Season 3 Flesh and Blood Champion Spotlight: Joel Recinos the THIRD!
Armory Champion • Season 3
A 29–3 season, a value-driven Kassai deck and an armory community that keeps welcoming new players.
Congratulations to Joel Recinos the THIRD, winner of the Tilted Gaming Season 3 Flesh and Blood Leaderboard! Joel finished the season with 94 points and a 29–3 record, piloting Kassai, of the Golden Sand through long, demanding games and a changing local meta.
Armory Notes 01
Kassai, of the Golden Sand was Joel’s most-played hero throughout Season 3. He describes her as the best Warrior hero in his arsenal and one of his favorite heroes in all of Flesh and Blood.
Armory Notes 02
Joel kept most of his equipment loadout steady. The plan was to get value from Valiant Dynamos and Grains of Bloodspill over long games, then overwhelm opponents with that steady advantage. When the window opened, Raise an Army could create a group of sellswords and help close the game.
Early in the season, repeated games against Ben’s Teklovossen and Kai’s Marlynn lists showed Joel where he needed to adjust. He increased his attack-reaction density and sources of go again so each hand had a better chance to convert and a small tempo stumble would not snowball.
Because the local scene had relatively few arcane-damage heroes, Joel could also run greedier builds with fewer arcane-prevention sideboard tools. Later, Raise Blades and Take the Lead from Mastery Pack: Warrior gave Kassai a major upgrade. Joel called Raise Blades a card that “LL’s Kassai,” and felt the power boost and resulting deck changes played in his favor.
Armory Notes 03
The matchup that challenged Joel most was Teklovossen. He considers it an unfavorable pairing even before accounting for variance, and says it often forced him to revisit his deck after losses to Ben. More broadly, Joel sees plenty of swingy matchups in the local scene as new players pick up powerful decks.
What Keeps the Armory Fresh
“I get really jazzed at the sight of a new player.”
Joel loves watching new players learn from experienced regulars, then return the next week with a proxied deck and a new obsession.
Armory Notes 04
For players past the beginner stage, Joel recommends watching Flesh and Blood tournament VODs, especially players using the hero you want to learn. Seeing another pilot’s decisions can reveal lines and habits to compare with your own.
“Do you think I misplayed anywhere?”
Joel says the local armory is a great place to ask stronger players what you could improve. Every match has something to teach if you take the time to find it.
Armory Notes 05
Joel says Mastery Pack: Warrior gave Kassai a significant boost, while Usurp the Shadow Throne added four powerful cards to Boltyn’s card pool and may have pushed him into genuine meta-threat territory.
He also sees Marlynn and Levia as exciting potential threats, and is looking forward to the shakeup from recent bans and unbans. In Joel’s words, “It’s going to be a good PQ season for sure!”
Community Shoutouts
Joel thanked Anthony for always setting the vibe and making sure players are taken care of, along with the whole Tilted team for creating his favorite armory experience. He also gave a shoutout to newer players Chris and the two Andrews, and to regulars Fuzzy, Clark, Valerio, Manny, Han, Ben, Kai, Bryce and Noah.
Season 4 Challenge
“Duh. Don’t let me catch you lacking.”
Season 4 began October 5, 2026. To compete in the Tilted Gaming leaderboards, download the app, add your Flesh and Blood account and have it verified by staff. Submit your result after each eligible weekly local for staff review.
Congratulations again to Joel Recinos the THIRD, our Tilted Gaming Season 3 Flesh and Blood Champion!
Follow @tilted.gaming.ca and join our Discord for Season 4 updates, armory coverage and future winner spotlights.
