So I'm teaching my roommate how to play UFS, and I'll admit, my cache of Set 12 is non-existent. I have basically the following:

-A Yi Shan starter
-A Zi Mei starter
-Some commons and uncommons from both sets (given by MegaGeese and Scubadude)
-A very few selection of rares from ShadoWar
-Every SC3 Char (except Cervy and Ivy)

So as you can guess, my NEWFS decks are pretty meager.

Well, I built a very toolboxy Life Yi Shan and to combat him, I built a Fire deck. As the pilot, I decided to go with Hilde since I felt she'd do well.

Now, I own only 2 Dual-Wielding, 0 Lightning Horn, and 0 Siren's Call. After playing 6 rounds...

5 wins, all involving Dual Wielding brokensauce.

So, let's talk Hilde.

#1 She has Fire

Fire is generally argued to be top tier (with other symbols being Death, Earth, and Life). Fire gives her access to Pommel Smash and Zi Mei's Wheel Kick (to clear their board of any problematic cards, namely Rashotep), and Stand Off to stall-out against opposing decks (and any other pros, such as Relentless for draw, From the Hawk to reveal anything that might impede).

#2 AFAIK, her ability cannot be canceled.

As I'm aware, the only cards that stop her are Rashotep (blanks her) and Valued but not Trusted (prohibits her from E Committing FAIAP). Truly, that isn't enough, and is limited to 3 symbols. Her E Commit doesn't have a real way of being stopped besides those two, and damage reduction comes in rare forms (Yi Shan's face-up shenanigans, Temujin's armor).

#3 She can kill at any turn, even the opponent's!

All Hilde really relies on are two copies of Dual-Wielding, which aren't hard to draw into with a 7 Handsize, built-in draw mechanic, access to several draw (Relentless, Jimmy Kimmel, Wonderworld Comics, etc), and if you're running some Lu Chen stuff, playing reversals can do it too. Her "I-punish-you-by-ring out" SC4 playstyle was perfectly mirrored in UFS...cept in UFS it doesn't even need to be the response of punishing.

The top pressure characters are Nightmare and Kazuya. Nightmare has a very controlled "if I out-build you, I will keep your staging area down" versus Kazuya's "at any moment I blow up the world."

Even their pressure game doesn't result in the end, rather, it can screw over a player or help them.

Hilde's pressure game is, "when do you die?"

My thoughts? Her power relies almost solely on Dual-Wielding, which sure isn't too costly for what it does (especially in Hilde). I realize the entire cast of characters are viable, but jeez, Hilde is just nuts.

Opinions?

There's also *JJ* who stops her cold.

Hilde has a few more tricks up her sleeves instead of just her character. Lightning horn for example is HIlde printed on a card, if you do stop her first kill attack, Lightning Horn with dual welding can finish it off. Hilde is one of the best 5 star characters especially since 99% of the answers to her are gone.

Tagrineth said:

Yep.

You have to find a way to defeat JJ, if possible not named Pommel Smash.

KawaiiMistress said:

It's a lot easier to deal with an attack Combo than it is a character E, and LH's own Enhance only boosts damage so it's much more blockable.

Tagrineth said:

JJ?

Rashotep says STFU right away

ROTBI said:

JJ is UK Nats Champ 08 I believe, and he too gets stomped by Pommel Smash (with no way to Torn Hero/Journey/Perfect Sense, btw).

Rashotep can only say STFU is he isn't already Pommel'd or hit by Hammer Uppercut or Siren's Call (both highly underrated). Like I said, there are answers, but they are few in both symbols and in practice.

Also, as Lin mentioned, Lightning Horn can come in where Hilde cannot. By the time Lightning Horn comes in to clean up, it's assumed you'll have already played 2 mid zone attacks, meaning they've likely blocked both, especially if they found a way around Hilde. Although we could play the hypothetical game all night, I'm gonna assume that when Lightning Horn comes into play, fate has been sealed, as you're just a Dual-Wielding away from death.

As I've said, I'm still set on Earth or Death (or dual-symbol) Rashotep being the best character in the block, or at least, very good. Torn Hero and Journey can stop Pommel from committing him, and Perfect Sense can commit Hilde before she goes off.

Still...I'm just a tad worried. If Dual-Wielding didn't exist, I'd have no fear of Hilde at all =)

She's nasty.

She's the best speed pump in the format, and using Odin's Wrath you won't even need two Dual Wieldings to finish some people in one shot.

On paper, I perfer the idea of using her as a bit more of a hybrid deck -- one that wouldn't be shut down by a Rashotep playing Flooded Nile -> Torn Hero on turn 1, and simply leveraging her free E to play pokes that either replace themselves in my hand or force a block, and her E Commit as 2 main things; a deterrent to reducing my damage (oh thank you for that Stand Off, let's make it plus 4 damage now...) and a speed pump.

If nothing else, I think it'll be a lot more consistent in the mirror, while you're waiting for your Dual Wielding + beefy move I'll be chipping you down to Desperation, then play MY Dual Wielding on a First Rite or Chi Disruptor and watch it kill you <3

you can always stand off yourself for the -4 if you play off of fire.....it worked at gencon

ROTBI said:

He's a character that sandbags very well into Hilde.

Tagrineth said:

Thankyou Tag, glad someone knew

You know, I tend to kill people with that little vitality reallly early. Just a suggestion.

Also, Astrid into Reversal Pommel Smash?

TripsEX said:

that sir = hot sauce.

TripsEX said:

Astrid has 26 vitality. I'm Hilde; one attack deals 26 damage (if not more).

What Reversal? =)

You act as if Hilde gets a free ability on her character that says "God draw, every hand." She is more than beatable, because of her low vitality and her character having no defensive ability. Hell, you can play Throws and just pump those against her usually. She's not a threat. Hell, you can block stuff too.

TripsEX said:

Welcome to CCG Forum Trolling 101

He got trolled by me irl at Worlds, with Team Voltron Kitten Force there to watch it happen.

TripsEX said:

...what? I did? I think I'd remember that. I remember you asking who I was, I told you, you then shook my hand, told me you were Trips, and then said I failed at the Internet. If that's trolling...dude you need to raise your bar =/. Also, wtf, kawaii? Uh...

k

Yeah, Hilde doesn't have a god hand every turn...but she DOES have a 7 handsize, and the most readily access to draw in the format (Relentless, her own E, Jimmy Kimmel, etc), and really, she doesn't need THAT much. Hell, if need be, play attacks, reduce their damage, then respond with Ruthless (LOLCombo) just to draw cards.

Obviously she's beatable, as 18 isn't too hard to get through when you're using Throws (especially for Ragnar and Sieggy who make damage happen). However, not everybody uses throws, and a smart Hilde is either going to save blocks (decent blocks I might add) for potential attacks, or a Stand-Off she knows will go through and save her ass (either by forcing them to tap, or reduce). Also, From the Hawk is much more awesomer than I thought. While seeing their hand is no discard, I've used it both offensively (lolwhutJamesHata?) to defensively (ohsnap attacks next turn).

Even if your opponent has throws -- it's not at all easy to put 36 damage worth of throws together.

Seems to me that Hilde has some of the best capability to block. 7HS, the majority of card draw options in the format, and access to Fire's lengthy list of 1- and 0-diff foundations with blocks (Brooding, Envoy of the Queen, From the Mouse, Hope for One's People), as well as 3 noncharacter +0 blocks. Those reversal Pommel Smashes, as nasty as they are, don't mean squat

@Trips: 18 vit + no defensive ability means she gets steamrolled? Blocking ain't easy, but it ain't that hard either. The reason i play Hilde is for her speed pump -- I can just poke, if that's even the right word, with Cleaves or First Rites or whatever for 10~30 speed and decent damage, end my turn with a big hand and a largely ready board. On a strong draw, I can kill you in one hit.

What's a good draw for Astrid look like, in terms of tempo and damage output? And how hard is it to block her attacks, if you hold onto a Fire Shadow and a Cleave?

Wafflecopter fanboy level increased by 1.

So I cant believe im about to divulge my super secret tech. I hate hilde, I always have. I think shes exactly what this game tried to do away with when they made the bannings and now the forced rotation. That being said, with your average 6 HS character hovering about 27 life, it has often been the case that after the Hildie player pumps her attack at me, I can redux it enough to eat it an live. Hildie is not one to actually keep going after the fact, once she pops her E that's usually turn with a committed staging area.

Using cards like Shadowar, Laughable, Standoff, Crown of forgotten secrets, and armour of the forsaken one, just too name some of them, it is not inconcievable to survive a hildie hit, though more likley it will prevent her from ever throwing one death shot. Does it work all the time, No. Is it ideal, NO. But maybe thats good for the game.

Also from the few preview packs of tekken that we saw plus the one i opened, i can already see that not only is there more damage redux (on earth of all things) and i remember there being at least one nina action card that would stop the dual weld strat cold.

I still think Astrid is better haha.

jasco games said:

I'm with you; Ragnar eats Hilde for lunch (36 damage worth of throws is not all that hard for Mr. Berserker), and Astrid is a pain for just about anyone who can't pack cards like Undisputed Ruler and the like.

Try running her on good my did and she is undefeated granted she is type three but turn two 50 speed 60 damage is a laghing matter