So, I'm just now getting into UFS.

By SephirothKirby, in UFS General Discussion

Posted at

Not a single card to my name, but someone I've met on a forum introduced me to the game. I got more and more into it, and now I'm dead set on getting my own collection.

But should I start with? What should I know? What is the current state of the meta? What cards are 'splashable'? What determines whether or not a card is good? What exactly is a scout? I can assume from the name, but what does it entail exactly? And how much can I expect to pay for a pseudo-competitive deck?

Most importantly, I'd like to know where to begin my purchases. I decided on getting 1 of each of the Domination starter decks, and taking what I can from there and building something usable, and from there I will probably buy a box of one of the King of Fighters packs. Is this a good decision?

Thank you in advanced.

Posted at

You chose a great time to jump in, really.

Set 12 just released. It's a base set featuring an in-house license (ShadoWar) and Soul Calibur 4. Honestly if you're a bit wary digging into a back catalogue of cards, you could just dump some money into a couple boxes of these sets, grab some singles and commons/uncommons from some other sets, and you'd be ready to rock face.

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Here's some things I think you should know.

1) It is my firm belief that with the release of set 12, every symbol when played properly is capable of beating every other symbol in the game. While it is clear that some symbols are better than others, I beg you to not follow the tournament crowd. Find your favorite symbol and get good with it. When you know what you're doing with a rogue symbol you've got the advantage over the opponent with a cookie cutter deck.

2) Half of us on the boards have no idea what we're talking about, the other half only thinks they do. I advise you to lurk a bit and devour as much knowledge as possible. If you're capable of forming an intelligent opinion and defending it then you shall do well. If all else fails, you can take my approach and just be as abrasive as possible.

3) http://www.twoheadeddragon.com/ufs/index.html (This is your friend. Bookmark it and start going over cards).

4) Don't feed Chubbs.

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With the release of set 12, the meta is in a current state of flux. A few regionals down the line and we'll see where we end up. Before set 12 released Order and Air were pretty much dominating (having split 6 regional wins down the middle)

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The beauty of the resource rule in this game is that with proper deck building you can make anything splashable. You determine whether a card is good or not.

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A Scout is a person who facilitates the playing of the game, much like a tournament organizer or judge for other card games. They organize and hold tournaments all over the world. They're also responsible for demo'ing the card game to new players (and otherwise promoting the game)

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A pseduo competitive deck, depending on your play style, can probably range from 150-400 dollars. 400 dollars is for top tier, money money MAKE SOME NOISE decks. But just like any other game if you want to be competitive you have to invest in it.

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I have no idea why my text is coming up as that in the above post, but just highlight it and you should be able to read it.

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SephirothKirby said:

Not a single card to my name, but someone I've met on a forum introduced me to the game. I got more and more into it, and now I'm dead set on getting my own collection.

But should I start with? What should I know? What is the current state of the meta? What cards are 'splashable'? What determines whether or not a card is good? What exactly is a scout? I can assume from the name, but what does it entail exactly? And how much can I expect to pay for a pseudo-competitive deck?

Most importantly, I'd like to know where to begin my purchases. I decided on getting 1 of each of the Domination starter decks, and taking what I can from there and building something usable, and from there I will probably buy a box of one of the King of Fighters packs. Is this a good decision?

Thank you in advanced.

Well, to start, I'd say the two sets i'd honestly start with are the two most recent; ShadoWar and Soul Calibur 4. Both of these sets will be around longer than any other set in terms of rotation, they have some very competitive cards, and some very fun characters. The other set many people would suggest that will be around for another year is Realm of Midnight, the second darkstalkers set, although it's fairly difficult to find.

The current meta is in a bit of a shift, but we just left a state of heavy order control, with air hybrid looming around it. As of right now, i believe every symbol is competitive and i honestly cant say what i believe is top tier; we'll find out soon enough i'm sure what seems to be edging ahead slightly.

What determines if a card is good; well, a lot of things really. The stats being balanced is an important part of it, (Difficulty, Control, if it has a block and if it's a good block or not, etc.) For example, a 1 difficulty, 6 check foundation with a +1 midblock is alone looking like a decent card, even without a good ability, however, abilities are obviously very important, and most people will agree that the ability is the most important thing, although balance of difficulties and checks is something necessary. You want to be able to play a string of foundations as easily and riskfree as possible, which results in most people running 4 or less 2 check attacks, and enough 3, 2, and 1 difficulty foundations to risk free play them out first turn.

A scout is someone who sets up the tournaments for the local playgroup and shop, deals with the prize support that comes in, and shows people the game and introduces it, demos it, etc.

How much you should look into paying for a competitive deck is really depending on the symbol and character. Evil and Order are some of the most expensive symbols you can play competitively, while fire may be a good bit cheaper. Things tend to be a little cheaper in this game than others such as YGO and Magic, but some can come a bit pricy. The new set has quite a few 20 dollar cards; Knight Breakers, Raging Gnome, that sort. We've had cards in the past go for around 50 a piece but it's not common at all. You can certainly have a cheap semi-competitive deck from a starter or two, a few lucky pulls and some trades; depending on the playgroup you may have people who are willing to help new players make decks and help someone get started, that sort.

Domination is a fine set to start with, as well as the KoF; Akuma, Mai, Sakura, really quite a few are competitive characters (although almost an character can be played fine on a casual or semi-competitive level, particularly now, although a few are known as quite a joke, like Promo Rikuo) As i was saying before though, I really like the two newest sets, but if you want to play street fighter, i certainly say domination isn't a bad way to go; Warrior's Dream also had a few good characters, most notably Chun Li who has been wrecking some havoc lately.

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Archimedes said:

1) It is my firm belief that with the release of set 12, every symbol when played properly is capable of beating every other symbol in the game. While it is clear that some symbols are better than others, I beg you to not follow the tournament crowd. Find your favorite symbol and get good with it. When you know what you're doing with a rogue symbol you've got the advantage over the opponent with a cookie cutter deck.

I cannot agree with this more, find the symbol you want to play, learn what it can do, and you'll do well.

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Archimedes said:

2) Half of us on the boards have no idea what we're talking about, the other half only thinks they do. I advise you to lurk a bit and devour as much knowledge as possible. If you're capable of forming an intelligent opinion and defending it then you shall do well. If all else fails, you can take my approach and just be as abrasive as possible.

Also, Photoshop helps.

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Homme Chapeau said:

Archimedes said:

2) Half of us on the boards have no idea what we're talking about, the other half only thinks they do. I advise you to lurk a bit and devour as much knowledge as possible. If you're capable of forming an intelligent opinion and defending it then you shall do well. If all else fails, you can take my approach and just be as abrasive as possible.

Also, Photoshop helps.

don't know why, but i lol'd. oh wait... i'm drunk. move along nothing to see here.

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Homme Chapeau said:

Archimedes said:

2) Half of us on the boards have no idea what we're talking about, the other half only thinks they do.
i am part of the first half.
i would sugest trying to obtain 4 copies of ceal of cessation and olcadon's mentoring. these are the only cards that are true staples, and go in almost every deck because they are highly usable infinity (a resource playable by any character) cards.
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SoC isn't a staple.

First off, welcome new player!

If you haven't already (though I'm sure you have), Arch's post went all wacky. Just highlight it and you will find all the info you need. Nice post, Arch.

The following two websites will help you as a search database.

www.twoheadeddragon.com (go to the Useful resources tab and click on UFS search)

www.coolstuffinc.com (you can find any card by typing in it's name in the search box).

As for helpful advice: Don't let anyone dictate to you how you should play the game. If you want to play a deck, you play that deck. Don't be discouraged if people tell you if that specific deck is being ran by all the top players out there. If you want to use it, then use it. Because if you manage to come out on top, the victory is that much sweeter.