If they cared about players and LGS, they wouldn't have screwed most LGS over by heavily allocating their product and giving the large majority of their supply to Channel Fireball for multiple sets
Really good and balanced summary ! So many of us have come across from magic and will never look back. I’m watching this will cataloguing my magic cards to sell out lol. Only thing I’d probably add as well is most stores that are currently stocking flesh and blood are provided learn to play Ira decks from LSS to give out for FREE to players interested in trying the game. If your local store is already in FaB, ask the staff if they have a couple of ira decks and you can try it out with a mate for absolutely no strings attached. Oh, and release cadence… 3 sets a year, maybe going up to 4 by 2024… Echoing your point if you’re a magic player you can definitely afford FaB lol.
But why is FaB not up there with the top 3? If they game is so good why is it not mentioned to be one of the top 3? Is it community size? How much the game makes? Because I know first hand that the top 3 have flaws, but I'm not sure how they stay afloat.
@@kagemushashien8394 I know, old comment, but just came across it. The biggest thing Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon have going for them is that they have been around for over 20 years. Their player base is established, and a lot of them are still diehards. Especially Magic (in my own opinion) only stays afloat at the moment simply because it was the first of its kind and it has its player base established. If a new card game released today, doing the shit that WotC somehow gets away with, it would not survive its first year. FaB has established itself in the market, but, compared to the "Big 3", it is still getting started, and a lot of players and/or game stores, are still feeling the situation out. And I cannot blame anyone for being cautious about a new (or relatively new) card game. If you were a young adult in 2010-2018, you probably got burned on a couple of card games dying before. But the Flesh and Blood player base, as it is right now, is very committed and player numbers are growing slightly, but consistently, every year. And LSS is equally committed to staying the course, making interesting products, and supporting local game stores as best they can. And, if you ask game store owners, which TCG products make them the most profit, Magic is probably not even mentioned by most of them. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Flesh and Blood, will most likely be the top 3 card games you will hear about. Consider that most card games are mostly dying before hitting their 3rd year. Yes, you will still find them, but support for them is reduced to a minimum. Flesh and Blood is turning 5 years old in October of this year, and only receiving *more* support. Sure, in big events, like their version of the Grand Prix (The Calling), their smaller events (Battle Hardened) or pro events, you won't have the numbers that Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic has, but coverage of these events is great, and they are super fun to go to.
I play a lot at 401 games and Red Riot Games (Southern Ontario, CA area) and I've been surprised to meet a large number of players tell me that FAB is their FIRST TCG
I've actually noticed this a lot too. I think it's the RPG style of it. The fantasy setting, heroes and armour really have an appealing aesthetics for people new to TCGs
I wanted to start with MtG but was overwhelmed by the number of products. Also was told to focus on commander because in classic 1on1 I would have no chance/fun with a budget deck. So I landed on FaB and never regretted it 🫡
Worth it to remake this video every year even if the answer is and always will be: yes, it's still the best option even if the TCG category comes with inherent flaws.
In my opinion, I dislike the price aspects and game design of FAB. In terms of pricing, competitive decks are far too expensive even from the baseline that can be shared among other decks. From my estimation, it's around like 500, depending on what cards you're focusing on like command and conquer, enlightened strike, and generic legendaries. This price line compared to basically every card game I've taken part in (Yugioh, Mtg, Pokemon, Digimon, One Piece, Vanguard, Weiss, Dragon Ball) is arguably the highest. I intuitively find it wrong that a card game released a few years ago can have this price tag when purchasing the unique cards for a hero can double the baseline. The argument of being able to have generic equipment you can share in order for the game to be cost effective then doesn't seem to apply. In terms of playing budget decks, I can't disagree that you can always play FAB for fun and for cheap, but that shouldn't be something as a positive. Every card game can be played for cheap and still be for fun. For one thing, the gameplay itself is above average, but it doesn't justify its price tag for competitive play compared to yugioh ycs, digimon championships, pokemon championships, magic modern and pioneer, and even vanguard competitive play back in the day from my experience. it's another thing to expect to play FAB because its gameplay is so good that people will want to play it and indulge in it when they are given a single change. I love playing rogue yugioh, drafting mtg limited, playing cheap digimon archetypes, playing the worst vanguard decks against other bad vanguard decks. Overall, it isn't a bad thing that FAB can be played on budget, but it's gameplay isn't that good enough for this budget option to be a good thing and be a whole reason for why FAB should be played. In terms of game design, I don't like the direction of game mechanics and how sets are done. I admit that in the beginning, I liked the simplicity of heros from welcome to rathe and the interesting mechanics arcane rising provided. However, I disliked the type of mechanics released from recent sets like uprising and dynasty. In my opinion, the mechanics are being pushed too hard to be interesting and at that point become game breaking. Every card game has power creep and I agree yugioh, mtg, and all these other cards games have these problems. In fact, I think every card game will have these problems after a set time. I believe it is about managing the direction of your game mechanics so as to not power creep to shit in an unreasonably short period of time. But FAB doesn't avoid this problem even with their 3-4 sets a year. If I saw dynasty majestics from the point in time I was playing a year ago, I would be surprised at the majestics being released. Like the dorinthea majestic that puts a +1 counter on a weapon and if it doesn't hit, remove all counters. If it were a year ago, the +1 getting over blocks at intervals of 3, the massive swing in tempo from being able to hit twice to get another counter, and the cost of the card would all be incredible. The fact there exists cards like this and others and some not even making its hero more competitively viable is an incredible amount of power creep in the time span given. In terms of how sets are done, I dislike how sets are created not from a player perspective but from a business model perspective. I don't think there can be good growth for a game like FAB with the timing of the amount of sets per year. I get that being able to take the time to digest the cards released is good, but I think the rate of growth would be stunted in terms of the state of card games in general right now and consumer behavior towards card games. When I say state of card games, I refer to the market of collectibles. When I say consumer behavior, I refer to people's tendencies right now to play card games for the money and for fun, but this could just be my opinion. I think that FAB at this rate would never become money grubbing like WOTC or Konami, but it would also never become as big with its growth given market conditions.
Flesh and blood is very much like runeterra. When it’s comes to The attack chain gameplay with defense and attack phases, and also like you said not focusing on random RNG to do good but more skill based and decision making
It was the whole reason why I picked up a physical TCG, I LOVE Runeterra because of the "stack/chain" and I also love fighting games in general (mainly Tekken & Soul Calibur) Flesh & Blood caught my eye because it's basically a fighting game in a TCG-shell. Plus not to mention I love Marvel Champions resource system (use a card to pay for another card)
When making a video like this you should bring up the parts of F&B that’s different and might be missed by some tcg’s players. I myself is most of all missing out of board control and creeps that stick around between turns and phases. Sure there are certain heroes that can bring some dragons or auras, but it’s not in this games dna. It’s more of a 1v1 fighting game with players swinging their attacks during their turn (for most parts), which is fine. And even tho you refill your hand in the end of your turn the hand size of 4 cards and an extra in arsenal are not easily manipulated. Sure there are ways to fish from your deck. But it’s not like other games in that sense. The balanced cards are imo mould in the same way. There’s only so much you can do when nothing may stick out. And we definitely need new heroes! And most of them. I get it that it’s the hardest part to make a hero = permanent that’s not too broken. But it’s troublesome when heroes becomes LL and entire versions of different classes disappear.
This is a very good point, thank you. I've had a "FaB vs ____ game" as a video idea for awhile so this is where I definitely would dive into differences in gameplay and engines
Dropped £30 today on a Dromai blitz starter and 4 outsiders boost packs, something new to try out (and booster packs are more fun then scratch cards :D) Also helps the friend I have that plays in is one of Finland's better comp players so ill have a good teacher!
There are no Cons! Best TCG in existence period. More fun, more skill intensive, less expensive, more balanced. Just the best game and I have been heavily invested in MTG since 1994!
MTG is a great game but it suffers from being the first. FaB was able to take the best parts from other games, avoid pitfalls (like mana screw/flood) and come out with a stellar product
@@Sloopdoop What other stuff it does best, and what is the flaws it has? What did it take from others and made great? How does a TCG be more skilled base? Without being repetitive.
What truly captures me about some tcgs is their ability to bend their own rules and create very unique and varied playstyles within the game between different decks. Does F&B compare, or is it just strictly generic mechanics reused to no end?
All classes have very different playstyles and the heroes within those classes also play different from each other. You'll have no issues there with FaB!
To be honnest about the price of Yu Gi Oh, as a YGO player (not competitive, though), I don't actually think it is THAT expensive. Although you live in Canada so it may be way more expensive than it is in France but as far as I know, you can get a competitive deck for 200 to 300 bucks (for the most costly I know) because most of the expensive cards are staples (Archetype cards don't cost much for the majority of them) and Konami reprints a LOT of them anyway, which makes the prices much lower (Ash blossom, for instance, which used to cost ~20 bucks, and now, you can get it for 5€ thanks to its reprint in the Cristal Beasts structure deck). Anyway, I just wanted to make things clear about Yu Gi Oh, because even if it's not a cheap game (if you play competitive, which isn't my case, most of my decks cost around 30-90€ max) reprints make the game affordable. Except for some cards, ofc, but most of the time, you can replace them
Honestly I'm impressed with how cheap YuGiOh has gotten over the past few years. It used to be an incredibly expensive game to play at the higher levels but it's come way down. Only issue then is that if you wanted to sell your cards, you won't get a whole lot for them
@@Sloopdoop I agree, but on the other side, it makes it way easier to get into, it depends on how you see it However, one thing that has never gotten lower in price is sealed product. The older, the more exepensive, so I guess if you want to make profit out of selling YGO products, either invest in collector stuff, or keep your old packs sealed
Oh hey, I recognize that tweet! I wish FaB players would be more honest about the game’s price. It IS prohibitively expensive and while it may be comparable to some formats in other games, it’s important to point out that you can play competitive magic for less than the cost of a single Tunic if you were to simply play Pioneer instead of dying formats like Modern, Legacy or Vintage. This isn't really an option with FaB. CC is the only real competitive format and even the worst heroes require legendaries to function. And no, Blossom of Spring isn't the same as running Tunic.
Very good point! FaB is an expensive game to join on a competitive level. The causal scene is very affordable though- and I think those formats you mentioned are primarily casual and geared specifically towards cost effective decks. Fab will likely develop in time similar formats. The biggest issue with Magic these last years is Hasbro. They are whipping the customer base to buy more and flogging the golden goose, which is their brand, lay more eggs (products). It is hard to see a future for Magic that isn’t declining with Hasbro at the helm
It's prohibitively expensive to play competitively, yeah, but you can build a deck and join an armoury for $30. Also, CC isn't the only real competitive format, we also have Blitz, and those decks are also cheaper than CC decks due to having less cards. And in Blitz, Blossom of Spring is better than Tunic. But even in CC, it'll do just fine.
@@ironjordangaming8866 seems like you're just here to be shitty. Pioneer isn't a real format by that logic. Modern and legacy are still having weekly tournaments. Pioneer isn't. And none of those offer a million in total prize support at their top level. FaB comp is expensive because people need those advantages at the top level when they're competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The world champion for magic in 2022 took home less money than the third place in FaB. That money encourages the hardcore playstyle that keeps demand for limited stock of staples high. But the variance rate in FaB is nowhere near what it is in mtg. I've beat people with my 20 dollar upgraded deck while staring at their Helm and tunic. Likewise, my roommate has beaten me with a 50 dollar Fai brew while I've got a decked out Iyslander.
Longevity? If one enjoys a game and there is sufficient amount of cards, a game can have a lifetime of play if it can be treated NOT as a multiowner game. I am treating it as a single owner cardgame version of a videogame fighting game, based around precon blitz decks. I am NOT having Flesh and Blood as the only game I play. I can also develop new formats, like King of the Fighters team battles: multiple heroes per team, knock of all other fighters. Master multiple characters.
in 2 weeks playing fab I feel like it's too linear, every match seens to be the same and I feels i don't have enough options of Heroes, but still i'm having fun with this game
many of the lynch pin items are stupidly priced and rare if you want to compete competitively which has made me upset with this game. The stupid tunic shouldn't be so hard to get and shouldn't be 300bucks a pop
Lets see what it will bring and be, i'd love it and root for it hundred mio Percent to supass my expactations as always. Still, Flesh and Blood is NOT out yet. xP --- Like, if you have opened 2 boxes of a Case Uprising, pulled and L but you know theres still a Marvel hiddin in the other half and it could be even better then the L. ..especially if youre playing Dromai if that makes any sense.
great video man, started flesh and blood a week ago and picked up oldhim... is oldhimm a meme hero? why are players annoyed at him? genuine question btw love your content!
Oldhim is a really good hero (maybe not top of the Meta right now but he is still super strong)! However he usually follow a slow, grindy playstyle that can be agonizing to deal with. That being said, there's nothing actually wrong about him. I just like making jokes about him
Im a new player, my friends and me are currently looking for budget option for tunic just to name a example, is there any way for a video showing budget option for expensive cards for armor and deck?
The no rotation part kills it for me. One just have to look at yugioh to see how that turns out. Sure you can play all the cards but can you? Can you really? Chances are that besides few exception cards that likely will clumb in price massively do to scarsity newest sets might as well be a rotation block.
Some other problems with FaB that will hinder its success unless fixed is the fact that box's tend to only focus on a handful of heros, buying box's especially as an LGS are a terrible ROI typically and when you do get the $$$ cards you have tons of cards you need to storage along with not a ton of people who are willing to buy. In an environment where there are less risky games that make a lot of money for LGS's, Flesh and blood suffers from that unfortunately (Digimon, pokemon, Weiss, MTG, maybe ONE PIECE and the new disney card game). Flesh and blood is very risky for stores to buy in cases, because of how bad buying small amounts of the game is but stores tend to dip their toes into a product by buying small amounts of a game. It's a cycle that will keep their game out of many LGSs which means the game won't grow much if at all. That being said I think it's a great game to play if you take the box structure and business structure out of everything! I enjoy it a lot!
I think that LSS has been going in the right direction on this with FaB 2.0 and having their Legendary rates be lower, as well as adding in different chase cards and having some good majestics that hold a $10-15 price. However, since FaB's size is still relatively small, I can see the issue of stores selling singles if there's not a huge playerbase to buy them
@@Sloopdoop yea I mean from a business standpoint as a store you have to decide if something is worth the investment over other card games, because you also don't want to spread yourself too thin. And if there are hardly any players, I as a store owner in this economy would also rather focus on less risky products. I think 2-3 years from now if LSS does things right, we may see it become popular. So far it seems like FaB is mostly just absorbing the MTG community which is good but not exactly helpful. Yugioh, Digimon, and pokemon along with Weiss all convert a new audience that watches shows into their cardgames. which is good for growth. FaB lacks the "first ccg" title that mtg had which allowed mtg to grow in the first place. Basically it doesn't convert many original players, which kinda sucks too. But I do see a future for the game, just much farther out
My CCG group tried it and tapered off after a few months. It´s gets stale as the variation within every hero is small, making the week to week experience dull. The variation is simply lacking. I suspect there'll develop a competitive crowd staying around, but the casual will move to Lorcana or something else.
Unfortunately a dead game maybe if they made a video game of it then it would be saved but that will never happen. Talishar is barely keeping this game on life support.
Most heroes have both a Young and Adult version. The only difference between them is the life difference and what format they are for. Adult Heroes are for Classic Constructed, and Young are for Blitz/Ultimate Pit Fight
@@Sloopdoop hey brother. Sorry to bother you again, but I'm still trying to figure this out. Do blitz come with both Young and not-young heroes? If not, how do you get the counterpart?
@@AwesomeLionSaurus if a hero comes as young and old, they are a token. Some heroes only have just a young or adult hero and can range from common to Legendary rarity.
PvE is a huge Opportunity for this game to break its "competetive" labelling and embrace casuals while giving them a reason to swap. I doubt any commander player would think about swapping to FaB for UPF. I could see them swapping for a fun cooperative PvE experience though and maybe then getting into UPF too.
UPF doesn't allow for the same kind of game that Commander does, but it's still reasonably fun. However, I agree about people swapping for PVE. If it's done right, I think it could be FaB's big break
im concidering trying it tho i do feel other games like cardfight vanguard and battle spirits saga are also good games better then mtg and yougioh and pokemon for sure atleast
Been playing FAB for about half a year, it's an amazing game that really suits a 1v1 competitive environment which I've been enjoying. Been playing MTG for over a decade, it's an amazing game BUT if I want to play in a competitive environment I'd have to burn SERIOUS cash on a deck even on the tightest of budgets, so I strictly jam games of EDH at the LGS and with friends, play limited the odd time. If FAB PvE pops off and is an incredible experience (and I really have no idea how it'd be good, Pit Fight is a travesty of a format) it's going to be the next big thing, it'll have every base covered.
Is there a reason why it's so gimped in theming? And by that I mean, it's literally called flesh and blood, I get that it's about playing in person and not gore but why is all of the art so tame and dull looking? It looks like generic fantasy art you could attach to anything, nothing distinct about it. Just bland WoW looking shit, bland women/men, no diablo 2 esq or otherwise grimdark fantasy art. It might as well be as woke as MTG if it's still going to be ugly. Every japanese game looks better then this hands down, but they get censored. That isn't a weaboo insult either, does not have to look anything remotely similar to anime, western fantasy art can be really sick but this is just flavorless borderline AI generated art looking through pack spoilers. Is the gameplay that good? I want new games to survive and not be stuck with the big 3 and then japanese games that get censored/constantly die. I want this to be good but I can't find any charm in it.
@@Sloopdoop You don't think it's generic? Like if you saw card art out of a random lineup with other images off google, you would you be able to tell it's flesh and blood? Im mad that they pick a cool name for the game, its clearly aimed at adults, and we still get this ages 12 and under EBIC cringe reddit looking moba shit instead of dark fantasy.
@@Sloopdoop I'm gonna take that as a yes , that you could not pick FaB art out of a lineup and that the game lives and dies on gameplay alone. As bad as mtg got there was still some charm in its settings/world and characters because it was from an old writer with books and some vision. You can take it personally if you want and I am being harsh but its insane no one mentions this in any FaB video. The game is not visually interesting and would do better if it was more hyperbolic in tone or setting/content. That is at least a slight hurdle of this growing, it isnt all card prices and whether mtg does this or that wrong.
@@gH05tM4LL dude look up Herald of Erudition. Rise Above. Korshem. Wave of Reality. Tomeltai. The art in this game is phenomenal, and it seems like you looked at two cards and made up your mind
Im sorry, did he just list 2 $60+ decks and a $150 deck as "budget" options, and im not supposed to worry, cause thats somehow cheaper than magic? i guess im beyond poor cause that sounds abysmal. at least magic has MTGA so i can play for free.
@@Sloopdoop the Most broken Thing in tcg History, i kinda Loved how He took over every Format possible 😂 ive played edh only, so He was Like a slow 1 time removel spell for me, though i had even in edh veeeeery fun Moments with the elkdad🙈 but it showed so many Things going wrong in mtg, even a few years ago(?) 👀 Luckily Things Like oko got me into Fab ♥️ (and atleast precons for my Hero academia ccg, new one piece Card Game and Digimon lol, but i srsly would've never tryed anything else otherwise) Btw, you are awesome! I Wish you a fantastic new year and alot of success with this Channel, greetings from Germany 🤘😇
@@Sloopdoop x.X I just saw this, my bad. They support nitpicking nerds and they bullied a kid off Twitter using their fans by telling people they are transphobic. Well as it turned out someone went to both sides and the kid was a trans girl. :T
I only bought boxes just to flip them and sell them I'm waiting until the alpha rathe box goes up to at least $50,000 how long will I be waiting for that? The game looks like trash but I hope I can flip my alpha rathe box for 50k
Not only is Flesh and Blood an amazing game, it's run by people who really care about the players and the local game stores.
This is a big point, wish I would've made it!
MtG kept local stores in business during the pandemic.
MTG was like that 20 years ago haha
If they cared about players and LGS, they wouldn't have screwed most LGS over by heavily allocating their product and giving the large majority of their supply to Channel Fireball for multiple sets
@@JayTac1 that is because store owners feel they need to keep MTG events to survive and they are afraid to make the switch to better games
Really good and balanced summary !
So many of us have come across from magic and will never look back. I’m watching this will cataloguing my magic cards to sell out lol.
Only thing I’d probably add as well is most stores that are currently stocking flesh and blood are provided learn to play Ira decks from LSS to give out for FREE to players interested in trying the game. If your local store is already in FaB, ask the staff if they have a couple of ira decks and you can try it out with a mate for absolutely no strings attached.
Oh, and release cadence… 3 sets a year, maybe going up to 4 by 2024… Echoing your point if you’re a magic player you can definitely afford FaB lol.
lol same here. What i love is it is easier to ignore a FAB set and just buy 6 or 9 cards you need for your favorite character.
In Flesh and Blood we trust 🙏
But why is FaB not up there with the top 3? If they game is so good why is it not mentioned to be one of the top 3? Is it community size? How much the game makes? Because I know first hand that the top 3 have flaws, but I'm not sure how they stay afloat.
@@kagemushashien8394fab is pretty new, especially compared to the big three, so it just needs time to grow really
@@kagemushashien8394 I know, old comment, but just came across it.
The biggest thing Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon have going for them is that they have been around for over 20 years. Their player base is established, and a lot of them are still diehards.
Especially Magic (in my own opinion) only stays afloat at the moment simply because it was the first of its kind and it has its player base established. If a new card game released today, doing the shit that WotC somehow gets away with, it would not survive its first year.
FaB has established itself in the market, but, compared to the "Big 3", it is still getting started, and a lot of players and/or game stores, are still feeling the situation out. And I cannot blame anyone for being cautious about a new (or relatively new) card game. If you were a young adult in 2010-2018, you probably got burned on a couple of card games dying before.
But the Flesh and Blood player base, as it is right now, is very committed and player numbers are growing slightly, but consistently, every year. And LSS is equally committed to staying the course, making interesting products, and supporting local game stores as best they can.
And, if you ask game store owners, which TCG products make them the most profit, Magic is probably not even mentioned by most of them. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Flesh and Blood, will most likely be the top 3 card games you will hear about.
Consider that most card games are mostly dying before hitting their 3rd year. Yes, you will still find them, but support for them is reduced to a minimum. Flesh and Blood is turning 5 years old in October of this year, and only receiving *more* support.
Sure, in big events, like their version of the Grand Prix (The Calling), their smaller events (Battle Hardened) or pro events, you won't have the numbers that Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic has, but coverage of these events is great, and they are super fun to go to.
FaB is truly a great TCG
It's definitely apart of the Core4
People call it the Big 4 but Core 4 sounds way better!
I play a lot at 401 games and Red Riot Games (Southern Ontario, CA area) and I've been surprised to meet a large number of players tell me that FAB is their FIRST TCG
I've actually noticed this a lot too. I think it's the RPG style of it. The fantasy setting, heroes and armour really have an appealing aesthetics for people new to TCGs
I wanted to start with MtG but was overwhelmed by the number of products. Also was told to focus on commander because in classic 1on1 I would have no chance/fun with a budget deck. So I landed on FaB and never regretted it 🫡
Worth it to remake this video every year even if the answer is and always will be: yes, it's still the best option even if the TCG category comes with inherent flaws.
All games have flaws but the company behind this one truly care about what they're doing
@@Sloopdoop completely agreed. James white and co really seem to understand what players want. Glad to finally have a game where the devs play too
Great video! For people looking to dip their toes in or test out deck building on a budget the officially supported commoner format rocks!
Commoner is a great starting point if budget is your concern!
1 year later, and the game is still holding strong.
Never played but interested in getting into a card game again. Thinking about star wars unlimited or flesh and blood
@Svabby being completely transparent, card games are silly expensive.
@aladoristcg3769 yeah that's the issue 🤣
In my opinion, I dislike the price aspects and game design of FAB. In terms of pricing, competitive decks are far too expensive even from the baseline that can be shared among other decks. From my estimation, it's around like 500, depending on what cards you're focusing on like command and conquer, enlightened strike, and generic legendaries. This price line compared to basically every card game I've taken part in (Yugioh, Mtg, Pokemon, Digimon, One Piece, Vanguard, Weiss, Dragon Ball) is arguably the highest. I intuitively find it wrong that a card game released a few years ago can have this price tag when purchasing the unique cards for a hero can double the baseline. The argument of being able to have generic equipment you can share in order for the game to be cost effective then doesn't seem to apply. In terms of playing budget decks, I can't disagree that you can always play FAB for fun and for cheap, but that shouldn't be something as a positive. Every card game can be played for cheap and still be for fun. For one thing, the gameplay itself is above average, but it doesn't justify its price tag for competitive play compared to yugioh ycs, digimon championships, pokemon championships, magic modern and pioneer, and even vanguard competitive play back in the day from my experience. it's another thing to expect to play FAB because its gameplay is so good that people will want to play it and indulge in it when they are given a single change. I love playing rogue yugioh, drafting mtg limited, playing cheap digimon archetypes, playing the worst vanguard decks against other bad vanguard decks. Overall, it isn't a bad thing that FAB can be played on budget, but it's gameplay isn't that good enough for this budget option to be a good thing and be a whole reason for why FAB should be played.
In terms of game design, I don't like the direction of game mechanics and how sets are done. I admit that in the beginning, I liked the simplicity of heros from welcome to rathe and the interesting mechanics arcane rising provided. However, I disliked the type of mechanics released from recent sets like uprising and dynasty. In my opinion, the mechanics are being pushed too hard to be interesting and at that point become game breaking. Every card game has power creep and I agree yugioh, mtg, and all these other cards games have these problems. In fact, I think every card game will have these problems after a set time. I believe it is about managing the direction of your game mechanics so as to not power creep to shit in an unreasonably short period of time. But FAB doesn't avoid this problem even with their 3-4 sets a year. If I saw dynasty majestics from the point in time I was playing a year ago, I would be surprised at the majestics being released. Like the dorinthea majestic that puts a +1 counter on a weapon and if it doesn't hit, remove all counters. If it were a year ago, the +1 getting over blocks at intervals of 3, the massive swing in tempo from being able to hit twice to get another counter, and the cost of the card would all be incredible. The fact there exists cards like this and others and some not even making its hero more competitively viable is an incredible amount of power creep in the time span given. In terms of how sets are done, I dislike how sets are created not from a player perspective but from a business model perspective. I don't think there can be good growth for a game like FAB with the timing of the amount of sets per year. I get that being able to take the time to digest the cards released is good, but I think the rate of growth would be stunted in terms of the state of card games in general right now and consumer behavior towards card games. When I say state of card games, I refer to the market of collectibles. When I say consumer behavior, I refer to people's tendencies right now to play card games for the money and for fun, but this could just be my opinion. I think that FAB at this rate would never become money grubbing like WOTC or Konami, but it would also never become as big with its growth given market conditions.
Keyforge doesn't have power creep. Heck, many of the strongest cards ever pinted are in Set 1
Flesh and blood is very much like runeterra. When it’s comes to
The attack chain gameplay with defense and attack phases, and also like you said not focusing on random RNG to do good but more skill based and decision making
It was the whole reason why I picked up a physical TCG, I LOVE Runeterra because of the "stack/chain" and I also love fighting games in general (mainly Tekken & Soul Calibur) Flesh & Blood caught my eye because it's basically a fighting game in a TCG-shell. Plus not to mention I love Marvel Champions resource system (use a card to pay for another card)
I was skeptical about Flesh and Blood. Then I saw there were dragons and am now getting into the game.
Ah, I see you too are a man of culture
@@Sloopdoop Dragon mommy for the win!
Professor level quality content right here 💙
I take that as the highest of praise
When making a video like this you should bring up the parts of F&B that’s different and might be missed by some tcg’s players. I myself is most of all missing out of board control and creeps that stick around between turns and phases. Sure there are certain heroes that can bring some dragons or auras, but it’s not in this games dna. It’s more of a 1v1 fighting game with players swinging their attacks during their turn (for most parts), which is fine.
And even tho you refill your hand in the end of your turn the hand size of 4 cards and an extra in arsenal are not easily manipulated. Sure there are ways to fish from your deck. But it’s not like other games in that sense. The balanced cards are imo mould in the same way. There’s only so much you can do when nothing may stick out. And we definitely need new heroes! And most of them. I get it that it’s the hardest part to make a hero = permanent that’s not too broken. But it’s troublesome when heroes becomes LL and entire versions of different classes disappear.
This is a very good point, thank you. I've had a "FaB vs ____ game" as a video idea for awhile so this is where I definitely would dive into differences in gameplay and engines
Dropped £30 today on a Dromai blitz starter and 4 outsiders boost packs, something new to try out (and booster packs are more fun then scratch cards :D)
Also helps the friend I have that plays in is one of Finland's better comp players so ill have a good teacher!
Hey, welcome to FaB!
There are no Cons! Best TCG in existence period. More fun, more skill intensive, less expensive, more balanced. Just the best game and I have been heavily invested in MTG since 1994!
MTG is a great game but it suffers from being the first. FaB was able to take the best parts from other games, avoid pitfalls (like mana screw/flood) and come out with a stellar product
@@Sloopdoop What other stuff it does best, and what is the flaws it has? What did it take from others and made great?
How does a TCG be more skilled base? Without being repetitive.
@@Sloopdoopmana screw and flood is part of the fun imo
Very informative video. I am buying the classic battle to start.
What truly captures me about some tcgs is their ability to bend their own rules and create very unique and varied playstyles within the game between different decks. Does F&B compare, or is it just strictly generic mechanics reused to no end?
All classes have very different playstyles and the heroes within those classes also play different from each other. You'll have no issues there with FaB!
To be honnest about the price of Yu Gi Oh, as a YGO player (not competitive, though), I don't actually think it is THAT expensive. Although you live in Canada so it may be way more expensive than it is in France but as far as I know, you can get a competitive deck for 200 to 300 bucks (for the most costly I know) because most of the expensive cards are staples (Archetype cards don't cost much for the majority of them) and Konami reprints a LOT of them anyway, which makes the prices much lower (Ash blossom, for instance, which used to cost ~20 bucks, and now, you can get it for 5€ thanks to its reprint in the Cristal Beasts structure deck).
Anyway, I just wanted to make things clear about Yu Gi Oh, because even if it's not a cheap game (if you play competitive, which isn't my case, most of my decks cost around 30-90€ max) reprints make the game affordable. Except for some cards, ofc, but most of the time, you can replace them
Honestly I'm impressed with how cheap YuGiOh has gotten over the past few years. It used to be an incredibly expensive game to play at the higher levels but it's come way down. Only issue then is that if you wanted to sell your cards, you won't get a whole lot for them
@@Sloopdoop I agree, but on the other side, it makes it way easier to get into, it depends on how you see it
However, one thing that has never gotten lower in price is sealed product. The older, the more exepensive, so I guess if you want to make profit out of selling YGO products, either invest in collector stuff, or keep your old packs sealed
Well, looks like FAB has a Professor. Subscribing. :)
This isn't the first time I've been called FaB's Prof lol
Oh hey, I recognize that tweet!
I wish FaB players would be more honest about the game’s price. It IS prohibitively expensive and while it may be comparable to some formats in other games, it’s important to point out that you can play competitive magic for less than the cost of a single Tunic if you were to simply play Pioneer instead of dying formats like Modern, Legacy or Vintage.
This isn't really an option with FaB. CC is the only real competitive format and even the worst heroes require legendaries to function. And no, Blossom of Spring isn't the same as running Tunic.
Very good point! FaB is an expensive game to join on a competitive level. The causal scene is very affordable though- and I think those formats you mentioned are primarily casual and geared specifically towards cost effective decks.
Fab will likely develop in time similar formats.
The biggest issue with Magic these last years is Hasbro. They are whipping the customer base to buy more and flogging the golden goose, which is their brand, lay more eggs (products).
It is hard to see a future for Magic that isn’t declining with Hasbro at the helm
FAB is not expensive it's cheap af and this is coming from an mtg player
It's prohibitively expensive to play competitively, yeah, but you can build a deck and join an armoury for $30. Also, CC isn't the only real competitive format, we also have Blitz, and those decks are also cheaper than CC decks due to having less cards.
And in Blitz, Blossom of Spring is better than Tunic. But even in CC, it'll do just fine.
@@Sloopdoop blitz isn’t a real format lmao
@@ironjordangaming8866 seems like you're just here to be shitty. Pioneer isn't a real format by that logic. Modern and legacy are still having weekly tournaments. Pioneer isn't. And none of those offer a million in total prize support at their top level. FaB comp is expensive because people need those advantages at the top level when they're competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The world champion for magic in 2022 took home less money than the third place in FaB. That money encourages the hardcore playstyle that keeps demand for limited stock of staples high.
But the variance rate in FaB is nowhere near what it is in mtg. I've beat people with my 20 dollar upgraded deck while staring at their Helm and tunic. Likewise, my roommate has beaten me with a 50 dollar Fai brew while I've got a decked out Iyslander.
Oh the Azalea hate 😭- Don't worry my Queen, we still love you! -AzaleaCult
Don't worry, she's getting some love with Outsiders soon!
@@Sloopdoop oh I know…. I know. It will be glorious 🏹😊
Reminds me of force of will, and yes i have played both
FoW was pretty fun honestly
@@Sloopdoop FoW is going, albeit on life support currently wish it would pop off again cause its really fun
Why’re you wearing two waistcoats?
Longevity? If one enjoys a game and there is sufficient amount of cards, a game can have a lifetime of play if it can be treated NOT as a multiowner game. I am treating it as a single owner cardgame version of a videogame fighting game, based around precon blitz decks. I am NOT having Flesh and Blood as the only game I play. I can also develop new formats, like King of the Fighters team battles: multiple heroes per team, knock of all other fighters. Master multiple characters.
in 2 weeks playing fab I feel like it's too linear, every match seens to be the same and I feels i don't have enough options of Heroes, but still i'm having fun with this game
many of the lynch pin items are stupidly priced and rare if you want to compete competitively which has made me upset with this game. The stupid tunic shouldn't be so hard to get and shouldn't be 300bucks a pop
I like FaB, I just feel like many play styles seem to be heavily focused on aggro.
Wait for PVE or whatever it will be in the end. .
Flesh and Blood is NOT out yet
❤️
Flesh and Blood is growing strong and will do even better with PVE!
Lets see what it will bring and be, i'd love it and root for it hundred mio Percent to supass my expactations as always.
Still, Flesh and Blood is NOT out yet.
xP
---
Like, if you have opened 2 boxes of a Case Uprising, pulled and L but you know theres still a Marvel hiddin in the other half and it could be even better then the L.
..especially if youre playing Dromai if that makes any sense.
Short answer: yes
Long answer: great community, great game, be happy, have fun
Short answer: just buy a blitz deck and play already
great video man,
started flesh and blood a week ago and picked up oldhim...
is oldhimm a meme hero?
why are players annoyed at him? genuine question btw
love your content!
Oldhim is a really good hero (maybe not top of the Meta right now but he is still super strong)! However he usually follow a slow, grindy playstyle that can be agonizing to deal with.
That being said, there's nothing actually wrong about him. I just like making jokes about him
YGO has a Bandlist System and not a Setrotaion
I'd play it but no LCS store within 30 miles of me does.
Im a new player, my friends and me are currently looking for budget option for tunic just to name a example, is there any way for a video showing budget option for expensive cards for armor and deck?
There is a video done by Kugane Gaming from a year ago but that's not a bad idea to do an up to date version
The no rotation part kills it for me. One just have to look at yugioh to see how that turns out. Sure you can play all the cards but can you? Can you really? Chances are that besides few exception cards that likely will clumb in price massively do to scarsity newest sets might as well be a rotation block.
Excellent video
Thanks!
Have you played Legends of Runeterra? Way better than Magic, pokemon and most other card games.
My problem wit trying to play the game is that it is expensive to play, sure u have ur budget decks but the tier 1 decks, they not cheap lol
It used to be now there's like a 1k entry fee :
blitz decks cost about $10-15
Are you wearing a vest over a vest?
Its just a single piece waistcoat, but it looks like there are two
Great video. Production quality is through the roof. Loving it.
Thank you very much!
sorry but this is so not about the game, but where did you buy your vests? you look stunning dear sir,
Just searched up Waistcoats on Amazon! Thank you!
It’s he best tcg of all time and the most balanced tcg out there. Play it, folks
That flip the table clip… that real?
It's a skit that Boogie2988 did AGES ago
@@Sloopdoop ohhhhh thanks for that :)
Not thanks for the hundreds of dollars I’ll be spending based on your videos lol. Game looks great. I’ve been out of the ccg…game. Since Warlord
I only watch for the outfits.
And I'm okay with that
Boltyn bros rise up!!
It's a great game for sure! But I'm afraid the title of best TCG goes to Legends of the 5 Rings!
Fair enough, I've never played that one so I can't compare
Your affiliate link in the description is broken and doesn't link you affiliate code.
Some other problems with FaB that will hinder its success unless fixed is the fact that box's tend to only focus on a handful of heros, buying box's especially as an LGS are a terrible ROI typically and when you do get the $$$ cards you have tons of cards you need to storage along with not a ton of people who are willing to buy. In an environment where there are less risky games that make a lot of money for LGS's, Flesh and blood suffers from that unfortunately (Digimon, pokemon, Weiss, MTG, maybe ONE PIECE and the new disney card game). Flesh and blood is very risky for stores to buy in cases, because of how bad buying small amounts of the game is but stores tend to dip their toes into a product by buying small amounts of a game. It's a cycle that will keep their game out of many LGSs which means the game won't grow much if at all. That being said I think it's a great game to play if you take the box structure and business structure out of everything! I enjoy it a lot!
I think that LSS has been going in the right direction on this with FaB 2.0 and having their Legendary rates be lower, as well as adding in different chase cards and having some good majestics that hold a $10-15 price. However, since FaB's size is still relatively small, I can see the issue of stores selling singles if there's not a huge playerbase to buy them
@@Sloopdoop yea I mean from a business standpoint as a store you have to decide if something is worth the investment over other card games, because you also don't want to spread yourself too thin. And if there are hardly any players, I as a store owner in this economy would also rather focus on less risky products. I think 2-3 years from now if LSS does things right, we may see it become popular. So far it seems like FaB is mostly just absorbing the MTG community which is good but not exactly helpful. Yugioh, Digimon, and pokemon along with Weiss all convert a new audience that watches shows into their cardgames. which is good for growth. FaB lacks the "first ccg" title that mtg had which allowed mtg to grow in the first place. Basically it doesn't convert many original players, which kinda sucks too. But I do see a future for the game, just much farther out
FaB is a lot of fun, but it won't be a true MtG competitor until it has more depth.
Depth comes with time
My CCG group tried it and tapered off after a few months. It´s gets stale as the variation within every hero is small, making the week to week experience dull. The variation is simply lacking. I suspect there'll develop a competitive crowd staying around, but the casual will move to Lorcana or something else.
It’s cool but don’t do it if! You don’t have them money. Because the pull rates are absolutely trash. Fun game tho.
haaa dam ya didnt play , VTES , the 5 man free for all is the best things and what I need in new TCG, not just the 1 vs 1
Unfortunately a dead game maybe if they made a video game of it then it would be saved but that will never happen. Talishar is barely keeping this game on life support.
I'm confused, why are there many versions of the same heroes and why are some of them stronger?
Most heroes have both a Young and Adult version. The only difference between them is the life difference and what format they are for. Adult Heroes are for Classic Constructed, and Young are for Blitz/Ultimate Pit Fight
@@Sloopdoop Cool. Thanks. I will probably be picking up the Rhinar/Dor classic battles starter decks to try the game so useful to know :)
@@Sloopdoop hey brother. Sorry to bother you again, but I'm still trying to figure this out. Do blitz come with both Young and not-young heroes? If not, how do you get the counterpart?
@@AwesomeLionSaurus if a hero comes as young and old, they are a token. Some heroes only have just a young or adult hero and can range from common to Legendary rarity.
PvE is a huge Opportunity for this game to break its "competetive" labelling and embrace casuals while giving them a reason to swap.
I doubt any commander player would think about swapping to FaB for UPF. I could see them swapping for a fun cooperative PvE experience though and maybe then getting into UPF too.
UPF doesn't allow for the same kind of game that Commander does, but it's still reasonably fun. However, I agree about people swapping for PVE. If it's done right, I think it could be FaB's big break
im concidering trying it tho i do feel other games like cardfight vanguard and battle spirits saga are also good games better then mtg and yougioh and pokemon for sure atleast
don't even watch the video. start playing.
the answer is yes
I agree except with the don't watch the video part
I agree except with the don't watch the video part
love the way you say "Pokémon" like how it's properly pronounce and not "pokiimon" like most uneducated swines.
Sloop is Top G
damn right. Just gotta censor my pizzas
The Azalea joke did not age well.
Eye isn't good for kano though. Just saying
I think a lot of people would disagree, but I don't think it's necessary for the deck to play well either
Yes
Been playing FAB for about half a year, it's an amazing game that really suits a 1v1 competitive environment which I've been enjoying.
Been playing MTG for over a decade, it's an amazing game BUT if I want to play in a competitive environment I'd have to burn SERIOUS cash on a deck even on the tightest of budgets, so I strictly jam games of EDH at the LGS and with friends, play limited the odd time.
If FAB PvE pops off and is an incredible experience (and I really have no idea how it'd be good, Pit Fight is a travesty of a format) it's going to be the next big thing, it'll have every base covered.
PVE is going to have to knock it out of the park to really bring people into it casually so fingers crossed LSS doesn't let us down!
Hahaha - Yugi-Oh and Pokemon better than Magic - good joke. But I can see the potential of FaB and started my collection this week!
Is there a reason why it's so gimped in theming? And by that I mean, it's literally called flesh and blood, I get that it's about playing in person and not gore but why is all of the art so tame and dull looking? It looks like generic fantasy art you could attach to anything, nothing distinct about it. Just bland WoW looking shit, bland women/men, no diablo 2 esq or otherwise grimdark fantasy art. It might as well be as woke as MTG if it's still going to be ugly. Every japanese game looks better then this hands down, but they get censored. That isn't a weaboo insult either, does not have to look anything remotely similar to anime, western fantasy art can be really sick but this is just flavorless borderline AI generated art looking through pack spoilers. Is the gameplay that good? I want new games to survive and not be stuck with the big 3 and then japanese games that get censored/constantly die. I want this to be good but I can't find any charm in it.
If you think FaB cards look bad then you might need glasses.
Or maybe the art style isn't for you and you should go elsewhere
@@Sloopdoop You don't think it's generic? Like if you saw card art out of a random lineup with other images off google, you would you be able to tell it's flesh and blood?
Im mad that they pick a cool name for the game, its clearly aimed at adults, and we still get this ages 12 and under EBIC cringe reddit looking moba shit instead of dark fantasy.
@@gH05tM4LL Wow you're an incredibly unpleasant individual
@@Sloopdoop I'm gonna take that as a yes , that you could not pick FaB art out of a lineup and that the game lives and dies on gameplay alone. As bad as mtg got there was still some charm in its settings/world and characters because it was from an old writer with books and some vision.
You can take it personally if you want and I am being harsh but its insane no one mentions this in any FaB video. The game is not visually interesting and would do better if it was more hyperbolic in tone or setting/content. That is at least a slight hurdle of this growing, it isnt all card prices and whether mtg does this or that wrong.
@@gH05tM4LL dude look up Herald of Erudition. Rise Above. Korshem. Wave of Reality. Tomeltai. The art in this game is phenomenal, and it seems like you looked at two cards and made up your mind
Im sorry, did he just list 2 $60+ decks and a $150 deck as "budget" options, and im not supposed to worry, cause thats somehow cheaper than magic? i guess im beyond poor cause that sounds abysmal. at least magic has MTGA so i can play for free.
Was giving crediblillty to your opinion utill mtg was not in the second place... behind pokemon??? Wut?
Oko
broko
@@Sloopdoop the Most broken Thing in tcg History, i kinda Loved how He took over every Format possible 😂 ive played edh only, so He was Like a slow 1 time removel spell for me, though i had even in edh veeeeery fun Moments with the elkdad🙈 but it showed so many Things going wrong in mtg, even a few years ago(?) 👀 Luckily Things Like oko got me into Fab ♥️ (and atleast precons for my Hero academia ccg, new one piece Card Game and Digimon lol, but i srsly would've never tryed anything else otherwise)
Btw, you are awesome! I Wish you a fantastic new year and alot of success with this Channel, greetings from Germany 🤘😇
this game is laaaaaame
If you don’t want to support a bully and a transphobe then I wouldn’t
what
@@Sloopdoop x.X I just saw this, my bad. They support nitpicking nerds and they bullied a kid off Twitter using their fans by telling people they are transphobic. Well as it turned out someone went to both sides and the kid was a trans girl. :T
@@wacawaka1802 You mean the kid was a boy, and giving a kid trans surgery is child abuse.
I’ve played dozens of card games since the 90’s and I can absolutely say YES! Flesh and Blood is far beyond worth playing 🩸
FaB is too good to pass up
Damn dude you make @joshstrifehayes look sloppy!
I only bought boxes just to flip them and sell them
I'm waiting until the alpha rathe box goes up to at least $50,000 how long will I be waiting for that?
The game looks like trash but I hope I can flip my alpha rathe box for 50k
Game is great. If you bought boxes to flip them for $50k then you've had a serious lapse in judgment, my friend