Welcome to the Learn to Play (L2P) Program! (Part 1)
The L2P role is a key position in the Flesh and Blood community, where you’ll be at the forefront of introducing new players to the game. As an L2P candidate, your role is more than just explaining the rules—you’re building lasting relationships, helping players discover a new hobby, and creating an environment that encourages growth and excitement for Flesh and Blood.
This guide will walk you through the core skills you’ll need to develop in order to receive the L2P certification and become an effective ambassador for the game. Each part focuses on a different area: People skills, Delivery skills, and Collaboration skills. Whether you’re interacting directly with players, teaching the technical parts of the game, or collaborating with your team, you’ll learn how to provide an experience that is friendly, professional, and enjoyable for everyone.
This part will go over the first major skill, People skills. For the other parts, see Part 2 and Part 3.
Part 1: People Skills
People skills are at the heart of what it means to be an L2P judge. You will be the first point of contact for new players, and the way you interact with them will shape their first impressions of Flesh and Blood. In this section, we’ll cover essential traits like customer service, approachability, promoting the game and its community, and best practices for teaching new players.
1. Customer Service and Approachability
The key to providing a great L2P experience is making people feel welcomed and valued. Players coming to your booth might feel nervous or overwhelmed, so it’s your job to create a welcoming environment. Smile, maintain eye contact, and use positive body language. Always be approachable, as this encourages people to ask questions, even if they’re unsure where to start. When people feel comfortable, they’re more likely to stay and engage with the game.
Remember also that this is a service position. Learners may not fully commit to their time with you; they may be ‘killing time’ before their next round of another game. That is OK! That is not a reflection on you, nor on Flesh and Blood. Your role is to understand, accommodate, and ensure that the time they do have for the game is the best that it can be.
Rarely, you may encounter a player who will demonstrate that they will struggle with the game’s rules regarding Sporting Conduct (6.1 TRP). In situations like this, your role is to provide mild but firm guideposts indicating our values and behavioral norms.
Tips for Great Customer Service:
- Always greet players with a warm smile and introduce yourself.
- Be patient and answer all questions, no matter how simple they might seem.
- Use friendly, clear language when explaining game mechanics.
- Tailor your explanations to the player’s experience level.
- If someone is struggling, offer encouragement and reassure them that learning takes time.
2. Promoting the Game and its Community
Your role is not only to explain how to play Flesh and Blood, but also to showcase what makes it special. Flesh and Blood is a game that values tactical gameplay, community, and a strong, competitive environment. Promote the game by highlighting its best features: the robust organized play (OP), the strategic depth, and the welcoming nature of its community.
You should also emphasize that players will not be on their own once they leave the L2P booth. Flesh and Blood has an active community that offers support, events, and a competitive scene they can dive into.
Tips for Promoting the Game:
- Share your enthusiasm! Show why you love Flesh and Blood.
- Ask your player questions about their background in gaming.
- Focus on aspects of the game that fit the player’s interests and background (OP, strategy, community).
- Mention how they can find events and other players in their area.
- If you know of any upcoming events nearby, local channels of communication, or local game shops, encourage them to join.
3. Teaching Best Practices
Being an effective teacher means knowing how to break down complex ideas into simple, understandable concepts. The goal is to give players a smooth introduction, teaching them the game’s fundamentals without overwhelming them. Start small, explaining only the basics at first, and then gradually layer on more information as they begin to understand the flow of the game.
Adapt your teaching style to each player—some might pick things up quickly, while others might need more time and reassurance. Remember, the goal isn’t just to teach them how to play but to make sure they enjoy the experience enough to want to come back.
Best Practices for Teaching the Game
- Start with the essentials: explain the win condition, how the turn structure works, and the basics of attacking and defending. Players should have their first cards in hand as soon as you finish shuffling, and should be playing an attack in the first couple of minutes.
- Consider attacking first, and playing with your hand exposed to help demonstrate all the important parts of a card. If you do, make it clear that the game does have hidden information, but that you are using this as a demonstration aid.
- Use simple language and avoid overwhelming players with too much information at once. Only explain a concept when it becomes relevant.
- Use cards as examples to illustrate points, and let the player try things out themselves to reinforce learning.
- Encourage the player to ask questions throughout the game. Questions are a great demonstration of interest, and allow you to understand what motivates a player.
- Only mention strategy if the player mentions it, and only to the point to allow them to make a decision when they seem stuck. Suggest a play and explain why it is usually a good one. Let the player bring up the topic if they want to see it more in depth.
- Focus more on sharing fun and moving the game along over transferring perfect knowledge of the rules.
- After a demonstration game, give them hints on strategy or what to explore next in their gameplay journey, based on what caught their interest.
- Ensure players leave with an Ira demo deck so they have a physical reminder of this great experience.
In Part 2, we’ll cover Delivery Skills, where you’ll learn how to provide technical information in an accessible way, and how to guide players towards useful resources for building their decks and continuing their journey in the Flesh and Blood community. Stay tuned!
English 
Japanese 
German 
Korean 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
Chinese 
Portuguese