Author's Note: I've deliberately left some details vague in the anecdote below. I have absolutely no interest in a witch hunt. My opponents throughout the tournament played the game fairly, and I am confident they did not break the rules. This is an opinion piece intended to get people to ask themselves the question: Where is my line?
I attended Pro Tour: LA piloting pure axe Dorinthea, and ended up with a mediocre 8-6 record after a 5-2 start. I think the deck is pretty good, but other builds have a better game into Kayo, which is what you need in this metagame - I’d recommend checking out the two lists that made Top 8!
At a certain point, the 7 hours of jet lag really starts to get to you; I was in the draft portion of day one at Pro Tour: LA when it caught up with me. And without WiFi available in the hall, we Europeans - with our lack of cell phone service in the States - had to sprint to our tables after paper pairings finally came up. As I got to my table, my opponent was already seated.
As they chatted in friendly fashion about how the draft had gone so far, I was frantically shuffling my cards; trying to be friendly but multitasking too hard for my tired and frazzled state, I shuffled my Mandible Claw into my deck. Unaware, I presented the rest of my equipment and hero, and we got into the game.
Two turns in, it's clear that my opponent's deck is incredible. They've got the specialization equipment, the anti-Brute token equipment, and a well-made deck behind it - I am going to struggle to stay in this game. As I start my 3rd turn, behind on life and tempo, I look down to think about a line that involves using my Mandible Claw - and realize it's not there.
In the moment, it didn't occur to me that I'd shuffled it into my deck; and problem solving on the spot, I grab one in a pile of tokens to my right, saying "Oh yeah, obviously I have a Claw as well." My opponent corrects me; as I did not present a weapon, I do not have a weapon. There's a judge call, and the head judge agreed (as they should, per the comprehensive rules) that I do not have a weapon.
It’s a frustrating experience, as I’d assumed that, given that the Mandible Claw was a token, it wouldn’t matter, and what was might have just been an embarrassing moment now ensured that this match - which I was struggling to stay in already, would now be a guaranteed loss. (In case people are curious, I did draw it later, and was allowed to draw a card to replace it, but obviously not to put it in play.)
Drawing the Line
Flesh and Blood is a competitive game, and I think it’s valid to have the mindset that you should try to get every edge you can when you're in it to win. But I don’t think it’s a healthy way to play the game, nor do I think that it’s going to help you in the long run. Everyone has their own line, and you should figure out where yours lies.
Personally, I think the best line is to enforce gameplay against intent - which is to say, when the intent is clear and the issue at hand is a mistake, a correction that both aligns with the obvious intent and doesn't unfairly shift the game state is best. It’s a complex line, but it both adheres to how I want to play the game, and also helps with the pace of play in not needing to explicitly state every single action whilst reducing potential communication issues - a real factor in such a global game.
This does follow the values seen in a lot of the policy, with sections such as “Out-Of-Order Play” being formally defined (Tournament Policy & Rules - 5.3) to acknowledge minor deviations such as pitching before declaring the card being played or creating tokens out of sequence. There’s even a section specifically referring to “Reversing Actions” (5.4) which allows pitching with different cards or lining up different blocks if no information was gained.
Anecdotally, I'd also say that, as I’ve had the pleasure of playing against some of the best in the world at these tournaments, I've found that many draw their lines similarly to mine. They want to see the game played as each player had intended it, not to catch their opponent out on an obvious oversight.
These are a few examples that have come up in this and other competitive tournaments, and I’d like you to consider how you might handle each of them:
- Wanting to change blocks after damage has been dealt & acknowledged.
- Realizing that Fyendal's Spring Tunic has been missed during the end of the turn.
- An opponent has Burn Them All counters and passes priority to end the turn without announcing the trigger with cards available in their graveyard.
- Activating Tectonic Plating before attacking while the crush effect of Spinal Crush is active (so it loses go again).
- The opponent hits with Command & Conquer without mentioning the on-hit trigger while there is a card in arsenal.
Although they’re all similar actions, they have different consequences and contexts. Personally, I'd respond to those situations as follows:
- If damage is agreed by both parties, blocks are final. This ensures that any potential uncertainty with defense and attack reactions are kept to a minimum.
- Tunic is probably the most common trigger in Flesh And Blood, and a tricky one to evaluate. I usually tend towards allowing it if it's just after the first action, but later than that is a clear missed trigger to me.
- Technically, the Burn Them All should be sacrificed, but I would ask my opponent if they wanted to pay the cost to keep the aura in play.
- Gameplay mistakes are a part of Flesh and Blood, and the most nuanced part of the discussion. When I’m playing with disruptive cards like crush effects, I like to keep them in play to highlight that they’re currently active, to ensure that the game state is clear. But I’m not here to play the game for my opponent, and making mistakes is part of the game.
- Life is too short to make your opponent need to read the text on C&C every time.
Everyone has a line, and nobody’s line is necessarily wrong or right - it is just their line. Some people will think that not always allowing your opponent to correct their line late makes you a monster, and some will think that ever allowing it makes you someone who isn’t taking it seriously. I am also human & therefore petty, so if my opponent holds me to a strict standard, I will be doing the same back.
But thinking about where your line is will help you to guide your own perspective, and help to guide where the community as a whole ends up. When those moments of mistakes crop up, you'll know already where you stand.
