Meat and bloodthe novice competitor of Magic: The Gatheringhas built up a lot of steam since its launch in 2019. It is primarily played as a two-player duel game and has a thriving competitive scene, featuring 4,000 stores worldwide helping promote the organized game program. But so far, the game hasn’t had an introductory box set aimed at more casual players.
Now the New Zealand-based company has teamed up with Brian “The Professor” Lewis, the trading card game guru behind the popular Tolaric community college YouTube channel, to create Around the tablea new four-player box set available on September 29. It contains four decks of cards that are built around fantastic‘s existing Ultimate Pit Fight multiplayer format. According to publisher Legend Story Studios, the game was built specifically with new players in mind and features all new hero characters, including one based on Lewis himself.
Image: Legend Story Studios
In Meat and bloodplayers take on the role of fantasy warriors engaged in one-on-one arena battles. Players use items such as weapons and armor, as well as special moves played with a small hand of cards. These moves form a “battle chain,” in which characters exchange attacks, parries, spells, and other maneuvers to disrupt their opponents, break their guard, and deal damage. The first player to bring their opponent down to zero health wins. But what makes it real fantastic the commitment to local game shops is distinctive.
“Meat and blood is a true indie game,” Lewis told Polygon in an interview on Wednesday. “That is something very rare in (trading card game) spaces. It’s the only major TCG game I know of that isn’t owned by a big company like Konami or Hasbro. But rather it was created by an individual, James White.”
Speaking to Polygon in 2022, White highlighted his own goals for the franchise, which focus on community building.
“People usually have jobs, they have homes, and then they have third place,” White said at the time. “For some people there’s a sports club, or the church, or the pub, or maybe it’s a music club or something. But for gamers – for tabletop gamers – this has traditionally been the local game store.”
“The local game store still played a very important role in my life,” continued White. “It kept me going.”
Lewis shares his love for local game stores on a very deep level.
“Your local game store is the last gathering point,” said Lewis, “where kids and teens can go to find a safe environment where they can engage in activities that involve creativity, strategic planning and math, (and to) friends to make. And this also applies to adults. How do you make friends as an adult? (…) Adults can make friends in game stores, just like they used to do at school.”
Newcomers are not the only target group for the game. Long time fans of fantastic are also in for a treat. In addition to The Professor as a playable hero, Around the table also includes the game’s first legally playable bard, Melody.
“Her attacks are songs,” said Lewis. “Like any good artist, she doesn’t work for fame. Every time she plays a song, she gets money and buyers.”
As for the value in the box, Lewis calls Around the table his ‘dream product’. It includes four pre-built Ultimate Pit Fight blitz decks, which regularly sell for $14.99. Over 100 of these maps are new to the game, many of them designed specifically for multiplayer games. Also inside is a high-quality 24-inch rubber playmat and a thousand-card storage box, so very little of the packaging goes to waste.
Round the table: TCC x LSS will only be available for purchase at local game stores from September 29. Fans can expect it to retail for $69.99.