Concessions and Slow Play Get Revisited Before MST

It's the calm before the storm, but that doesn't mean that there's no news to report! The Calling: Tokyo was a huge success, and a lot of neat cards were pulled and played. I can't wait to see these gorgeous cards in my own hands, and find out just what it's like to play with the new iterations of Assassin, Ninja, and Illusionist. Pre-release at your LGS is coming up this weekend, so get ready!

A new rules update just launched, with changes to Forked Lightning and Arcane Barrier, as well as new rules pertaining to concessions and top table etiquette.

Even in a down week, Rathe never rests! 

Results are in from the Battle Hardened event at Taichung  and I couldn't be happier: Kayo took down yet another event, hurtling towards Living Legend with another 40 points packed in the rocketship - and Hung Aaa_Man's name is emblazoned in the Ledger of Legends. 2 Riptides found their way to the Top 8 - could this mark a turning point for our Soggy Boi? What's more is that the Pro Quest+ event was taken down by Lim Jing Hao on my boy, Bravo Showstopper!

The World Premier of Flesh and Blood's thirteenth expansion, Part the Mistveil, happened just this past weekend - and in Tokyo, no less! Not only has the game finally come to Japan, right at the end of Cherry Blossom season, but it came in with a Calling event to boot!

The Calling: Tokyo was a two-day event, with Sealed on the first day and Draft on the second. I can only imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to compete for $20,000 with all-new cards, but only Oh Oh knows what it's like to win, having taken down Pro Tour champion Michael Feng in the finals while piloting Zen.

On Sunday, there was another Battle Hardened event, this time for more Part the Mistveil Sealed- and it was Florin-Cristian Loghin who took the win on Nuu.

For me, however, the big news this week comes from Joshua Scott with the latest Back Alley Oracle article on the mothership. It's got a lot to say, and I recommend anyone to read it: here are some of the highlights.

Arcane Damage rules have been updated, but it's nothing too serious. The most affected card is Forked Lightning, which used to be harder to block but now makes more sense in general. Now, you may use your Arcane Barrier prevention effects on each instance of damage from Forked Lightning, where before you could not.

Slow Play has long been a problem in card games, especially those where players are expected to play within a certain amount of time. Unscrupulous players will intentionally slow down their turns to draw out this clock and punish decks that take more time naturally, by taking up time unnaturally. Unfortunately it is a difficult problem to navigate, but the article does give some pointers on how to address the problem locally. LSS has also announced their renewed focus on cutting down on this phenomenon in the higher competitive scenes.

Cloaked Equipment is presenting a new step at the end of the game for players to consider. At the end of a game, a player is allowed to ask, and the other is required to show, what Cloaked equipment was deployed during a match. This is just to help cut down on cheating, of course: a cheating player could misrepresent their equipment as cloaked, or equip multiple Arms across different slots, for example, and only reveal one of them during the game. It is good practice to reveal those equipment voluntarily at the end of the game, and it is encouraged that players remember to ask for that reveal as well.

Equipment Layout is now being properly enforced, especially in light of the cloaked equipment phenomenon. You may not intentionally, or unintentionally, mislead your opponent by putting your cards in the improper positions. To quote the article, and indeed Joshua Scott from Legend Story Studios, "Play it safe and use the standard layout every game, even if you aren’t using cloaked equipment!"

Concessions are a hot, hot topic in card games, and I am glad to see them get addressed here by Legend Story Studios. It's a lengthy bit, but here's the gist:
- Players can no longer ask for a concession at any point.
- Once players have discussed prizes, they can no longer concede.
- Discussion about future turns (after time is called) is considered asking for a concession.

I highly recommend any player to read this article, especially the piece on concessions! Understanding LSS' motivations, particularly wanting players to have good and valuable experiences where they come together in the flesh and blood to play great games, can be really helpful the next time you are faced with that situation.

That's all the news fit to print for this week, so thank you for stopping by and making us a part of your week in Rathe. Best of luck at your prerelease events, and let us know about all the crazy cards you pull in the discord!