You should not run Dragon Punch, although it is a great kill card, it just isnt safe. Basically, if you're running more than 4 3diff+ foundations then you dont want to run 2 checks for first turn fear of them. You can easily replace them if any kind of throw, flooded nile throw is my pick, or Hilt Impact for the stun 2 hemping with your need for control.

Also, I fully agree you should be running Hulking Brutes and also consider huge wrestling army. haveing a potential +3 damge and card draw form a 1 diff foundation is too good to pass up. Take out the Tae Kwon Do Zephers for those. WIth Huge Wrestling army, you're going to see bigger building turns and harder hitting turns, a huge plus for earth. Also with all the draw power it is ok to run more than 60 cards, probably 66 tops. One more suggestion is run 4 holding ground because we all know everyone and their brother is going to be running either Chun li for Hoyoku sen or Felicia for Feline spike and I love murding multiples for next to free.

Hope this helps. God speed, fellow earth player!

First things first: Well met, fellow Earth user.

But ...I'm only running 2 3-difficulty foundations (2 The Thirst Always Wins , nothing else), so those 4 2 CC's haven't hurt me much. Most of the time, they come up when a 3 would have failed the check anyway, or when the extra foundation spent doesn't stop me. I tried running Hilt Impact , and I have found the extra damage and speed to be more valuable than the Stun: 2 , believe it or not, because my main goal is rush-down: I can kill a 20 vitality or less character by connecting with a Tiger Claw , Dragon Punch , and a Leg Sweep in T2 (for diff's of 4, 5, and 5, btw), regardless of what foundations I draw, so an attack that packs the muscle that Dragon Punch does is just too tasty to pass up. If you have another attack with comparable stats and a 3 CC, I'm all ears, though.

I was actually thinking of taking out Battle Prowess for Huge Wrestling Army : the stats are the same, and the offensive boost Huge Wrestling Army brings me is a lot more appreciated than the vitality gain from Battle Prowess , especially when I'm already packing DR with Amy's Assistance and can stop attacks cold with Mysterious Stance (and we haven't even discussed just blocking the attack ). I respectfully disagree about the 66 cards, though: experience with this deck has shown me that even going to 64 makes it more sluggish, and that's not something I want. I can see it happening in a Hugo or a Sagat deck, but not in Yi Shan .

Although I'm not 100% sure I need Holding Ground, if you have a suggestion as to what I can remove, go ahead and suggest it: I'm listening.

Ok, I can see that you are looking for a much quicker aggro, although I do feel like Yi Shan's built in DR allows you to build a bit longer. You've got me pegged, I was looking for a bit more survivability and building because I am a Hugo player.

Knowing what you want to see in the deck, I would say that Huge Wrestling army is a solid replacement for 2 Tae Kwondo Zephyr and 2 battle prowess. Consider taking out Origins unknown for the holding grounds unless you want to run Hiedern's assisination arts to boost Earth+fire foundations and really have a strong speed base. the Hiederns can be put in for the last 2 battle prowess and 2 of something else (sorry I really am not sure what would need to come out for them). Really Mysterious stance, Amy and Yi Shan should be more than enough survivability if you are planning for a 4th turn or sooner kill.

No worries; I just feel that I should use and abuse Yi Shan 's quick-hitting offensive power, because I feel Hugo is better suited for the long haul, and if I were going for that I'd play him instead (he has 40 HP for a reason, after all).

I had Heidern's Assassination Arts in the deck, but decided against them in favor of the Kin g of Fighters 2006 . If you feel they deserve a place in the deck, I think The Thirst Always Wins and The Tae Kwon Do Zephyr can both go. But first, I'll playtest all of this (I don't get together with my playgroup 'till Friday, so my fixes will come on the weekend).

Well, first round of playtesting is done, and I am happy to report that all sets played were wins for Yi Shan* !

Notes:

This deck hits HARD; normal attacks came in for 11-12 damage with 2 Hungry for Battle and no face-up momentum on T2 (awesome ^^), and by the time I'm playing my kill, my Dragon Punc hes will hit for about 20 damage, and all of this takes place pretty quickly (think T4-T5), which cements my faith in his offensive capabilities (can you say Rage of the Dragon coming in for 32 damage? 'Cause I did. ).

Ninjazanus is right in that I shouldn't sacrifice so much defense, because Battle Prowess did save my skin more than once; however, I have had no problems drawing into my kills, so I think I'll put Hugo's card-drawing awesomesauce on the backburner for now (don't mess with success).

Although I didn't lose a full match, I feel I could have won a few more games if I had Cutting Edge out there in the field, so it's been added to the deck in place of The Tae Kwon Do Zephyr , which would have done nothing.

The Thirst Always Wins works, and it works well, especially on defense; if I have problems hitting, the momentum-dependent pieces in my defense ( Mysterious Stance , Torn Hero ) suffer. Yi Shan* is all but impossible to drop on a single blow, so The Thirst Always Wins allows me to gain a massive defensive advantage if I decide to allow the "setup attack" through. This advantage becomes offensive as soon as I get my hands on Tieh Lei, Iron Thunder , and all of a sudden every attack comes in for ridiculous damage.

I have yet to use Criminal Past here, but I may someday attempt it, if only because Battle Prowess is already here, and you have to abuse it.

Gratz on your success. I'd say go ahead and Nix the hulking brutes since they are pretty costly, but I'm still a big fan of Huge wrestlying army for early game building and pumps. personally I'd use price of darkness before cutting edge. Just me tho. good luck dude.

I'm still looking for a place for Huge Wrestling Army , but I can't justify removing Hungry for Battle or Battle Prowess (the more niche cards in the deck, which happen to share similar stats) for it...

The reason I run Cutting Edge over Prince of Darkness is that Cutting Edge works while committed, which means that no matter how open I am, I have a fallback strategy to rely on. Also, between Battle Prowess , Amy's Assistance , and Yi Shan* 's Enhance, most attacks don't come in for all that much damage. I survive T2 Feline Spike to win the game on a 50/50 basis, so I'm pretty satisfied with how Cutting Edge has worked for me (after all, how many decks can take a T2 Spike full to the face and come back to win, sometimes on the very next turn?).

To be fair, T2 Spikes dont scare earth Characters, thats just the nature of the game, much less 6 hand size or less Earth Characters. Anyway, Huge wresting army are more there for building than for the +3 damage. 1 dif and static draw 1 is really the appeal of the card.

Yeah but LordAggro forgot to mention that he was completely stunned except for his character and the spike user had warrior princess with a +5 damage bonus so yeah... if it wasnt for Yi Shan's E, and not Earth support overall for maybe except cutting edge, he would had died; and yes the kitty deck is mine xD.

coolavr said:

Indeed, indeed. The matchup between the kitty and my boy Yi Shan* is too close to call (which is a healthy indicator of system balance). But the thing is, Ninjazanus , I haven't missed the extra card as far as building is concerned. I find it easy to play foundations after I've attacked, since my attacks are all pretty cheap, and I have a lot of static boosts, and Earth 's defense has protected me from any retaliation for doing so (and leaving less cards in hand) without a hitch, so I'm still searching on how to make room for them (because unlike our large friend Hugo* , Yi Shan* shouldn't run over 60, ever).

Well, then, it's experiment time! I've decided to add Program Malfunction to the deck (as well as another copy of Cutting Edge ), and I've taken out The Thirst Always Wins and Atoning for the Past for them. Thoughts?