We'll start off the working week with a card that, just like early monday mornings after a weekend bender with alcohol, UFS and perhaps a total of 16 hours in a tiny-ass car, likely pisses you off. This card is none other than what singlehandedly made absolutely no sense about King of Fighters 2006, the Addes Syndicate. What seems to be two very happy men (one of which redefines what "black skin" means, but probably not since he's an alien, and yes folks, I am not kidding) about to embrace each other may have, with the help of it's friends, turned more people away from UFS than Rare Cassandra frrom the first set. Since everyone and their mother has talked about this card already, covering it's multiple uses (HAHA!) is going to be difficult, yet read on if you want to know exactly why this card fetches about 55 clams per on your favorite place to buy cards (pick one, really, it doesn't matter).

I should start by listing it's stats : 1/4, +2 High block in a meta that is currently lacking in those (although not in those symbols) and a pretty good symbol spread. Even errated, that ability has been said to be "too good" to "completely &"/!?&% broken". It says : " After you play the following ability, if you have already played that ability this turn, destroy this card. " And the ability following this seemingly strong restriction? " R: After a response ability is played, cancel it's effects. " At absolutely no cost (at least, the first time), you negate a response. Any response. At all. The most creative combo given with this is credited to Paul Bittner at the 2008 Canadian Nationals (hence why this author often refers to it as the Bittner combo). It goes off like this : He would play a R ability at the beginning of his opponent's turn (notably Mortal Strike), negate it with one of his Addes Syndicate, then lock down your foundnations using The Curse Broken's R. There was a small controversy with it as everyone just plain forgot about Addes' errata, but even considering that you nuke your Addes after negating one of The Curse Broken's effect, you get from 1 to 7 foundations committed on your opponent's turn.

Now that we've covered that combo, we can get into something else : Why exactly it's so powerful?

Some of you may have been astute enough as to see it can negate Injury Assets almost completely. If this is the first time you've used Addes Syndicate on your turn, even if your opponent had a second one in hand, it will get negated, likely getting that critical attack through, thus killing him. What really does help this card's case is that every single symbol can use it, and all for different reasons, too! All draws it faster than anyone else and can recur it through Military Rank and, if it's Ira-Spinta'd, with The Hero of Southtown. Death has access to more negation than a symbol really needs (Oral Dead, Preventing the Curse, Pieces of Eight, No Memories, Addes Syndicate, Seal of Cessation might be infinity, but it grants your character Death so I'll count it here, A Lesser of Many Evils, which coincidentally shares All, etc.) and this card is a key piece in what was dubbed the Wall of Evil (tm). Although if you ask me, it'd have been better if it was named the Evil Iron Curtain, but that's probably a tasteless joke, something I've been trying to avoid so far, and to be fair, Super Soccer's instruction manual did it way back in the early 1990's.

In any card game, UFS included, negation is a very powerful tool. With it, you can pretty much ensure victory by voiding the critical monkey wrench that could potentially screw up your entire plan. Addes enables you to negate a quarter of anything your opponent may use to further his own victory or prevent you from doing the same. Not only that, but it does it twice per turn, with the potential to do it again if you're All, or an Evil Female (through The Gorgeous Team).

Final judgment? Judgment has already been passed on this card by the entire UFS community - If your character has any symbol in common with Addes Syndicate, run it, period. There is no reason not to run Addes Syndicate other than you don't have them, you're broke or can't justify paying 55$ for a piece of cardboard.

If it wasn't for Duke absolutely oozing sex appeal in that picture, I would definitely burn it, burn it with my etenal seething hatred.