Flesh and Blood TCG - A Beginner's Guide

Flesh and Blood gets a lot of questions at our counters, usually from Magic players who have heard it described as "the game where every card is your mana." That is a fair one-line pitch, but it does not help much when you are looking at a wall of booster boxes, armory decks and box sets and trying to work out which one is actually for you. So here is how we walk people through the sealed side of the game, using what is on our shelves right now.

What makes Flesh and Blood different

Flesh and Blood, made by Legend Story Studios in New Zealand, is a one-on-one card game built around a hero. Your hero sets your class, your life total and which cards you can play, and you equip weapons and armor alongside it before the first turn. There are no lands. Instead, almost every card has a pitch value, shown by the colored bar across the top: red cards pitch for one resource, yellow for two and blue for three. Every turn you decide whether a card is worth more as an attack, as a block or as fuel for something bigger. That one choice is where most of the skill in the game lives, and it is why new players often say it feels more like a fighting game than a trading card game.

The other thing players notice quickly is that you draw back up to a full hand at the end of every turn. Hands do not run dry, so games stay tense and interactive right up to the end.

Where to start with sealed product

The right box depends on whether you want to sit down and play tonight, build toward a specific hero, or crack packs. Here is how the range breaks down.

• Two players, one box: Classic Battles. Classic Battles: Rhinar vs Dorinthea puts two complete, balanced hero decks in one box. Rhinar is a big-swinging Brute and Dorinthea is a precise Warrior, so the two decks teach very different play styles. If you are learning with a friend or a partner, this is the box we point to first.
• One player, one hero: Armory Decks. Armory Decks are ready-to-play decks built around a single hero, with that hero card and its equipment included. We currently carry Armory Decks for Rhinar, Arakni and Pleiades. They are a good choice when you already know which hero appeals to you, or when you want a solid deck to bring to a casual game without buying piles of singles.
• A low-cost way in: Silver Age decks. Silver Age is Flesh and Blood's newer, more approachable format, with smaller decks and a lower card pool. Our newest arrival is the Usurp the Shadow Throne Silver Age deck, and at under twenty dollars it is the cheapest complete way to see if the game clicks.
• Cracking packs: booster displays. For drafting, sealed play or chasing cards, we stock booster displays across a long stretch of the game's history, including recent sets like High Seas, Super Slam, Heavy Hitters and Part the Mistveil, plus unlimited printings of Welcome to Rathe, Monarch and Tales of Aria and the Outsiders set. History Pack 1: Black Label, a reprint set of earlier favorites, is available in Spanish as single packs and as boxes.
• For regular draft groups: cases. Several sets, including Outsiders, Part the Mistveil, Bright Lights and Welcome to Rathe, are also available as sealed cases of four booster boxes, which keeps a playgroup stocked for a season of drafts.

A simple rule of thumb: if you have never played, start with Classic Battles or a Silver Age deck. If you have played a few games and have a favorite hero, pick up that hero's Armory Deck. Once you are hooked, booster boxes are how you build out a collection and get the most out of draft nights.

Singles, sleeves and the rest

The main site carries sealed product, sleeves and other supplies. Flesh and Blood singles are not listed here; for individual cards, shop our TCGplayer store, where our inventory is updated as it moves. Flesh and Blood cards are a standard size, so most of the sleeves on our accessories wall will fit them, and the staff can point you to a good fit if you are unsure.

Whichever way you come in, you can browse the full lineup in our Flesh and Blood collection. We ship sealed product nationwide, and both of our stores, in Pikesville, Maryland and Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, stock Flesh and Blood on the shelf. Stop in, tell us what kind of games you like, and we will help you pick a hero.