Greetings and salutations!! Welcome back once again to the #FABDad series, where we discuss not only how to play Flesh and Blood, but how to be able to play the game! The topic of this installment will be-

Getting the Most Out of Every Rep!

Over the course of this series, I’ve mentioned several broad things that we aspiring #FABDads can do to improve our gameplay. This time, I wanted to be a little more specific with tips and tricks that I’ve heard and am working at applying to my own FAB experience. First and foremost, there is a difference between sitting down wherever you’re able to get a game in and playing for enjoyment vs getting a rep in to improve your play.

As any regular at the local gym will tell you, getting results is less about doing the reps and more about doing them correctly. Repetitions are how we build or tone muscle and they are also how we build and sculpt our skill at Flesh and Blood. There are a few things that we can do to maximize our playtest time: take effective notes during testing, play with a specific goal in mind, and test thoroughly before making changes.

Am I Not Enjoying the Game Correctly? What’s Wrong With Playing For Fun?

Not a thing. James White created Flesh and Blood for those of us who want to have our local game store be that “third place” to go for mental stability and peace. Just showing up to jam some games with your friends is exactly what I believe the vision and mission of the game is supposed to be. However, if you’re preparing for an event above the Armory level, you’re going to want to get the most out of what limited time you might have to practice. Jamming games for fun during practice is not going to yield the same results at your targeted event as focused testing will. “Practice makes perfect” isn’t entirely true. “Perfect practice makes perfect,” is much more accurate.

“Perfect Practice?” How Does One Perfect Practice?

It starts with your mindset when you sit down for your testing session. If the goal for your time is testing/preparing for an event, you should approach the game with that goal firmly in mind. Winning a playtest game is less important than taking a lesson away from it. For convenience’s sake, I’m going to assume you’re mostly happy with your hero/deck and you’re testing individual cards for your expected metagame.

Make sure you communicate with whoever is sitting across from you for the session that you’ll be taking notes for playtest purposes if they aren’t a dedicated testing partner (if you’re trying to take notes during your local Armory, for example, respect your opponent and stop if its holding up your pace of play).

If you have the capability, recording your game play to review later is probably the most effective way to identify and correct mistakes you made during a game. If that’s not an option, then going slowly and taking effective notes on things like how your hands were structured as you draw them, what cards you usually block with, and what you’re most likely to play out is a good start (Talishar.net does most of that work for you if you’re able to use the site for playtesting).

Take your time on a turn-by-turn basis and document what actions you took on your turn and what sequence you took to play your hand out. The goal isn’t to get a lot of reps quickly, but getting the most out of what you’re able to get.

That Sounds Like a Lot of Work, But I’ll Try Anything to Get Better. What Else?

Play with a specific goal in mind for your testing session. What do you want to get out of this specific series of games? Is there a card that your theory crafting has determined to be broken in a certain matchup and you want to know for sure? Before you sit down to shuffle and present a deck to your testing partner, think about what you want to know by the time you stand up again. Do you want to understand your hero’s role in the match better? Are you trying to determine who is supposed to be going first in the match using your version of your deck? At the top of your page of notes, write down what your goal for the match is and try to put something down as an answer before you stand back up from your seat.

During your testing, playing with a focused goal will keep you on track to develop a game plan into matchups that you can hopefully replicate during competitive games. “Perfect practice” makes for perfect play because people will perform the same way they practice (muscle memory). If your testing is loose and unfocused, you’ll have a hard time keeping your competitive games tight and razor sharp.

Stay Focused, Take Notes, and Practice the Way I Want to Perform. Got It.

The last thing I want to touch on this week is making sure you have a good sample size before making deck or strategy changes. Flesh and Blood is one of the lowest variance card games I’ve played, but variance is still a thing that you have to account for while testing. One or two games using a configuration of cards is not an accurate or fair test of how they’re going to perform for you over a longer stretch of time (or over the course of an event). Make each change to your deck or any changes to your game plan into a matchup only after playing enough games to feel confident that you’re correct. I wouldn’t recommend less than 3-5 testing focused games per individual change you make and it should probably be closer to around 8-10 if you want to be certain of a card’s efficacy. Remember, when you make those adjustments, try to only do so one at a time.

As a #FABDad, I understand that time is a precious resource. You can’t always be meticulous with your games, and you must make the best of what you’re able to do. But by improving the way you approach your testing, you’ll greatly improve your competitive performance. Champions aren’t made in the arena after all, they’re made on the training ground.

What testing methods are you using now? Do you have any tips and tricks for playtesting that you’d like to share? I’m still learning myself and I love new ideas, especially when they work! Any insights into perfecting the testing process are more than welcome, so feel free to find me on Discord or Twitter as Dracohominis87!

Donnie K.

Donnie is an enthusiastic nerd and family man who grew up playing TCGs, starting when Pokemon cards were the hottest thing on the playground. After playing Yu-gi-oh and then Magic the Gathering for years, he found Flesh and Blood in December of '22, sold all of his other pretty cardboard rectangles, and dived into FAB head first where he discovered a deep love for go-wide strategies involving the use of Ninja cards. Be Like Water is his current favorite card, because he gets to do a terrible Bruce Lee impression every time it's played. (Much to the annoyance of his brother who hears it a lot.) Donnie has been married to his lovely wife since Halloween 2008 and has two beautiful daughters that he couldn't be more proud of.