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).