{"id":1209,"date":"2023-08-02T06:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T10:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2023-08-01T21:51:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T01:51:41","slug":"armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-birmingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Armchair Quarterback- A #FABDad&#8217;s Review of Calling: Birmingham!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings and salutations once again my fabulous FAB friends! Today we&#8217;re going to try something a little different by playing Armchair Quarterback and taking a look at the competitive side of what we saw from Calling: Birmingham this past weekend. Fair warning though, I&#8217;m just a humble #FABDad and the opinions you&#8217;re about to read may be a little biased towards some heroes more than others. (Love Ninjas, despise being cold, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>Everything I talk about is what I observed during the live coverage provided by the crew from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PushThePoint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Push the Point<\/a> podcast and hosted on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@Tabletop24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tabletop 24<\/a>&#8216;s YouTube channel. The meta data was pulled from the official <a href=\"https:\/\/fabtcg.com\/articles\/calling-birmingham-live-blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">live blog<\/a> for the event. The PtP guys did a wonderful job casting the matches and I would highly recommend going back and watching the streams again to get their insight and play-by-play as the tournament progressed. It was very professionally done and extremely entertaining.<\/p>\n<h3>The Stats We Really Want to Know<\/h3>\n<p>There were <strong>427 players<\/strong> total that started in the main event on Saturday. All of the currently legal Classic Constructed heroes were championed by one or more participants, with the exception of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Arakni, Huntsman\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Arakni, Huntsman<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. It looks like everyone that wanted to play Assassin cards chose <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri, Switchblade\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri, Switchblade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> for this tournament and left poor Arakni back at the lair.<\/p>\n<p>The top five heroes registered were <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (67), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dromai, Ash Artist\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dromai, Ash Artist<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (48), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (44), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Briar, Warden of Thorns\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Briar, Warden of Thorns<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (40), and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Levia, Shadowborn Abomination\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Levia, Shadowborn Abomination<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (39). These five heroes&#8217; combined totals for day one represented more than 55% of the metagame. Roughly 16% of the total field was Lexi.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Lexi, Livewire\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Dromai, Ash Artist\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The cutoff from the end of day one to participate in day two eliminated all but 94 players. The top five heroes that converted to day two were <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (23), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (13), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dromai, Ash Artist\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dromai, Ash Artist<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (11), <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Briar, Warden of Thorns\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Briar, Warden of Thorns<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (8), and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Iyslander, Stormbind\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Iyslander, Stormbind<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> (7). None of the players that registered <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Vynnset, Iron Maiden\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Vynnset, Iron Maiden<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Prism, Awakener of Sol\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Prism, Awakener of Sol<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, or <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Riptide, Lurker of the Deep\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Riptide, Lurker of the Deep<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> finished well enough on day one to continue playing the main event on day two, but all of the other heroes had at least one player make it into the second half of the Swiss rounds. (Even <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> saw one player make it to day two.)<\/p>\n<p>Final cut for the elimination rounds had three <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, two <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Katsu, the Wanderer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, one <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri, Switchblade\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri, Switchblade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, one <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Azalea, Ace in the Hole\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Azalea, Ace in the Hole<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, and one <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Iyslander, Stormbind\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Iyslander, Stormbind<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> fighting for their place at the top of the mountain of competitors.<\/p>\n<h3>Day One &#8211; Rounds One Through Seven Coverage<\/h3>\n<p>On the live coverage we saw several exciting matchups through both days of Swiss, leading up to the Top 8. As an American living on the East coast of the U.S., I was still asleep through the start of the coverage and missed out on more while I was playing <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Vynnset\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Vynnset<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> at my local Skirmish. (Great fun by the way, highly recommend it.) So, I&#8217;m going back after the fact and skimming the coverage for the first day to just hit what I see as highlights.<\/p>\n<p>Round One saw Piotr Krzempek on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Briar, Warden of Thorns\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Briar, Warden of Thorns<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> vs Matt Foulkes on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Levia, Shadowborn Abomination\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Levia, Shadowborn Abomination<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. Levia was pretty firmly in the driver&#8217;s seat all the way through to the end game and Matt Foulkes took the win.<\/p>\n<p>In Round Two, we saw Jason Rolfe on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> face off against Maximilian Klein on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dorinthea, Ironsong\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dorinthea, Ironsong<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. Maximilian was on the new <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Decimator Great Axe\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Decimator Great Axe<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> fatigue strategy brought to the game by <em>Dusk Till Dawn<\/em>. Jason made a couple of slips, missing some beneficial triggers, and wasn&#8217;t able put out enough pressure to get through Dorinthea&#8217;s defensive capabilities before he ran out of threats and extended the hand to concede.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Endless Arrow red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> returned with Marijn Lybaert in Round Three for a shootout against <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Azalea, Ace in the Hole\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Azalea, Ace in the Hole<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, piloted by Aaron Francis. Despite popular opinion being that Azalea is favored in the matchup, sometimes the onslaught of disruption and wide arrows from Lexi just isn&#8217;t slowed down enough by Azalea&#8217;s big hits. Aaron&#8217;s last point of life was taken when he forgot to factor in the on hit effect from <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Remorseless red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Remorseless<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> when he only had one point left and Lexi claimed victory.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Remorseless red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>This is the third round in a row we saw a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> on screen, this time piloted by Keir Sweeney in Round Four. The coverage team did their best to bring different successful heroes into the spotlight and it&#8217;s no fault of theirs that Lexi is a popular hero that happens to win a lot of games. Emlyn Ingram brought the spice to this match in the form of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, wielding a &#8220;sword and board&#8221; layout with the new <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bastion of Unity\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bastion of Unity<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> shield from <em>Dusk Till Dawn<\/em> and a full fatigue package. Once again, Lexi hit the ground running and threw herself against a wall. The last arrow was fired with no cards left in deck and Emlyn still at a comfortable 14 life. It did absolutely nothing, resulting in a concession from Keir shortly after.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Bastion of Unity\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Round Five we got a break from seeing frosty arrows on camera and got another dose of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in the hands of Finlay Shepherd at a 4-0 record. Finlay&#8217;s opponent was Matt Rogers piloting the machines and gizmos of <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. This round saw Boltyn employing a much more aggressive strategy with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Raydn, Duskbane\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Raydn, Duskbane<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> swinging at Dash repeatedly and beating the Mechanologist down until finally a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Command and Conquer red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Command and Conquer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> for seven with go again convinced Matt to offer a fist bump and the concession.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Command and Conquer red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>For the first time on camera, we saw <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in Round Six piloted by Yorgos Samaras facing off against our second player Michal Cwik, piloting <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Levia, Shadowborn Abomination\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Levia, Shadowborn Abomination<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. To absolutely nobody&#8217;s surprise, the game was a slug fest. Both heroes threw big, beefy attacks back and forth in a fantastic showcase of what they&#8217;re capable of. Throughout the game, Michal showed no fear of rolling dice and did so several times. Bravo was sitting at three points left and Levia comfortably at eight with tempo and a full banish zone. Michal rolled the dice again on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Scabskin Leathers\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Scabskin Leathers<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, looking to close the game out or transform into <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Levia, Redeemed\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Levia, Redeemed<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> and still be able to attack. The die came up as a one. That&#8217;s fine, we saw a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Gambler&#8217;s Gloves\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Gambler&#8217;s Gloves<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> activation to reroll the die and try again, only to find a single pip on the die for the second time. With no action points left, the turn ended, and Levia was consumed by Blood Debt to end the game in Bravo&#8217;s favor. #brutelife<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Scabskin Leathers\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Gambler&#8217;s Gloves\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Finally, in Round Seven, we had another <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in the hands of Ruben Van Dessel facing off against <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Katsu, the Wanderer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> played by Matt Duggan. Both heroes were 6-0 going into the last round of Swiss for day one and, as someone firmly on the Kodachi train, I was cheering hard for Matt\/Katsu throughout this game. Both players set a blistering pace for the match, coming out of the gates swinging hard and fast. But, when the dust finally settled, sadly, the Wanderer lay broken in the street at Dash&#8217;s feet and Ruben ended the day as one of only three undefeated players at the top of the standings before the second half of the event.<\/p>\n<h3>Day Two &#8211; Rounds Eight Through Twelve<\/h3>\n<p>The second day of Calling: Birmingham was even more exciting than the first. There were five more rounds of Swiss before the final cut to Top 8.<\/p>\n<p>Round Eight began the day with a showdown between <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> piloted by Luka Kramaric against Jeremy Miller on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri, Switchblade\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri, Switchblade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. When Bravo gets on a roll, there really is no better deck in <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em>. Bravo eventually built up enough steam to roll right over Uzuri and Luka came away with the win.<\/p>\n<p>In Round Nine, Stefano Meoni with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Azalea, Ace in the Hole\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Azalea, Ace in the Hole<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> was up against the draconic forces of Volcor&#8217;s <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dromai, Ash Artist\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dromai, Ash Artist<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> and Jamie Faulkner. Despite an enormous amount of dragons on the field protecting her and massive life swings, in the end Dromai eventually fell to a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Rain Razors yellow\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Rain Razors<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> for exact lethal through blocks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Rain Razors yellow\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>At this stage of the event, it felt like every player was fighting for their lives. Round Ten saw the first <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Iyslander, Stormbind\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Iyslander, Stormbind<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> on camera piloted by Samuel Braben versus George Keys on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri, Switchblade\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri, Switchblade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. Although Iyslander does her best to get Uzuri to &#8220;chill,&#8221; George eventually was able to close the game out in <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>&#8216;s favor with the threat of a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bloodrot Pox\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bloodrot Pox<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> token and no way to pay for it, drawing the concession from Samuel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Bloodrot Pox\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>With only two rounds left in Swiss, these players knew their records were good enough to make the elimination rounds if they kept winning. In Round Eleven, we saw &#8220;The Hero Killer&#8221; Pablo Pintor on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> facing off against our first <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lexi, Livewire\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lexi, Livewire<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> of the day, piloted by Ernesto Silva. In Pablo&#8217;s hands, Bravo did his very best <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> impression and consistently swung <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Titan&#8217;s Fist\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Titan&#8217;s Fist<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> to grind Lexi into the dirt and eventually win by running her out of threats.<\/p>\n<p>The final round of Swiss. Two players sat down in the feature match area and, in theory, it would be the last game for Calling: Birmingham for one of them based on their records. With that kind of pressure on their shoulders, Joel Rencen, piloting <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dromai, Ash Artist\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dromai, Ash Artist<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, probably had a very different reaction to seeing his opponent for the win-and-in round than George Rodger did playing <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Fai, Rising Rebellion\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Fai, Rising Rebellion<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. Dromai is known to have an absolutely abysmal match up into Fai, and despite getting off to an early lead, eventually all of the dragons were ground away by Fai&#8217;s consistent, relentless assault. Unfortunately for George, his tie breakers kept him out of the elimination rounds and his tournament ended with a heartbreaking ninth place finish. Still an extremely impressive run. Well done!<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Phoenix Flame red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Brand with Cinderclaw red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Harmonized Kodachi\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Top Cut Featured Matches<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> was the king of Swiss at the end of Round Twelve, bringing Sebastian Grondal to the top of the standings as the only player to suffer a single defeat over the course of the two day event. Sebastian and Bravo faced off against Ralph Schlauri and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Katsu, the Wanderer\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Katsu, the Wanderer<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> as the featured match in the first round of elimination.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Ralph, a nuance in the rules that he didn&#8217;t realize cost him the half of his weaponry early in the game when he tried to play a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Razor Reflex red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Razor Reflex<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Zephyr Needle\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Zephyr Needle<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, thinking that the Needle wouldn&#8217;t break at the end of the chain. The trigger and check happen during the defend step of combat though, and it doesn&#8217;t check again after the defend step closes, so even though the weapon was buffed it was still destroyed by a single card that blocked for three. The wiles of Katsu still made an exciting game of things, but Bravo managed to prevent every single opportunity for <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Concealed Blade blue\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Concealed Blade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> to fetch the extra weapon from Ralph&#8217;s inventory. Both players were left with no cards left in their decks when Katsu finally fell.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Zephyr Needle\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Razor Reflex red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Concealed Blade blue\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The Semi-finals match brought Pablo Pintor back on camera with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> once again, this time playing against George Keys and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Uzuri, Switchblade\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Uzuri, Switchblade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. The casters had a great time &#8220;golf casting&#8221; every hammer swing and despite a valiant struggle from Uzuri, Pablo and Bravo moved on to the finals with a dominate activation on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Chokeslam red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Chokeslam<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> to finish off Uzuri&#8217;s last life point.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Chokeslam red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The finals is a master class on why you should never call a game over until the last card has been played. Pablo Pintor and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Bravo, Showstopper\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Bravo, Showstopper<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> stepped into the limelight for the final game of Calling: Birmingham against Samuel Braben and his <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Iyslander, Stormbind\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Iyslander, Stormbind<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> deck. At several points, it looked like Pablo and Bravo were going to crush the frosty wizard, but they were never quite able to get the job done. Overcoming a massive life deficit, Samuel and Iyslander clawed back into the game and eventually the spell slinger got the last word. The third major <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em> event in a row in the new Dusk Till Dawn meta was taken down by the ice queen.<\/p>\n<h3>Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>The Push the Point crew did an excellent job of casting this event. The stream quality was perfect and the player cameos were often hilarious and felt like a natural inclusion. Every game we saw was intense and wonderfully showcased the back and forth action that makes <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em> the amazing game that it is. I&#8217;m personally a little sad that the finals didn&#8217;t include a Katsu, but I can&#8217;t be too disappointed at the amazingly intense battles we saw play out from across the world. Well done and well played to all of the gamers who were there at Calling: Birmingham and congratulations Samuel on your hard fought victory.<\/p>\n<p>Did you watch the event coverage live or are you going back and checking things out after the fact? What was your favorite on camera moment from the event? Is this an Iyslander world and we&#8217;re just living in it now? I&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts, so let me know here or on Discord or Twitter by reaching out to me as Dracohominis87!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donnie gives us the event rundown for Calling: Birmingham. Which hero came out on top?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[193,194,130,35,57,36,126],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Armchair Quarterback- A #FABDad&#039;s Review of Calling: Birmingham! - FABREC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-birmingham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Armchair Quarterback- A #FABDad&#039;s Review of Calling: Birmingham! - FABREC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donnie gives us the event rundown for Calling: Birmingham. 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Donnie has been married to his lovely wife since Halloween 2008 and has two beautiful daughters that he couldn't be more proud of.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dracohominis87\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@siblingsincardboardpodcast\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/author\/donald-kell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Armchair Quarterback- A #FABDad's Review of Calling: Birmingham! - FABREC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-birmingham\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Armchair Quarterback- A #FABDad's Review of Calling: Birmingham! - FABREC","og_description":"Donnie gives us the event rundown for Calling: Birmingham. 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