Storm Gate Games

The Ideal TCG Ecosystem

Flesh and Blood cards are a beautiful thing, but given time you’ll definitely find yourself swamped by a deluge of Rares and Majestics that’ll force you to store your extras away in an album or box at home.

Why do we hold on to these cards? At the heart of it, it all comes down to uncertainty. Most of the time, it’s because we believe that we might choose to play a different hero in the future and we just don’t want the regret of parting with our cards based on a what-if scenario. This fear of missing out unfortunately can stunt the growth of Flesh and Blood. How is that so? Read on to find out.

As FAB is a relatively new entrant into the TCG market, the game requires a lot of help from the community to ensure its success. Here are some ways you can help the game grow by sharing, trading or selling the extra cards that you don’t really need.

A Balanced Ecosystem

To thrive, every TCG (FAB included) needs a healthy ecosystem that is made up of 3 components:

The Collectors

Collectors are folks who enjoy cracking packs & boxes with the goal of hunting for the rarest cards; which in the case of FAB are the Fables & Legendaries.

Collectors then put the bulk their cards up for sale which includes Rares, alongside any extra Majestics & Legendaries which allows them to offset future purchases as they continue their hunt.

The Store

As a result of these Collectors, your Local Game Store is now able to supply the community with the singles that you need for play.

This benefits the majority of players who aren’t as keen on testing their luck in cracking packs or boxes.

The Players

This constitutes the majority of the community collects the cards and plays the game.

Some level of pack & box openings are by the average player is still needed cos’ every little bit helps your favourite LGS to continue to support the community.

These 3 components form a trinity that allows a TCG like Flesh and Blood to continue to thrive. An imbalance in any one of these components could result in the death of a TCG.

Trade or Sell Your Extras

Learning to let go of your cards is a good thing as it will really help the growth of Flesh and Blood. It’s a good habit to get involved in trading or selling your cards so that new players can upgrade their decks which in turn also enriches player diversity. By making these connections you’ll in turn also be able to get the cards you need by having a wider pool of friends!

When we create an environment where cards are actively traded/sold; everyone wins! Trust us, you will not be using every card in your collection and you’d be much better off passing them on to someone else with the added benefit of recovering funds to fuel your TCG journey.

Selling Cards to Your LGS at a Discount

This unfortunately is an uncommon practice in Malaysia but is prevalent culture overseas where it is common practice for an LGS to buy cards from players at a discount.

LGSes in the U.S. & Europe offer players a service where they buy cards off them at a discounted price (usually between 30% to 70% of the card value).

Why should you sell your cards to an LGS below market rate? Here’s why.

01 LGSes are a Business First and Foremost

A business needs to turn a profit and like any other business an LGS has bills to pay so they can keep the lights on and the doors open.

LGS owners need to earn a living to put a roof over the heads and to feed their families too!

02 LGSes Take a Risk Buying Your Cards

When an LGS buys a card from players, players are often offered cash or store credit upfront. You as a player enjoys immediate monetary benefits whilst the LGS takes on all the risk in selling your cards to potential buyers.

Sometimes, it takes months for some cards to be sold; more so if they aren’t popular in the current meta. This means that LGS operators will have their funds tied up for an extended period which is a business risk.

03 An LGS Mitigates Your Risk & Shields You from Hassle

Most of the time, players feel that it is unfair that they aren’t getting the highest value by selling their cards to a store at a discount.

In an ideal world, it’d be easy to find buyers for our cards but this isn’t usually the case. Liquidating your cards could end up being a huge hassle especially if you have a lot of cards to let go of.

Selling your cards on the open market also has its fair share of risks such as:

Dealing with fussy buyers who will take up a lot of your time before committing to a purchase
Encountering buyers who end up not honouring prices that were agreed upon prior to meeting
Low-ballers
Taking on shipping risks such as card damage and dishonest buyers.

For e.g. untrustworthy buyers might claim that they have not received your cards or they might also claim that said cards were damaged in transit; leading to them demanding some form of compensation

By selling your cards to a LGS at a discount you are actually removing yourself from any hassle & problems as the transaction with your LGS is straightforward and fuss-free. In doing so you are also directly contributing to the growth of the game as players can easily pop in to their favourite stores to get the cards that they need.

As a bonus here are some guidelines when you can follow should you choose to sell your cards to an LGS.

Be aware you that will not be getting 100% market value for your cards
Please separate out your Fables, Legendaries, Majestics and Rares prior to your visit to a store
Rares are usually sold at a bulk rate at USD 40 for 1,000 Rares so don’t be shocked should this happen

A healthy ecosystem is a major win for a brand new game like Flesh and Blood, so whatcha waitin’ for? Dust off your extras and drop by an LGS near you to see if they’d be cool to take some of these cards off your hands!

Till next time, happy hobbying!

KT Spec Ops Season 1: Update 02

Mission update.

Planet Nightfall. Sporadic transmissions have been received from the planet’s surface and our Phobos units have rendezvoused with a crack team of Adeptus Mechanicus operatives.

Later transmissions indicate that the planet could be a Necron Tomb World. A horde of Necrons emerged from the Green Skin ruins that in an attempt to halt the retrieval of the artifacts.

A fierce fire fight was reported and our Phobos brothers were instrumental in warding off the Necron horde. Skitarii tech signatures and heavy plasma discharges were also detected at the site of the Ork ruins. Attempts were made to communicate with the site but we have yet to receive any responses from the either team.

Latest scans indicate that the Necron threat has been temporarily abated but planetwide readings are showing signs that the Tomb World is awakening.

Command, if we are to quell the growing presence of the Necrons in the sector we will have to undertake extreme measures. We are requesting the sanctioning of an Exterminatus Order. The fleet is on standby.

End transmission.

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KT Spec Ops Season 1: Update 01

Mission update.

Planet Nightfall. Our last report from the planet’s surface indicated the presence of 3 other Kill Teams operating in the sector. The heretic Thousand Sons, a mixed band of Chaos Legionaires who early sightings seem to indicate the Alpha Legion are in the sector. A squad of Kriegsmen who happened to detect the signals from the planet have also been sighted.

Scattered transmissions from the planet have indicated that our Phobos Marines were successful in fending off a band of Chaos Legionnaries. The Heretic Astartes were in the midst of securing data from a downed scouting party when our troops encountered them. The heretics have since retreated and are being tracked.

We also intercepted transmissions from the Thousand Sons Warp Coven that are operating on the planet. Unfortunately, the Kriegsmen have taken a pounding and are in retreat. The blasted heretics have secured relics which reports indicate could be related to the jamming that blankets the planet.

We await further instruction. Command, do advise.

End transmission.

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5 Tips to Playing Fai, Rising Rebellion

We’ve been having some hands-on with the new hero Fai and having a blast! Fai is an easy-to-learn hero with very clear combo lines; which is great for new players who are just getting into Flesh and Blood.

Here are 5 tips to help those of you keen on the hero to hit the ground running piloting this hyper aggressive character:

Fai is all about Draconic chain links; an average play line should allow you to get at least 3 attacks off; if your hand doesn’t allow for that, then consider using the cards in that hand for defense
Getting up to 3 Draconic chain links is critical as it allows you to retrieve a Phoenix Flame from the graveyard which is perfect for chip damage assuming your opponent blocks prior attacks

Fai’s default weapon: Searing Emberblade

Use Searing Emberblade in your play line; Fai’s weapon really helps you to work your way up to having 4 Draconic chain links in your turn
Offense is the best defense! With Fai, be aggressive; the moment you are defensive you lose momentum with the character

Cards that gain effects on the 4th Draconic Chain Link are critical

Try to sink your cards that have the Rupture effect for late game. Cards such as Rise Up will allow you to close up games with effects such as Dominate

Hope these simple tips help! In the meantime happy hobbying and have an awesome one this week!

The Do’s & Don’ts of Getting into FAB (Part 2)

Hi everyone!

Here’s Part 2 in our Do’s & Don’ts series about getting into FAB.

A New Player’s Experience After Buying Some Box Sets, Singles and Playing Draft

By Anonymous

Hi everyone!

Picking up from where we left off in the first part of the series. Here are a few more things to help peeps who are keen on Flesh and Blood to get started.

Buying Singles

If you already have a build in mind, buying singles will always give you the best bang for your buck. Unfortunately this is only possible if the cards you need are available on the secondary market. As a new player it was hard for me to find Out of Print (OOP) staples to build a competitive deck plus staples can be EXPENSIVE!

Thankfully, Legend Story Studios (LSS) recently released History Pack 1 which contains booster packs that contain cards from Welcome to Rathe, Arcane Rising & Crucible of War. History Pack 1 is a more affordable way to get your hands on such staples. You may have to spend a bit to get what you want, but that’s part of the fun of a TCG; packs cracking! Yeah!

As the Flesh and Blood is class-based, new players would find themselves locked out from some heroes and classes as some them are from sets such as Welcome to Rathe & Arcane Rising; which is where History Pack 1 comes in. Cracking packs from History Pack 1 is great way to build your collection in order to play some of the older heroes & classes.

Contributing to the Ecosystem

You can also opt to buy or trade cards from other members of your local community as they become available. It is really in the best interest of the FAB community to work together to grow a healthy base of new players & case/box crackers. A healthy ecosystem ensures that players can purchase or trade with other players to get the cards that they need/want.

LSS is also trying their best to reintroduce older classes through products such as the recent “Classic Battles: Rhinar vs Dorinthea” dual deck set.

Going Competitive

If you want to get competitive as a new player locating OOP staple cards is going to be a challenge plus it can get expensive as veterans & other competitive players will be looking for those cards. Older Legendary equipment and OOP class-specific cards are very sought after hence the price!

Here are some super useful cards that you should look out for as a new player:

Enlightened Strike
Command and Conquer
Art of War

Most Local Game Stores (LGS) host Classic Constructed games in events for their weekly Armouries which makes it even harder for new players get into the game. Finding a store that supports beginner-friendly formats such as Commoner is a must if you want to ease into the game and just have a fun time. Alternatively participating in Blitz is also a great way to get into the game and to gain experience facing-off against other heroes.

If you really want to go competitive be prepared to spend! To prepare for the competitive scene, it’d be best if you could proxy cards such as Fyendal’s Spring Tunic, etc. so you can get used to the style of play using such cards. Finding a store that supports proxying in local games really helps you to learn the nuances of the game. Proxying only buys you some time though, because to compete at a higher level of play it’s only fair that you own and run the actual cards.

Sourcing for these cards takes both time & money but that’s exactly what’s fun about the hobby. Cracking packs and meeting other members of the FAB community as scour the secondary market is very rewarding. Nothing quite beats the feeling of securing a Legendary from a random pack & meeting new friends.

That’s all for now. Tune in for Part 3 which hopefully will be done soon.

See ya guys soon!

The Do’s & Don’ts of Getting into FAB (Part 1)

Hi everyone!

A member of our community wrote this piece which we’ve edited and spruced up and are happy to share with everyone. Have a read!

A New Player’s Experience After Buying Some Box Sets, Singles and Playing Draft

By Anonymous

I got into Flesh and Blood (FAB) at the start of April 2022 and got hooked by the beautiful cards and addictive gameplay. Here are some of the things that got me interested in FAB:

The classes look like they come out of an RPG
In the gameplay, the heroes engage in heated battles by playing attack and defense cards just like a fighting game
The combat system is very unique & intricate; which is very different from other games such as Magic The Gathering, Hearthstone and other popular card game systems

But I digress, I’m writing this piece not to sell you on Flesh and Blood but this series of articles is about my experience throughout the course of buying booster boxes, cases and singles over the short span of time I’ve been in the hobby.

TCGs cost a bomb and can be a big money sink. It’s not for the faint-hearted but FAB has amazing art and gameplay which reallly makes me excited!

Anyways, as I started to get into the game I bought one box from currents sets and even tried to source for older out-of-print sets such as Welcome to Rathe, Arcane Rising and Crucible of War. The reason went down this route is because I wanted to experience the cards that each set had to offer and to see if i could use them in my deck builds. I thought it’d be easy to own decks for every character & class so I could try out all the heroes but quickly discovered that FAB is not like Magic The Gathering which allows you to build a deck as long as you can resource the right coloured mana.

Here are some things to consider if you’re just getting into the game.

Starting Out

Most people will first get into the game with a pre-con Blitz Deck featuring a hero and start out by learning the game first. I recommend starting slow and buy packs from the box sets that are specific to your hero. The game is character & classed based so it’s always good to purchase booster packs from sets that your hero originates from. I made the mistake of buying stuff from every set available.

Decking Out for Classic Constructed

If you are pick up an entire box of booster packs, you will never have enough cards to build a deck for both Classic Constructed (CC) or Blitz. Why? The reason is simple, when you purchase an entire box of boosters or when you crack packs, you’ll end up owning a bunch of Majestics & Rares that are scattered across different heroes & classes, and you will never have enough to build a deck for either formats.

The count of Majestics in a box of booster packs range between 7 to 9+ Majestics. A case contains 4 boxes of booster packs, 1 box contains 24 packs. Even if you purchase a case of FAB, you might not be able to amass enough cards to assemble a play set of 2 to 3 named cards to build a Blitz or CC deck. You most likely would have to purchase singles off the secondary market to complete your build.

Legendary Equipment

In most published builds, Legendary equipment are needed in order to be competitive and aqcuiring such cards can be tough! Legendary drops range from 2 to 0 drops in a case of Flesh and Blood booster packs. It is more likely a case would contain 1 Legendary drop but there are instances where a case can be duds.

Case Breaks

Participating in a case break by class that is organised by your local game store is the best way for a new player to acquire the many Majestic, Rare and Common cards that are needed to form playsets for your hero. Check out this video if you aren’t sure what a Case Break is.

I’ll stop here right now as the post is getting a little too lengthy; tune in next week for Part 2!

Army Familiarity

After a super quiet lull over Ramadhan and Hari Raya here in Malaysia, some Kill Team games have finally started happening in the store and as such I’ve been personally focused on playing with my Plague Marines against a good friend who has been coming to support the store.

Focusing on one particular faction has been good as we’re having much more fun with the game and I’m doing better at gaining Victory Points whilst taking full advantage of the strengths of the Death Guard as such I’m able to make full use of Disgusting Resilience which makes them really tough to kill.

Key to each faction is the use of Strategic Ploys and Tactical Ploys and as such I’m able to do better in games by spending Command Points to utilise these two devastating ploys:

Malicious Volley
Hateful Assault

I have yet to use Tactical Ploys properly and I think I would have done better in last weekend’s game if I had used them which could’ve turned the tide of the game. The deciding factor in last weekend’s game was probably my lack of use of Tactical Ploys such as Effluent Demise which would have weakened the Heavy Intercessors even after taking out my guys pluys Revolting Durability & Dig In which would have lessened the damage & toughened my Plague Marines. That being said; kudos to my buddy Tabah who played to the objective of the mission which was to plant bombs on a key structure that I was defending.

A Dark Angel Heavy Intercessor Surrounded!

I guess the point I’m trying to make in today’s post is that it’s actually a good thing to consistently play with one army similar to how one would focus on one hero in a TCG like Flesh and Blood. The experience build up makes for more fun games and increases your odds of winning. Thankfully Warhammer games are a lot less tense compared to a TCG which is a breath of fresh air as I’ve been playing a lot of Flesh and Blood these days.

In my next game of Kill Team, I think it’s time we started taking additional equipment along to add my spice to our games. Am looking very much forward to this weekend! Plus I think it’d be good to start a campaign and experience something that a bit more of a narrative in order to have a more fun Kill Team experience.

As an asides, if any of you are free this weekend; do swing by Nexus International School this Saturday, 28th May from 10am till 2pm for Warhammer Marketplace; a swap meet fund raiser organised by the Warhammer Alliance Club.

Swing by to try out Kill Team and also Flesh And Blood plus there’ll be second-hand Warhammer & assorted hobbying booths set up during the event. Hope to see some of you there!

Till next time, happy hobbying!

Deck Building Lessons From Draft

I had my first Booster Draft experience a couple of weekends ago and I walked away with some valuable lessons that helped me to build a deck list of my own for Young Oldhim which I am particularly proud of.

Here are 3 lessons I learnt from FAB Booster Draft. Enjoy!

Lesson 1

Read the card descriptions. I know it sounds basic but spending time reading card descriptions will help you to figure out the synergies that are possible and come up with your own combos.

Lesson 2

Playing Draft forced me to pay more attention to the cards I had gathered which allowed me to discover little combos that I could pull off. That gave me the confidence to create my own deck build for Young Oldhim based on the combos that I developed during my Booster Draft experience.

Lesson 3

Have a theme for your deck build. When I played Draft one of the key things that I realised some of Guardian cards in Tales of Aria could do was to be imbued with Dominate through fusion or by playing a set-up card in your previous turn. The experience prompted me to build a Commoner deck for Blitz that does exactly that. Dominate!

Have a look at the deck build here and I hope this post encourages everyone to build their own lists rather than just copy one off the Internet. It is a satisfying feeling to defeat someone especially if the build is your own.

Till next time, happy hobbying!

FAB Booster Draft Basics & Tips

We recently organised a Booster Draft Armory and cracked a box of Tales of Aria in the store which was shared out between 8 people. In case you haven’t played Draft before here’s what happens:

Each person gets 3 packs each
The first pack is opened and Tokens are pooled
Then each person picks one card before passing the remainder cards to the person on the left; cards are placed face down
This goes on till all the cards have been picked out
Pack two is opened and the same thing happens except this time the remainder cards are circled to the person on the right
Once all the cards from pack two have been distributed out then all players get some time to look at the cards they have collected so far to determine which character they want to play
The final pack is then opened and the cards are then circled to the person on the left
Once all packs have been opened everyone is given an opportunity to assemble their decks with a minimum of 30 cards
Tokens from the pool are distributed with additional Character Tokens provided by the store if needed

For more detailed instructions as to how Booster Draft is played; check out the Official FAB website here.

As it was my first time playing Booster Draft it was quite an experience so here are 3 tips for beginners.

Generic cards first

Take the Generic / Element type cards first so you’ll have useable cards regardless of what Character you end up picking

When do I specialise?

You can start specialising cards early if you’re fairly certain from the get go what Character you’d be piloting. If not, specialisation can happen when pack two is being circulated.

Deny your opponents

Sometimes; taking that Majestic or Rare card is a good idea even if you don’t need it as taking possession of said cards denies your opponents powerful cards to use against you (plus it doesn’t hurt that you add a powerful card to your own collection). Also, if you understand how other Characters work it makes sense to take even the Common cards that’d give your opponents an advantage. For e.g. Ball Lightning is a pretty powerful card and denying a Briar or Lexi player of that card could be instrumental in your strategy.

All in all it was a fun experience and one that I’d definitely take part in again. Also, the experienced thought me some fundamentals that allowed me to build a deck list of my own for Blitz which I am particularly proud of. Look out for a future post on it.

Till next time, happy hobbying!

Getting Started with TCGs

If you’re an old hand at Trading Card Games, then this post isn’t for you; BUT if you haven’t given the likes of Magic the Gathering or Pokemon a try then you’ve tuned in to the right place.

I got into Flesh and Blood somewhere in January 2022; which is a fairly new entrant in the TCG space. The cards are beautiful and the game is really enjoyable; which when compared to Warhammer is more pick up and play. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve stopped painting my minis (partly due to the fact that I just recently opened my own small business) but I digress… this being my first TCG it was a little daunting at first so here are a few tips if you want to get into a TCG like Flesh and Blood.

Tip 1: Pick up a starter deck

Flesh and Blood – Tales of Aria Blitz Starter Decks

Most TCGs have some form of starter kit that will give you a set of cards which is ready to play right out of the box. Flesh and Blood for example has Blitz starter decks which are perfect to learn the game. Magic The Gathering’s Commander format also has pre-configured starters in the form of Commander Decks.

Tip 2: Find a community that is beginner-friendly

One of the pitfalls of getting into TCGs is that veterans tend to be not so beginner-friendly largely because the community likes to flex with all their powerful & rare cards. It’s a big plus to settle in a store that promotes new player-friendly activities that are more casual which is something that the Storm Gate team is trying really hard to achieve in our community.

Tip 3: Play more games with your starter deck

I made the mistake of jumping in too quickly and started picking up boosters fairly early and added them to my collection which changed the composition of my Flesh and Blood Blitz Starter Decks. Whilst it’s fun to crack open boosters; it’s always good to hold off on reconfiguring your deck build so you can learn how to play the deck you bought first. TCGs have various mechanics and in some cases like Flesh and Blood; every hero has unique mechanics and types of cards that you’ll need to learn. Which is why it is important to play with others who can accommodate more basic decks.

Tip 4: Get into deck-building last

Configuring your deck and building your deck list is probably one of the more interesting aspect to the hobby but also the most difficult. Placing cards into your deck requires more familiarity with your own particular deck & hero’s mechanics. Swapping cards in and out willy nilly can result in a deck that doesn’t work hence why it is good to actually copy deck lists online first before you attempt to create your own deck list. Playing with a deck that doesn’t work isn’t fun unless your opponent is kind cos’ if you play against an unforgiving opponent it’s going to be a not-so-fun time. Heh!

That’s all from me. I hope I can find time to write more about my personal journey into TCGs. If anyone is keen to learn more about Flesh and Blood or experience the game swing by the store in Setia Alam.

Till next time, happy hobbying!