Advice...

I'm planning on attending the canadian nats next month woo, however i'm askin everyone for there advice on a deck to run.

I have been playin control akuma for all of the block 3 tournaments with some success. Its a very heavy control deck with 4 tiger fury's and 3 gaishiki lunar rebellion for killin purposes.

I was wondering on peoples veiws on control decks now that the new set has hit and was wondering if anyone (who has played against my deck) thinks that it will still be good enough to go over the pond and do a good job of representing the English meta. If not what should i be running.

thanks in advance

mark

p.s i don't own nor want to be using feline spike as i dislike the card

From my point of view am not sure if control is going to be the right way to go. The problem i think is that there is alot of aggro with the new set but they is possiblty for some control decks to slip under the raidar. If it was me i would go with a deck that i feel good with and i know inside out. I also hate that card feline is a stupid card.

You know the meta over the pond is way different to ours, taking something that is powerful over here may prove to be a curve ball deck overe there, possibly giving you an advantage, possibly not. Personally I love the Spike, although I'm getting a tad worried on my reliance on it and probably should find some other way to win, but as with tournaments over here I think you will face many Spike decks over there. I have faced your Akuma deck, it works nicely, but how will Set 12 affect it? I'd be tempted to stick with what you are comfortable with rather than attempting to create a world beating deck with no time to play test.

I'm still miffed I can't come to this, love Canada, great country.

The US meta is different, very different. A very basic comparison is that the US meta is far more based on the Risk>Reward scenario. They will take risks to win games when the UK will not. This can make the US much faster and possibly unpredictable, but in turn more luck-based.

There is also two levels to the US meta. DO NOT presume they do not play control. Michigan, Ohio and New York (Andrew Olexa's group, Kings Games/Neutral Ground and Team UFS House) all play control, counter-control or aggro-based control. The Atlanta group is (generally) more aggro based.

This isn't updated for the new set, but the following characters I would think very, very carefully about because of the following players:

• John Herr - played by himself.
• Andrew Olexa - ditto
• Seong Mina - Jeremy Ray
• Alex - Paul Bittner/Jeremy Ray
• Whateverdeckmattkohlsisplaying - ...yeeeeeeeeah
• Hanzokick - Played by at least one of Atlanta and one of Foxhound
• Kyoshiro - Likewise
• Chun Li - Likewise
• Donovan - Likewise

I think we are more Spike-based than the States. Currently in the US the most powerful attack in the game is Ira Spinta. Any control deck needs to deal with this and the swing in control pieces it provides. If you are considering Akuma, I would really considere the Akuma vs Order matchup, the Akuma vs Chaos matchup and the Akuma vs Evil matchup.

With the new set, my guess is Evil will rise in popularity State-side. Knight Breaker and Midnight Launcher have given Evil back it's aggro-control for block three; this probably means Zi Mei, John Herr and Akuma will all be played.

thanks for the heads up matt, i feel i'm ok vs chaos and evil. However i haven't played much of the order match up but i will be working on the deck. Looking at the character list i'm convident vs half ish of the list. I may consider going akuma aggro but not sure if i have the time to find all the parts needed.

Anyway thanks for the advice guys any more would be great

I've noticed a lot of love for anti-enhance like Evil-Doer Destroyer, which may make Tiger Fury weaker, however you do pack Lunar rebellion, so thats anti-tech, of a sort. One thing I will say, against a lot of draw (Order anyone?) Akuma may struggle as they have cards to throw away to your CCHaxx.

That said, I have played this deck, and its very, very solid. It may be that going with the tried and tested will be your best option.

P.S. Have I mentioned that I would have muchos respect if you field the new Nightmare attack line-up?

P.P.S. Have I also mentioned that I love the new Nightmare attack line-up?

P.P.P.S. MMMMMMMmmmmmm, Nightmare attack line-up, my new favourite flava!!

i really love the new nightmare line up and would love to use the stuff in a aggro deck (prob zei mei) but i don't have 4 of each of his rare and ur attacks

play test time is not mutch of a problem(i dont need to revise for exams ) so we have plenty of time to do stuff. But from having played youre deck a lot i think that i spin would hurt youre deck a lot so any anti i spin tech is good any suggestions any one.

Edit: what would help is if you started paying more attention to the genral descussion forums (and the deck building ones)

Well as a qualifier I will say that I'm not form the U.K. and I have been out of the game for almost a year though I'm getting back in now. The reason I'm replying to you is because I was the 2007 New Zealand national champ and T16 at worlds that year so I have some experience in doing exactly what you are about to.

So first of all you will love it. It is an amazing experience to meet all the people you see on the forums and to play in a different meta from the one you know and love. Secondly it has already been mentioned but go with what you know the best. I built several decks that I thought would do really well in the environment but at the end of the day it is all about what you know best. A deck that you have played with 100s of times will work better than one you just built. I ended up playing my nationals deck which was posted on the web for anyone to see but the versatility of the deck and the fact that I knew how to play it better than anything else really made me win games that I don't think I would have had I changed decks for worlds.

That said you need to be aware of what you are likely to face. If Herr is there he will be playing his character, it is that good. Even if he isn't I would think it will be repped by somebody. Also if order is something you haven't played against you will need to practice that. Ira Spinta is EVERYWHERE.

Best thing I guess I can say is know your deck inside out and know how to get wins outside your primary condition. Knowledge of your deck will go a long way to overcoming a lack of knowledge about the meta.

All the best at Can Nats (although I do feel sory for the Canadians, its so hard for them to win their own Nationals)

From my outdated experience, Canada and the U.S. play everything more aggro than us. Their metas in general include more aggro decks than ours do, their aggro decks are more focused on aggro and their control decks are more focused on aggro. With this in mind, playing hard control that isn't something crap that they consider awesome like Donovan (eugh) throws them way off.

With that in mind though, you're going to have to be prepared with a decent amount of stuff geared towards the (surprise surprise) aggro matchup.

Also, I noticed Antigoth started playing that janky looking combo deck using Airbase and the thing that makes them put a card into their momentum each time you fail a control check. Since that's blatantly going to be netdecked and Antigoth will obviously be there, I suggest you are both prepared and teched out for it. It might be worth proxying it up and testing against it. Revenant's Calling totally hoses it by locking down the asset, but the deck plays a lot of anti R: stuff for the other answers (Revenant's doesn't care about being negated becauser you can use it on the next form of the asset that is making you mill, as long as you have cards in hand). The worst part about that deck I imagine is the surprise factor, so at least get to know what it does.

Be sure you can handle generic Evil aggro like Jon Herr's build from whatever even it was that just happened. Be sure you can handle Chun Li. And be sure you can handle random Order. Pretty much what Matt says (and he knows the game a lot better than I do nowadays I'm sure, haha).

Oh, one last thing. You have a real edge because they take very little notice of how we play out here. But it doesn't mean much if you don't get a general idea of how they play and what kind of decks they're packing so you can sit down across from a character card and basically know what kind of deck they're playing before they've even started. If you take a bit of time to pick it up over the forums before you go out there you'll be on a much higher playing fiend than most of their players from the start regardless of what they've been champion of. Knowing what your opponent's likely to do when he has no idea what you have up your sleeve wins games. Trust me.

You guys do realize that the general deckbuilding forums are where all the bad decks are posted right?

Anyways, I'll be looking for you Tuesday at the nationals, what's your given name? Don't be afraid to approach me if you see me, I'm the crazy brown guy with the big Canada hat

yer the bad decks lol. my name is mark aylett. i will be trying to say hello to everyone who i see over ther (old lady in the street u have been warned )

As Shajir says, a lot of the decks posted in Deck building on here are not necessarily (sp?) the good decks, lets face it, most people aren't going to post their super secret tech before a major national. That said, a lot of the Canadian and American teams have their own message boards, they may be worth have a look see at, but I'm sure you already thought of that.......

Hey Mark, My name is Shajir Islamuddin, Hope to see you there. Good luck at the event, and the decks posted in the discussion area are really bad, I'll glance at them once a week, but it's nothing too surprising.


I was thinking about making a trip to the UK to go to the UK nationals (my family thinks it's to go see them hehehe) when is the UK nationals and where?

the best person to ask that would be mr steve aka tallgeese. last i'd herd it will be after the potm event and last regional over hear (convienently his) the regional is set for the last possible weekend of them so sometime after that. i think he was looking at the middle of the country to hold the event but haven't herd any more. would asume more will happen after potm as he's busy with that atm

lol Mark, I'm well past the PotM finals, pretty much finished sorting the Legacy Nationals/ My Regional weekend and have now started on the Official UK Nationals, although I wish I didn't have to work so far in advance.

Right, as far as the event is concerned there is nothing set in stone yet, but at the minute it is looking like the event will be held in Leicester on, possibly, the final weekend in September. Please don't go quoting this as 100% what is happening, I have so many things to sort of, but rest assured, as soon as it is all sorted I'll be posting left, right and center about it!!

Right, enough derailing topic........

Check if Cursed Blood is legal for CanNats. If it is, seriously, seriously consider both playtesting against Order and even if Evil Wall can hold up to it.

• Attack: iSpin
• 0 diff: Hope for One's People
• 1 diff: Cursed Blood, Forethought, MHN
• 2 diff: Charismatic, Amy, BRT
• 3 diff: China Box, Exp.C, ProgM

As a base that's going to be very difficult to stop. Try running Evil Wall against this sort of setup, adding infinity/dual symbol and consider players who desperation their own health into Hope For Ones People.

that is a pretty good line up of foundations. i will have to test agaisnt it to see how i can hold out. my guess would be akuma's e: as my best chance

Greetings and I'm glad to hear we're going to have some representation from over the pond! I have quite a few learnings to share with you regarding the US/Canadian meta and how to prepare for it. Unfortunately, my internet at home has been out for the last three days and I can't spend too much time responding while at work. Hopefully my internet issues will be worked out this evening so I can post a fully thought out and articulated reply. Glad to see you're coming!

Oh, also check GD. Fred Erhart (protoaddict) won a regional with Akuma, where Foxhound and some of the NYC players were present. My guess it it was a more aggro based build (and likely to be slightly off the wall), but nonetheless worth considering.

GD?? whats that may i ask

Tuesday said:

General Discussion.

~~~

Regarding the Janky Air Base combo - I fully expect to see Herr there playing his Evil Self, with Revenant's Main Decked. I'm not going to bother to play the AYB Loop, just because there's too much risk in it now from UFS house players, but I know that there are players from NY and MI that are already running copies of the deck verbatim.

Hey, janky it might be, but that sort of deck wrecks people who don't know what it does. Although with Jon Herr's amazing revelation that Revenant's is good (OMG!) and Revenant's just so happening to particularly hurt that deck, it's probably a wise choice not running it. Plus it being janky because it plays bad cards doesn't make it any less cool or innovative.

Um, they reprinted Cursed Blood? Why would they do that? That's only one step up from reprinting Dark Hado.

Hewitt plz get your facts right, Foxhound was not present at the regionals protoaddict won, we were at the regionals that Link (Mike Lowe) won where we got 1st, 3rd, and 4th out of 3 players that we brought.

Akuma is pretty easy to handle though....

And Im not sure about Cursed Blood, nothing official and it seems like a rumour to me.

sir_shajir said:

Just trying to help a fellow countryman, that's all. That is the point of this thread.