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.

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.

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.

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

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).

Tactics 02 - Counting Cards

Ever had 3 cards in hand, 1 of them was a Unique, played focus only to have the 4th card to be that exact same Unique card you already have in hand? An even rarer scenario is having 4 of the same card in hand. All these are possible and since this has been around for a while now and the game designer and developers are well aware of it, I can only assume that this is intended. Well that is useful information to know, but why am I saying this?

Double Gates of Hell

What does it all mean?

You have 15 cards, in your deck, and when you've cycled through 15 cards, you have a chance to draw those 15 cards again. That being said, if you draw your 15th card, that is also your SR card,  in position 1, your next card has a chance to be the card in position 1, and so on till you reach 5 cards. After you've discarded those 5 cards, you can still draw your SR card till you've finished that 2nd cycle of 15 cards.

How Can I use this to my advantage?

To fully take advantage of this, you must do the following:

1. Know your deck very well. know exactly what cards are in it and how many
2. Count how many cards you've gone through since the start of the match, count how many cards your opponent has gone through since the start of the match
3. Learn your opponents deck while you are playing him, what cards he has, their strengths/weaknesses and how to avoid their abilities.

Let's use a Yoshimitsu deck containing this card:

Magatama

Magatama: 20 Damage, After the attack: HP ≤ Opp Hp: +25 HP

This is one of the best healing cards in all of Tekken Card Tournament and one of those cards you can sit on and get its full effects then force an all discard.

Let us pretend for a minute that this Yoshimitsu deck contains 14 cards without any healing capabilities or defense capabilities, and Magatama (above). Say we fight against another fellow Yoshimitsu with the exact same deck. In this fantasy battle, lets pretend that the opposing Yoshimitsu's (let's call him X, and call ourselves Y) first card drawn is Magatama. This tells us that our X will not have any defensive cards and no ability to heal for the next 14 cards they get. That being said, we should play aggressively because if  can survive to see 14 more cards, and more, X will have another chance to draw the Magatama onwards and possibly turn the entire game around.

So does that mean the opposing Yoshimitsu is screwed?

It does not mean that the X is totally done for, but they  started the game off on the wrong foot and should try to play more defensively to compensate. This is because they have no chance of drawing Magatama to heal up for the next 14 cards, and Y has a chance to draw Magatama in the next 14 cards making any strong aggression X makes useless. X should try to buy time by forcing 5 card discards, blocking more often, etc.

Conclusion

This is just a small not so viable example but the applications are limitless. There's more to Tekken than just throwing down focus, strike, and block and praying that you win the Rock, Paper, Scissors, duel and understanding that is the first step to becoming a better player. In the posts to come, there will be more strategies that utilize this information. Again, if you have anything to add, please don't hesitate to comment =]

Tactics 01 - Decisions

As you guys know, you can choose between Focus, Strike and Block. Sometimes there are situations where the choice is obvious (Opponent has 5 cards and you have 0 cards and opponent's first 2 cards deal 150 damage), other times it requires a decision to be made. The purpose of this post is to help people make that correct decision. This will be the first of hopefully many other posts where I will post a screen shot containing a scenario and I will then discuss my thought and the decision I made. Today's example may not seem obvious, but if you think about it, it really is.

I have removed the name for the sake of anonymity and to avoid flaming and haters. So let's have a look at the scenario.

Decision to Focus or Block

Ask yourself, what should I do, I only have the option to Focus and Block. Don't know? Here's a Hint, I don't have Gehosen, or Kaishaku. I guess since I am the only one who knows my deck, the correct answer would be to Block. Why? What are Nina's options, She has the ability to do all 3, but I am sure she won't block, so she will Focus or Strike.

Why Block

Let's imagine that she plays focus, so then I would want to play focus correct? Okay, now she has those 2 cards, and a third card that does more than 7 damage (there is not a single gold or SR card for Nina that does less than 10 damage), I will have 1 card, since no one knows what deck I play, there are only 2 cards Yoshimitsu has that can extend this scenario (3 if you include Sakanobori, but that would just put me in the exact same situation and if the Nina is intelligent she will just focus until I don't draw Sakanobori) and those cards would be Gehosen and Kaishaku, which I don't have in my deck. So if Nina decides to focus, I am dead (even though I guessed correctly) no matter what card I draw, guessing correctly just prolongs the inevitable by 1 turn.

So the only other option is to Block. In this situation, the Nina is in control, however you can give her the opportunity screw it up. And if she does, we will end up with 0 cards each and I will have a free chance to draw Magatama and possibly reset this game.

What Actually Happened

The Nina ended up striking me and I blocked both cards. We both played Focus after and I didn't draw Magatama and I lost a couple turns later (lol). Hey, but at least I did the best I could in that situation right? In any case, I am happy to make the decision to block when the opponent has sufficient HP to withstand at least 1 card and I don't have enough HP to withstand any of theirs.