"We are all something, but none of us is everything." - Blaise Pascal 

I was talking to another player about the deck I plan to run at the Mid-West Coast Championships this weekend (which I will be covering and competing in), and while he gave some good advice on the specific deck itself he said something that was really interesting to me, and I quote: "All that said though, I do honestly feel that any deck not running Higher Calibur right now is just gimping the player's ability to win. It's not a crutch, but damn...so horrendously, horrendously overpowered in the current environment."

No, this isn't going to be one of those articles about The Evil Problem/Higher Calibur; nobody wants to hear about it anymore and I already covered this two weeks ago in my last piece. What struck me was the implication that, by not running a certain card, you are effectively limiting your options. He's probably right, too, which speaks to the power of the Wall of Evil right now. Okay, I promised...so no more of that.

UFS is in a strange position right now, due to significant upheavel. Two important things happened within weeks of each other - the game had it's first wave of card rotation and Fantasy Flight Games purchased Sabertooth Games. On top of that, with the release of Set 8, many key power cards with the same resource flooded the format at once, and the meta is still trying to adjust. Combine that with the original announcement of the new qualifying system for worlds - which left many here and abroad unhappy - and the game has had a few knocks recently. Still, those of us who love the game on both a casual and competitive level persevere and already FFG and especially Steve and Jonathan have shown more and more willingness to open up, keep all of us informed on what's going on with UFS' future and things are slowly settling into something approaching normal.

The only problem is, from a pure metagame standpoint, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. The resource-that-must-not-be-named has forced players into considering it first and foremost or recognize that there is a limit in what you can achieve against it. However, sometimes limitations can be a good thing. It has often been said that limitation breeds creativity, and right now the UFS world certainly needs a good dose of creative juices flowing into the game. The MWCC will definitely show how much that forethought and planning has paid off, because it is a near-certainty that Akuma, Ibuki, Athena, and maybe even my precious Cody (not be me, unless I wimp out) will be out in force.

So when you're boxed in, you push back. It's the only way out. I know that if I choose to go away from all that and actively cut off access to 7 or 8 of the best cards in the game, I better make whatever I play count. I'm hovering between some All deck, and Order deck, or Yi Shan of Earth/Good on a daily basis. Sometimes I randomly think a Void/Death hybrid deck would work. In the end, I'll come up with something that will hopefully have as many answers to (you-know-what) as possible. Because that's what it boils down to.

Yi Shan is a great character. He has three excellent symbols for what he does and he can put a hurt on very quickly or is just as content to play it slow, mitigating damage as necessary here and there, stacking copies when possible - until the volcano erupts. Now, that mean that he has all the tools it takes to take down one of the big guns? Maybe not. Does it matter. Maybe not. If you know you've built your deck as smart as can be and understand the limiting factors going in, it can still work out in your favor. Confidence with your deck and your abilities go a long way. Granted, seeing an Akuma with a first turn "Kunai, Higher Calibur, Blood Runs True, Addes Syndicate, done go" is going to be scary no matter what. That's true for everybody though so if you like what have, go for it.

You really can't plan for it all. A friend, after losing a match against one of my decks, said "that deck has answer for everything!" in a moment of frustation. My immediate response was no, it has an answer to most things, and because those things dominate the meta I can get away with it. Versatility in your card pool is what makes it able to hold up against the unexpected. The reason cards like Absurd Strength and Armored Defense are so valuable is because they are never dead, and can adapt to fit the situation necessary - I need to hurt my opponent, I have to stop that momentum gain, I gotta turn off that recursion/loop, or I want lifegain to help survive this turn. Those are just two specific examples but I think you see my point.

 Look back at the quote I started this column with - "We are all something, but none of us is everything." Pascal was a religious philosopher in addition to his famous contributions to mathematics and applied sciences like physics, and he was speaking in a much more profound sense than anything I could hope to write about in this forum. Still, the general idea is a universal truth, that you can only account for so much. It's just a good thing to remember when attacking The Wall at your next local tournament or something big like the MWCC. I have decided that I want no part of Evil (oops, I caved) in the upcoming event. I can't honestly say that I don't want to win another Coastal Championship this year, especially in the toughest field of the season yet with nearly every top UFS player in the United States present in one location. But you know what? Even if I scrub out at the MWCC with my stubborn anti-Evil stance, I won't be too disappointed. I've had a pretty good year so far and I already did the Evil/Fyre hybrid thing successfully, so I'd rather play something that I have fun with. Between the 5 or so decks I'm down to choosing from for Singles and Teams, not one of them is boring or cookie-cutter and I like it that way. We'll see what happens but hopefully my self-limitation won't automatically mean my demise. As always, thanks for reading and you can contact me through e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or PM me on the new message boards (ID: Vikramas). Until next time...

-Vik