That's where Heel Snipe comes into play.

Shady said:

This.

Also, BRT may work, but I don't have room for a card like that. My Hilde is a strict 60 card deck with 7HS + Order power draw so every card needs to have a very specific purpose for being in it and BRT doesn't meet my criteria. Also I don't own any, but even if I did I don't think I would put it in.

Every name is taken said:

Pretty sure you could classify BRT as a draw card if you wanted to.

Every name is taken said:

Like the post before said, BRT is it's own draw and stops an answer. I've seen BRT used to draw the user key cards many a time. I understand if you don't have any, just saying it's not a horrible option.

Every name is taken said:

you can just brt your own checks to draw cards. brt is definately a draw card, and it's also an answer to the answers.

ive also seen BRT backfire and the one facing the BRT draw into something relevant and win the game with it

Da_ghetto_gamer said:

QFT; I Spiked somebody like that once, and the saddest part was that I only had 1 Spike in the deck at that moment!

Here's my take on the top 5; it may be a bit skewed towards my more limited experiences (I'm from PR, so no large-scale tournament access for me ), but here goes:

1. *Zi Mei* - She packs the muscle Akuma lacks, but this one is pretty close (Death > Void is what does it for me). Her committing effect is better than Akuma's IMHO, because even though she can't do mass clearing, she can gash your assets, characters, foundations, etc. Also, Zi Mei + Visions of Destiny = fun times to be had.

2. :::Akuma::: - Relatively unfazed by the recent bans, since he punches attacks through by himself anyway. Void went up a bit, and though Evil took a hit, it's still one of the strongest symbols out there. His CC Hax ability was a major player in Destiny getting printed; that should tell you something.

3. ***Donovan*** - Downright INSANE drawing potential, on very solid symbols. Order may have taken a hit, but Death and Water both went up with the bans, and he is positioned to take full advantage of it.

4. Hilde* - If I were to describe Hild e* , I'd go for "Spiky Wall", because she blasts you with the same stuff she used to keep you from blasting her. And that's awesome. She lets you pack as much redux as you like, since it fuels your offense as well, which makes for a very strong kind of deck.

5. *Yi Shan* - Say what you will about 6 HS, but I think this is the one of the best character cards out there. Defense and offense in the same E, some strong vitality, and a chance to stack characters (a passé notion now, but he makes it work) for an augment to the effect. Not since the Cody's have we seen someone who works so well with multiple versions of himself (I wish Yi Shan** would have been 3 diff like Red Cody, but hey)

In case anyone asks...

6-10 (no particular order) - Andrew Olexa, ***Felicia***, *Hugo*, Promo Chun Li, Jon Herr.

Every name is taken said:

It all makes sense now, path of the master never actually happened It was all just a collected dream we had. This was caused by mind control devices implanted in all the patches we got over the past year. The tournament never actually happened becase FFG was not ready in time so their back up plan which was the mind control devices in all the patches happened. So it is true fire Hilde was bad and could never win a single game and I was only dreaming when I top 8'd with her. Thank you so much for freeing me from the nightmare of FFG mind control.

Drewkasa said:

Not to detract from your achievement, but Hilde was new then and no one was expecting her.

I haven't played that many decks, so I've got a more limited opinion on this.

In no particular order :

- Zi Mei Promo : 3 strong symbols (Fire/Evil/Death), a powerful react as well as freebie damage boost. She packs enough of a punch for me.

- Akuma Starter (CCHax) : A pain in the butt for any of his opponents, as he kills one card per turn, full-stuns when it isn't his turn, and can even (using a new low) play during the opponent's turn. The recent bans haven't taken out that much of his cards - the promos going out in june made the game more playable for everyone, and he only lost Bitter Rivals and a kill (Tiger Fury) at start of july IMO - which means he's fully playable.

- Sakura : I don't know what the general consensus is about her, but her ability to play a card from the discard pile is pretty strong, and IMO she can be a real pain in the ass when built in Void (through Akuma she can even get access to CCHax!)

- Rolento Promo : Over here he's played in Evil in combination with The Ways of Punishment, meaning that you can hit hard without any worries about your opponent blocking. He has access to a lot of nasty stuff as well, being Fire/Good/Evil.

Nekuro said:

promo rolento, interesting. i have never seen him fair well, and he is rarely played where i play. when you say over here, where would that be? i am asking to gain insight into the metagame of where ever over here is.

Da_ghetto_gamer said:

oh woooooow

whuuuut a coiiiincideeeence O_O

trane said:

I've seen him tried in a few matches in France (that's where I live) and I personally like him. He's not part of the tournament metagame yet though, but IMO he has access to enough crazy cards and his effect's too nice for me not to put him in.

Drewkasa said:

However, quote chains for the lose

Have you had any success with fire Hilde since then, or have other decks been able to contain the beast?

Nekuro said:

yeah rolento made a small splash when he first came out, but his six handsize, and the fact that until recently fire and good where mediocre at best, made him hard to play. now that his symbol's are good, i think he could be a pretty good sand bag char.

Every name is taken said:

Because Hilde was new..and no one expected her, she fluked her way all the way into top cuts at a major event as a monofire deck?

You are grasping for straws man.

Fire Hilde pre-bannings was a great deck, better then her overhyped counterparts. All those cards you listed that gives hilde "speed" as you so put just slowed the deck down before the bannings(and cursed blood didnt exist).

I dont care how good your local Hilde Deck Was. Mono-Fire Hilde was a extremely successful and effective build. She worked off of other symbols too because she has synergy off ALL her symbols, she is amazing that way.

But by saying fire hilde is bad you are discounting argueably the most successful hilde deck to date(you could make a case for Archimedes Hilde deck also)

Fighting the facts is fighting a losing fight.

LordAggro said:

Finally, someone with some Earth Character love.

I feel like hugo is hugely underestimated, simply by virtue of his 40 health, making your OTK considerably more difficult, especially considering Earth's fantastic tanking ability. If you dont dispose of him Hugo quickly, he can pretty much kill you in whatever fashion he feels like building up to.

Ninjazanus said:

Earth FTW, brother. I salute you, good sir.

The only real gripes I have against Hugo is that you have a pretty much dead-locked card in Inhuman Perception (because Tag Along and The Anti-K' hang you out to dry in the early game), and that your offensive options are somewhat limited, because of your 4 HS. If you set up properly, though, this isn't much of a problem.

failed2k said:

It's the only successful deck because it was the only one that was played in an event so far. I haven't met anyone yet that ran my build, and I didn't play in singles at all at Ohio so it made no showing there. Not saying that I would have Top 8'd, but that there's some reason behind Good/Order Hilde's absence in tourney reports, if that's how we're defining success.

Even without Cursed Blood, you will not be able to convince me that a strict 60 card deck using two of the most broken draw cards still legal is slower than one that doesn't use them. And it's simply ludricious to say that a card like Buddhist Devotion would have slowed it down, especially when popped on turn 2 after your opponent has already played most if not all their foundations already and you put into play an Amy's Assistance/Alluring Beauty and Healer. Or Experienced Combatant and The Bigger They Are... to start their next turn off committed.

Stop talking about Hilde; with only one condition, SHE WILL NOT WIN

She's just a repeat of Hanzo. Wall up with whatever control you have, and push your one win condition through. You use your Cobra Blow enhance, I'll KFT/Seal it.

I just don't buy it.

LordAggro said:

While that is true, hugo has enough draw support in foundations, that a "lock down" of your character, will really only mess you up first or second turn and there is no speed kill deck that can take down 40 health before he has a resonable staging area. On top of that, my deck only runs 8 "3" checks, so building is lightning fast with any sort of draw power. The kill condition is death by enormous throw with enough commital and response hate, that it rarely fails.

MarcoPulleaux said:

I'll talk about Hilde if I want to. And theorycrafting works both ways; Hilde runs great with Seals of her own. Tag Along is way more menacing than KFT honestly, since Cobra Blow isn't even necessary.

the true secret to hilde is to run her off good, and then have Deadly Ground/Flash Leg Work in the deck

quarzark said:

Let's not bring Morrigan Mill into this. She's innocent in this debate.

speaking of which I never gave my list... so I guess in no specific order

Promo Revenant: no more pesky unblockable attacks! and -1 not to a minimum? broke-sauce!

Promo Tam Tam: I can discard my opponents entire momentum AND gain vitality? through in being tall enough to reach the top shelf and get the cookie jar and we're in business!

Promo Rikuo: Making a come-back... alright... you best get a dice, cause I'm gonna have to start counting up those unblockable tokens.

Promo Vega: Super Momentum Gen and Vitality ****-block ftw

Promo Arthur: He goes straight to Beast-tier with these bannings. you can't beat that enhance, or massive vitality and huge hand-size.