1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:31,400 Stay tuned for some outtakes. Welcome to Pitch It to Me 2 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,600 podcast, a show about the subjective past, present, and 3 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,400 potential future of flesh and blood design. 4 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,400 The best and only flesh and blood podcasts in the Long Beach 5 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,520 area. For today's episode, we are 6 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,680 celebrating the end of our recent hiatus for Red, Yellow, 7 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,480 and Blue Pitch Today. Each host will describe how 8 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:52,960 their hiatus went and how they spent all of their new found 9 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,160 free time. You can find us across all 10 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,800 socials such as Blue Sky, TikTok and Instagram at Pitch It to Me 11 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:06,320 Podcast. I'm fuzzy. 12 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,320 I'm. Clark and I'm Joel. 13 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,680 And yeah, I'm. Thinking we're back? 14 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,640 Yeah, baby, back to podcasting. 2025 is the year of Pidim. 15 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,200 We're finally going to get that fucking spoiler. 16 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,440 What are these years? So we took a little bit of time 17 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:32,160 off around the holidays. I think it was a good decision 18 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,760 to have that time off and what we're talking about the holidays 19 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,200 is how did you guys holiday seasons go? 20 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,360 My Thanksgiving sucked, both of them. 21 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:42,360 Oh no. My Christmas is good though. 22 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,400 I spent it with my grandmother who I did not get to see on 23 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,080 Thanksgiving. And yeah, I just had some low 24 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,360 key holidays. For Christmas, my mom always 25 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,800 bakes a lasagna. It's a carryover from my 26 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:55,120 grandmother and great grandmother. 27 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:56,600 That sounds awesome. Who came over from Italy. 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,880 Yeah. And I like never eat lasagna any 29 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,440 other time of the year. Really. 30 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,880 And because no like Stouffer's oven lasagna, no like. 31 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,240 Literally, even when I go to Italian restaurants, like I 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,880 avoid eating lasagna so that when Christmas time comes 33 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,720 around, we get this massive lasagna and there's only four of 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:13,440 us. Wow. 35 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,800 And my mom doesn't need it because she's healthy. 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,920 So like all the she's not eating all that cheese and carbs. 37 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,960 So like I have one slice and then I have pretty much the rest 38 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,320 of the lasagna to eat over the next like 2 weeks. 39 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,000 So I'm like, I'm doing good right now. 40 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,080 I got I got like half of a lasagna in the fridge. 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,720 Like I'm set, baby I. Can Doomsday prepper Clark with 42 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,320 his 18 lbs of lasagna? It's the holiday season, you 43 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,480 know, like it's, it's so interesting that that's the food 44 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,680 that just I've happened to associate with the holiday 45 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,360 season. But yeah. 46 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,480 This year we hosted both for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve 47 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,200 for my close family. Or I guess it'd be extended 48 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,400 family, the ones that are in the close area. 49 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:57,720 Yeah. But not just like my household 50 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,920 and my boyfriend made steak on Christmas Eve that was 51 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,960 delicious. Yeah, see, maybe the trick is 52 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,040 just free yourself from the shackles of what, Christmas? 53 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,600 Food is I'm here for it. I don't think you've ever said 54 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:15,320 anything more smart yourself. From the shackles of a typical 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,240 Christmas banquet, Yeah. Cereal for Christmas dinner? 56 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:20,960 Hey baby, if that's what you like. 57 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,720 Enjoy it. Joel's giving us spaces. 58 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:30,280 I think we got to move on. I just, I, you know, anything 59 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,360 with like that much milk, namely cereal is just like, I can't do 60 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,760 it anymore. As a kid I used to but I I do 61 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:38,120 not like dairy as much as anymore. 62 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,280 So you wouldn't have cereal for your Christmas feast. 63 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:41,840 No. What What's your favorite 64 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,400 holiday food, Joel? I really like cranberry sauce. 65 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,360 That's something that my grandfather made homemade. 66 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,120 My mom also made homemade cranberry sauce that was fire. 67 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,720 Also, like, since I'm Latino, we have a lot of, like, tamales. 68 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,160 Yeah. I didn't have any this year, 69 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,720 thank God. But that's usually, like, the 70 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,360 staple food of of, you know, Latin households. 71 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,880 Yeah. My mom usually does like the 72 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,000 Thanksgiving dinner, but I've recently been really inspired in 73 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,280 cooking, so hopefully next year I can take the reins and put 74 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,240 together something really cool with new stuff outside of the 75 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,320 boring Thanksgiving. Yeah, but take on a little side 76 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,040 dish or something. No, that's a great idea. 77 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,440 Yeah, I'm glad we had decent holidays. 78 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,800 Are you guys ready to move on to the main topics of our episode? 79 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:26,360 You're. Yeah. 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,040 So for today's episode, we're just gonna basically recap the 81 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,240 last couple months, talk about what we've been doing, what we 82 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:34,320 haven't been doing. Yeah. 83 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:35,760 Because you like, miss us, right? 84 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:37,680 Like you want to hear what we've been doing for the? 85 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,440 Yeah, we're, we're we're really trying to stoke the parasocial 86 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,800 relationships with this episode. So see that it's it's just a 87 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,840 really long turn 0 today, Yeah. Hear all about our lives, 88 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,200 starting with Clark. Yeah, we're still going to talk 89 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,360 about some Flesh and Blood. One of the first things I want 90 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,240 to talk about is over the course of the hiatus, I fell in love 91 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,560 with Viscera again. Wow. 92 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,200 So like I talk about having a lot of first decks and like 93 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,920 first experiences in Flesh and Blood. 94 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,080 Like the first deck I ever played was like a Bolton deck 95 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,080 and I hated it. And then like the first blitz 96 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,480 deck I ever really made was like a Phi list. 97 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,120 And then my first CC list was like the viscera list. 98 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,080 But then like my first main was Leviah. 99 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,680 But I, I loved the old viscera play pattern. 100 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,840 It was simple, it helped with sequencing and it was great for 101 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:30,960 me to learn as a beginner. But I the new viscera lists are 102 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,680 just so complex, so interesting, and I've fallen in love with the 103 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,920 hero all over again. That's so funny to hear, which 104 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,520 I'm sure it's absolutely true, but when I keep seeing you at 105 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:48,800 armories, I see you draw the worst rune blade and you're like 106 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:54,360 people keep saying this hero is good but I'm not seeing it well 107 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,160 well to. Be fair, you know, I was 108 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,240 struggling for a while there because there was a very initial 109 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,000 list where we were all trying to do the OG play pattern, which 110 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,280 was like 0 cost go again Like I play my mavry and skies. 111 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:12,600 I play my attack, I attack with my weapon and like that's the 112 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,840 old Visser I play style. That's the basic bitch. 113 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,440 So, Pesse, yeah. A lot of lists were like seeing 114 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,800 if we could do that again with the new tools cause like now we 115 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,680 have Rune Ranger Swarm as like another extender we have, yeah. 116 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,520 That card is insane. Yeah, we have Malefic as like 117 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,880 another 0 cost turn starter, which is like really, really 118 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,800 nice for us in our cost curve. We got snuff out as like this 119 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,400 really incredible 1 cost to throw, which now comes in at A5 120 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,480 break point instead of all of our other one cost attacks which 121 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,720 are at the four break point, which is so much easier for the 122 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,400 opponent to stop the Mavarian on hit. 123 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,840 So like we were like, oh, let's just do the the old shit again, 124 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,680 but better now. It was good, but it wasn't 125 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,880 winning games in Modern Flesh and Blood. 126 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:03,080 And then we fell into like this hyper aggro, what has been 127 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,920 dubbed the pissery list 'cause it runs a bunch of yellows. 128 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,320 It runs like yellow malefics and yellow rune rager swarm. 129 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,440 It's all about just going face and like having everything be 0 130 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,320 cost. It was super aggro. 131 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:23,440 It had early success and then and when worlds rolled around we 132 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,720 got the runaways list. So I was seeing success on that 133 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,400 like early hyper agro list, I was doing good. 134 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:35,240 I was doing good at my armories. And then the runaways list comes 135 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,080 out and it's super complex and it has rune chant stacking and 136 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,240 like it has a better wider match up spread. 137 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,360 I just couldn't win a fucking Armory on that thing. 138 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,880 I kept going. 3121 I just couldn't win a cold foil. 139 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:53,760 So like, for a month and a half I was like winning a lot, but I 140 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,720 wasn't getting that top placement and I was really 141 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,840 struggling. Also, everyone kept groaning. 142 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,800 Every single time I put this right down on the table and I'm 143 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,240 like, the Enigma player is right there and he's one of the past 144 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,640 three armories in a row. Why are you groaning at me? 145 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,480 The what player? The enigma player, Oh, so like 146 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,080 why? Why is everyone angry at me? 147 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,360 But I've returned back to the more aggro play pattern, 148 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,160 especially after like dash IO is called kind of fallen out of 149 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,080 favor. So having like all these four 150 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,360 blocks isn't as necessary. And it's just been, it's been 151 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:26,600 good again. Cool. 152 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,720 Anything else, Clark? Yeah, I started writing articles 153 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,320 over the over the break. I've written 2 so far for the 154 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,240 Wraith Times, which working with Alex Truell over there has been 155 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,880 really wonderful. Dude's awesome. 156 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,760 He's always willing to lend a hand with editing, which I find 157 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,240 I'm very appreciative of because editing is like the one thing I 158 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:48,840 didn't learn how to do in school. 159 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,040 So I've always appreciated Alex and his help. 160 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,040 I've been working on a series called Armory Deck at Home, 161 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,000 which is a series all about building budget $50 armoury 162 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,200 decks for heroes and classes that haven't gotten it official 163 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,760 ones from LSS. I've written the articles that 164 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,200 help people branch out into other classes at a low price 165 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,280 point and try out other heroes without having to invest a lot 166 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:13,760 of money in. I'm following a lot of the same 167 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:15,600 principles that armoury decks do. 168 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,600 Full playsets, majestics, fairly cheap equipment right? 169 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:28,280 And I'm doing that so that there is, and then I play test them to 170 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,160 balance them against the other Armory decks so that everything 171 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,000 is sort of at the same level. If someone sits down with the 172 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,480 Bolton Armory deck, you can sit down with like this $50 thing 173 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:39,720 and try it out in a similar power environment. 174 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,520 Yeah, I felt like that, you know, you getting into your 175 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,640 article writing was very apropos with this. 176 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,480 Like what seems like a large influx of new players with 177 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,360 Rosetta, all the different Armory decks coming out. 178 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,320 And I think a lot of attention is being placed on #1 the price, 179 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,120 the MSRP price of some of these Armory decks and the prices of 180 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,320 the staples that people are going to naturally look towards 181 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,120 after they spend some time with the game want to upgrade to. 182 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,920 And finding out that there's resources for other heroes. 183 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,520 You know, not that you're like a main name yet, but I feel like 184 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,640 these could be looked at as these resources that just aren't 185 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,600 talked about because maybe they're like off met heroes or 186 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:20,760 they're heroes. I don't really get a lot of 187 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:22,400 attention from LSS. Yeah. 188 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,400 So I, I think it's a solid need to start, you know, working on 189 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,880 now. I'm also trying to to use them 190 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,320 to address some of the criticisms of Armory decks. 191 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,680 Like Armory decks are said that they don't have enough staples, 192 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,080 they don't have enough majestics in them, especially reprint 193 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,800 majestics. And like, those are things I'm 194 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,360 specifically trying to address in my list of being like, yeah, 195 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,280 no, to to play this hero, you just need like these majestics. 196 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,120 And they're cheap. So it made them work in the 197 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,600 list, right? So like it, I guess a great 198 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,080 example of it is like the price of Armory decks is pretty much 199 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,680 preloaded into the brand new cards the LSS is printing. 200 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:04,960 And by shifting that cost over to cards that already exist, 201 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,360 because that's all I have access to, I can't print new cards for 202 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,120 these things. I'm able to give you more 203 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,480 staples which can then be played in other decks in the same 204 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,400 class. So like for the B1 I have, I 205 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:22,640 have a crippling crush and yes, I have a starstruck, both of 206 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,000 which are Bravo specializations, but I also have 3 imposing 207 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,760 visages in that list. And I also have 3 showtimes in 208 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,800 that list. And I also have 3 pummel or I 209 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,520 have a pummel in that list. I have sink below in that list. 210 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,520 These are staples that you can take into other classes. 211 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:40,560 I have Commons and rares that you can take into other 212 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,000 guardians like buckling blow or debilitate. 213 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,680 And so you'll, you'll play them in other decks, like even if you 214 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:51,240 buy these cards and you're like, this isn't the hero for me, you 215 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,520 will still find a way of using these cards, even if they're 216 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,800 just for trades, right? Yeah, sounds like a cool 217 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,920 project. You also wrote another article 218 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:04,640 about fatigue recently, right? Yeah, that article was a labor 219 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,000 of love and took up a whole month and delayed a lot of the 220 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,360 other articles I was writing. I must have rewritten it about 221 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,280 four different times. If you haven't read that 222 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,760 article, please go read it. It is pretty much if I was given 223 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,160 the entire episode of this podcast to just talk, I would 224 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,000 have talked about what that article was. 225 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:27,200 It addresses CYB, Enigma, and the World's Finals. 226 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,880 It addresses some of the statements made by LSS before 227 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,800 and after that, specifically around control and long games. 228 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,080 It's interesting because I don't think it's a great article in 229 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,960 terms of like quality of writing, but in terms of ideas, 230 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,680 I think it's absolutely peak. I think in every single 231 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:48,000 paragraph I am introducing a new concept with good evidence that 232 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,520 says something insightful about the game. 233 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:51,960 And that's what I was aiming for. 234 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:53,320 And I think that's why I delivered on. 235 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,080 So I'm, I'm very happy with that article turned out. 236 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,880 I really highly encourage anyone who's a fan of the podcast to go 237 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:01,520 read that article. I'll make sure that there's a 238 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:02,720 link in the description and everything. 239 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:03,800 Thank you. Yeah. 240 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,360 Sweet, I guess I can go next for yellow pitch. 241 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,960 Yeah. I have really been enjoying 242 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,040 doing pretty much nothing the last like 2-3 months. 243 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,040 I work as a substitute teacher and I haven't had a whole lot of 244 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,080 assignments lately. I had like a really good long 245 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:25,520 term assignment back in like August slash early September and 246 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,400 I've kind of been like writing that windfall like for the other 247 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:31,400 three months because I haven't had a lot of work otherwise. 248 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,240 So I've just been at home gaming a lot of the time. 249 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,480 I started playing this game called Deadlock. 250 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,760 It's like a Valve third person shooter MOBA. 251 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,600 It's in like closed beta. And it gives me a lot of that 252 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,320 same feeling that I got when I first started playing Flesh and 253 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,360 Blood, actually, because I've noticed that I just really love 254 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,800 playing like, new games where the community is excited and 255 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,480 like, refreshed, you know, as opposed to like, I've been 256 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:58,840 playing League of Legends for so long. 257 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,760 I don't think anyone's really excited about League of Legends 258 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,280 nowadays, you know? I mean, they're coming out with 259 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:08,480 a new little mini boss that like spawns at like top or bottom 260 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,920 river in a lane. I don't know. 261 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,080 I think there's next. That's gonna be fun. 262 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,240 After what, like 10 years? I know right? 263 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,160 The same bullshit. I mean, that's kind of cool. 264 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,640 They're still doing new stuff with League, but I don't think 265 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,160 there's as much hype around it. Like everyone's like in Deadlock 266 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,080 is pretty excited to be playing Deadlock, although as we're 267 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,280 recording this, it's kind of like cresting and it's kind of 268 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,040 coming back down again where like there's far fewer players 269 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,200 this week than there were like even 2 weeks ago. 270 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,400 I. Think it's also because Marvel 271 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,160 heroes really popped off and they both sort of exist in this 272 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:42,080 space of like third person shooter team oriented gameplay. 273 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,320 Yeah, I would agree with that. I just noticed our our our 274 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,120 friend group has been playing both games. 275 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,440 But I'm not here to talk about Deadlock too much, just to say 276 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,840 that I've been enjoying having this hiatus and not having to 277 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,560 worry too much about the podcast. 278 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,360 Well, hang on before you get off the deadlock. 279 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:01,560 Favorite character? I play in Furnace. 280 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,200 In Furnace gives me such an adrenaline rush when I play him. 281 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,480 I like absolutely love him. And then sometimes when you 282 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,040 queue up, you're not going to get the hero that you want to 283 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:10,200 play. That's the way the queue system 284 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:11,720 works. And I have to play other 285 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,960 characters and I'm like, God, this isn't in Furnace. 286 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,920 I feel like they're like taking my high away. 287 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,480 Like, like I need my fix of in Furnace, you know, so I run 288 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:25,080 around and I light people on fire and it's great. 289 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:26,720 He's like a drain tank, you know? 290 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,440 So that's all to say that I've been enjoying a little bit of 291 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,080 time away from Fab and from this podcast, and I'm ready to come 292 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,760 back in with a new fire lit within me, all refreshed and 293 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,720 ready to put my all into it. One project I had over the 294 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,760 hiatus that I started was what we're calling Crucible. 295 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,600 And for a little bit of context, as part of our Patreon rewards 296 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,800 that we're going to be setting up really, really, really soon, 297 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:56,320 if they're not set up already is we are going to have a custom 298 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,720 format each month that you can enter in. 299 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,200 And it's going to be different every month, Probably a format 300 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,200 that you've never played before. We might repeat some of the ones 301 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,800 that are popular, but the idea is that you're playing a new 302 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,200 style of flesh and blood. Like if you know, like the clash 303 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,760 format, the clash is a, is a custom format designed by the 304 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:14,800 community because they thought it'd be fun, right? 305 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,240 The idea is that we're doing something new every month and 306 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,440 we're calling it Crucible stylized in all caps. 307 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,040 If you're going to type Crucible, you have to do it in 308 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:22,320 all caps. I see. 309 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,680 I see typing it in lower case. I'm coming for you. 310 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:32,520 So in November I kind of did a test run and the format that we 311 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,600 used for November was Singleton CC, yeah. 312 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,760 It was pretty well received. Yeah, so you play a 60 card 313 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,800 deck, you can only have one copy of each card. 314 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,040 And the people that played were like really enjoying it. 315 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,640 I don't think anybody was like, this is a boring format that I'm 316 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:49,080 not getting. A lot of the deck building I 317 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,880 think people found interesting because you're like, well, 318 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,200 obviously I'm going to have one of each of all these majestics 319 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,040 and one each of all these Commons. 320 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,880 Maybe my yellow copy because I'm desperate and oh shit, I still 321 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,640 need 20 more cards on my deck list. 322 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,560 Like what the heck am I going to put on my sideboard? 323 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,400 Well, here's all my normal sideboard options and I need 324 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,520 more cards. You know, I really enjoyed 325 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,640 running that and I'm really excited to see what we do in the 326 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,280 future. So keep an eye out for our 327 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,760 Patreon. That way you can enter in that 328 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,000 tournament. I imagine the first couple 329 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,040 tournaments we might open up the enrollment to people outside the 330 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,280 Patreon just for the first couple months as we get it going 331 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,600 because I need players. So you can keep an eye out for 332 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,360 that too. If you join our discord you can 333 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,520 like get updates on that. Yeah. 334 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,800 And they'll be linked to our Discord and probably our Patreon 335 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,960 in the description. So kind of going on to like what 336 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,000 I've been doing in flesh and blood the last few months. 337 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,600 There hasn't been a competitive season to really work around. 338 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,160 That's actually not true. We did Skirmish season. 339 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,560 Yeah, there was a skirmish. Shout outs to Han. 340 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,120 Oh yeah, everybody, Han won two skirmishes because we had like 2 341 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:56,800 skirmish seasons back-to-back almost. 342 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,560 And he won one blitz skirmish on Victor. 343 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,880 So he wasn't super happy to be put on the list of Victor means 344 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,800 like all the people that are good at Victor, but that was 345 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,920 kind of exciting. And then in December he won a 346 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,880 second skirmish on date at all. Yeah. 347 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:14,720 Data doll. Yeah. 348 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,600 You're welcome. I was bullying him for the past 349 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,280 week to get him to play that. It's a strong hero. 350 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,760 He like rolled me, but I was enjoying playing Blitz. 351 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,440 Like I played Lexi and I was just running like Codex of 352 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:31,440 Frailty and Rain Razors and Three of a Kind in Blitz. 353 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,840 It was like weirdly not that good, but it was serviceable. 354 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,920 You know it was like in that like nice B tier spot. 355 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,880 Which is so weird cuz it's all the same cards that were 356 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:43,480 overpowered as all hell in CC 2023 for a modern flesh. 357 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,000 And Blood 2024, it's changed a lot I guess. 358 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,080 But in Armories, I've been playing a little bit of Ira, 359 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,200 I've been playing Kano, I've been playing Kyo. 360 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,800 And it's helped me realize that I really just love Ninja. 361 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,160 Like I enjoy these other heroes. Like I kind of like playing 362 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,080 Kano. I kind of like playing KO, but 363 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,640 like swinging Kodachi's and getting potential mass momentum 364 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,120 triggers or like finding huge combo lines. 365 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,320 Like, it's just like my favorite way to play the game. 366 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,600 And I get such joy out of it that I don't understand how 367 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,560 everybody else, like, loves flesh and blood as much because 368 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,440 they're not playing the fun class that I play. 369 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:21,120 Like, I don't know what you are doing. 370 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:22,600 I don't know, Joel, what are you doing? 371 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,600 Suffering. Yeah, I guess you're not. 372 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:26,760 Having fun? No. 373 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,080 Maybe. You should be playing Ninja. 374 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,800 He plays Zen, he's a Zen gamer. Needless to say I'm really 375 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:35,160 excited about the new set haunted. 376 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:36,680 We're going to see some new ninja support. 377 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:38,560 Syndra looks pretty cool. I think it'd be really fun to 378 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,120 play like a flick knives ninja. You're just like throwing 379 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:44,320 daggers all over the place, getting in a million paper cuts. 380 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,760 True ninja play style. We might even see some support 381 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,440 for Katsu more than we already know because you see retrace the 382 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,000 past. I'm really excited about retrace 383 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,880 the past as a way for us to like explore a new dynamic for Katsu 384 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,000 that always like seemed like something he would want right? 385 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,520 Being able to rename your cards mid combat chain in order to 386 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,240 continue into. Other combo chains seems like so 387 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,760 Katsu and we haven't really had that ability without losing our 388 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,040 headpiece before yeah. So we retrace the past opens up 389 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,000 a lot of new deck building opportunities that I'm excited 390 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,400 to play with and I'm hoping we get a little bit more on top of 391 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:19,080 that because retrace the past is surprise surprise not as good as 392 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,200 say both Bonds of ancestry and Art of War. 393 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,040 Like the whole left behind by those bands is like really 394 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:30,280 hurting Katsu especially Yeah and retrace the past like is not 395 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,520 quite able to complete that whole. 396 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,040 Maybe we'll get a little bit more to help us fill in too some 397 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,560 other cool like ninja majestics. Or maybe I'm just not playing it 398 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,800 right. Maybe if I like explore other 399 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,960 options in Katsu, maybe there's something there we just need. 400 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,960 Pudding Tam to like, come out with something. 401 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,960 One of you bitches need to figure out the like tap line so 402 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,480 I can play it. Because that's my. 403 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,720 Favorite line in Flesh and Blood or the ninja play style? 404 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:57,600 So when you guys need to figure that one out, yeah. 405 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,600 And I'm also excited for 2025 because with the new year, 406 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:03,960 there's a new competitive season. 407 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,400 And that's one thing I've always enjoyed about Flesh and Blood is 408 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,800 getting into those big events. The AGE circuit is starting back 409 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,280 up in January. The first month is CC. 410 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,280 So I got to pick ACC deck. I got to get my gears going, get 411 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,440 my shit together and hopefully do some well and some events. 412 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,360 And I would love to qualify for Nats again. 413 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,640 I feel like I got lucky the last two years I was able to dude 414 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:25,760 like no you. Didn't. 415 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:32,400 You've made day 2 of Nats both times played right but when I 416 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,560 qualified. I didn't go to a whole lot of 417 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,000 events, like the first year I went to A1 CC event and I was 418 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,400 using Briar, which was a really good hero at the time. 419 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,120 I'm not sure with Ice Lexi. And old time running around. 420 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,920 I don't think I played. It was like Lexi meta but it 421 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:50,720 wasn't ice Lexi meta if I remember right. 422 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,880 Oh, so it's even? Worse, and I lost to those. 423 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:54,640 Lexi's right? Like it's not like I beat any of 424 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:56,480 them. I didn't beat any old IMS. 425 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,280 I like played a couple people who were like locals to the 426 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,040 store. I remember right, Like they were 427 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,280 really nice, but they weren't like the top tier competitive 428 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,040 grinders. And I think that really helped 429 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:07,960 me a lot. And then I was able to get by on 430 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,000 my draft performance. But draft is always like high 431 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,240 variance. You never know what will happen. 432 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,280 So I'm hoping that I can qualify again this year, but it's never 433 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,480 a guarantee, you know? So I'm gonna try my best. 434 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,520 I really want to go to Nats this year. 435 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,200 It's in Vegas, which is pretty close by. 436 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,680 We went to Nats in 2023 Vegas trip, and it was really fun. 437 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:24,960 That was a lot. Of fun. 438 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:26,320 So like, let's be real, your car. 439 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,840 Breaking down on the way there was fun. 440 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,480 It wasn't so much as breaking down as me being a dumb ass, no. 441 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,760 The other guy was at least a little bit of a dumb ass. 442 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,000 Well. We had a lot of stuff in our 443 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,440 truck, you know? Anyway, I'll probably go to 444 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,080 Vegas anyway. Like, I don't know that me not 445 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,040 qualifying for Nats would stop me because it's right there, 446 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:47,680 right? It's just a hop, skip and a jump 447 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,240 away. Yeah, it's only about. 448 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,280 A four hour drive. European viewers in shambles 449 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,800 right now. They're like 4 hours. 450 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,920 That's out of my country. Oh, I've also been playing this 451 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,680 rogue like called Monster Train. If you like Sleigh the Spire, 452 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,760 you'd love Monster Train. Joel, You should download 453 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,400 Monster Train I'm afraid. Joel, how has your hiatus been? 454 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,920 Yeah, my hiatus. Was cool, I guess I got a new 455 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:17,600 job which was pretty huge for me. 456 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,800 I was working at this hotel that well for the viewers that are 457 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:26,200 not in California, it was 25 miles away, but in LA it's 458 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,640 basically like 5X. Like it was like a 2 hour drive 459 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:33,680 every day and I basically had no time to do the podcast or 460 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,760 armories or anything I enjoyed besides eat and then sleep. 461 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,520 So it was pretty miserable. I mean I got my bills paid, I 462 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,080 got to eat, so that was cool. I was very grateful for the 463 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,200 opportunity because it was my first job after being laid off 464 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,240 the previous year. But now I have a new job where I 465 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,520 have better pay, the work is more fulfilling so I'm like 466 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,080 enjoying my work. I have more time to go to 467 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,760 armories which is clutch and especially so since new 468 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,240 competitive seasons are rolling up next year. 469 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,600 So super grateful for my new job. 470 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,640 Aside from that, I also got my PQ qualification. 471 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,480 So we had a a Proquest season. London. 472 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,240 I can't remember when to be honest with you, but I won on 473 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,880 Zen. So for some context, I saw, I 474 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,880 think it's Fire Dog. He did really well with Bolton 475 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,840 and got like top eight at a calling like right after Rosetta 476 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:25,920 came out. And I was like, OK, if he can do 477 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,080 it, maybe I can do it. And I couldn't because Bolton I 478 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,920 still feel like sucks in a room blade meta, especially since it 479 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:34,720 was like a few weeks after his performance. 480 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,480 So like, you know, no, that's definitely, yeah. 481 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,000 And I also tried Dash. IOI was like, if I can't, like 482 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,800 basically my school of thought these days is like, if I cannot 483 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,120 play Warrior at a competitive level, I'm going to play 484 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:50,640 whatever the best deck is. And I thought it was Dio and it 485 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,560 is, or it was, excuse me, but I suck at that deck and I don't 486 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,040 really like playing it. So I just stuck with Zen, who I 487 00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:58,800 think is in a really good spot right now. 488 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,160 I was talking with one of our locals last night, I can't 489 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,960 remember who but the way he is now is so fun. 490 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,920 He's very mid range still with like explosive turns. 491 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,200 If he was like this like when he first released, he would have 492 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,560 been fine. He would have been a perfect 493 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,120 hero. It was very reminiscent of Briar 494 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,640 after her like several bands, some tweaks to her kit and she 495 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,760 was fine. She didn't LL for a long time 496 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,160 because she was just a good and balanced hero with like, you 497 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,000 know, the specialist doing really well and you're like you 498 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,080 obviously you Fuzzy did did well in Briar after that. 499 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,640 So yeah. So I just stuck to my guns 500 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,040 because I played it during Nats when he was at full power and 501 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,240 stuck with him. And I I've been getting really 502 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,400 good at the deck and ended up getting my PQ qualification. 503 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,680 So I have plenty of time to prepare for Pro Tour London next 504 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,640 year, which I'm excited about. Aside from Flesh and Blood, 505 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,080 though, I've really been enjoying not playing Flesh and 506 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,240 Blood for the past like two months. 507 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,120 I haven't really been playing at all other than like, you know, 508 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,520 last night actually, we had a really fun Armory. 509 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,120 We had a viewer shout out to Mulvane come through and I 510 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:08,360 pulled out my Decimator hatchet Bolton list that I built right 511 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:12,200 there at the Armory. But and I played Yarl The the 512 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,320 Armory deck could have had a few more armories. 513 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,240 Yeah, I've just been enjoying not paying attention to it. 514 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,040 I've noticed myself that like, because especially when I had 515 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,200 less free time, like I put a lot of pressure on my flesh and 516 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,480 blood and performance to like really enjoy my nights off by 517 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,920 taking the pressure off and just going there to enjoy myself. 518 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,080 Like, and I know it sounds crazy, but like if you know me 519 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,240 personally at all, I cannot do anything casually. 520 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,040 Whatever I pick up, I have to figure out like, what is the 521 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,560 competitive circuit look like? Like how can I get really good 522 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,120 at this game or whatever it is? So taking a step back and not 523 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:48,680 putting so many eggs in one basket has been really good to 524 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,080 like mentally reset and get passionate about the game again. 525 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,480 So I don't know if you've noticed, but Warrior still sucks 526 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:56,720 and I don't care what anyone says. 527 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,920 So I'm really have high hopes for haunted in terms of like, 528 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,120 you know, what my competitive season is going to look like, 529 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:05,080 whether it's on Warrior or another class. 530 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,720 So yeah, that that's pretty much it with Flesh and Blood. 531 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,200 And then in my other like sections of free time, I've been 532 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,560 playing a lot of Dark and Darker, which is a game that 533 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,640 I've been obsessed with since like their first or second play 534 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,080 test and their alpha or beta or whatever. 535 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:21,760 It's a pretty cool game. Yeah, it's a lot. 536 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,040 Of fun, very punishing, very difficult to master. 537 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,200 So it's a bit been a good time sync for my break and flesh and 538 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:29,240 blood. How would you describe? 539 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,520 This game, Joel, in 20 words or less, you can. 540 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:37,600 Take longer no dark and darker is like this medieval fantasy 541 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,080 rogue length where you basically play like dungeon and dragon 542 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,760 characters. Like there's fighter, barbarian, 543 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,880 wizard, rogue. Shut up. 544 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,720 We. Don't we don't talk about Rogue. 545 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,640 And so you just, you know, go in the dungeon, kill some some mobs 546 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,040 and skeletons, some spiders and get some loot. 547 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:03,200 And there's a lot of really cool progression in the game. 548 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,240 Now. I play with one of our other 549 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,040 locals, Ben, shout out to Ben. But yeah, that's really been 550 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,120 taking up a lot of my time and mostly just getting lots and 551 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:13,680 lots of sleep, lots of rest. And and it was funny too, 552 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,280 because we all had like separate goals for ourselves for the 553 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,680 hiatus. And one of mine was to like, 554 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,520 really get invested with TikTok. And for those of you who don't 555 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,120 know, when we first started the podcast, I really wanted to like 556 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,560 be the TikTok guy at the podcast. 557 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:33,240 And that just never panned out due to several like big shifts 558 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,600 in my life in terms of free time, in terms of financial 559 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:38,400 security, all that stuff. I mean that job. 560 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,920 That you took in LA, Like, I don't think people really 561 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,200 understand how much that impacted your life. 562 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,520 But you were like literally doing nothing but driving. 563 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,760 For your free time, yeah, like 4 hours a day of driving. 564 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,680 Just. It was just abysmal. 565 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,840 And then we had an announcement saying that Tik Tok's getting 566 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,360 fucking banned. So. 567 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,520 All that being. Said, I don't know, you know, 568 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:07,280 what my next like, string of content ideas will be for the 569 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,480 podcast, but I'm excited to, you know, dive more into it and 570 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,200 like, really flush myself out as a content creator, you know, 571 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,400 because sometimes it can just feel like you're just doing a 572 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,120 podcast and I want to do more. Than that the exciting year 573 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,880 2025. Yeah, we'll see. 574 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,040 I think we're. Really going to grow a lot in 575 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,920 2025. I think we all have some some 576 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:32,320 really cool goals going on. I'm actually really excited 577 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,440 about your future here in 2025, Joel. 578 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,320 Yeah, we'll see. Well. 579 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:40,720 I mean like I think of the three of us here. 580 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,640 You've always sort of. Put up some of the best results 581 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,080 and I think you've gone the farthest in tournaments. 582 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,960 You improved your standings in Nats over the past two years. 583 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,760 Yeah, I had a really hot. Run on that first day of Nats. 584 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,920 That fateful first day, yeah. And like, I think that you can 585 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,280 easily do that again. I think like when you're locked 586 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,360 in, man, you're locked in. And it sounds like you're in a 587 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,240 position to be locked in this year. 588 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,000 Oh yeah, we have a. Stable. 589 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Good. Employment that doesn't eat up 590 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,400 your entire fucking life like. You can actually go. 591 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,080 To armories, especially competitive armories in the area 592 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:21,640 like I I think you're really, really set here to be to, to go 593 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,320 on some impressive runs yeah. And if they make daggers? 594 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:25,680 Good. It's all over. 595 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,880 Yeah. Oh, more I guess more like if 596 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:30,080 they make swords. Good, right? 597 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,200 Either or, I'll take it. Either or at this point, yeah. 598 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,120 But yeah, that's all I got. It's been a good hiatus, good 599 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,360 break. So excited to get back into the 600 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,840 the the swing of things. Should we go to Arsenal zone? 601 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,480 Sure. Listeners, The Arsenal Zone is 602 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,800 the part of the podcast where we all shout out a car that we've 603 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,000 been thinking about lately for whatever reason. 604 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,800 Clark, do you want to start? Sure, I'll start. 605 00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:00,000 The card that I want to shout out is Malefic Incantation. 606 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,160 I love this card. I talked in my pitch about how 607 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,680 my love for Viceri was renewed and deepened over the Rosetta 608 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,320 season, and a lot of that is due to this card. 609 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,680 This is a synergy piece that does so much of what Viceri 610 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:23,080 wants and is so fascinating in its design and what it does, and 611 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,920 it's made me rethink what room blades do. 612 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:34,360 So it enters as a 0 cost aura with 3321 counters on it based 613 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,840 on what color. And then when I attack with any 614 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:43,440 Attack Attack action card, the next time I attack with an 615 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,000 attack action card it makes a rune chant. 616 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,360 This is like a bad. Card right? 617 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:54,720 Like it gives you one value on your turn, it can only give you 618 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,720 1 value on your turn. I don't even I know you're 619 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,160 trying. To like start one place and then 620 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,440 end another place for your little like explanation 621 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,280 argument, it's a little journey. Do not agree with the premise, 622 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,000 it's just good. Good card. 623 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,720 There's no like, any way you look at it, it's fucking 624 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:09,840 busting. I don't care. 625 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,240 No, like strictly. Numbers it isn't, but it's 626 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,520 because of how it works with Viscera as a starter, because of 627 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,120 how it let us plays through Warmonger, because of how it can 628 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,400 produce double value off of Mordred turns. 629 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,080 Like the card becomes busted. It only becomes busted within 630 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:31,160 the wider context of the game. It's power creep through synergy 631 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,560 in a way that like revitalize the hero and in a very 632 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:41,680 interesting way, let's Viscerae play in the way of storing power 633 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,520 for spike turns, which is way different than the old play 634 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,200 pattern of like trying to keep this consistent 12 to 13 damage 635 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,200 every single turn. We're like having turns where we 636 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,040 only really attack for like 4 or 6, but we made a bunch of rune 637 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,560 chants and then on the next turn we use those rune chants and 638 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,240 then we have like a 18 damage turns. 639 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,320 So we sort of like come in these waves and these ebbs and flows, 640 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,200 and it's all because of this one card. 641 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,480 It is so cool. I love the design and I love 642 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:13,240 what it does for the room Blade class. 643 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,880 Also just it made Vincet so much more playable. 644 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,520 Yeah. And like that's. 645 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,960 Extremely nice too that other room blades got to use this card 646 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:23,520 as well. I think it's a really cool. 647 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,240 Card I feel like the red 1 is like overtuned in visserie. 648 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,120 I feel like the amount of value you can get out of it 649 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,400 considering that like it works with mordred in a way that room 650 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:38,360 blood incantation never did you know or that you're playing 651 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,720 attack action cards as viscera. So that's even though you're not 652 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,240 going to stack with it necessarily, you still can kind 653 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,320 of do a little bit of stacking with it because you can keep 654 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,160 playing stuff and not worry about the fact that you're not 655 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,200 pushing offensive value if you can't, you know, yeah, it helps 656 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,800 you carry those. Room blades into the next turn 657 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,760 really it like makes all the cost reduced cards way more 658 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,400 playable. Yeah. 659 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:03,400 Like there's a. Lot of synergy with this card, 660 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,800 it's like dripping with it and that's why you guys are able to 661 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,840 play the yellow ones that only give 2 at face value. 662 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,000 The yellow one is terrible. It's like a yellow head jab. 663 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:14,960 It's not that good. It's a worse than a head. 664 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,159 Jab it only gives you 2 value. Yeah, the yellow head. 665 00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:21,440 Jab only gives you 2 value. Oh, sure. 666 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:25,840 OK, that's why you. Don't play yellow Head Jab, but 667 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,239 you do play yellow Malefic Contagion because the synergy is 668 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,120 so much so good. Yeah, I. 669 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:33,880 Also again want to say I think everyone deserves their malefic. 670 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,320 Every class, every talent, everyone deserves their malefic 671 00:34:37,639 --> 00:34:40,239 for my card. I want to talk about Violent 672 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,760 Dynamo, and there's a bit of context you need here. 673 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:48,440 So a long time ago in one of our episodes, I made a joke about 674 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,639 like how I stay up at night thinking about how I can get 675 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,440 Valiant Dynamo Senator counters off of swinging twice with 676 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,640 decimated grade acts, and Fuzzy really liked that joke. 677 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,040 I I don't know how much he likes my jokes usually, but that's 678 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:04,280 probably like one of his top five of my favorite jokes. 679 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:06,760 It's just such a clear image. To me, like you're sitting up in 680 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,640 bed, you're staring at the ceiling, eyes wide awake, and 681 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,440 you're thinking about like testimony to create X valued 682 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,280 Dynamo. Here are all the cards I can 683 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,720 give go again. And it's like all shitty. 684 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,080 Well, like I totally like. Empathize with like just kind of 685 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,160 obsessing over like how can I make this combo work because 686 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,960 that's what makes trading card games fun is like here's what 687 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,920 are these synergies like what's the most extreme example of like 688 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,760 how this could possibly be playable so anyways. 689 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,320 I figured if I'm not winning I should be having fun. 690 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,880 And for those of you don't know, most weapons can only swing 691 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,440 once, but with Luminous Ascension, if you've charged for 692 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,800 the turn your weapons and get plus one, they can attack twice. 693 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,720 And whenever you hit, you reveal the top card. 694 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:49,560 And if it's a light card, it goes to your soul and you get a 695 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,000 life. Otherwise it goes to the bottom. 696 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,600 And so that's the only way I can swing twice. 697 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,440 And I had already charged one earlier. 698 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,880 And so when I did the Fateful 2 double swing with Decimeter, the 699 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,680 card that I revealed off of Luminous Engine was my third 700 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,800 Luminous Engine. So it's literally the only 701 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,400 Dynamo counter I removed that whole night. 702 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,560 But I did it and now I can finally rest God bless. 703 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,240 People aren't ready for. Joel 2025. 704 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:20,640 He's finally getting sleep. It's all over for you bozos. 705 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:22,080 What do you think you're gonna lie? 706 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,640 Awake thinking about next. That's a good. 707 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,920 Question What's your next white whale? 708 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:30,880 My next white. Whale is how to get 3 fealty. 709 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,240 As fast as possible. Yeah, that. 710 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:38,120 Or maybe some like tap shenanigans. 711 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:39,880 I want to do the whole like tap line. 712 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:41,960 Maybe in Zen. Like tap Zen. 713 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:43,840 Yeah. Yep, that's my next white whale. 714 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,520 That leg tap. Rising knee thrust hurricane 715 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,560 technique hurricane technique or I. 716 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,240 Think it's pounding Gale that's the fist. 717 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:55,160 Line Damn it doesn't come out pounding Gale. 718 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:56,720 Is pretty good. It is true. 719 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:57,320 Yeah. Yeah. 720 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,000 Anyways, that's my card. What do you got? 721 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,120 Fuzzy? All right, so as is. 722 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,600 Tradition on our podcast, A tradition will be continuing 723 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,880 into 2025. Finally I could start getting 724 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:08,920 more. Cards. 725 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,040 I have brought a copy. Of the card that I'll be 726 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:15,120 shouting out for each of you, and I'll be signing it so you'll 727 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,000 have a fuzzy signed card. For the card that I'm shouting 728 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,520 out. I tend to do whatever draft 729 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,960 shaft I have laying around. Don't get your hopes up, but 730 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,840 I've been thinking, not necessarily this month, but 731 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,360 especially in October, November, there was a lot of discussion 732 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,240 around this card called Count Your Blessings. 733 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:37,720 Oh my God, it's not the promo. Count Your Blessings. 734 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:39,560 I gave you earlier. What the hell, Fuzzy? 735 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,160 Well, I would date. Multiple of those which I don't 736 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,720 have in order to gift with both of you and I want to keep my 737 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:46,640 promo. Count your blessings. 738 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:53,960 So count your blessings at red costs two and you gain X life 739 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,080 where X is 3 plus the number of count your blessings in your 740 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,680 graveyard. The yellow will be X + 2, the 741 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:03,960 blue will be X + 1, and the first count your blessings 742 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:07,240 sucks, but the 9th count your blessings. 743 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:11,760 Oh boy, that's at least 10 life you're gaining off of 1-2 cost 744 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,000 instant. It's hard to play around an 745 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,560 instant other than the fact that it doesn't block right. 746 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:18,760 That's the whole weakness for count your blessings is your 747 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,160 opponent can do whatever they want. 748 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:22,280 You're just going to have more life when when they're doing it. 749 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,720 Supposedly. But you're also pairing it with 750 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:27,680 all of these D reacts to shut down the important on hits and 751 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:31,160 suddenly you have a really toxic defensive deck that is taking 752 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,960 the world by storm to the point where LSS felt the need to issue 753 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:39,040 a ban list when an enigma running count your blessings 1 754 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:46,880 worlds and everybody cried. Everyone in flesh and blood was 755 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,840 super disappointed to seek out your blessings win world except 756 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:51,240 me. I thought it was kind of cool, 757 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,360 you know, I, I think there was AI. 758 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,680 Think everybody cried is a great way of describing this, whether 759 00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:02,760 they were tears of joy or tears of derision, not derision. 760 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:03,960 Pain. Trauma, yeah. 761 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,280 Yeah, yeah. It feels like the Kano. 762 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:11,920 Check Kano is kind of annoying because his he's not super 763 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,560 dominant in the meta. The wizard guy Kano but if you 764 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,200 don't run arkin barrier on your sideboard you get scammed. 765 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,400 And Count your Blessings feel similar where like there's cards 766 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:24,080 like grave keeping, which you can use to get some value 767 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,000 against Count your blessings, but like you're not going to run 768 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,840 grave keeping unless you're planning on facing Count your 769 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,000 blessings. And at least with Kano, it's 770 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,240 faced up right? When you play against Kano, you 771 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:37,920 know, every arcane barrier that I have in my sideboard comes in 772 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:42,840 on this matchup with somebody else like Durinthia, Riptide, 773 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,840 fucking Rhinar Ira. You don't know if they're 774 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:49,520 running Count your blessings, but they could. 775 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:53,080 You just have to kind of like keep an eye out at the tables. 776 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:56,840 You have to scan around, you have to do your scouting, which 777 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,040 is awful, right? Like you don't necessarily want 778 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,040 a meta game where you have this boogeyman where you never know 779 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,400 when it's going to pop up. You can bring Cyborg tools 780 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,200 against it, but are you 100% sure which matchups you're 781 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,400 supposed to bring it in for is really sketchy? 782 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,360 Sometimes in top eights it can be nice, right? 783 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,520 Because in like world's top 8 or calling top eights, I think they 784 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,160 have open deck lists. So you have a little bit more 785 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,240 knowledge that makes it a little bit harder. 786 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,560 Is that the main thing that you sort of struggle with CYB with 787 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,000 in terms of like as a design piece of like how it's a hidden 788 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,360 information that just so dramatically warps play 789 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,080 patterns? I think there's a lot of things, 790 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,560 people. Could dislike about it design 791 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:36,520 wise. Oh for certain, I've. 792 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:40,120 I've thought about a lot about. Cyb over the course. 793 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,800 Of these past two months, I also don't think it's. 794 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:47,800 Quite as bad as people like are dooming on it for I do think it 795 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:52,280 was strong and it when they banned the blue ones at ACC so 796 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:53,720 you can only play Reds and yellows. 797 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,080 I think that probably got it to a better power level. 798 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,080 You know, even though you can't run like the power fantasy of 799 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:02,240 all nine right like it's a card that you it's only really fun to 800 00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:04,640 run all night. I think in my opinion, a lot of 801 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:06,120 people are running sex and still. 802 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:10,240 Still feeling good about it so. It is also like raising 803 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:12,560 questions, like you wrote a whole article, Clark, about 804 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:14,840 control and what it means to play control and where the 805 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,000 future of control could be for the format for the for the game. 806 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,520 And when James White said count your blessings is Hallmark 807 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,880 control in flesh and blood. It was kind of a radical 808 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:26,920 statement, right? But also as an aggro player, I 809 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,080 kind of like the challenge that it presents because it says like 810 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:31,800 you need to be swinging your weapon more. 811 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,200 You need to make sure you're getting value out of your cards. 812 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:37,600 You know, and I'm going to be able to hopefully land a lot 813 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:41,600 more of my on hits and might do my game plan, but I have to play 814 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:45,400 a very like specific version of it that I don't normally get to 815 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,120 play against other control matchups or even against other 816 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,200 aggro matchups. So I kind of like that it exists 817 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:55,120 in the game, but not 100%. You know, I have mixed feelings 818 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,000 about the card. I did enjoy running it in 819 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,600 armories when I was playing IRA. I remember why the IRA was. 820 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,800 Dope, I remember sitting down next to. 821 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:08,040 Bill Dauer, one of our locals, and I sat down and my opponent, 822 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,120 who was not Bill. Bill was like, to my left, my 823 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:11,280 opponent was like, who are you playing? 824 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:13,960 And I said Ira. And Bill next to me goes, oh, 825 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:15,200 you're playing Ira? No way. 826 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,040 That's awesome. I love Ira. 827 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:20,240 And then somebody next to Bill goes, yeah, but he's playing 828 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:22,840 count your blessings, Ira. He goes, what? 829 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:32,440 Screw off fuzzy Bill Dozen. So I wanted to mention it 830 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,680 because it was something that was really like relevant during 831 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,440 our hiatus. We didn't get the chance to talk 832 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:41,160 about it a lot on the podcast, but bring it up now. 833 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:43,160 It should have. Had a whole episode. 834 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:45,440 If we were, you know, yeah, I have some. 835 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:47,920 Choice words about kind of your blessings. 836 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,120 It also gets added to that. List of like things that are 837 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,960 more relevant in living legend that might make you appeal, 838 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:55,840 might make the format more appealing to you. 839 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:59,520 Oh yeah, Like you said this like on our podcast one time, Clark 840 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,200 and I like really love that where like every time we ban 841 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,200 something, but it's still in LL, it adds to the list of pieces 842 00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,240 and ideas that really make the LL format different than just 843 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:11,720 like a stronger version of CC and can give people reasons to 844 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:14,240 go to the format in the same way that a rotation would. 845 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:17,520 You know, our ban list is kind of like that rotation where like 846 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,640 if you want to play with Art of War, you have that piece in 847 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:22,800 Living Legend. If I want to play with Bonds, I 848 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,560 have my one copy and I can write in Living Legend, right? 849 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:27,040 Yeah, that. Yeah. 850 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,080 I forgot about. That that's funny. 851 00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:34,600 That's the one. Copy you get one red bond. 852 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:36,760 That's so don't make us regret it. 853 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:46,080 These tired time fucking. Starbos over there like hmm, 854 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,320 somersault like the 8th somersault of the game. 855 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:52,160 It's like Yankee getting away with. 856 00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:57,720 This Yankee. Playing Okanos, he only has the 857 00:43:57,720 --> 00:43:58,480 one. That's. 858 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:00,240 So funny I'm rewatching. Breaking Bad. 859 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:01,640 And that's just so fucking funny. 860 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:05,640 Man. Well, that's about all I have 861 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:06,800 to. Say about count your blessings, 862 00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,360 wait, I think all life. Gain should be banned outside of 863 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:10,320 Earth. Oh. 864 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:13,920 Even Sigil Solace. Yep, everything that's 865 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:15,640 interesting. I think the. 866 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,200 Decks that have life gain should have life gain and every other 867 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,240 deck should fuck off until we get more support for it. 868 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:22,960 What about like, find us fighting spirit? 869 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,160 Where like, you have to have less life in order to gain life. 870 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,760 Yeah, all of it, all of it gone, I think. 871 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:30,160 I think live game. Might be the most toxic way to 872 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:32,280 play flesh and blood. It's the. 873 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,280 It's the. Defensive overlap, right, that 874 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,800 we were sort of talking about right before we went on hiatus. 875 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,800 Yeah, Like, yeah, they were, they were super conflicted about 876 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,040 this offensive overlap. And then they just like print a 877 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:44,520 card that has this massive defensive overlap where it's 878 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,720 like, oh, you didn't present 12 damage. 879 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,120 Well, I guess I'm just going to gain 8 life now. 880 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,120 And you're like I also. Think like just flush and blood 881 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,880 in general just hasn't been around long enough to kind of 882 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:02,680 develop it as a balanced play style and then develop relevant 883 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:06,000 counter strategies to it in the way that they've done for 884 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:08,560 blocking cards, like with the intensive values. 885 00:45:08,720 --> 00:45:11,360 And for that reason, all of it should just be gone. 886 00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,440 That you can, you know, design stuff freely as LSS. 887 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:15,760 Yeah. And James White. 888 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:18,520 Like literally said that in the ban and restricted when he was 889 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:21,480 like we're taking blue count your blessings off the market 890 00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:24,040 because flesh and blood doesn't have the counter play in order 891 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:25,680 to make this like healthy for the game. 892 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,720 And then he ended with a promise slash threat, which is that it 893 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:31,960 will come back someday once he feels like they're. 894 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:33,280 Where is that counter play in that? 895 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:35,480 Thanks for podding with me, boys. 896 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,560 Wait, Fuzzy signed the card? Oh yeah. 897 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,480 One for you and one for you. Thank you, Fuzzy. 898 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:45,520 Thank you, Fuzzy. Thanks for podding with me boys. 899 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,640 Woo, we're back. Hit him back on the menu. 900 00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:51,920 We are so fucking back. Until night time guys, bye. 901 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:11,000 Pitch it to Me podcast. Is hosted by Fuzzy Delp, Clark 902 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,480 Moore and Joel Racinos. Our executive producer is Talon 903 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,480 Stradley, logistics coordinator John Farkas. 904 00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:22,800 Music by Dylan Hulse, logo by Han V, and sound mixing by 905 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,760 Christopher Moore. Last but not least, we'd like to 906 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:28,400 thank you, the listener. Thank you for tuning in. 907 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,840 Please give us a follow on your favorite social media platform 908 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:47,120 at Pitch It to Me Podcast. Are you excited for Haunted? 909 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:51,560 No. That's just all Facade. 910 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,720 I feel like you and I are very similar in there, Joel, where 911 00:46:55,720 --> 00:46:58,560 you're like, oh, they're printing new Warrior cards, OK, 912 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:00,040 because. Every single. 913 00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:03,360 Time someone's like they're doing reprints see and see 914 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:07,680 reprint I'm like OK like I don't I'll believe it when I see it 915 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:10,480 yeah yeah, exactly we're. Very believe it when. 916 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:12,120 We see it I've. Been around the block. 917 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:14,400 I've heard these promises before. 918 00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,160 They're seen the spoilers before. 919 00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:16,440 Yep. Yeah. 920 00:47:18,240 --> 00:47:21,080 So yeah, it's like that line. From Avatar the Last Airbender, 921 00:47:21,240 --> 00:47:23,080 fear has replaced where trust should be. 922 00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:26,960 Where was I from? It's like Guru Patik. 923 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,320 Says that when Appa goes on his like little lost Appa journey. 924 00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:34,240 Oh yeah. That was a troubled time in my 925 00:47:34,240 --> 00:47:37,600 life watching that. That whole that whole season bro 926 00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:40,600 that arc was fucking. Raw it was, dude. 927 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:45,040 Like what the fuck this is a kid show also. 928 00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:47,760 Guru pati like. What an insightful asshole, 929 00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:50,240 right? Great character. 930 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:53,480 Whenever we talk about this, I have this image. 931 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:57,000 In my mind where somebody comes up to jump in turn comes up to 932 00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,000 James White and it's like James White drew my one the pro tour. 933 00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:03,720 She's rotating out like now and he's like, Oh no. 934 00:48:03,720 --> 00:48:06,640 But I committed to printing a new dust in this next 6 935 00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:11,640 expansions. This is going to look really 936 00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:14,560 silly for the next 678 expansions.