The recent wave of bannings are a great first step towards putting this game back on the right track, which is to say, making it fun for players of all experience levels. Olcadan's and Bitter Rivals alone made deck building an absolute chore, and eliminated 80% of the game's options. Amongst all the bans, one card was mysteriously overlooked: Blood Runs True.

This card has been talked over to death, and for good reason: it is a brutal, punishing card that helps on offense and defense. Are there ways around it? Of course. Is it fun to play against? Never. Especially for newer or less experienced players. Let me break it down a bit:

1 - Rarity. This card is truly a case of the haves vs the have-nots. If I was a new player and wanted to be even remotely competitive, I'd have to fork up $160 to get a playset of this card. One hundred and sixty dollars for 4 pieces of paper! Unless I feel like wasting money, I will never acquire these cards and will always have to play around them, which brings me to my second point

2 - Everybody has to run anti-control hax cards in their decks. Its foolish not to, otherwise you can't play your cards. You have to hope they don't get 2 or 3 BRTs out first turn (which happens more often then not), because if they do, they'll certainly make sure you never play Destiny, or whatever anti-hax card you prefer. Hell, they can even hack your response to a hack if you feel like playing hoping for a challenge or something.

3 - The hack itself is extreme. On occasion you reveal an attack and don't get the full brunt of the effect, but even the most hardcore aggro decks run lots of foundations. 20 attacks is still 1 in 3. Most decks run less attacks then that. Odds are your check will get -5 which is either auto-fail or commit everything to make it pass. And they can do this to you 4 times in a row if they feel like it!

4 - You shall not block. As annoying as it is to not be able to play cards on your turn, the final kick in the face is when it comes to blocking. BRT is basically a last second +5 speed boost. While plenty of cards can give you a large speed boost, they do only that: boost speed. They don't have alternate, overpowered uses. As an offensive and defensive piece, there is literally no reason to not run this card. Sure you may give your opponent an attack, but why does that matter if you have more BRTs? You'll make sure they fail that as well.

5 - The biggest reason I see BRT as a problem is enjoyment of the game. If a new player is trying to get into the game and has everything hacked to hell, what would make them want to stay around? When this game first started it was really fun, trying to play more attacks then they had blocks. There was very little life gain so if you managed to make one decent attack go through, that damage stayed. The back and forth play kept things lively and interesting whereas now, well, we all know what the game is now.

So while yes, there are ways around this card, and yes, there are ways it could backfire, overall the card is not balanced and no fun. The best possible errata for this card would be to make it "unique" but if we really want a change in this game then Blood Runs True needs to go.

I doubt it will go before it cycles out with mac released and the symbols on it hurt from the bannings I dont see it as a problem to be honest.

Although I don't disagree that it is a powerful card, your argument doesn't convince me that it needs to go.

Namely your biggest reason as you put it conflicts with your other reasonings and common sense.

Why would an experienced player play against a new player and utilize BRT to the extreme such that it becomes a negative play experience? They wouldn't. Why would a new player be playing anyone with BRT if it is so hard to acquire? They wouldn't be, assuming they are playing their first games (hence new) against players of equal experience or with players with more experience that know how to balance two decks for gameplay...

In other words your argument hinges on casual play being an arena where players are not smart enough to restrict card pool access so that decks are of equal strength. A better argument would be that BRT is a barrier to increasing the numbers at tournaments and, in general, is a barrier to entry into competitive play.

Yes, I said it, BRT is a barrier to entry into competitive play. Can you play competitively without it? Of course. Can you answer it, even punish it, with very common cards? Of course. But it is still a barrier to entry into competitive play becuase of it's influence, not to mention it quickly becomes that card that 'you know your evil/all/order deck would be better for having in it', a thought that will always grate on an aspiring player's mind. Let's face it, BRT (and it's mechanism, the control hack) defines competitive play, either you use it or you use the resources to stop it, or both. A quick example, US nats,

Alex - check - BRT

Zangief - check - BRT

Ibuki - check - BRT

Akuma - check - BRT

Chun-li - check - Willful, specific card against the mechanism + inhuman the generic + End it All

Gill - check - BRT

Hanzo - check - BRT

Mina - check - BRT

Now let us look at post bannings, Great Lakes Regional (I don't know for sure about these statements, hence probably)

Olexa - probably willful, the mechanic is the character ability...

Jubei - probably, even if it went fire it would probably find benefit splashing just BRT off of (ORDER or ALL)

Tira - probably willful

Sakura - probably BRT (ALL)

Victor - if it wasn't using it (ORDER), I bet it was using Destiny (Chaos/Death)

Hata - maybe not, probably at least R: negation if it is death, possibly willful sideboard

Dan - yes, off of (ALL)

Mina - probably (ORDER)

I think the lists speak for themselves, but the defining theme among top 8 tourney decks is how they include or play around BRT and the control hack mechanic.

Does BRT NEED to go? Maybe. Would the environment be better (change) for it? Probably.

- dut

Does not need to go. In most of the game i have played in recent times more often than not BRT wound up being a dead foudnation for my opponent. Not only does it have useable counters that other applications such as scarf and destiny, the effect itself can inherently backfire. Many a times people have tired hacing my Ispin only to give me another or a meloncholic and stil have my pass my check.

It's also one of the few cards right now that actually Punishes people for runnign to many high controls. I run something to the order of 13+ two checks in my akuma. Higher than most decks as far as bad checks go, but agaisnt BRT it actaully helps me by not only upping my odds ill survive a BRT, but also that I'll get something for it.

Protoaddict said:

This argument doesn't make sense in the context of the posts above. First of all, yes there are answers, the OP has admitted it and then gone on to explain why that is not enough. Just becuase your recent practical experience has shown a card to be less useful than in the past doesn't mean the card does not still define the meta.

Let's admit one thing about all the cards in the game - there are counters for them. If there wasn't a counter or a defense against a certain card I gaurantee you would have seen it in gold trim and heavily debated on the boards.

So, now that BRT has something in common with every other card in the game, that being that there are ways around it... You have to look at the ability itself in comparison to all of the other cards in the game, and quite frankly, it is the (bar none) strongest multi-purpose ability in the game. Why? Becuase every other ability comes from playing cards from the hand at one point or another, and BRT addresses that. it is proactive. It is stronger than Olcadon's was, it is stronger than Spinta is, as these are both removal, which necessitates that the cards being removed were in play, BRT actually addresses problems before they become problems. BRT is the stand alone best ability in the game. If you want to argue that BRT isn't the best ability you would have to find something that is an opponent to abilities but doesn't need to be played to be used as such, becuase that is the only thing that goes beyond BRT (I guess character abilities are it).

Your second argument makes even less sense. In all cases, BRT will 'more likely than not' produce a beneficial effect, even when you are revealing and drawing a 2 check, you are still having to commit 2 more foundations to pass the original card becuase of the -2, and you are still having your opponent draw a card, perhance the block to stop the card you drew, perchance the attack that kills you next turn or as a reversal.

Think about it, you play spinta, I BRT, you draw another spinta, oh well you have lost nothing if you let it fail, let's say I am smart and BRT'd knowing even a 2 would stop you from commiting out to pass (and if you do commit out to pass, the play of the next card is that much harder). You now go to play the second spinta, at the very least the BRT has provided a beneficial effect, I still drew a card that I didn't have in hand. And for someone who said Aquakinesis is a top 5 card... having drawn that card on my opponent's turn + learning about a card in their hand (what they drew) would have to be a top 5 effect...

Fundamentally, the only time BRT would backfire (as you define it) more often than not is if more than half of the deck it was playing against were attacks.

The only thing that makes BRT less desirable because of the raw power of it's ability, or lower on the totem pole for the axe, are punishment cards, which is what we are seeing, and they are also very readily acessible = Good thing all around.

The only thing I agree with out of what you said was that BRT punishes high check decks, and that it is one of the only things that does. Perhaps UFS needs a mechanic on a card that punishes 6 check decks?

- dut

ps. you are the pot calling the kettle black. using Akuma as your example, you are using a character that a) has BRT's mechanic on it and that can be used for free once a turn, b) has 2 viable ways to nullify BRT, the selective commit and the hack on it's attempt to be played, and c) are likely running willful or BRT of your own. What's worse is you separate yourself, I can only presume, from other players by indicating that BRT is not a problem for 'smart' players. This is the essence of this fellows post, namely it is a card that creates a barrier between casual and competitive play. At least that is how I read it to be, but not at all how you have answered.

Again, I'd get rid of BRT solely to get rid of Destiny. No card should have THAT kind of power.

I remember when I played Akuma I got BRT'd even for trying to use his ability and ended up having to fail it. When Akuma is paired against even 1 BRT, it changes the entire game. Sure there are answers to BRT, plenty of them too but its cards like this that forces people to run anti control hacking items. Suddenly every deck I run needs to either main deck destiny, martial arts champion or willful whereas before the introduction of this abomination they'd be side decked at best. To be honest, it actually destroyed options for people that are making creative control checking hacking decks.

As Grandmook said before about new players not wanting to play this game because of the card is quite true. We play in a group where some of us has been playing since the game started and some just started 2 or 3 weeks ago. We are not going to make a new deck just to face new players, so the only option is to either not play our deck the way it was designed or punish the new player for even trying to play.

By banning this I think it will add some creativity to the deck design. I don't have any of these cards but if I did, I would throw in 4 of them every time I play one of those three symbols. Its almost like Chesters and Olcadan's, you'd be foolish not to run them if you can.

Ban Blood Runs True. Or at least errata it so your opponent doesn't draw a card. =/ Something to make this card less stupid.

dutpotd said:

Huh?

In any case, Protoaddict (whom I mostly agree with in the past), I can't really go along with the idea that it backfires very often nor does it "punish" people for packing high checks. Rose support does that...even then it's only to a degree. If it truly punished you we'd see much more low-check decks. But that's not going to happen...you'll choose to fail your check, resign yourself to those cards being discarded due to BRT and move on with your life and turn. As grandmook mentioned, in almost all decks (aggro or not) the odds are very low that you're going to give them an attack and not hack their check to the point of not even giving them an option to be able to pass it if they even wanted to. Just because it's happened before (heck, I've given opponents K-reppa myself once or twice), doesn't mean it happens often enough to justify saying it will backfire. It MAY, on rare occasion backfire. Again,

Now for my take on it. In my group I'm the only one who has them, and it's been Lynette's Shopped many times, so I know what both sides are like. The fact of the matter is this, when it works, it's beastly strong. I played a deck just this week who went first and got out a destiny. It was crystal clear to both of us that changed the entire game (first turn, mind you) because I drew into 2 BRT's opening hand. Why would that change the game? Because first turn, there's almost no way to get out exactly what you want against the might of BRT. Yes, you can play around it, but believe you me, you are going to lose an important card. A smart player is not going to BRT some lousy bait, you're gonna have to throw out some real chum to bait that shark.

Therein is one of it's greatest powers first-turn game-altering control. That would be tough but llivable if that were it. But here's my gripe with it, the way it says "no" to blocking.

For a game that says it never wants to discourage the core mechanic of blocking, and has banned Penetrating Lunge for it, this card should (have been/be) errated to disallow it on your opponents block attempt. I am absolutely steamed about Juni's Spiral Arrow being banned. Everyone claim that enablers are supposed to be banned, and granted, BR DID get banned, but if you had thrown BRT out with BR, not only would blocking still be viable, but my sweet, sweet, JSA would still be around and fair.

I was shell-shocked when I saw Forethought (a heavily-costed card, no doubt) was banned over this card which has only one higher printed difficulty, an off-zone block and a simple commit cost. I know, I know, someone's gonna say, Forethought could end your turn. Yeah, so? If you can pay that cost than go for it. All the same, anti CC hax cards that are available against VRT were available against Forethought.

But I digress, long story short, if we're serious about this game getting back to where "everyone" wants it, BRT needs to go or at least get erratad. The only people who like it, have it, and those that don't hate it.

maybe allow the defending player to try to block again as well?

Difference between forethought and BRT - Forethought ends the turn, and deprives the opponent of a card. BRT does not end the turn, and certainly does not lock the player down.

If BRT was such a problem, I wouldn't have a playset of Ayame's scarves sitting in my trade binder collecting dust, with no one interested in the card.

Willful punishes the BRT player. Destiny no longer has to worry about Owlface.

Martial Arts Champion impacts more cards then just BRT, and people saying that it should only be a sideboard card - really might want to take a look at all the card draw / add cards to hand that's out there.

People are complaining that it's too hard to be agro. That it's too hard to push attacks through. At the same time, people are complaining that BRT stops people from blocking.

Do you want Aggro where you can attack and make those attacks stick? Or do you want a blocking game? Soul Calibur IV the console game put mechanics in place to punish the players who do nothing but block. Personally I see nothing wrong with BRT.

dutpotd said:

Huh? (sorry lost quote here)

My point was that the OP message, the argument that it isn't 'new player friendly', does not say anything to me about BRT because it is moot.

My own understanding of BRT, and the control check mechanic for which it is the flag bearer, tells me that it defines the top tier meta more than any concept. It is prevalent, and the reason you either pack BRT or Scarf or other is just that, a game can and does boil down to a) passing attacks, or b) pushing damage through, both of which BRT heavily influence.

Mind you everything Antigoth says, and what Proto say, is true, if there was a time to complain about BRT it isn't necessarily now. There is a balancing act that is played out between it and a lot of stuff now that is actually quite enjoyable to watch and be involved in.

Again to the OP, and one of his points, BRT wars are actually quite 'fun' becuase they involve an element of the random (draw and hack is random as well is whether willful or other is in hand). So again, for very few if any of the reasons in the OP's message, I would not be surprised if, BRT gone, that the change that would follow and the impact on play would be great enough to be beneficial (if shaking things up, or freshening a stale meta up is the seen as a good thing).

As far as the spin Antigoth is putting on his very true statements goes, it is very narrowly targeted. BRT is an amazing agressive card yes, but it will still be used in every Mill or defensive deck ever, and until used to kill it will be used to selectively say what attacks come it's way. So there are arguments both ways. Such is the power of this card...

For the record, the very first and pretty much some of the only cards I have ever bought off of coolstuff have been first (3X Ayames Scarf, I pulled one) followed by, after playing for 4 months, (4X BRT).

- dut

ps. stop telling people to run MAC, it stops very few things (wink wink nudge nudge). In FACT it stops the answer for BRT, namely willful. Don't look at me, but my MAC will be backing up my BRT in the future, that is how much willful has an influence on play.

Interesting story...

Recently I've been testing a Hilde deck. Hilde has order, so it's really no surprise that she would run BRT.

While playing the deck, I've been finding that BRT doesn't help accelerate the deck. Due to Hilde's ability they can't block anyway, and that the BRTs when drawn early while you think it would be great to "lock down" the opponents deck, especially when combined with Cursed Blood, I'm finding that getting that instead of something else, is actually slowing down the deck.

I honestly think there is more of a psychological impact from using BRT, then an actual game effect.

Antigoth said:

**** right there is! Block 4 is the block of BAIT and switch more than anything else, and I for one find it a lot of fun.

Of course it slows down the deck, it is a control piece, that a) needs to be in play to be effective, and b) usually needs the 'opponent' to do something to react. It doesn't directly contribute to your kill which slows down your deck, and even if it stops healer, the next thing the opponent plays is holding ground...

I said it in another post, where Kiit promptly told me afterwards to 'give him my BRT', that I'd sell my BRT becuase it backfires on me so much - apparantly I lose the psychological game. Well it isn't that, it is that I have the sh1ttiest sh1t luck ever, and I BRT into willfuls. Nakoruro hates me!!! Let's change this thread to 'the art on Blood Runs True needs to go'. Then I'd really be typing up a storm.

- dut

ps. I can't actually talk about block 4 as if I know how it is different from any other block, but I try - lol!

there are plenty of decks that can be very competitive and not run BRT, if you want to make the arguement it should be banned because it is hard to get and expensive Knightbreaker should be on the top of the list of banned cards lol

the reason it is semi-fair is because it gives you a card as opposed to cards like forethought

ROTBI said:

Penetrating Lunge was banned because it punished blocking, outright turning playing a block into a bad play. "Block this 5 damage attack and take 15, or don't block and take 5."

BRT doesn't punish blocking, that's just an absolutely moronic assertion.

Also, if you think JSA wouldn't be banned if BRT was, you've totally missed the boat on JSA's banning.

BRT is fine. It's not a guaranteed fail and you get a new card out of it. I've seen BRT cause losses for its user on many occasions, even without additional influences like Destiny, Willful, et al. in place.

And if you really don't like more specific checks like Destiny (which, mind, is also momentum generation which is coming at more of a premium lately), you can try stuff like Atoning for his Wicked Deeds, which can flip BRT facedown, or stuff like Inhuman/End it All, or even Preventing the Curse (lol).

Or you could try running slightly more attacks. Using only 8-10 attacks against BRT will cause a lot of fails and low-attack-count decks even might get hurt when they're able to pass a check by drawing attacks too early. Running more like 12-15 attacks gives you a much higher probability of passing through its effect, doubly so if you maintain a more even distribution of checks in your deck (3-4-5-6) as the designers intended rather than the 3's-5's mentality that pervades deck building and has caused the game to degenerate.

Tagrineth said:

Thanks for the constructive criticism and your professional demeanor. I've never had an issue with you before, so I apologize if something I said has caused you to take that tone with me. Could you enlighten me who or what (with the exception of Akuma) was causing JSA to be so beliggerent without the use of BR or BRT? Thanks in advance and have a good one, Tag.

ROTBI said:

It's nothing personal, just how I tend to post on topics like these. Sorry if you're offended, but what I meant about JSA is that BRT isn't the only way to force it down your opponent's throat and make the card degenerate.

Hehe, I never take this stuff personal, dude. It's cool. Unlike most trolls, you mostly post something constructive, that's the only reason I was surprised. My questions still stands though. Yeah, it's a good ability on JSA, but it's not even a throw. So other than than the aforementioned, how is this card so easy to push through that the enhance always happens? Surely any card can have it's speed boosted, so that doesn't in itself make it banworthy. Soul Absorpion, God Hand, and a boatload of Program Malfunctions and Chinese boxing all staple cards down too, so it's not like they don't want that mechanic in the game.

Also, my apologies to the OP as this topic has become a bit derailed. Perhaps it's easiest to break things down to the basics. Compare BRT to banned cards. Which is worse a free momentum (LotM) or this card? It all sounds kind of silly when put in perspective. Yeah, yeah, I know what will be said about that, so let's not go off on the LotM/enabler discussion. Cassandra was banned because she caused an NPE (negative play experience, for the uninformed) not becuase she was unbeatable. BRT is beatable, but no one like's facing it unless they already have Ayane's Scarf or Destiny in their staging area.

BRT isn't even remotely close to the level of Cassandra in the you-can't-have-that-card territory. :| Her ability was guaranteed and didn't replace the card denied.

Also, hint: JSA still shares a resource with Mr. Tapdown + CC Hack, and that same resource is shared with two great action-based speed boosts. the problem with JSA is more akin to the problem Cassie [EDIT: AND DHALSIM EDIT 2: AND HUGO] posed: permanent denial of your resources. Yeah there are answers to speed boosts too, but they all get committed anyway - and stay that way .

Also, for the record, if you don't actually have a problem with my tone, please try to avoid putting it like you do, even in jest. I have a mental disorder that makes it very hard for me to pick out the correct meaning from a post like that.

Another "ban BRT" thread. Sigh.

It's not even remotely banworthy.

Next thread =/

MegaGeese said:

Thanks for the support Wakeen! We all know you get 4 BRTs in every opening hand. If I was sitting on that kind of luck I'd be BRT's biggest supporter too

Also, I'm glad to see some people agree with me, even dutpotd who in disagreeing with me, agreed with me! While I realize that ideally new players shouldn't have to face BRT, it still happens. If I were starting this game today I doubt I'd stick around. BRT is one of many problems, but it is currently the worst problem. I've invested too much time and money in this game to drop it now, but I'd at least like the general play environment to be less restrictive.

It seems that, so far, nobody has written a really compelling arguement on BRT's behalf. Why is this card so sacred, why is it so offensive to even suggest that UFS would be a better game with it gone? I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'd really like to know because obviously this is either a love it or hate it situation. What I find NPE is to others fun. Talk about a broad spectrum of personalities, eh?

If I were to write up a defense of BRT, I'd probably say: "Control Hax are one of UFS mechanics; BRT is the most viable one by a landslide. I have the power to stop my opponent from playing literally every card he has. While I build my key pieces, he doesn't. While I play attacks, he doesn't. And I'll make sure they deal damage too!"

Maybe we've just all gotten so used to the extreme control pieces in this game that yet another overpowered one blends in with the crowd.

grandmook said:

Because, genius, it's never a guarantee that BRT will fail a card, nor is it a guarantee that the card BRT forces you to draw will be worse than the one being affected. But you probably aren't reading anything people are saying in that vein, because of your own LOL B& BRT agenda.

The only time BRT becomes even remotely "overpowered" is when it's hacking the check for a block, and any foundation that gives at least +3 speed will on average get the same effect as BRT does for that... and KFT is inarguably a better and more reliable attack push than BRT is. BAN KFT ITS BROKEN.

The reason BRT is "sacred" is because it isn't broken, and the only time in its year and a half of being around that it was even remotely close to ridiculousness is when it first came out. Here we are 1.5 years later, with about 8 new sets under our belts, with 'bout a billion respone negate/draw negate/CC hax negate/CC hax str8 kill (wat up destiny). Point being, obviously people are going to defend BRT against the 18billionth post that goes "Hey guys, QQ Brt QQ"

With that being said, not trying to be a jerk

Defend Blood Runs True; alright I'll give it a shot. Before anything else lemme state that I own not a 1 BRT, and furthermore, I really don't care to own one. It's a great card, but having played against it so much, its not really that bad. On the level of negative play experience, if you beat someone down with any combo that seems "an effecient method of slaying people" people get up in arms about it. Crazy speed pumps,throws, foundation destruction, foundation commiting, discard, mill, cc hacks are all viable strats that can cause " a negative experience". But if people really want there UFS trenchwarfare go ahead, but thats what kills games; when good (not god like) card or card combos come along and people are going crazy. Ive playing against decks of Wakeens many, many, many times and with modest success(be it with cards or mind games )and have gotten around BRT alot and even beaten him before when he had all 4 of them out. . For all those with a problem with BRT why dont yall go hate on Zhao, shes a a cc hack, that takes away a card from your hand, not give you one back, and she can ready herself.

But to be ban worthy stuff in my honest opinion, is to have something that there is truly nothing you can do about it. The Akuma-JSP got my vote cause with his E, Heel snipe, and the arrow there was nothing you could do.

And with that away I go to work.

Mook,

Less then a month ago I wrote a page long essay as to why BRT is not broken, and doesn't need to be banned. With all due respect, if you really want to see a more detailed reason explaining why it isn't broken, click on my name, then dig through my posts until you get to my little essay.

At the end of the day, the game will be worse without BRT then with BRT.