As would be expected from any new set, there are posts after posts of people posting their thoughts, and people already jumping in the deckbuilder's seat to utilize the new stuff. However, this was no ordinary "let's see what cards matter"; it's pretty much apparent that MOST cards will see play, and as such, I think it'll be healthy that, a few times a week, we should see threads dedicated to dissecting the importance of the new stuff, something that certainly didn't happen last set.
Today, I decided to focus on AlgLOL and his support. One look at it, and one might think, "how extraordinarily bland and pointless". I mean, just about all of it is drawing, and then discarding, or vice-versa. Nothing too complex, hmm?
But that's why I'm interested. While it may just seem like you're drawing, I view it as turbo-tutor. While you're not specifically searching, the way I read his support is that you draw madly and discard until you get what it is that you want. It isn't just "I'm drawing cuz I can", it's "I'm drawing because I'm an evil mastermind."
Anyways, onto the tech talk...
Algol is going to be one fun mofo. While he may not appear dangerous, having no damage pump or any abilities that are glaringly threatening, he is easily one of the most annoying disruption players to fight against, making turn's success anyone's guess. His F is a very simple, *Sagat*-like F where you dump what you assumedly don't want and attempt to draw into what you do want (think back to **Voldo** if you can, then place him on crack). If there's perhaps a more interesting way of viewing it, it's a 2nd mulligan if your first one still didn't do you any good. It's also a way to ditch a hand full of orange and try to build with gray by going 2nd. His R is really what interests me. While it doesn't generate any advantage (it's +1 -1), it's RANDOM discard, meaning your opponent might be trying to build, and your R might ditch their foundations and fill their hand with attacks really early on. Like I said, he's a wild card, and that's what makes him so interesting. Algol is a lot of luck, but he's also a lot of insanity and unpredictability, and that should get him far.
His Terrain is very simple, in that it has the typical draw then discard, but more importantly, it grants +1 handsize to both characters. Perhaps not the coolest thing with Aquakinesis, but I think it behooves Algol, with his 6 handsize and constant drawing then discarding. His other assets work INSANELY with Algol. Both have the same first R: After you play an attack, you may discard 1 card to draw one card. Talk about speed drawing, and the fact that he can wield both Pseudo-Soul Calibur AND Pseudo-Soul Edge at the same time? Pseudo-Soul Edge is MAC, and it most importantly stops BRT and Alex. PSEdge means Donovan and Alex can no longer overdraw without thinking twice about Algol drawing into a hand full of blocks (not to mention, he shares 2 symbols with Terry and Rock).
His support is exactly what you'd think: draw to discard, discard to draw, plain and simple. The way I see it, all of his support was designed for the sole purpose of playing his ultra, AlgLOL's Shoryuken. Or Alshain Najm, whichever lol. Alshain Najm does require a low and a mid to be of any use, but if you use it the way it's intended, prepare to send them a sky-high 5 speed billion damage attack. What kinds of Lows and Mids? Well, I'd advise Million Flicker for the mid: discard as many cards as possible to draw that many? Totally suits the theme.
Algol's foundations are weird, in that, while his turbo draw discard theme of course continues, his founations all have their own, unique abilities. He has Hero of Southtown (LOL Lord of the Makai), Fluid Adaptation, anti BRT, and anti-asset, meaning not only does his support go well with his theme, it backs him up with secondary abilities to boot.
Like I said in the intro, I realize the theme of draw discard, discard draw is extremely plain, and doesn't seem like it amounts to anything, but I think the important thing is that it gets you what you want quicker. I mean, when I saw Alshain Najm, I just thought "Spin Drive Smasher", the first one (that got more damage for the amount of cards your opponent had discarded).
All in all, I think he's going to be fun, and I think he's certainly one who slipped under the radar (next to Temujin >:|). What do you guys think?
