Hello,

Since my tcg is dying (VS System), I need to get my tcg fix somewhere else and I was thinking UFS might do. I had a few questions though...

1. Is Cammy any good? I love playing Cammy in the video game and would love to pick her up in this game. I was just curious, I would still probably play her even if she is terrible.

2. Are there any staple rares that go in most decks for tourney play. How much am I looking at shelling out for these?

3. What is the top level of competitive play like? If I get into this I will definitely be trying to play at a top level.

Thanks,
Chris

1) Cammy isn't amazing, but she's not horrible. She's one of those "You can get by, but probably wont outshine" type of characters.

2) Cards aren't super pricey, the most expensive one I can think about right now is like 30~40$.

3) I can't answer that, I've never been to high level play.

Swisherfan said:

First welcome to the game !

1. The UR Cammy from fight for the future is really good and is a tank style deck and her resources are awesome I would try to get my hands on one of those.

2. Which format are looking to get into Standard/Block3 or Legacy ?

3. The best way to check out the top level of play is to read tournament reports with the regionals coming up it will be a great tool to get you started. The desert wars just concluded check it out in one of the other topics .

Another thing that might help is looking at deck lists on the forum if you see a cards more then twice in decks then you can go from there and say its a staple.

1) ::::Cammy:::: is IMO a great character to start out with and with a little tweaking and a good realization of how u want to use her, you may find that she is right up your alley. Sure you could go for a top teir type character, but I am finding out that it is far more enjoyable to find someone that matches your playstyle and work around it as you learn the game.

2) If you decide that this game is your cup o tea, than you will find that the cards in this game are a little bit cheaper than other card game. Also, since set 11 came out last month, you will find to your gaming delight that this set is excellent for finding Rares and Supers alot more easily. Both Flames of Fame and Warrior's Dream are a great starting place and the Domination or Cutting Edge Starter Decks are worth getting.

3) I have been to one Coast Championship and lets say this, it is one hell of a challenge. But I find myslef wanting to go to more events because the people rock and you can learn a helluva lot even you u don't do too well.

You welcome,

Mt_Do

Mt_Do said:

Also, if you are looking at Cammy 's support, you may find Deadly Ground interesting, as she was released again in that set and while underrated, her cards are rather interesting to play. At the very least, I think so.

Hello there potentially new player

1. The most recent Cammy (8), is from I like having new players play with because her set-up that I usually build is to have her recover after taking a beating. the risk of being prepared for recovering from a beating is you lose cards in your staging area, but is still good to have just not to over-do it.

2. Since I'm trying to get a job to support my gaming I'd say yes it's expensive but only because I never bought my own cards really, I traded and earned all mine.

3. I've only been to one tourney and I thought the competition was fun and amazing because I learned all the newer tricks of the game and met new people and am really excited to attend the Arizona state tourney.

1: The two most recent Cammy character cards are not as good as the one from Fight for the Future, but could be playable none the less. I know that one of the other shadaloo dolls, Juni, is seeing some play lately.

2: As far as card expense, there are a couple cards you will need to get depending on your decks. However, if you played VS, they all cost less than Enemy of My Enemy. The most expensive right now are Feline Spike (at around 30 dollars apiece), Defender (at about 25 dollars), and Blood Runs True (around 30-40 from what I last checked). Many cards will remain much cheaper than this...many not reaching even up to the 15-20 dollar mark.

3: What area of the country are you in? I find the biggest thing with getting into the competitive scene is availability of tournaments (usually of the higher attendance type...regionals should help this), and contact with other competitive players. Many people are willing to give help to new players, since we want our game to expand.

1) If you're looking into legacy, the old Promo Cammy (3-dot) is solid. In Standard after March, there are only going to be two cammy's (7-dot and 8-dot) which are legal. Both are solid but 7-dot has a basically free damage pump (with Lord of the Makai, a card that will be mentioned later) which I like.

2) A lot of the commons/uncommons from the King of Fighter's 2006 set are solid staples, as are Darkstalkers, Realm of Midnight and SNK Cutting Edge (especially the Mai starter deck). The newest sets (Warrior's Dream and Flames of Fame) are really good as well, and are pretty nice to get. Lastly, the card Lord of the Makai is probably one of the best box toppers to pick up (if you buy a Realm of Midnight box, you get this card) and is one of the best ways to get momentum in the game currently. Singles of it cost like $10-$15 Also, Olcadan's Mentoring is a promo asset that you would have to trade/purchase online, however it's only like $5 but you put 3-4 copies of the card in every deck you ever make until it's no longer standard legal. Lastly, Seal of Cessation is another promo you would have to trade/purchase online, but is also relatively cheap to pick up and is a great card for most hybrid/control decks. This game is cheap. If you have a friend to help you make your first deck, you probably wouldn't have to spend more then $30 and that's for a tournament competitive deck. Also, even though prize money generally isn't handed out, there are always promo cards handed out at tournaments, and playing is a great way to get cards.

3) Every UFS player I have ever met has totally ruled. As stated, check out tournament reports to see how it is, but if there is a local tournament you can go to, or even one that's a few hours away, I would definately check it out if you can. Our community is hands-down the nicest and coolest group of CCG players I've ever had the honor of playing with.

lastly, check out a website called Two-Headed Dragon . They have a UFS card database that is mostly up to date (the newest set and random promos are not on there) and is useful for deck-building or just looking for cards.

I hope you join in the fun! like I said, this is a great community and the game itself is tons of fun with a pretty low learning curve if you've already played a previous card game.

Thanks so much everyone...I have a lot to digest, but ti seems like there is a good community here which is a big plus.

I live in Southern California so usually there is a pretty good tourney scene here for all card games. I also go up to the bay area frequently since I used to live there.

I will look into buying some cards now that I have some focus on where I should spend my money. I will probably focus on the standard format since I am guessing that is like your type 2 (or modern in VS).

Any other tips are always welcome...let me know if there is a tournament director I should contact in California!!!

-Chris

Swisherfan said:

If you need a scout which is a tournament organizer contact :[email protected]

Also the number one card you will want to get if your going to be competitive is olcadans mentoring. It can be played in every deck you ever build in standard and you will want to play it in every deck. Some other cards that you may want to look at include: amy's assistance, chesters backing, blood runs true, lynnetes shop, seal of session, revenants calling, rejection, kung fu training, feline spike, tiger fury, makai high noble, blinding rage, high plasma beam. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head, they are all really good and some of them you might end up using alot. It really just depends on the symbols you want to play and your play style (combo, hybrid/control rush, aggro/rush, control/oneshot). Wellcome to the arena if you decide it's for you.

there is only one real staple(olcadans mentoring) which costs $5.00 and one that is almost a staple (ceal of cessation) which costs $4.00.

quarzark said:

@Tanner: Oh yeah list off all the money cards, I'd definitely argue that they aren't head-and-shoulders above the rest

Chinese Boxing is staple as hell in any budget-minded Air, Order or Water deck (and most other decks on those symbols too), for example. OP, I'd definitely talk to the Scout at the place you're going to be playing before you start buying any singles online.

Waffle, most of the cards Tanner named were commons or uncommons. Many others were not very expensive, though are a bit harder to come by. However, the listing of the expensive cards should be ok, since this guy said in his post that he is looking to play UFS at the highly competitive level if he does play. All of the cards listed, I would say, are cards that are found in many Tier 1 decks at the moment.

Swisherfan said:

Ah your near where I am then. We just moved our shop to Comic cult in Torrance cali. You can give them a call at (310) 328-5830. Were going to be playing mondays to start with but might end up switching to Saturdays if all goes well. If you have any questions let me know =3

Even though you seem to have your answers, I feel like adding my own perspective to the mix.

1. I wouldn't play any of the legal Cammy's because they does not inspire creativity in me like other characters do. They just aren't my style, which is a completely subjective conclusion.

2. The prices that people listed are accurate. The highest prices that this game has seen for any one card was $80-70 for Addes Syndicate, which is now banned, followed by roughly $50 for Power Up (no longer legal), Penny Arcade (also not legal, but may see a reprint due to extraordinary circumstances), and Blood Runs True (this is legal). The typical price cap for cards that I deem "good-very good" is around $20 per copy. Cards whose popularity are at a high may exceed $20 by say another $15 dollars. Any further price jumps can be attributed to a card being genuinely "very good-excellent," so there's sort of a grey area in the $20-35 price range where a good may be the genuine artifact, just popular, or a combination of both.

You can play 4 of every (legal) card in a deck, and you will usually want to for consistancy reasons. Even so, you will probably neither want nor need 4 copies of every strong card after they are released because UFS restricts the playing of cards by giving them usually 3 of 12 symbols. The consequence of this restriction is that you will often only want to build a deck off of 1-3 symbols, and it is unlikely that you will find the need or desire to build decks explicitly off of all 12 symbols. A thirteenth symbol exists that counts as any symbol of your choosing when played, but FFG wishes to phase it out of tournament play.

Also, as far as buying singles is concerned, UFS players only really look to coolstuffinc.com. eBay has completely dried up in my opinion. Your nearest brick and mortar hobby store that carries UFS might sell singles, and I can't attest to how they might price their cards. I used to buy cards from such a store, and I always found the cards "competitively" priced compared to online alternatives, meaning that the price of buying online plus shipping was approximately the same as buying from the store. You might be able to buy some cards from local players or more distant players at large tournaments, but most players trade (I think).

A recommendation: If you do decide to pick up this game, acquaint yourself with the current group of legal cards and determine reasonable baseline values before spending too much money on single cards. Competitively speaking, you can get by with minimal expenses if you apply yourself to some solid deckbuilding. However, some cards are staples that do provide major advantages in 80% or more of the decks that can play them. For example, Chester's Backing ($15-20, legal, no longer in circulation???) is such a good card that I think a player must find a reason not to play it.

3. Thankfully, the highest level of tournament play is not cutthroat; however, you shouldn't take your opponents lightly either. I'd say that all highly UFS competitive players are first rate opponents; but a truly skilled player will find a soft spot in the prevailing meta before a tournament, design a counter-strategy, and be able to surpass at least 85% of their competitors at any major event. While my experience at major events is limitted, I can make the previous statement with confidence. If you go to Worlds, you should expect to face at least one opponent whose strategy you did not consider. Both deckbuilding expertise and masterfully intuitive playing skill should be required to win any tournament of significance, which nearly but not completely eliminate the need for luck.

Another recommendation: Establish yourself as a player and refine your skills first, but try to keep casual local events casual and only play super competitively at competitive events. In UFS, I've come to respect that there's a time and place for everything. Of course, if you get the urge to utterly devastate some players, I'm sure they'll give you the opportunity to try.

Theres actually 3 versions of cammy legal for tourney play in the upcoming block 3.

The good news is that 2 of them are promos that have been in circulation for some time, so getting them shouldnt be too hard, your local scout probably has extra lying around they might be inclined to give you. Cammy's primary symbol is Chaos which is also good news because chaos is strong right now and prominent in alot of sets. Out of the 3 versions of her that are legal this comming block, the 7 HS character is actually rather decent and the 6 HS has some great tricks it can pull (Professional solider high block mods to momentum). My recomendation is if you really are interested in getting into the game to pick up some of the new release stuff, specifically from the SNK set. There is alot of chaos in that set and alot of it is very solid with any character like neo deadly rave, Galatica phantom, and all the rock-terry-geese-billy stuff. The cards cammy would probably run from other sets are mostly commons and uncommons and can be picked up usually on the cheap as singles.

My recomendation would be to grab one of each cammy, I personally think you should try using the 6HS promo as it has alot of damage output capibility with its E: ability, and to look for playsets of the following cards (assuming you wanna try chaos) as they make a good core for any chaos based deck:

Forethough (Uncommon)
Spirit of athens (Common)
Mega Spike (Rare)
The Anti K (Common)
Red Lotus of the sun (Uncommon)
N Type Human (Common)
The King of Fighters 2006 (Promo)
Fire Kick (Common)
Kims Neck Crunch Drop (Uncommon)
Professional Solider (common)

This right here will make for a good core deck no matter which way you go, the only rares and promos on the list are not hard at all to get either and the deck should provide a good entry into the game. If after trying some stuff out you really want to get into the game then there are plenty of cards you can try and get to increase the decks hitting power. A lot of people will tell you to get Lord of the Makai and Ocladans mentoring but i would advise against it until the next set is released just to make sure they don't get the ban hammer, as everyone with half a brain can see these cards stick out a bit too much in regards to powerlevel, same could probobaly be said of forthough but last i checked they werent too much of a money hole. Once you really get the swing of things youll understand what cards you need to get and why without us having to say.

On 2.) "rares that go in every deck" factor.

This gamesresource system barely allows for 'cards that go in every deck' unless the card has Infinite as aResource, like Olcadon's mentoring, and Lyynettes, or thingslike KungFu training which has 6 resources (so halfof all decks can play it).

On Olcadon's though, I continually find myself happier to check it, or BLOCK with it than have it in play. Often when its in hand, I hold it back for a block. Though this could be a meta issue, and I guess I can't argue with being able to strip people of their Battle Prowess. I have foundmuch better use with Lynettes in general though(perhaps because I often see enough control aroundto handle those things like Battle Prowess).

Shame to hear about VS. It was... interesting. Not my play style (the drop was entirely too linear for me, and it was a super hero / villain game that allowed for them to team up entirely too much, and had money rares that no sane deck would be without... though that was back in its first two sets, lol. No idea what it is now!).

But this is actually a great time to join. The new standard (called Block 3 for some crazy reason) is very fun, and challenging too (perhaps full of a bit too much vitality gain, but there are DEFINTELY ways around that).

Solstice said:

Greetings Swisherfan,

Solstice's group is likely to give you competitive play. You should check them out.

Last I checked, there was still a small playgroup at Game Empire Pasadena (in eastern Pasadena).

I play at a store in Claremont, CA, called Gameology, but we're probably shifting our play days from Wednesdays (which I can't make this month) to something else. We may do a weekend day for a draft. We mostly play casual, but Mat (the current Scout), James, Russ, and Nate are all capable of playing at a very competitive level. I play mostly theme decks and gimmick decks.

Your biggest problem here in SoCal is finding more players. (There aren't that many of us since Huggie's group had a falling out with GMI (in Riverside) and left the game.) What few players there are are spread out, in several small playgroups. And FFG's search engines suck.

Here's what I suggest: I'm going to send you and Solstice friend requests. If you accept, we should be able to email each other, and then we can exchange phone numbers. From there it'll be easier for you to contact folks and get the proverbial skinny.

If we manage to get together a draft of the latest set in the next month (it's a matter of getting together 4 or more interested players), then that would probably be a good way to get some new product. Most other folks don't run UFS draft, so it might be a unique experience.

I also have about 60 decks (mostly low level), but you're welcome to try a few out, to get a feel for where the game's been and how your favorite fighters play. Keep in mind, though, that theme decks are rarely competitive. The most competitive decks take really powerful cards from every license and put them together; so you might have Ryu using Voldo and J. Talbain foundations, Terry attacks, and some M. Bison assets. Weirder things have happened in UFS.

Welcome to the game, sir. Stay in touch. (:

I just wanted to give everyone the update that I am in...Found a local store who was clearing out a ton of old Sabertooth Games UFS sets. Never has 65.00 gone so far (15 starters and 4 boxes of boosters from 4 different sets). I figure it will serve as a good learning tool. I pulled one Street Fighter pack will all foils, does FFG do a random all foil pack too? I will have to look online for the newer stuff, but thanks to all your tips I at least know some good starting decks and must have cards.

Look forward to playing all of you down the line...

Chris

ARMed_PIrate said:

Wait, Huggie's crew is done too?
That's it, I'm done with Calfornia, you can all just drop off into the ocean for all I care.

(P.S. jk)

Swisherfan said:

Yeppers.

Look forward to seeing you around. Glad you got what sounds like an awesome deal!

Swisherfan said:

It seems you picked up a lot of legacy things. As a rule of thumb, uncommons are good (lol). Sometimes uncommons are more powerful than rares or even ultra-rares. Yoga Mastery, Lost Memories, Chain Throw, Drop Kick, 8th Bill of Punishment, Agohani Geri, Armored Defense, Chattering Mandible (or maybe that was just me?), Unrequited Love, Vanity, Concealed Shallow Swipe (was banned), Dancing Battle Kabuki, Dee Jay's Crouching Roundhouse, Defender of the Empire (was banned), Dirty Pool, Dodge Step, Evil Plans... the list of useful, powerful uncommons is HUGE and for soem reason half the time it seems that uncommon cards are just better.

No clue why, but be glad that less rarity = great sometimes.

my sugestion is to play 4 dot cammy. she has interesting abilities and she is faster and easier to build than 6 and 7 dot.

Is this Noobish?