This summer has been FLAMES! Crimson Rampage supercharged the format with a ton of options to play. The Season 1 Provisional and Regional promos were insane; only to be outdone by the Season 2 promos which are all in high demand. Jasco threw a surprise curveball at us at Anime Expo with Ball Might, keeping us on our toes. The plan for the rollout of the MHA CCG has gone off with one bang after another. So, what should you expect next?
Over the next 11 weeks, there are eight events scheduled that should take us through the end of Season 3 right up to Nationals in November. If you haven’t gotten your hands on the Season 2 Provisional Showdown promos, you have one more chance. Fantasy Books & Games will be hosting an online Provisional Showdown on August 13. Now if you want the money cards, those sweet RLE promos, you’ll have to get to Indianapolis for GenCon. The calendar is turning fast on these promo seasons, which should make grabbing these cards pretty satisfying down the road.
Season 3 won’t wait a single day longer than it has to. August is packed wall-to-wall with events happening every weekend! Carta Magica will be hosting the RLE to kick off the season on August 20 at the Canadian Exhibition Center, with a full scale online Provisional the following weekend on August 27. This will be our first chance to get our hands on promo versions of Jiro, Rising Starlet, Manly Passionate Guy and more.
September will be a slow month for Organized Play. Jasco likes to give players a breather before a new set comes out to prepare for the new format. Set 3: Heroes Clash will be legal this September and, taking an educated guess, the first event with the new wave of cards looks to be the pair of Provisionals on September 24 (online) and October 1 (TBD). We’ll use those to get ready for the last RLE of the season on October 15 (online). By that time, we should have the announcement of when and where Nationals will be, and also the final details on the Hero League Championship which should both be taking place this November.
With a ton on the horizon, players everywhere are getting the opportunity to throw their hats into the ring and that’s going to pay big dividends when it comes to growing this game. Next year, I hope Jasco considers making Provisionals even more common and completely run by tournament organizers on a smaller scale. This is the OP strategy that YuGiOh famously used, with several events happening every weekend all over the country and it rocketed them to the forefront of prominence in the TCG landscape. With that said, the growth of the game is insane to watch and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next. Until next time, I’ll see you on the tables!
