Friends bus and Justin, Jet, and Cesar have all earned their invites to the National Championships! At the Top 4, Carlo was able to beat Cesar, while Justin defeated Jet, setting up the stage for an all-Unbox Captain-versus-Boss Finals.
In the end, Justin’s mastery over the Bravo vs Dromai matchup gave him the edge he needed to take his and Unbox’s very first RTN win!
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 3 – Neutral Grounds Alabang Town Center (Classic Constructed Format)
The Sunday RTN took place at the Neutral Grounds branch in the Alabang Town Center. There was no rented bus this time around, but the far less traffic on that day led to very inviting Sunday drives as multiple members of the team made their way south for the second time that week.
There was more competition this time around as 6 rounds of Classic Constructed awaited the 53 players that signed up for the tournament. The metagame wasn’t so different from the previous day – it was a varied spread of different Heroes with Guardians, Warriors, and Brutes leading the numbers.
Unlike the previous day, the Top 8 this time around showed a lot of Southern FaB dominance with the different Heroes of the game. Michael Villano overcame his Saturday losses and emerged as the top seed of the tournament using Victor with a 6-0 record. Closely behind him are Axxel Prado on Dromai, Unbox member and ProQuest winner Kevin Octavio on Azalea, me on Fai (again), Merwyn Ilagan on Kano, Joshua Litam on Bravo, Kampai Bustamante on Dorinthea, and Paolo Angel on Kayo.
The first round of Top 8 saw Michael, Axxel, Kevin, and yours truly move up the ranks and qualify for the Nationals. In the Top 4, I fell to Michael’s Victor, who’s still on a winning streak, while Axxel lost to Kevin.
The Victor versus Azalea match was the last for the day and went down the wire, with Victor continuously on the offense but was never allowed an opportunity to completely close the match. With just 1 health left and Michael having a handful of options to kill the Ranger on his next turn, Kevin was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a lethal Dominated arrow that would still kill the Guardian regardless of his defenses, and deliver Unbox’s second RTN win for the season!
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 3 – The Game Armory (Classic Constructed Format)
Meanwhile, far North in the city of Baguio, news of JB Dela Cruz’s RTN win made rounds as photos of this Gold Cold Foil card prize were seen on Facebook. The best player in Northern Luzon has secured his slot in the National Championships and reminded the community of his dominance in the area.
The Final Stretch
This weekend closes the season with the last four RTNs that are going to be held at Neutral Grounds Centris Walk in Quezon City on Saturday, and at Scry Games Ciannat in Marcos Highway, Neutral Grounds Cebu, and Pair O’ Dice in Davao on Sunday.Â
This marks the last set of direct invites to the third Philippine FaB TCG National Championships before the remaining slots are filled depending on the player’s ELO rating.
Calm Before The Storm
There will be a gap between the RTNs and the National Championship, which will be the time for the ProQuest season. These are local competitive tournaments that award the winner with a direct invite to the next FaB TCG Pro Tour – which is one of the biggest and most prestigious tournaments of the game, next only to the World Championship. While the invite itself cannot be passed down, there are still plenty of incentives to win as there will surely be another set of valuable prizes for those that make it to the top.
Check out our recap of the last two weeks of the RTN season!
Read More:
–FaB TCG Road to Nationals Week 2 – Top Finishes for Unbox
–FaB TCG Unbox RTN Results – The Nationals Season Begins!
Want to get started in the Flesh and Blood Trading Card Game? We got you!
