Because everyone loves playing Universal Theory System rite!?

The new set is great and amazing, but the question on everyone's mind is -- what's the greatest and most amazing?

I guess I'm trying to recreate the success of the Tier List thread that's been going down for a while now, but hopefully with a slightly lower pitch. And less meta-arguments like, "Order isn't a top-tier symbol on its own, and it's way too complex to try to analyze every possible combination." What crazy techs (that you do not want to keep super-secret) have you noticed? What do you think is going to be the deck that gets everyone diversified this season? What general archetype is the most powerful -- as general as hybrid vs control vs balls-to-the-walls aggro, or as specific as a specific combo? Will the new Shadowar characters with their singularly synergistic foundations be able to keep up with the interchangeable parts of the Soul Cal set? Does <insert symbol here> finally have what it takes to win some freakin' tournaments, or has it lost its shine? Will these crazy Combo attacks make an impact, or are they too limited? Is Feline Spike old news yet?

Personally, having looked over the sets, I'm in agreement with about everything I've read -- I don't even know which deck to build first . But one thing I noticed is that one BIG theme of late is only minimally represented -- card draw. Set 11 gave us Sogetsu and Hugo, two absolute behemoths of card advantage; Set 12 doesn't leave it by the wayside entirely, but nothing comes within a stone's throw of Hulking Brute or Aquakinesis for simple advantage; most everything either has conditions attached (and not easy ones like "play a foundation") or relies on enhances/attacks (Ivy is the posterchild fo this sort of thing). Card advantage is the best sort of advantage in CCGs -- you know why. Your deck just becomes better when you see more cards. It really makes me think that Earth is in a good spot to rule the game right around now -- no offense to any other symbols. It's got truly fantastic tempo support from Hugo, Siggy's anti-control gear plus Rashotep's text-wiping stuff all on top of other anti/control pieces (Blinding Rage, Program Malfunction, Inhuman Perception), a massive array of damage reduction and lifegain, enough pumps to make a well go dry, discard, speed boosts, one of 2 8HSers and the character with the best stat block in the game... and the cheapest tutor ability, too (Clean Rematch). WHO WANTS SOME?

*cracks knuckles*

Characters: Donny-boy. He's good. He just get's better in this set. Low speed attacks, Shredding Vibrato, Death Donovan will be stomping on faces left and right. Zi-Mei is sick, and stays sick, and gets amazing attacks in this set. Ragnar brings back the suicide aggro, and I can't wait to see the tricks Good and Fire pull out with their new toys. All has a solid answer to Olcadan's now too, so it's back in the running with probably the "best stat" character in the game (yeah, Gen is the real best stat character, but Alex is a 7/28 minimum against Hugo for the cost of commiting).

Combo: This stuff is just nuts in certain contexts. I'd run the Execution Rites in promo Temujin and wreck havoc on people. Double Grounder Beta has made me crap myself, as has Curse of the Ancient Mariner. New characters, old characters, people will find someway to make combo work for them. Even better when you can get some REAL combos going. "Okay, this attack combos with mid attack and high attack, and is a high weapon, and this attack combos with two high weapon attacks, so I can go mid, High Weapon, Combo, Combo." Can't wait to see what people come up with. This could actually make or break certain attacks that would normally see play all the time (re: Midnight Launcher) and you might not run it over another attack because it lacks a keyword ability.]

ShadoWar vs. Soul Calibur: It's a dead even break. As far as starters go I'm very partial towards the ShadoWar starters, but Ivy and Nightmare are both insane, and the set pieces? Yi-Shan's cards would be hard to use without Yi-Shan, while Ragnar can cookie-cutter himself onto any aggro deck. In Soul Calibur, Algol has an interesting theme and some great cards, but almost any version of him is going to be comboing from Alshain Najm. Then there's Nightmare... yeah, enough said... Great sets, personally, I like Soul Calibur better, but Ragnar and Rashotep make me want to scream in fear...

Final Call: Every symbol is tournament playable now... except life. Just an opinion and to be honest, I'd actually run it probably as a second symbol to Earth, but mono or main symbol-wise it's just too weak...

Oh, I thought this thread would have been.

"They are a house that play UFS. WHO'S THAT META!?"