Legend Story Studios (LSS) posted its scheduled Banned & Restricted announcement for Flesh and Blood yesterday, making changes to the Blitz, Living Legend, and Commoner formats.
Living Legend
Up front, LSS changed from Banned & Suspended announcements to Banned & Restricted announcements as cards will no longer be suspended and the Living Legend format will be balanced mostly by restricting cards (limiting decks to only one copy of particular cards). LSS wants players to be able to use all cards printed in the game in the Living Legend format, so instead of banning cards outright, they will start by restricting cards that could be too powerful.
The initial changes for the Living Legend format are the restriction of the following cards:
- Awakening
- Channel Lake Frigid
- Crippling Crush
- Hypothermia
- Oaken Old
- Star Struck
- Warmonger’s Diplomacy
After Bravo, Star of the Show dominated the first official Living Legend event held at the World Championship by taking all Top 8 slots, it was clear action needed to be taken on the Elemental Guardian. Most of the cards that were restricted were three-ofs in the Bravo, Star of the Show lists, however, some of them could also prove problematic in the hands of other heroes as the format progresses.
LSS wants Bravo, Star of the Show to remain playable and powerful, but is attempting to get his power more in line with the rest of the format.
We are 100% committed to the Living Legend format, and see it as an important, albeit more occasional, part of our competitive ecosystem going forward. It is critical we all have a place to revisit the heroes we’ve loved in the past. While it is unlikely that we can ever reach a state where every Living Legend-ascended hero is a substantial part of the metagame, we do intend to find ways to have greater competitive diversity than we saw in our first major event.”
Bryan Gottlieb
Blitz
With the wave of heroes leaving Blitz after hitting Living Legend this past Skirmish season, the format looks to be in a healthy spot. Now that Kano has exited the format, it is safe to return Aether Wildfire and Stir the Aetherwinds to Blitz.
While Kassai recently hit Living Legend (and so did her weapon, Cintari Sabre), her signature weapon will come back to Blitz with the introduction of the new young Kassai coming in Heavy Hitters. This sets the precedent that retired weapons can return, but it doesn’t mean every hero’s signature weapon will return with the printing of a new version of that hero.
You can expect both similar and divergent outcomes in the future when a new version of a previously Living Legend-ascended hero returns to the fold. In other instances, we may choose to produce a new signature weapon to align with that hero. In this case, Kassai is free to bring her trademark swords into the arena once more.”
Bryan Gottlieb
Commoner
Lastly, Amulet of Ice and Stubby Hammerers are banned in Commoner. LSS was able to obverse the format at the World Championship side events and talked with members of the community to see what adjustments Commoner needed.
Removing Stubby Hammerers brings the Ninja heroes in line with the rest of the format while Iyslander losing Amulet of Ice keeps her form invalidating opponents’ defensive measures.
These changes go into effect on Friday. The next scheduled Banned and Restricted Announcement will be March 25.
Read the official announcement from LSS.