Flesh and Blood - October 27th Banlist Review

Unexpectedly yet quite objectively, LSS has once again updated their banned and restricted list, less than a month before the next scheduled update. They only made two single changes to Living Legend.

Let's see them:

- Deadwood Dirge (1) is restricted;

- Rosetta Thorn is banned.

In the last banned and restricted update, Deadwood Dirge (1) was "freed" to, supposedly, make Viserai's Armory Deck playable (as it comes with three copies of this card), but clearly that was a mistake. We are not exaggerating when we say Deadwood is a sort of Dark Ritual, a Magic: The Gathering card that creates three black mana. It also enables incredibly strong strategies with Bloodsheath Skeleta and the Rune Gate mechanic.

Chane, Bound by Shadow and Viserai, Rune Blood practically abused this non-attack action. Its cost, destroying an aura, was actually irrelevant, as these Runeblades create auras with their abilities.

Warmonger's Diplomacy might have returned to the competitive scene, but it barely seems so. Runeblades were still too strong, and something needed to be done. So, LSS banned their best weapon: Rosetta Thorn.

Rosetta is considered, by many, the best weapon Flesh and Blood has ever seen. In my very first article for Cards Realm, I wrote the following about it:

In the last few years, a lot has changed: it was banned from Commoner, has been banned in Silver Age (initially known as Project Blue) since it was created, and is now banned in Living Legend. This shows its cost-to-benefit ratio and power were just too much for the game as a whole.

The most important tournament of the year, Worlds, is only two weeks away. Unlike last year, the sealed format won't be a part of it, but Living Legend will. This wasn't received well, as most players thought this essentially made a "casual format" into a "highly competitive format". In any case, this wouldn't be such a big issue if it were balanced and diverse. As it happens, it is far from it.

LSS has also not really managed it well and made many mistakes trying to do it, so it has slowly become unreliable from the perspective of the community. Banning cards without an announcement first in such a short amount of time, hitting the "wrong" cards (to some), and changing the format so close to the World Championship have frustrated most players who are getting ready to play at the highest competitive level.

The next update will be on December 15th - weeks before the Road to Nationals season and the first competitive season in 2026.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!