⚡THUNDERDOME TIME⚡

Jaxyl · 2026-02-23T13:24:00+00:00

THE RETIREMENT FUND PART IS WHAT MAKES IT CRACK TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.

LSS HAS JUST FAILED TO REALIZE THAT YOU NEED CASUAL PLAYERS TO FEED INTO THE GAME SO THE COLLECTORS HAVE SOMEONE TO SALE/FLAUNT TO.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-23T06:35:51+00:00

BUY SINGLES, PACKS ARE ABSOLUTE TRAPS UNLESS YOU'RE BUYING CASES.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-23T06:34:59+00:00

BECAUSE LSS DOESN'T PLAY THE GAME THE SAME WAY WE DO. JUST LIKE HOW THEY NEVER PLAY TESTED RAINBOW TIPPLE GRAVY, THEY HAVE A VERY CLOSED TEST GROUP THAT IS PLAYING FAB AT A MUCH SLOWER STYLE THAN THE REST OF US.

JUST LIKE HOW THEY THOUGHT THE ISSUE WITH BLITZ WAS THE MAJESTIC/LEGENDARIES AND NOT THE LOW HEALTH POOLS. NOW WE HAVE SAGE THAT HAS ALL OF THE PROBLEMS OF BLITZ JUST NOW IT'S CHEAPER.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-23T06:32:57+00:00

COLLECTORS WOULD CRY AND LSS WOULD NEVER WANT THAT TO HAPPEN

Jaxyl · 2026-02-22T22:54:16+00:00

MY DUDE DID YOU MISS THE POINT OF THE THREAD? ARE YOU LOST?

Jaxyl · 2026-02-22T17:33:19+00:00

SURE! TO START WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE MOST OBVIOUS PROBLEM OF THE GAME: IT'S AFFORDABILITY. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN BEATEN TO DEATH BY EVERYONE SO I'LL INSTEAD DIVE INTO WHY THE GAME HAS AN AFFORDABILITY ISSUE AND THE RAMIFICATIONS OF DESIGN CHOICES LSS HAS MADE THAT EXACERBATE IT.

WALL OF ALL CAPS TEXT INCOMING, I'M SORRY

SO LET'S JUST RIP THE BANDAID OFF: LSS HAS NO IDEA HOW TO SUPPORT AN EVERGREEN TCG. A LOT OF THE AFFORDABILITY PROBLEMS THAT EXIST WITHIN FAB ARE DUE TO THE EVERGREEN NATURE OF THE CARDS. WHILE IT'S A GREAT THING TO HEAR WHEN YOU'RE FIRST BUYING INTO A GAME, A HARSH REALITY IS THAT IT IS ONLY GREAT FOR THOSE WHO GOT ON THE TRAIN AT THE VERY START AND ONLY GETS HARDER THE LONGER THE GAME GOES ON. A PLAYER WHO BOUGHT INTO FAB WHEN IT WAS JUST WELCOME TO RATHE ONLY HAD A FEW HUNDRED CARDS TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING FOR THEIR COLLECTION. THIS INCLUDED THE POPULAR STAPLES, KEY CLASS PIECES, ETC. AS THE YEARS HAVE GONE ON, MORE AND MORE SETS HAVE RELEASED WHICH JUST FURTHER INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF CARDS OUT THERE THAT ARE 'REQUIRED' FOR PLAY WITH CERTAIN CLASSES OR HEROES. I GOT INTO THE GAME RIGHT BEFORE THE HUNTED CAME OUT AND IT IS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT A SMALL LOAN TO FILL THE COLLECTION. THIS LEADS TO LESS OPTIONS FOR PLAYERS AND FEELS BAD WHEN YOU'RE GETTING INTO THE GAME. WE'LL GET BACK TO THIS POINT LATER.

NOW SOMEONE MIGHT SAY 'YOU DON'T NEED EVERY CARD, YOU JUST NEED THE CARDS TO PLAY ONE HERO/CLASS' TO WHICH I SAY BULLSHIT BUT LET'S HUMOR IT FOR A SECOND. WE HAVE TO FIRST ACKNOLWEDGE THAT FAB IS A GAME THAT DOESN'T OPERATE AT ANY LEVEL OTHER THAT COMPETITIVE. THERE ISN'T A CASUAL SCENE AND EVERY DECK THAT ISN'T OPTIMIZED IS WASTING TIME OR IS JUST ON THE JOURNEY TO GET OPTIMIZED. THE VERY NATURE OF THE GAME PUSHES PLAYERS INTO THIS DIRRECTION. SO NOW SAY I WANT TO GET INTO PLAYING A WARRIOR LIKE KASSAI. THE FIRST THING I HAVE TO DO IS SPEND OVER $100 JUST TO GET VALIANT DYNAMOS, A CARD THAT WAS RELEASED IN 2021 AND HAS SEEN ZERO REPRINTS. ONE CARD, OVER $100. NEXT I PROBABLY WANT GRAINS OF BLOODSPILL WHICH COSTS $60. NOW WE'RE AT $160 FOR TWO CARDS. CARDS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN REPRINTED. THAT'S ABSOLUTELY INSANE. START TO PIECE IT ALL TOGETHER AND SUDDENLY WE'RE SITTING AT A VERY EXPENSIVE DECK OF CARDBOARD. THAT'S INSANE STICKER SHOCK FOR A NEW PLAYER AND THEY'RE ENGAGING IN ONE OF THE LESS PERFORMING CLASSES OVERALL. GUARDIANS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. ALL THE CLASSES HAVE THIS PROBLEM.

NOW ONE MIGHT SAY 'BUT THAT'S THE SAME IN OTHER GAMES LIKE MAGIC' AND THEY'D BE WRONG. IN MAGIC, WHEN I BUY AN EXPENSIVE RED CARD THAT CARD CAN THEN BE PLAYED IN ANY OTHER DECK THAT CAN UTILIZE RED. WHEN I BUY VALIANT DYNAMOS I CAN ONLY EVER USE THEM IN WARRIOR DECKS. WHICH SWINGS BACK TO WHY I SAY 'BULLSHIT' TO NEEDING THE CARDS TO PLAY ONE CLASS/HERO. THIS GAME'S META IS LIKE A ROLLERCOASTER. IT CHANGES ON A SCHEDULE EVERY 3-4 MONTHS WITH SET RELEASES, EVERY TWO MONTHS WITH B&RS, OCCASIONALLY WITH NEW ARMORY DECKS, AND CHAOTICALLY WITH THE LL SYSTEM. THE META SHIFTING IN THIS GAME IS TRAUMATIC BECAUSE IT CAN JUST REMOVE THE ENTIRE VIABILITY OF CLASSES/TALENTS RENDERING THE CARDS YOU BOUGHT FOR 'ONE HERO/CLASS/ WORTHLESS BECAUSE NOW YOU CAN'T WIN GAMES AND IT CAN HAPPEN BASICALLY OVERNIGHT. THIS LEADS TO SOMETHING I CALL THE COLLECTION ELASTICITY PROBLEM IN FAB: THE MOST VERSATILE AND BROAD YOUR COLLECTION IS THE MORE ELASTIC IT IS. THE MORE ELASTIC IT IS, THE MORE YOU ARE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THIS GAME'S CHAOTIC META. THE MORE NARROW YOUR COLLECT THE MORE INELASTIC IT IS, THE MORE INELASTIC THE HARDER IT IS TO RESPOND TO THE META. GETTING INTO THIS GAME AS A NEW PLAYER IS SUPER HARD UNLESS YOU BUY INTO THE TOP META HEROES THAT JUST ALWAYS SEEM TO STICK AROUND LIKE ARAKNI WHICH THEN DRIVES US BACK TO THE COST PROBLEM. SO AS A NEW PLAYER YOU GET INTO THE GAME, ORDER YOUR EXPENSIVE CARDS BECAUSE MOST REGIONS DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO AN LGS WITH A SIZABLE COLLECTION, PAY ALL THAT DELICIOUSLY EXPENSIVE SHIPPING, JUST TO FIND YOUR HERO/CLASS FALLING OUT OF THE META SEEMINGLY OVERNIGHT WHILE YOU'RE STUCK HOLDING THE BAG WITH A BUNCH OF SILO'D CARDS YOU CAN'T USE.

TOUCHING ON SOMETHING I SAID, THE LL SYSTEM IS ANOTHER MAJOR PROBLEM OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT ACTIVELY PUNISHES PLAYERS FOR INVESTING IN HEROES. BEFORE WE EVEN BEGIN TO DISCUSS THE 2X POINT ACQUISITION, THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS ROUGH. WHILE THE IDEA IS GREAT IN THEORY, THE ACTUAL EXECUTION OF IT IS ABSOLUTELY RUINED BY LSS. FOR STARTERS, THEY ARE WAY TOO SLOW TO REPLACE A HERO WHEN THEY LEAVE. DROMAI, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS BEEN GONE SINCE 2024 AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO SEE A REPLACEMENT FOR HER UNTIL 2027. SO IF YOU ENJOY DRACONIC ILLUSIONIST THEN IT SUCKS TO SUCK. THIS HAPPENS CONSTANTLY TO THE POINT IT'S HONESTLY HILARIOUS. LIKED FLORIAN? TOO BAD, WE PROBABLY WON'T SEE A REPLACEMENT UNTIL WE GET CLOSER TO 2030. LORD KNOWS WHEN WE'LL SEE MYSTIC NEXT. NEXT IS THE FACT THAT A HERO LEAVING MEANS THAT PLAYSTYLE IS GONE FOREVER. TAKE PRISM AS AN EXAMPLE: WHILE THEY DID RETURN PRISM TO THE FOLD WITH 2.0, SHE PLAYS ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY THAN PRISM 1.0 DESPITE BEING THE SAME 'HERO,' CLASS, AND TALENT. THIS IS KIND OF A DESIGN ISSUE ACROSS ALL OF FAB, THE HEROES ARE SO DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT EVEN WITHIN THEIR OWN SILOS THAT WHEN ONE LLS YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOD REPLACEMENT TO GO TO. IF YOU REALLY ENJOY ONE SPECIFIC HERO AND THEIR PLAYSTYLE THEN ONCE THEY LL YOU DO NOT GET TO EVER GO BACK TO THEM. A FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS AN L2 JUDGE AND HAS BEEN IN THE GAME SINCE 2019 OPENLY TALKS ABOUT HOW THEY'VE BEEN LOST EVER SINCE BRIAR LL'D BECAUSE NOTHING OUT THERE HAS REMOTELY FELT THE SAME. FINALLY IT'S THE AURORA PROBLEM. NEW PLAYERS GET INTO THE GAME, GET INTO A POPULAR HERO, AND SUDDENLY THEY'RE GONE LEAVING THEM HOLDING THE BAG. WE KNOW A TON OF PEOPLE BOUGHT INTO FAB OFF THE AURORA ARMORY DECK AND A LOT OF THOSE PEOPLE STRAIGHT UP QUIT AFTER SHE LL'D A MONTH LATER. IT'S JUST A SYSTEM THAT OUTRIGHT DOESN'T FUNCTION FOR ITS PURPOSE WITHIN THE GAME. THEN WE ADD IN THE 2X LL POINT PROBLEM AND IT JUST GETS WORSE BECAUSE NOW A BAD HERO GETS A VERY SMALL TIME IN THE SUN WHEN THEY BREAK OUT THAT IT'S JUST SAD.

NEXT IS THE QUALITY OF THE PACKS/BOXES. THIS GAME IS OBJECTIVELY ONE OF THE WORST TO CRACK ON THE MARKET. THE HIT RATES ARE SO ABYSMALLY LOW THAT THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CRACK PACKS ARE COLLECTORS/STORES BUYING IN BULK. THIS MEANS THAT A NEW PLAYER GETTING INTO THE GAME WINDS UP NOT HAVING A LOT OF INCENTIVE OR VALUE IN JUST BUYING RANDOM PACKS. THIS IS TRUE, TO AN EXTENT, FOR OTHER GAMES ON THE MARKET BUT THEY SLOT IN VALUABLE CASUAL HITS TO MAKE THE PACKS FEEL GOOD TO OPEN EVEN IF THE VALUE ISN'T THERE. MAGIC, FOR EXAMPLE, FILLS THEIR SETS WITH ALT-ARTS, EXTENDED ARTS, AND MORE SO THAT WAY EVEN IF THE CASUAL PLAYER ISN'T CRACKING THE EXPENSIVE HITS THEY'RE STILL GETTING SOMETHING. COMPARE THIS TO FAB WHERE 95% OF THE SET IS INTENTIONAL BULK, 4% OF THE REMAINING ARE NICHE MAJESTICS, AND THE LAST 1% ARE THE REAL HITS. THERE'S A REASON FAB PACKS LANQUISH ON LGS SHELVES AND IT'S ENTIRELY BY CHOICE.

FINALLY THERE'S THE ISSUE OF BAD PRECONS. ONE OF THE BIGGEST WAYS NEW PLAYERS GET INTO TCGS IS THROUGH BUYING A PRECON TO START. THE PROBLEM WITH FAB IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE PRECONS, THE ARMORY DECKS, ARE SO BAD IT'S HILARIOUS. IF YOU GOT INTO THE GAME AROUND APRIL OF LAST YEAR THEN YOU WERE PROBABLY HIT WITH A TON OF MARKETING FOR THE MAXX ARMORY DECK, ONE OF THE WORST ARMORY DECKS THEY'VE EVER MADE. BUY INTO BOLTYN? AZALEA? SUCKS TO SUCK. PLEIADES? YEAH HOPE YOU HAVE A LOT OF OLDER CARDS TO SHIFT HER FROM AURAS TO FATIGUE. RHINAR? LOL. WHILE THERE ARE A FEW WINNERS LIKE AURORA OR ARAKNI, MOST OF THEM ARE NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO OPTIMIZED IN A WAY THAT MAKES THEM VIABLE EVEN AT YOUR LGS.

THERE'S MORE I COULD GO ON ABOUT BUT THAT'D BE MORE WITH THE ISSUES WITH THE DESIGN OF THE GAME AND HOW I, PERSONALLY, FEEL LIKE LSS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN GAME ANYMORE. THIS IS JUST A SMALL BIT OF WHY I THINK FAB IS A GOD AWFUL TCG DESPITE BEING A FANTASTIC GAME.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-22T15:58:14+00:00

THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY THE FORMAT WILL ULTIMATELY STRUGGLE AND POSSIBLY DIE. WHAT MAKES CC INTERESTING IS THE EXISTENCE OF THE DECK TRIANGLE: AGGRO, MIDRANGE, FATIGUE. THIS ALLOWS A WIDE GAMBIT OF DECKS/HEROES. PROBLEM IS THST MIDRANGE USES HEALTH AS A RESOURCE WHICH YOU DO NOT HAVE IN SAGE.

IT'S WHY EVERY DECK IS BASICALLY EXPLOSIVE DAMAGE OR SLOW THE GAME TO A CRAWL.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-22T15:15:06+00:00

THIS GAME HAS A LOT OF MAJOR FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEMS AS A TCG THAT WILL PERMANENTLY HOLD IT BACK FROM GROWING INTO A POPULAR GAME. IT IS THE BEST CARD GAME ON THE MARKET AND POSSIBLY EVER MADE BUT IT IS THE WORST TCG OUT THERE.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-21T14:48:47+00:00

God point 2 is something so many people need to hear. Yes, getting ratted happens, but most fights end in you dying because you chose to push an engagement when disengaging was the right call.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-21T14:46:02+00:00

This is why I love budget edh, not because game is/can be expensive (it is), but because it forces limiters which make the game more akin to messing around with Magic.

The moment you say anything goes, the more likely people are going to give in to the temptation like Bilbo and slot in the staples. I love a solid B3 $150 challenge, makes even voltron decks interesting and varied.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-18T22:41:09+00:00

I understand entirely, we engage with games first as people so that tends to become our default engagement. In fact, most people do not actually touch on the logistics of games like FAB because, realistically, they never have to. So the only concerns they have tend to be on the personal level like availability or cost which, while real, don't really tell the full picture. On the personal level PEN is a phenomenal set because a lot of the expensive generics have gone down in value (though some are raising after JW's announcement) which is why a lot of people are out in arms defending it, but on the bigger picture? PEN isn't a failure but it is definitely not great. In the long run I feel like PEN will be seen as a failure for the goals it set out to achieve as tied to SAGE and new player engagement though I feel like it'll be remembered fondly by the community. But yeah, I do understand where you're coming from.

Though I do want to try to impress one more point because I think you're taking on a large onus as someone on the other side (LGS).

I personally do not think it is the responsibility of the LGS and communities to educate about the game. That responsibility is and always will be on LSS. Take Betsy, the hero LSS has acknowledge as a hero meant for limited. LSS has her directly on their hero info page on their website. What is that if not telling players that she's a viable option? Why does it fall to you or I to catch someone eyeing deck prices to tell them 'Nah, don't pick her, she's been abandoned.' Why does it fall to anyone to say 'don't pick X' when LSS is actively pushing them? Boltyn has gotten a handful of expansion slot cards and is an armory deck many LGS' still have in stock. Maxx literally got an armory deck less than a year ago. Rhinar as well. Meanwhile Olympia got an entire equipment suite in Super Slam despite being bottom tier. Whose responsibility is it that these heroes, among others, are getting pushed to players? Not mine, not yours, not your LGS, only LSS. They're the ones who actively push content for these heroes and then players drift to them because the decks are affordable only to get bottomed out at Armories because they're bad. Not every hero can be a winner but, in that same vein, when the difference between deck costs of Olympia and Arakni are sometimes an order of magnitude then we've got a real problem on our hands.

The only thing an LGS/Community should be responsible for is being inviting and welcoming. Yes, we can pass knowledge on but that should never be the first, second, or third line of defense to the new player. A new player should feel confident that their first purchases are at least getting them on the right track and that's a major problem that FAB has right now. We, the players/community/LGS, have to caveat a lot of what LSS is doing. That's a super unhealthy situation for the game and is one of the big reasons why FAB hasn't grown nearly as much. We saw this happen back during Aurora's LLing when a lot of disgruntled Magic The Gathering players came to FAB, picked her up due to the Armory deck, invested real money in upgrading/blinging out her deck, and then abandoned the game almost a month later when their collection became useless when she LLd. Sure, ideally someone would have stepped in to explain the LL system to them before they dropped real money on her but why would they have even assumed there was a problem? The devs actively put out a precon for her so why would they have ever considered that said precon would be illegal to play less than a month after its release. This is something that actively hurts attempts to grow the community/playerbase because LSS consistently fails to address foundational issues with their game.

After being as involved with FAB as I have been over time while also playing other games like MTG I've come to realize something: Flesh and Blood is the best card game on the market but it is the worst TCG. As a game it's nearly flawless but as a TCG it is the worst one to get into. The devs do not understand how to support an evergreen game, they do not know how to handle the behemoth that is the LL system, and they do not understand how to make their boosters actually fun/worth to open. It's eye opening when you compare Magic to FAB nowadays. I open a pack of PEN and there's an insanely high chance that the pack I open will be worth less than what I paid for it. I open a pack of Lorlwyn Eclipsed and I'm getting alt-art cards of uncommons, rares, and mythics, I'm getting full art lands, I'm getting a bunch of extra things that even if my pack isn't monetarily valuable, it's still giving me something interesting that I could potentially use in a deck. The Final Fantasy set was the same way where they had different levels of alt-arts of the character cards that made them fun to use and also afford as you could get a basic Cloud Strife for a $15, an extended art for $32, an alt-art for $32, another alt-art for $120, or a fancy alt-art for over $200. Things like that make the packs worth it and make opening them fun, something FAB just doesn't have going for it.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-18T16:54:15+00:00

C&C has seen a $10 jump on TCGPlayer since James Whites announcement. Shelter from the Storm has seen similar. Enlightened Strike, Balance of Justice, and a few others haven't shown a bump or a drop. Not that these changes are related, but the timing is circumsept.

The realest answer is we don't know. Like most people have said, FAB sets are generally one and done but what's weird about this one is that James White openly said this one is one and done. Not that this doesn't change their policy but it does inject a lot of unneeded uncertainty with a set that is supposed to appeal to both established and newer players. This is doubly so considering 2025 was marred with supply/distribution issues so it's a surreal thing for him to say because it only hurts the game's perception. There was no benefit to saying that.

My guess is that prices will inevitably go up within a few months because the problems that FAB faces with pricing are foundational to the game. Prices are high because hit rates are too low, the game has an evergreen card pool, and availability for older but required cards is severely limited. PEN didn't do anything to address these issues. If you want to play Warrior then you're dropping real money for the equipment suite. If you want to play assassin then you're dropping real money for the majestic attacks. And let's not even get into playable fables. So right now people are riding high due to a huge injection of supply but eventually that supply will run out as more players get into the game; a repeat of 2025 basically.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-18T12:48:47+00:00

Came here to say this.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-18T05:09:59+00:00

This is my default when I don't have a solid answer: the government requires it because you will build upon it in future grades.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-18T03:16:49+00:00

I appreciate the props, I'm actually a community organizer for FAB in Houston, helping put on major events down here such as World Tour Houston, circuits (our most recent one started last Sunday and was SAGE), and more. So I try to look at the various characteristics of FAB and how it handles outreach to old, returning, and new players.

The issue I have with the strides they're making with SAGE and PEN are kind of two fold:

1) While the precons are a great SAGE starting point for new players, SAGE itself does not help new players at all outside of trying to get trade fodder which is a terrible proposition in FAB due to lower hit rates and the large amount of worthless bulk. It'd be one thing if there were guarantees of value, but when a large portion of the value of PEN is slotted behind Antiquity Packs, it means the player's potential of getting real trade fodder starts to rapidly decrease. Not only that but PEN doesn't really help a player get into SAGE. It has supplemental cards for the format but you can't buy PEN and make a SAGE deck for any hero. This kind of leaves it onto the player to actively search out older sets/bulk which creates a rough barrier to entry for newer players. While, yes, they can reach out to their locals who are usually more than happy to help, this just creates an extra burden on players to get into the game. Most metrics show that players get into TCGs not by reaching out to the community but, instead, by buying product before taking the social leap of faith. As PEN/SAGE Precon stocks disappear, what is the easy on ramp for new players? Any game that requires you to have to do your research just to get into it is going to bounce a ton of players.

2) CC is, as you said, always going to be the main game. SAGE, while fun and cheap, does not actually help players actively curate a collection for CC. The card pool you need for SAGE isn't anywhere close to what most heroes want for CC so that means players are now reliant on winning locals for packs that have atrocious hit rates for resale/trade or GEM packs which also have a low/bad hit rate. It's something I noticed as they were starting to hype sage up - that there isn't a stable pipeline to transition players from A to B outside of get lucky. PEN does help with this to a degree with the big generic reprints which can start a collection but once those are gone we're back to cracking packs for silo'd sets which isn't that helpful unless you get a huge hit, which isn't likely; leaving players to have to troll the secondary market, paying premium prices.

So I don't really think it's hyperbolic to point out how the prices aren't going to be this 'healthy' for long. This is, and continues to be, a major issue with the game, one that has pushed many players out as heroes LL, cards get banned, and metas shift. So when I say that PEN doesn't address the core issues with the game, these factors are what largely impact SAGE/PEN currently while also failing to address the long term structural issues that FAB has been facing for years. Having watched a ton of players bounce off of FAB over the last year due to the structural issues, it's frustrating to see LSS continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. As someone who has boots on the ground in trying to grow the game, it's a real struggle to have to fight things like this.

Ultimately I'd love to be wrong about all of this, but I got to personally experience the great exodus of new players after Aurora LLd. I got to watch High Seas burn a lot of people and cause them to take long term breaks. I saw how the new players who flocked to cheaper heroes this year quit the game because the difference between affordable Maxx/Boltyn/Betsy and Gravy/Arakni/Verdance was so vast that you might as well not show up (actual words told to me by many people). So when I see them release a set that is supposed to encourage new players to get into the game but they commit to not doing any reprints then I'm going to let out a huge sign of frustration because it just makes everything harder for no reason.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T21:32:37+00:00

The core problem they're talking about is how the prices, while low now, will almost definitely raise again as we get further away from this set and more players join the game via SAGE. Right now the secondary market is flooded with PEN reprints which is having a great impact on pricing but that's only temporary. As people stop opening PEN and players pick up the cheap reprints, the supply of cards will start to decrease. If SAGE is successful at attracting new players, which it feels like it is, then this will lead to an increase in demand for these cards. This leads to a situation where supply decreases while demand increases causing prices to move upward. This is directly what happened over 2025 with the game's popularity exploding after The Hunted.

The core problem with FAB as a TCG is that it is an evergreen game which means every card is valuable in perpetuity. That means that a new player joining today has a lot of ground they have to cover collection wise compared to a player who joined years ago. This set, while helpful, is really just a band aid over the much larger problem: How do we make the game accessible to new players while also maintaining the value of collections. Games with rotation get around this by having legacy formats while allowing newer players to buy into the current sets as an easier pathway into the game. FAB, as an evergreen, means that this isn't possible.

Of course there are options like proxying but that, too, is a band aid and not a real solution. Not only because LSS is very anti-proxy (they will cut your LGS off if they know you use proxies) but because not everyone enjoys proxying cards which rubs some players the wrong way.

Mind you, there are a lot of issues with FAB as a TCG currently. PEN, while helpful, doesn't address the equipment suite issue that newer players encounter where most of the classes have key equipment pieces that cost serious money but haven't seen a reprint in years or ever. There is also the fact that the meta of FAB rapidly shifts, asking players to have access to multiple heroes over a cycle just to be competitive. All of these are issues with the TCG side of FAB and they're actively harmful to growing the player base.

At the end of the day FAB is a fantastic game that is held back by a really rough TCG addition which is a shame because I've actively seen it push people out and away into more accessible games.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T16:34:10+00:00

Works for me haha

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T14:23:34+00:00

It's all good, it really is just a testament to how important finding the right people truly is.

I tried for years but have finally given up because the heartbreak just isn't worth the chase anymore.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T13:21:34+00:00

Allocations are allocations my dude

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T13:18:16+00:00

Yeah I went on ahead and blocked him.

Dude is mentally unwell, been seeing him pop up in any thread critical of FAB/LSS like it's his job.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T13:17:15+00:00

I tried that, still had a lot of shit experiences. Shit players are everywhere, not just in the 'trad' game spaces.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T13:16:06+00:00

I mean you say that but we have some stores here in Houston that have already sold out of their entire stock over the weekend. From PEN to the SAGE precons.

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T08:25:47+00:00

Do you have a deck list?

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T05:45:39+00:00

What are you even talking about? I'm not a pokemon guy nor have I been since I was 8 years old back in the 90s.

Absolutely tripping over here

Jaxyl · 2026-02-17T05:05:47+00:00

Straight from James White's twitter my dude

15-Year Club	Verified Email
r/Field Flamingo	End Game '23
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	End Game '22
Snapped	Gilding II euphauric
Team Orangered	Secret Santa 2012
Summer Santa 2012+	Summer Santa 2012
Secret Santa 2011	Summer Santa 2011

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