{"id":2415,"date":"2023-11-08T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T10:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/?p=2415"},"modified":"2023-11-07T21:35:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T01:35:10","slug":"armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabrec.gg\/articles\/armchair-quarterback-a-fabdads-review-of-calling-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"Armchair Quarterback &#8211; A #FABDad&#8217;s Review of Calling: Melbourne!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings and salutations my fabulous FAB folk! I&#8217;m some random #FABDad, also known as Donnie K., or @Dracohominis87, depending on where you find me. Today we&#8217;re taking a look at everything that came to us from the coverage seen of Calling: Melbourne in Australia! Without further ado, let&#8217;s get right to it!<\/p>\n<h1><em>Bright Lights<\/em> in the Land Down Under!<\/h1>\n<p>It seems the stream experienced technical issues throughout the weekend, but the coverage can be found on the official <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@fabtcg\/streams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Youtube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite checking the live blog, both days of streams, and the event details page, I couldn&#8217;t find who it was that actually handled production of the live stream listed anywhere. I wish I could credit whoever it was behind the cameras all weekend for their hard work, but, best I can tell, it looks like the coverage was brought to us by Legend Story Studios themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The casting team consisted of Jacob Pearson, Kieran McEntegart, and Anthony Balmes. All event long, these three showcased a <em>deep<\/em> understanding of the metagame and their casting was both entertaining and spot on. Great job folks! Now&#8230;.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Show Time! blue\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>The Numbers We Really Want to Know!<\/h2>\n<h3>Day One<\/h3>\n<p>According to the numbers in the live blog for the event, there were <strong>252 players<\/strong> vying for the grand prize on Day One. The top five registered heroes should surprise no one who&#8217;s paid attention to competitive <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em> recently. <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> was most represented with 39 players and <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> was right behind her with 36. There were 27 players who brought <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> to the event and <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> was fourth most represented with a total of 20. And the fifth was <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> with 18 players total on the first day of the event.<\/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 only Classic Constructed hero that had no representation on Day One was <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. All of the other heroes had at least one iron in the fire, so to speak.<\/p>\n<h3>Day Two<\/h3>\n<p>The Day Two cut off was set to the Top 64 at the end of Swiss on Day One. Everyone with at least five wins made it through and four players squeaked in with four wins and good tie breakers. At the beginning of Day Two, there was only one player left in the room with an undefeated record and that was Thomas Dowling on <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Dash I\/O\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dash I\/O<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The top five represented heroes on Day Two were, once again, pretty much what you&#8217;d expect right now. Lexi had the most with 13 players, or roughly 20% of the total field. Bravo was second with nine of his pilots making it to Day Two. Dromai carried eight players through the Day One cut on dragon back. <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> 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> were tied in fifth place with six players each still fighting for the prize.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the 21 heroes registered on Day One, 17 of them finished strongly enough to make the cut to keep going. <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Vynnset, Iron Maiden\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Vynnset<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Boltyn<\/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<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, and <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Viserai, Rune Blood\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Viserai<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> all failed to secure enough wins to keep playing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Dash I\/O\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Iyslander, Stormbind\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Top 8 Cut<\/h3>\n<p>At the end of 12 rounds of Swiss, the final cut consisted of three Lexi, two <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 Dromai, one Dash I\/O, and one <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Maxx &#8216;The Hype&#8217; Nitro\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Maxx &#8216;The Hype&#8217; Nitro<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>. Thomas Dowling with Dash I\/O completely swept the Swiss rounds, taking &#8220;DIO&#8221; to the top of the standings with zero losses over both days.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Thomas Dowling- Dash I\/O (12 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Michael Feng- Lexi, Livewire (10 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Kuan Li- Dromai, Ash Artist (10 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Sang Wook Kim- Uzuri, Switchblade (10 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>German Glukhov- Lexi, Livewire (9 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Ben Dodd- Uzuri, Switchblade (9 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Drew Giessler- Lexi, Livewire (9 Wins)<\/li>\n<li>Joel Gibbons- Maxx &#8216;The Hype&#8217; Nitro (9 Wins)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Voltaire, Strike Twice\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Symbiosis Shot\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Spider&#8217;s Bite\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Round by Round Breakdown<\/h2>\n<h3>Day One (Seven Rounds)<\/h3>\n<h4>Round One &#8211; Sable W. (Lexi) vs John C. (Dash I\/O)<\/h4>\n<p>Due to technical difficulties, the stream started about halfway through this first game, and we didn&#8217;t get the player&#8217;s names until it was nearly over. The action that was broadcast was intense though, and after a furious back and forth exchange, Dash I\/O won against Lexi in the first round of Calling: Melbourne.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Twin Drive red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Achilles Accelerator\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Maximum Velocity red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Two &#8211; Aaron C. (Maxx) vs William Y. (Lexi)<\/h4>\n<p>In Round Two, Lexi got another chance to remind us why she earned her place in the realm of Living Legends. Unfortunately for William though, Lexi was run over by a <em>Bright Lights<\/em> hero for the second round in a row. Big, boosted attacks put Lexi on the defensive quickly, and eventually Maxx was able to Boost through all the cards in William&#8217;s hand to swing with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Banksy\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Banksy<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> for lethal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards only-back\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Construct Nitro Mechanoid\"><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Hyper Driver red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Banksy\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Three &#8211; Alexander D. (Levia) vs Oliver S. (Bravo)<\/h4>\n<p>This Bravo vs <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> game was exactly the kind of slugfest matchup that you probably assume it was. Big hits thrown back and forth, two beefy heroes trading blows, etc. Alexander\/Levia was the last slugger standing at the end, with a blue <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Convulsions from the Bellows of Hell blue\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Convulsions from the Bellows of Hell<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> turning <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Endless Maw red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Endless Maw<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> into a ten-power attack with Dominate to close the game.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Convulsions from the Bellows of Hell blue\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Endless Maw red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Scowling Flesh Bag\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Four &#8211; Damien M. (Arakni) vs Darryn Y. (Iyslander)<\/h4>\n<p>Seeing an <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> in the 3-0 bracket was a breath of fresh air for the chat. Unfortunately for Damien, the frosty fury of Iyslander was just too much to hold back. Arakni gave a valiant effort, but when Iyslander has tempo and life advantage while still holding up <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Storm Striders\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Storm Striders<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, the writing is pretty well written on the wall for everyone to see. A good rule of thumb is this: anytime you&#8217;re at life parity (or lower) with a Wizard, you&#8217;re actually losing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Storm Striders\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Waning Moon\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Aether Icevein red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Five &#8211; Cody G. (Katsu) vs Troy W. (Uzuri)<\/h4>\n<p>An early <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Art of War\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Art of War<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> provided Katsu an early life lead, but Uzuri weathered the storm and took control. This was a very interactive game, but Uzuri never really let go of the steering wheel once she had it, and eventually closed it out in Troy&#8217;s favor with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Isolate red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Isolate<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> swapping in a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Death Touch red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Death Touch<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> while Cody was on three life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Isolate red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Death Touch red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Spider&#8217;s Bite\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Six &#8211; Thomas D. (Dash I\/O) vs German G. (Lexi)<\/h4>\n<p>For the second time on Day One, we saw a Dash I\/O vs Lexi game on camera, but this was the first time we got to see Thomas&#8217;s Dash I\/O list in action. German did their best to uphold the honor of Lexi, but Thomas was not going to be stopped. Explosions, boosting, and gun shots galore ended the game firmly in Dash&#8217;s favor once again, despite Lexi&#8217;s best attempt at survival.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Adaptive Plating\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Backup Protocol: RED red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Boom Grenade red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Seven &#8211; Remi G. (Dromai) vs Daniel R. (Kano)<\/h4>\n<p>Everything has to go exactly right for Kano in order to win the matchup into Dromai. They need a couple of turns to set up while Dromai doesn&#8217;t find the relevant dragons. That&#8217;s not what happened this game.<\/p>\n<p>Remi started the game with a turn zero <span class=\"edhrecp__link only-back\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Invoke Dominia\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Dominia<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, then <span class=\"edhrecp__link only-back\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Invoke Azvolai\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Azvolai<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, THEN <span class=\"edhrecp__link only-back\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Invoke Miragai\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Miragai<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> with an <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Oasis Respite red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Oasis Respite<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> to stuff Daniel&#8217;s <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Lesson in Lava\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Lesson in Lava<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span>, preventing a pop off. Kano&#8217;s draws were mid on average and he did not survive the avalanche of scales aimed at him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Aether Wildfire red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Oasis Respite red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Tome of Imperial Flame red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Day Two (Five Rounds)<\/h3>\n<h4>Round Eight &#8211; Ben D. (Uzuri) vs Matt N. (Iyslander)<\/h4>\n<p>As I said earlier, if you&#8217;re at life parity or lower against a Wizard, things aren&#8217;t looking good. But Ben did a great job at maintaining a healthy life total all game while whittling Iyslander down. A <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Shred blue\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Shred<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> on Matt&#8217;s <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Sink Below red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Sink Below<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> pushed the last few points of damage through for Uzuri while Ben was still at a comfortable 13 life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Shred blue\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Sink Below red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Shake Down red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Nine &#8211; Daniel H. (Bravo) vs Patrick W. (Rhinar)<\/h4>\n<p>Another Brute\/Guardian slugfest, and this one went the distance. Literally. Bravo and Rhinar threw everything but the kitchen sink at each other, but even with the extra time from being on stream, the round timer was the eventual winner. With another minute or two, it was clear that Bravo would have won due to fatigue, but everyone lost since the game ended in a draw.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Bloodrush Bellow yellow\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Anothos\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Reckless Swing blue\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Ten &#8211; Alex C. (<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>) vs Joel G. (Maxx)<\/h4>\n<p>Dash tried to out-boost &#8216;The Hype&#8217; this round, and it didn&#8217;t go well for her. A well-timed <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Firewall red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Firewall<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in the final turns covered a critical breakpoint for Joel and the Nitro Mechanoid Overpowered the last of Dash&#8217;s resistance to end it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Firewall red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Teklo Plasma Pistol\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Crankshaft blue\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Eleven &#8211; German G. (Lexi) vs Ben D. (Uzuri)<\/h4>\n<p>This game made me want to build Uzuri, and a lot of the chat echoed the same sentiment. It wasn&#8217;t even remotely close as Ben showed us all why Lexi players should fear the Spider&#8217;s boss. You almost have to feel bad for German. Losing both games where he was on camera in the Swiss was a pretty rough break, but he fought through any tilt he may have felt and secured his own Top 8 spot by winning in Round 12. Cursed by the camera, indeed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Shred red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"New Horizon\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Command and Conquer red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Round Twelve &#8211; Thomas D. (Dash I\/O) vs Joel G. (Maxx)<\/h4>\n<p>The last round of Swiss for Calling: Melbourne featured two heroes from <em>Bright Lights<\/em>. Thomas was looking to put himself into the record books as one of the very, <em>very<\/em> few players to run through a Calling level event undefeated. Joel was fighting for his tournament life to cement his place in the Top 8 cut. Thankfully for Joel, he managed to make the cut on tie breakers after Dash I\/O completely exploded on camera again with a 31-damage turn. This was one of the quickest games we saw all event long, and Thomas\/DIO walked away with their 12<sup>th<\/sup> straight victory.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Heist red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Fender Bender red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"High Octane red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Top 8 Cut (Three Rounds on Camera)<\/h3>\n<h4>Quarterfinals &#8211; Ben Dodd (Uzuri) vs Kuan Li (Dromai)<\/h4>\n<p>Ben put on another master class with Uzuri this round. Uzuri traditionally has a rough match against Dromai, but Assassin players can come back to this game to learn how to navigate the match in the future. The final blow was struck when Kuan blocked a Stealth attack for six to play around the switch, but Ben had yet another <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Shred blue\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Shred<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> in hand to drop the defense enough to push exact lethal. With no further responses, Kuan extended the handshake and Ben moved on to the Semifinals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Rake the Embers red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Leave No Witnesses red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Flick Knives\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Semifinals &#8211; Thomas Dowling (Dash I\/O) vs Sang Wook Kim (Uzuri)<\/h4>\n<p>The juggernaut that was Thomas Dowling&#8217;s Dash I\/O deck did not slow down in this round either, throwing above-rate Boost attack after above-rate Boost attack at Uzuri. Sang and Uzuri did their best to hang on and run Dash out of cards, but there was still no stopping Thomas this round. A <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Pulsewave Harpoon red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Pulsewave Harpoon<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> combined with <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Boom Grenade red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Boom Grenade<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> at the end of a massive combat chain ended the game for Dash with only a few cards left in deck.<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Boom Grenade red\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Meganetic Shockwave blue\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Tome of Fyendal yellow\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Finals &#8211; Thomas Dowling (Dash I\/O) vs Ben Dodd (Uzuri)<\/h4>\n<p>This was probably the best game we saw on stream all event long. The tension was palpable to everyone tuned in across the world. Ben Dodd and Uzuri managed to present enough disruption via <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Frailty\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Frailty<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> tokens to keep Dash from outright ending things with the insane combo turns we&#8217;d seen from him several times before, and Thomas&#8217; near-legendary run with DIO came to an end when variance finally reared its ugly head. Ben had navigated the game perfectly to get to a position where Thomas was at two life and was caught with three items in hand. From there, Thomas was unable block out <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Shake Down red\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Shake Down<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> after a <span class=\"edhrecp__link\"><a class=\"edhrecp__link-a\" content=\"Spider&#8217;s Bite\"href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\">Spider&#8217;s Bite<\/a><span class=\"edhrecp__link-image\"><\/span><\/span> hit and Thomas extended the hand to congratulate Ben Dodd on winning Calling: Melbourne with Uzuri, Switchblade!<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Teklo Core blue\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Codex of Frailty yellow\"><\/div><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Enlightened Strike red\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Despite tech issues through most of the coverage, the stream from Calling: Melbourne was extremely enjoyable to watch. I would highly recommend going back and watching each of Ben Dodd&#8217;s games if you&#8217;re interested in picking up Uzuri, as his gameplay was near-perfect each time we saw him. That victory was very well-earned.<\/p>\n<p>Every round with Dash I\/O on camera made her look like a ton of fun to play as well. And, of course, she also looked <em>extremely<\/em> powerful. The discourse that I&#8217;ve seen online since the final plays were made almost has DIO overshadowing the event&#8217;s actual winner.<\/p>\n<p>With two of the heroes from <em>Bright Lights<\/em> earning spots in the Top 8 of Calling: Melbourne, I feel really secure in the future of <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em> as we move into the new age of hero design philosophies. With Aria officially gone by the time you read this, we&#8217;ve got a brand new world of Rathe to explore. I can&#8217;t wait to see how things play out at the World Championships in Barcelona Nov. 16<sup>th<\/sup> to Nov. 19<sup>th<\/sup>!<\/p>\n<p>Do you think Dash I\/O&#8217;s undefeated run to the finals is taking away some of the hype surrounding Uzuri&#8217;s first tier three event victory? How &#8220;Hype&#8221; were you to see Maxx make the Top 8 cut? After this performance from the other <em>Bright Lights <\/em>heroes, do you think there&#8217;s hope for Teklovossen to make a splash in the competitive scene? You can look me up on my weekly podcast the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@SiblingsinCardboardPodcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Siblings in Cardboard<\/a> on YouTube or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0PksyWMTrLqdXaKwjLXrCW?si=80788ac4fdfe49be\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify,<\/a> or find me on Discord\/Twitter as @Dracohominis87 to let me know!<\/p>\n<p>(Also, if you&#8217;re interested in a comprehensive deck tech\/primer on Dash I\/O, my cohost Thomas aka @WetTheSystemFAB posted a great tutorial on our YouTube channel for his <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Isot9ypzxY4?si=26oSFD6tVbp62Rg7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PQ Top 8 DIO list<\/a>. Check it out if you want to know the ins\/outs of how DIO works.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"edhrecp__cards\"><div class=\"edhrecp__card-container\" name=\"Go Bananas yellow\"><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More stunning tournament coverage from our resident FABDad, Donnie. Calling: Melbourne showed the greatness of Bright Lights, bringing one Mech hero undefeated all the way to the final match. Did they win it all? Click to find out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[318,193,315,317,316,57,184,36,199,126],"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: Melbourne! - 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-melbourne\/\" \/>\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: Melbourne! - FABREC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More stunning tournament coverage from our resident FABDad, Donnie. 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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.\",\"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: Melbourne! - 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-melbourne\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Armchair Quarterback - A #FABDad's Review of Calling: Melbourne! - FABREC","og_description":"More stunning tournament coverage from our resident FABDad, Donnie. 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