Jin Kazama (3/6)
6HS 28HP
Chaos*Death*Fire
F Commit: Your control checks for the rest of the turn get +X. X equals the total number of characters in your staging area.
E Discard 1 character in your staging area: Your attacks get +2 damage for the rest of the turn. Playable while committed.
Heralded as an S tier character, amongst the ranks of Astrid, Hilde, and Rashotep, Jin offers strong stats, strong symbols, and stronger abilites. With the ability to pump his checks for an entire turn, for a very little cost, Jin is the master of quick build, quick attack. Lets look at his symbol spread:
Chaos: Strong in the check hack department itself, Chaos offers a few interesting combos for Jin. As a breakdown of character support:
- Cervantes support is fairly wasted on Jin, unless you are working towards a Curse of the Ancient Mariner kill, or just using it to build up a high All Life is Prey count. Shadow Flare is one of the only attacks I would look to from Cervantes, though Wild Storm has some merit.
- Algol offers some good cards, such as Body of Souls and his Unpronounceable Oranges. Maliki is an easy opt in, if running mono-chaos, as is the Combo E: Draw 2 attack.
- Zi Mei. Well, hmm. First Rite is nice, if you are using Shadow Flare or the full set of Rites. Wheel Kick is, again, nice as an opener, but in no means game breaking. Zi Mei's big attacks, Fury and Third Rite, as good as late game attacks, able to benefit from Jin's E more. Out of the ZM foundation pool, I see Communing with the Ancients, and maybe Solitary Assassin if you need the momentum.
- Zhou Daiyu. Again, hmm. Treacherous Offspring for momentum, maybe Her Own Agenda for grins and momentum control. Everything else seems to diviate a bit from Jin's game. Two Rings is a good control attack, but in the same 'nice' area that First Rite and Wheel Kick are in. Unnatural Grace is the only card that really gets and honorable mention here, but not because it has chaos (better for Death).
- Kazuya support offers the most hope for Chaos. With Character based Tech, and some really wicked attacks that work with Jin to a tee, Kazuya offers a lot. The Hunt is On is an obvious choice, as is Mishima Family Bloodline. Manaical Laughter offers a bit of momentum gen in a pinch, and Need to Destroy is just mean at times. As for attacks, almost all of Kazuya's attacks could have a place in a Jin Build. The top tier of these being Spinning Demon and Double Face Kick. As multiples, these take great advantage of Jin's +2 damage, and Spinning Demon lets you dig back out a character.
- Other mentionables: For the Money. Yes, Jin does most of the check hacks himself, but this card can offer a tough choice for opponents, or help to block if playing an attack. Blazing Fists. Needs a specific build to really pull of well, but the damage could stack up fairly quickly. Evil Mist: Block and indirect damage. Another "nice" card.
Death: Interesting additions from Tekken to death. Offers a lot of hand control, as well as more attacks. The earlier death options were a bit here and there. Still a strong option for Jin.
- Tira: Besides Drossel and some attacks, Tira does not have a lot to offer. Lowdown Neb and Swing Kick are solid for the deck, with Shredding Vibrato and Minuette Dance offering really solid damage. If there was some way to get some solid draw power into Jin, Halcyon combos could be interesting, but not too threatening without the draw power.
- Zhou Daiyu: Discussed above, does not offer much different here, exept a better response to Unnatural Grace.
- Rashotep: Throws and a bit of control. Also offers Master of Magic, Undisputed Ruler, and Ka Technique, as possible defensive cards. Nothing too interesting, but the Throws are solid enough.
- Ragnar: Damage damage damage. Brooding et al plus the throws could offer some fast, big attacks. Not too much thinking involved.
- Nightmare: Offers some solid attacks, as well as the source of a (possible) ton of damage turn one. Knightbreaker, Midnight Launcher, Dark Bite are all very solid attacks. In the foundation corner, All Life is Prey and Intimidating Presance offer a lot of Destruction and damage bumps.
- Kazuya: Discussed above, a definite inclusion. Manaical is even better, as it works will All Life is Prey very well. Double Face Kick is even better, as there are more Kicks off of Death then off Chaos.
- Nina: Hand Control, with a capitol FU. Wipe the Floor, War Among Sisters, and Keep them Down will empty your opponant's hand very quickly. Some of the other cards, based around your opponent's deck are nice, but not needed. Evil Mist is another attack that could offer good control.
- Random Death: Tekken Forces is the only thing here. Could be good in a late game All Life is Prey deck, but could just sit there. Cursed Blood is the other, and I imagine this is an auto-include.
Fire: Lots and Lots of support here. One of the top symbols currently. The only downside with a Mono-Fire Jin is the lack of character recycling.
- Astrid: Fairly standard Fire stuff. Reaver's Axe could be a good addition in a themed deck. Odin's Wrath is probably Astrid's best offer, with Pommel Smash being a close second. All of Astrids foundations require a fine tuned (ha) deck to get full use.
- Nightmare: Discussed above. Destruction Themed through and through. Might try an early Soul Smasher Combo, but nothing else new.
- Ragnar: Damage. Rinse, repeat. Don't die.
- Zi Mei: Multiples, momentum, Communing with the Ancients.
- Hilde: Hope for People and Jimmy are really the only stand outs. People for the 0 difficulty, and Himmel for the draw power.
- Astaroth: Ragnar, mark II. Some might say to go for Hungry for Battle, but Jin's F messes it up too much. Not really anything desireable here.
- Temujin: Might have a few good Combos but that is about it. In a Throw deck, Mouse is good, but Dragon Flame is really the only draw here. Some of his other weapon attacks are not bad, but not required.
- Paul: Stun Stun Stun. Could be an interesting build, running all Stun attacks, Smasher, and Strongest Universe. Would also need Paul's Gi, and Best Friends. Jin in general benefits from Paul's problem foundations, For the Money and Finacial Troubles as well.
- Random Fire: Paid to Protect(See Footnote for Combo): A really stupid Combo with this early on. Addressed later. Great card for blocking. Blazing Fists again. Needs Punches, but can do some damage. The Entertainer. Interesting possiblities. If Jin has the attacks in hand, or Troubles on the field, could be used to great effect. I'd say yes. Stand Off: no doubt a powerful card, and its effects can put an opponant in a hard spot. In a Paul Theme deck, I'd say yes. In any other, I would look at how fast you plan on building/attacking.
And there you have a (hopefully) comprehensive look at Jin and his options. For right now, I would say that Fire offers some of the most powerful aggro, but a well balanced Death deck could have a run-away start to put them over the top. Not to mention the ability for Death to reuse characters for better blocking. Chaos is in a bit of a "nice" area, as it can perform, but it relies on a lot more complexity that the other symbols.
Hope to hear some discussion on this soon. I will probably be posting my idea for a Death Jin deck soon.
-Tinman
Footnote: The Paid to Protect Combo is a Hilde-esque combo, mixing Duel Wielding and Paid to project on a high SPD attack. Take Upper Claw(5H5) for example. Upper Claw on a 4(3 with Jin). Duel Wielding on a 5(4) for -5 SPD, +5 Damage. A Second DW on a 6(5) for -5 SPD, +5 Damage. On the block, R with Paid to Protect to bring it back to 5 SPD High.