Kodachi for Three: Recent Episodes
KodachiforThree
A bi-weekly podcast where three friends and passionate players discuss the world of Flesh and Blood. We will focus on competitive play, community building, and run off on plenty of tangential topics including entertaining casual builds and the TCG market.
Hosts: - Adam Roach - Shey Ramsey - Drayton Ganz
Today Drayton returns and we all talk over how we are approaching the pre-release event this weekend, some key cards and general advice. We will make this more formal as we get more experience with the set, and promise to update everyone on how the weekend goes.
In this Episode of Kodachi for Three Shey and Adam go over a few final spoilers before starting to plan/plot and generally get ready for the pre-release.
- Invoke Cromai, Cromai - Fluke and Box
- Invoke Miragai, Miragai - Peranine
- Invoke Yendurai, Yendurai - FaBrika
- Helio's Mitre, Dragons of Legend - Judge Community
- Quelling Robe, Quelling Sleeves, Quelling Slippers - FAB with Matt
- Waning Moon - Gnimsh TV
- Ghostly Touch - Fabled Academy
- Alluvion Constellas - The Card Guyz
- Singe - Elaine Hamontree
- Frightmare - The Tall Timmy
- Rewind - Arc
- Transmogrify - FAB-LAB
- That All You Got? - Matt Di Marco
- Erase Face - Man Sant
- Oasis Respite - DeadSummer Art
Cards Discussed:
- Invoke Nekria, Nekria - Cardmarket
- Invoke Themai, Themai - DM Armada
- Invoke Vynserakai, Vynserakai - Star City Games
- Crown of Providence - Arsenal Pass
- Double Strike - Erik Lonnquist
- Spreading Flames - Kugane Gaming
- Take the Tempo - Steelfur Speaks
- Tome of Firebrand - FABREC
- Searing Emberblade - Dice Commando
- Cinderskin Devotion, Lavavein Loyalty - FABulous
- Engulfing Flamewave, Mounting Anger, Rising Resentment - Outcast’s Haven
Cards covered this evening are:
- Fai, Rising Rebellion, Phoenix Flame - Fyendal Hobby
- Invoke Tomeltai, Tomeltai - Alpha Investments
- Azvolai - TheRadBrad
- Invoke Kyloria, Kyloria - Fabled Hunters
- Invoke Ouvia, Ouvia, Ash, Aether Ashwing - Olivia Gobert-Hicks and Brian Kibler
- Uprising - Daylon Mack
- Liquefy - FAB DB
- Heat Wave, Phoenix Flame - The Winning Agenda
- Phoenix Form, Phoenix Flame - Fable Gaming HK
- Rise Up, Phoenix Flame - DanDan
- Rise from the Ashes, Phoenix Flame - Sloopdoop
- Flamecall Awakening, Phoenix Flame - Tannon Grace
- Flameborn Retribution, Phoenix Flame - The Spike Feeders
- In Flame, Phoenix Flame - Bronson
- Stoke the Flames, Phoenix Flame - Hometown TCG
- Burn Away, Phoenix Flame - Spranks
This season we will be doing a daily wrap up of the spoilers, today we cover:
- Dromai, Ash Artist
- Ash
- Storm of Sandikai
- Aether Ashwing
- Silken Form
- Billowing Mirage
- Breaking Point
- Rake the Embers
- Lava Burst
- Skittering Sands
- Sand Cover
- Red Hot
- Domina/Invoke Domina
- Burn Them All
Discussion of the first ever living legend hero, and the most recent banned/suspended announcement with special Guest Paul Gerow.
Discussion of Flesh and Blood's 2.0 announcement and our thoughts and feelings of the future. This week we have a friend of ours, and competitive FaB player, Ian Shaffer on the show chatting with us and sharing how own unique perspectives.
We talk building up communities around Flesh and Blood, our plans for maintaining and growing numbers, and compare strategies from across the nation with a special guest.
This week we have another two-man episode with Adam and Shey having a fun and lighthearted conversation. We answer some listener questions including what classes we would design/put in the game if given ULTIMATE FREEDOM, our favorite for fun decks, how we feel about "ultimate pit fight", and mechanics. We then discuss Adam's recent experience teaching Flesh and Blood to new players at a board game convention, and how to appropriately teach those players who may not yet be familiar with TCG/CCGs in a way that may bring them into the fold.
This episode discusses (without Shey) the current ProQuest Meta and how we've done for the first two weeks. (Now 3 weeks down Drayton has added another win and top 8, and Adam has added another 4-2 finish). We apologize for the audio quality on this one, something went wrong with Drayton's microphone.
Outline:
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Introduction
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Featured Card (Awakening)
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Main Topic - ProQuest and ProQuest Meta
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Outro
In this episode we dive into building/generating/maintaining advantage within a game of Flesh and Blood.
Intro:
Featured Card:
- Spring Tidings
Main Topic:
- Hand Advantage
- Deck Advantage
- Pitch Stacking
Outro:
Introduction:
Featured Card/Cards:
- General discussion of the episodes card
Main Topics:
- How to identify your role in a match of Flesh and Blood, based in the context of the article “Who’s the Beatdown” linked here: https://articles.starcitygames.com/articles/whos-the-beatdown/
- What does it mean to be “On or Off the Beatdown”?
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Discuss how to identify this:
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Who has more damage/better overall output?
- Who has more consistent defense?
- Who has more efficiency?
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Did your opponent slot additional cards?
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How to identify “Who’s the Beatdown?” in a mirror match, and how we define a mirror in Flesh and Blood.
- Discuss a direct mirror (card for card) vs a similar mirror and how important it is to pay attention to key card and resource differences in order to make your decision.
Outro:
Introduction:
Main Topic:
Today we are looking to have a focused and helpful guide put out to our listeners. Many of you will be attending one or more “Farewell to Rathe” events that are coming up, and because of the growth Flesh and Blood has seen you may not have as much familiarity / experience with Flesh and Blood’s first ever set, especially in limited play. Fear not though, Drayton and I have you covered.
Today’s format will consist of myself (Adam R) presenting my WtR draft list covering cards that fit early/pack 1 pick one type picks, and then diving into a more established draft list for when you have your class nailed down and your signals read. Drayton will lend his considerable expertise (currently ranked ~5th in the world for limited play) in explanations of how cards are useful/potential synergies as well as letting me know where he thinks I’m just wrong (in what I include/don’t include, or just if I’m “overvaluing” a card in the rankings).
It’s important to say that when I made these lists, I intentionally left out many cards in the S/M/L rarities. For a few reasons, but most of them fall into the “autopick” category especially if you’ve already chosen a class, but in many cases it’s worth drafting them to deny your opponents.
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Cover the “Autopick” list
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Cover the Pack 1 Pick 1 / Early Draft Order Lists
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Generics
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Class Cards Second
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Warrior Class Draft
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These picks really focus on a very aggressive strategy that intends to swing a buffed Dawnblade each turn. Warrior can go wide in limited and that focuses on the drafting of additional Driving Blade/Biting Blade/Blue Resources, but this is a more difficult build.
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Brute Class Draft
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These picks focus on a single buffed attack per turn build, and heavily drafts/utilizes yellows to balance Brute’s high, but average 2 cost cards and their need for 6 strength. Brute can go wider, but really needs to many key cards to setup anything outside of aggression/romping club control.
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Ninja Class Draft
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This primarily focuses on a solid defensive/attrition build with some burst combo setups. Overall, my recommendation on combo lines centers heavily on the leg tap line, but a dual build with the Head Jab line and red Open the Center’s as solid dominated finishers is possible.
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Guardian Class Draft
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This also focuses on a defensive/control style build that intends to consistently attack with Anothos and setup 1-2 big, dominated swings per game. I believe it’s the easiest to play effectively as long as you’ve drafted enough blue/defensive cards.
Outro:
Featured Card/Cards:
- This episode’s featured card will focus on the January “Preview” Armory Kit that focuses on the upcoming Everfest Carnival Set.
Main Topics:
Expectations for Everfest:
- What do we think about the lore/stories for Everfest so far?
- Do we believe we can read into the lore reveals and does it make us expect certain classes/mechanics/etc to be released in the set? (Lore link: A Grand Adventure (fabtcg.com) )
- How do we think they will handle their statement of “giving cards to every hero and class”?
- Will talented cards appear?
- Is this something we are looking forward to or do we wish it was a somewhat more focused supplementary set?
- Do we expect supplementary sets to grow in order to maintain the trend of supporting all classes / heroes?
FABTCG/Cartamundi going green with paper packaging. (Everfest Product link: Everfest (fabtcg.com) )
- What are our general thoughts on this?
- Do we have concerns on how well it will hold up/protect product?
December “Ban” Announcements:
- Article Link: Scheduled Banned and Restricted Announcement (fabtcg.com)
- Discussion on the announcements, or lack thereof as well as the community reactions.
- Why do we believe nothing was banned?
- Do we believe the next/upcoming scheduled ban announcement will see adjustments?
- If so, what potential cards/errata?
The “Calling” announcements?
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We wanted to keep this episode focused so we won’t have any featured card today. The tier list will be set as of the November 2021 pool of heroes including everything up to Tales of Aria and with no living legends bans.
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First off what’s a tier list, what’s our philosophy on placement, and how will we define each level?
- Heroes will be placed based on their overall card pool as currently available and include all current/potential builds vs just those currently utilized in the meta. Because of this, heroes with multiple competitive builds will place higher especially if those builds have different counterplay.
- S Tier – Exceptional heroes that truly stand above the rest of the pack. These heroes will all have multiple builds that can/could win in competitive play, no hard counters, and be effective even in less experienced hands.
- A Tier – Very competitive heroes that can top cut/win at a competitive level. These heroes will have more counters, or less flexibility than those in the S tier meaning meta calls/matchups will have a slightly higher importance in their final placing. This can include heroes that require an extraordinarily high skill level compared to those in the S tier, but perform at the same level.
- B Tier – Competitive heroes that can top cut, but are less likely to take home a final, at least with any regularity. These heroes have more counters, and are more reliant on their meta calls/matchups than the heroes above them.
- C Tier – Low end heroes. These heroes can/will win games especially if piloted well, but have very little chance in making a top cut at larger events, and even less of winning the event. Heroes with singular builds, or overly reliant gameplans.
- D Tier – Poor heroes, either reliant on greater RNG or mechanics that just can’t keep up with the remainder of the pack.
Heroes Included:
- Azalea
- Boltyn
- Bravo
- Briar
- Chane
- Dash
- Dorinthea
- Kano
- Katsu
- Levia
- Lexi
- Oldhim
- Prism
- Rhinar
- Viscerai
Today we dive into 3 of our most asked questions:
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What are our thoughts on LSS's reprint policy, and how will it impact the long term health of the game?
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What are our thoughts on the current roster of "budget" formats both from a competitive and a community building perspective?
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What do we expect from the third season of Skirmish events and what will come out on top? Is it Ira?
Hosts:
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Adam Roach
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Drayton Ganz
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Shey Ramsey
Featured Card:
- Earthlore Surge
Main Topics:
- This week we discuss the events of "The Calling" in Dallas / Ft Worth focusing on the main event and touching on a few of the side events as well as discussing in detail Drayton Ganz rise to the top 4 of the event and #6 in the world for limited ELO.
Outro:
- Find and follow us on Facebook @Kodachiforthree to be eligible for giveaways!
Featured Card of the Episode: Poison the Tips
Main Topics:
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Nationals/Nationals Invites
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Flesh and Blood News Recaps/Cold Takes (For once)
In this episode we move quickly through our intro and featured card (Arc Light Sentinel) and get straight into going over the pre-release for Aria and our tips, tricks, and debates on what you should look out for in your initial card pulls. Episode breakdown below:
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Intro
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Featured Card - Arc Light Sentinel
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How do you organize your sealed pull? It’s important to be efficient and move through this process especially early in a set when you aren’t familiar with the cards. Organize first, analyze second.
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Quick Discussion of Sealed Deck Pitfalls/Traps
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Initial Analysis – What are your first steps for determining the viability of a hero, and how long should this process take?
Quick Review of Generics (element cards), and viability tests and what are our suggested cards to look for in each element?
Ice
Lightning
Earth
- Guardian/Oldheim Viability and Key Cards
What is needed to consider this deck at all?
What are the “best” cards for this deck that would make you lean into it?
- Runeblade/Briar Viability and Key Cards
What is needed to consider this deck at all?
What are the “best” cards for this deck that would make you lean into it?
- Ranger/Lexi Viability and Key Cards
What is needed to consider this deck at all?
What are the “best” cards for this deck that would make you lean into it?
- Final thoughts and tips we haven’t covered for sealed?
Quick Breakdown of the Current Aria Spoilers – Addressing the Internet:
- Lets start off by talking about the artwork and theme of “Tales of Aria” I’ve seen this come up a lot online so I wanted to briefly cover our thoughts on it.
- What’s your favorite artwork in the set so far?
- What hero and style of play are you gravitating towards so far based on the set reveals?
- What hero looks to be the strongest from a meta/competitive standpoint?
- Is there power creep in this set? Explain why/why not in your opinion?
Spoiler Discussion:
- Oldhim, Guardian of Eternity – Token
- Briar, Warden of Thorns – Token
- Embodiment of Earth/Lightning – Token
- Winter’s Wail – Majestic
- Rosetta Thorn – Token
- Rampart of the Ram’s Head – Legendary
- Spellbound Creepers – Legendary
- Heart of Ice – Legendary
- Shock Charmers – Legendary
- Fulminate – Majestic
- Force of Nature – Majestic – Specialization (Briar)
- Blossoming Spellblade – Majestic
- Blink – Majestic
- Evergreen – Rare
- Endless Winter – Majestic
- Frost Fang – Rare
- Pulse of Volthaven – Majestic
- Channel Thunder Steppe – Majestic
- Entwine Lightning – Common
- Winter’s Bite - Common
Today we discuss what we've been up to in Flesh and Blood and then dive into a few spoilers. 12 listed and a few extras Shey slipped in!
Spoiler Discussion:
- Lexi Livewire – Token
- Frostbite – Token
- Shiver – Token
- Voltaire, Strike Twice – Majestic
- New Horizon – Legendary
- Light it up – Majestic
- Buzz Bolt – Common
- Chilling Icevein – Common
- Frazzle – Common
- Weave Lightning – Rare
- Electrify – Common
- Amulet of Earth – Previewed as a Promo only
Episode Breakdown:
Featured Card: Pummel
Podcast Update
Midway Meta Breakdown - We discuss the results through the first 3 weeks of the Road to Nationals season and where we expect it to go for the final few events.
Basic Community Building - What we have seen as successful in improving and building our local community in the OKC/Edmond area and what we believe is needed to build your own.
Featured Card Discussion - Snag
Main Topic:
Road to Nationals - Opening Weekend - Meta Discussion and Expected Shifts
Interview w/ Drayton Ganz on his 6th place finish in the first RtN event (Now also a 3rd place)
Join us for episode two where we chat about what we currently know about Flesh and Blood's upcoming set Tales of Aria, then take a fun detour as we discuss the lore and speculate wildly on the classes and mechanics contained within.
In this introductory episode meet your hosts as they discuss their thought on the Classic Constructed format.