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.