Tactics 06 - Fighting Xiaoyu

I decided to create a post about fighting Xiaoyu. I find fighting Xiaoyu extremely frustrating because I have played games where my all my blocks meet their strikes, all my strikes meet their focuses and all my focuses meet their focus/blocks (in other words, win absolutely all rock-paper-scissors) and still end up losing. Maybe I was unlucky and just didn't get the right cards. Maybe the Xiaoyu was lucky and got all the right cards. I have played enough Xiaoyu's to know that when it comes down to it, beating a solid Xiaoyu deck comes down to a little dice roll. Of course you would have to win all your rock-paper-scissors before you can even stand that chance.

The Xiaoyu Code

First, when we think about Xiaoyu, what comes to mind? For me, it is 10 damage cards and constantly having cards all the time. An important aspect to any game is to be able to see and  perceive things as the opponent would. If you were Xiaoyu, when would you strike, when would you focus and when would you block. From my experience fighting with Xiaoyu's, I have this created the following theory:


Xiaoyu will only strike, if there is a guarantee that at the beginning of the next turn, she will have at least 1 card. Otherwise Focus.

Here is a flowchart that summarizes the theory:

Xiaoyu flowchart

Of course, this is all theory and more of a guide that I use which has proven it's worth time and time again in my matches against Xiaoyu. There are other factors which complicate the actual decision making process for Xiaoyu's such as: if I focus, will I activate the opponent's ability, if I don't block, am I 100% going to die, if I strike will I knock the opposing Kazuya to 80 HP and he is holding just 2 Twin Fang Double Kick cards...etc

Here are some scenarios that I have come across to help people understand how to fight Xiaoyu.

Imminent strike incoming

Here is a pretty obvious scenario. Xiaoyu will receive 3 cards next turn from her third card, Step Kick. Not Not wanting to waste a single card, she will strike, and take the potential 26 Damage. If Yoshimitsu strikes, he will deal 10 damage, if he focuses, he will lose Oni Kick Combo and Xiaoyu will have 4 cards. So in this case, it is best to block.

Don't block, focus

This scenario a little trickier. Here the Xiaoyu will not receive a card if they strike unless the Yoshimitsu Blocks. In this case I (as the Xiaoyu) would Focus, at least with a 5 card strike it gives most people the incentive to block, thus activating the first card, Peg Leg. As the Yoshimitsu, I would focus. Even if Peg Leg wasn't there, blocking will mitigate 8 damage due to Xiaoyu's 2nd card Wave Crest. Eight damage is worth a card (IMO).

I would block

The beginning of a match against a Xiaoyu player. My SR Power card has given her an extra card and left me with none. I have not seen any of my cards yet and I am not particularly keen on risking 40 damage for a card so I block. The Xiaoyu actually focused to redraw 4 cards. shown in the next scene.

11 Damage, no problem. Focus

From this scenario, Xiaoyu's first 2 cards add up to 11 damage. If I block, she will end up with 2 cards and I will have none. If I focus, I will take an additional 11 damage, and we will both have 1 card at the end of the turn. I take the option to focus because I am using 3x Shisetsu Genman and when Cards = Opp cards, I win.

Tobi Ushikawa allows me to block safely.

Looking at Xiaoyu's cards, Nutcracker gives all her kick cards +6 hit, and Wave Crest allows an extra card to hit. If I were the Xiaoyu, I would block twice and strike. Tobi Ushikawa  puts an end to any striking shenanigans so it is very safe for Yoshimitsu to block. It is important to note that 1 card of Xiaoyu's is worth less than 1 card of any other character.

Xiaoyu about to strike

If you read the underlined comment from above, you'll understand why this Xiaoyu should block twice and strike. Dragonfly Fist in position 1 or 2 plays like Tobi Ushikawa so, I have already selected the option to block.

Xiaoyu should definitely NOT strike

So this is the last scene in our fight, the Xiaoyu ended up striking and then boosting my cards by 8 damage due to the effects of Flapping Wings (5th card) and I was able to KO her the next turn. What she should have done was force a 5 card discard (I would have struck after the 2 blocks) or attempt to cycle through cards using the effects of my Shisetsu Genman. Even then, it is really difficult for the Xiaoyu to take the match from this point.

Xiaoyu Weaknesses

If you have a quick scroll through Xiaoyu's cards, you'll notice the following:

• there is only 1 card that does more than 10 damage
• Xiaoyu does not possess a reliable source of healing and it is very weak

If you think about it, Xiaoyu is kind of like a weaker (in terms of damage), faster (card drawing) version of Nina with an inferior Heal. Xiaoyu does possess one thing that Nina does not: cards to discard the opponent's cards to disrupt any "Lock" setups. When playing with Xiaoyu, you probably have seen her

entire deck 1-2 times before you've seen yours. Make sure to take note on whether they have the following cards:

• Street Sweeper: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp cards ≥ 4: Opp -2 cards
• Phoenix Talon: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block: Both -5 cards & +5 HP
• Step Kick: 8 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Only Kick: +3 cards

Keeping a lookout on these cards will aide you in your decisions on whether you want to hold on to heal per turn cards, or how many cards you want to focus up to if you decide to do a lock.

When approaching a Xiaoyu, it is important to understand how your own deck works as well. For Example, let's take Yoshimitsu Deck 01. This deck contains 2 heal per turns, 2 block parries and the rest of the cards are damage. When fighting a Xiaoyu with this deck, I of course do my best to block as much incoming damage as possible, (when justified) I also know what HP level I want Xiaoyu to be at (75 HP) and when I should be focusing (to cycle through cards) as oppose to striking, this includes perhaps 5 card discards to so the Xiaoyu forgoes their card advantage unless they want to focus on a potential 5 card strike.

For Kazuya's running 3x Twin Fang Double Kick and 3x Skull Smash, it is a good idea to have at least 2-3 cards when you reach the dangerzone (59-80 HP). A good way of doing this is focus till 3 cards, and 'trick' the Xiaoyu into 5 card striking you by blocking at 2-3 cards till Xiaoyu reaches 5 cards. If the Xiaoyu isn't that bright, they will strike.

Nina can go shot for shot, or tank with Assault Bomb. I would imagine this is a rather favored matchup for Nina players (someone correct me if I am wrong, lol) since Nina can heal consistently and draw fast as well.

Conclusion

Remember these are only guidelines, always take into consideration cards on the field, your/opponent's HP, opponent's play style, the cards in your deck, etc.

• Xiaoyu will only strike, if there is a guarantee that at the beginning of the next turn, she will have at least 1 card. Otherwise Focus.
• Remember to keep a lookout for cards such as Street Sweeper, Phoenix Talon, and Step Kick, and use that knowledge to dictate how you play certain cads in your deck.
• If you gain 1 card from a focus, and a Xiaoyu also gains 1 card (only) from a focus, that was a good exchange on your part.
• Sometimes you're just unlucky and lose before seeing your 4th card, don't let it bring you down.

Hope this posts helps a lot of people having troubles with Xiaoyu. I can really relate to the last point in the conclusion. Sometimes you are just unlucky, like facing a Panda with Ultra Kuma and Trout Sweep in a 5 card hand or a Kazuya with double Gates of Hell in their 5 card hand.

How unlucky of me

Don't be afraid to comment or offer more tips.

Yoshimitsu Deck - 03

Online WW Championship is coming to a close and this was an experimental deck I have been using with some success. It got me as high as 1250 and then I slowly dropped to exactly 1200 at the time of writing. I don't dodge any fights but the majority of my losses were from Panda, followed by other Yoshimitsu (lol). This deck I call "Rush" because every game will end within 14 turns. The longer the match lasts, the poorer this deck performs. This deck is meant to end games quickly, win or lose. Although the deck is extremely luck based, the matches it produces are extremely fun. My funnest match was with Iwatsubute and Oni Kick Combo against a 130 HP Lili. I played Strike and she focused, hilarity ensued.

The Deck

• 3x Shisetsu Genman: 16 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Cards = Opp cards: +1 card & Opp -1 card
• 3x Oni Kick Combo: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears: 1st card +40 Hit
• 3x Dragonfly Fist: 14 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Opp Focus & Cards ≤ 2: +1 card
• 3x Mumyo Juji Ken: 22 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp HP ≤ 70: Card +20 Hit
• 1x Poison Breath: 5 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card appears: Opp -30 HP
• 1x Thunderblade: 18 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card blocked: Keep card
• 1x Iwatsubute: 25 Damage, Kick, After the attack: HP ≥ 70: Both -65 HP & Card discard
• Power Card: Yoshimitsu III: 175 HP First turn: +2 concealed cards & Opp +1 card

Thinking of substituting Thunderblade for Shibikari, Aratama or Kamikaze. I feel it is preference, but I selected Thunderblade because it helps push cards towards 3rd position, and synergizes well with Oni Kick Combo. I don't like Tobi Ushikawa because I want to maximize the use of Shisetsu Genman and sometimes when I don't want to gain a card and just block, so that the opponent can catch up in cards, Tobi Ushikawa won't let that happen.

Strategy

This deck is meant to get cards quickly and dish out damage fast. When the opponent is below 70 HP, it becomes much easier due to cards such as Iwatsubute, and Mumyo Juji Ken. Proper use of Shisetsu Genman, and Dragonfly Fist can help this deck to constantly have cards in hand whilst striking. Iwatsubute and Poison Breath are great ways to bypass blocking opponents or parrying opponents with Mumyo Juji Ken to finish the job. I think focusing till 2 cards is the general trend for this deck. If Dragonfly Fist is in hand, you can play defensively, offensively or focus for more cards. Because there is absolutely no heal, it is important to avoid damage and maintain enough HP for Iwatsubute to activate. If there are situations where Cards = Opp Cards if you play a certain move (correctly assuming your opponent will play a move as well) then go for it. A good example would be if you have 2 cards, one of which is Shisetsu Genman, and the opponent with 1, blocking would be a good option. Even if the opponent forces a discard, the next turn Cards = Opp Cards. When you are in sync with your opponent, Shisetsu Genman can be quite the asset, especially with multiple in hand.

Opening cards

This picture highlights a strong synergy with the SR Power card and Shisetsu Genman. Blocking is a very safe option and yields very good results. If Paul blocks as well, he will have 0 cards to Yoshimitsu's 4. If Paul Strikes, he will have 0 cards to Yoshimitsu's 4, and if Paul Focuses, it is 1 card to 4.

Dragonfly Fist and Shisetsu Genman work very well without each other (you'll know what I mean soon). If you have just Dragonfly Fist and opponent has 0-1 card, strike for 14 damage, and at the beginning of next turn Cards = Opp Cards and if your 1 card is Shisetsu Genman, you can consider striking again for Cards = Opp Cards the next turn (or the turn after if the opponent ends up blocking), blocking for a safe 1-2 card lead (and block the next turn to trigger Shisetsu Genman again), or focus (I would only recommend this if the opponent's HP is 90 or below).

The general strategy is to whither them down with wimpy 1-2 card strikes, whilst maintaining Cards = Opp Cards, till they are 90 HP (if you have yet to see Poison Breath) or below 70 HP. After that, if Iwatsubute falls into 3rd position or higher you will have secured the win.

Conclusion

Is a very fun deck to play. I enjoyed the fast matches because sometimes I just don't have time heal to full HP with a Nina only to play as if the match just started. This is probably the funnest deck I have ever tried. Iwatsubute is just awesome when it goes off (in my favor of course). I think I will try Kamikaze, except that 5 cards is something I don't normally go up to with this deck (dragonfly fist requires 2 cards or less to be useful). I will make a comment on how Kamikaze fairs in this deck as a substitute.

Rushing a Nina

Edit: Kamikaze is allright. I only found myself using it fighting Lili's which forced me to start the game off with 5 cards or when I have counted that I have used all 3 Dragonfly Fists in a cycle. I prefer Kamikaze over Thunder Blade now because of the relatively high base damage and the synergy, and because sometimes I don't want to have 1 card in hand due to the effects of Thunder Blade or Shibikari, lastly, the artwork for Kamikaze is plain great. I look forward to the upcoming Conceal patch for more Shisetsu Genman/Oni Kick Combo/Iwatsubute shenanigans.

Don't forget to comment, ask questions, like, subscribe, etc. I am always open to suggestions or any forms of criticism =].

Law Deck - 01

I have had my share of playing against many Law players. I actually started out with Law. Had a bunch of bronze cards, looked at the collection of cards and thought, "Law is a pretty boring character". So I swapped out to Yoshimitsu. After playing Law players here and there, I noticed a trend in Law: "He hits like a truck". Here is my attempt at a deck for Law. It is quite well rounded, having healing, drawing power, damage and nullifying cards. It has strong defensive capabilities as well as offensive and I believe it has the potential to outperform many decks (especially 130 HP Lili, I would imagine since Card Release 01, Law's feast on Lili)

Law

The Deck

• 1x Backflipper: 20 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: HP ≥ 85: Cards +10 Hit
• 2x Dragon Junkyard Kick: 22 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp cards ≥ 4: Card discarded +2 cards
• 2x Ab Cruncher: 23 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block & Opp cards ≥ 3: -5 HP and +1 card
• 3x Dragon's Descent: 25 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Focus: Card discarded & +30 HP
• 2x Low Backhand to High Kick: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Dual Block: Opp cards nul.
• 2x Wolf Fang: 22 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Strike: Opp cards nul. & Opp -15 Prot
• 1x Flash Fist: 24 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Focus; Both -1 card & +10 HP
• 1x Rainbow Kick: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears & Cards ≤ 2: +2 cards
• 1x Tiger Fang: 10 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Every turn: Cards +15 Hit
• Power Card: Law - III: 180 HP, Every turn: K cards +2 Hit

Alternatively, you can settle for 175 HP Power Card: First turn: Opp -2 cards, that option would do well against Paul, Yoshimitsu, Xiao Yu, and Lili, otherwise I would settle for the SR Power Card if Gold is not an issue.
The average damage per card is 21.2, this is not including the bonus from the Power card or the damage bonuses from Backflipper, and Tiger Fang. Alternatively, you can sub out Low Backhand to High Kick for another Wolf Fang and maybe another Ab Cruncher/Dragon Junkyard Kick. I thought Low Backhand to High Kick was a good way to prevent opponents from fully healing by blocking and Trout Sweeper Pandas who rely on Trout Sweep or block missed card buffers.

Strategy

Generally you would want to focus till 1 or 2 cards and strike. This is to make sure Rainbow Kick will always get it's ability off (the ability is most definitely worth it). In situations where the opponent has 2+ cards and you are in possession of Ab Cruncher or Dragon Junkyard Kick, you can Block play defensively as well as get cards otherwise strike if you are feeling lucky (lol). When cards such as Tiger Fang and Backflipper appear on the field, getting a 5 card strike in could do some massive damage. Four cards is even better but if you feel your opponent is a conservative player, going for 5 cards may be the way to go.

Conclusion

Law is a pretty versatile character. He may not have the drawing speed of Xiao Yu or Nina, but he sure makes up for it with his monstrous damage. I just recently had a couple games with Law using the new Yoshimitsu card, Shisetsu Genman. This card enabled me to safely block many attacks as well as avoid triggering Dragon's Descent. If you are looking for a counter to this deck, I can only suggest to stay under 4 cards, try to get some strikes with less than 3 cards and do your best to avoid healing Dragon's Descent.

Don't be shy to comment or make any suggestions. I am actually not a Law player so criticism is welcomed =].

Nina Deck - 01

Edit: Due to the changes from Balance Update 4, Nina's Spin Low Kick to Right Upper has been nerfed so hard to a point where this deck's strength is less than half of what it used to be.

So I've been told there are a lot of Nina's at the top. I was just having a little fun in the 1100 rating today, playing with the new cards and a "nuke" deck for Yoshimitsu, when I ran into two low 1300 Nina fights. I lost both of them, one was pretty close, if only the new cards had a little more juice then I would've been able to tie one of them (lol). Both 1300 Nina fights were back to back and both had very similar decks. I went to the Nina collection and scrolled through, looking for the cards I saw and multiplying them by 3 if they weren't unique. T
his is what I came up with:

The Deck

Nina

I am not sure what to call this deck. Tekken Card Tournament uses 3 categories to describe the stats of a fighter, Strength, Speed, and Special. I am not sure what Special means, I assume it's "tricky". This deck seems to have very high Strength and Speed, and I suppose the Special is average (whatever the hell Special means anyway). I suppose I will call it 1300 Nina to honor the 1300 Nina's who use this deck.

• 3x Blonde Bomb: 10 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card appears: +20 HP
• 3x Catapult Kick: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card hits: +1 card
• 3x Flashing Escape: 40 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Focus: Card discarded
• 3x Spin Low Kick to Right Upper: 10 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Strike: +1 card & +4 HP
• 1x Jab to Mid Kick: 25 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears: 4th card discarded & +1 card
• 1x Assault Bomb: 25 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Opp Strike: +1 card & +5 HP
• 1x Crab Hold: 30 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears: +2 cards
• Power Card: Nina - I: 255 HP, First turn: -100 HP

This deck has extremely high draw speed, and an average damage of 19.33 per card. Generally the 10 damage cards are for healing and card drawing purposes but after a while they also rack up some big damage.

Strategy

Focus to 3 cards, and strike. The reason being because Jab to Mid Kick appearing on the 4th position is a waste, as well as Crab Hold (you will be at "6" cards). Throw some guesses here and there for Flashing Escape. Don't let a 3rd position Flashing Escape go to waste. Block when enemy has 5 cards. Doesn't seem like there is much to this deck, but I could be wrong. If you've cycled through Crab Hold and Jab to Mid Kick, you can focus past 3 cards until you start the new cycle (revert to counting cards if you have no idea what I am talking about.

Conclusion

As a Yoshimitsu player, I don't feel there is a reliable answer to this deck. It just keeps healing and dishing out damage and drawing and healing. Magatama and Kimon Matagi cannot keep up with it, and when luck runs out, those 2 cards will just appear at different ends of 2 cycles (separated by 26 cards) and you will eventually bleed out. Reminds me of Xiao Yu, except Xiao Yu's heal is terrible and Xiao Yu's average damage per card is under 11. Currently, I am trying cards such as Iwatsubute, Poison Breath, and Mumyo Juji Ken to attempt to rush my opponents. Fun, but not very successful (lol).

Please leave a comment, or if you are that 1300 Nina player, let me know if the deck is off =].

Card Release 02

The new cards for Yoshimitsu and Kazuya have arrived today in honor of Japan (lol, they said China last time, I wonder if they will say Japan this time). These can be seen at the official Tekken Card Tournament site. I wanted to just do a quick review on them now that they are out.

New Cards

• Demon God Fist: 46 Damage, Punch, Before the attack, Block: -1 Parry & +5 HP/li>
  

Second highest base damage for Kazuya (Stonehead is still in the lead with 50) but unlike it's successor in base damage, it does not heal the opponent. This card works very well with Oni Stomp and other Focus Break Cards. Also, it is not even Unique. Really matches Kazuya's No Block Policy. In those sticky situations where the opponent is trying to finish Kazuya from 81 HP, this card can become quite the burden, I guess those are the costs of a 46 Base damage card.

• Agony Spear: 20 Damage, Kick, Before the attack, Opp only Punch card: Card +30 Hit

This card just destroys punch decks. Ones that come to mind are, Lili, Panda, and Nina (Yoshimitsu's Punch deck is so terrible...). The damage is already pretty good and there is a good chance that unless the opponent has a Kick Deck, that this card's ability may proc for some big damage. This card doesn't really offer any utility to Kazuya, it is just another muscle card like Demon God Fist.

• Steel Pedal Drop: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack, HP ≤ 100: Opp 5th card discard

This card is kind of like another Entrails Smash but inferior. Both cards are unique so you can consider running this card as well as Entrails Smash for that extra defense. If the opponent is fishing to kill you with a 5 card strike, this card is the answer, but there are other choices in Kazuya's collection, Oni Stomp comes to mind.

• Slaughter Hook: 25 Damage, Punch, After the attack, This card blocked & HP ≤ 90: +30 HP

Great damage, sometimes unwanted ability. This card opens up the doors for possibly a Healing Kazuya deck? (lol). Sounds sketchy but you never know. The ability will throw off the strategies of a lot of Kazuya's opponents unless they take a meaty 25 damage.

• Kamikaze: 21 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Focus & Cards = 5, Both -5 cards & Opp -45 HP

This card is kind of like Gehosen, weird. I look forward to using this card, I really enjoy these screwy louie cards because when you win, it is like the most embarrassing thing for the opponent (imo, lol). I think it works well if the average damage of your deck is rather low. When the ability goes off, you'll always be on equal footing in card, or at an advantage. This will probably be the first card I buy from the new cards.

• Spirited Away: 18 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Cards ≤ 1: +1 card & Opp -1 card

Interesting card, can be used to really rush to a quick 3 card. Unfortunately this card only works in position 1 and is just an 18 damage otherwise. Wonder how it fairs with 3x Dragonfly Fist. I don't believe in putting 1 of any card in a deck unless it is a unique. That being said, putting 3x Spirited Away doesn't sound that great since they are only useful in position 1. I am somewhat interested in how these cards will play in a deck but something tells me by the looks of it, it is just a useless 18 damage Kick more often then not.

• Shisetsu Genman: 16 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Cards = Opp cards: +1 card & Opp -1 card

Another interesting card that I look forward to playing with. I can't think of the synergies off the top of my head but playing around with card drawing is always fun. From the Yoshimitsu pool of new cards, this card is my 2nd choice after Kamikaze, but in terms of viability and consistency, I will probably choose Shisetsu Genman over everything else as the chances of this card procing are quite high.

• Doushi Kiri: 19 Damage, Punch, Before the attack, Every turn: Both -1 Parry

Hallelujah, the answer to Parry Deck Lili (sort of) this card comes as a double edge sword but at least matches won't last 20 minutes against Lili like they usually do. Killing Kazuya just became easier as well. I wish this card was Opp -1 Parry but one can only hope. This will be the 3rd card I try out because I hate Parry Lili decks.

Conclusion

Kazuya gets 2 muscle cards which I think are pretty neat, a redundant defense card and an interesting healing card. I think the muscle cards may help Kazuya a lot in his game. If you've seen my Speed Kazuya Deck I think 3x Demon God Fist could replace Acute Pain in the future. Maybe things will change for Kazuya's style and the new healing card will pave the way for a Kazuya Healing deck.

I am kind of disappointed in Yoshimitsu's cards. I was hoping for a REAL answer to Lili Parry deck similar to Law's Wolf Fang (lol that probably would've been OP on Yoshimitsu). But I guess Doushi Kiri will have to do. Kamikaze isn't anything special, Spirited Away is mediocre at best. Shisetsu Genman on paper looks like the best card from the lot. Doushi Kiri will probably get Yoshimitsu killed faster than usual. I don't think Yoshimitsu will be moving anywhere in competitive play. But we will have to see. I am looking forward to making a silly deck though (lol).

My Review on Card Release 01 actually hoped for a release on Kazuya and Yoshimitsu. Spooky. Wonder if the game developers or designers actually read my blog. Hope you guys enjoyed this post. Leave a comment =]

Kazuya Deck - 01

Lately, I have been looking at Kazuya's cards a lot, and am starting to get bored of Yoshimitsu (those new cards are coming out today though so hopefully that changes). As a result, I've created a poll to help me choose which character I should take up. I am currently leaning towards Kazuya, Heihachi, and Law (if the game designers mention King, I will add him tot he poll as well). Obviously it will take me some time before I get a full deck rolling, but it never hurts to get an idea of what my blog viewers think. If I were to go with Kazuya, I would run the following deck as my first 15 cards.

The Deck

So I have decided to call this deck "Xiao Yu 2.0" (pronounced She-ow Yu two-point-oh). The reason being, simply because at 80 HP or below, it draws cards as fast as Xiao Yu, and it hits for up to 5 times
more.

Kazuya in a suit

• 2x Jaw Breaker: 15 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Strike & HP ≤ 110: Opp -1 Parry
• 1x Demon God Fist: 43 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Block: -1 Parry & +5 HP
• 3x Skull Smash: 13 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Strike: +1 card
• 3x Twin Fang Double Kick: 13 Damage, Kick, After the attack: HP ≤ 80: Card discard & +2 cards
• 1x Devastator: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card hits: -15 HP & +2 cards
• 1x Wind God Fist: 25 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: HP ≤ 60: P cards +15 Hit
• 2x Oni Stomp: 10 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Opp Strike: HP ≤ 110: +25 Protection
• 1x Gates of Hell: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: HP ≤ 120: Opp -7 HP

Select 1 of the 4 Options

• 1x Oni Stomp: 10 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Opp Strike: HP ≤ 110: +25 Protection
• 1x Double Back Fist: 25 Damage, Punch, Strike: +50 Protection
• 1x Entrails Smash: 20 Damage, Punch, Opp Strike & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Punch Parry
• 1x Stonehead: 50 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card appears: Opp +20 HP
• Power Card: 175 HP, Every turn: P Cards  +2 Hit

This deck has relatively weak damage if HP is greater than the opponents, otherwise, Acute Pain is where the bread and butter is. At 80 HP or less, there are 7 cards which improve the draw rate. That is just under half the deck so it is quite difficult to find yourself in a position with no cards. Choosing between the 4 options is a matter of preference. I prefer Stonehead because a 50 damage card puts the fear of God into your opponent.

Strategy

You will start off with around 175 HP and until you are 110ish HP you need not worry about blocking. Concentrate on not losing Skull Smash from focus breaks and do your best to put some hurt on the enemy. At around 110 HP, watch out for 1-2 card strikes that will leave you at 81 HP or 61 HP. At this point, you should have a good feel for the average damage the opponent can dish out with 1 card, and block potential strikes that will leave you above 80. Remember to consider Oni Stomp and Entrails Smash in your calculations. If you find yourself in a situation where the Opponent is attempting to kill you in a 5 card strike and there are many 3x Block into 5 card discard, then you made a mistake somewhere and you have to wait till you get the Gates of Hell card to force your opponent to strike you or die. When you are under 60 HP and Wind God Fist is procing, you should be able to win with the power you have attained, overwhelming and absolute.

Edit: I have taken out 3x Acute Pain for 2x Jaw Breaker and 1x Demon God Fist. I think Jaw Breaker is a good choice because at 80 HP or below, if you consistently strike, you will be at 1-3 cards.

Kazuya Balling

Conclusion

I am not a Kazuya player (yet...) but this is a deck I would like to try if I pick up Kazuya. I feel Kazuya's decisions to block, focus or strike have more impact then the deck Kazuya uses. I said in a comment on a past post that I felt Kazuya is the most tactical of the characters and possibly the hardest to use in all of Tekken Card Tournament, so if you don't have success at first with Kazuya, don't give up. If you don't want to do a lot of calculations, you may not have an easy time breaking mid 1200's with Kazuya. Hope you found this informative and interesting. Please leave a comment, like, share, subscribe, etc. Thanks for reading =]

Tactics 05 - Game Mechanics

This post is to discuss some mechanics of the game, as well as some other useful information here and there. The reason I wanted to put this post up is because I had just recently finished a fight with a 1260ish Paul user who found himself in a predicament where the BEST he could do was draw the match. Instead he must've thought he could win If he blocked correctly. Which leads me to believe that, even 1260+ players are unaware on how the game works OR Paul is a brain-dead character and it is possible to easily attain a 1260+ rating by focusing to 5 cards and striking (or, he pressed block by accident). Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it (I thought it would've made a great picture, I thought it was quite hilarious too, lol) but I will use MS Paint to recreate the scenario using past screenshots and cards taken from older pictures.

It takes a keen intellect to play Paul

The Scenario

First, here are the statistics of the said Paul player. As you can see he's no stranger to the game. Infact, he has double my total games played in victories.

Statistics of Paul Player

If Yoshimitsu strikes, Paul can at most Draw

As said before, this picture was recreated with MS Paint and I don't actually recall how it happened and what the cards were exactly but this is the closest thing I can think of that matches the scenario the best. So let's get to analyzing.

From the picture, If the Yoshimitsu plays strike, the Paul will only be able to Draw if he strikes, Lose if he focuses, and Potential Loss if he Blocks.

Paul: Striking

Easy to see what happens, both players kill each other. Paul swinging for 125 damage, Yoshimitsu for 70 damage. It doesn't matter that Paul is at 69 HP or that Yoshimitsu is at 7 HP, a KO is a KO.

Paul: Focusing

This is probably the worst thing the Paul player can possibly do. There is no need for more cards and there is an imminent strike from Yoshimitsu. Paul should only focus only under the assumption that Yoshimitsu will also Focus or Block. Paul Focusing against Yoshimitsu Striking will result in a loss for Paul.

Paul: Blocking

This is the 2nd worst thing Paul can do, and it is the stupidest thing Paul can do. Here's why: One only blocks when they predict a Strike (or you have some weird effects get you some advantage). If Paul blocks and Yoshimitsu Blocks he will lose 10 HP from his 3rd card and nothing happens to the cards therefore losing 10 HP for nothing. If Paul blocks and Yoshimitsu focuses, Yoshimitsu has 1 extra card and Paul is at card disadvantage (at this point it doesn't matter who has more cards). If Paul blocks and Yoshimitsu strikes, (remember this is the desired action the Paul wants by blocking) Paul takes 65 Damage, leaving him at 4 HP, and next turn if Yoshimitsu blocks activating the Paul's third card, Paul will lose before any striking occurs. Paul's third card, Flash Elbow: 50 Damage, Punch, BEFORE THE ATTACK: Opp Block: -10 HP, occurs before the attack and if Paul dies from this effect his strike does not count.

Conclusion

I also want to use this part to say some other things that weren't covered in the post but are related to game mechanics. These can all be found on the official site.

• Effects that occur before the attack and trigger a KO will void any strike animation or after the attack effects
• If an opponent's life points drop to (or below) 0 from an effect and heals HP from another effect during the same phase (Before/After the attack), the end result will be whatever the HP heals for. This point means, if a Lili with 10 HP blocks with a Monte Carlo Snap (After the attack: Block missed: Card discarded +35 HP) against a Yoshimitsu who focuses and gets Poison Breath (After the attack: This card appears, Opp -30 HP), the end result is Lili with 35 HP
• There is a 5% chance to get an SR card from an Ultra Pack
• You are 3 times less likely to receive a bonus on defeat than on victory

Lol, the last 2 points are kind of not related but I haven't made a good FAQ page. Will do that in the near future. Don't be a stranger to leave a comment or what not. To all the Paul Players: I don't mean any offense but you gotta admit that the ability to focus to 5 cards and strike for a 1 strike victory isn't the most balanced thing, hehe.

Lili Deck - 01

Edit: Due to the drastic changes in Lili's Piercing Thorn card, and the addition of Rafflesia, I have edited the build of the deck hoping to salvage what is left of a Parry Deck for Lili.

This post is regarding a common Lili deck that I see quite often. I find it extremely difficult to overcome without a bit of luck. I will also post a flow chart to aid in the strategy of this deck. This deck is not the "be all and end all" Lili decks, it is just a deck. Without further adieu, here is the deck!

Parry Queen Lili

The Deck

• 3x Direct Persuasion: 22 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Cards ≤ Opp cards & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 card
• 2x Matterhorn Ascension: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears & Opp cards ≥ 2: +25 HP
• 1x Rafflesia: 12 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Parry
• 2x Alstroemeria: 14 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Dual Block & Opp cards ≥ 2: Opp -1 card
• 2x Freesia Thrust: 20 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Opp Strike & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Kick Parry
• 2x Autumn Wind: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Focus: Both +1 card
• 2x Monte Carlo Snap: 16 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Block missed: Card discarded & + 35 HP
• Power Card: 130 HP, Every turn: Opp -1 card max
  

Pick 1 of the following

• 1x Monte Carlo Snap: 16 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Block missed: Card discarded & + 35 HP
• 1x Elysee Le Bras Allonge: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Strike: Both -5 cards & Both +4 cards

Strategy

Here is the flow chart I have created for this deck. Obviously it won't beat everyone but it is a general guide to playing with this deck. As you can see it is quite defensive and patient. You may not like the play-style so feel free to not go along with the flow chart.

Conclusion

I have never tried this deck before, but I can tell you fighting against is very tough. If you were wondering how to counter this deck (and maybe all Lili deck's that have a similarity to this one), Consider striking with 1-2 cards when the Lili doesn't have any means to gain a card the next turn for blocking (Sunset Sunrise).

Feel free to comment, ask any questions, subscribe, or "like" the post =].

Yoshimitsu Deck - 02

This deck I call Seppuku because it is suicide sometimes. I haven't personally tested this deck but on paper it looks awesome and it plays like the current Paul & Panda metagame. Another good thing about this deck is, it doesn't contain an SR card, unless you want the SR Power card, which is HIGHLY recommended otherwise the -22 Damage first turn will suffice. I will describe how it works after revealing the deck.

Edit: I tested this deck. It is like a coin toss. It's not like Paul where the damage is definitely going to kill, but watching the numbers rack up to over 300 sometimes is quite pleasing for some reason.

Heavy Damage

The Deck

I cannot take full credit for this, and unfortunately I don't know who to give credit to. I have never seen this deck personally, however I did see a fellow Yoshimitsu use 3 of the 5 types of cards which is what gave me the idea in the first place.

• 3x Seiken Douharai: 15 Damage, Punch, After the attack: P cards conceal, All cards +13 Hit
• 3x Omega Hosen: 15 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Dual Block: Cards concealed 3rd card +25 Hit
• 3x Fubuki: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block missed: Card + 30 Hit
• 3x Nozuchi Fumi: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Block: Card +35 Hit

Select 1 of the 5 options or even mixed combination of the 5:

• 3x Tsurubebi: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Strike & Opp Block: +20 Protection
  
• 3x Nebular Burst: 22 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Strike: +30 Protection
• 3x Gehosen: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Focus, HP ≤ 35: +200 Protection, Both -5 cards
• 3x Mumyo Juji Ken: 22 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp HP ≤ 70: Card + 20 hit
• 3x Tsuka Splitter: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Strike K&P cards owned: 3rd card +15 Hit
• Power Card: Yoshimitsu - III: 175 HP, First turn: +2 concealed cards, Opp +1 card

The deck has relatively low base damage, but if you take some time to read the ability descriptions, you will see that it has extremely high boosted damage.

Strategy

Focus to 5 cards, Block once or twice, and than strike. Opting for Tsuka Splitter may give you just enough damage to decimate your opponent. Strikes that meet blocks with Tsurubebi will ensure you won't die to your opponents strike the following turn. Nebular Burst may give you just enough HP to survive the 5 card Seiken Douharai(s) assault if your opponent and yourself cross swords. If one of you is not dead by the end of the 5 card strike, then both players must be at extremely low HP and you can commence the guessing game. This is where Gehosen and Mumyo Juji Ken really shine. Gehosen gives you the unfailing option of focusing whilst a strike from Mumyo Juji Ken will put the fear of God into your opponent.

Playing with the Deck

There is not much to be said about this deck, focus to 5 cards, block once, and start flipping a coin. (lol) I personally haven't tried this deck but I look forward to trying it. Reminds me of Trout Sweeping Panda's and 50+ Damage deck Pauls.

Conclusion

This deck is a gamble deck. It will probably get destroyed by Xiao Yu and parry Lili, but it is still fun. I think it will do well against healing Nina. With the "Best Slap" competition in full swing, this will get you first place for sure!

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a comment, and mash that like button on the side. I just had that put up =]

Yoshimitsu Deck - 01

I've been meaning to get this out but I feel upon doing so that its success may be compromised by the upcoming balance update. This is the deck for Yoshimitsu that I have used to achieve up to 1311 rating last week and 1280 this week in the latest 2 Online WW Championships. I will discuss about the strategy I use inorder to unlock its full potential as well as the strengths and weaknesses that come with the deck.
It is advised you read the previous posts about card counting and Yoshimitsu card analysis before continuing.

The Deck

Before having any gold cards, I looked at the Yoshimitsu deck and thought, "there are a lot of synergies with the "block" action". From there I examined all the Yoshimitsu cards and realized he had a lot of good unique cards. I picked up almost all the Unique cards and had a deck of 12 or so Uniques and 3 Fubuki. I struggled to break 1200 in the Online WW
Championships and went back to the drawing board. After accumulating a lot of gold and credits, I sought out to create a more consistent deck and here are the results:

Yoshimitsu

• 3x Oni Kick Combo: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card appears: 1st card +40 hit
• 3x Tsuka Splitter: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Strike K&P cards owned: 3rd card +15 Hit
• 2x Sakanobori: 12 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Block: +1 Parry
• 2x Fubuki: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block missed: Card + 30 Hit
• 1x Kimon Matagi: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Opp HP ≥ 75: +10 HP
• 2x Nozuchi Fumi: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Block: Card +35 Hit
• 1x Heshikirigari: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Opp Focus: +6 HP
• 1x Magatama: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: HP ≤ Opp Hp: +25 HP & Cards concealed
• Power Card: Yoshimitsu - III: 175 HP, First turn: +2 concealed cards, Opp +1 card

This deck has relatively high damage as most of the cards are 20 and above. You can count that a 5 card strike Blocked/Unblocked will hit for at least 60 damage. That being said, I don't think the cards themselves carried me to mid to high 1200+ but rather how to use them.

Strategy

The strategy of this deck is to strike at around 1-3 cards, playing focus most of the time and blocking when the opponent has 4-5 cards (of course if first position is Magatama and I am severely weak, I will block to increase the likelihood of winning). I will talk about 3 important cards in this deck, these cards are very key and play the most important role in all matches. The 3 cards are Magatama, Kimon Matagi, and Heshikirigari. The significance they play in this deck is the ability to heal. Kimon Matagi can heal to full HP and this should be abused as much as possible, it also goes well with striking with 1-3 cards as it controls the Oppositions HP to be above 75. Magatama allows the player to have a risky and more reckless play style, focusing till 5 cards and striking whilst tanking any attacks the opposition throws. Heshikirigari was the next best healing card that did not compromise the consistent damage of the deck. The other cards are seen as raw damage, with the exception of Sakanobori which is another defense card that synergizes very well with the 3 healing cards.

Playing with the deck

I mentioned in the previous paragraph that 1-3 card strikes is how I generally play, however, every game is situational and I will do my best to elaborate on general playstyles of this deck and how I play with each of the cards

Yoshimitsu

Oni Kick Combo: with both players at 1 card, and Oni Kick Combo is drawn, I have a 60 damage card in possession for 1 turn. Depending on what the opponent's card is, I may focus, I may strike, and I may just even block. If it is the first card drawn of the match, I will usually strike to get an idea of how conservative the player is whilst not wasting more than 1 card. If I am low HP and need to shuffle through my deck, I will play focus in hopes of drawing one of the 3 healing cards. If the opponent is able to Kill me with a strike, I will play block because what they think is: "this Yoshimitsu has 40 bonus damage for one turn, he probably thinks I am going to block and he will focus, or he may use the Oni Kick Combo's ability and strike. He will most definitely not block, so I am going to go f
or it). It is all just a guessing game for this card but every situation is different. If this card is in position 3 or higher, it is just 20 damage muscle and its ability with the other cards will add too much intimidation for a sensible player to not block and hence I will focus.

Tsuka Splitter: This is just a steroid for when I have 3 or more cards. If I want to take away the opposition's first card because it has a strong ability, I will strike with just this card. I feel the opposition will not expect me to strike till I have 3 cards to utilize the ability of Tsuka Splitter and thus it seems more likely they will not block. Trading this card's damage for 1 other card (dual strike) is fine by me (unless it is a Paul). Often times if this is first drawn, I will focus. In position 3 4 or 5 and a guaranteed ability proc and I am able to play recklessly because of a life lead and do not require any healing whatsoever, I will flip a coin and strike or focus accordingly. If this card is in the first 2 positions, consider focusing till 5 for Nozuchi Fumi and Fubuki heavy damage.

Sakanobori: This card is for defense purposes. If the opponent has 4 cards or more, I will block. If they have 3 cards and their card in position 1 or 2 has an ability that procs only when it hits, or one of their cards will proc only when striking with 3 or less cards, I may consider blocking. Otherwise I feel this card is not useful and will focus. If the enemy's card is valuable (like a heal per turn card) I will strike just to take it away, but the first 2 sentences take priority over the last statement.

Fubuki: This card in position 1 or 2 is rather unlucky. I will consider blocking if the opponent has been striking me with 1 card all day, then if the ability procs, I usually focus and seldom strike. In positions 3 4 or 5, with 5 cards, you may consider blocking for proc, or striking for a CHANCE at sinking in the first 2. I put this card into my deck to give myself more incentive to block so if I feel an attack is coming I don't mind blocking.

Nozuchi Fumi: This card in Positions 3 4 or 5 is a lucky break. If in position 3 with 3 cards, I usually strike as the damage is usually guaranteed and i don't want it to get knocked down to position 2. In positions 1 or 2, I only consider striking to take out the opponents 1st card, but otherwise usually focus to shuffle through cards. Although I described striking with 1-3 cards, if you read this post on counting cards, I will focus past 3 cards if I feel Nozuchi Fumi will appear in position 3 4 or 5.

Heshikirigari: This card is not the greatest, but it still has some value. In position 1 and Opponent has 1 card or less, and in need of HP, block for a predicted strike and continue focusing till 5 cards. In positions 2 or higher, focus till 5 cards. I am considering removing this card from my deck.

Kimon Matagi: This card plays a very large role in the deck. In position 1, versus 3 cards or more, I will block if I am at 50% hp or lower. Versus 1 to 2 cards, I will block if I am near death and require HP. Not many characters can manage 10 Damage per turn. Otherwise focus. In position 2 3 or 4, I will focus everything that doesn't potentially kill me and block against 5 cards. In position 5, I will block till 80% HP or higher and I feel my opponent will focus, then I will strike.

Yoshimitsu

Magatama: This card is a huge life saver. In position 1, I will focus if I don't have use for the ability (assuming the opponent will focus). In position 1 with less than 50% HP, I will block till the ability no longer procs. With 3 cards and in position 1 versus 3 or more cards, I will block till the opponent strikes then proceed focusing. In position 2 3 or 4 with no threat of imminent one-hit-KO I will focus till 5 cards. With 5 cards, I will block until the ability no longer procs, and strike. Occasionally, I will heal till the 2nd last proc and strike.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This deck does well against characters that don't have a reliable source of healing such as Kazuya, Law, Other Yoshimitsu's (lol). The reason is because those characters can be picked at till they fall. This deck has the ability to turtle when necessary and play offensively otherwise. This deck does well against Panda decks without Trout Sweep, otherwise it is hit or miss. Due to the relentless assault this deck loses to Xiao Yu (personally I think Xiao Yu is over powered. I don't even get to see 4 cards before dying) because the deck is unable to effectively shuffle through cards. Against an intelligent Nina, this deck will lose as Nina can strike, heal and draw at the same time and the most this deck can do is cause a stalemate only to eventually lose. Against most Lili decks, this deck will lose as Lili's heal is extremely strong and her ability to parry without having to block really shuts down Tsuka Splitter, Nozuchi Fumi (unless in position 5). Lili's healing ability is also very strong.

Conclusion

Although I briefly described the strengths and weaknesses, I plan to create future posts describing matchups against every character. No deck should ever be perfect. Since this game is new and we have a long way till balance, I can only assume the most 'perfect' deck is the ones used by whoever ranks 1st place in Online WW Championship. But that is changed every 3 weeks from balance updates. Any competitive deck should be catered towards the metagame. Currently this metagame involves Paul and Panda. I wrote this a couple hours before Balance Update 03 (><) and from my readings on the Twitter Page this deck might lose a lot of luster. Fortunately if it is nerfed, it will be compensated in Balance Update 04.

Hope this post helps a lot of players. Again, don't be afraid to comment or subscribe.

Game Suggestions 01

This is the first of many suggestions I have for the game Tekken Card Tournament. I read all of the comments on the Tekken Facebook page and found it a lot more hostile than the Twitter page (lol). I hope these posts don't generate the same hate that the Tekken's Facebook page did.

Dodging

Dodging is the art of closing the application/browser for Tekken Card Tournament upon seeing what your upcoming match up is. After doing this, you don't lose any stamina and can look for another fight.

Match with Paul? Dodge.

Players dodge because the match up is not in their favor. Example, currently Paul is extremely powerful, and has a high chance of possibly one hit KOing his opponent and sometimes there is literally nothing Paul's enemy can do about it. Players with low HP power cards would probably not favor a match up with Paul no matter who it is. This is where the incentive to dodge spurs from.

So how do we prevent people from dodging? Ultimately, if the game were "balanced" people wouldn't dodge. But that won't happen, at least not for a long time. My suggestion is to take 1 stamina upon pressing the button to search for an opponent. If the player dodges, it will be treated as a disconnect, they will not receive a reward and will be short 1 stamina.

What will this suggestion lead to? More QQing about the game's current "Over Powered" (OP) character (in this case Paul). Which brings me to another suggestion.

Deck selection during loading screen

Depending on the matchup, I would want to have certain cards in my deck. For example, against a Xiao Yu who presses strike more often than any other button, I would love to have the card "Perlious Spirit" (23 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block won: +1 Card) and Sakanobori (12 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Block: +1 Parry). My suggestion is, enable a feature which lets players choose which character deck they would like to use for the upcoming match during the loading screen. This would allow players to customize their style more and make use of cards that were otherwise useless unless in a very specific matchup. If this feature were available, I would make a deck to counter the current Paul meta (currently I am not sure if this is possible) and would only select it when fighting Paul players.

Deck Selection

What will this suggestion lead to? maybe more balance issues (lol), but I would like to think of it as a pre-rock-paper-scissors match. The advantage your opponent has is not that big.

Fix Yoshimitsu's concealing ability

I hope I don't come off as bias but let's be honest, Yoshimitsu's conceal isn't the greatest unique ability. And even more surprising is the SR Power card. It has come to my knowledge that Oni Kick Combo and Yoshimitsu's SR Power Card do not work as I had intended. What happens is the card comes in concealed, than the 1st card is highlighted in green, giving away any surprises that Oni Kick Combo was drawn. I contacted the awesome support and was told this:

"What we intend to do is fix the conceal effect. We agree that it is currently broken."

This was very pleasing to hear and what really interested me more so were the new Yoshimitsu cards by the first half of July at the latest. That being said, I will hold on to my Gold till then, unless Balance Update 03 shows much promise for Yoshimitsu.

Different Leagues

One of the main reasons that Tekken Card Tournament isn't featured in the app store is because of the negative reviews from new players. What happens is, newbies play with their bronze cards, get totally devastated by players with silver or gold cards, then they look at the store and realize they need to pay a small fortune inorder to stand a fighting chance compete. This immediately triggers negative emotions from the new player and they impulsively quit and slander Tekken Card Tournament on the app store.

My suggestion for this issue is to create new leagues which restrict decks to only bronze/silver/gold cards. There could also be a league where decks have no restriction to rarity, but have at most 35 stars (bronze is 1 star, silver is 2 star, gold is 3 stars and SR is 4 stars). This will lead to a variety of new decks, more creativity and newer players sticking to the game as oppose to quitting, thus a larger community.

Conclusion

There are many things that I can say about improving the game here and there, but I am sure that the developers and designers are working round the clock in doing so. Remember, Tekken Card Tournament is still young and they have a long ways to go before "perfection". Not going to address anything Balance related, as they get a lot of that on the Twitter and Facebook page already. Lastly, don't hesitate to leave any comments, and if you have improvements for TCT, leave them in the comments and I will convey that message to one of the staffs for Tekken Card Tournament.

Tactics 04 - Kazuya, the Killer

Edit: as of Wednesday, June 12, 2013, Kazuya received many changes in his cards due to Balance Update 03. As a result, I have modified this post to match the present stats for Kazuya. Twin Fang Double Kick's now triggers at 80 HP and below, but I still consider Kazuya's prime under 60 HP.

Since my last post on Kazuya Killing, many players have asked me how to counter it. Although I am not actually a Kazuya player, I have played so many Kazuya's and there are only a few times I've lost to a Kazuya after following the Kazuya Killing Practices.

The Deck

I won't tell you how to build your deck but I will tell you to leave at least 1~2 slot(s) opened for reasons explained. Here are the most popular cards I see on Kazuya:

• Jaw Breaker: 15 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: HP ≤ 110: Opp -1 Parry
• Skull Smash: 13 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Strike: +1 Card
• Oni Stomp: 10 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Opp Strike HP ≤ 110: +25 Protection
• Twin Fang Double Kick: 13 Damage, Kick, After the attack: HP ≤ 80: Card discard & +2 cards
• Wind God Fist: 22 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: HP ≤ 60: P cards +15 Hit
• Power Card: Kazuya - I: 175 HP, Every turn: P cards + 2 Hit

I prefer cards that aid in the drawing speed for Kazuya, that way it is a relentless assault.

When I fight Kazuya's and use my strategy, the only times I lose are:

• when I overestimate Kazuya's killing power drop him from 75 HP to 3 HP due to sheer laziness or poor arithmetic (lol).
• when the Kazuya I am facing possesses a card which controls his own HP

Kazuya in God Mode. I end up losing the fight after blocking 4 times consecutively.

I strongly feel the last point makes the difference between a Good Kazuya and a Bad Kazuya.

The following are the only cards Kazuya can use to strategically lower his HP:

• Engetsusen: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Dual Focus: Both -15 HP
• Tsunami Kick: 20 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Dual Focus: -15 HP & +1 card
• Devastator: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card hits: -15 HP & +2 Cards
• Slaughter High Kick: 30 Damage, Kick, After the attack: This card blocked: -15 HP
• SR Devil Blaster: 25 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Dual Focus: -10 HP & Opp -20 HP

Alternative SR option

Devastator and Slaughter High Kick are not very reliable in terms of control, therefore I would recommend SR Devil Blaster, Tsunami Kick or Engetsusen. I would choose Engetsusen over SR Devil Blaster and Tsunami Kick because of Price, and because Engetsusen gets the job done faster, doesn't waste focuses and you also may be interested in other SR cards.

Tips and Tricks for the Fight

These are very simple tricks but I see so many Kazuya's making all the wrong moves.

Block Opponent's potential weak damage, Focus if the damage will bring you to the optimum level.
What I mean by this is, if you and the enemy have 1 card each and the opponents character is a heavy light to medium hitter (Nina, Yoshimitsu, Xiao). They may be trying to bring you from 175 to 155 to 135 to 115 ... to 81/61 and then finish you off. You should be able to see this coming. When you are at around 81-100 HP, and you've seen the types of cards your opponent possesses, (say it is a Nina, so I would imagine, 10 Damage Blonde Bomb, 10 Damage Spiral Explosion,  10 Damage Spin Low Kick to Right Upper), let's say you are at 91 HP with 4 cards and the opponent has 1 card. My advice is to Block. She will either Strike, lose her 1 card, and you can focus/strike back, or she will Focus, making her have 2 cards which you can then focus her attack or strike it or, she is extremely crafty and will block 2x, and make you think she will block a third time forcing you to 5 card discard. If she blocks twice, then it is back to the guessing game.

Tank all five cards if it helps you activate God Mode (HP ≤ 60)
You start the fight at ~175 HP, if your opponent decides to focus to five and strike, and if those 5 cards will leave you at 60 HP. By all means don't block. You'll thank me later

If you have card advantage and you aren't in God Mode, striking could be playing right into your opponent's trap
If you read my post on Killing Kazuya, you'll know that bursting a Kazuya down from 61 HP is the way to go. That being said, there may be moments where the only reason Kazuya isn't dead yet is because he is holding cards such as Entrails Smash (20 Damage, Opp Strike & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Punch Parry), Demon Scissors (16 Damage, Block: +1 Punch Parry & Opp 4th card -10 Hit), or Oni Stomp (10 Damage, Opp Strike & HP ≤ 110: +25 Protection) and striking with them would mean discarding them for some damage. The way to handle this is to Focus to 5 cards, and provoke your enemy into striking you first, leaving you at less than 60 HP, you can attempt to accomplish this by focusing when already holding 5 cards. If all else fails, a 5 card discard will occur.

HP manipulator
Engetsusen, Tsunami Kick and SR Devil Blaster
If you've chosen Engetsusen, Tsunami Kick or SR Devil Blaster as your HP manipulator and your opponent is smart, they will refrain from focusing if it leaves you under 60 HP. In these cases, you will have to consider whether it is a good idea to strike with 5 cards or to 5 card discard. If that is the case, Devastator will be more useful.

Devastator
Devastator may just be the only way to get below 80 HP (this is only if your opponent REALLY knows the Kazuya matchup). This is because it is the only HP manipulator that your opponent has no control over (if it is in position 3, 4 or 5) unfortunately it could end up killing you as well due to the recoil damage.

Slaughter High Kick
Using this card to get below 60 HP may seem difficult at first but not a lot of characters can tank a 5 card strike from Kazuya without losing A LOT of HP, especially with Acute Pain on the field. To proc this ability, focus till 5, hopefully you would have taken some hits along the way.

Conclusion

• Add an HP manipulator to your deck
• Chip away at your opponent with cards that aren't your HP manipulator
• Consider tanking a 5 card strike if it leaves you under 60 HP
• Be Mindful of the defensive cards you hold and don't strike recklessly, it may cost you the game
• Play patiently and don't be afraid to 3x Block to trigger a 5 card discard
• Remember to block attacks that will leave you at 81/61 and to focus when their attack leaves you below 81/61
  

Hope this post helps a lot players to use Kazuya more effectively. If you have any quesitons or comments, please leave them below :]

Kazuya, God Mode

Panda - Now You're Endangered

As seen in the latest Online WW Championship rankings, Panda is up there along with Paul and here's why: Trout Sweep. This card combined with Panda's monstrous base damage forces the opponent to focus against a Panda with 5 cards and risk a potential One hit KO (or the worse case, 135 HP). If you don't like to leave your entire health bar to a coin toss and choose to block, you may lose 15 HP, and sometimes, that 15 HP (or more depending on how many Trout Sweep the panda has) could mean death by the last 3 cards of Panda. That being said, here is the Panda deck a friend of mine used to get to the top 50 of last week.
,

Trout Sweep

• 3x Trout Sweep: 20 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Dual Block: Opp -15 HP
• 3x Bear Slash: 10 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Block missed: P cards + 8 Hit
• 3x Salmon Swipe: 18 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Block Card +20 Hit
• 1x Killing Uppercut Grizzly Claw: 30 Damage, Punch, After the attack: This card hits: Keep card & Card -30 Hit
• 1x G-Clef Cannon: 40 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp Strike & Opp cards = 1: Opp +50 HP
• 1x Salmon Hunter: 60 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Focus & Opp HP ≤ 80: -30 HP
• 1x Rabid Bear: 55 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Focus & Opp cards ≤ 1: -40 HP
• 1x Grizzly Claws: 25 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp Strike: +20 Protection
• 1x Ultra Kuma: 40 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Block: Cards +10 Hit & +40 Protection
• Power Card: 210 HP

Strategy: Focus till 3 cards if Trout Sweep is not part of the 3 cards, press Strike and repeat, else Focus till 5 cards, Press Block. Flip a coin, heads press Block, tails press Strike. Repeat flipping coin till 0 cards then repeat from beginning.

The probability of drawing at least 1 Trout Sweep is 76%. The Minimum damage a set of 5 cards can do is 135 HP, but that is with 3x Trout Sweep. According to the Tekken Twitter, Trout Sweep is on the watch list for changes. I am not sure about the Pauls and Pandas out there but, I am looking forward to a Tekken Card Tournament where I never have to see my health bar drop from 100% to 0% in a couple turns.

Tactics 03 - Kazuya Killer

Kazuya

Edit: as of Wednesday, June 12, 2013, Kazuya received many changes in his cards due to Balance Update 03. As a result, I have modified this post to match the present stats for Kazuya. Twin Fang Double Kick's now triggers at 80 HP and below, but I still consider Kazuya's prime under 60 HP.

Kazuya is a character that becomes insanely stronger as his life becomes lower. If you approach a Kazuya without a strategy, you may find yourself fighting a Xiao Yu with cards that hit for up to 6 times more. This post discusses strategy when fighting Kazuya in Tekken Card Tournament. After I followed these instructions, I haven't lost to a Kazuya player since.

Note: Some characters may not be able to carry out this strategy, but the approach can still be followed. This applies for Kazuya mirror matches as well.

Kazuya Mishima

If you have a quick look at Kazuya's Cards you will notice that majority of the abilities will only occur when Kazuya's HP is lower than a certain number. That certain number ranges from 35 to 120. It is safe to say that the lower the number is, the more dangerous Kazuya is. So how do we fight Kazuya?

Mindlessly focusing and striking when you believe Kazuya won't block is how I used to fight him and that resulted in a 30%~ win rate. I think the best way to deal with a Kazuya is to strike him till his HP is greater than 60 and than finishing him with a 5 card strike. To accomplish this, I recommend striking with 2 to 3 cards at first, than with 1 to 2 get him at what I call is the optimal enemy Kazuya HP (61 HP).

Note: since I run Kimon Matagi (Opp HP ≥ 75, +10 HP) the optimal enemy Kazuya HP is 75 for me and 61 second.

Scenario 1

Striking is counter productive

In this scenario, I have whittled down the Kazuya to 108 HP from 160 with a 1 card strike and my power card (160 HP, Opp -22 HP at start). Looking at this scenario, striking will cause no change in his HP due to his second card's ability procing so i opt to Focus, and he does so too.

A bad decision to strike Kazuya

So we've both focused 4 times in a row from the last picture, and if we do some calculations, assuming Kazuya will block, I will do 20+50 damage, which will bring him to 38, he will heal for 20 and he will then be at 58, which is very optimal for him. Because of that, i choose to block 3x to discard all five cards. If he is smart, he will do the same because if he strikes, I strike him back for 50+20+20+15 which will leave him at 3 HP which can die to a gust of wind. I also know that I haven't drawn my healer cards: SR card (Magatama) and Kimon Matagi (Opp HP ≥ 75, +10 HP) so I can afford to shuffle through cards and play patiently.

Kazuya 1 HP from the sweet spot

After forcing an all discard, we both focus, I drew Sakanobori (12 Damage, Block: +1 Parry) and strike Kazuya played strike as well and we traded blows. We both focus again, and I drew Perilous Spirit (23 Damage, Block won: +1 Card). Knowing that it would bring Kazuya below 75 had I played striked, I opted to focus and Kazuya strikes me. My card is 8th card is Kimon Matagi, and I decide to strike him to bring him to 76 HP while he focuses the result is below.

Focusing to 5 to KO

I know my deck very well and the back 3 cards from a 5 card hand can hit over 76 so I commence focusing till 5 cards. I know if I just focus till 5 and strike, the only possible way the Kazuya can survive would be to have cards such as Entrails Smash (20 Damage, Opp Strike & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Punch Parry), Demon Scissors (16 Damage, Block: +1 Punch Parry & Opp 4th card -10 Hit), or Oni Stomp (10 Damage, Opp Strike & HP ≤ 110: +25 Protection). If he does, I will either block with 5 cards till he strikes me or force an all discard and start focusing till 5 again.

Victory

And that is how we kill Kazuya.

Scenario 2:

This Kazuya was much more experienced than the first one, with over 2000 games played and a greater than 70% win rate (not necessarily all Kazuya games).

A strong fighter

With this scenario, I am going to skip to the good parts.

Stalemate

We exchanged some blows here and there, I ended up hugging my Kimon Matagi for a couple turns and we find ourselves at this situation, me 110 HP, and Kazuya at 81 HP. I attempted an amateur trap on this Kazuya that involved giving up my 2 card advantage so he would strike me and get rid of his Entrails Smash. Unfortunately it didn't work and I ended up focusing for a fifth card which was a punch so then we both ended up discarding all our cards. But it all inevitably leads to the below picture:

Victory

He smacked me a couple times but I finally made it to 5 cards and his inevitable demise.

Conclusion

• Kazuya is extremely powerful when his HP is lower 60
• Depending on your deck and playstyle it would be most beneficial to bring Kazuya's life to 61 before 5 card striking him for the rest of his HP.
• Play patiently, Kazuya is not very threatening when his abilities don't go off.
• Don't be afraid to Block 3x with 5 cards to avoid bringing Kazuya to the danger zone. This also applies when you have a severe card advantage.
• If you have to bring him below 80 HP, try to do so when he has no cards that produce more cards (Skull Smasher, Twin Fang Double Kick, Devastator).

For this approach to work, it is best to avoid cards that you have no control of, eg: Poison Breath (When this card appears: Opp -30 HP). And only play patiently if you have heal cards in your deck to back yourself up (I think the only deck without a source of healing is Panda).