The next stop is Dark Sphere
Its been a long time coming, but I finally had a chance to make the trek.
This week, I went to Blitz Armoury at Dark Sphere (DS)! Dark Sphere runs their Armouries on a Friday evening.
The Journey
Dark Sphere is located in Shepherd's Bush, West London. Its a really straightforward journey because the area is very well linked. Once I get into the city, I can take the Central line or the Circle and District lines to reach DS. There's a myriad of options once you're in the city.
The route I normally take is on the Central line to Shepherd's Bush station.
NOTE: If you are reading this before June 2022, please note that there are strikes on the Central line. Please check your route before travelling.
Once you walk out of the station, turn right and take the exit to Uxbridge Road.
DS is located inside the shopping centre across the street.
Once you're in the shopping centre, walk straight down the hall so that you're looking at the Lidl, and look to your left.
You should see an escalator down, guarded by familiar characters.
Welcome to Dark Sphere!
The Store
Dark Sphere probably has the biggest play space of all the London stores. It might not be apparent at first, but a short walk and you'll realise the store is huge. The space can hold upwards of 100 people.
There is both space for miniature gaming and TCGs.
Outlining the space are shelves full of board games, card games and miniatures.
Dark Sphere is probably one of the more well known LGS in London. Its a huge venue that hosts events for pretty much all the TCGs, including Flesh and Blood, of course. In fact, Dark Sphere's Armoury event was the first FaB event I went to, back in October 2021.
The Event
FaB Events are ran by the fabulous David Madgin, who works at the store and is a member of the FaB community. Previously, I believe FaB events at DS did not have a dedicated organiser. Back in those days, the community did feel a slight delay in communication with DS. David's involvement, therefore, have been greatly appreciated as such delays can no longer be found. You will see FaB events advertised on DS' Flesh and Blood Facebook group. And, you will also hear from David on various social media platforms as well.
Armoury event fee is £5, with booster prizes in addition to Armoury kit. If you just fancy a table to play any TCG though, its £2 table fee.
Tonight's event was Blitz, training up for next week's Skirmish event at DS itself! I brought along my Oldhim deck from my previous Skirmish at Dice Saloon, to continue my training and expand my knowledge on the different matchups.
We played 4 rounds of swiss.
My first round was against Jaco Sepe, rocking OG Bravo (respect). It was a matchup I was familiar with, and my Oldhim build was quite strong against, so I was able to take the match.
My second round was against Darren Hazelden. Darren was one of the Prism players who was top 8 at the Rule Zero Skirmish a couple of weeks ago. So, I'm super glad to be able to play against Darren because its a really good opportunity to practise! Darren's Prism deck was a bit different to Jake's, who I clashed against in the Skirmish. Darren's deck was more centered around big attacks, with only one or two auras. I feel like my deck is more able to handle this build because Illusionist attacks have Phantasm, and Guardians have big attacks to break them. I was a bit unlucky, unable to draw my big attacks for most of the early game. So, defending was difficult as Prism can go for two big attacks per turn, on average landing 12 to 14 damage. The only saving grace was drawing into Awakening, which allowed me to fetch Pulverize and start swinging back. Once I had the chance to shuffle my deck from Awakening, I also started drawing into more reds, and was able to break the big attacks and/or swing back. However, I had some misplays which definitely taught me some lessons. My losing turn was when I pitched an Endless Winter instead of Frost Fang to use Crown of Seeds. I should have pitched Frost Fang instead, keeping Endless Winter to be able to break a second attack with Phantasm, which I should have seen coming as well. I knew being able to play against Darren was a great opportunity to learn and practise, and I am glad I was right.
My third round was against a familiar face, Billy Karnchanapee on Dorinthea. Billy and I have been frequent practise partners, so I've been learning the Dori matchup extensively. Unfortunately, not too much could be said about the match as I drew incredibly well this time. On turn 1, I had Awakening and Enlightened Strike in hand, so I just took whatever damage came my way, then popped Awakening to swing back with a 21 damage turn. I then drew into an Oaken Old and Pulse of Isenloft, keeping my tempo. I ended the game with a victory, swinging Mangle followed by a Pummel. My draws were just incredibly lucky this time. Normally, my games with Billy involves very calculated turns and are usually much more intriguing. Hopefully, I'll be able to report such a game soon.
My final round of the day was against Luke Poulter and Luke's trusty Kano. This was a match that taught me more than I expected, which I'm very happy about! I was playing this matchup the same way I did at Dice Saloon's Skirmish. However, I was not able to come out victorious as I did previously. After playing a second match with Luke, Luke explained to me that their Kano build was different, more tempo than OTK (which pops Storm Striders and Metacarpus on the same turn). For such builds, I'm better off playing more aggressively in the early game. This is a very good lesson for me, and one I will be using in the upcoming Skirmish at DS.
It was an incredibly fun night, I came 4th after the swiss rounds ended. I learnt lessons to improve my game, so it was a worthwhile trip to make. It is a shame I cannot make DS more often as it is on the other side of London for me. But, I surely will be making my best effort to make it when I can.