Greetings and salutations once again my fabulous FAB folks! Welcome to another coverage review article here on FABREC! I’m Donnie K, aka some random #fabdad/shameless Nuu fanboy, and today, we’re looking at the coverage brought to us from Calling: Tokyo at the Part the Mistveil (MST) World Premiere!

First, a disclaimer- Due to issues surrounding the casting on Day One, the live stream was taken down and, as of the time of writing, we have no coverage available to view from the Sealed portion of the event. Be that as it may, we do still have coverage from Day Two, so we’re going to look at the amazing games from the last half of the event and the Top 8, along with the normal numbers/stats compiled from the live blog. (The final game was incredible!!)

Parting the Veil in Tokyo!

The coverage from Calling: Tokyo came to us from the Brutes over at Savage Feats through the official Flesh and Blood YouTube channel. As always, the stream quality and audio were superb. I’ve said it a few times now, but Savage Feats really has set the standard for what good FAB coverage should look like. (And a quick shout out, thank you for the time stamps!!)

The casting team saw a necessary change from Day One to Day Two, and that is the reason why there isn’t coverage for the Sealed portion. There is an official statement from James White on the FABTCG channel, so I’m not going to rehash it here.

For the portion of the event that we’re here to talk about, Yui Tokiwa, Elliot Tan, and Matt Rogers were the on-camera team. The enthusiasm they shared for the game translated well, and made the event even better. They managed to take the hype for the event to an even higher level with their play-by-plays and excitement, so thank you to the casting team as well. (Especially Yui, who spent the whole weekend casting in a language that she wasn’t completely fluent in. That took a lot of courage, and she nailed it.)

Calling: Tokyo itself consisted of eight rounds of Part the Mistveil Sealed on Day One, then six rounds of Part the Mistveil Draft on Day Two. The Top 8 cut was a final pod of MST Draft. Considering how quickly most of the feature matches were over, it was awesome seeing all the extra content that went into keeping the stream entertaining. Now, let’s talk about the numbers, shall we?

The Numbers We Always Want to Know…

Day One

For the very first Calling ever held on Japanese soil, 550 players showed up to play. During the Sealed portion, 229 players registered Nuu as their champion, 220 chose Zen, and only 100 were brave enough to put test the waters with Enigma. (I’m assuming one person from the Calling never bothered to register their hero. Shame on them for messing up the totals.)

Day Two

On Day Two, 72 competitors returned for the Draft portion of the event thanks to their display of prowess in Sealed. The Mystic Ninja led the field in number of conversions from Day One with 36 people making it to the Draft with Zen. (That’s exactly half of the Day Two field who played Zen the day before.) Enigma tied with Zen on total percentage, but was behind Nuu for total pilots to make the cut. Is this an indication that Zen is the best MST Sealed hero? Or just the most consistent to choose with such limited experience in a new Limited format? We’ll have to see as the format develops.

Top 8 Cut

The final cut to the elimination rounds saw a few familiar faces, along with a few who aren’t as well known on this side of the world. (But hopefully will be soon!) I’ve listed them below, with the heroes that they drafted in the Top 8. The final draft pod consisted of three Nuu, three Zen, and two Enigma pilots.

1. Ryosuke Urase – Nuu (Japan)
2. Tansei Hiroyuki – Nuu (Japan)
3. Michael Feng – Enigma (USA)
4. Oh Oh – Zen (Taiwan)
5. Yoshiki Mizutani – Zen (Japan)
6. Brodie Spurlock – Nuu (USA)
7. Shu Murashima – Zen (Japan)
8. Peter Ward – Enigma (UK)

Feature Match Highlights

Day Two – 6 Rounds MST Draft

Round Nine – Lee Ming-Han (Zen) vs Haruka Sonada (Enigma)

The first round of Day Two featured the only two undefeated players left from Day One. Lee Ming-Han was sporting Rathe’s newest Ninja, Zen, while Haruka Sonoda had found their way into an Enigma seat at the Draft table. Both players had only picked up two pieces of gear while drafting and Zen started the game off with a swing of the Tiger Taming Khakkara for two. Haruka blocked and before the turn ended, played out a Waxing Specter, hoping for an easy setup. Lee was having none of that and punished the greedy Illusionist with a Battlefront Bastion, trading his opportunity to arsenal for guaranteed damage. Haruka transcended Homage to Ancestors in response, gaining a life but starting the game at 15, then pitched it to make a Spectral Shield.

The next several turns, Haruka did a solid job of defending the lone Spectral Shield that he used to whittle away at Lee. Lee effectively used his life total as a resource though, and kept big hands to keep the pressure up. For a moment, it looked like Haruka was going to establish the Illusionists’ trademarked overwhelming board, but Zen was relentless. Eventually, the auras couldn’t fend off the claws and Lee walked away as the last undefeated player in the event.

Round Thirteen – Tansei Hiroyuki (Nuu) vs Nick Butcher (Zen)

Two national champions met in Round 13. Tansei Hiroyuki and Nuu faced off against Nick Butcher with Zen, Nick fighting for his tournament life with three losses already. While winning wouldn’t guarantee him a spot in the final rounds, a loss spelled doom. Tansei didn’t have the same specter hanging over his head though, with only two losses in the previous 12 rounds.

This was a blink-and-you-miss-it style game. The first few turns were more or less routine as both players traded blows, but Tansei seemed to have the upper hand. Nick kept four cards and an arsenal, going down to nine after a Fact-Finding Mission, but was only able to deal four damage to Tansei. Tansei on the other hand kept a full set of cards and sent back a Double Trouble. Zen blocked with two cards for five total, then immediately lost the game in the reaction step.

Tansei transcended a Path Well Traveled and pitched it to play Tide Chakra for an extra three attack points. Then, two Venomous Bites followed, along with the two Fang Strikes they created buffing the Double Trouble another eight points. With the buff Double Trouble gives itself, that’s a total of 14 points over five block, dealing nine. Total game time? Six minutes, 27 seconds.

Top 8 Elimination – MST Draft

Quarterfinals – Ryosuke Urase (Nuu) vs Michael Feng (Enigma)

Where that last game was over in a flash, this one was a master class of long-term intensity. Ryosuke Urase on Nuu was paired into Michael Feng on Enigma, with Ryosuke having the choice of who started the game. Michael started things off with a Vengeful Apparition and developed his first Spectral Shield with a counter, but didn’t attack. It immediately popped to “block” a swing of the Beckoning Mistblade on Ryosuke’s turn. He decided not to block the red Double Trouble though, and ate eight damage after Ryosuke pumped it with a Venomous Bite.

The ebbs and flows of Enigma and her Spectral Shields are as treacherous as the ocean waves, and Michael managed to whittle Ryosuke down little by little. When Nuu was finally forced to give up two cards every turn to the constant pressure from Enigma’s auras, the game slipped beyond the reach of the Mystic Assassin. Thanks to his masterful play, Michael Feng and Enigma advanced to the semifinals.

Elsewhere in the Top 8, Peter Ward/Enigma defeated Tansei Hiroyuki/Nuu, Yoshiki Mizutani/Zen beat Brodie Spurlock/Nuu, and Oh Oh/Zen won the mirror match against Shu Murashima/Zen.

Semifinals – Oh Oh (Zen) vs Yoshiki Mizutani (Zen)

For the second time in the Top 8, Oh Oh found himself in a Zen mirror match, this time against Yoshiki Mizutani. The judge had Yoshiki remove the, admittedly awesome, dog mask he started the game wearing, and the action commenced. Yoshiki started off with a yellow Flex Claws and a weapon swing, just testing to see if Oh would let anything through. He didn’t, and on his turn, started with a Harmony of the Hunt, creating the first of the many Crouching Tigers of the game.

On Oh’s turn two, Yoshiki had drawn three Transcend cards and quickly found himself in the single digits. He managed to string together a decent turn after, but Oh smelled blood. Oh kept his full hand, punishing Yoshiki again on his next turn to the tune of lethal damage with The Weakest Link. With that, the last hope of Japan keeping the Calling: Tokyo trophy in the country faded away.

In the other semifinal game, Michael Feng/Enigma eliminated Peter Ward/Enigma, moving on to face Oh Oh in the finals.

Finals – Michael Feng (Enigma) vs Oh Oh (Zen)

The final game of Calling: Tokyo featured international globe trotter Michael Feng and Enigma up against Oh Oh on Zen. As the higher seed, Michael had the choice of who started the game and chose to play second. Battlefront Bastion set up some solid defense, but Zen gave the Illusionist no room to develop auras on turn zero by going four chain links wide and still keeping a card back to arsenal. On Michael’s first turn, he managed to swing a blue Battlefront Bastion with go again thanks to Path Well Traveled, a Spectral Shield with a counter, and then set up a Vengeful Apparition. Not bad.

Back and forth, back and forth, the life totals swung and tempo changed hands. Until the final turns, no one could have predicted the winner with any kind of confidence. With two Spectral Shields up and only two life points remaining, Michael Feng found a hand with nothing but Inner Chi. Zen is more than capable of tearing through two measly little shields, so it didn’t take long for Michael to extend the handshake.

Oh Oh from Taiwan claimed victory at Calling Tokyo with Zen!

Final Thoughts

I love this game. The creation of Flesh and Blood has brought so much joy and excitement into my life. Even watching events like the Part the Mistveil World Premiere from the other side of the planet doesn’t diminish it. I could only have been happier if I’d been there myself to see it in person. This stream was the next best thing to actually being there. The games were exciting and the new cards have the whole world buzzing. Legend Story Studios crushed this release. Savage Feats and the Day Two casters crushed the live coverage. And Oh Oh crushed the competition.

Now, I’m off to keep brewing with all the new toys James White gave us. Have fun doing the same!

What was your favorite moment from Calling: Tokyo? Which one of the new heroes are you most excited for? (And why is/isn’t it Nuu?) Which hero do you think is going to be the scariest to face in Classic Constructed? Do you want to listen to my buddies and I gush about everything MST related? Check out our podcast and join The Cult of Nuu on Discord to let me know!

Part the Mistveil Set Reviews:

Part the Mistveil Review – Expansion Slot

Part the Mistveil Review – Assassin

Part the Mistveil Review – Ninja & Generic

Part the Mistveil Review – Illusionist