Many players (myself included) fantasize about having the resources, skills, and circumstances that allow you to fly around the world participating in every Calling and Battle Hardened; regularly facing off against some of the top players and making it on stream to leave a permanent record of your deck, playstyle, and personality.
Unfortunately, this is not achievable for the vast majority of us who are often left hoping a Calling just happens to show up in our backyard. Our competitive aspirations are relegated to the sporadic spurts of ProQuests and Road to Nationals.
Luckily for those of us living in Southern California and its neighboring regions, there's another tournament that can scratch that itch: the year-long Arcane Games & Events (AGE) Open Series.
With an $11,000 prize pool, monthly tournaments, a high quality stream, and top players from all across the southwest, the AGE Open has quickly established itself as an integral part of the Southern California scene. The series is ran by Justin Liwag, founder of Arcane Games and Events.
“Walking around an AGE tournament, I think there’s just nothing like it,” Justin said when I Interviewed him soon after the 2024 kickoff event. “You have Chris Iaali - who got 2nd at Worlds - playing against a brand new player, and at the end of the game they’re just talking and getting to know each other… that doesn’t happen very often.”
Running monthly from January to September, the AGE Open is a series of CC tournaments with a $1,000 prize pool. Players accumulate points based on their standings, and the 16 players with the most points at the end of the open series are invited to a $3,000 invitational championship.
For Justin, it was important that the tournaments were monthly. “It was consistent. You knew that there would be something going on… it made players have a schedule and something they can attach to and know that will always be there.”
From its very inception, the AGE Open was made to serve the players. After AGE hosted the first Battle Hardened Los Angeles, Justin said the company “was kind of sitting around and I thought ‘we need more tournaments out here.’ I wanted to put on a tournament series that I wanted to play in— which was a circuit.” Justin said that this allowed players to get invested and “become part of the story of the circuit.”
As any sports - or e-sports - broadcaster will tell you, compelling narratives are crucial for viewers. This is something that AGE excels at. Their player profiles not only give you a sense of the player’s technical prowess, but their personality as well, such as this profile dubbing Tyler “Macho” Horspool the resident villain. At the January AGE Open, a copy of Life of the Party was given to anyone who beat Anthony Pham, last year’s champion who won the series with an Iyslander build featuring Crazy Brew. “It’s really about the players and telling their stories… when you care about the players, the tournament means so much more to you - from playing in it to watching it.”
The entire series is streamed on the AGE YouTube channel and is casted by folks like Sam O’Byrne of Three Floating and Colin Honigman of The Attack Action Podcast. The stream is complete with multiple cameras, graphics, segments, and player interviews. Justin commented that “it’s one of the most important things for the series because it makes players want to play and get on stream... [it] gives a really cool snapshot of what Southern California looks like to the outside world.”
Justin makes an effort to not just feature established players, but new players as well. “You’re seeing new people. Every time we try to focus on new people… here’s this person, they’re awesome. Here is their personality, and kind of showcase that.”
There is no shortage of personalities to showcase. Some players have competed at Worlds, like Chris Iaali, Zachary Wallach, and John Zapata. Others make the monthly trek from out of state, like the Vore Brothers who traveled from Arizona every month last year. They performed so well that they both qualified for the 2023 AGE Invitational. At the January Open, I met fellow Riptide player Jarik Caisse, who drove all the way from Las Vegas to play a Bull list - and was featured on the stream round 5. And my close friends, US National competitors, and co-hosts of the Pitch It To Me Podcast Fuzzy Delp - who made it to the semi-finals of the Invitational last year after beating round after round of Iyslanders - and Joel Recinos - who was featured Round 4 of January’s Open.
On January 13th, the 2024 series kicked off with a sold out event. Tables were tight as 60 Flesh & Blood players - and additional judges, organizers and casters - shared the space with an equally large Magic: the Gathering RCQ. Despite the limited space, AGE made sure that there was a less packed table for anyone feeling overwhelmed or crowded, an accessibility accommodation that can easily be overlooked. “The main thing is giving players confidence to say something about being uncomfortable,” Justin said. “What I stressed when we had our player’s meeting was that if you feel uncomfortable in any spot, don’t feel like you’re burdening us or it’s embarrassing… just say something. We’re here, we’re expecting to do it. We’re hoping that you do that because that’s what I would do.”
This is the core of Arcane Games and Events: the players come first. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the players and figuring out how to create an experience for them,” Justin noted. “I’m hoping that when a player walks through for an AGE tournament, whether it’s a Battle Hardened or an open series, they feel like they’re walking into something that’s really fun and comfortable.”
Justin has been able to cultivate this friendly experience without sacrificing the competitive nature of the series. “You’re playing really great games of Flesh & Blood that are against some of the best players I think. No slouches there.”
If you want to dive further into the world of AGE, the next AGE Open is on February 10th, just one week after the release of Heavy Hitters. If you’re in the area, consider competing! If not, you can tune in via the livestream on the AGE YouTube page - be sure to subscribe so you can follow along the whole series. I’ll be competing, running an updated version of my Fatigue Riptide list. (Will I be running Reel In??)
Finally, if you want to be a part of the larger AGE discussion, join their Discord! You can help skew the numbers when all the Kano players ask how much AB everyone is bringing.
