(Meganetic Shockwave | Art by Sam Yang)

Flesh and Blood is full of incredible characters with established fantasy archetypes. Bold knights, dangerous magicians, and those who blend the arcane and the blade.
One area on the map of the known world of Rathe stands out: Metrix and the Pits. Breaking beyond other fantasy tropes, Metrix has incredible technological advancements, including long-distance communication within the city, plasma weaponry, and even mechs.

Mechanologists are described as “believers, above all else, that human ingenuity alone will lead to a better tomorrow.” Not gods. Not magic. Not the secrets hidden in the Demonestary nor the ancients of old. No, the future depends on the minds of humanity and their inventions.

So, any human? How about a wayfinder from Aria, a warrior from the Savage Lands, or a ninja from Misteria? Can they utilize the technological advancements from the “City of Tomorrow?”

The Mechanologist Theory

One theory from the earlier days of Flesh and Blood states that this could be the case. As expertly outlined by the editor of our friends over at The Rathe Times, Alex Truell describes the Mechanologist Theory as the fascinating idea that Mechanologist may be a talent instead of a class.

Typically, a hero’s border art reflects where they’re from. You can see above how Dorinthea‘s border does not match the border of Warrior cards like Ironsong Determination.

Where a hero is from usually gives us an idea of the talents from that area. For example, Dorinthea, Boltyn, and Prism all share the border of Solana and all Light talent cards.

But what about Mechanologists?

It appears the Metrixian border art from the city’s heroes is also used on the other Mechanologist action and reaction cards.

Dual Class or Talent

If this theory is true, we could see a future of Mech-Warriors, gadget-fitted Rangers, biologicially-enhanced Brutes, and more. I wrote about the possibility of a Batman-like character that would be a Mechanologist-infused Azaela before. With cards like Optekal Monocle and Zoom In to assist with Opting cards, Mech-Rangers could find the arrows they need for any given situation.

Mechanologist being a talent would be quite an evolution in deck building for Flesh and Blood. It would revitalize whole swaths of the non-rotating card pool. As we learn how Metrix is involved in the war for the dawn, we could see tech from the city arriving all over Rathe (just as the Hanabi Blaster was gifted to the Emperor, Dracai of Aesir in Volcor).

In the game, this tech could be how LSS grants us dual-class characters or Mechanologist-talented heroes.

About That New Mechanologist Border

In case you missed it, the Mechanologist preview cards from Bright Lights have a new border on them.

What does this mean?

One possible answer is that LSS is correcting their mistake from Arcane Rising when they made the Metrix border (Dash) the same as the Mechanologist class border (Powder Keg). If this is the case, then the theory dies.

Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate shares the same border as Data Doll MKII and Dash, so that should hold as the Metrixian border. So the only other possibility for these new bordered cards is that they reflect an aspect (Essence) of the Mechanologist class/talent – Evos.

Metrixian Mobile Suit Evos

In Tales of Aria, LSS introduced the Elemental talent. Unlike Light and Shadow from Monarch, Elemental heroes harnessed one, two, or three revealed essences: Earth, Ice, or Lightning.

Bright Lights is our first set exclusively from Metrix. While there’s still a chance that a talent from the City of the Future could be revealed, I don’t think it’s likely in what is marketed as a gateway-sealed product for new players.

With the new Crack, Shuffle, Play format, playing Flesh and Blood with Bright Lights can be as easy as opening three booster packs, selecting a hero, choosing a weapon, and playing. This method simply wouldn’t work if some of the heroes were from other classes or had a different talent.

Therefore, I think the new border is there just to tell us that these cards are for the Evo archetype, not all Mechanologist decks to consider. Additional Mechanolgist aspects that we could see borne out through Bright Lights or future expansions are teased on the Metrix lore page – biomancy and alchemy.

Wrap Up

Metrix is hiding many secrets for the lore to unfold and for the cards to explore. Mechanolgist may be a talent or a unique class. Either way, grab your tenatan ore (my current pick for the set’s Fable), steer clear of the Gigadrill Elevator, and suit up; we’ve got games to play.

Tommy Mains

Tommy Mains is a long-time tabletop gamer. He fell in love with Flesh and Blood's thematic gameplay and expansive lore. Find more of him on YouTube — @fleshandbloodbrothers.