Tactics 07 - Double Block Technique

This post is about a technique used to counter A LOT of cards that many people think are over powered. I called the technique the "Double Block" because that is basically what it is. I will go over what it is and give some examples as well as some cards that are thwarted by this technique.

What is it

How many times have you been in a situation where the opponent has one (or two) card(s) which enabled them to play block until you played strike and at the end, the opponent ends up with a safe card advantage in exchange for a small amount of life points? I have had this happen to me so many times (especially when Parry Lili was running wild) and it frustrated me till I realized the counter was so simple. Blocking with them, twice.

As you all know, the game will force all 5 players to discard their cards if there is no movement in cards (currently it is "if there is no change in the total # of cards on the field, but this will be corrected). The double blocking technique takes advantage of this and forces the opponent to perhaps "focus" so that they do not have to discard their card, but also risk a focus break or play "block" and risk discarding their cards. It ensures that no card grants an unstoppable ability and requires taking a risks. I will go over some examples ahead.

When is it Useful

Usually, the opponent will abuse their cards by constantly blocking in hopes that you strike. If you possess a card that they cannot afford let through and they possess one of the cards below, they will most likely block till you strike.

Kazuya

Demon Scissors: 19 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Block: +1 Punch Parry & Opp 4th card -10 Hit

Opponent will block till you strike. Best case scenario: you strike with 5 cards, 1 card (5th card) hits your opponent and half a card (4th card) hits your opponent. The opponent has X cards and you have 0. In the worst case scenario, you end up striking for 0 damage, and your opponent has X cards and you have 0.

Entrails Smash: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp Strike: Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Punch Parry

Similar to Demon Scissors but not as effective.

Law

Dragon Junkyard Kick: 22 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp cards ≥ 4: Card discarded +2 cards

Opponent will block till this card triggers, then they will strike or block. Best case scenario, you strike with 5 cards, 3 go through and they end up with 2+ cards and you 0. Worst case scenario, you strike them with 3 cards and 1 card goes through, they end up with 2+ cards and you 0.

Dragon's Descent: 25 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Focus: Card discarded +30 HP

When the opposing Law desperately needs HP and a strike will potentially kill them, they will block till you focus.

Ab Cruncher: 23 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block & Opp cards ≥ 3: -5 HP and +1 card

The opponent will block till you strike or have at least 3 cards. From there, they will activate Ab Cruncher's ability and receive 1 card at the cost of 5 hp whilst maintaining a strong defense.

Yoshimitsu

Sakanobori: 12 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Block: +1 Parry

Exactly like Entrails Smash, opponent will block till you strike. This card works well when paired with Kurama Itto and other HP per turn cards.

Tobi Ushiwaka: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Block & Opp Focus: +1 card

Opponent will block in hopes that you strike/focus. As a result they will draw a card safely for every time you played focus. They will sneak a strike in from time to time.

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

When you are behind in cards by 1, the opponent Yoshimitsu will block, in hopes that you focus and thus triggering the effects of Shisetsu Genman.

Xiaoyu

Battering Winds: 10 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Opp Focus: +1 card

Exactly like Tobi Ushikawa. Opponent will block in hopes that you strike/focus. As a result they will draw a card safely for every time you played focus.

Lili

Dendrobium: 18 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Cards = Opp cards: Opp -1 card

Exactly Similar to Shisetsu Genman but not the ability is not as strong. Opponent will use this to force you to discard your 1st card especially if it is highly threatening one.

Autumn Wind: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack: Opp Focus: Both +1 card

Exactly like Tobi Ushikawa and Battering winds, except Opponent Lili will draw 1 for every card you receive. For Lili, her cards add so much utility (especially when the opponent has 3 or more cards) as a result this is actually OK.

Direct Persuasion: 26 Damage, Punch, After the attack: Cards ≤ Opp cards & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 card

Opponent will block with this card in hopes that you focus to 3 cards or strike. If you played strike, 2 cards will be blocked and they will get another free card by playing focus when you have 0, they will then continue to block till you focus to 3 cards.

Freesia Thrust: 20 Damage, Kick, Before the attack: Opp Strike & Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Kick Parry

Works very well with the 130 HP Lili Power Card. Works very much like Demon Scissors. Opponent will Block till you have played strike. After your failed strike, opponent will have a safe focus and continue to play block.

Rafflesia: 12 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Opp cards ≥ 3: +1 Parry

Works very well with the 130 HP Lili Power Card. Works Exactly like Freesia Thrust. Opponent will Block till you have played strike. After your failed strike, opponent will have a safe focus and continue to play block.

Rose Pique: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack: Cards ≤ Opp cards: 3rd card +15 Hit & Opp 3rd card -30 Hit

Works Exactly like Rafflesia and Freesia Thrust except instead of blocking the 3rd card, it reduces its damage to nearly nothing. Opponent will Block till you have played strike. After your failed strike, opponent will have a safe focus and continue to play block.

Examples

These are the best examples I could get. Some of them aren't as critical but it was difficult for me to find examples where the opponent had the card and the cards were in the right positions.

Xiaoyu's Battering Winds

Opponent Xiaoyu blocking to avoid potential strikes and the effects of Shisetsu Genman

Here the opponent Xiaoyu posses the card Battering Winds. By blocking, the Xiaoyu can gain cards whilst avoiding potential strikes and the effects of Shisetsu Genman due to the Yoshimitsu's 1st card, Tobi Ushikawa. As the actual Yoshimitsu player, I value 1 of my cards as more valuable than 1 of Xiaoyu's so I will focus all the way. If I wanted, I could block three times for an all card discard, but that would be counter productive for me and favorable to the opposing Xiaoyu.

Kazuya's Demon Scissors

Demon Scissors being used against an Opposing Kazuya to prevent Devastator from hitting at all costs.

In this mirror match, the opposing Kazuya has 4 cards with Devastator in 2nd position. Originally, white trunks Kazuya drew Demon Scissors the same time red trunks Kazuya drew Devastator. Knowing that Demon God Fist and Devastator hitting would be extremely unfortunate, white trunks Kazuya decides not to risk it and blocks till red trunks Kazuya strikes. As the red trunks, I would 2x block, focus, 2x block, focus to abuse the healing of Demon God Fist knowing that the White Trunks Kazuya is most likely not going to risk taking the effects of Devastator or the Damage of Demon God Fist.

Lili's Dendrobrium

Dendrobrium used to get rid of Devastator

Opposing Lili will play block to force Dendrobrium's ability to discard Kazuya's Devastator (Devastator is such a great card =] ). The match just started but the Lili does have card advantage. As the Kazuya, I will double block with the Lili, and possibly a third time. If the Lili wishes to forgo her card advantage and also block on the 3rd turn, the Kazuya and Lili will then be at equal cards, and thus the Kazuya will win. If the Lili decides her card advantage is worth more than the Devastator, she will focus but not knowing what Kazuya is thinking, she risks letting the Devastator ability go off.

Conclusion

After I think about it, the examples are pretty bad (lol). I will use this last paragraph to describe another example. Let's pretend we are Paul with 2x 60 Damage cards (the ones that reduce pauls HP by 20 each turn if he has 3 or more), and the enemy is Yoshimitsu with 4 cards, Tobi Ushikawa in position 1, 1 Sakanobori Parry card,(to keep things simple) and 2 bronze cards that do 15 damage each. Let's imagine that Paul is at 31 HP and Yoshimitsu is at 20 HP. Let's imagine Yoshimitsu plans to block and use Tobi Ushikawa to gain a card and secure the tie/win. Paul knows focusing will be his downfall so if Paul plays Double Block, Yoshimitsu is pressured to flip a coin and Yoshimitsu's Tobi Ushikawa card becomes useless. This is the scenario I was trying to get from countless staminaless Quick Fights but I couldn't get one, and if I did, it was too intense to take a picture (lol).

I hope this posts helps people out. I know the pictures would be a lot better if the HP were in critical numbers but that was the best I could do =].

Don't be afraid to comment.

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 =].

Card Release 01

Just a few thoughts about the upcoming new cards for June 01 starring Law and and Xiaoyu. These can be seen at the official Tekken Card Tournament site.

New Cards

• Wolf Fang: 22 Damage, Kick, Before the attack, Strike: Opp cards nul. & Opp -15 Prot

This card is amazing, it's the answer to all those Lili Parry decks out there. It has good damage and an amazing effect that destroys abilities that occur before the attack. As for abilities that occur after the attack, Law has plenty of cards in his current arsenal that deal with that. Literally a "Poison Arrow" 2.0 with better damage, easier to activate ability and a better ability.

• Dragon Roar: 20 Damage, Punch, Before the attack, Opp cards = 5: Opp 5th card -60 Hit

Sounds like a decent defensive card which Law is in need of, pushes opponents to strike with 4 cards or less. Decent hit for a Law card. Works great if the card appears the same time as opponents 5th card. Not sure what happens when facing Paul's SR Power Card. I think it becomes a 20 hit card with a useless effect. The only thing is, I don't think a lot of players would 5 card strike a Law since Law has many strong cards that activate when opponent has more cards than none.

• Flash Fist: 24 Damage, Punch, After the attack, Focus: Both -1 card & +10 HP

Good damage, a heal that Law can control. Allows law to cycle his cards around and keeps the opponent on their feet. Extremely dangerous when in position 5 for the opposition, kind of like Trout Sweep in this case (since Law's 5 cards can potentially kill a lot of characters), fortunately this occurs only when this card is in position 5 and it is unique.

• Rainbow Kick: 15 Damage, Kick, After the attack, This card appears & Cards ≤ 2: +2 cards

Card that vastly increases the speed of Law's deck. Not sure if focusing with 2 cards and the 3rd card appearing is Rainbow Kick, triggers the effect, or if it only occurs when focusing with 0 or 1 card(s). In order to maximize the potential of this card in your deck, strike with 1-2 cards. If this card ever pops up, it will extremely put you in the lead. Synergizes well with the other new card, Flash Fist. Upgrading from silver to gold is not very attractive.

• Phoenix Tail: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Opp Focus Break: +1 card & +25 HP

This card is like Hypnotist (10 Hit, Opp Strike: +25 Protection) except, it heals (which I think is better) and it gives you the card that you lost from focusing. Seeing as how Xiaoyu's only block when the opponent has 5 cards, I think this will boost Xiaoyu up the Tier more so. If combined with Hypnotist, Xiaoyu really has the perfect defense, can probably focus facing 5 card Opponent, lol.

• Street Sweeper: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Opp cards ≥ 4: Opp -2 cards

This card has an extremely powerful ability. This card forces the opponent to strike at 3 or 4 cards, it makes the opponent predictable (they will most likely strike with 4 cards if this card just appeared) and offers gives Xiaoyu the card advantage more so if they do not strike.

• Wave Crest: 10 Damage, Punch, Before the attack, Strike: Opp -1 Parry & Opp -50 Prot

Good card to battle the parries of Lili, and the Protection of Panda. Unfortunately it doesn't add to Xiaoyu's card speed which is what makes her powerful. Would rather much have draw speed and Phoenix Talon (below).

• Phoenix Talon: 10 Damage, Kick, After the attack, Block: Both -5 cards & +5 HP

A card that just poops on Trout Sweeper, or any Heal per turn cards. The downside to this card is it puts Xiao at 0 cards, which is where a Xiaoyu never wants to be. Fortunately, you can activate the ability by blocking and take any card advantage that the opponent has. Don't bother upgrading from bronze to gold.

Conclusion

Law gets some pretty damn good cards. The new cards should boost Law's fighting capabilities to a more competitive level. Looking forward to what Law can dish out now and hopefully many players who've been hording gold will switch over to Law so I can see more Law activity during the championship.

Xiaoyu gets beast cards that were not really needed (I think). I would imagine Xiaoyu's going to be amongst the top of the Online WW Championship for this week.

I wish they gave something to Kazuya or Yoshimitsu. Those 2 characters I feel are at the bottom of the list in terms competitive play. In the last Online WW Championship, at 1290 rating, I rarely ran into Kazuya or Law and almost never ran into Yoshimitsu. Probably being biased but, hope they buff Yoshimitsu =]

Characters

If you haven't created a character yet then this information might be useful to you. As of the time of writing, the most successful characters in the "world wide championship" are Paul and Panda. I don't believe there is a weakest character or at least there shouldn't be (if there is one, it's definitely Yoshimitsu). According to the Twitter and Facebook page, each character is designed to be strong against some and weak against others. As of right now, Paul and Pandas are dominating the scene, with Nina and Lili not too far behind. Last week it was Xiaoyu and Nina. Next week it could be anyone, even maybe Heihachi.


Each character has a different play style and strengths and weaknesses. After I completed an "A" Yoshimitsu deck, I regretted it because I wanted to play as Kazuya. I will probably stick with Yoshimitsu till I have 3 of every card and all the SR cards, including the power card.

Kazuya is kind of an average fighter at first, but when his HP is low, his card effects tend to overwhelm the opposition.

Paul's cards have extremely high damage, but usually have negative effects as a tradeoff.

Law is a rather well rounded character with mid to high base damage and cards that negate the opponents card effects.

Yoshimitsu's cards are average base damage and the card abilities are quite weird. He has a very large assortment of tricks but the thing unique to him is the power to conceal his cards (not that useful at all) which is currently 'not working and will be improved/fixed'.

Xiaoyu draws cards fast. Her cards are usually 10 damage with the exception of a few. She is one of the few characters that will probably play strike more than focus.

Nina is a rather well rounded character as well. I believe she specializes in healing. Like Xiaoyu, she also has many ways of drawing cards without actually focusing.

Lili has many abilities, the ones I notice the most are her parries. I also see a lot of ways for her to draw cards without having to play focus, sometimes this involves the opponent drawing a card as well. She also have mid to high base damage on many of her Punch cards.

Panda hits as hard as Paul. She doesn't have much heal or any reliable heals but her SR card has the highest starting health and many of her cards come with protection to make up for the lack of healing.

How I picked my character was Law because I wanted to see him do a somersault in the animation (this never occurs by the way). After a couple games I got the feel of what the game was like (I only had bronze cards) and I began to explore the buttons on the user interface. It led me to logging out and because there is no option to create a password at start, I abandoned that account and made a Kazuya deck. I mustered enough credits to buy an ultra pack, opened it and got a golden Yoshimitsu power card. So I sold all my cards and started a Yoshimitsu deck.