3rd/4th with Riptide, Lurker of the Deep
Hello everyone. Today I want to write about my experience in Augsburg at the Create & Play store this past weekend. Some of the players at The Arena decided to go to Augsburg to participate in the Pro Tour Qualifier for London 2025. I decided to join and packed with me my trusted partner, Riptide. There were 32 players for this tournament which means 5 Swiss rounds followed by the 3 rounds of the top 8.
Here is a link to the list I played in case you are interested: https://fabrary.net/decks/01JAA9RVTENNQZTBXVDQHVM92R
I decided to go off-meta with my hero and I was rewarded for it. Not only did I choose something more unknown, but I also chose to play a defensive style as well. Of course, I now see where I could have improved, but hindsight is always 20/20. Some of the cards served no purpose at all, while some went above and beyond, delivering great results. Then there’s the cards that I never packed with me which was a mistake. But I couldn’t exactly figure out how things were because this was my first actual competitive tournament of Flesh and Blood since starting the game about 3 months ago. If you’ve checked the list and are familiar with the basics of Flesh and Blood, I’ll go ahead and get into the rounds.
Round 1 – Kayo
I played versus a Kayo in my first round. This match-up is a 50/50 in my opinion because Kayo can dish out a ton of damage on the Bloodrush Bellow turns. Even with a lot of defense cards, it’s still difficult to face Kayo’s raw power sometimes. I started the game directly playing defensively, already aiming for the late game where I would win by simply fatiguing him. The game went very well for me because we stayed equal for most of the game, which is very good for a defensive deck. I managed to prevent a lot of damage and give back enough of my own. I used all my traps effectively and went for the long game, but this also caused us to go into time-out. The life totals were 9 for me and 2 for him. He decided to concede to me. Afterward, he mentioned that I must have surely had at least 2 more traps to finish him off, which I did. 1-0
Round 2 – Vynnset
This was my very first time playing against a Vynnset. I didn’t even know what the hero did. I soon learned. Very cool stuff. He managed to pull off some strong rounds stacking Runechant tokens, but I replied by preventing the damage with Arcane Barrier also while playing Feign Death on his pumped up attack. Since his hero was draining himself of life because of the blood debt effect, he found himself really fast towards the end of his life points. I had more arrows in my quiver and managed to eke out the win when I still was on 8 life points. Fun fact, this player was the brother of the first player I played against, Kayo. 2-0
Round 3 – Katsu
I went into this round confident about a win because I was already aware that Katsu relies heavily on the go-again mechanic since he’s a ninja and all. But I think my opponent lost due to something else happening. At one point during our game, I played the card Intoxicating Shot. This card is confusing for most players, so it’s understandable that my opponent didn’t really understand it either. I kept telling him that if the arrow hits him, he will get a Quicken and Courage token. He kept replying that I would get them and I kept telling him that he would. We went back and forth for a few seconds until someone from outside the game decided to pitch in and say “You get them because that way he can trigger his traps”. This was very unfortunate for my opponent because that is outside assistance and it’s a violation of game rules. In all honestly, I wouldn’t have called the judge for that, but the thing is that he didn’t declare any blocks and I also had the card Plan for the Worst in my hand. A really unlucky situation. I decided to call the judge and sadly, after the entire mess was resolved, my opponent was visibly flustered. He started declaring each and every step of the game and I saw it on his face and heard it in his voice that he was out of it. I do wonder what would have happened had he played the game without that one mishap. The life point totals were 18 for me and 7 for him. He decided to concede the game saying that he couldn’t win the match because I simply had an answer to his deck. I later apologized to him for the entire thing and invited him to Ingolstadt to visit my store at the next Flesh and Blood tournament. If you’re reading this Mr. Katsu player, I hope we get to have a rematch without any outside influences. 3 – 0
Round 4 – Aurora
This was a match I was expecting to get into from the very start of the tournament. This hero is well positioned right now having an insane win rate and, in my opinion, a broken card pool. Most attacks have go-again or can get go-again with the support of instant cards and they have an attack value of 4. That means that 1 damage would always go through even if I block with my traps. I would give one damage back if my trap would trigger, so that’s good, but the number of attacks can get higher than the number of cards in my hand, so every single turn I would get some damage for sure even if I would use all my cards to block. I balanced everything out and also took advantage of the fact that he prepared for a different version of Riptide, the aggro version. He put in cards that were useless against me (Warmonger’s Diplomacy) and I saw him use it just for pitching once he figured out my style. We battled for a long time and we ended up at 4 life points for me and 1 for him. It’s a dangerous proposition to be at a few life points vs Riptide. I showed him Tripwire Trap that triggers on block and he couldn’t do anything about it. 4 – 0
Round 5 – Aurora
Wouldn’t you know it? Another Aurora at the top table. This game felt different. The person who I played against finished place 18 in Lyon and that’s a big achievement in my opinion. We were already locked in for top 8 so we played for who gets the first seed. The game went just like the previous one but with a notable difference of me getting overwhelmed at the very end. He had a very good draw at one point which did help him a lot, but I have to say that I didn’t play that game very well. I made a few mistakes and it cost me in the end. Aurora is very powerful if it’s left alone to do whatever she wants. 4 – 1
Top 8 – Kayo
As fate would have it, another player from The Arena managed to get into the top 8. Our very own Kayo player stomped his way into the single-elimination bracket. Unfortunately for us, we had to play each other because I was the 2nd seed and he was 7th going into the top 8. Had I won my previous game, it would have been a different story. But it is what it is. I could say that I won this game because I played well, and it would be true to some extent. However, the reality is that my opponent stopped braining for quite a few turns and made some awful mistakes. I did win, but I only got there because he played poorly. There’s no way to say it otherwise. Had he stayed a bit more focused, my article would end at this round for sure. After the game, he was very much aware that he played terribly, but I also want to give credit where credit is due. This was his very first competitive tournament and he made the top 8. I think that’s a commendable end for just practicing the game here and there.
Top 4 – Aurora
This game was versus the first Aurora from Round 4. He tuned his deck better this time against me and went for a different approach. I tried to hold on by going for the late game, but a few bad hands and poor card choices led me to lose the game unceremoniously. I feel like I could have done much more here. There were some mistakes in terms of my equipment choices and I could have opted for a different way of play, but that’s neither here nor there anymore. I lost to a barrage of mixed damage that was just too much to handle. I think I didn’t plan well enough in how to approach the game. To my credit though, this was the third time I have ever played versus Aurora. I don’t play online at all, so all the experience I gather is from playing in person and from watching some videos here and there. A good effort overall. I am glad I also had the opportunity to play versus high level players as well.
Conclusion
So that’s the story of how I lurked my way into a top 4 with Riptide. I later found out that the guy I played against in the top 4 was a Pro Tour semifinalist. At least that’s what the internet says. I could be wrong of course. But that’s unimportant from my perspective. If I want to win, I have to win against everyone. He does have more experience than me for sure, but I can get more as well if I plan on playing more. I learned a lot of stuff too, like how some steps work in combat, and was unpleasantly surprised at the fact that there is a resolution step where there’s still a window where cards can be activated that would bypass some of the effects. It felt like damage on the stack in Magic. But that’s a different story for a different article.
This was a fun outing and maybe…I don’t know…maybe, I’ll go to a few more. You know what they say: where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And I feel like I’m burning bright right now.
The team and each hero played: Tobi (Kayo), Mark (Azalea), Adrian (Riptide), Chris (Nuu), Andreas (Victor)
See you in The Arena!
– Hadrian Maximus
English