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Deck Building Strategy

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Considerations[]

Deck building isn't just about getting a bunch of powerful characters together and hoping for the best. When you build a team, you want to have the characters cover for other's weaknesses. If possible, you also want them to enhance each other's strengths.

For example, a team of Ashi, Helene and Onimaru would have glaring weaknesses. They are all characters that work at close range only. If your opponent has characters that fight well against them, you will have great difficulty. Juju or Andromeda could give that team great trouble, for example. however this can be overcomed by switching characters to get more energy for switching range.

What are some common weaknesses? Here are some:

  • Low physical resistance
  • Low dark resistance
  • Low light resistance
  • Close range only
  • Far range only
  • Slow moves
  • Low hit points
  • Physical attacks only
  • Dark attacks only
  • Light attacks only

There are also some common attributes of characters:

  • Strong, high-energy attacks
  • Weak, low-energy attacks
  • Works well as starter
  • Works well as finisher
  • Hits fleeing
  • Special ability (stun, interrupt, reflect, knock out, etc)
  • Bypasses resistances
  • Team buffs/debuffs
  • High speed
  • Hits benched characters
  • Useful innates

Here's an example of building a team to cover weaknesses and to ensure a good range of attributes. We'll start off with the starter - perhaps Onimaru. He has strong attacks as well as high hit points and physical resistance, but can only fight at close and has no light or dark magic resistance.

So we want a character who can fight well at long range or at both ranges, and has high dark resistance. Who can do this? Juju! Juju has 5 dark resistance, and he can totally kill guys that have low dark resistance with hex. He's also not bad up close with touch of doom. So already, this team is pretty well-rounded.

Looking at this team already, it looks pretty good. We want a third character who is good at any lingering weaknesses. Can you see any? While light magic attacks aren't essential they can be handy. We'd also like someone who is good against dark resistance, since Juju does badly against someone with high dark resistance. Voss!

Now, everyone covers everyone else well. If you look at the 'weaknesses' list, you can see that every area is covered by at least one character. Looking at the 'attributes' list, the only thing this team is missing is a 'hits fleeing' move, so you will have to be on your toes with intercepting. But overall, this team works well against any opposition!

Recommended Characters[]

Now I'll recommend 6 characters who are easy to use and versatile. This team should serve you well until you decide you want to be more fancy, so we've suggested 4 more trickier characters, who are good bench hitters. Note that Kongai deck can only either be 5 card or 3 card. First, I'll cover the basics of a starter team. You must consider lots of stuff in your deck. Here's a bunch of stuff to think about: How many monorangers are in my deck? Is the energy game good in general? Bad? Do I have interrupting moves? Stun moves? Do I have team buffs? Do I have team debuffs? What's the basic style my team plays in? Do I have fast moves/characters? Do I have slow moves/characters? Do I have tanks? Tricksters? Do I have good dark moves/dark resistances? Light? Physical?

You don't have to go and make sure every one of these are satisfied. Just try to consider some basic things and make sure that you cover as many weaknesses as you can. Every team has at least one weakness. Just try to eliminate as much as you can, and try to not have your weaknesses be so easy to identify. I'll suggest a team I use and manage to go well. It might not be the best, because I'm not really a pro, but please at least try it.

If you would like to play a 5 card game, you should consider a major difference: there are 5 characters to kill, thus those attacks that hits all enemies becomes extremely powerful. With the all character attack use as much as you can, and switch to Amaya against dark magic, Voss against light magic and Gorbax against physical attacks. You'll rarely intercept, as your attacks mostly hit the benched players, and if you see a knight with knight's emblem try to kill him as fast as you can. Add Bestor, Zina, or Sophie to the mix, and nothing else can cause harm to your team.

Higashi[]

Higashi is regarded as a very bare-bone, but all-round character to play as and as such, the first name mentioned here on this list. Higashi's innate is also quite useful as it would encourage you to Intercept more (because he deals 60 damage during intercepts instead of the usual 35) and a player with a good knack at guessing intercepts will get quite a bit of mileage from Higashi. If you're not particularly good at or don't frequently use intercepts, Higashi still has his abilities you can rely on: at close range, Open Palm interrupts and Sweep stuns. At far range, Dashing Strike can crit while the very powerful Chi Blast can burn, providing you have the energy to back it up.

Against anyone but the "bad matchups", your strategy is simple. When close, do open palm. When far, do Dashing Strike or Chi Blast as appropriate. Intercept if you think they will switch. Sweep is only useful if the current situation deems it optimal, as if it needs to interrupt a slow nuke, Open Palm is normally far superior.

Against Onimaru, switch out to Cornelius or Helene when you get the chance. Against Helene, switch out to Voss or Cornelius. Against Tafari, go to far range and rest until you have 80 energy (so that you can threaten him with Chi Blast). He'll either switch out or move close. Then do Open Palm on him a lot (take a Leafy Trap hit if you have to). Against Ashi, switch to Rumiko or Helene.

Vanessa Voss[]

Vanessa Voss's main innate focuses on targeting those who have high dark defenses. Your main weapons are Double Slash (which can crit) and Radiance Burst (which can target all opponents). Vanessa does very well against characters with high dark resistance, because of her innate. Ray of Light is only a situational weapon, because its energy cost is too high for its damage. Best of all, Vanessa can drain your opponent's health and restore hers with Feast of Blood. While it won't restore much health (10HP), it is fast and always handy in a pinch.

Use Radiance Burst to finish off enemy benched characters with very low health. Otherwise, go to close range, and do Double Slash a lot. Switch out against bad matchups.

Rumiko[]

Because of Rumiko's innate, no one will try to intercept you (except maybe a Higashi). If they think you'll switch, they will probably rest. Therefore, Rumiko has no bad matchups because she can switch out, the exception being Tafari. Against Tafari move far and use Shuriken Barrage before he Leafy Traps. Then hope that you win in a Poison Dart war. Shuriken Barrage will do 24 damage if it hits. At that point it will take 4 or 5 darts for either of you to kill the other depending on if the poison happens. The problem is that if he gets unlucky he can still switch.

Against Anex and Andromeda, Rumiko will be unable to switch safely at far. For Anex move close as even if they stay far this will ensure that Anex won't be able to threaten with Power Toss then if close switch. If they stay far Shuriken Barrage, then if they rest switch or Shuriken Barrage again if they used Boomerang and then switch the next turn. For Andromeda move close. If she stayed far use Shuriken Barrage. If she used Rain of Arrows then use Shuriken Barrage again, if she used Trueshot and it crit switch. If she used Trueshot and it didn't crit things get tricky as she is probably going to switch but she may use Lightning Arrow expecting that you will intercept. After that she will have to guess if you used Shuriken Barrage or switched and will have a 50/50 shot to kill you. Your best bet is to use Shuriken Barrage and then switch next turn.

Yoshiro and Ambrosia will cause problems for you if they're close and you want to switch. Against Yoshiro try to move far then switch. Against Ambrosia let her pick. If close Eviscerate if far trade Shuriken Barrage for Bleeding. If you have 40 HP and she has 50 energy move far. Don't bother using Ninja-Port.

When you are at close range, your objective is to get to far range. This can be done through Eviscerate -> Ninja-port, or by just doing Ninja-port. When at far range, you should do shuriken.

If your opponent is stronger at far you can also eviscerate then if stun, rest and repeat or if not stun eviscerate again. Every time you eviscerate and then rest you will have enough energy to eviscerate again. This can be a good way to force your opponent far or to switch.

Rumiko's moves take up a lot of energy. Therefore, you will want to quickly use up all of her energy, then switch out. This puts you ahead in the energy game.

Cornelius Constantine[]

All of Cornelius's moves are useful, making him a decent opener. His bread and butter is Voidstream, because it is cheap, does decent damage, and reduces resistance. Pilebunker is very cheap for its damage - not only does it do 50 damage, it has a chance to do 20 extra dark damage! That is enough to kill some characters in one hit. Hypnotic Stare is great against slow close-range characters such as Ashi, because it shuts down their most powerful moves. However, as a side note, Ashi can pick between Axe Handle, which beats Hypnotic Stare, or Power Swing, to prevent a Pilebunker or to switch herself out of the matchup.

Cornelius is useless when he is at low health, because his moves are slow and unlike Vanessa Voss, can't drain Health. Therefore, there is not as much advantage to switching him out for full energy as it would be for someone else who had high speed moves.

Cornelius is bad against Rumiko because Pilebunker will never hit her - Ninjaport will always hit first. Hypnotic stare doesn't prevent Ninjaport from setting the range to far. When at far range, Shuriken Barrage damages Cornelius. You should try to switch out. Cornelius is bad against Amaya for much the same reason, though not as bad.

Ubuntu is a tough battle for Cornelius because his innate shuts down the possibility of Pilebunker and even if he moves he still has enough energy for Spirit Assistance. Your best bet here is to switch.

Your strategy is to do a mix of Voidstream and Pilebunker, and use Hypnotic Stare when appropriate. It is fairly safe to switch out Cornelius, because there are no obvious signs that you need to switch, and so your opponent will find it difficult to intercept correctly. Cornelius has the potential to beat all but two characters 1v1 if played correctly, it's your job to make the right call.

Helene[]

Helene is fun to play because she can do all three types of damage. If you are up against someone with high dark resistance, your best bet is to Enchant Blade and threaten them with Frenzied Strikes. Against people with scary moves (such as Juju's Touch of Doom), you may want to Shield Bash them to prevent the move from happening. Keep in mind, though, that Shield Bash is only speed 6 and is 45 energy. If you want to stop a move, make sure it's worth that 45 energy you're spending. Sword Slash is cheaper than Frenzied Strikes and has a chance to restore 20 Energy when used, but that's purely by luck (50/50).

Marquis Le Morte is nothing for you if you have Valkyrie's Charm and even if you don't you still have a fair shot at him. Start by going far (as odd as that sounds). Enchant Blade and he will either Teleport, Intercept or Blood Burn. If he Blood Burns switch when you think it's safe, otherwise Enchant Blade until he comes to you. If you have the Charm, Shield Bash then Frenzied Strike. If you don't have the Charm, Frenzied Strike twice, Frenzied Strike then intercept or just switch.

The opponent will often set the range to far. This means you will need 80-90 (50 for range change, 30-40 for sword slash/frenzied strikes) to be threatening. Because Helene is energy intensive if opponent changes range frequently, you may need to switch her out often.

Bestor[]

Bestor is easy to use and highly effective in many different matchups (and his innate makes any Burn debuffs heal on him instead). Anyone who is close range and can be killed in 2 turns from FSF is generally a favorable matchup for Bestor, as Flame Sword Frenzy is likely faster than their attacks, and it costs a mere 40 energy. Engulfing Flames allows him to stand toe to toe with them and trade blows well, particularly if he can switch out to recuperate with the flame stacks. Pyroclasm is notable for being the only dual-ranged bench attack that can interrupt, and is very spammable under the right circumstances. Most importantly, he has a buff that affects all of his allies, Inner Fire, by granting them a +15% increased chance of Critical Hits for 10 turns, which is a very long time! Even better, it is stackable, which means that you can ADD another +15% chance, and so on.

Bestor is very good at trading blows with close range tanks, typically being able to kill them before being killed himself. For bad matchups, switching is always the safest choice, unless you have an item that can get around a particular weakness.

Amaya[]

Amaya is an interesting character to play as. Her innate is unique as she can randomly disable a opponent's attack every turn. This forces them to change their usual strategy and keeps them on their toes, while making it easier for you to predict their actions.

Her two most-used attack are dual-ranged and can hit all characters (even fleeing ones), making her great for crowd control! Shadow Wrath deals decent damage, but is otherwise slow, so its best used at a range where her current opponent is at their most vulnerable. Shadow Curse reduces the hit-rate of all targets' attacks, but deals no damage, so it's better to not spam Shadow Curse, as due to its multiplicative effects, it can take up to 4/5 turns for it to be useful. With Ninja-Port, you can switch to far and threaten with Dark Chi Blast... or intercept!

Notoriously she has 55 Health by default (making her with the lowest), which makes her very easy to take down (something Jade Figurine can easily compensate for). She is good against slow tanks, but weak against light users, the latter group Amaya should switch out.

Zina[]

  • Roles: Finisher/Bench Swarmer
  • Recommended Items: Deadly Poison, Tiger's Claw
  • Usually okay against: Mostly everyone
  • Usually good against: Those with low health

Zina might sound bad in theory since all her attacks are usually physical, and her innate is only useful if she can kill her target (25% damage increase & dark attacks for 3 turns, and +30 energy). However, the key thing to remember is that while she's not that great at direct 1v1 fights, that means she is very effective as a finisher, when she fights against those with low health.

Tiger Pounce can remove buffs from your opponent and prevents them from being weaponised against you or your team, and is very fast. Tiger Frenzy hits all opponents which is fine and all, but if paired with Mistress's Command, it (and all other attacks) can both stun and bleed, turning Zina from a decent fighter into a dangerous one. However, the main weakness is that to be good as Zina, careful planning and timing is required to set her up effectively. Switch Zina in too early or too late and she can be easily taken down by somebody with high physical resistance, or dark resistance if her innate is active. Avoid using Eye of the Tiger, which is expensive and should only be used under situational circumstances.

With Deadly Poison, her attacks can all bleed, stun, and (uh) poison, boosting Tiger Frenzy significantly. Tiger's Claw however, essentially grants you +2 on all resistance (it actually decreases enemy damage by 2 on attacks/intercepts), which is useful if Tiger Pounce is used more often.

Gorbax[]

  • Roles: Zoner/Bench Swarmer
  • Recommended Items: Energy Core, Z-Phase Converter, Omega Boosters
  • Bad against: Helene, Ashi, those good at close range and/or tanks (with Energy Core)
  • Usually okay against: Everyone else (With Z-Phase Converter)
  • Good against: Dark users, Villagers, Witches, Those with low Health

Gorbax is one of those characters who seems easy to learn, but actually hard to master. You see, he can deal massive potential damage to his opponents (and other enemies), but they're all expensive and regularly miss so he needs to Lock-on after every third turns. To compensate for that, his unique innate basically doubles his energy but said energy is actually from his health, which means he can't take too much damage. All of these things are factors that can change a match if not considered.

Machine Gun Arm is very effective against enemies with little to no Physical resistance and is usually quick. Death Blossom might look expensive for the amount of damage done, but it's a bench attack, meaning that it's effectiveness lies on hitting benched fighters and your current target (even moreso in a 5v5 match), plus it's dual-ranged. Much like Ray of Light and Eye of the Tiger, only use Omega Missile when it is optimal.

When Gorbax is in your team, always consider what item is suitable. If he's usually going up against mostly hard-hitting tanks like Onimaru, Helene, Ashi and the likes, Energy Core is a lot better if you just want to immediately exert more energy without suffering from the drawbacks of heavy damage or outright killed (which is how Z-Phase Converter works). If you're fighting mostly all-rounders regularly like Higashi, CC, Bestor, etc, Z-Phase converter is better as your energy is practically and gradually doubled every time you take damage (and although Energy Core is good against those characters, it's possible that Gorbax may die without ever using it). If you're fighting against glass and support fighters (which is usually A BAD IDEA to ever rely on completely if you haven't learnt anything from this page), Gorbax can forgo efficiency and wipe out the whole bench with Omega Boosters or Death Blossom with Omega Boosters, slow-burning them on the outside.

Sophie Merovingian[]

  • Roles: Support/Bench Swarmer
  • Recommended Items: Coffin Nails, Girdle of Iron Will, Yellow Rock of Cowards
  • Bad against: Ambosia Thorn (General's Insignia or Ring of Curses) and Vampires, Mostly everyone
  • Okay against: Juju and most other villagers, Bestor (use Girdle), B9, most Witches
  • Good against: Those with low Health and/or energy, Wei-Shan, Margo Curie, Healing attacks and Items

At first glance, Sophie might appears as a weak character due to her lack-luster stats (like Rumiko). However according to David Sirlin, there is no such thing as a bad character (even Tafari!), because everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. In Sophie's case, her unique, game-changing innate is that she disables health regeneration as long as she's active, and it affects all your opponents (even benched). That means that items, abilities, and innates that can heal do not work, like Healing Salve, any drain attacks, the Periapt and Herbal Remedy.

Sophie's fragility means that she is best effective against weakened fighters (like Zina), those who don't deal much damage, and mono-rangers via range-dancing. Glyph of Fire is argubly her most signature attack and although it deals gradual damage, it is dual-ranged, meaning that Sophie can use it where her opponent cannot counter attack easily. Most importantly, Glyph of Fire unlocks Consume Glyph, another situational-recommended nuke that can usually kill those between 35-45 HP and as small bonus, heals Sophie for 9 HP. Sophie's other two attacks shouldn't be forgotten, as they're both have unique properties. Circle of Shadows can hit fleeing and can be reused for free once used, but also deals a bit of damage to Sophie, making it optimal in situations where you need to kill or be killed. Shadow Word: Pain inflicts unique shadow damage and is unremovable.

One other weakness that Sophie has is that she can be prone to being Stunned or Interrupted, so Girdle of Iron Will is a good option if she's facing against those kinds of fighters. Coffin Nails is also a good option to compensate her fragility by directing the killing blow once onto an unfortunate ally. And since it's recommended that she should switch out often (she's bad at direct combat), take the Yellow Rock of Cowards with you and deal a bit more damage before you go.

See also[]

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