although I hear there's been a pretty bowss Lu Chen at Smazzurco's store champ, I've thought of all sorts of ways to build him, and really, the aggro for him is just so unnecessarily hard, off any symbol really.

It's like, yeah, his E + Robes-Drossel will ruin the opponent's turn, that much is a no-brainer. But as for dealing some actual damage on his turn? Especially assuming the opponent likely has both a ready board AND full hand due to you ruining their turn.

I love the old man...but I'm still a braindead Paul stun-you-out YAAAH ***** YAAAH GET OUT MY FACE HO kinda player right nao.

Cause PP is mad good, Shinji

Shaneth said:

If only his huge punch of where the hell did my lifebar go was, I'd be more willing to play him.

Try Brian Fury evil Turn 2 kill

Personally I think legacy is much more fun and this crap of banning stuff is for whinners if people can't figure out ways around things then what is the fun in it. That is what I enjoy most. At my venue we still have not banned ( chesters backing, Olchadans mentoring, bitter rivals, Lord of Makia, forthought or rejection) no need to everyone knows how get around them so when do play legacy it just makes us play better.

Homme Chapeau said:

I still don't see why everybody's dissing Phoenix Smasher. Paul is not only capable of early game kills, but SHOULD be killing early game, which is where Smasher shines most. By the time you hit them with a Wheel Kick and Hammer of the Gods, Pheonix Smasher should shoot up to 14 damage (6 + 8 stun total), Path of the Master + 6 damage should kill most if not inflict enough damage to get a landslide victory from there.

Of course, it doesn't matter; Hammer of the Gods and Turn Thruster are all kills in their own right, so...

MarcoPulleaux said:

Honestly, a Paul Phoenix deck with his a good part of his stuff can be a scary thing indeed. Add Toughest in the Universe to the mix and whew.

Scarred_Angel said:

Oh ok, so do you also have Defender of the Empire, Ruler of Southtown, Dhalsim3, Cassandra2, Turbo, Penetrating Lunge, Addes Syndicate, et al. unbanned in legacy?

if not, this is nothing but hot air. Those cards ruined the game and nearly killed it. Being forced to work around cards like Chester's Backing is about as fun as trying to swallow a pile of thumbtacks. Gray wars = ******* fail.

Tagrineth said:

Don't feel the troll.

Oh don't worry, it's not like I was planning on taking that one any further. If he still has those other cards banned, he proved he's an idiot, and if he claims you can play around cassie2 or syndicate, he proves he's trolling, thus negating any point at all in continuing any discussion.

Tagrineth said:

We're talking about the guy who trolled the DB forums by saying champion cards weren't legal.

Actually for those of us who actually have those cards no we have no restrictions on the banning at the place I play. The older ones you just mentioned very seldom end up in play but they are easy enough to get around if are a solid enough deck designer.

Remind me to never go to your playgroup.

Hayamachop said:

How do you keep a stale meta fun? By using your banned money cards and pretending it matters and that it's a perfect indicator of skill?

guitalex2008 said:

Hey now... For our last tournament of the year, we're doing a "Smoke'em if ya Got'em!" Tournament. All cards printed by STG & FFG are legal. Banned, Staff, Unrelased, Warhammer, whatever... it's all good to go.

Prizes will be awarded for creativity.

Scarred_Angel said:

I'm personally quite amused right now so I'm going to give you one more shot of troll bait:

How do you "get around" Defender of the Empire, exactly?

Tagrineth said:

Of course I'm being sarcastic. The real answer to your question is "there is no way to get around Defender of the Empire and it's a good thing it's banned".

Tagrineth said:

Impetuous

guitalex2008 said:

I know it, you know it, but I want to see what he has to say about it lol because apparently we all suck because we can't play around it

Tagrineth said:

Armored Defense

Back in the days before it was banned, that was how I managed it.

There was a few other ways well.

Yes they got one draw off of it, but it wasn't the constant pitch / refill which was part of the problem, especially around the Dark Empire Decks.

(Or :.:Ken:.: he was funny with Dark Empire)

I was under the impression that besides Dark Empire, the problem with the card was that there was no downside to overextending and playing your hand out, since if the opponent dared even sneeze and you'd draw up to their hand size.

This went against what it was supposed to be, which was an anti-discard. It made it so 7 and 8 hand size characters could and would build faster than anyone else could with just one copy out.

guitalex2008 said:

Oh totally. At the same time, Armored Defense shut it down. Sure they got one re-draw, but that was it.

Aside from it being anti-discard, it was also supposed to help slow the game down by ensuring both players had cards in hand so that they could play blocks and stuff.

Once you added Dark Hado to the mix, things got exceptionally stupid. The card, while well intentioned, facilitated too much stupidity.

And yes, I seem to remember a bunch of us gleefully yelling out Sneeze! every time Defender triggered.

As someone who likes combos and stupid pet tricks, Defender was fantastic. Sadly, most people don't like stupid Pet Tricks in a card game.