Flesh and Blood - Tournament Rules and Policy

Last updated 31 March 2023

Table of Contents

Preface iii

1 Tournament Information 1

1.1 Event and Tournament Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Rules Enforcement Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.3 Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.4 Tournament Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.5 Player Identiﬁcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Roles and Responsibilities 4

2.1 Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.2 Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.3 Spectator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.4 Tournament Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.5 Head Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.6 Floor Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2.7 Scorekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2.8 Coverage Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Tournament Logistics 7

3.1 Round Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.2 Timed Rounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.3 Start-of-Match Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.4 End-of-Match Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.5 Intentional Draws and Concessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.6 Dropping from a Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.7 Card-Pool Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.8 Deck-Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.9 Judge Calls and Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.10 Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.11 Coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4 Tournament Materials 13

4.1 Player Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.2 Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.3 Proxy Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.4 Placeholder cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.5 Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.6 Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.7 Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.8 Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.9 Sleeves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4.10 Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4.11 Electronic Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4.12 Infringing and Offensive Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5 Gameplay Logistics 20

5.1 Game Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5.2 Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5.3 Out-of-Order Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5.4 Reversing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5.5 Triggered Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5.6 Game Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

5.7 Slow Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.8 Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.9 Outside Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.10 Card Identiﬁcation and Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.11 Card Shufﬂing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.12 Random Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.13 Marked cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

6 Behaviour and Conduct 29

6.1 Sporting Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

6.2 Cheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

6.3 Aggressive and Disruptive Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

6.4 Bribery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

6.5 Wagering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.6 Stalling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.7 Buying, Selling, and Trading Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7 Constructed Formats 31

7.1 Constructed Card-Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

7.2 Classic Constructed Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

7.3 Blitz Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

8 Limited Formats 32

8.1 Limited Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

8.2 Limited Card-Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

8.3 Sealed Deck Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

8.4 Booster Draft Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

9 Special Formats 36

9.1 Deck Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

9.2 Welcome Deck Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Appendix A - Organized Play Programs 37

Appendix B - Recommended Number of Swiss Rounds 38

Appendix C - Time Limits 39

Appendix D - Tiebreakers 41

Appendix E - Card-Pool Registration Requirements 43

Preface

Flesh and Blood

is a competitive Trading Card Game where two heroes face off in a ﬁght to the death. Each

player starts the game with their hero, weapon, and equipment set in play. The battle is fought through the

strategic use of resources, knowing when to defend, and when to go in for the kill.

“Our mission is to bring people together in the ﬂesh and blood through the common language of

playing great games.”

The rules in this document apply to any ofﬁcially sanctioned tournament of Flesh and Blood and supersede any

previous version of the rules document for the game. If the information in this document contradicts the

Comprehensive Rules of the game, this document takes precedence.

iii

1. Tournament Information

1.1. Event and Tournament Types

Flesh and Blood events comprise one or more tournaments. Tournaments are categorized into four tiers and are

run under three different levels of rules enforcement (see Appendix A - Organized Play Programs). The tier of an

event is the highest tier of any of its tournaments.

Tier 1 and 2 tournaments can be run by any Tournament Organizer who has an active Game Event Manager

(GEM) Tournament Organizer account - some tournaments require an invite from Legend Story Studios (LSS) to

run. Tier 3 and 4 tournaments are run by LSS or Organized Play (OP) partners appointed by LSS.

1.2. Rules Enforcement Levels

There are three rules enforcement levels (RELs): Casual, Competitive, and Professional. Each REL has different

expectations and infractions during the tournament are ruled differently, which can be found in the Procedure and

Penalty Guide.

Casual rules enforcement is designed for local in-store play, with emphasis on player education and enjoyment.

Competitive rules enforcement is designed for competition, with emphasis on balancing player education and

enjoyment, and tournament integrity.

Professional rules enforcement is designed for the highest levels of competitive play, with emphasis on

tournament integrity.

Most tournaments are run under a single REL, but some tournaments may have multiple RELs, such as a Calling

that changes from a competitive to a professional REL between day 1 and day 2+.

1.3. Formats

Tournaments comprise one or more formats. There are three categories of tournament formats that Legend Story

Studios supports: constructed, limited, and special. Constructed formats involve players preparing their card-pool

beforehand and require players to provide their own cards for the format. Limited formats involve the

Tournament Organizer providing the materials required for the format. Special formats vary and don’t necessarily

ﬁt into the categories of constructed and limited.

Legend Story Studios currently support the following ofﬁcial formats:

Constructed

• Classic Constructed (7.2)

• Blitz (7.3)

Limited

• Booster Draft (8.4)

• Sealed Deck (8.3)

Special

CHAPTER 1. TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• Welcome Deck (9.2)

1.4. Tournament Eligibility

Everyone is eligible to play in Flesh and Blood tournaments, subject to tournament-speciﬁc eligibility policies,

with the following exceptions.

• Individuals who are currently banned

• Individuals who are currently suspended, if the tournament is part of a tier 2+ event

• Individuals speciﬁcally prohibited from participation by LSS or who have been asked to leave the venue by

the Tournament Organizer

• Individuals twelve (12) years of age or younger who do not have permission from their guardian(s)

• Individuals prohibited by local laws, the rules of the Tournament Organizer, or the venue’s management

• Tournament ofﬁcials, if the tournament is a Skirmish or tier 2+

Everyone is eligible to be a tournament ofﬁcial for a tournament, with the following exceptions.

• Individuals who are currently suspended or banned

• Individuals who have already participated as a Player in the tournament, and the tournament is a Skirmish

or is part of a tier 2+ event

Employees and independent contractors of LSS are not eligible to participate in Professional tournaments unless

a special dispensation has been granted in writing by Legend Story Studios. Whenever an employee or

independent contractor of LSS attends a tournament, they must make their position known to the Tournament

Organizer, who at their discretion, may deny them entry into the event.

Suspended individuals may play in tier 1 events, but may not play in tier 2+ events. Suspended individuals may

attend and spectate any Flesh and Blood event, but may not be tournament ofﬁcials at those events.

Banned individuals may not participate in, attend, spectate, or be tournament ofﬁcials at any Flesh and Blood

event. If a banned player attends a Flesh and Blood event, they should be asked to leave the venue.

1.5. Player Identiﬁcation

Individuals are required to have a GEM proﬁle to participate in a tournament. Any individual may create a GEM

proﬁle by registering an account on the ofﬁcial Flesh and Blood website. Each GEM proﬁle has a Player ID that

uniquely identiﬁes the individual. Individuals may only have one GEM proﬁle - if an individual has more than

one GEM proﬁle, they must contact [email protected] to resolve the situation.

Events that require an invitation to participate and/or have an age restriction will require personal identiﬁcation to

participate. These include, but are not limited to, National Championships, ProTours, and World Championships.

The following forms of identiﬁcation are acceptable.

• Proof of control of the associated GEM proﬁle

• Birth Certiﬁcate (for players under the age of 13)

CHAPTER 1. TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• Driver Licence

• Passport

• School ID card

• Government-issued ID card

2. Roles and Responsibilities

2.1. Roles

Each individual at a tournament is considered to have one or more of the following roles.

• Player

• Spectator

• Tournament Organizer

• Head Judge

• Floor Judge

• Scorekeeper

• Coverage Member

Individuals with the Tournament Organizer, Head Judge, Floor Judge, or Scorekeeper roles are considered

tournament ofﬁcials. The Head Judge and Floor Judge are both considered judge roles. Coverage Members are

collectively referred to as coverage.

Tournament ofﬁcials may change roles throughout the duration of the tournament, but an individual serving as

the Tournament Organizer or Head Judge should remain in that role for the entire tournament.

For tier 1 tournaments (excluding Skirmish), tournament ofﬁcials may also be Players. For tier 2 tournaments and

above (including Skirmish), tournament ofﬁcials may not be Players.

For tier 1 tournaments, the Tournament Organizer may also be a judge. For tier 2 tournaments and above, the

Tournament Organizer may not be a judge.

2.2. Player

A Player is an individual who is participating in the tournament. A Player is responsible for:

• Being familiar with the rules and policies of Flesh and Blood tournaments.

• Bringing the appropriate tournament materials to participate in the tournament.

• Complying with announced start times and time limits, and being physically present for games.

• Acting in a respectful way and refraining from unsporting conduct at all times.

• Maintaining a clear and legal game state, and good communication with other Players.

• Calling a judge to rule an infraction or to settle a disupute between Players.

• Informing Judges or Scorekeepers of any discrepancies in their tournament record.

CHAPTER 2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

2.3. Spectator

Any individual is considered a Spectator for any match they are not participating in, with the exception of

individuals who are judges. A Spectator is responsible for:

• Remaining silent and passive towards players, to ensure they do not inﬂuence the outcome of any match in

progress.

• Discreetly alerting a Judge if they have observed a game action or otherwise that is in violation of our rules

or policy.

2.4. Tournament Organizer

A Tournament Organizer is the designated individual that is responsible for organising and maintaining the

logistics of a tournament. A Tournament Organizer is responsible for:

• Ensuring the tournament details are advertised well in advance of the tournament date.

• Providing a venue that adequately supports the tournament and the players.

• Providing all materials necessary for tournament operations and logistics.

• Organizing appropriate staff for the tournament to ensure a smooth and efﬁcient operation.

• Dealing with infractions in player conduct.

• Organizing the distribution of tournament prizes to players.

• Reporting the tournament results to LSS.

The role of tournament organizer (TO) needs to be designated before each event, at the latest before the start of

the tournament.

2.5. Head Judge

A Head Judge is an individual who oversees the general operation of the tournament. In addition to Judge

responsibilities (see Section 2.6 - Floor Judge), a Head Judge is responsible for:

• Using sound judgement to enforce (or modify when necessary) the rules and policy of the game to uphold

the integrity of the tournament.

• Making the ﬁnal ruling decision in the event a player appeals the ruling of a Judge.

• Assigning Judges tasks and ensuring they have adequate knowledge to carry out the tasks assigned to them.

• Providing feedback to Judges to support their rules, policy, and personal development.

• Final authority on the ofﬁcial properties of a card and interpretation of its rules text.

• Establishing the threshold for misprinted, damaged, altered, or marked cards; sleeves; game-layout;

electronic device use; and issuing proxies.

CHAPTER 2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Head Judge may temporarily transfer their responsibilities to any judge if the Head Judge is unable to

perform them. In exceptional circumstances where the tournament’s integrity would otherwise be damaged, the

Tournament Organizer may ﬁll the role of the Head Judge.

Large tournaments may have multiple individuals in the role of Head Judge simultaneously. In this case, one

individual serves as the ofﬁcial Head Judge, and the rest serve as Appeals Judges. An Appeals Judge shares the

same responsibilities and has the same level of authority as a Head Judge, but is directed by the Head Judge.

2.6. Floor Judge

A Floor Judge is an individual who is tasked with assisting the Head Judge with the general operation of the

tournament. A Floor Judge is responsible for:

• Attending judge calls.

• Answering Player and Spectator questions

• Providing assisted information to Players.

• Settling disputes between Players.

• Assisting with reasonable requests.

• Issuing rulings and applying appropriate procedures and penalties.

• Pausing and investigating games when an infraction is observed.

2.7. Scorekeeper

A Scorekeeper is an individual who collects and processes the information of the tournament to generate the

pairings, standings, and other records throughout the tournament. A scorekeeper is responsible for:

• Generating the correct pairings for each round.

• Inputting the results of each round into GEM.

• Generate standings, typically before and after the ﬁnal swiss rounds.

• Resolving any incorrect tournament information in consultation with the Head Judge.

• Ensuring the tournament information entered in GEM is legitimate, true, and correct before submission.

2.8. Coverage Member

A Coverage Member is an individual who is doing media coverage for the event. A coverage member is

responsible for:

• Reporting appropriate tournament information in a way that ensures Players are not able to gain a strategic

advantage.

• Coordinating with tournament ofﬁcials to organize feature matches.

• Directing the match timing and game-layout for Players in feature matches.

3. Tournament Logistics

3.1. Round Structure

Tournaments are separated into rounds. A round in a tournament typically consists of a match between pairs of

Players. If a Player wins a speciﬁed number of games in a match, that Player is the winner of that match. Swiss

rounds are rounds of a Swiss-system tournament, where Players participate in each round and are paired based

on a combination of Player standings, match history, and the tournament format. Elimination rounds are rounds

of a knockout-style tournament, where Players are eliminated from the tournament if they lose a match (single-

elimination) and do not participate in subsequent rounds.

Rounds structure and format can vary between tournaments. A tournament is typically a single format with timed

Swiss rounds for all Players followed by untimed single-elimination rounds for the top 8 players in the standings

(referred to as the top-cut or play-off rounds). The number of rounds and round structure recommended/required

for a tournament is outlined in Appendix B - Number of Swiss Rounds.

For timed rounds (see Section 3.2 - Timed Rounds), the Players play games until a Player has won a speciﬁed

number of games or the time in the round expires. For untimed rounds, the Players play games until a Player has

won a speciﬁed number of games. At the end of a match, if a result has not yet been determined, the Players

complete the end-of-match procedure to determine the match result (see Section 3.4 - End-of-Match Procedure).

Generally, only 1 game is required to win a match, unless otherwise announced by the Tournament Organizer

prior to the start of the tournament.

3.2. Timed Rounds

Timed rounds ensure that the tournament proceeds at a reasonable pace and gives Players a good idea of when to

be ready to ﬁnd their pairings for the next round.

The timer for a round should begin when the vast majority of Players are seated or have been given a fair

opportunity to be seated. Players may perform the ﬁrst game’s start-of-game procedure before the round timer

starts, but they must wait to begin the ﬁrst turn of the ﬁrst game until after the round timer starts.

If a Judge pauses a match for more than one minute while the round timer is running, the Players in the affected

match will be given at least an equal amount of additional time to ﬁnish the match. If the match is paused for

a regular deck-check (see Section 3.8 - Deck-Checks), the Players will be given additional time to shufﬂe and

present their decks again.

Feature matches (see Section 3.11 - Coverage) should be given additional time to compensate players for the time

spent moving and/or setting up, or the feature matches should be timed separately.

3.3. Start-of-Match Procedure

A match ofﬁcially begins with the players performing the ﬁrst start-of-game procedure. The start-of-game

procedure is as described in-depth by the Comprehensive Rules, but simply are as such:

Step 1: Each Player places their hero card face up in their hero zone.

Step 2: A selected Player chooses who the ﬁrst-turn Player of the game will be.

CHAPTER 3. TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

Step 3: Each Player selects arena-cards from their card-pool with which they will start the game (e.g. equipment

and weapons).

Step 4: Each Player selects the deck-cards from their card-pool that will become their deck (i.e. cards that start

in the deck zone).

Step 5: All other legal cards that are not selected from a Player’s card-pool become that Player’s inventory (see

Section 4.10 - Inventory).

Step 6: Each Player shufﬂes and then presents their deck to their opponent to be shufﬂed and/or cut.

Step 7: Each Player reveals and sets up their arena-cards in their respective zones.

Step 8: Each Player draws up to their hero’s intellect. Once both Players have drawn their cards, the game is

considered to have begun, and the ﬁrst-turn Player may begin their turn.

For Step 2, a Player is selected using a random method (e.g. highest roll, ﬂipping a coin, etc.), and that Player

chooses who has the ﬁrst turn. If it is the ﬁrst game of a play-off round, the Player with the higher standing

chooses who has the ﬁrst turn. If it is not the ﬁrst game of a match, the Player who lost the previous game of the

match is the Player who chooses; or if the previous game ended in a draw, the same Player as the previous game

chooses.

The maximum time allowed for the start-of-game procedure is 5 minutes for the ﬁrst game of a match, and 3

minutes for each subsequent game in the match. Players who exceed this time limit have committed slow play

(see Section 5.7 - Slow Play).

3.4. End-of-Match Procedure

At the end of a match, Players must agree on the results of the match and then submit that result to the

Scorekeeper.

For timed rounds, when the time in the round expires and a winner of the current game is yet to be determined

the turn player completes their turn, and then 1 additional turn is played. When the additional turn is complete, if

a winner of the game has not been determined, the current game is a draw.

For elimination rounds, where a draw is not an acceptable match result, take the following steps to determine the

winner of the match.

Step 1: The winner of the match is the Player who has won more games in that match. If neither Player has won

more games and a game is currently in progress go to Step 2, otherwise go to Step 4.

Step 2: The winner is the Player whose hero has the highest life total in the current game. If neither hero has a

higher life total go to Step 3.

Step 3: The game continues until one hero has a higher life total and the winner of the match is that hero’s

Player. If a game ends in a draw, go to Step 4.

Step 4: Players start a new game with 4 turns total (2 turns per player). After 4 turns go to Step 2.

3.5. Intentional Draws and Concessions

Players may intentionally draw games and/or matches by mutual agreement at any time, except for elimination

rounds. Matches in elimination rounds can not be intentionally drawn, and games in elimination rounds can only

be drawn when there is a stalemate or deadlock.

CHAPTER 3. TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

When a Player concedes a game/match, the result is processed as a game/match loss for the conceding player.

A judge should be called when a Player wants to concede. Players may concede games and/or matches at any

time, except for timed rounds. For timed rounds, Players may concede any time up to and including when time

expires in the round, but once a Player takes an in-game action after this point, that player may no longer concede

the match and must play the game to its natural conclusion. If a Player wants to concede after time is called, the

player should be dropped from the tournament if there is not a genuine reason why they need to stop playing the

current match. Examples of genuine reasons include but are not limited to:

• There is a personal emergency that requires the attention of the player.

• A player feels physically unwell.

• A player is uncomfortable playing against the opponent.

• A player spills a cup of coffee over themselves and their belongings (only) and they want to concede in

order to clean themselves up.

If a Player refuses to play a game and/or match, that Player is considered to be conceding the game and/or match.

If all Players refuse to play a game or match, the match result is a loss for all Players.

Players may ask for a concession from their opponent before presenting their deck during the ﬁrst start-of-game

procedure (see Section 3.3 - Start-of-Match Procedure). Players may not ask for a concession after they have

presented their deck. Implicitly suggesting or pressuring a Player to concede may be considered to be asking for

a concession.

Players may not concede in exchange for any kind of consideration (see Section 6.4 - Bribery).

Examples:

• Two players do not want to play a game against each other during the Swiss rounds, but do not want the

result to affect their personal ranking. They agree to a draw for the match and submit that result.

• It is the last Swiss round for the tournament and two friends are paired. One Player has enough match

wins to make the top 8, so their friend asks them to concede the match before presenting their deck so that

the friend has better tie-breaker odds.

• Time is called in the round and one Player is in a clearly advantageous position, but can not win in the

next two rounds. The Player does not ask for a concession, but their opponent decides to concede before

taking any actions anyway because they want their opponent to have a win, based on the game state.

• Time is called in the round, the Players have already completed the additional turn in the end-of-match

procedure, and neither Player has won the game. Because neither Player decided to concede between the

time being called and taking an action, neither Player may concede the game and it must be declared a

draw.

3.6. Dropping from a Tournament

A Player may drop from a tournament at any time. To drop from the tournament the Player must inform the

Scorekeeper. Dropped Players may only be re-entered into a tournament at the discretion of the Head Judge.

Players who do not show up to their match are considered to have conceded the match and should be dropped

from the tournament unless they inform the Scorekeeper before the next round pairings are generated.

If a Player drops from a tournament before the ﬁrst pairings have been generated, they are considered not to have

participated in the tournament and will not be listed in the ﬁnal standings. If a Player drops after pairings for a

round have been generated, they are considered to have conceded that round’s match before being dropped.

CHAPTER 3. TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

If a Player drops during a limited format portion of a tournament, they own all the cards they correctly and

currently have, including any opened, unopened, and partially-drafted booster packs.

If a Player drops from a tournament early, they may not be eligible for participation prizes at the discretion of the

Tournament Organizer. If a Player drops from the tournament after it is announced that they are in the top cut,

there will not be a replacement for them in the top cut.

Players may not drop from a tournament in exchange for any kind of consideration (see Section 6.4 - Bribery).

3.7. Card-Pool Registration

Card-pool registration (referred to as a decklist) is a recorded list of all the cards that a Player may use (see

Section 8.2 - Limited Card-Pool) or intends to use (see Section 7.1 - Constructed Card-Pool). Decklists are

required from Players for all competitive and professional REL tournaments. While not required, the Tournament

Organizer may require decklists for Casual tournaments. For speciﬁc decklist requirements, see Appendix E -

Card-Pool Registration Requirements.

When a decklist is submitted to a tournament ofﬁcial, the decklist and the information contained therein become

the property of the Tournament Organizer. Decklists that are illegal, illegible, or not properly formatted may be

rejected. Once a decklist has been accepted, the Player may not alter it. Players are responsible for submitting

all decklists required before the beginning of the ﬁrst round (for constructed formats), end of deck construction

(for limited formats), or at another time speciﬁed by the Tournament Organizer. Players may request to see their

decklist between matches, which should be honored if logistically possible.

It is recommended that decklists are kept private to the Player and tournament ofﬁcials for the duration of the

tournament, with the exception of using it for coverage and providing it to Players in the play-offs at professional

REL. If there are any changes to this, the Tournament Organizer should make it clear before the tournament

begins. At professional REL, each Player in the play-offs of a constructed format should be provided copies of

their opponents’ decklists at the earliest convenience and given sufﬁcient time to review them before the ﬁrst

game begins. This is not required for limited-format play-offs.

3.8. Deck-Checks

A deck-check is a procedure to verify a Player’s cards against their accepted decklist (see Section 3.7 - Card-Pool

Registration). For a regular deck-check, the Player’s cards are collected when a Player has presented their deck

for a game (before they have drawn their opening hand), and are returned without the guarantee that they are in

the same order. Regular deck-checks should ensure that the cards are not considered marked (see Section 5.13 -

Marked cards) and that the player has presented cards legally (see Section 3.3 - Start-of-Match Procedure).

Regular deck-checks must be performed at professional REL and are recommended at competitive REL. Regular

deck-checks may be performed at casual REL at the discretion of the Tournament Organizer. If regular deck-

checks are being performed at a tournament, it is recommended that all Players in the play-offs have had regular

deck-checks during the Swiss rounds of the tournament before they begin the ﬁrst round of the play-offs.

The Head Judge reserves the right to perform a (non-regular) deck-check for any Player, including when they

are in the middle of a game or between rounds. If a deck-check is performed in the middle of a game, it must

be returned to reinstate the game exactly before the deck-check was performed. If a deck-check is performed

between rounds the Head Judge should keep in mind that it is not presented as though the Player was about to

play the game with it; marked cards and presentation errors are typically not applicable.

CHAPTER 3. TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

3.9. Judge Calls and Appeals

A Player may call a Judge at any time during their match. The recommended way to call a Judge involves

pausing the game, raising a hand, calling out “Judge!”, and waiting for a Judge to attend the call. At a

competitive and professional REL Spectators may not call a Judge, but may discreetly bring a game to the

attention of a Judge if necessary. Judges should attend judge calls guided by the ofﬁcial Comprehensive Rules,

Procedure and Penalty Guide, and Tournament Rules and Policy.

During a match, a Player should immediately call a judge when:

• Any Player commits a minor infraction that can not be resolved between the players in a timely manner.

• Any Player commits an infraction that requires a corrective procedure or might create a signiﬁcant

advantage/disadvantage for one of the Players.

• There is a dispute between Players that can not be resolved in a timely manner.

• There is an issue or emergency that requires a tournament ofﬁcial.

• The Player needs to leave the table for any reason.

• The Player otherwise needs the immediate oversight of a Judge.

A Player may also call a Judge when they want assisted information (see Section 5.1 - Game Information).

During a judge call, Players must answer all questions completely and honestly and may request to do so away

from the match.

For tournaments where there are both Head Judges and Floor Judges, it is preferable that a Floor Judge is the ﬁrst

responder to a judge call. If a Floor Judge is not available to respond to a judge call in a reasonable amount of

time, a Head Judge should be the ﬁrst responder to the call.

Players may not request a speciﬁc Judge to attend their judge call or request a different Judge other than the ﬁrst

attending Judge. If there is an issue with language barriers, Players may request a translator to aide in the judge

call, which should be honored if logistically possible.

After the attending judge has made a ruling, but before the procedure or penalty has been applied, either Player

may appeal the Judge’s ruling. When a ruling is appealed, a Head Judge attends the judge call to make the ﬁnal

ruling. When a Head Judge is the ﬁrst responder, the player may still request an appeal, in which case the Head

Judge should consult with another Judge before afﬁrming or modifying their ruling.

3.10. Accessibility

The Tournament Organizer is responsible for making a reasonable effort to provide an accessible environment for

Players to participate in the tournament.

Players may request help from tournament ofﬁcials in regard to accessibility. Exceptions to speciﬁc tournament

rules may be made on a case-by-case basis to make the tournament more accessible to individual Players,

provided the exceptions do not give a strategic advantage to the Player. All exceptions must ﬁrst be approved by

the Head Judge.

Examples:

• Assigning a caretaker, friend, or legal guardian to aid a Player with certain tasks like drafting or

shufﬂing when the Player is physically disabled.

CHAPTER 3. TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

• Assigning a speciﬁc play-table for a Player with a physical disability that prevents them from reaching

their seat each round.

• Allowing a player to use written phrases made before or during the event, to communicate common

aspects of gameplay to their opponent.

• Allowing the use of electronic devices to facilitate translation during a judge call if no translator

personnel are available.

3.11. Coverage

LSS reserves the right to publish any ofﬁcial tournament information at any time, including during the

tournament. The Tournament Organizer may also publish this information after the tournament is complete. By

participating in a tournament, players consent to their tournament information being used for coverage purposes.

This information includes, but is not limited to, the Players’ names, decklists, and results.

Tournaments may have live media coverage, including video coverage of matches by live streaming or replay

broadcast (feature matches). During feature matches, coverage may direct the gameplay logistics and the use of

tournament materials to improve the quality of the content being recorded and prevent players from gaining a

strategic advantage. This includes, but is not limited to, using additional markers to visually represent

information for the cameras, having the Players wear noise-cancelling headphones, and prohibiting the use of

material that features non-LSS IP.

The Head Judge may authorize the use of video replays from ofﬁcial media coverage to assist in making rulings

during a match. Video replays may also be used for the purpose of investigations after a match has been

completed.

At casual and competitive REL, players may decline to be featured during Swiss rounds without penalty. At

professional REL, or during play-off rounds at casual and competitive REL, if a player declines to be featured,

they receive a match loss for the round.

Spectators are permitted to record matches provided that they do so unobtrusively. If a Player or Spectator wants

to use an obtrusive method to record a match, they must request the permission of the Tournament Organizer and

the Players of the match.

4. Tournament Materials

4.1. Player Materials

Players are responsible for bringing their own materials required to play the event:

• Physical, visible, and reliable items to record and maintain game information (pen and paper, tokens,

counters, markers, etc.)

• Materials required for the speciﬁc formats and REL of the tournament (assembled decks, decklists, sleeves,

etc.)

For formats where Players are provided cards and tokens to play with, a Player is expected to care for those

materials once they possess them. Players are responsible for looking after their own belongings at all times.

During a match at competitive and professional REL, Players are expected to keep their registered card in their

card-pool clearly distinguishable from the other card-like objects. If there are cards stored with their card-pool

that could conceivably be in the Player’s registered card-pool due to proximity, they are considered part of the

Player’s registered card-pool unless they are:

• Cards not the decklist that are promotional cards given out at event.

• Cards on the decklist that have been proxied for the duration of the tournament (see Section 4.3 - Proxy

Cards).

• Double-faced cards represented by ofﬁcial placeholder cards in the deck (see Section 4.4 - Placeholder

cards).

• Double-faced cards that are being used represent the back-face of cards in the deck.

These cards must not be sleeved in a way that they could be confused with actual cards in the registered card-

pool. Tokens are not considered part of a player’s card-pool and may be stored with the card-pool even if there

are no registered cards that could ultimately create them. Created cards may be sleeved like registered cards, and

may be stored with the Player’s registered card-pool.

4.2. Cards

A card is a physical object that represents itself in the game of Flesh and Blood. Players may use any ofﬁcial card

in a tournament. A card is an ofﬁcial Flesh and Blood card if it:

• Is genuine and published by LSS.

• Has a standard Flesh and Blood back-face, has a full-art back-face, is a double-faced card, or is a double-

sided token-rarity card.

• Is not a token.

Ofﬁcial cards are printed in core sets, expansion sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Artist proofs are

not ofﬁcial cards.

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

Cards may only be included in a Player’s registered card-pool if they are legal in the format being played. Players

are responsible for ensuring their cards are legal for the tournament. If they are unsure, they should ask the Head

Judge. Card legality is deﬁned and managed through the Card Legality Policy.

The properties of a card are deﬁned by the latest printing of the card, subject to any errata published by LSS.

Double-sided token-rarity cards

A double-sided token-rarity card (DST) is a card where both sides are the different faces of two unrelated token-

rarity cards and/or tokens. A Player may use only a single side of DST to represent a single card or token in the

game at a time. If the DST represents a card (not a token) in the game, the Player may not switch the sides of the

DST to represent a different object in the game.

Double-face cards

Double-faced cards (DFC) are cards with another card face on the back side instead of the standard Flesh and

Blood back-face. When a player includes a DFC in their deck, it must be in card sleeve with an opaque back.

When the card would be ﬂipped to its back-face, the card should be taken out of the sleeve and ﬂipped to its

correct orientation. It should be ﬂipped back to its front-face when it leaves the arena.

Alternatively, Players may use an identical DFC with its back-face displayed. This identical DFC must be sleeved

differently to ensure that it is not confused with registered cards in the Player’s card-pool. When the front-face

DFC from deck would be ﬂipped, the back-face DFC can be swapped to replace front-face DFC, and vice versa

when it leaves the arena.

Created cards

A created card is a card that is not registered by the Player but is created by a registered card’s effect. If a Player

has a registered card that creates a deck-card, the Player is responsible for having a reasonable number of those

deck-cards to be used during the game. If a Player’s created cards are in a public zone they own, they may use a

marker placed on top of a single created card to represent how many of that card are in that zone, provided that

all the represented cards are otherwise identical.

Reprinted cards

A reprinted card (reprint) is a card for which a version has already been printed in a previous product. Reprints

may feature new art, border, rarity, and even updated properties such as card text. Reprints are legal to play as

soon as they are available.

Non-English cards

A non-English card is a card that is printed with text translated into a language other than English. A Player may

use an otherwise-legal non-English card provided it is clear what card it represents and the Player is not using it

to create an advantage, such as by having misleading text or pictures.

Misprinted cards

A misprinted card is card that through a design or printing error, does not accurately represent its intended form.

A Player may use an otherwise-legal misprinted card provided it is clear what card it represents and the Player is

not using it to create an advantage, such as by having misleading text or pictures. If it’s clear what the misprinted

card is, but certain printed information on the card is missing or objectively incorrect (such as colour, power,

defence etc.), the Player is required to have the correct information available that their opponent can refer to and

point it out when the misprinted card becomes visible to the opponent.

Damaged cards

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

A damaged card is a card that has received physical treatment that ruins its aesthetic quality and/or functionality

as a game piece. A Player may use an otherwise-legal damaged card provided that the damage was due to wear

and tear or is otherwise accidental, and the damage does not cause the card to be unrecognizable, or give strategic

assistance. Intentionally damaged cards, such as cards that have been cut, ripped, or shredded and reconstructed,

are not legal. This does not apply to cards that have been intentionally altered, especially for artistic purposes. If

a Player opened a damaged card from limited product, or their card was damaged by an opponent or tournament

ofﬁcial, the Player may be issued a proxy (Section 4.3 - Proxy Cards).

Altered cards

An altered card is a card that has been intentionally physically altered, especially for artistic purposes.

Alterations include, but are not limited to, painting, foiling, collages, printed inner-sleeves, and anything that

intentionally alters the visuals of the card. A Player may use an otherwise-legal altered card provided that any

modiﬁcations do not cause the card to be unrecognizable, contain offensive material, or give strategic assistance.

For the avoidance of doubt, altered cards must originally be ofﬁcial Flesh and Blood cards (not proxies); any

artistic modiﬁcation must not cover or obscure the name, pitch, color bar, or cost of the card; and at least one side

of the card must remain unmodiﬁed to allow tournament ofﬁcials to validate its authenticity.

For collage-like alterations (e.g. shadowboxing), only arena-cards are can be altered this way. If a Player wants

to use a collage, it must have the represented card as a base/background (with an unmodiﬁed back for validation

purposes), or the Player must provide an ofﬁcial unmodiﬁed card that their opponent to refer to.

At professional REL the primary subject(s) of the artwork must not be altered beyond recognition, including

drastic changes to the silhouette, color scheme, and focus of the primary subject(s) in the artwork. The Head

Judge decides what is an acceptable alter for the tournament.

4.3. Proxy Cards

A proxy card (proxy) is a card that is used to represent an ofﬁcial card in a game. Proxies are not permitted

unless ofﬁcially issued by the Head Judge of the tournament. The Head Judge may issue a or approve a proxy at

their discretion in the following situations:

• A foil card where the foiling is the cause of it being marked in the deck, and there is no non-foil version of

the card or it would be unreasonable to expect the Player to ﬁnd a substitute.

• A damaged card where the damage is the cause of it being marked in the deck, and the card was opened

from limited product damaged or the damage was caused by the Player’s opponent or a tournament ofﬁcial.

• A token-rarity card at a limited event where there are insufﬁcient ofﬁcial cards.

• A created card where a Player has made a reasonable attempt to supply enough created cards for their

game but it is not sufﬁcient for the current game-state.

• Printed Ira Welcome decks at a Learn to Play event.

A proxy is used during the tournament to represent an ofﬁcial Flesh and Blood card. The player must have the

original card or the information of the original card for the opponent to reference during a game that involves the

proxy.

The proxy is only legal for the duration of the tournament it is issued. Proxies that have been issued from other

tournaments and self-made proxies are not tournament-legal.

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

4.4. Placeholder cards

A placeholder card (placeholder) is a card that represents another deck-card (typically a double-faced card) while

it is in a private zone. Placeholders are designed so a Player can play with unsleeved double-faced cards or so a

Player does not have to unsleeve double-faced cards to use their back-faces.

Players may only use ofﬁcial placeholders in place of cards in their deck. To use a placeholder, the player must

ensure that the name and pitch of the card it represents are legible; any other modiﬁcations must follow the same

rules as altered cards (see Section 4.2 - Cards).

A placeholder card can only be used while the card it represents is in a private zone. While the placeholder card

is in a private zone, the card it represents is not outside of the game. When the placeholder card moves into a

public zone the player must swap it out with the card it represents (in the correct orientation). If the represented

card would then go back into a private zone, the placeholder card is swapped in again.

A checklist card is a placeholder that contains a list of cards that the checklist card could possibly represent (with

a checkbox next to each card). Each individual checklist card used by a Player must have exactly one card

checked - the checklist card represents the card that is checked.

4.5. Tokens

Tokens are card-like objects that represent tokens within the game. Ofﬁcial tokens are printed similarly to ofﬁcial

cards but have the “token” type printed in the typebox of the card. Tokens are not to be confused with

token-rarity cards, which do not have the token type.

The properties of a token are deﬁned by the latest version of the Comprehensive Rules.

At competitive and professional REL, if a Player has registered cards that create tokens, they must have the

appropriate physical tokens to represent each of them. If the Player’s cards may create same token but with

different states (e.g. creating a token under each player’s control), they must have an appropriate amount of

tokens to represent each token in those states.

A token should only be present in the arena if it is representing a token that exists in the game. If the Player’s

cards are able to create multiple instances of the same token, they may use a marker placed on top of a single

token to represent how many of that token you control provided that all tokens are otherwise identical. Players

may not start the game with a token in the arena, with the intention of adding a marker when tokens of that type

are actually created in the game.

Players may create and use unofﬁcial tokens, as long as it is card-like and the token’s game-related properties are

clearly readable and can’t be confused with another token or card.

4.6. Counters

A counter is a small item that represents a speciﬁc type of counter on an object in the game. Players may use any

item to represent a counter, as long as it is clear what type of counter it represents; does not give the Player

strategic assistance; is not so small or colored in a way to make that makes it difﬁcult to see; and is not be so

large as to obstruct the play-space.

If two or more counters of the same type are on an object, they must be homogenous and must not be arranged

in a way that makes it difﬁcult to determine how many or what other counters are on the object. Dice and similar

counting items may be used to represent the number of a speciﬁc type of counters on an object, instead of using

an item per counter.

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

Examples:

• A glass bead used to represent a +1{p} counter on a weapon.

• A die to represent the number of steam counters on an item.

• Two distinct dice on an equipment, one grey die to represent the number of -1 {d} counters, and one red

die to represent the number of energy counters.

4.7. Markers

A marker is a small item that is used to optionally represent part of the state of the game. Markers are not to be

confused with counters which represent a speciﬁc in-game element (see Section 4.6 - Counters). Players may use

any non-card-like item as a marker, as long as it is clear what information it represents; does not give the Player

strategic assistance; is not so small or colored in a way to make that makes it difﬁcult to see; and is not be so

large as to obstruct the play-space.

Players may use markers to represent visible or public information in a game, but may not use them to represent

information regarding cards in a Players deck or any historical, assisted, or private information (see Section 5.1 -

Game Information and Section 5.8 - Note-Taking). Players may not use markers to represent information

regarding cards in a deck, to avoid the potential abuse of tracking cards. A Player may only temporarily use a

marker to represent information: once that marker no longer represents the current state of the game the Player

must update the marker or remove it from use.

If two or more markers are used to represent the same visible or public, they must be homogenous and must not

be arranged in a way that makes it difﬁcult to determine the information they represent. Dice and similar

counting items may be used as markers to represent numerical information.

Examples:

• A resource-shaped marker is used to represent the number of resources a player has.

• A die marker is used to represent the modiﬁed power of an attack on the combat chain.

• A metal Go Again marker is used to represent that an attack has go again on the combat chain.

4.8. Dice

If an action requires the use of dice, any method may be used to simulate the dice roll, as long as the method can

produce the correct range of possible results and they have an equal chance of occurring. At professional REL,

electronic devices may not be used to simulate dice rolls.

Physical dice must have clear readable values, must be weighted to ensure that landing on each possible side has

an equal chance of occurring, and is not so large that they are disruptive when rolled. Dice with similar values

grouped together (such as spindown dice) may not be used.

When physical dice are rolled, they must be rolled from a discernible height and with enough spin to create

sufﬁciently random results. Dice that leave the playing surface, become ambiguously mixed with other dice, or

do not come to rest in a stable position on a ﬂat surface, are ignored and re-rolled.

If the result of a dice roll would have no impact on the game, the Player may skip rolling them. If a Player rolls

too many dice at once, they are ignored and the correct number of dice is re-rolled.

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

4.9. Sleeves

A sleeve is a thin ﬂexible card-shaped pocket that protects a card during play.

If a Player chooses to use card sleeves, all deck-cards used during a game must be sleeved in an identical manner.

At professional REL, the Head Judge may require all players to use sleeves for their deck-cards. Arena-cards do

not have to be sleeved identically and may sleeved or placed in heavy plastic cases, so long as they do not

obstruct the game-space.

Double-faced cards in a Player’s deck must be sleeved in completely opaque sleeves.

At Competitive and Professional REL, sleeves with highly reﬂective or holographic patterns are not permitted.

The Head Judge has the ﬁnal say on whether any type of sleeve is not allowed to be used in the tournament.

Players are responsible for ensuring that their sleeves do not cause their cards to be marked during a tournament

(see Section 5.13 - Marked cards). A Judge may disallow the use of particular card sleeves if they believe that the

sleeves are in a condition or of a design that interferes with shufﬂing or game play. A Judge may choose to delay

having the Player change sleeves until the end of a match.

4.10. Inventory

A Player’s inventory is a group of cards that is a subset of the Player’s registered card-pool but is not being used

in the current game. During the start-of-game procedure for each game (see Section 3.3 - Start-of-Match

Procedure), each Player selects what cards from their card-pool they will start the game with and any remaining

cards become their inventory for the game.

During a game, Players may look at their own inventory but not their opponent’s inventory. The inventory must

be kept completely separate from other cards in the game. Other card-like objects should also be kept separate

from the inventory during the game (see Section 4.1 - Player Materials).

4.11. Electronic Devices

An electronic device is a personal machine capable of recording or presenting strategic notes, communicating

with other people, or accessing the internet (or a similar network). In general, Players may use electronic devices

during a match as long as it is not used to gain strategic advice (see Section 5.8 - Note-Taking and Section 5.9

- Outside Assistance). During a match, Electronic devices may be used during the start-of-game-procedure for

strategic notes, but not for communication.

The use of an electronic device during a match must be visible to all Players. If a Player wants to use a device

privately, they must request permission from a Judge.

Physical records should be preferred over electronic records when resolving discrepancies in a game (e.g. life

totals).

At competitive and professional REL, devices may not be used at all during a draft.

At professional REL, Players may not use any electronic devices during a game.

Additional restrictions or exceptions to the use of electronic devices are enforced at the discretion of the Head

Judge.

CHAPTER 4. TOURNAMENT MATERIALS

4.12. Infringing and Offensive Material

Individuals may not possess material that infringes the intellectual property rights of LSS, or non-LSS material

that is offensive, disruptive, or affects the enjoyment of others. If an individual is seen in the possession of such

materials, the Tournament Organizer should request that the individual remove the material, or be disqualiﬁed (or

for non-Players, leave the venue).

A detailed policy regarding IP usage rights can be found in the Terms of Use for Game and Studio Assets and IP.

The Tournament Organizer determines what non-LSS material is acceptable for use throughout the tournament.

Examples:

• Unofﬁcial play-mats with unauthorized use of artwork or logos owned by LSS.

• 3rd-party merchandise with unauthorized use of artwork or logos owned by LSS.

• Counterfeit cards, designed speciﬁcally to mimic genuine Flesh and Blood cards.

• Custom card sleeves or play-mats with overly sexualized characters.

• Materials that are racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, ableist, or otherwise hateful.

5. Gameplay Logistics

5.1. Game Information

There are ﬁve categories of information in a game: Visible, Public, Assisted, Historical, and Private.

Visible information is information about that game state that is physically represented. Players are responsible

for maintaining the physical representation of cards and tokens they own, counters on those cards and tokens, and

their own record of hero life totals. Visible public information consists of:

• State and zones of cards and tokens.

• Printed properties of public cards and tokens.

• Counters on objects.

• Life totals of heroes.

Public information is information about the game state that is not physically represented. Players are

responsible for recalling public information about decisions they’ve made, cards and tokens they own, and assets

they have. Players have a shared responsibility for recalling public information about the shared state of the game

and match. Public information consists of:

• Properties of public objects that differ from their printed properties.

• Details of current public decisions, effects, or events that deﬁne the current game state.

• Details of past public decisions, effects, or events that affect the current game state.

• Assets of Players (unspent action and resource points).

• Current turn player, phase of the game, and step of combat.

• The game score of the current match.

Assisted information is information unrelated to the game state. Players are not required to recall assisted

information, but it may be requested from a Judge. Assisted information consists of:

• Printed properties of any card or token in Flesh and Blood.

• Game rules.

• Tournament rules and policy.

• Ofﬁcial information regarding the tournament.

Historical information is information that was previously public information but does not affect the current

game state. No Player is responsible for recalling this information. Historical information consists of:

• Printed properties of cards that have been revealed but are now private.

• Details of public decisions, effects, or events that do not affect the current game state.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

Private information is information that is not, or can not be, known by all Players. No player is responsible for

recalling private information. Private information consists of:

• Printed properties of private cards that have not been seen by all players.

• Details of private decisions, effects, or events.

Players are responsible for recalling Visible and Public information, but not for Assisted, Historical, or Private

information. Players must answer questions about Visible and Public information completely and honestly. If a

Player notices that Visible or Public information is incorrect, they are responsible for pointing it out.

Players have the privilege to know Visible, Public, and Assisted information, but not Historical or Private

information. Judges must provide any requested Assisted information if logistically possible.

Players may not misrepresent (or mislead another Player about) Visible, Public, Assisted, or Historical

information.

Players may not misrepresent (or mislead another Player that) a type of information is a different type of

information.

Examples:

• A Player has a Frost Fang in their hand (private information). They reveal Frost Fang to pay an ice

fusion cost, showing the card to all other Players (visible information). After the reveal, all Players are

responsible for recalling that an Ice card was revealed to pay the ice fusion cost (public information), but

do not have to recall exactly what card was revealed (historical information).

• A Player plays Twin Twisters (visible information) and chooses the second mode to get +1p (public

information). The opponent calls a judge and asks about the card text of Spinning Wheel Kick (assisted

information).

• A Player accidentally drops the cards in their hand (private information). Even if the opponent sees all of

the cards’ faces this way, it is still considered private information - it does not become public or

historical information.

5.2. Shortcuts

A shortcut is an action (or lack of action) taken by Players to skip parts of in-game play without explicitly

acknowledging them. Shortcuts allow Players to efﬁciently progress a game with a shared understanding of the

game-state by not having to perform otherwise irrelevant and tedious actions.

A shortcut can only be performed if all Players mutually understand what shortcut is being performed and what

the game-state will be as a result. The types of shortcuts that can be taken vary between different Players based

on their mutual understanding, but the majority of shortcuts involve skipping one or more passes in priority.

Shortcuts that involve skipping decisions (other than passing priority) of the opponent must be explicitly

explained and agreed upon before being performed. Once all Players have acknowledged the ﬁnal result of the

shortcut, the shortcut has been completed.

Players may interrupt a shortcut (including their own), but only if they do so before all Players acknowledge the

result of the shortcut. They must explain how they want to deviate or at what point they want to respond, in

which case the game-state continues from the earliest point of interruption.

Players may not use shortcuts to take advantage of poor communication or create ambiguity in the game.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

Examples:

• A Player plays a non-attack action card with go again. The Player takes a shortcut to skip all Players

passing priority the and card resolves. Then the Player plays another card.

• A Player controls 5 Runechant tokens and plays an attack action card. The opponent proposes a shortcut

to go to the defend step by saying “I won’t prevent the Runechants”, and the Player accepts. They both

skip passing priority and the opponent takes the damage from the 5 Runechant tokens.

• A Player is targeted by an attack with 3{p}. The Player proposes a shortcut to go to end of the damage

step by saying “I’ll take the 3 damage” and the opponent accepts. They both skip passing priority and

declaring defending cards, and the Player takes the damage.

• A Player has a Fyendal’s Spring Tunic with 2 energy counters on it. The Player takes a shortcut to

resolve the start-of-turn trigger, activate and resolve the ability to gain 1 resource, and play Tome of

Fyendal paying 1 resource. They do this by saying “Tunic, paying for Tome”, physically removing the two

existing counters, and putting Tome of Fyendal into the play-space. They skip putting a counter on the

Fyendal’s Spring Tunic in the start phase and passing priority in the action phase.

• A Player plays a non-attack action card with go again. The Player takes a shortcut to skip all Players

passing priority and plays another card. The opponent interrupts the shortcut to skip priority and wants

to play a card in response to the non-attack action card. The game-state continues from the point where

the non-attack action card is on the stack and the opponent has priority.

• A Player controls Teklo Pistol and Induction Chamber, with 1 steam counter on each of them them. The

Player explains that they want to use the verbal shortcut “Pistol for 2, go again” to mean attacking with

Teklo Pistol and activating Induction Chamber, skipping priority and the opponent deciding to defend.

The opponent declines the use of the shortcut. The Player must now explicitly attack with Teklo Pistol and

wait for the opponent to declare any defending cards before activating Induction Chamber.

5.3. Out-of-Order Play

An out-of-order play (OOP) is when a Player executes a set of in-game actions that are not strictly sequenced

correctly (as deﬁned by the Comprehensive Rules). All in-game actions a Player makes as part of an OOP must

be legal and the resulting game-state must be correct and clearly understood, as if those actions were performed

in the correct order. Actions in an OOP can not been made based on information that would not have been

available if the actions were in the correct order.

A Player may ask the acting Player to perform the actions in the correct order so that an action can be responded

to at the appropriate time. If any Player wants to respond during an OOP, the game state continues from the point

where the Player wishes to respond and the acting Player is not committed to any pending actions they would

have otherwise made during the OOP.

A player may not add to, or modify, their OOP based on the reactions of an opponent or the information they

have gained by making the actions out of order. A Player cannot use an OOP to retroactively take an action they

have previously missed. In general, a substantial pause indicates that an OOP has been made and completed, and

that the game-state correctly represents the result of the actions in the OOP.

Examples:

• A Player pitches cards before declaring the card being played or the ability being activated.

• A Player, playing as Briar, plays three non-attack action cards and then creates an Embodiment of

Lightning token as a resolution of a trigger from playing the second non-attack action card.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

• A Player announces defending cards and a defense reaction at the same time. The attacking player wants

to play an instant in response to the defending cards, so the defense reaction goes back to the Player’s

hand.

• A Player has a Fyendal’s Spring Tunic. At the start of their turn they immediately play a card, pauses,

then realize that they missed their start-of-turn trigger. The Player can not retroactively resolve the

trigger, claiming it was an OOP.

• A Player, as an attacking player, asks “Any reactions?” during the reaction step of combat and their

opponent says no. The Player can not record the damage and then retroactively play an attack reaction,

claiming it was an OOP.

5.4. Reversing Actions

Players are expected to consider their options, then take actions intentionally and commit to them. In general,

Players are not permitted to reverse a complete action that has been communicated either verbally or

non-verbally (a.k.a. taksies backsies). Players may not coerce their opponent into allowing them to reverse an

action they have completed. Dexterity errors are not considered actions taken by a Player.

If a Player realizes they have made the wrong decision for an action they have just taken and wants to make a

different decision, a Judge may allow that player to change their action as long as they have not gained any

information since. If the Judge cannot be sure that information was not gained, they should not allow the action

to be reversed.

Examples:

• A Player pitches a card to pay a cost, then before anything else happens they say “Sorry, I meant to pitch

this card.” A judge determines they have not gained any information and allows the player to take back

the pitched card, and declare a different card to pitch.

• A Player says “No blocks”, then immediately says “Wait, I’ll block with these cards.” A judge determines

they have not gained any information and allows the player to take back the defending cards and declare

a new set of defending cards.

5.5. Triggered Effects

Players are expected to remember the triggered effects they control. Players are not required to acknowledge

triggered effects they do not control, but may still do so.

A triggered effect is considered to be missed if neither Player acknowledges the trigger, and then its controller

takes an action or allows an action to be taken, past the point in the game where the triggered effect would

become relevant to the game. The point when a triggered layer becomes relevant is different for different triggers,

and if the following criteria are met for the trigger is it not considered missed:

• A triggered effect that requires its controller to make decisions (such as choose targets or modes) must be

acknowledged before the controller next passes priority.

• A triggered effect that affects the rules of the game must be acknowledged before an action is taken, or

acknowledged by stopping an action taken by a player, that otherwise would be made illegal by the

triggered effect.

• A triggered effect that affects the game state in a visible way upon resolution, or requires any player to

make decisions upon resolution, must be acknowledged before any player takes an in-game action that

could only be taken after the triggered effect has resolved.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

• A triggered effect that affects the game state in a non-visible way must be acknowledged before it ﬁrst

visibly affects the game state.

If the triggered effect is optional and it is missed, it is considered that the controlling player decided to not apply

the effect. Intentionally ignoring mandatory triggers is considered cheating (see Section 6.2 - Cheating).

5.6. Game Layout

At competitive and professional REL, Players must follow the ofﬁcial Flesh and Blood ofﬁcial zone layout. From

the Player’s perspective:

• The Player’s graveyard, pitched, and banished cards, should be adjacent to their deck and on one side (left

or right) of the play-space, with their equipped head, arms, chest, and legs cards on the opposite side of the

play-space.

• The Player’s hero and other equipped cards (weapons, off-hands, etc.) should be in the center of the play-

space.

• The graveyard should be above the deck, pitched cards towards the center of the play-space from the deck,

and banished cards below the deck.

• An equipped head card should be above an equipped chest card, equipped arms card towards the center of

the play-space away from the chest, and equipped legs card below their chest.

• Cards on the combat chain should be placed equally between all Players. Cards on a chain link should be

grouped together, and chain links should be in an ordered sequence from one side of the play-space to the

other.

• Each face-up permanent controlled by the Player should face that player and be on their side of the play-

space, above or next to their hero and below cards on the combat chain. They may be turned to represent

public information.

• Cards and tokens under a permanent should be clearly associated with the permanent they are under.

• Cards and tokens that are not in the game, and cards that are in a Player’s inventory, should be outside of

the play-space. They should not be placed next to or under other card-like objects in the play-space.

The ofﬁcial layout can be modiﬁed within reason to meet the physical requirements of a Player. If a Player would

like to deviate from the ofﬁcial game-layout, it must ﬁrst be approved by a Judge. Tournament ofﬁcials and

coverage may enforce and make exceptions to these guidelines in order to keep the representation of the game

clear. The Head Judge is the ﬁnal authority on what is an acceptable game-layout for the tournament.

The deck and the combat chain are the only zones in the game where cards (and tokens) are strictly ordered;

Players are not required to maintain the order of cards in any other zone. Generally, Players may not intentionally

order cards in the graveyard or banished zone (see Section 5.8 - Note-Taking). Players may have one additional

separate pile for each of their graveyards and banished zones for cards that are relevant to the current game state.

If they separate out cards this way, it must be clear what zone these cards are technically in. Players may order

the cards in these separated zones to ensure clear communication of the game state.

Examples:

• A Player is playing as Fai and has a Phoenix Flame in their graveyard. They may place that Phoenix

Flame in a separate pile from the other cards in their graveyard.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

• A Player has cards with a combination of Blood Debt and “You may play this from your banished zone”

in their banished zone. They may place those cards into a separate pile from the other cards in their

banished zone, and sort them to make it clear what cards have Blood Debt and what cards can be played

from the banished zone.

5.7. Slow Play

Players are expected to play games at a reasonable pace, to ensure that the match ﬁnishes within the round time

limit and that the tournament can proceed on schedule.

Players are encouraged to remind their opponent about playing at a reasonable pace when the opponent is taking

an unreasonably long time to make a decision that progresses the game state. Players may call a Judge to

moderate the pace of play, which should be honored if logistically possible.

If a Player exceeds the time limit for the start-of-game procedure (see Section 3.3 - Start-of-Match Procedure),

they have committed slow play and should be issued the appropriate penalty.

Intentionally playing slowly is considered Stalling (see Section 6.6 - Stalling).

5.8. Note-Taking

Note-taking is a broad term that refers to the use of aids to record information relating to the game. In general,

Players may not take notes during games.

Players may take notes between games and Spectators may take notes at any time, but those notes may not be

referred to during a game (see Section 5.9 - Outside Assistance).

Players may record hero life totals and changes to hero life totals (see Section 5.1 - Game Information) in order

to maintain the correct game state. Additionally, markers may be used to temporarily represent visible or public

information (except information concerning a Player’s deck), but they must be updated or removed when they no

longer represent that information (see Section 5.1 - Game Information and Section 4.7 - Markers).

Any acceptable forms of note-taking must be clear, accurate, and available to all Players and judges. Acceptable

note-taking during a game includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Examples:

• Recording meta-game information, between rounds such as the opponent’s name and hero, who went ﬁrst,

and the winner of the game.

• Using a marker to represent the current turn-player, phase of the turn, or step of combat.

• Recording the life total, changes to the life total, and the source of the change (i.e. the source of the

damage or effect).

• Using markers or dice, to represent remaining resource and action points.

• Turning permanents sideways or placing markers on them, to represent the use of activated abilities or

triggered effects for the turn.

• Using dice to represent the power of an attack or the damage of an effect.

• Using dice to represent the number of speciﬁc cards in a public zone. (e.g. blood debt)

• Using markers to represent gained abilities or effects (e.g. Go again).

• Writing down, using dice, or using markers to represent the value of X for effects.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

• Recording a card named by a player due to a card effect (e.g. Chain of Eminence).

All other forms of note-taking during a game are not permitted, including recording assisted, historical or private

information, and misleading or misrepresented visible and public information. Unacceptable note-taking during a

game includes but is not limited to the following:

Examples:

• Using a dice or marker to record the current turn number.

• Recording the order of cards that you or your opponent pitch.

• Recording opponent’s cards that are revealed from effects.

• Recording cards that have been played by you or your opponent.

• Intentionally ordering your graveyard or banished cards to determine what is in your deck (except cards

that are relevant to the game state).

• Calculating numbers or future game-states by writing them down.

• Using dice to track how many cards you or your opponent has drawn.

• Using dice to represent how many cards are in your deck.

• Placing markers on your deck to remind you of start-of-turn triggered effects.

• Using a life pad with incorrectly labelled columns for the Player and their opponent.

• Leaving a dice above the pitch zone that no longer represents the number of resources a Player has.

5.9. Outside Assistance

During a match, draft, or when otherwise directed by the Tournament Organizer or Head Judge, Players may not

seek advice from a Spectator or refer to personal notes made before or during the event, and Spectators may not

give play advice to a Player. However, Players may take and refer to personal notes during the start-of-game

procedure before each game (e.g. sideboard guides). Electronic devices may also be used during the

start-of-game procedure, as long as they are not used to gain or seek advice from a Spectator.

Players may be assisted by Spectators, notes, or electronic devices in order to make the tournament accessible for

them (see Section 3.10 - Accessibility).

At competitive and professional REL, Players and Spectators are expected to remain silent during a draft.

5.10. Card Identiﬁcation and Interpretation

A player may identify a card by name (or name and pitch), or they may provide a description or partial name that

could only reasonably apply to one card (or card cycle in some cases). If a Player or Judge thinks the description

or partial name is ambiguous, they must request further clariﬁcation before they assist with providing card

information.

The ofﬁcial text for any card is the English text of the latest printing of that card, subject to any errata published.

Players have the right to request the ofﬁcial text, which should be honored if logistically possible. Players may

not use errors in the ofﬁcial card text to abuse the rules. The Head Judge is the ﬁnal authority for card

interpretations and may overrule ofﬁcial card text if an error is discovered.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

5.11. Card Shufﬂing

Shufﬂing means sufﬁciently randomizing a set of cards so that it is in a state where no Player has any information

regarding the order of the cards in the set.

Players’ decks must be shufﬂed at the start of every game and whenever instructed to do so. After a Player has

shufﬂed their deck, they must present it to their opponent. It is recommended that the opponent cuts the present

deck, but they may also shufﬂe it themselves. If an opponent does not believe the Player has sufﬁciently shufﬂed

their deck before presenting, the opponent should call a Judge.

There are numerous ways to shufﬂe a deck. It is recommended that players use multiple rifﬂe and overhand

shufﬂes, followed by a cut, to get a sufﬁciently randomized deck. Pile counting and other deterministic forms of

shufﬂing are not acceptable methods alone to shufﬂe a deck. Players are expected to be able to shufﬂe their deck

sufﬁciently and in an efﬁcient manner.

If a Player had the opportunity to see the faces of any of the cards being shufﬂed, the deck is not considered

randomized and must be shufﬂed again.

5.12. Random Values

For simply determining random values by rolling dice, see Section 4.8 - Dice.

If a Player is instructed to select one or more random cards from a set of cards, the Player should use dice to

select those cards at random (see Section 4.8 - Dice). To do so, the Player must announce what values of the dice

correspond to what cards in the set before they roll the dice. If the possible values of the dice (or equivalent) do

not equal the number of possible cards in the set, the player may, within reason, assign certain values to indicate a

reroll of the dice. In all cases, all cards must have an equal likelihood of being randomly selected.

If no cards in the set are considered marked when they are face-down (see Section 5.13 - Marked cards), the

Player may instead shufﬂe the set and have an opponent choose the card(s) while they are face-down.

5.13. Marked cards

A card, or set of cards, is considered marked if it is distinguishable from other cards without being able to see

the front of the cards. Players are responsible for ensuring that all of their deck-cards are not marked during a

tournament. Players may alert a judge if they suspect their opponent’s cards are marked in a way that would give

that player an advantage.

If the cards are sleeved, this distinction is based on whether the cards are distinguishable while they are in those

sleeves. It is recommended that players exercise care when sleeving cards, and that they shufﬂe the sleeves or

cards prior to sleeving to reduce the likelihood of creating a pattern. Players should be mindful that sleeves may

require replacement throughout a tournament as they become worn from use.

The Head Judge determines which, if any, cards are marked. If an issue has been found, Judges may request that

a Player sleeve/resleeve their deck immediately or before the beginning of the next round.

Examples:

• A player has reversed the orientation of one or more cards in their deck.

• A player has a deck of otherwise ﬂat non-foil cards, but one is signiﬁcantly curled making it a marked

card.

• A player has a deck of otherwise slightly curled foil cards, but one is completely ﬂat making it a marked

card.

CHAPTER 5. GAMEPLAY LOGISTICS

• A player has an unsleeved deck and one of the cards is slightly bent.

• A player has used the same type of sleeves, but from two packs: one with a lighter hue.

• A player has sleeves where some of the corners are folded over from wear and tear from shufﬂing.

• A player has sleeves with art on the back and some of the sleeves have art that is misprinted or

misaligned.

6. Behaviour and Conduct

6.1. Sporting Conduct

Players are expected to behave in a respectful manner to anyone in the tournament area. While Players are not

required to show sporting behaviour, they should not behave in an unsporting manner.

Generally, unsporting conduct includes displays of negative, offensive, or disruptive behaviour that affects the

safety or enjoyment of others, and/or negatively affects the integrity or organization of the event. The Head Judge

determines what constitutes unsporting conduct.

Examples:

• A Player uses offensive language around others.

• A Player shoves others while moving through crowds.

• A player takes photos of another person with malicious intent.

• A Player ignores the instruction of a Judge (a player may appeal a ruling before following the

instruction).

• A player refuses to follow the instruction of the Tournament Organizer or Head Judge.

6.2. Cheating

Players are expected to abide by the rules of the game and tournament and cooperate with tournament ofﬁcials to

the best of their knowledge and ability. Cheating is when a player intentionally breaks these rules, ignores

someone breaking these rules, or lies to a tournament ofﬁcial, in order to gain an advantage in the tournament.

6.3. Aggressive and Disruptive Behaviour

Everyone should feel safe in a tournament environment.

Aggressive behavior involves physical harm or the threat of physical harm that compromises the safety of

individuals at the tournament. There is no tolerance for physical abuse or intimidation at any event. Items and/or

weapons that are offensive or dangerous to the safety of other individuals are strictly prohibited from all Flesh

and Blood events.

Individuals who disrupt the running of the tournament, create an unwelcoming or unpleasant atmosphere, who

abuse, insult, harass, or negatively impact another individual’s tournament experience, may be asked to leave the

venue by the Tournament Organizer. In addition, individuals may not be under the inﬂuence of alcohol or

recreational drugs.

Individuals that attend a Flesh and Blood event are expected to have an acceptable level of hygiene. If a person

does not meet the basic requirements of acceptable hygiene, they may be asked to resolve the issue or leave the

venue.

6.4. Bribery

Players may not offer or accept a reward or other incentive in exchange for determining the result of a game or

match, for dropping from the tournament, or for inﬂuencing an in-game decision.

CHAPTER 6. BEHAVIOUR AND CONDUCT

Players may offer and accept a prize split with their opponent provided it does not inﬂuence the result of the

game or match. A prize split does not have to be equal in value. Prize splits are facilitated by the Players

themselves and tournament ofﬁcials are not required to ensure that the prize split actually occurs.

Examples:

• Offering to concede in exchange for a concession in the future is considered bribery.

• Offering money in exchange for a match win is considered bribery.

• Offering favors to a player or ofﬁcial to induce an action they otherwise would not do is considered

bribery.

6.5. Wagering

Individuals may not wager, ante, or bet on any portion or result of a game, match, or tournament.

Examples:

• Players of a match agree that the loser has to pay for dinner.

• Two players agree to bet 20 on which of them will end up ranked higher in the ﬁnal standings.

• A group of players start a betting pool on who will win the top 8 of a tournament.

6.6. Stalling

Players must not intentionally play at a pace that avoids completing a game before the round time expires, or

disrupts tournament organization.

Examples:

• A Player intentionally takes as long as possible make decisions near the end of the round, so that they get

a draw instead of loss for the match.

• A Player continuously makes judge calls to get as many and as large a time extensions as possible and

delay the start of the next tournament round.

6.7. Buying, Selling, and Trading Cards

Individuals are expected to follow the ﬂoor rules regarding buying, selling, and trading products and services.

If the event is held in a local game store, the store sets the rules regarding buy, sell, or trade activity. If the event

is held in a public venue, the Tournament Organizer sets the rules regarding buy, sell, or trade activity.

At events run by LSS, or LSS partners, individuals may buy, sell, and trade Flesh and Blood single cards in the

venue, unless otherwise stated in the event information published by LSS. Buying and/or selling goods or

services other than Flesh and Blood single cards at the event venue without permission from a LSS is strictly

prohibited. Individuals caught buying or selling goods this way may be asked to leave the venue and/or subject to

further penalties.

7. Constructed Formats

7.1. Constructed Card-Pool

Players may only play with cards in their card-pool, subject to the class and/or talents of their hero, keywords,

and format-speciﬁc restrictions. A Player’s card-pool contains cards exactly the cards they supply (and register)

for the constructed format.

7.2. Classic Constructed Format

A Player’s classic constructed card-pool comprises 1 non-young hero card and a combined total of 80 arena-cards

and deck-cards. A card can only be included in a Player’s card-pool if the card’s class/talents are a subset of the

hero’s class/talents. A card-pool may contain up to 3 copies of each unique card.

A Player must start the game with a minimum of 60 cards in their deck.

These speciﬁcations are subject to any meta-static abilities of the cards in the card-pool (e.g. Legendary).

7.3. Blitz Format

A Player’s blitz card-pool comprises 1 young hero card, 11 arena-cards, and 40 deck-cards. A card can only be

included in a Player’s card-pool if the card’s class/talents are a subset of the hero’s class/talents. A card-pool may

contain up to 2 copies of each unique card.

A Player must start the game with exactly 40 cards in their deck.

These speciﬁcations are subject to any meta-static abilities of the cards in the card-pool (e.g. Legendary).

8. Limited Formats

8.1. Limited Product

Product for a limited format must be received directly from tournament ofﬁcials, and must only be used for that

format. This product must be previously unopened.

At the discretion of LSS, packs may be opened in advanced to be stamped. For draft product, DFCs should be

replaced by an appropriate placeholder card indicating the correct DFC (see Section 4.4 - Placeholder cards).

Players that have drafted placeholder cards should be given the DFC it represented after the draft has concluded,

but before the beginning of the ﬁrst round of the format.

If the Tournament Organizer allows Players to provide their own product, that product should be pooled with the

rest of the product for the format before being randomly distributed.

If the product does not contain enough token-rarity cards for limited play, the Tournament Organizer is

responsible for to provide the additional cards or appropriate substitutes (see Section 4.3 - Proxy Cards). The

Tournament Organizer may require that any token-rarity cards supplied are returned at the end of the format.

Players may use their own cards in place of token-rarity cards, as long as they are the same unique card.

8.2. Limited Card-Pool

Players may only play with cards in their limited card-pool, subject to the class and/or talents of their hero,

keywords, and format-speciﬁc restrictions. A Player’s limited card-pool contains cards from the product they

have received and any number of token-rarity cards from the product being used for the format. A Player does

not have to open token-rarity cards from the product for it to be added to their card-pool (see Section 8.1 -

Limited Product). Token-rarity cards are typically heroes and weapons, but may also include equipment and

deck-cards.

“Cracked Bauble” is token-rarity yellow Gem Resource card with no other properties; it is printed speciﬁcally to

support limited play. As with other token-rarity cards, Players may add any number of Cracked Bauble to their

card-pool, but this is only recommended if the Player cannot construct a 30-card minimum deck otherwise.

Players must play as a young hero from the product being used for the format. If card-pool registration is

required (see Section 3.7 - Card-Pool Registration), Players must choose and register the hero they will play

before the end of deck construction, and must play as that hero for the entire format. If card-pool registration is

not required, Players may change heroes between games.

A limited format deck may contain any number of copies of each unique card with the following limitations for

each product:

Uprising Maximum of 3 Phoenix Flame cards

A Player must start the game with a minimum of 30 cards in their deck. There is no maximum deck size.

These speciﬁcations are subject to any meta-static abilities of the cards in the card-pool (e.g. Legendary).

CHAPTER 8. LIMITED FORMATS

8.3. Sealed Deck Format

For the sealed deck limited format, Players are given booster packs and the cards that they open from these

booster packs become the Player’s card-pool. It is recommended that each player is given 6 booster packs from

the same set and that the set is designed to support limited play.

If card-pool registration is required, players must complete their card-pool registration before they are given time

to construct their decks. The recommended card-pool registration process for the sealed deck format is as

follows:

Open and observe (5 minutes)

• Players are assigned alphabetical or random seating, so that each Player is sitting across from another

Player. The Players on one side are Side A and the others are Side B. A Judge may be seated in front of a

Player if there is an odd number of total Players.

• Each Player is given their sealed product, but does not open them yet.

• Each Player ﬁlls out their information as the “player using pool” on their registration sheet.

• Each Player on Side A opens their sealed product one booster pack at a time, removes the token-rarity

card(s), and counts out the remaining cards face-up while the Player on Side B observes. When all of the

product on Side A is open, the cards are stacked in a single pile in front of the Player. Repeat with Side B

opening and Side A observing. The card-pool of each Player (minus token-rarity cards) should be a single

pile in front of them.

Swap, register, and swap (20 minutes)

• Players on each side exchange their card-pool and registration sheet.

• Each Player ﬁlls out their information as the “player registering pool” on the registration sheet they have

received.

• Each Player sorts the received card-pool by class/talent, then by name and pitch. Then each Player registers

every card in the card-pool onto received registration sheet.

• The players return the card-pool and registration sheet back to their original side.

Validate (5 minutes)

• Each Player validates their sorted card-pool against their registration sheet.

• If a Player spots a mistake on their registration sheet, the Player must call a Judge to review and sign-off

any corrections required.

8.4. Booster Draft Format

For the booster draft limited format, Players are arranged into pods and are given boosters packs. During the

drafting process, Players take (draft) one card from a booster pack and then pass the remaining cards along until

all of the cards have been drafted. The cards that they draft from these booster packs become the Player’s

card-pool. It is recommended that each player is given 3 booster packs from the same set and that the set is

designed to support limited play.

For all rounds of a single booster draft format, Players should only play against other Players within the same

draft pod.

CHAPTER 8. LIMITED FORMATS

The recommended draft procedure is as follows:

• Players are allocated into draft pods and are seated in a circular formation. The recommended number of

players in a draft pod is 8.

• Each Player is given their draft product, but does not open them yet.

• Each Player in the pod opens one of the draft product booster packs and removes the token-rarity card(s).

• Each Player drafts one card, places it face-down in a single pile in front of them, then shufﬂes the

remaining cards and passes them to the Player on their left. Players pick up the cards passed to them and

repeat this process until all of the cards have been drafted this way.

• Between drafting each booster pack, Players may review all of the cards they have drafted, before returning

them to a single face-down pile.

• Players repeat the opening, drafting, and reviewing process with the remaining product, alternating the

direction that the remaining cards are passed; the ﬁrst pack to their left, the second pack to their right, and

the third pack to their left.

• After all of the product has been drafted, the card-pool of each Player (minus token-rarity cards) should be

a single pile in front of them.

During the draft procedure, Players may not share or seek to gain information about the content of the packs, or

the cards that have been drafted. For the avoidance of doubt, Players may not communicate in any way that could

inﬂuence players participating in the draft.

Examples:

• Looking at the cards another player is drafting or has drafted.

• Saying “Sigh, no good Guardian cards this pack.”

• Saying “Wow, a Ninja legendary! Guess what I’m picking.”

• Saying “Looks like I’m drafting my favourite hero again.”

• Turning cards upside down in a pack before passing it.

If the product contains one or more DFCs (see Section 4.4 - Placeholder cards), Players may not share or seek to

gain information about who has a DFC in their current pack or who has drafted a DFC (including themselves).

Instead, Players may start with a token in their face-down pile and when a player drafts a DFC, they must do so

by putting it under another card in their face-down pile, to prevent it from being the top card of their pile.

When a Player drafts a card and places it face-down in their pile, their choice is ﬁnalized and the cards may not

be swapped with another card from the pack.

Players may not look at the face-down pile of cards they have drafted while the drafting of cards is in progress.

They must wait for the review period between drafting booster packs.

A called draft, is when the draft procedure is timed and each step is synchronized by a “draft caller”. At

Professional REL, all booster drafts are called. At Competitive REL, booster drafts are called only if required by

LSS or at the discretion of the Tournament Organizer and announced in advance. At Casual REL no booster

drafts are called.

If the draft is called, the recommended draft times can be found in Appendix C - Time Limits. If the tournament

would differ from the recommended time limit, it must be clearly stated before the draft begins and can not be

changed mid-draft.

CHAPTER 8. LIMITED FORMATS

If the draft is not called, Players should draft and pass cards at a comfortable pace that does not adversely affect

the overall pace of the draft for other players at the table or extend the draft indeﬁnitely.

If card-pool registration is required, players must complete their card-pool registration before they are given time

to construct their decks. The recommended card-pool registration process for the sealed deck format is as

follows:

Registration (15 minutes)

• Players start seated with their face-down pile of cards as their card-pool.

• Each Player is given a registration sheet, and is assigned a new seating area where they are not in proximity

to other Players in their draft pod (they do not move yet).

• Each Player puts their card-pool into a clear zip-lock bag or folds their registration sheet over their card-

pool to produce a small package of cards.

• Each Player moves to their new assigned seating. Players must not communicate or exchange cards in their

card-pool while moving.

• Each Player registers every card in the card-pool onto their registration sheet, then calls a tournament

ofﬁcial to collect their sheet.

• After the registration sheet has been collected, Players are free to leave the seated area.

9. Special Formats

9.1. Deck Construction

Deck construction for special formats vary by each format. See each format for the requirements and restrictions

that apply.

9.2. Welcome Deck Format

A Player’s welcome deck card-pool comprises the following cards:

# Card

1 Ira, Crimson Haze

1 Edge of Autumn

3 Whirling Mist Blossom (yellow)

3 Salt the Wound (yellow)

3 Bittering Thorns (yellow)

3 Torrent of Tempo (red)

3 Flying Kick (red)

3 Head Jab (blue)

3 Scar for a Scar (red)

3 Brutal Assault (blue)

3 Lunging Press (blue)

3 Springboard Somersault (yellow)

A Player must start the game with exactly of 30 cards in their deck.

Appendix A - Organized Play Programs

Tier Tournament Name

Rules Enforcement

Level

4 World Championship Professional

4 Pro Tour Professional

3 Nationals Professional

3 Calling (day 2+) Professional

3 Calling (day 1) Competitive

2 Battle Hardened Competitive

2 ProQuest Competitive

2 Road to Nationals Competitive

1 Skirmish Casual

1 World Premiere Casual

1 Prerelease Casual

1 Armory Casual

1 On-demand Casual

1 Play Anywhere Casual

Appendix B - Number of Swiss Rounds

The following is the recommended number of Swiss rounds for a tournament based on attendance. The rounds

are calculated to ensure that, with typical match results, there is one undefeated Player and all Players with an

X-1 record (or better) will be in a top 8 play-off. If the number of Swiss rounds differ from the table, the

Tournament Organizer is required to inform players at the time of registration or it must be clearly stated in event

advertising.

Premier tournaments and multi-format tournaments may have different structures, in which case refer to the fact

sheet of that tournament for more information.

Players

Number of

Swiss Rounds

Play-off

3 – 4 2 None

5 – 8 3 None

9 – 16 4 Top 4*

17 – 32 5 Top 8

33 – 64 6 Top 8

65 – 128 7 Top 8

129 – 224 8 Top 8

225 – 384 9 Top 8

385 – 736 10 Top 8

... ... ...

*Top 8 if the play-off format is booster draft

Appendix C - Time Limits

The following time limits are recommended for each round of the tournament, (inclusive of the start-of-game

procedure) based on the format. If the time limits differ from the recommended amounts, the Tournament

Organizer is required to inform Players prior to the beginning of the tournament or it must be clearly stated in

event advertising. Round times for the game formats are based on 1 game to win a match and are inclusive of the

5 minutes for the start-of-game procedure.

Format Time Limit

Classic Constructed 55 minutes

Blitz 35 minutes

Sealed Deck 30 minutes

Booster Draft 30 minutes

Welcome Deck 30 minutes

Sealed deck registration 30 minutes

Sealed deck construction 30 minutes

Draft deck registration 15 minutes

Draft deck construction 15 minutes

The following time limits are recommended for booster draft operation

Cards Draft time

15 50 seconds

14 50 seconds

13 50 seconds

12 50 seconds

11 40 seconds

10 40 seconds

9 30 seconds

8 30 seconds

7 20 seconds

6 20 seconds

5 10 seconds

4 10 seconds

3 5 seconds

2 5 seconds

1 -

The recommended time limit for the review period is 1 minute.

All players must have drafted a card, placing it face down into their draft pile, within the time limit. If a player is

consistently taking more than the time limit to draft a card, they may be subject to penalties.

CHAPTER 9. SPECIAL FORMATS

Players may not open or pick up a pack passed to them, until the Judge overseeing the draft pod announces

players may do so. It’s from the Judge’s announcement, that the timer starts for the next draft pick. The Judge

may announce to pick up the next pack before the time limit has expired if all players have completed their draft

pick from the current pack.

Appendix D - Tiebreakers

Every round, each player plays a match against another player, unless they have been awarded a bye. The result

of each match played is reported to the Scorekeeper and at the end of a round, players are ordered in a list based

on their overall performance during the tournament (i.e. player standings). During the tournament, players

improve their standing by gaining match points and avoiding losses:

Result Letter Points

Win W 1

Bye B 1

Draw D 0

Loss L 0

The following tie-breakers are used in sequence to determine the order of player standings.

Step 1: The player with the higher Match Points

Step 2: The player with the higher Cumulative Match Points

Step 3: The player with the lower Match Loss Percentage

Step 4: The player with the lower average Opponent Match Loss Percentage

Step 5: The player with the higher average Opponent Cumulative Match Points

Step 6: A player selected at random

Cumulative Match Points (CMP):

The player whose total Match Points were higher at the most recent point in the tournament will have the better

CMP tiebreaker. The CMP for a player is calculated as a fractional number between 0 and 1:

CMP =

− 2

r−1

)

− 2

r−1

where R is the total number of completed rounds, r is the round number, m

is 1 if the player had a win in round

r and 0 otherwise. If a Player has Match Wins equal to the round number, their CMP will be 1; if the Player has 0

Match Wins, their CMP will be 0.

Match Loss % (MLP):

The player with the fewest average losses of matches (of the matches that they’ve played) will have the better

MLP tiebreaker. The MLP is calculated as a fractional number between 0 and 1:

MLP =

CHAPTER 9. SPECIAL FORMATS

where R

is the total number of completed played rounds, r is the round number, l

is 1 if the player had a loss in

round r and 0 otherwise. If a Player has a bye in a round, that round is not considered to have been played by the

Player. If a Player has a draw in a round, it is not considered a loss in that round. With this metric, byes are worse

than draws (if the Player has any losses at all), and losses are worse than draws (because they increase the MLP).

Appendix E - Card-Pool Registration Requirements

The following card-pool registration requirements are stated for each REL and format. If the requirement differs

from the following, the Tournament Organizer it must be clearly stated in event advertising.

Rules Enforcement Level Format Deck Registration Required

Professional Constructed Yes

Professional Limited Yes

Competitive Constructed Yes

Competitive Limited Yes

Casual Constructed No*

Casual Limited No*

Casual Welcome Deck No

*unless speciﬁed by the Tournament Organizer

Constructed Format Decklists

For constructed formats, a Player’s decklist must list every card they intend to play in that format. The decklist

must record the name, pitch value (if applicable), and quantity of every card and be grouped as follows:

• Arena-cards (hero, equipment, weapons, etc.)

• Deck-cards with pitch value 1 (red) or no pitch value (pearl)

• Deck-cards with pitch value 2 (yellow)

• Deck-cards with pitch value 3 (blue)

It is recommended that players use the ofﬁcial deck registration sheet.

Limited Format Decklists

For limited formats, a player’s decklist must list every non-token rarity card they have in their limited card pool.

The decklist must record the name, pitch value (if applicable), and quantity of every non-token rarity card, and

must record the hero the player intends to play. It is recommended that the Tournament Organizer provide players

with the appropriate ofﬁcial registration sheet.