Flesh and Blood team with YouTube’s Tolarian Community College for a Commander-esque multiplayer set
The beginner friendly set enshrines Brian “The Professor” Lewis on his own hero card.
Flesh and Blood is expanding its quietly successful trading card game into the multiplayer space with a new set created in collaboration with one of the largest YouTube creators covering the hobby. The likeness of Brian “The Professor” Lewis of Tolarian Community College YouTube channel will appear on a hero card in beginner-friendly set Round the Table: LSS x TCC.
Publisher Legend Story Studio developed Round the Table in coordination with Lewis, who is a vocal proponent of Magic: The Gathering’s multiplayer Commander format and one of the early vocal advocates for Flesh and Blood as a contender in the trading card game space. It’s no surprise, then, to see his name attached to an effort to position Flesh and Blood as a rival to the dominant four-player mode with its new Ultimate Pit Fight (UPF) format.
Round the Table will release on September 29th and is specifically angled as a beginner-friendly, casual introduction to Flesh and Blood, while also expanding the number of players from two (one-vs-one matches) to the more freeform and often more chaotic four-player variant. The included mechanics won’t be overwhelming, and the set’s four flagship heroes - Professor Teklovossen, Brevant, Civic Protector, Melody, Sing-along, and Ira, Crimson Haze - have been designed to entice newcomers without swamping them in text and convoluted interactions.
“It's an honor to collaborate with The Professor, one of the world's greatest advocates of social gaming and a vocal champion of local game stores as important community hubs where people can get round the table to play great games together,” said Legend Story Studios’ CEO James White.
Further aligning with Lewis’ mission as an advocate for local TCG scenes and supporting small businesses, Round the Table will only be available through brick & mortar game stores upon release. The box set will contain four Blitz decks that come ready to hit the table for Ultimate Pit Fight play. Also included is a 24-inch rubber play mat and a 1000 card ct. Storage box. Each deck will be helmed by one of four heroes, and Tolarian Community College viewers will notice an uncanny resemblance between Lewis and the grinning Professor Teklovossen.
“I’m excited to sit around the table and be immersed in the world of Flesh and Blood in an all new way. It’s been a journey watching Flesh and Blood grow over the past four years and 10 sets, and I’ve enjoyed attending the FAB premier and organized play events around the world. Now I’ve been turned into a card, I hope many others will experience the fun of casual and organized play [that] Flesh and Blood brings trading card game players.”
Flesh and Blood will follow Round the Table with the more traditional Bright Lights set, which returns to the standard one-vs-one format, for now. White claimed in the press release that Bright Lights will intentionally serve as an on-ramp into mainstream Flesh and Blood for those players hooked in by Round the Table’s casual offering.
While Lorcana surges forward as the haute TCG du jour and the big three - MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Pokémon - continue their dominance, Flesh and Blood has continually topped its own sales figures and attendance record to events such as the recent US National Championship held in Las Vegas. More than 1,000 people showed up to watch Charles Dunn seize the crown for 2023, along with a hefty chunk of a $70,000 prize pool.