Images courtesy of Legend Story Studios
The first Tier 4 event of 2025 for Flesh and Blood brings us to London in just two weeks, and the excitement is palpable. Competing for $175,000 is obviously a huge part of it, but if you take a closer look at the narrative leading into this event, there are tournaments with upsets, metagames continuing to evolve, and certain players running hot.
Let’s dive into what we’ve learned about Classic Constructed in the past five Battle Hardeneds and two Callings.
Battle Hardened: Taipei
To kick off March, the World Tour came to Taipei to warm up our seats for High Seas. The Aurora Armory Deck had not yet been released, but the recent season of Road to Nationals showed Aurora to be the premier aggro deck over Cindra and the now departed Viserai.
Sure enough, Aurora sifted her way to the top in six of the top eight spots. These versions of Aurora demonstrated a focus on aggression instead of combo, running only one copy of Flicker Wisp in three of the lists, zero in two, and three in one!
A lone Cindra and Rhinar also made it to Top 8, but it’s very challenging to tech specifically for Aurora. Cindra tried the Wax On and Wax Off package, and Eugene C on Rhinar opted for Pummel, but both plans ultimately failed.
For a first look at the post RtN meta, the community was alarmed to see so many Auroras so early, but the next event would shake that narrative.
Battle Hardened: Charlotte
Back in the States on that same weekend, the meta could not have been more different. The Top 8 featured zero Aurora, and not only that, but seven different heroes!
In the Top 8, the most prevalent strategy was midrange. While it’s a broad term, decks that could be built more aggressive, like Ira and Uzuri, instead opted for more defense reactions like Shelter from the Storm.
To note, Uzuri even featured Kiss of Death and Tarantula Toxin to prey on how often decks like to block in this format.
The most aggressive decks on display were Prism with a Herald focused gameplan, and Dash I/O who can even outrace the likes of Aurora thanks to Hanabi Blaster. Nevertheless, Michael Feng on Enigma proved to outlast aggro, outvalue midrange, and outplay the bad matchups to end up on top.
Would that change with the advent of the Aurora Armory Deck coming up at Calling: Kobe?
Calling: Kobe
All eyes were on Calling: Kobe. The livestream, the Aurora buff, and the sheer strength of the APAC region were sure to make this a standout event.
Sure enough, with nearly 300 players, the Top 8 put the metagame to the test with four Aurora at the head of the pack. The deck’s consistency skyrocketed with Skyward Serenade and the additional triggers it grants to Arc Lightning. Like Battle Hardened: Taipei, the combo gameplan was on the backburner with only four copies of Flicker Wisp across the four decks.
Florian and Nuu, then, were poised to combat these combo-light Auroras quite well. In the Top 4 match, Florian even took down Aurora without presenting Nullrune Boots! When Nuu and Florian met in the finals, the lack of Seeds of Tomorrow from Tatsuya meant Jacob’s Nuu wouldn’t be able to fatigue. For the first time in the game’s history, Florian won the Calling. The ripples were felt immediately with the community’s tier lists ranking him as “S” and making him a legitimate pick for Pro Tour: London.
Battle Hardened: Kobe
At the same World Tour stop, Aurora did triumph in the Battle Hardened in a much different Top 8. The new addition, Vynnset, made it all the way to Top 4 with a very solid Aurora matchup due to disruption like Cull and Widespread Destruction.
However, the prevalence of Zen took her down to take another shot at earning LL points to ascend before Pro Tour: London. With a close loss in the finals, though, it would be up to the next few events to shift the meta or not.
Notably, the winning Aurora list was teched more for the mirror, Zen, and Nuu by including That All You Got?. With how the rest of the Top 8 shaped out, the smart deckbuilding played a huge role in securing first place.
Calling: Sao Paulo
The next weekend, the World Tour finally reached Brazil! As the first non-US Americas Calling, nearly 300 players showed up to make sure the event was a success. The LATAM scene was put to the test with some huge names in the field, like Michael Feng and Jacob Clements, with a healthy split of out of towners and locals in the Top 8.
Most exciting, however, was a surprise appearance by Dorinthea Ironsong. The decklist turned heads on stream by showing off the power of not only the threat of unknown attack reactions in hand but CYB as well. In the quarter finals match, a close game saw Aurora move on due to the end game threat of Sigil of Suffering, and then even taking down Florian with only one copy of Flicker Wisp.
The finals showed just how much damage and defense a perfectly played Enigma can present with even more aggression like 10000 Year Reunion and disruptive defense like Dissolve Reality. Even so, Carlos took down Florin with a pitch-stacked wide turn with an old reliable Enlightened Strike to seal the game.
The crowd, in classic Brazilian fashion, erupted, making it the most memorable finish yet!
Battle Hardened: Sao Paulo
Even with Aurora's dominance on the weekend, other heroes put up a great showing at the attached Battle Hardened. Brazil had seemingly mastered the CYB Dorinthea deck, with another showing in Top 4 this time!
Also surprising, a Dash I/O on Symbiosis Shot was added to the mix, with Jarl Vetreidi winning the event.
The Jarl deck featured a healthy balance of Earth to utilize Felling of the Crown, and still enough Ice keep Channel Lake Frigid around. That balance was enough to take down Aurora in the finals and actually also had a showing placing 9th at the Calling in the hands of Ignacio Villasuso.
There was another Battle Hardened on the weekend, however, with perhaps an even more exciting finish.
Battle Hardened: Eindhoven
The first look at Europe in this metagame has just flipped everyone’s understanding of the format. I mean, zero Aurora? Dead but not forgotten, Dash, Levia, and Victor made long overdue appearances in Top 8. Dash rekindled the old builds of all out aggression with Hanabi Blaster, Levia balanced midrange with a touch of Wild Ride, and Victor tried really hard to beat Enigma with Zealous Belting and Out Muscle.
The juiciest bit, however, was the undefeated 11-0 Fang that took down the event. Definitely the underdog of The Hunted, a successful Fang list hadn’t reared its head yet, but now the impressive finish will surely have more builds running just off of eight blues. I want to give a special shout out to the value powerhouse that is Fealty and Sigil of Solace, effectively a one-card five with Valiant Dynamo.
Before Pro Tour London, we’ll see four more CC events at Milwaukee and Dublin, but there are no more opportunities for heroes to Living Legend. If the current trend continues, then Aurora still looks like the deck to beat, but the field is ripe with decks ready to answer her.
Which of the dark horses do you think can make Top 8? Will it be Levia again??? Let me know in the comment section below.
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