Kayo finally takes over one of Flesh and Blood TCG’s RTN in Week 4, but before we go through our recap, let’s walk back a bit to a couple of RTNs we missed last week.
While most of the action a couple of weeks ago was focused on Mage-Ring and NG Centris, our friends outside of Manila are having the time of their lives fighting in their respective arenas for the Gold Cold Foil as well!
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 3 – Arcanopolis Cafe and Boardgamery (Classic Constructed Format)
The power of GOLD reigns supreme in Bacolod as Christian Sayson piloted Victor over a varied field that includes other dangerous opponents like Kassai, Dromai, and even Riptide and Dash I/O! Rayland Luiz Duarte, Christopher Bryan Dayak, JM Ginete, Franco Antonio Regalado, Kareen Gervy Quis, and Jomari Daniel Panganiban comprised the Top 8.
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 3 – Top Deck Games and Hobbies (Classic Constructed Format)
The friendly rivalry between the players of Cagayan de Oro and Davao might not be as large as those of other cities, but they are just as intense. However, for the eventual winner Mort Castillo, it only meant that there were fewer bodies to douse in Aether Wildfire before he eventually made it to the top and claimed his RTN win. Congratulations to the rest of the Top 8 as well – Christ Anotnell Achas, Lee Marvin Sabio, Miguel Carlo Briones, Lean Gabriel Alfafara, Rayvie Anthony Pecajas, Dave Du, and Troy Gales!
Alright, now that we’ve caught up, let’s get down to last weekend’s results!
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 4 – Neutral Grounds Centris Walk (Classic Constructed Format)
57 competitors graced the floors of one of Neutral Ground’s biggest branches for six rounds of Classic Constructed action. With Dromai taking the lion’s share of RTN wins from around the world during the previous week’s meta report, one would think that a lot of people would be tapping into the power of her dragons that day…
NOPE! The Philippine meta remains as wild as ever as only one player was representing the Draconic Illusionist in the tournament. Kayo though, remained the deck of choice for 11 of the players, and for a good reason – he has been performing well throughout the past three weeks of RTNs and is arguably the best deck in the format thanks to his flexible playstyle and capability for dealing explosive amounts of damage.
Right up the armed and dangerous Brute’s heels are two other popular Heroes. 7 players came in with Victor hoping to hunt Ninjas and other aggressive decks while trying to dodge any semblance of Arcane Damage, while 7 other players sleeved up Katsu in an attempt to hunt any Dromais or Fais that happen to be around (spoiler: there are only 3 of them total). Finally, the 5 Kassai (and 1 Olympia) players collectively breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they wouldn’t likely be getting swarmed by and dying to Ashwings today and that they had a game plan against the rest of the field. Rounding up the competition is your usual slew of other Heroes who are eager to prove their place in the meta and topple some of the ones currently on the pedestal.
At the end of the grueling six rounds of Swiss, eight players and seven heroes emerged victorious and primed to fight in the playoffs: Team Unbox’s frontrunner Justin Cu leads the pack with a perfect 6-0 record on Olympia! As an interesting bit of trivia, this is the same Olympia list that Andre See took to the legendary 9-0 win at the Block 101 RTN. It proved to still be a dominant force in the right hands, especially without any Illusionists in sight.
Behind him are the players who got 5 wins each: local rising star and avid competitor Dodge Marquez on Dash, yours truly on Fai, Unbox Boss Carlo Ople on Kayo, and Team Kachi’s Einan Ramos also on Kayo. Rounding up the list are Joshua Litam on Bravo – who also Top 8’d the previous week’s RTN at Neutral Grounds ATC, Keenan Fernandez on Kassai, and Team Mage-Ring’s Orly Ampo on Levia with 4 wins each.
Unfortunately, the two Brutes had to slug it out during the top 8 matches, but at least it guarantees one of them moving up… Carlo proved that his Kayo’s remaining arm can hit harder as he takes the win over Einan. In the other tables, Olympia’s stable, steady gameplan was able to tank the wild, monstrous hits of Levia’s onslaught as Justin took the win over Orly. The same held for Keenan’s Kassai as he was able to withstand the explosive firepower of Dodge’s Dash and take the win. Finally, I won my game against Joshua’s Bravo on the back of clutch Defense Reactions to just barely avoid being crushed by his big hits, while whittling him down with Kodachis and any attacks that Fai can throw out.
The semifinals saw the El Classico Unbox teamkill that is Carlo versus Justin, with the Unbox Captain narrowly avoiding losing on the spot had Carlo been able to unload ALL THREE Cast Bones in his opening hand. However, the concept of fairness does exist, and his Scabskin roll only allowed him the normal 1 Action Point. Still, that didn’t stop Carlo’s Kayo from piling on the damage and keeping Justin’s Olympia on the defensive throughout the game, and that proved even too much for the Mage-Ring RTN champion.
At our side of the table, I tried my best to end the game as fast as possible before Keenan’s Valiant Dynamo got too much value, but being too concentrated on offense proved to be my undoing, as an early, unblocked Spoils of War and a few key Outland Skirmishes allowed Kassai to pilfer a LOT of Copper from Fai – enough to use both her signature finisher, Blood on Her Hands, for full value later on while still having some coins left over to Cash In for more powerful attacks before going for the kill.
And with that, the finals were set – Kayo versus Kassai, a testament to how good the new Heroes from the Heavy Hitters set are. Now, I mentioned jokingly online last week how there’s no RTN in PH that’s won by Kayo… well that’s about to change as the back-and-forth between the two slowly started to favor Carlo before he finally finished it with the last bits of damage needed to claim the win!
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 4 – Scry Games Ciannat (Heavy Hitters Draft Format)
The Sunday challenge was a different beast – the draft format favors those who did their homework and took the time to know the set inside and out. The previous draft RTN back at GamersShop seemed so long ago and may have caught most draft first-timers off-guard about how deep and complicated opening packs and picking cards can be.
More than 40 people turned up at Scry Games Ciannat – one of the first bastions of Flesh and Blood TCG in the country during its earlier days, to test out if their drafting prowess can earn them a ticket to the Nationals, where it will be challenged even further.
After two rounds of drafting and six rounds of battles, eight players have proven themselves a cut above the rest: Team Wolves emerged from their den to claim half of the Top 8 with the pack being led by Jezreel Olarte and Alfer Coronel who both only lost once throughout the day, closely followed by Zeke Recalde and Alec Marohom with 4 wins each. The latter half of the field is made up of representatives from their rival teams who also lost just once throughout the day: Team Unbox’s Justin Cu and new member Nath Bea, Team Kachi’s Andre See, and Team Block 101’s Dono Panganiban.
The Top 8 draft turned into a disastrous affair for some and a golden opportunity for others as the pod descended into a lopsided 1 Guardian, 2 Warriors… and a mind-boggling 5 Brutes split!
For context, being the third person in a Class is already considered a disadvantage because the cards you need will be heavily contested, but five people all vying for nearly the same set of cards is bound to cripple all of them.
Still, with the turnout being as it is, the quarterfinals proceed – an early teamkill between Jezreel and Alec saw the former moving forward in the tournament. In the other tables, Andre defeats Alfer, Justin defeats Dono, and Nath, who had the unenviable task of facing the only Guardian in the pod, falls to Zeke. Against all odds, three of the Brutes – 2 Kayo, and a Rhinar, made it to the Top 4!
The semifinals saw a Kayo mirror match between Jezreel and Andre, with the Wolves’ frontrunner coming out on top. Justin on the other hand was able to pull off a miracle win – Rhinar, widely considered the worst hero in the draft format, was able to intimidate Zeke’s Victor into submission.
Thus we get a Wolves versus Unbox finals that broke all conventional draft wisdom and leveraged both players’ skill and luck to get them within one win away from the valuable Gold Cold Foil prize. Jezreel and Justin fought a very close match that went late into the night, but as the dust settled, it was the former’s Kayo who was left standing victorious.
Flesh and Blood RTN Week 4 – Neutral Grounds Cebu (Classic Constructed Format)
While all of that chaos above was happening in Luzon, the last Classic Constructed RTN for the season is in full swing in the Queen City of the South! While there were far fewer competitors compared to the Manila RTNs, the field is no less dangerous – in fact, it only makes it more likely to be paired with some of the best players outside of Manila and face a quick exit.
The Top 8 was made up of Franco Regalado, Kadee Aguila, Gray Luiz, Keefe Cabasa, Jopat Dogelio, Qeith Gamalio, Nico Murphy, and Matoshi Del Mundo. They proved that FaB TCG outside Manila is a whole different beast as powerful but less popular Heroes like Levia, Vynnset, and Dash I/O clashed with meta staples Kayo, Kano, and Kassai in the Top 8.
Ultimately it was Franco’s Dash I/O who triumphed over Kadee’s Levia in the Finals. This feat cements him as likely the first Filipino in the Hero’s Roll of Honor list, and the only player this RTN season to bring her closer to Living Legend status. As one-third of the powerhouse Besh and Brod trio (which you should Subscribe to) along with Alvin Mendoza, one of the best players in Manila, and Cedric Celera, the current National Champion. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more of his run in detail when they release their next episode.
And that concludes the Road To Nationals Season for 2024 – huge congratulations to all of the winners and those who qualified for the National Championships!
After Flesh and Blood RTN Week 4 … What’s Next?
We’re still on the Classic Constructed train and the next stop is the Pro Quest Season, where the winners of each PQ Tournament get directly invited to the next Pro Tour in addition to having more prizes! Several stores around the country like Unbox are including Pro Quest passes, which grant free entry to specific Pro Quest Tournaments, as prizes to their weekly Armories, so be on the lookout for those!
For probably the first time in the country’s history, a Filipino contingent will be flying to compete in the upcoming Pro Tour in Los Angeles, USA! This will be PH’s next foray into the grander world stage after Carlo and Justin’s excursion at the World Championships last year in Barcelona. I’ll write an article about who’s going this time around, so stay tuned!
After all that will come the biggest local tournament of the year! The National Championships will see the rise of PH’s best player this year – joining the prestigious ranks of Cedric Celera from last year, and Kampai Bustamante in 2022.
Beyond that, who knows? Maybe a Calling or something. All I know is that we’re likely heading (or already are) into the golden age of FaB TCG in the country.
Done reading about the Flesh and Blood RTN Week 4? Check out my RTN recaps from the previous weeks!
Read More:
–Flesh And Blood TCG RTN Week 3 – Back To Back Champs!
–FaB TCG Road to Nationals Week 2 – Top Finishes for Unbox
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