Legend Story Studios has announced it's stopping the printing of a Flesh and Blood set for the first time since the game launched in 2019, and it's causing quite a backlash from the game's community.
Crucible of War isn't a main set like the recently-released Tales of Aria. Instead, it's a supplementary set that introduces extra cards for use with the Welcome to Rathe and Arcane Rising sets. Despite not being built around drafting or limited play, Crucible of War has proven popular with game stores, who have struggled to hold on to stock of it since its launch earlier this year.
Despite that, Legend Story has announced that Crucible of War is now officially out of print, with all stock either allocated to retailers or at retailers already. It also stated that there are no plans to print any more packs of Crucible of War, though it does retain the right to reprint individual cards from it in later sets.
This announcement has caused a considerable amount of controversy from the Flesh and Blood community, particularly on Twitter, who argue that the "Unlimited" implied that the packs would be printed to meet demand indefinitely. The announcement has also caused packs and cards from Crucible of War, such as Shiyana, Diamond Gemini or Twinning Blade, to skyrocket in price in the secondary market and become unattainable for many players. For example, at the time of writing, Shiyana, Diamond Gemini's market price has shot up to $399.99, with one person even trying to sell if for almost $3000.
Despite the backlash, Legend Story Studios has technically always been upfront about the limited nature of Crucible of War. In the product sheet released alongside the announcement of Crucible of War, it was said that it would be released in three waves across 2021, with the last one coming on September 30. On the other hand, many players argue that Legend Story should have made this release more clear, as an aside on an industry product sheet isn't the best way to communicate availability. It causes further confusion as to what the "Unlimited" on the product actually means, as, while used by Legend Story to differentiate from the limited First Edition print runs, does give the impression that an Unlimited product will always have its demand met.
Flesh and Blood has had a rough time, recently. It's also been caught up in controversy surrounding the TCG secondary market youtuber Alpha Investments, who allegedly made over $1 million by selling 1500 promotional cards given to him by Legend Story. Having one person sell off a huge number of unique cards for $1000 a piece hasn't assuaged ongoing concerns about the impact Flesh and Blood's highly lucrative secondary market is having on accessibility for those who want to actually play the game itself.
Regardless, Flesh and Blood is still positioned to be the 'next big thing' in the TCG space, being able to hold its own alongside the likes of Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Pokemon. Later this week, it will be hosting the second leg of its US "Calling" tournament with an event held in Dallas and Fort-Worth, Texas. It also recently launched the next major set of the year, Tales of Aria, which introduced new elemental abilities to the game.