are there any cards I should get? What should be my play style? Thanks in advance

By saying 'possible new player' I'm assuming you haven't bought cards yet?

My personal recommendation is pick up a starter deck or two to get a feel for the game. I tried working with a Balrog deck once, and aside from his character specific support in the set he came from, a lot of other support comes from other sets. And while that statement holds true for a lot of decks, the starters should help you get an idea of the different play styles available.

What games have you played before? What kinds of strategies did you use then? Knowing that might help others give you tips more suited to your personality and play style. That's just my recommendation.

well...to be honest everyones playstyle is a little different, so thats more up to you...

balrog decks are normally pretty aggressive so it depends on how aggressive you want to be lol...

and do you want legacy or standard?

Id probably play standard, and im coming from extensively playing Yu-Gi-Oh (yes, I know sad) and I would use beatdown and control decks.

made a balrog deck once. it was tri symbol playing off of all his symbols giving it a nice round support for the whole deck. it wasn't too much of a beat down but it had nice control to help maintain it also. with the way the game is now, he should be beasty. some cards off the top of my head...

Blood Runs True (harder to get)
The Red Lotus of the Sun
Oral Dead
American Made
Fast Food Lover
Tira's Contract

It should be a fun deck to build and play with. I've been thinking about putting him together again and see what i can do with him since a lot has changed lately. but hope all things work out.

From the couple of Balrog attempts I have made, I have found a few things.

Stacking characters with him can be benefital. I personally start with Balrog6 (better HS and Chaos in the place of Wind), and stack Balrog4 (two free enhances dealing with punches) on him. This offers you some flexability as you attack, using Balrog4's draw abilites to keep your attacks going.

All is probably going to be your main symbol, though you may look into so Chaos for some of those really nice cards, like Meat Eater and Homing Dragon Water Cane. These offer a very powerful kill condition when used in conjunction with Balrogs UR attack, Crazy Buffalo.

As for some cards to look at, here are a few good starters:

Attacks:

Dash Low (4/3 3L4 Punch)

Demonic Drubbing (5/3 4M6 Punch)

Monster Lariat (5/3 4M5 Punch)

Crazy Buffalo** (6/2 3M6 Punch Powerful: 3)

Foundations:

American Made (1/5)

Meat Eater (3/4)

Homing Dragon Water Cane (3/2)

Former Champion (2/5)

Body of Souls (2/5)

These foundations should be easy enough to come by, as they are mostly common. The Water Cane and Meat Eaters may be more difficult, as they are a powerful combo. The attacks are all fairly standard for any punch based deck, with the Buffalo in there as a Balrog specialty. The Buffalos will be the hardest to obtain easily, as they are both UR and Character specific.

Combos are fairly linear. Punch, Balrog4 E, Punch, Balrog4 E, Punch etc. with American Made pumping each punch for free. Then, at the end of the turn, grab up all your punches with Former Champ so you can start all over next turn. That is the tone of the deck late game. Early game will be all about building and surviving, Getting things like American Mades and the Meat/Cane combo on the field.

Kill Combo is slightly more complex, assuming you have not been able to widdle them down already. Punch, Balrog4 E, Punch, Balrog4 E, Balrog6 E, Crazy Buffalo. Water Cane to give the Buffalo Multiple: 1 a few times. Meat Eater to play the multiples without Momentum. Then just let the damage roll. Water Canes give each multiple +3 damage per copy (ie 3 for 1 Cane, 12 for 2 Canes, 27 for 3 Canes), Buffalo already gives itself +4 damage. And if your opponant has not already done the math, you can Powerful the Buffalo with any momentum you may have built.

Ok, enough deck talk. When I comes to getting into this game, there are quite a few hurdles that need to be jumped, just like any other game. You have to get a feel for the game, what parts you enjoy, and what parts don't interest you. It is also useful to have a group of people willing to answer your questions, or offer suggestions. You have found the forums, so job well done, but a local infulance can also be helpful. Another major hurdle is getting the experiance to build those types of decks that you enjoy, and making them work for you. Whether that means throwing together whatever cards you have, and slowly swapping in better cards, or buying a deck based on recomendations, it just has to suit you.

Good luck.

Thank you guys so much. I have to say this is the nicest forum I have ever seen. I will definately try to pick up some cards and get started. Also, what sets are those cards from? I know Balrog-specific cards are from his set but what about the foundations and other things?

balrog is from warrior's dream. american made and a lot of the other punch support is from flames of fame. body of souls is from tower of souls.

Alright, Im going to keep my eyes out for any cards for a balrog deck. In the meantime, I think I will grab an Akuma starter and find a group.

Definitely find a group; what good is a deck if you have no one to play with?!

One card that was recently released that works SO SO SO WELL with Balrog is Researching the Past, a common foundation out of the newest Soul Calibur 4 set. With it, all you have to do is get a Punch and a high-checking foundation on top of your discard pile (which might be a little bit of trouble) then play a big, Powerful punch*, pass the check easily because of the good check, and then threaten your opponent with having to block twice because of Balrog's ability. It's hot

*While Crazy Buffalo** is an okay attack and it goes with the theme of Balrog, I'd suggest you use Ryu's Shin Shoryuken instead (I know, it's blasphemy that Balrog would do a shoryuken, but it's Universal Fighting System for a reason ). It's 1 more difficulty for +2 speed and +2 damage, with the same Powerful rating, a lower block modifier, and the ability to be used in other decks you might build outside Balrog. Plus, it's only a normal rare, so you may have an easier time buying or trading for them.

Wafflecopter said:

BLASPHEMOUS DOG! But really, ill give that a try. Does Shin Shoryuken possibly come in a Ryu starter? I ask this because I want to grab a starter before I build my Balrog deck.

Ryu's shin shoryuken doesn't come in a starter. He doesn't even have a starter from that set.

Pyron said:

I just got PWNED. I was just asking because I want to grab a good starter.

Good to see someone coming INTO the game, as opposed to out of it.

Since you're looking for a strong Starter Deck to get you going, you can't do much wrong with Akuma from Domination; he's considered to be one of the top 5 characters in the game right now, so you have some solid material to work with right off the bat. As for the Balrog deck you are planning on making, IMHO All is the best resource symbol to run a "puncher" deck, because of the symbol's overall versatility, though you can make a very good case for running it off Chaos (more momentum generation), especially if you're a Balrog purist and want to keep your Crazy Buffalo** . Tell ya what; I'll throw together a decklist for you if you like, and hopefully it won't be too expensive. However, you should decide if you want the deck to be off All , Chaos , or Evil first.

LordAggro said:

Based on what I have heard about evil (EXSPENSIVE), and what you are saying, I would probably run either All or All/Chaos, whatever is cheapest and most effective. Thanks in advance.

Thorak said:

chaos is cheaper (no tira's, brt, abbelia's friendship)

Well, first things first, you gotta pick your character. :::Balrog::: (aka Balrog6 ) is far and away the best choice IMHO, sporting a solid handsize (6), a load of vitality (30), and some very solid effects that allow him to get his attacks on the board and push them through your enemy's defenses. Now, we'll try to build around that to make him a dominant choice.

Next to every card is the price for buying it as a single (listed in dollars) from coolstuffinc.com (my preferred site).

Starting Character:

:::Balrog::: (6 HS 30 Vitality) (All, Chaos, Evil) ( $0.49 )

Actions:

4 Kung-Fu Training (2/5 +1M) (All, Evil, Fire, Life, Void, Water) ( $0.99 each)

2 Tag Along (5/4) (Air, All, Earth, Good, Order, Water) ( $0.75 each)

Assets:

2 Yun's Cap (3/4 +0L; Unique) (All, Fire, Life) ( $1.99 each)

Attacks:

4 Dash Low (4/3 3L4 +2H; Punch) (All, Chaos, Evil) ( $0.75 each)

4 Ryu's Shin Shoryuken (7/2 5M8 +2L; Powerful: 3, Punch) (All, Good, Void) ( $2.49 each)

Foundations:

4 Powerful Style (0/5 +2M) (Air, All, Chaos) ( $0.35 each)

4 The Tae Kwon Do Zephyr (0/5 +2L) (All, Earth, Fire) ( $2.49 each)

4 American Made (1/5 +3M) (All, Chaos, Earth) ( $0.49 each)

3 Prankster (2/5 +1L; Breaker: 2) (All, Order, Void) ( $0.75 each)

4 Red Cyclone of Mother Russia (2/5 +1H; Breaker: 1) (All, Earth, Void) ( $0.25 each)

3 The Lesser of Many Evil (2/5) (All, Chaos, Death) ( $0.25 each)

4 Valuable Experience (2/5 +1L; Breaker: 1) (All, Death, Void) ( $0.25 each)

4 Visions of Destiny (2/4 +2M) (All, Chaos, Evil) ( $0.49 each)

Splits:

4 Ken's Shotokan (2/5 | 5/5) (All, Order, Void) ( $0.25 each)

2 Punching Bag (2/3 +1M; Unique | 2/3 2M2 +1M; Punch) (All, Chaos, Evil) ( $0.49 each)

4 Slash Elbow (4/3 3M4 +3M; Punch | 1/3 +3M) (All, Earth, Fire) ( $0.49 each)

4 Zessho Hoho (4/3 3M5; Punch | 3/3) (All, Fire, Life) ( $0.25 each)

Grand Total (in $): $48.61 < $50 , and IMHO this deck won't need much fixing. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

By the way, if you want to look up what these cards are and what they do, this is the link to a UFS card search engine: http://www.twoheadeddragon.com/ufs/index.html

Card Strategy and Breakdown:

Well, the overall strategy is pretty simple (and pretty true to the Balrog I've seen played in Street Fighter games); after a brief build-up period, you can start firing away with large Punch attacks until you have enough juice to land the REAL big one (assuming your opponent sticks around that long). Now, here's a word about why each of the cards got picked:

:::Balrog::: - This character is what makes this deck tick, frankly. A solid HS/Vitality combination starts things off, and some really strong abilities that let him ignore blocks and pass attacks with impunity (as long as the attack is a Punch). Good stuff.

Kung-Fu Training - This is a good all-purpose action card right here; its Enhance side provides a heavy-duty speed boost (provided you have another card in hand) to muscle your attacks through, and its Response side negates any pesky actions (such as Tag Along) that may come to ruin your day.

Tag Along - ...And speak of the devil. This action may be expensive (costs 5 to drop), BUT it packs condition-free recursion and a way to shut enemy characters down, which is always awesomesauce.

Yun's Cap - Though I haven't heard all that much about this asset, this little fella is great IMHO. It sports automatic vitality gain, which is a nice boost that is very hard for your opponent to deny you, and it packs a handy speed boost as icing on the cake. To top it all off, it has a fantastic block (+0 low zone). I think it's great, especially in a symbol like All, where cards that can help you punch through are at a relative premium.

Dash Low - This attack is part of Balrog's support, and while it may seem rather vanilla, one cannot underestimate the importance of getting your attacks into your card pool, and it also packs very strong stats, so it's a solid addition.

Ryu's Shin Shoryuken - And this is your finisher. Though it is kind of heretical to have this as a finisher when Crazy Buffalo** has a very similar function, it has a few things going for it; (1) for +1 difficulty, you get +2 speed and +2 damage, so it has better relative stats; (2) it also costs less than half the dollars than Crazy Buffalo** , so it's relatively easy to get your hands on a playset, and; (3) it's worthwhile for characters not named Balrog, so if you ever decide to make another deck, it'll preserve its value.

Powerful Style - This foundation is good because it (a) costs 0 to play, so it's great to save as a last foundation on the string on a build turn, and (b) it grants vitality, and as a medium hand-size character (6 HS is considered middle of the road in UFS), you're probably gonna take some shots to the jaw, so life gain helps, especially when you get it for free.

The Tae Kwon Do Zephyr - Another foundation that is REALLY cheap to play, this one helps rescue your attacks from large amounts of damage reduction, and can provide a small damage boost when your opponent isn't carrying any of it, so it's never useless.

American Made - Along with :::Balrog::: , this is one of the non-negotiable parts of this deck. Not only does it hand you a free damage-boosting Enhance for your precious Punch attacks, it also does rounds on the defensive side of the ball by bringing high-speed attacks down to a manageable size and by going directly to the staging area after being used as a block. So yeah, this is awesome.

Prankster - A "break in case of emergency" sort of card, this fella allows you to lock down a problem foundation for a turn, with the caveat of locking down one of your own. But hey, if you activated this card, it means you probably need to go all-out anyway.

Red Cyclone of Mother Russia - A quality damage reduction card. Nothing more really needs to be said.

The Lesser of Many Evils - This right here is quality response negation. After you pop this, you can attack without fear of negation or any other shenanigans your opponent may have to offer.

Valuable Experience - Just in case you happen to find you're not packing enough muscle to finish the job this turn, this will allow you to "stick & move" without having to sacrifice your precious attacks.

Visions of Destiny - An extremely lethal trick with :::Balrog::: , this ensures that you'll have that punch on the top of your deck to get that block out of your big finishing punch's face. To boot, you can ready it if you have momentum to spare. Made of win.

Ken's Shotokan - This here works double duty; the foundation side will toss your opponent's momentum and draw, and the action side will burn up ALL of your opponent's momentum, with an abusrdly easy-to-fulfill trigger, so it's good stuff.

Punching Bag - This card also works double duty, providing you with either a cheap Punch attack or a great tool to get your Punches on the card pool and swinging for your opponent's head. In a pinch, it also provides vitality.

Slash Elbow - A very solid attack with a potential card drawing ability, or a damage-boosting cheap action card. Cool, eh?

Zessho Hoho - This attack has a free speed boost and good stats, and it has a life-gaining action on the other side, too.

So, if you (or anyone else) has any comments about the deck, lemme know, eh?

Thank you SO MUCH. You have no idea how lost I was when it came to building a deck. Also, around 50 is great for my budget right now, as I will be able to make that in around a month (probably).

PS: is that pre or post tax? Does tax even apply on online purchases?

No taxes in my experience buying online (which has been a lot, since my LGS went down for a while and we had to get all our UFS stuff online until the owner came back). All I know is that you should probably add $0.99 for shipping (not a bad deal), and that you should check out other sites, since some of the cards may not be in stock at CoolStuffInc (if I have one gripe about them, it's that sometimes a card can go out of stock in an instant). So I suggest you look around; trollandtoad.com has some singles (haven't checked there in a while, though), as does twoheadeddragon.com .

By the way, you're welcome, good luck, and most of all, enjoy the game!

if you need some cards send me an email and i'll see what i can do. my email is [email protected]

Made an edit; Visions of Destiny is waaaay better for your deck than Researching the Past , and costs the same in $ (how I missed this, I have no idea, but my best friend made me aware of it so I fixed it).

also you said that you played yugioh so that might be an easy way to get cards that you need....people in the trade forums are always looking for cards from other game and might trade you some good stuff if you have decent yugioh stuff

I would if i still played but ive kinda gotten out of it since playing more then one game at a time is hard on my wallet