It's really easy to build a mediocre deck. Grab a kill card, throw in some foundations to make it work and you're all set, if you want a slight chance against anything. I'm often in the position to describe UFS to outsiders, as I used to play many other CCGs, and not all my old playgroups play UFS. Competitive UFS is very challenging, much more difficult than the process I described earlier. Most of the time I find myself saying to players that want to play seriously, that UFS is a broken game, and that in order to be successful, your deck must be more broken than your opponent's.

The nature of UFS itself is broken. There's really no nice way to put it. The majority of printed foundations have a reusable ability. It's only natural that we eventually end up with an elite tier of foundations that are critical to success.

Let's consider Military Rank, a member of the elite tier. In any other CCG, you would have to pay a resource cost to get such an amazing effect, and then it would be much harder to loop the effect every turn. You would have to commit more resources to the task. In UFS, we get the effect every turn, almost for free, and there's no easy or fundamental way to shut it down, if you're opponent is using it. There is almost no way to cut off your opponent's foundations.

In Magic, there are any number of ways to deal with your opponent's critical creatures as a part of the rules and nature of the game. We do not have that luxury in UFS. Sure, we have pinpoint answers, but those are another matter entirely.

In UFS, you are essentially trying to beat your opponents with raw power, and a ready supply of pinpoint answers, a fact that makes understanding and reading the metagame terribly important.

So, if you're preparing for a big tournament, or even if you just want to be successful in your local tournaments, so you can get first crack at new promos, you want a broken deck with plenty of meta-killers handy.

Before we can begin to locate and analyze these meta-killers, however, we need to talk about the current metagame.

Evil

While you may have known that Evil is clearly the best symbol in the game, have you ever considered why? It's actually quite simple, really. Evil has access to all the meta-killers. Whatever you are trying to do, Evil can stop it, every turn.

In order to beat Evil, you have to out-muscle it every turn of the game. The single best way to do this is with "free" effects; effects that have no cost, other than E:, R:, or F:.

They are rare, especially F:, existing on character cards usually, but this is the way to fight Evil, if you don't intend on playing it. Characters like Yi-Shan and Mr. Karate, effects like Bitter Rivals, Regal Bearing, Silent Step, and Higher Calibur. Static effects like those on Talbain, Fight for the Future, and 8^th Bill of Punishment are just as good. 

One of the sneakier tactics is available to you if you are actually playing Evil, looking for tricks to defeat opposing Evil decks. I speak of cards like Seal of Dousing, and Manifest Destiny, cards that have very narrow applications, and yet they shine in the mirror match.

As long as we're on the topic of defeating Evil, we might as well talk about Evil's offensive capabilities, which really boils down to two cards: Chain Throw and Absurd Strength. Shutting these down will be the key to your success. You might want to consider effects like Dodge Step, or even Deadly Grapple.

CC Hax

Recent indications of the standard metagame are showing that CC Hax is more powerful than ever. Canceling out specific cards has never been so easy and reliable as it is now with Blood Runs True. Unfortunately, this puts us in a rather awkward position. Is the situation so bad that we should all consider running Koga Ninja Arts maindeck? It's possible, but I doubt it. The reason I mention Koga here, is because Roam the World doesn't seem like it can get past Red Lotus of the Sun without a song and dance on your part. Although Roam is still my first choice, the key difference is that Koga Ninja Arts protects you on your opponent's turn, and responses are still harder to stop than forms. 

CC Hax is not just strong because of Blood Runs True, however. It would be wrong not to mention Akuma, or Andrew Olexa. You absolutely have to plan against CC Hax, even if it's something as oblique and simple as running Shinobi Tradition, which helps more than is immediately obvious.

Commit Effects

It is not uncommon to see decks running around with 4 Trade Your Passion for Glory and 4 Roam the World, or 4 Megalomania and 4 Manifest Destiny. On top of all those, Akuma rears his ugly head again with the ability to play all four of those cards added to a nasty commit effect of his own. While it may seem like our only recourse is Red Lotus of the Sun, you might be surprised at how effective Oral Dead is in dealing with these problems. 

One of my favorite tactics against commit effects is Extreme Rivals. It's easy to discourage your opponent's commit effects when it costs them 1-4 points of vitality per activation.

Damage Pump

Damage pump is by far the most commonly used tactic in UFS. More than anything else, you can count on your opponents to use some sort of damage pump, whether it's Absurd Strength, or Concealed Shallow Swipe. I'm actually surprised how many decks I run into in tournaments that don't have any answers for damage pump. A large part of the reason why Tri-symbol Morrigan was so effective is because it anticipated enemy damage pumps and used them against those opponents. 

While the original elements of the deck are gone, the metagame is just waiting for a new deck to take advantage of damage pumps in the same way. Cards to consider in this department are those like About Face, Rejection, Spiritual Center, characters like Astaroth and Demitri also help.

Deck Spotlight "Mr. Clean" Promo Yun-Seong Mill by Steve Kline

...Yun-Seong... 

This monster is the creation of my friend, Steve Kline. His efforts have almost single-handedly proven that Void is still alive and well, even if it is just a milling symbol. This deck has a massive pedigree, with a win at the Gulf Coast Championship, and a runner-up at the South Coast Championship, this is perhaps the most powerful deck I've ever showcased.

The deck uses Happy Holidays and a long list of defensive foundations like Awakening and Spiritual Center to stay alive while Vast Resources, Blind Stance, Hesitation and Contemplation get to work milling you out. You absolutely have to kill this deck in one shot, because if the need arises, it will fetch out Revitalize with Military Rank, and go back up to full, and draw three cards in the process. Be sure to note that Revitalize always pushes Yun-Seong back to full, so he will always draw three cards.

It's very hard for me to express to you exactly how hard it is to kill this deck. One of the interesting points Steve brought up to me is that his deck essentially moves twice as fast as any deck. His main goal is to mill you, so he commits all of his staging area to Vast Resources after playing out some foundations, then he commits Yun-Seong and essentially takes another turn.

It isn't exactly the easiest of decks to pilot, but if you want a proven, powerful deck, that won't break the bank, you're looking at the best mill deck in the game.

Wrapping Up

It's a personal theory of mine that foundations exist to defend yourself from your opponents and are equally as important as the cards in your hand. Many of the foundations that I consider defensive, can also be used offensively, like Roam the World. I tend to shy away from explicitly offensive foundations, like Deceptive Look, but I know that such cards are not without their own very good uses. As usual, when taking advice, you should always adapt the advice to your own playstyle and theory, but be mindful and open to the possibility that those may also need some modification. When in doubt, ask a friend you trust, one that listens at least as much as he talks about his own designs. As always, I'll be here bringing you the latest and greatest tech from players all over the world. Thanks for reading.

-Ceejay