Pablo Pintor won Pro Tour New Jersey with Chane, Bound by Shadow on Sunday.
Pintor, from Spain, was the lone player in the Top 8 on the Shadow Runeblade hero and played spoiler for Bravo, Star of the Show — the hero that was predicted to dominate the game’s first Pro Tour. While Bravo, Star of the Show was the most played hero and the most-represented hero in the Top 8, it was Pintor and Chane who etched their names into the history books.
Pintor clawed back from an 0-2 start in the Swiss to finish with a record of 11-3 to reach the elimination rounds as the No. 7 seed. Pintor picked apart William Kubik on Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light in the quarterfinals, setting up a match against Isaak Krut on Bravo, Star of the Show in the semifinals. Krut knocked out the most decorated player in the Top 8 in the previous round — Sasha Markovic, the two-time Calling winner on Kano, Dracai of Aether. Pintor navigated a tricky match against Krut and made it to the finals, where Florin-Christian Loghin awaited with Bravo, Star of the Show.
The finals went the distance, with Loghin attempting to fatigue Pintor as he amassed a collection of cards with blood debt in the banished zone. But at one life, Pintor pieced together a flurry of attacks on his final turn, including the tournament-winning attack from Bounding Demigon, powered up by Art of War. Loghin could only extend the fist as he ran out of defense in hand, leaving Pintor the first ever Flesh and Blood Pro Tour champion.
Pintor took home the top prize of $25,000, a cold foil Pro Tour champion hero card of Chane, Bound by Shadow, a gold cold foil legendary, and another PTI.
While the tournament metagame shook out at as predicted with Bravo, Star of the Show, Chane, Bound by Shadow, and Prism, Sculptor of Arclight making up the top three decks, an under-the-radar Wizard took the event by storm. Kano, Dracai of Aether only had seven pilots of the 375 players in the event, but had two players take him to the Top 8 and another pilot finished in the Top 16.
Alexander Vore finished the Swiss as the No. 1 seed and Markovic was the No. 6 seed, despite both players falling in the quarterfinals with Kano. Hayden Dale finished in 14th place with the Wizard as players skimped on Nullrune armor and other Arcane Barrier equipment. Three of the four players on Kano that made Day 2 finished in the Top 16, showing the power of the Wizard from Arcane Rising in an unprepared field.
View the Top 8 decks from Pro Tour New Jersey.
While Bravo, Star of the Show didn’t achieve Living Legend status from the Pro Tour, the elemental guardian eclipsed 1,000 points by winning the Calling at New Jersey in the hands of Mateusz Sass from Poland. Sass defeated Oliver Phi on Prism in the finals, winning the largest Calling in Flesh and Blood history. The next Banned & Suspended announcement is scheduled for June 24, so Bravo, Star of the Show will be retired from Classic Constructed with the release of Uprising, unless a surprise B&S is made before then.
Lastly, Donovan van Beek won the Battle Hardened Blitz event with Oldhim. Oldhim took six of the Top 8 slots, with Kano and Dash showing up as well. Mark Johnson finished in second place with Kano. Van Beek and Johnson both claimed PTIs with their Top-2 finishes.
More Pro Tour New Jersey coverage can be found from the official Flesh and Blood website.