-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Cardfighters Clash: SNK vs. Capcom Complete Cardlist v 1.02 by "~Kaz" theeternallostboy at hotmail dot com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -= Legal =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This Complete Cardlist is a complete listing of all the cards obtainable in the NeoGeo Pocket Color game, Cardfighters Clash and is copyright 2005 by "theeternallostboy at hotmail dot com". Do not plagiarize or distribute any part or whole of this document for profit or without giving the author (that's me, the guy typing this) credit. Feel free to put the entire guide on your webpage, as long as the content is not altered and I'm credited. -= Acknowledgements -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A great big THANK-YOU to: GameFAQs, for the guides, the boards, and the ugly. SNK & Capcom for releasing & translating game (1999)... ...even if it was on the doomed NGPC. The late, great Chris MacDonald, aka "Kao Megura" (1979-2004). Your skill & determination are an inspiration to us all. GameFAQ writers such as: -Z-force's (z-force@execpc.com) Cardfighters Clash FAQ This guide's format was inspired by Z-force's cardlisting. -Kazuki's (bchan@ocf.berkeley.edu) Cardfighters Clash Support FAQ I couldn't have double-checked everybody without it. -Mike Meevasin's (mmeeva@hotmail.com) Cardfighters Clash FAQ Thorough & comprehensive; invaluable for finding cards. -Faust's (kmfdm@technonet.com) Cardfighters Clash FAQ Best FAQ for Cardfighting beginners to read. -Ragnarosen & Thundergod for their Savestate Editing FAQs Couldn't have discovered all 300 cards without them. The members of GameFAQs' Final Fantasy Legend 2 board, because they kick @$$. And to my family and friends who can stand to put up with me on a daily basis. ..I still don't know how they do it. 8^P -= Contact =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Kaz Fact: The author of this FAQ can be found @ www.GameFAQs.com under the FINAL FANTASY LEGEND II Board section, where he has harassed the local posters of the for the past 3 or 4 years under the name of "Hasukawa Kazuya(a)". (A Bonus-kun if you recognize the pseudonym.) If you can't visit the boards, feel free to flame me via e-mail. Corrections & helpful suggestions are more welcome though. -= History =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- v1.00- Tentative release: Somewhen Spring 2005. Actual release: Summer 2005 My personal Cardlist filled with my own nifty comments. This is more of a personal compendium which I am publically releasing rather than a cardlist. v1.01- Added note on Batsu's "Boiling Blood". Correction for guy/Gai. v1.02- Grammer fixes. Modified glossary. Correction in GUY's ability. Correction for Akari's Ponta Leaf. Correction for many descriptions. Added additional decks. I think that's it...! -= Contents -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Jump to each chapter by searching their for their number ("0.", "I.", etc.) This is only a Card Guide to help you construct your own deck; for rules on how to play the game, read the in-game help books or other FAQs. # | Title | What you'll find --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.| Glossary of Terms | Explaination of the language and symbols I use I.| SNK Cards | The numerical listing of SNK Characters II.| Capcom Cards | The numerical listing of Capcom Characters III.| Common Card Teams | Some low-level 'teams' you #should# keep together IV.| Action Cards | The numerical listing of all Action Cards V.| Decks | Pre-arranged decks -= 0. GLOSSARY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Card Number [Rarity] Card Name * * BP value of card * * SP value of card * * Backups who are accepted * * Who the card can Help * * Special Ability (if any) and []-type or /\-type or ()-type* * My personal Comments * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rarity: [D] Very common; weak and low ability [C] Common; middle-power level card; powerful or balanced [B] Uncommon; powerful, balanced, good ability [A] Rare; very powerful, balanced, great ability [S] Super-rare; has an unusual ability or great BP Value: "Low" 300 BP or less, 1 SP or less, or a BP/100 & SP total of 5 or less "Med" 400-500 BP, 2 SP, or a BP/100 & SP total of 6-7 "Good" 600-700 BP, 3 SP, or a BP/100 & SP total of 8-10 "High" 800+ BP, 4-5 SP, or a BP/100 & SP total of 11+ Rating: * Poor and/or Junk; drop as soon as you can ** Low-level card; useful early on or in rare situations *** Decent card; good to use before late game when heavier-hitters appear **** Excellent card; get it, get a lot of it, and use it ASAP ***** Top-notch; use this card and abuse your opponents « Half a star; if I can't be precise about a rating Stages in your Game: "Early" Before you get your 2nd medal "Mid" When you get 2-3 medals "Late" When you have 4-5 medals "Post" After you own all 6 medals Letters After Name (A) Street Fighter Alpha version (B) Breath of Fire version (C) Chivalry (or SLASH from Samurai Showdown) version (T) Treachary (or BUST from Samurai Showdown) version (S) Speed (Akari from Last Blade) version (P) Power (Akari from Last Blade) version (P) Plain-clothes (only for Kyo & Morrigan) Hand The cards in your hand Trash The Discard, Junk, or Trash pile; as a verb, to discard something Deck The cards left in your deck; as a verb, to shrink a deck United A combined/combo attack between 2 or 3 characters Bruiser A character with high BP, but gives low (or no) SP Weenie Also, weiner. A weakling. A sap. A patsy. Chizuru & Tessa can only be obtained through Versus mode of Savestate edits. Geese Howard, Blue Mary, Mr. Karate, Shiki, and Maxima are SNK exclusives. Mech Zangief, Karin, Alex, akira, and Red Arremer are Capcom exclusives. -= I. SNK CARDS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- S001 [B] Terry BP: 1000 SP: 3 Backup: Andy, Ryu Helps: Andy, Blue Mary, Ryu () Terry Rush Keeps character out of Freeze Phase after he attacks. (****«) This is the card you make your deck around if you own the SNK version of the game. Terry is the better of the Bogard Bros. because of his immensive BP levels and Terry Rush, which means he can both attack AND remain unfrozen to defend in case the opponent has someone left. NOTE: Terry's ability does NOT mean he can never be Frozen. Terry just doesn't freeze after attacking. S002 [B] Andy BP: 800 SP: 3 Backup: Terry, Mai Helps: Terry, Mai /\ Shadow Slicer Randomly selects one enemy card from their hand and discards it. (****) A strong card with 800 BP and 3 SP, Andy Bogard also has a great ability in removing a card from the enemy hand. It's random, so you may or may not screw them up; but at the very least, it's annoying. S003 [B] Joe BP: 700 SP: 4 Backup: King, Adon Helps: Adon [] S-Upper Draw 2 cards from enemy's deck and trash them. (****) Another Legendary Fighter, another [B] card. The man of Mui-Thai has great stats: his BP is good and his gives a high amount of SP. On top of that, the threat of using Joe's Screw Upper will indeed screw with your opponent. Loosing two cards can be devastating in two ways: (1) They could've been strong cards, and (2) you end up "decking" your opponent faster. If you they start their turn and can't draw any more cards, they lose the game. S004 [C] Mai BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Andy, Yuri, King Helps: Andy, King, Ayame [] Morph Discard your hand and pick same number of cards you discarded plus 1. (***«) Mai's ability is nice if you think your hand is junk and want more cards, but her staying power comes from her 600 BP, which is fairly high for a [C] card. S005 [B] Billy BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Eiji, Kim Sue Il Helps: Krauser, Geese, Eiji /\ Shrike Drop See enemy's cards. If they have any AC cards, you can discard 1. (****) Hitman and bodyguard Billy Kane is a highly valuable card. He has high BP (700), gives a decent amount of SP (2), and has a great ability: it gives you a great view of the enemy's hand PLUS lets you junk one of their ACs (if they have any). As another bonus, Billy is a helpful teammate throughout the entire game: Early on, you can back him up with Eiji & Kim Sui Il. Later on, Billy can back up Geese & Krauser. S006 [C] Kim BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Galford, Kim Sue Il Helps: Hon Fu, Chan, Choi, Lee Rekka, Kim Sue Il, Kyoko, Hideo None (***«) Another strong card, the superhero-esque Kim, destroyer of Evil and protector of Justice, has a whopping 700 BP; that's a very high amount for a [C] rank character. Kim also gives 2 SP which is also nice. He'll be seeing a lot of action for a good chunk of the game until you find cards with good special abilities. S007 [C] Duck King BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Bob, Kyoshiro, Dee Jay Helps: Bob, Kyoshiro, Dee Jay, Birdie /\ Duck Dance Raise 1 teammate's BP by 300. (**) A good low-level card to have, Duck King is the equivalent of having an Awakening AC in your hand with the plus side of being a 3 SP-giving character card. Duck King could play back-up to any of the 4 cards listed, but if there's room, you should play Duck King to boost the BP of a stronger card and then back Duck King up. S008 [C] Blue Mary BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Terry, King, Charlotte Helps: Kasumi, Charlotte [] M.Arachnid Keeps one Frozen character Frozen for another turn. (****) I've graded Mary a half-star higher out of pure bias. Just wanted to say that first. Blue Mary is a good card: 500 SP and 3 SP are all good stats to have. She is also an excellent card to have for her Mary Arachnid: the built-in version of the "Double" AC effect. You sacrifice Mary's turn to keep an enemy heavy-hitter frozen another turn. And when Mary recovers (if she hasn't been hit with Double), she can KEEP that heavy-hitter stalled ANOTHER turn. And ANOTHER. (until you feel like it, or unleash Evil Ryu on them). Mary works better if you have Double, Yamazaki (her old KoF '97 team- mate) or Rimururu/Rimnerel (T) or else you have to wait for the enemy to be frozen after an attack to M.Arachnid them. S009 [D] Hon Fu BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Kim, Kazuki, Fei Long Helps: None None (*«) Early in the game, Hon Fu will have decent BP and give you a good amount of SP. Past that stage he doesn't help anyone. S010 [D] Bob BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Duck King, Dee Jay, Elena Helps: Duck King, Kyoshiro, Dee Jay, Elena None (*«) A very simple card, standard in all respects except for the fact he can back-up a variety of better characters. S011 [A] Yamazaki BP: 800 SP: 2 Backup: Goenitz, Mature, Vice Helps: Chong Shu, Chong Lei, Mature, Vice /\ Face Off Freeze any other character than this one. (****«) 800 BP, 2 SP, and can Freeze an enemy character once he's played. First, he's got very good stats. Second, his ability is most useful near the end and beyond since you can open a path to the enemy's HP and you've got strong cards ready to attack. Third, is the warning. NOTE: Yamazaki WILL Freeze someone when he enters. If there is NO ONE in the enemy ring, he WILL freeze a teammate. If there is no one in the ring except himself, no one gets frozen. If you target an already-frozen card, nothing will happen (they do not get un-frozen, and they do not get "Double Frozen"). S012 [C] Chong Shu BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Yamazaki, Chong Lei Helps: Chong Lei [] Fogey Fists KO's one other character in your ring. Add their BP to Chong Shu. (***) I like him. Good stats and his ability can clean your ring of dead weight. Or even clean your ring of people with annoying abilities. Or just clean your ring of strong characters so you can play even stronger characters. The only downfall is if Chong Shu gets sent back to your hand, he looses all those BP he gained. S013 [C] Chong Lei BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Yamazaki, Chong Shu Helps: Chong Shu None (**«) A good card if you find him early. 600 BP is great to have early on, and he even gives 1 SP. S014 [C] Rick BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Rob Python, Balrog, T.Hawk Helps: Alfred, Rob Python, Balrog, T.Hawk None (*«) A weak [C] or a strong [D], Rick's 500 BP is good enough on his own. S015 [C] Xiang Fei BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: Hsien Ko, June, Mai Ling Helps: Alfred, Kasumi, June, Mai Ling None (**«) A great card to have early on, her 400 BP is decent and her 4 SP is a great addition. Even though Xiang Fei doesn't have a special ability, she provides great support (to Capcom cards no less). S016 [D] Alfred BP: 200 SP: 2 Backup: Rick, Xiang Fei, Falcon Helps: Falcon () W-Rider Let this character attack the turn he was played. («) Good ability, crappy card. Even if Alfred was the first card played, 200 BP is just weak. NOTE: W-Rider does NOT let Alfred partake in United Combo attacks. S017 [D] Tsugumi BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Kensu, Akari (S), R Mika Helps: R.Mika None (*) A weak card. That's it. S018 [A] Krauser BP: 1200 SP: 5 Backup: Billy Helps: None None (*****) 1200 BP #and# 5 SP is special enough. Krauser & Mech Zangief are the only two cards that have such high stats in both areas, but Krauser can be obtained from battle in either game. All decks who want 5 SP characters should have 3 Krauser and/or 3 M. Zangiefs. And if you really want your opponent to "quake in fear", threaten to play Billy or use him as a backup! S019 [S] Geese BP: 1500 SP: 0 Backup: Billy Helps: None None (****«) No SP gain, but Geese has 1500 BP #and# can be backed-up by Billy! SNK verison players can win Geese repeatedly, unlike Capcom version players who must either trade for either Zero Akuma or Geese Howard. S020 [B] Ryo BP: 900 SP: 2 Backup: Robert Helps: Robert, Yuri, Mr.Karate, guy, Takato, Rob Python, Dan, Makoto [] Spirit Surge Discard 1 AC card from hand to gain 1 SP for each card left in hand. (****) A high BP should instantly turn your head. Too bad Ryo has only one back-up, and he's a waste as a back-up. His special ability can give you some extra SP which might be helpful, but it's more potent if you have a Dregs & Last Resort combo (which will turn your entire deck into your discard into your hand). S021 [C] Robert BP: 700 SP: 1 Backup: Ryo, Kensu, Akari (S) Helps: Ryo, Yuri None (***) A good heavy-hitting bruiser to have, especially alongside Ryo. Kansai-accented Robert Garcia is a notch above many strong-arms in that he at least gives 1 SP. S022 [C] Yuri BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Ryo, Robert, Takuma Helps: Mai, King [] Bring it on! Lower's enemy's SP by 3. (***) Yuri Sakazaki is a good edition to a Josei themed deck. She has nice BP, gives fair SP, and her ability can be pretty useful early on. Losing 3 SP could prevent the enemy from using a strong AC or a United combo attack. S023 [C] Takuma BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Heidern, Saishu Helps: Yuri, Saishu None (***) Another member of the Sakazaki clan in excellent standing. 500 BP is a good, and he gives 4 SP which is even better. Keep him with Saishu in your deck and the Old Dads of KoF Team is very formidable indeed! S024 [C] Mr.Karate BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: Ryo, Dan Helps: Mr.Big, Tam Tam, Dan, Makoto [] M.I.A. Shuffles deck after this card is returned to deck. (**«) The good: the mystery kogenryu has 700 BP. The bad: he gives no SP. Mr.Karate is someone hard to get a handle on. On the one hand, he is undeniably powerful for the first 2/3 of the game and if he's weakened in the ring, he can re-shuffle himself into your deck. That ability is hard to gauge; while he's strong, re-entering the ring doesn't give you and more SP. But, if your deck needs a wall and you don't have enough Zangief cards, Mr.Karate can fit the bill nicely. Or at least until you meet Hanzo. S025 [B] King BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Mai, Yuri Helps: Joe, Mai, Blue Mary, Kasumi, Charlotte, Kojiro, Adon, AKIRA, Rouge /\ Dealer Discards entire hand to pick 1 card from your deck. That card is your new hand. Shuffle deck. (**«) I love this Mui-Thai kickboxing bar-owner (as do about 9 other cards - possibly a support record), but her ability is somewhat #annoying#. It's great that you can pick any card you want from your deck to put in your hand (unlike the Management AC which works only for ACs or Saki which only works for characters), but it'll cost you your entire hand. Unlike Saki & Management, you don't have to show off which card you picked. If you can live with that, then King is a great card to have. Not only will you get a card you may desperatly need, she has 600 BP and even gives an SP. Plus, you may want this KoF Women's Team captain of six consecutive years just for back-up purposes. S026 [D] John BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Mr.Big, Guile Charlie Helps: Mr.Big None (*) Just another "John McFlunkie" of Mr.Big. 400 BP isn't particularly bad for the start of the game, but only giving 1 SP? S027 [D] Lee Pylon BP: 200 SP: 5 Backup: Genan, Choi, Vega Helps: Genan, Chin Gensai, Vega, Gen, Lee None (*«) 5 SP is good for a weakling that can still back up Genan & Vega. S028 [C] Mr.Big BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Mr.Karate, John Helps: John None (*) This man was a feared underworld boss. He was a sub-boss in AoF. How the mighty have fallen. I have no idea how a sub-par character with no strong friends to even back-up got a [C] rank. S029 [D] Eiji BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Billy, Hanzo, Zantetsu Helps: Billy, Zantetsu /\ Prophecy After seeing your deck's top 3 cards, rearrange them in any order. (*) Ninjas are cool. Eiji is a ninja. Eiji should be cool, right? Not quite. Two of the three guys who back him up are twice as strong. His ability, while nice to see what you can draw next, might not be worth it to call him to the field as this AoF assassin only has 300 BP and only 2 SP to give. Eiji can at least be back-up fodder. S030 [C] Kasumi BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: Blue Mary, Xiang Fei, King Helps: Takato [] Overlap Crunch Discard 1 Action card from hand to damage your enemy for 300 HP. (***) A great card to have. If Kasumi could help more people, she might've gotten a better grade. Her 400 BP is OK, but her 4 SP is great and her ability turns any AC into a free Grenade. S031 [A] Haohmaru BP: 1000 SP: 1 Backup: Charlotte Helps: Ukyo, Jubei, Charlotte, Shizumaru () Iron Slice Attack cuts through opponent, damaging your enemy's HP. (*****) Haohmaru is a one-man wrecking crew, and that's when he's sober! Iron Slice makes Haohmaru a walking United combo attack. His slash will cut down the enemy, and if Haohmaru has any BP left, he will then damage the enemy directly! Imagine the damage he could do when powered up? S032 [D] Ukyo BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Haohmaru, B.B. Hood Helps: B.B. Hood () Dwindling Life KO this character at the end of the turn if he attacks or counters. (***) Poor, poor dying Ukyo. Coughing up blood is definetly not a good sign. Ukyou still offers you a lot: 2 SP and 700 BP are nothing to cry about. Are you still worried about this samurai's dwindling spirit? Remember that there are several cards (Anakaris, Substitute, ESP) that can remove his ability, and if you have enough SP (or Tooptadon), combo Ukyo with someone in a United attack (which suspends his Ability). Or just Raw Shield Ukyo's BP for HP. S033 [B] Hanzo BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Jubei, Kenji Helps: Eiji, Jubei, Washizuka, Zantetsu, Kenji [] Dust Cloud Returns this character to hand. (***«) Much better upgrade to Mr.Karate. Hanzo comes in and gives 3 SP, defend and attack perhaps, and then POOFs back out with his own personal Escape ability only to come back in down the line with his 600 BP to bear. Superior in every way, Hanzo even makes a better team with Jubei than Mr.Karate & Dan. S034 [D] Galford BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Nakoruru (C), Rimururu/Rimnerel (T), Rush Helps: Kim, Nakoruru (C), Nakoruru, Lee Rekka, Rush /\ Hey Poppy! Draw one card. (*«) Not terrible to have at the very beginning because of his draw 1 bonus. His stats are pretty low, but he and his dog Poppy can at least back up some decent characters. S035 [A] Nakoruru (C) BP: 600 SP: 4 Backup: Galford, Rimururu/Rimnerel (C) Helps: Galford, Rimururu/Rimnerel (C), T.Hawk, Elena /\ Balm of Nature Recover 500 HP. (****) Best healing card ever. With this rare card, Kensu, Rimururu (C), Raw Shield, and even Grace are almost redundant. Nakoruru isn't a shabby fighter either; with 600 BP and a whopping 4 SP points, Nakoruru is good to have in the field. Chances are though, you won't be receiving help from her rather weak back-ups or even consider using her as back-up yourself. S036 [B] Nakoruru (T) BP: 600 SP: 4 Backup: Rimururu/Rimnerel (T) Helps: Rimururu/Rimnerel (T), J. Talbain () Shikuroo's Fang At the end of your turn, all frozen enemy characters take 200 damage. (****) Equally as good as her chilvarous goody-two-shoes counter-part, Bust/Treachery (how did SNK US come up with BUST & SLASH?) Nakoruru packs a mean offensive punch: any enemy found frozen weakens itself 200 BP thanks to her wild wolf. Great to place after an enemy attacks or after something like Puppet, Yamazaki, or Rimururu (T)'s Konril! Play multiples of her and watch the damage from Shikuroo stack! S037 [S] Nakoruru BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Galford. Rimururu/Rimnerel (C) Helps: Rimururu/Rimnerel (C), T.Hawk [] Mamahaha Call Draw one card. (***) Not too shabby a card. A little weak considering she is an elusive [S] rank. The original Nakoruru (with trained falcon) has good stats and can allow you to draw a card anytime you like, but by the time you get her, one card & 500 BP may not matter too much. S038 [D] Rimururu/Rimnerel (C) BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Nakoruru (C), Nakoruru, Shizumaru Helps: Nakoruru (C), Nakoruru, Shizumaru, Sasquatch [] Wind Whisper Get 100 HP. (**) A fair card to get before you hit mid-game. She and Shizumaru make an OK team, but Rimururu's main attraction is that she can give 4 SP while still holding a passable 300 BP. Her ability, Wind Whisper, however, is a joke. 100 HP? Who're you up against, Al & Iven? S039 [B] Rimururu/Rimnerel (T) BP: 500 SP: 5 Backup: Nakoruru (T) Helps: Galford, Nakoruru (T), Sasquatch [] Konril Freezes 1 enemy character. (****) Now THIS is an upgrade. Rimururu (T)'s stats are much better than her Chilvarous counter-part, and her ability is a lot more serious too. Konril may not seem like much, since the enemy will recover when it's their turn, but if you already have a heavy-hitter waiting in the wings, then this may open up a path directly to the enemy's HP. Or you can use Konril in conjunction with Evil Ryu, Blue Mary, or Double. Even if you don't Konril someone, 500 BP and an amazing 5 SP are still great for your ring. S040 [C] Jubei BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Haohmaru, Hanzo, Ryoma Helps: Hanzo, Washizuka, B.Hayato, Ryoma None (***) No special abilities doesn't mean you should overlook this 600 BP [C] card. A great team can be formed from both Jubei and Hanzo, and this wisened samurai also brings 2 SP. A great card for the mid-level game before the 1000 BP cards become commonplace. S041 [C] Charlotte BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Blue Mary, King, Haohmaru Helps: Blue Mary, Haohmaru, Rain None (**) A few [D] cards have the same (or better) stats than Charlotte does, but hers are still fair and she can back some heavy-hitters. S042 [C] Kyoshiro BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Duck King, Bob, Dee Jay Helps: Duck King, E.Honda, Dee Jay /\ Warrior Dance Raises BP of all your characters (even himself) in the ring by 100. (**) A very solid card for your early deck. 3 SP is a lot then, and 300 BP should be decent. The 100 BP boost for your entire ring is like a cheap Showtime knock-off, but it's free. S043 [D] Genan BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Lee Pylon, Choi, Vega Helps: Lee Pylon, Mukuro, Vega [] Peeping Kay! See enemy's hand. (*«) Until Billy Kane drops into your lap, or you stockpile Stifler cards, Genan will be the one peeking at your opponent's hand. This alone makes this Shiranui (yup) tribesman worth holding early on. S044 [D] Tam Tam BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Mr.Karate, Cham Cham, Shishiou Helps: Cham Cham None (**) Another generic big-man wearing a mask, but he's the better of the 3. Tam Tam has nothing exceptional, no great ability of his own, but he has a good 500 BP, which is pretty good in the early goings, and he can get back-up from a few common cards. S045 [D] Cham Cham BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Tam Tam, Felicia, Al and Iven Helps: Tam Tam, Hayate, Felicia, Al & Iven None (*) This cute mascot carries her own mascot (Tam Tam's cursed form)! Too bad all Cham Cham is good for is back-up fodder, but she's really good at it with 3 strong choices. S046 [D] Genjuro BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: Amano, Rikou Helps: Shiki (C), Amano, Rikuo () I knew it!!! Character cannot perform counter-attacks. (*) A very high BP for a [D] card, but his ability is a pain (defense is important) and he gives no SP. You could consider a Substitute or ESP or even Anakaris card for your deck, or just use Ukyo [D] instead. S047 [D] Nicotine BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Gaira, Retsu, Donovan Helps: Gaira, the Ump, Retsu, Donovan () Exorcism Card Disables all characters' [] abilities. (**) The monk known as Caffiene Nicotine isn't just a funny name. He's also a decent [D] card. 300 BP is passable and the 4 SP is plentiful, but being able to stop attacks like M.Arachnid and S.Dynamite? The hardest part is giving Nicotine a rating; his stats are good in the early and mid-game, but his ability is more useful in annoying people in the mid-game and beyond, when they have all those [] abilities that can screw you over like S-Upper. Nicotine is still a good low-level card, and you can always use Anakaris to mute everyone's abilities. NOTE: This will prevent YOUR characters from using [] abilities too. S048 [B] Shizumaru BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Haohmaru, Rimururu/Rimnerel (C) Helps: Rimnururu/Rimnerel (C) [] Midsummer Rain KO this character. Both players discard their hands. (***) Good stats on this card make Haohmaru's student worthy of holding during mid-game. His ability is a bit iffy; generally you should use it when you have few useful cards in your hand, hoping to take out something natsy the enemy may be storing. S049 [D] Gaira BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Nicotine, Retsu, Donovan Helps: Nicotine, Juzo, Retsu, Donovan /\ Shout! Ends all characters' Freeze Phase. (*) A fairly poor card. 400 BP isn't shabby, but he only gives 1 SP and his Shout! will awaken even your opponent's frozen cards, allowing them to defend your attacks. There are only 2 reasons to have Gaira. You have a lot of cards with [] abilities, they'd get to use them twice in a round if you play Gaira (same if you used a Fight! card). Or you have him back-up some of the less "blah" cards. I'd rather have Kyoko or a Fight! AC. S050 [D] Basara BP: 200 SP: 3 Backup: Taizan, Guile, Remy Helps: Taizan, Remy None («) Remember kids, revenge is worthless and so is Basara. There are many [D] cards that provide better BP, SP, help, or all three. S051 [C] Kazuki BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Sougetsu, Ralf Helps: Hon Fu, Sougetsu, Kagami [] Imbroglio KO's character. Decreases a random ring character's life by 500. (**«) A decent mid-level card. 600 BP offsets his single SP, and he can help his brother Sougetsu. Kazuki's explosive ability is a bit of a gamble unless he was the only character in your ring. It's a great way to go out if he's weakened though, doing 500 BP of damage to (hopefully) one of their cards. S052 [B] Sougetsu BP: 700 SP: 3 Backup: Kazuki, Rikuo Helps: Kazuki, Rikuo /\ Frigid Smirk Skips enemy's next draw phase. (****«) High BP, good SP, and his ability will annoy your opponent to no end. Sougetsu is a great addition even after beating the game. Early on, you can even bolster his BP with any Kazuki & Rikuo cards you have. S053 [C] Shiki (C) BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Genjuro Helps: Asra [] NRG syphon KO one of your characters to gain 200 HP. (***) A very good card, 500 BP and 4 SP is really nice for a [C] card. This hot mamacita's ability is also... nice. She can clean your ring of weaklings while recovering your HP. S054 [B] Shiki (T) BP: 600 SP: 5 Backup: Asra Helps: Asra () Yuga's Spell Raises cost for Action Cards by 3 for both players. (***) Stronger than Shiki (C), but her ability is a double-edged attack. Great if you have a cache of SP and your opponent doesn't, or if you don't have many ACs and they do. This does not affect the cost of United attacks. NOTE: Having more than 1 Shiki (T) in the ring COMPOUNDS their abilities. 6 Shiki (T)'s would mean the cost of ACs rises by 18! S055 [D] Asra BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Shiki (C), Shiki (T) Helps: Shiki (T) /\ Rising Evil Draw one discarded card, return it to deck, and shuffle deck. (***) Highly useful card for a LONG while. Not only does Asra have a decent 400 BP and 2 SP, his ability immediately recovers any AC or character back into you deck. NOTE: Even if you have nothing in your trash pile, playing Asra will still shuffle your deck. S056 [D] Taizan BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Basara, Guile, Remy Helps: Basara None (*) Not bad. A respectable card that has no friends (outside of Basara). Taizan, by the way, comes from the NGPC Samurai Showdown/Spirits. S057 [C] Amakusa BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Zankuro, Orochi Helps: Zankuro, Orochi /\ Give Yourself KO all other characters in your Ring. +3 SP for each KO'd character. (**) A decent character, though he wears a rather flamboyant costume, he's a boss. No idea why he and Zankuro are a good team in this game. You might see similarity between Amakusa and Bishamon; they are best used to clear your ring of weenies. You can also use Amakusa when your ring is empty too. S058 [C] Zankuro BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: Amakusa, Bishamon Helps: Amakusa, Bishamon None (**) A 700 BP wall. Not as bad as Genjuro, but not quite Mr.Karate. It's a lot of BP for a mid-card character, but no SP is annoying. S059 [B] The Ump BP: 100 SP: 5 Backup: Nicotine, The Ump, The Ump Helps: the Ump, the Wanderer, Akari, Twelve () Mystic Disables this character's attacks & counterattacks. Yup. («) Kuroko is a being of few words. And here, a being of fewer actions as well. The Referee (not to be confused with Mr. Referee of "Medabots") nets you 5 SP if you don't want to use him as someone's back-up, and is best the target of Double KO cards, Substitute cards to stop your opponent's counter-attack, or just fodder for someone like Amakusa or Rose whose abilities requires a sacrifice. S060 [S] Kyo BP: 800 SP: 1 Backup: Shingo Helps: Benimaru, Daimon, Shingo, Kagami /\ Orochi Wave Decreases enemy's life by 500 HP. (****) A strong card with a powerful ability; you should grow familiar with Kyo as he renders character abilities like Saishu's obsolete. I still prefer Kyo's alternate card... S061 [S] Kyo (P) BP: 700 SP: 3 Backup: Shingo. K' Helps: K' /\ 182 Ways Lowers enemy's or an enemy character's HP/BP by 300. (****«) Plain-clothed Kyo is much more versatile than regular Kyo in that he can decimate the enemy or weaken their lines. Kyo (P) still has a high amount of BP and even offers more SP which is why I keep him and not his flaming counter-part in my deck (unless I'm making a direct-damage themed deck). S062 [B] Benimaru BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Kyo, Daimon Helps: Daimon [] Thundergod Fist Lower's his and one selected enemy character's BP by 500. (***) Do you understand? The karate-man from Japan who concentrates more on his style and his street-fighting than his classes has 600 BP which puts him up there as a heavy hitter. He could use more SP, but his ability can make up for it in that he can use it twice if he survives long enough, or as a desperation attack to weaken (or wipe out) a character. Funny why Beni isn't helping out every female card here ala KoF98. S063 [C] Daimon BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Kyo, Benimaru Helps: Benimaru None (**) Just like in the KoF games, Daimon & Benimaru help each other out while Kyo plays primma-donna with Iori. 500 BP is good early on, but Daimon takes a backseat to those with unique abilities later. S064 [C] Heidern BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Leona, Ralf, Clark Helps: Takuma, Leona, Ralf, Clark, Saishu, Rolento () S-Bringer Steal up to 3 SP if this character directly damages the opponent. (***«) The Ikari squad leader should be a favorite among the SNK version players. In fact, Heidern can be instrumental in your early and mid-game decks. 600 BP is a good start, and he can be backed-up by many good common cards to keep his strength high. Even after his teammates leave your deck, Heidern is still someone to be reckoned with, especially since Heidern can drain SP from your opponent, no matter how weak he gets. S065 [C] Leona BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Heidern, Ralf, Clark Helps: Heidern, Ralf, Clark /\ X-calibre Decreases 1 other character's life by 200. (***) Leona's ability is very handy: cut someone on the other side down a notch. She also makes good back-up fodder along with her Ikari comrades; all except Heidern have 400 BP. It doesn't really matter who gets on the field first (although Leona and Heidern obviously have the nice abilities you want to exploit), they can all back each other up. NOTE: Be careful when playing Leona. If there are no enemies, Leona WILL have to attack a teammate. She can be played when the field is empty, but her ability won't activate. S066 [D] Ralf BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Heidern, Leona, Clark Helps: Kazuki, Heidern, Leona, Clark None (**«) Early on, Ralf & Clark really do form the ultimate cross-changers. 400 BP and 3 SP are a good combination, especially for a [D] card. Read Leona's review to see that these Ikari warriors are probably the best team at the start of the game. They can even survive nukes! S067 [D] Clark BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Heidern, Leona, Ralf Helps: Heidern, Leona, Ralf None (**«) No Ikari team would be complete without the wrestling antics of this bespecled grunt. Ralf & Clark are the best [D] team out of the game: they can back each other and they can back more powerful cards. Expect to hold onto at least one copy of this duo during mid-game. S068 [C] A.Asamiya BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Kensu, Chin Gensai Helps: Kensu, Chin Gensai, Ibuki [] Psycho Charge Raises SP 3 pts. (***«) A great card, this pop-star/fighting idol has 600 BP to attack with and can use her ability to generate SP. Athena Asamiya can sit out churning SP as well as get in there and knock some heads all mid-game. S069 [C] Kensu BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: A.Asamiya, Chin Gensai Helps: Tsugumi, Robert, A.Asamiya, Chin Gensai /\ Meat Muffin! Gain 200 HP. (***) Sie Kensou is a solid addition to your mid-game deck. He has slightly less BP than Asamiya, but slightly more SP. Kensu's biggest draw is that he let's you gain 200 HP as soon as he enters (almost enough to overcome a Grenade), but he can also be Athena's shining knight. S070 [D] Chin Gensai BP: 200 SP: 5 Backup: Lee Pylon, A.Asamiya, Kensu Helps: A.Asamiya, Kensu, Gen, Lee None (**) He brings 5 SP to the table, but also backs up the rest of the Psycho Soldiers, A.Asamiya and Kensu. If you have those two, might as well keep Chin. S071 [D] Chan BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Kim, Choi Helps: Choi None («) A convict "recruited" (drafted) by Kim in his crusade against evil. His name is missing a 'G' at the end and his card is just overall lacking. He's a lot more menacing in the KoF games. S072 [D] Choi BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Kim, Chan, Vega Helps: Lee Pylon, Genan, Chan, Vega None (*) Another weak card, Choi is sub-par in terms of stats. He can back-up some stronger cards though. S073 [C] Saishu BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Takuma, Heidern Helps: Takuma /\ Exorcism Decreases enemy's life by 200 pts. (**«) He doesn't even help his own son. It's OK, Kyo is much better than him in every respect. Saishu will still give you an edge in the early-game. S074 [C] Shingo BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Kyo, Sakura Helps: Kyo, Kyo (P), Sakura, Sean [] Burning Shingo Decreases his and another character's BP by 300. (**) Kyo's #1 fan gives pitiful SP and has only passable BP, but he can help many good cards and his ability is good early on. Chances are, Shingo can get two of them in before he's KO'd. Shingo is, in every sense, a weaker Benimaru. S075 [S] Chizuru BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: None Helps: None [] Contain! Discard 1 AC from hand to remove 1 character's ability AND reduce their BP to 100. (***) One of, if not the best "discard an AC from hand" ability there is; it's too bad Chizuru herself is a fairly weak card. Funny why this Shinto priestess doesn't help Kyo & Iori though. S076 [C] Iori BP: 1000 SP: 0 Backup: None Helps: Setsuna () Blood Contract Disables this character's counterattack. (**) A little hard to grade. Yagami's BP is incredibly high, which offsets my general disregard for 0 SP cards, but his ability is horrible! S077 [A] Yashiro BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Shermie, Chris Helps: Shermie, Chris /\ Counterblow Returns one other character to its original owner's hand. (*****) Team Orochi LIVES. Yashiro is one of the greatest cards available since he can set up a strong offense, stall the enemy, AND he has very good stats himself. The Orochi of the Earth is great to use to open up a path to the enemy's HP, to send a powered up character back into their hand, to out-number your opponent, or even to send a wounded/useful ally back to your own hand to reuse (ie: KYO or AKUMA). Try not to send back a card like Akuma back to your enemy though. NOTE: Yashiro MUST activate counterblow if there are other cards in the ring. If the enemy has no cards, you must then target your own. Yashiro can still enter if both sides are empty. S078 [B] Shermie BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Yashiro, Chris Helps: Yashiro, Chris /\ Be Gentle to Me Disables enemy character's attack in next enemy turn. (***«) A one-sided version of the Glare Off AC. The Orochi of Wild Lightning is a useful card to have in your hand the entire game. She has good balanced stats, especially +3 SP to your pool, and her ability can buy you an extra turn if you're being overwhelmed. S079 [D] Chris BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Yashiro, Shermie Helps: Yashiro, Shermie None (**«) Rounding out Team Orochi, the speedy Orochi of FIRE. I've given him an extra half-point because he works interchangably with Yashiro [A] and Shermie [B], although they're less common than he is. S080 [C] Goenitz BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Mature, Vice Helps: Yamazaki, Mature, Vice None (***) A very good card to have, he's going to be a resident tough-cookie for your mid-game deck with 600 BP and 3 whole BP. Plus Goenitz can give/receive back-up from Mature/Vice plus giving to Yamazaki. Without a special ability though, he won't last into the end-game. S081 [S] Orochi BP: 1000 SP: 0 Backup: Amakusa Helps: Amakusa /\ Sanity Reduces each player's SP to 0. (***) I don't like "bruiser" cards; cards that are high in BP but don't give SP. There is a balance though. 1000 BP more than makes up for Orochi's lack of SP, although his ability can be annoying if you need to use SP yourself. S082 [D] Mature BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Yamazaki, Goenitz, Vice Helps: Yamazaki, Goenitz, Vice None (**«) A good card to have early on, she makes a good team with Vice and Goenitz, plus she can back Yamazaki as well. The Ikari team are still better, but the Servants of Rugal are a good "Plan B". S083 [D] Vice BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Yamazaki, Goenitz, Mature Helps: Yamazaki, Goenitz, Mature None (**«) Just like Mature, these vixens are virtually interchangable. They have decent stats, and are a highly valuable team early on with Goenitz. S084 [A] Wild Iori BP: 1000 SP: 0 Backup: None Helps: Setsuna /\ Kurf KO's one character with 800 or more BP or Wild Iori gets KO'd. (****) 1000 BP and the ability to KO a strong enemy. If W.Iori gave SP, he'd really be insane. Your end-game deck should have one or two. Wild Iori is somewhat less useful than Akuma since Akuma is indiscriminate about who he KO's and won't KO himself if there's no one else out there. S085 [B] Wild Leona BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: None Helps: None /\ Awakening Damage 1 character 400 pts. (or this one if another is unavailable) (**«) Slightly more powerful than Leona, the Orochi version does double damage upon entering and has 100 BP more, but gives no SP and is not very team-friendly. Plus, if no one is available for Awakening to hit, Wild Leona nearly kills #herself#. S086 [A] K' BP: 700 SP: 3 Backup: Kyo (P), Maxima Helps: Kyo (P), Maxima /\ Unstoppable Decreases all other characters' life by 300 BP. (***«) K' is a weird card. He can do more harm than good if you have 2 cards on your own field, so make sure the opponent has a full court before using K'. Best time to use him is either when you have no one or want to get rid of your own weiners and can leave your opponent with weakened cards. Not quite Mega Crush, but hey, it's free. S087 [C] Maxima BP: 600 SP: 0 Backup: K' Helps: K' None (*) Characters that give 0 SP really go against my grain. Worse if they have no ability. Maxima only works with K', which bars his card from being in my decks. Maybe you'd like a limited 600 BP [C] bruiser with no SP; personally, I'd pick Heidern or Goenitz any time. S088 [D] kaede BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: KAEDE, Akari (P), Akari (S) Helps: KAEDE, Moriya None (***) An excellent card to have a lot of early on. 4 SP will help and 400 BP, even at the middle of the game, is decent. S089 [D] KAEDE BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: kaede, Akari (P), Akari, (S) Helps: kaede, Moriya () Power Match Uses up 2 SP at the beginning of your turn, every turn. (*) The powered up version of the Last Blade duelist, KAEDE is very strong for a [D] card, but it may end up costing you 4-6 SP to play before KAEDE falls or breaks through the enemy defenses. If you think you can end the game faster, include one in your deck. Personally, if I'm going to put that much SP down, may as well use Bloodia. S090 [C] Moriya BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: kaede, KAEDE Helps: None None (***) Like kaede, Moriya has good stats; slightly more BP and less SP. Despite the fact that Moriya doesn't help anyone, he still should be a common card in your deck for the first half of the game. S091 [S] Akari (P) BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Juzo Helps: kaede, KAEDE, Juzo [] 100 Demon Night KO's all characters in the ring, including this one. (****) Z-force said it best: The ultimate reversal-of-fortune card. Giving 4 SP is a bonus considering she can turn a one-sided fight in your favor by eliminating everyone in the ring before you play your next card. Her stats aren't as high as Haggar's [A], but Akari (P)'s ability is much stronger. Your opponent won't be able to get their characters back unless they have something like Laundry or Lilith. S092 [B] Akari (S) BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Juzo Helps: Tsugumi, Robert, kaede, KAEDE, Juzo [] One-Way Morph Discard 1 character from hand with a /\ ability and activate it. (***) A valuable card for her stats and her friendliness more than her funky ability. Akari (S) has strong stats just like Akari (P), but helps more cards out, so it is useful to have a few in your deck. Akari (S)'s power is probably best used on weaker cards (like Gen or Asra or Galford) which might not be in your deck after awhile. Sometimes, especially if your side of the ring is full, you may want to dump a strong card from your hand just to use their ability, like Wild Iori's Kurf. If you back-up Akari (S) with Juzo and then One-Way Morph Sakura, you've just bumped Akari (S)'s BP up to 1600. And then One-Way Morph another Sakura to potentially launch her BP to 3200! Your HP must be 1000 or less to do this of course. If you had some spare Daigo cards and your enemy's ring was full... S093 [D] Juzo BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Gaira, Akari (P), Akari (S) Helps: Akari (P), Akari (S) None (*) He can back up both Akari (P) and Akari (S). S094 [C] Washizuka BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: Hanzo, Jubei, Kojiro Helps: Kojiro None («) 500 BP is only moderate, no SP, but helps out a decent card though. S095 [C] Kojiro BP: 400 SP: 5 Backup: King, Washizuka, AKIRA Helps: Washizuka, AKIRA None (***) A great card to have mid-game. 5 SP is a lot and 400 BP is decent. Problem is, Kojiro doesn't have any special ability, but is at the least interchangable with AKIRA and Washizuka. S096 [D] Amano BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Genjuro, Hibiki Helps: Genjuro, Hibiki None (*) All-around weak, but he can back-up two decent cards. S097 [D] Mukuro BP: 200 SP: 2 Backup: Genan, L.Raptor, Zombie Helps: L.Raptor None («) Worst. Card. Ever. Look at his stats. Look who he can help. Look! S098 [D] Lee Rekka BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Kim, Galford, Fei Long Helps: Fei-long, Yun, Yang, Wang Tang None (*«) A subpar card, but forms a nice team with Yun, Yang, and Fei-long. S099 [D] Zantetsu BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Eiji, Hanzo, Kenji Helps: Eiji None («) He and Eiji would make a great team. Too bad they're junk. S100 [C] Shigen BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Shishiou, Leo Helps: Shishiou, Leo () Steel Bulb Nullifies extra damage when he counter-attacks a Unified attack. (*«) His ablity is exactly like Makoto's for the Capcom side, but I feel she's stronger than this Last Blade fighter. Shigen's ability is nice, absorbing all the damage and protecting your HP from a Unified Attack, but stat-wise he's just average and could use better friends. S101 [B] Kagami BP: 700 SP: 1 Backup: Kazuki, Kyo Helps: None [] Phoenix KO this character and get 100 HP for each card in hand. (***«) A very strong card with a worthwhile ability to use when he's low on BP. Kagami is useful in your mid-game deck just for his 700 BP. S102 [D] Hibiki BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Amano, Chun Li, Chun Li (A) Helps: Amano, Chun Li, Chun Li (A) None (*«) For her to make it all the way from Last Blade to Capcom vs SNK 2, it must mean Hibiki has something good to offer. Sort of. As a [D] card, she has good stats. She has interchangable back-ups. For all this, Hibiki's 4 SP are still her best contribution. S103 [D] Setsuna BP: 600 SP: 5 Backup: Iori, Wild Iori Helps: None /\ Life Sign Discard 1 Character card from hand or KO Setsuna. (**«) HIGHLY valuable early on, a bulky 600 SP #and# 5 huge SP for the cost of a weakling in your hand. If you sacrifice a 300 BP card, you still come out on top since it would be the same as playing a 300 BP card and powering them up instantly. S104 [B] The Wanderer BP: 100 SP: 0 Backup: The Ump, Twelve Helps: /\ Change! Choose an enemy character in their ring. BP becomes the same. (***) Hagure Hitogata is a powerful card to have if your opponent has a lot of heavy-hitters in their ring. The Wanderer can then become a wall to stop an attack, or an offensive force for you to strike back with. Even though the Wanderer gives no SP, it can surprise your opponent after they've played (or powered-up) a strong card. S105 [S] Akari BP: 500 SP: 5 Backup: The Ump, Twelve Helps: Tsugumi, Robert [] Ponta Leaf Discard a character from your hand. Akari's BP is that of the card. (***«) A rare card to get (since you have to trade for it), but her ability pretty much means she has almost infinite BP. 5 SP points is also a good deal with her 500 BP. If you want to use Akari's ability to its fullest, keep your hand filled with high BP 0 SP cards like Geese or Bloodia and use them when Akari's current BP's running low. S106 [D] Hayate BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Cham Cham, Rosa, Kim Sue Il Helps: Carol, Rosa None (*) Your SNK game might see him early at the start. Being a Kizuna/Fuun character, Hayate's stats aren't anything to write home about, but he has lots of interchangable [D] back-ups. S107 [D] Carol BP: 200 SP: 4 Backup: Hayate, Rosa, Kim Sue Il Helps: Rosa None (*) Like Hayate, Carol will probably be plentiful early on. There, she's good back-up fodder or a quick 4 SP. S108 [D] Rosa BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Hayate, Carol, Kim Sue Il Helps: Hayate, Carol, Kim Sue Il None (*«) A good, balanced card to have at the start of the game, Rosa also has a lot of interchangable back-ups. S109 [D] Kim Sue Il BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Kim, Rosa Helps: Billy, Kim, Hayate, Carol, Rosa None (**) 500 BP is good for a [D] card. Kim Sue Il also makes a great pair with Kim and Rosa while helping a great deal of other cards. S110 [D] Shishiou BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: Shigen, Leo Helps: Tam Tam, Shigen, Leo None («) The Boss of the turf battle, Lion King is the weak link among a decent circle of friends. Each one of them has 500 BP, but only Shishiou offers no SP bonus. S111 [D] guy BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Ryo, Takato Helps: Takato () Lonely Ring Add 200 BP to him each time he attacks alone. (*«) Early on, guy (Gai) is decent. His balanced stats are worth it, and he makes a great team with Takato. This BURUKI-ONE king also gets a decent 500 BP attack (if he's the only one on your side attacking). NOTE: Gai can be a persistent attacker, constantly gaining BP and attack many times before he's worn out; or if weaker AIs aren't paying attention, powering up endlessly. S112 [D] Takato BP: 300 SP: 5 Backup: Ryo, Kasumi, guy Helps: guy None (*«) One of the better 5 SP giving cards at the start of the game. He and guy (Gai) make a good team at the start of the game. S113 [D] Rob Python BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Rick, Ryo, Balrog Helps: Rick, Balrog None («) Moderate BP, no SP, and a poor choice of help? Junk. S114 [D] Eri BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Tarma, Marco, Fio Helps: Tarma, Marco, Fio, Cathy None («) Ah, the Metal Slug troupe. If you had all of them in your hand... they'd still be pretty worthless. S115 [D] Tarma BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Eri, Marco, Fio Helps: Eri, Marco, Fio, Roddy None («) With all the early SNK arcade icons in your hand, you'd need an "Activate!" AC and 4 SP to use them all. S116 [D] Marco BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Eri, Tarma, Fio Helps: Eri, Tarma, Fio, Roddy [] Enemy Chaser Discards hand. All characters but him get 100 damage for each card. (*) The only decent one of the sad six (team Metal Slug & Top Hunter) with a special ability. It pretty much says if you have the other 5 in your hand, chances are you'll use Enemy Chaser to dump them all for damage instead of gradually playing them on your field. Still, Marco has passable stats though. S117 [D] Fio BP: 200 SP: 4 Backup: Eri, Tarma, Marco Helps: Eri, Tarma, Marco, Cathy None (*) Fio gives 4 SP, but is part of a very weak family of cards. S118 [D] Roddy BP: 200 SP: 3 Backup: Tarma, Marco, Cathy Helps: Cathy, Dhalsim, Necro, Anakaris None (*) You might consider this treasure seeking Top Hunter as back-up fodder... until you look at who they back-up. S119 [D] Cathy BP: 200 SP: 2 Backup: Eri, Fio, Roddy Helps: Roddy None («) Not even as back-up fodder. If you have to include her in your deck, at least keep some Fio cards in there too. S120 [B] Athena BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Michelle Helps: Michelle () Flame Sword This character always does 600 damage when attacking your opponent directly even if she has fewer/more than 600 BP. (***«) Very useful offensive ability. Even if this Psycho warrior has low BP, she can sneak past the CPU defensive line and still do 600 damage. If you don't recognize her costume, it's from the classic Athena arcade/NES game, and sometimes her alternate costume during SDMs. -= II. CAPCOM CARDS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- C001 [S] Ryu BP: 1000 SP: 3 Backup: Ken, Terry Helps: Oro, Terry [] Shinku Hadoken Discard 1 AC from hand. Do 500 damage to any one character. (****) Strong BP, good SP, and if he's weakened, tapping him to do 500 damage (after discarding an AC) is a kick-ass bonus. C002 [C] Ken BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Ryu (A), Sean Helps: Ryu, Ryu (A) () Rage Wave Keeps character out of Freeze Phase, even after attacking. (***«) Very useful ability, good BP; if Ken had more SP, he'd be ****. As is, Ken will see a lot of action until Terry arrives. C003 [B] Chun Li BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: Hibiki Helps: Cammy, Hibiki /\ S.B. (Spinning Bird) Kick Uses all SP; all characters in play (except herself) go to 100 BP. (***) Her ability, which can be done with 0 SP, makes up for her average BP. It hits your side too, so it's still best used when the opponent has a full field, reducing their fearsome numbers to wastes of space. Because she drains ALL your SP, Chun Li is the most annoying of equalizers more than anything else. C004 [B] Guile BP: 700 SP: 4 Backup: Charlie Helps: Charlie, Remy, John, Basara, Taizan () S. (Somersault) Kick Neutralizes all /\ abilities. (***«) Guile is one of the strongest pains-in-the-ass of the game. Excellent stats, Helps a lot of people, and Guile has his very unique ability that can help or hurt you. It allows you to bring someone like Wild Iori or Bloodia out early, at the same time preventing enemies from using things like Kurf or Balm or Counterblow. Just keep in mind that Guile also prevents YOUR characters from doing them too. Paired up with Caffine Nicotine and no one can do ANYthing. C005 [D] E.Honda BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Sodom, Kyoshiro Helps: Sodom None (*«) Decent mid-level card; good BP and he's common too. C006 [D] Blanka BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Dan, Sakura, Sasquatch Helps: Dan, Sasquatch None (*«) Weaker than E.Honda, but can back-up better cards. C007 [D] Dhalsim BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Necro, Anakaris, Roddy Helps: Necro, Anakaris /\ Enlightenment View the top card of your deck; choose to put it at the bottom or not. (**) A good low to mid-level card. His ability is neat, but not always useful. His stats are still solid for a mid-level game until you get stronger characters. C008 [C] Zangief BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: R.Mika, Haggar Helps: Birdie, R.Mika, Alex, Victor, Mech Zangief None (***«) A very strong contender, Zangief is good enough to still be in your deck late in the game. Very good BP and decent SP, just like Ken, but you'll feel better stacking R.Mika as a helper. C009 [C] Balrog BP: 600 SP: 0 Backup: Rick, Rob Python Helps: Rick, Rob Python None (*) I don't like people who give 0 SP unless they come with a special ability of some sort. Balrog the Boxer doesn't fall there. His 600 BP is the only thing that deserves a look, but there are many [C] cards with 600+ BP that give SP as well (Huitzil, Ken, Zangief). C010 [C] Vega BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Genan, Choi, Lee Pylon Helps: Genan, Choi, Lee Pylon None (**«) A very solid card to have due to his balanced (and decent) stats and the fact he has common back-ups. C011 [B] Sagat BP: 1000 SP: 2 Backup: None Helps: None /\ True Power Both Players reveal hands, then discard all Action cards in hands. (***) By his stats alone, Sagat is a very powerful card, HOW-EVER, his ability is something to pay attention to. It's nice to make an opponent loose all their ACs, and seeing their hand is nice, but remember that you too show your hand and loose your ACs. C012 [B] M.Bison BP: 800 SP: 4 Backup: Cammy (A), Juni, Juli Helps: Cammy (A), Juni /\ Evil Charisma Shuffles deck after adding ONE Juni & ONE Juli card to your hand. (****) One "Activate!" card from turning into a 1400 point monster, and he brings just enough SP to activate it. The evil overlord has excellent stats & brings his own back-ups; if there's any downside, it's that Bison reshuffles your deck even if you don't have any Juli/Juni cards in there. Late in the game, or after the game, you shouldn't need Juni/Juli cards. C013 [D] Dee Jay BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Duck King, Bob, Kyoshiro Helps: Duck King, Bob, Kyoshiro None (*) Dee Jay is a pretty simple and straight-forward card: Weak BP, fair SP, but he can back-up a lot of decent low-level people. C014 [D] T.Hawk BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Rick, Nakoruru (C), Nakoruru Helps: Rick, Juli, Elena None (*«) Very decent. His BP isn't "low" and gives a good amount of SP. Not worth it to be backed-up, but he can be used to help others. C015 [D] Fei-Long (I don't care if its "Fei-Ling" in this game) BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Wang Tang, Hon Fu, Lee Rekka Helps: Yun, Yang, Wang Tang, Hon Fu, Lee Rekka None (*«) A decent card, decent BP, good amount of SP, he can back-up a good variety of people, and gets back-up from a good deal as well. C016 [D] Cammy BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Chun Li, Chun Li (A), Sakura Helps: None None (*«) She has no special skills and helps no one. Cammy has weak BP, but above-average SP. Not bad to use for some quick SP early on. C017 [D] Cammy (A) BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: M.Bison, Chun Li, Sakura Helps: M.Bison, Juli, Juni /\ Spy See top card of enemy's deck and choose to put it on the bottom. (*«) She offers less SP than her regular counter-part, but has an annoying ability that should be fun to try out early on. C018 [A] Akuma BP: 800 SP: 0 Backup: None Helps: Zero Akuma /\ Shun-Goku-Satsu KO's 1 character (not himself) upon entering. (*****) One of the best character abilities ever, hands down. High BP is also a great plus. You always want to have 2-3 in your deck simply for the ability to decimate enemy ranks no matter how tough a card they have out (unless Guile or someone else with Somersault Kick is in play of course). There is a balancing force, however. (1) Akuma gives 0 SP. (2) Akuma has no friends. (3) Akuma MUST KO a character when entering the ring. If your opponent has an empty ring, Akuma must KO one of YOUR characters. If your ring is also empty, nothing happens. C019 [D] Ryu (A) BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Ken, Sakura Helps: Ken [] Hado-ken Discard 1 AC from hand. Do 200 damage to any one character. (*«) Early on, Ryu (A) will be a decent card to have for his stats alone. His ability is only useful if he's near death and you have an unhelpful AC in your hand. There are other characters with better rewards for losing an AC, and even more with better abilities. C020 [S] Chun Li (A) BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Charlie, Hibiki Helps: Cammy, Cammy (A), Charlie, Hibiki /\ Sorry! See the top 3 cards on your enemy's deck and choose 2 to discard. (****) A decent card with a very useful ability; the ability alone #may# warrent the rarity level. Not only do you view the opponent's top card, you also get to get rid of some potentially harmful cards in the process, especially in the late/post game. With Pester and Joe, your opponent can loose much of their deck. I always like having one in my deck. C021 [B] GUY BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: None Helps: Rose, Cody, Haggar () Haya-Gake When there is only one enemy card left, they cannot counter-attack GUY if he attacks, but can counter anyone else who is attacking. (**«) Do not be confused with "gai" from SNK's BURIKI-ONE. GUY is a decent low/mid-level card with a very useless ability. Enemy characters cannot counter GUY, but they can counter anyone else who is attacking. There are mainly 2 opportunities to use this ability: (1) When you go first and play GUY as your first card, the enemy must play Shermie to stop your attack. Or (2), when the enemy has fewer HP than GUY has BP and only one available defender. Guy does not receive help and doesn't give enough SP on his own to use Awakening after being played. If you get lucky and manage to play GUY on your first turn, Duck King on your 2nd turn, AND have an Awakening AC, GUY can then do 1100 direct damage that turn. The only reason I don't give GUY (**) for his stats alone, is that he can back up strong characters. C022 [B] Rose BP: 600 SP: 5 Backup: Guy, Rouge Helps: Rouge /\ Tarot Card Draw 4 Cards, then discard 3 from your total hand. (****) Overall, Rose is very good, especially for an uncommon [B]. She has great stats, both good BP and high SP, plus a funny ability. It helps you work through your deck faster and can get rid of any unhelpful cards you may have been holding before you played her. I like to have 1-2 Roses in my deck, but I also like to have Shopping just in-case I have to throw away something useful. C023 [C] Charlie BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Guile, Chun Li (A) Helps: Guile, Chun Li (A), John None (***) Charlie is a very good, balanced character, even with no abilities. C024 [D] Sodom BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: E.Honda, Rolento, Damnd Helps: E.Honda, Rolento, Damnd None (*) Decent BP, but poor SP and weak friends. You can do much better. C025 [D] Birdie BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: Zangief, Mech Zangief, Duck King Helps: None None (*) No SP and he can't even be used to back someone else up. And the three he has for back-up are better played on their own. C026 [D] Adon BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Joe, King Helps: Joe None (*) The upstart Mui-Thai gives you 3 SP, but can barely take a hit. He would be suited better as a back-up for Joe if anything. C027 [B] Dan BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Blanka, Ryo, Mr.Karate Helps: Blanka, Karin, Mr.Karate /\ What Gives? Decreases enemy's SP by 6. (***) Doshta Doshta? He is the MAN for he is DAN.. OYAJII~! A decent mid-level character who has a nasty special ability. Later, -6 SP won't be so much when stronger characters start giving 4-5. C028 [C] Sakura BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Hinata, Shingo Helps: Blanka, Cammy, Cammy (A), Ryu (A), Karin, Sean, Ibuki, Hinata, akira, Shingo /\ Sakura Fight BP doubled if player's life is at 1000 or less. (***«) Sakura will be a staple in your deck for a LONG while, moreso if you have the Capcom version. Sakura, normally, is pretty strong, but if you can use her when you're low on life mid-game or during 2000 HP fights, then you're solid. Sakura is also one of the most helpful people in the game, check out how many people she can back up! That's 10, more than even SNK's King! However, Sakura is better off being played on her own. One of the best [C] characters ever. C029 [D] Gen BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Lee, Lee Pylon, Chin Gensai Helps: Lee /\ Changing School Returns all discarded AC to deck then shuffles deck. (*) The average deck should not be more than 30-35% ACs, and chances are, you'll want to have a specific AC card rather than just shuffling everything back in. In this sense, Gen is a pretty poor card you could replace with a Study or Shopping AC. C030 [D] Rolento BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Sodom, Damnd, Heidern Helps: Sodom, Damnd None (*) Like Adon, he's weak but gives 3 SP. If anything, he can back Damnd. C031 [C] Karin BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Sakura, Dan Helps: Rain () Hou-Shou Decreases enemy's HP 200 points when her attack is counter-attacked. (**«) I like her. Karin is pretty valuable early on in the Capcom version. Not only does she have decent stats for a mid-carder, she also has a good ability that stings the enemy's HP even if she can't get through. (her ability kicks in the instant the opponent counters) C032 [D] R.Mika BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Zangief, Alex, Tsugumi Helps: Zangief, Alex, Tsugumi None (*) The joke-character of SFZ3 is still here as comedic relief. No SP and only moderate BP relegate Rainbow Mika to back-up fodder for any Alex & Zang-o cards in your deck. C033 [D] Juni BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: M Bison, Cammy (A), Juli Helps: M.Bison, Juli None (*) A rather weak card, she only serves as back-up fodder for M.Bison. Juni & Juli can back each other if you don't have enough decent cards. C034 [D] Juli BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: T.Hawk, Cammy (A), Juni Helps: M.Bison, Juni None (*) Read "Juni". You should only have these two for M.Bison to instantly call them for back-up duty mid-game. After that, they're dead weight. C035 [C] Alex BP: 600 SP: 0 Backup: Zangief, R.Mika Helps: R.Mika () S. Headbutt When Alex hits the enemy directly, they can't use ACs their next turn. (*«) His ability makes him #slightly# more valuable than Balrog would be. C036 [D] Yun BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Fei-Long, Yang, Lee Rekka Helps: Yang None (*«) This young Twin Dragon barely offers anything to the table. He doesn't even help anyone out except for his brother. C037 [D] Yang BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Fei-Long, Yun, Lee Rekka Helps: Yun None (*«) Like Yun, the best thing they have going is that they work well together and can receive backup from other weak characters. C038 [D] Sean BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Sakura, Shingo Helps: Ken () Sore Loser Pick 1 card if you have less than the opponent at the end of the turn. (*«) A weak card with a decent trick and can back-up Ken. Sean's not too shabby if you're reducing your hand by burning through Action cards. C039 [C] Oro BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Ryu Helps: None () Tengu Stone BP increases by 100 each time enemy adds a card to their hand. (**«) Looks weak at first, but the longer he's out, the tougher he gets. If the enemy has "Sean" or uses "Lucky Kitty" or "Makeover", Oro gets stronger REALLY fast. Oro was great early on, always having 400 BP before defeating a 300 BP enemy (and Oro grew to 400 BP again). NOTE apparently being in a United Combo does NOT affect this ability. C040 [D] Elena BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: T.Hawk, Bob, Nakoruru (C) Helps: Bob [] Healing Discard one Action card in your hand to recover 300 HP. (**) A very good common card. Decent BP and good SP, plus a nice ability. The ability is really icing on the cake if you're hurting. Too bad she doesn't help too many people. C041 [C] Ibuki BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: Sakura, Hinata, A.Asamiya Helps: Kenji, Ayame None (**«) Like Vega, Ibuki is a well balanced card. Only fair BP, but gives a lot of BP and can use/be used as a back-up. Sakura, Hinata, and Ibuki are a fearsome trio, even if played seperately. C042 [D] Necro BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Dhalsim, Anakaris, Roddy Helps: Dhalsim, Anakaris None (*) Unless you really want to help out Dhalsim and Anakaris, I'd listen to the words of Jon Lovitz's Jay Sherman character: "It STINKS!" C043 [C] Makoto BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Ryo, Mr.Karate Helps: None () Yell Stops extra damage when she counter-attacks a United attack. (**«) A good character even if she doesn't help anyone. Her average stats and semi-useful special ability make her a contender. Like Gaira, Makoto can sacrifice herself to prevent a United attack from reaching your HP. C044 [C] Q BP: 500 SP: 0 Backup: Huitzil, Mech Zangief Helps: None None («) E.Honda [D] is better in every way. At least he helps someone! C045 [C] Twelve BP: 100 SP: 0 Backup: The Wanderer, The Ump Helps: The Wanderer, Akari () X.C.O.P.Y. When this character counters, BP becomes that of the attack. (**) Slightly better than Makoto or Gaira's ability to stop United damage. X.C.O.P.Y. would sacrifice Twelve to KO #all# the attacker(s). This in itself makes Twelve valuable in that it could stop a 4000+ damage United-attack.. but would the enemy even attempt that if they knew Twelve would KO all their cards? For a [C] card, you might want to try it out in the early goings of the game, but when you have 700+ BP attackers coming out to play, you probably want to put a character down to give you some SP too. C046 [B] Remy BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: Guile, Basara Helps: Basara, Taizan () Revenge BOTH players lose 1 SP for each card in their hand at the start of their turn. (**«) Not a bad 0 SP card. He's good for your deck if you think you can whittle down your hands quickly or if you're playing against someone who amasses lots of cards. If you don't plan on relying on United Combo attacks, you can monkey-wrench your opponents. Otherwise, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Remy does have good BP though. C047 [D] Retsu BP: 200 SP: 4 Backup: Donovan, Nicotine, Gaira Helps: Donovan, Nicotine, Gaira None (*) Four SP makes Retsu a decent starting card, and this old street fighter can be a good back-up. C048 [D] Lee BP: 200 SP: 3 Backup: Gen, Lee Pylon, Chin Gensai Helps: Gen None («) Ooh! Look here kids, THIS is a useless card! He's not even worth having in your deck for back-up purposes. C049 [S] Evil Ryu BP: 700 SP: 3 Backup: None Helps: None /\ Evil Energy KO's one character in Freeze Phase (****) He has no friends because he's EVIL. But he's not as evil as Akuma, so he has to KO people who are frozen. Still a very good card, 700 BP and 3 SP is very nice, and if no one is frozen, he can still be played. NOTE: Like Akuma, if the only frozen players on the field are on your side, Evil Ryu will KO one of his teammates coming in. C050 [C] Demitri BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Morrigan, Morrigan (P), Red Arremer Helps: Red Arremer [] Midnight Bliss KO one of your characters to draw 1 card. (***) Worthwhile stats and a neat ability that can rid your ring of weenies. I like drawing heavy hitters while making space to put them down. Like all "[] KO" abilities, Demitri can use it on himself. C051 [B] Morrigan BP: 700 SP: 5 Backup: Lilith Helps: Demitri, Lilith () Life Sucker Damage she does to the opponent's HP is added to your HP. (*****) Best. [B] Card. Ever. 700 BP, 5 SP, Drains HP. Amuse yourself. Not only is Morrigan exceedingly powerful, her ability is #fearsome#. When fighting against the CPU, try to protect and power-up Morrigan. When the enemy has only one defender, create two simultaneous attacks and force them to decide between Morrigan or another attacker. One strike from her and the tides of battle can change instantly, seeing as you've dealt great damage AND recovered a chunk yourself, doubling (or halving) the distance between you and your opponent. C052 [A] Morrigan (P) BP: 700 SP: 5 Backup: Lilith Helps: Demitri, Lilith [] Goodnight Kiss KO's one of your characters and raises your SP by 8. (****) A rarer card that's just as powerful as it's [B] rank coutnerpart, but not as dangerous. While KO-ing a weenie on your team for 8 SP is an #excellent# trade, it pales in comparison to gaining HP at the expense of your opponent. Still a powerful card to have in your deck. C053 [D] J.Talbain BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Felicia, Nakoruru (T) Helps: None /\ Seething Blood Randomly raises or decreases BP by 300. (*«) Too random for my tastes. J.T. does give you 3 SP, but I've seen him enter the ring at a paltry 100 BP just as often as I've seen him 'Gief-up to 700 BP. You may want him if you've got Guile in your deck to prevent Seething Blood, but by then 400/3 may not be impressive. More bad news for the feral Darkstalker: no one wants his help! C054 [D] L.Raptor BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Zombie, Zombie, Mukuro Helps: Hsien-ko, Zombie, Red Arremer, Mukuro None (*«) Zabal, Le Malta, they haven't treated you well. On the upshot, Lord Raptor makes a great tag-team with Zombies if an opponent sends the Zombie virus back your way. Plus, Raptor also backs up Hsein-ko and Red Arremer. C055 [C] Victor BP: 700 SP: 0 Backup: Zangief, Haggar Helps: None None (*«) He has no SP gains, but does have 700 BP. This makes him more valued than say, Balrog or Q. Victor is still not a good card because he can only receive back-up and not give it. Plus, the two people that provide Victor's aid have 700 BP and give BP. You'll still want some Victor cards early on due to their high BP. C056 [B] Felicia BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Al & Iven, Cham Cham Helps: J. Talbain, Al & Iven, Cham Cham [] Sidekick Art Randomly draw 1 Action card from deck. (***) A decent card overall. Felicia has good BP and decent SP, plus cheap back-up cards. If you don't have that many AC in your deck, chances are she'll draw a good one to your hand. Shortly after you stop holding Cham Cham and J.T. cards in your deck, Felicia'll probably be replaced as well. C057 [D] Sasquatch BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Blanka, Rimnerel (C), Rimnerel (T) Helps: Blanka None (*) Decent BP and little else. Works well with Blanka until Dan comes in. C058 [D] Bishamon BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: B.Hayato, Zankuro Helps: B.Hayato, Zankuro /\ Regretful Lop KO's all other characters in your ring. Gain 300 BP for each KO. (**) A pretty useful card actually. Great for coming in second or third, after you've played a weak card that adds SP, or for eliminating a weakened defender. Bishamon can still be played in your ring is empty. C059 [C] Anakaris BP: 600 SP: 0 Backup: Dhalsim, Necro, Roddy Helps: Dhalsim, Necro /\ J.O.T.P. All ring characters lose their abilities, including himself. (**) A very "screw you" card. You get a good 600 BP bruiser, and you get to eliminate any () [] (and /\) abilities your opponent's ring may be using to annoy you. NOTE that J.O.T.P. (Ouke no Sabaki) also affects YOUR ring characters. C060 [D] Rikuo BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: Genjuro, Sougetsu Helps: Genjuro, Sougetsu None (**«) Like Ibuki, a really great card, especially if you hold Sougetsu and Genjuro. I still don't know the origin of the name "Rikuo"/"Aulbath". C061 [C] Huitzil BP: 700 SP: 1 Backup: Huitzil, Huitzil Helps: Q, Huitzil, Proto Man, Zero None (**«) A good card, much like Zangief. Strong BP, still gives 1 SP, and has the benefit of helping a wide range of characters including himself. A good trio of cards until you get 3 Q.Bee's. C062 [B] Pyron BP: 800 SP: 2 Backup: Lucifer Helps: None () Cosmo Power +3 to SP at the end of your turn if yours is lower than your enemy's. (****) A great card to have at least one of. Early on, it's great to have a lot of to make use of his ability. Later on, the ability is more of a nicity, but his stats are still great. If you have more than one Pyron, his Cosmo Power stacks with itself. C063 [C] Hsien-Ko BP: 400 SP: 5 Backup: L.Raptor, June, Mai Ling Helps: Xiang Fei, Mai Ling None (***«) Xie xie! A very high valued card with 5 SP in addition to 400 BP. That's excellent for a [C] card, especially the SP boost. The Chinese Ghost also known as Rei Rei (and ofuda Lin Lin) also has a decent set of people who can back her up. Until you start dropping June & Mai Ling for Morrigan & Jin, Rei Rei should always try to appear thrice in your deck. C064 [C] Donovan BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Retsu, Nicotine, Gaira Helps: Retsu, Nicotine, Gaira [] Change Immortal Discard top card on deck to raise Donovan's BP by 300 pts. (***) Donovan's ability is rather risky since you might be tossing a good card. Hopefully you have cards to bring them back in case that happens. Even without using it, this Vampire Hunter is still a power- house with three good friends. C065 [C] Jedah BP: 500 SP: 4 Backup: Q-Bee, Lilith Helps: None () P.D.C. Draw one card when he damages enemy directly. (***«) The Jet Black Vampire Savior may not help anyone, but he is definetly one of the more useful [C] cards in the game. His P.D.C. (Prova di Cervo / Shimabe no Akashi) is a good power if he can get through your enemy's defenses. Another benefit is that he's another character that can be backed up by Q-Bee, who when played will search through your deck to add up to 2 Q-Bees into your hand (one for her, one for him!). C066 [A] B.B. Hood BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Ukyo Helps: Ukyo [] Apple for You KO's a single enemy character, then shuffle B.B. Hood into your deck. (****) A very, VERY kick-ass ability. It does randomize your deck some more, but the fact that you've just pulled a Double KO without spending SP #and# while keeping the bounty hunter sometimes known as Bulleta ALIVE so she can do it again has to warm the cockles of your heart. What prevents B.B. from getting a higher grade is that her stats are only above-average. Still though, even in the hard-hitting late game, getting a free KO is still getting a free KO. C067 [B] Q-Bee BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Q-Bee, Q-Bee Helps: Q-Bee, Jedah /\ Plus B Put all Q-Bees from deck into your hand. Shuffles the deck afterwards. (***«) A real hard worker; try to get more than one Q-Bee into your deck. Not only does she have 600 BP and 3 SP to give, her special ability let's her back herself up into a 1200 BP monster that much faster. Q-Bee can also back up Jedah, another good card. Even if you don't have a Q-bee left in your deck, playing her will shuffle your deck. C068 [D] Lilith BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Morrigan, Morrigan (P) Helps: Jedah, Morrigan, Morrigan (P) /\ Becoming One All discarded characters are shuffled back into the deck. (****) This is the one of the few 0 SP cards I really like, and a [D] rank to boot! Lilith is one of the best [D] cards early and late in the game because of her ability to "revive" all your fallen characters. She also has the nice bonus of being able to help Jedah and Morrigan, some heavy hitters throughout the game. With cards like Laundry and Shopping to pick up the odd AC in your Discard pile (and Lilith should she end up there), every deck could use 1 Lilith card. More than 1 may be overkill as you will be recycling some weaker characters too often. C069 [C] Hayato BP: 700 SP: 1 Backup: June, Ryu(B) Helps: June /\ Ashura Discards all ACs in hand, gain 200 BP for each discarded card. (***) Somewhat of a mixed blessing. While you don't show your hand off, you are forced to lose all the ACs in your hand when playing Hayato. On the plus side, 700 BP to start with is good already, imagine if you had 1-2 ACs in your hand? With Hayato in your hand, you may want to consider extra Shopping, Laundry, or even adding a Gen card into your deck. C070 [C] B.Hayato BP: 500 SP: 1 Backup: Bishamon, Ryoma, Jubei Helps: Bishamon, Ryoma None (*«) 500 SP is a decent amount, but he doesn't help anyone powerful and won't be strong enough past mid-game. Rather unimpresive stats for a [C] card and no special ability; regular Hayato is better. C071 [C] June BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Hayato, Mai Ling, Xiang Fei Helps: Hsien-ko, Hayato, Mai Ling, Xiang Fei None (**) June is a great average card. Decent stats and a diverse amount of cards she can back-up and get back-up from make this Star Gladiator a good candidate for your deck early on. C072 [C] Rain BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Karin, Charlotte Helps: None /\ Back off! After being placed, sends one character in your ring back to hand. (**) A decent card with a quirky ability. Rain can either be viewed as a pushy 600/2 bruiser or a field medic who shuffles the weak out of the ring. Early in the game, you can have Rain knock a weak or weakened ally from the field back into your hand and start powering her up with her 2 decent back-ups. Personally, with my style of playing, any weak cards in the field are better used as fodder. Rarely do I want to return a weakened power- house with an Escape AC unless they have a useful /\ ability. I try to use the weakened card to furthur weaken the enemy, with another strong card ready to enter as soon as the field opens up. Later on, Yashiro [A] will have the option of bumping off an enemy character OR your own, an infinitely more useful ability. If Rain is the only card in your field after placing her (you will get her 2 SP), you must choose her to return to your hand. C073 [S] Jin Saotome BP: 800 SP: 4 Backup: Blodia, Blodia, Blodia Helps: Blodia [] Saotome Dynamite KO this character, then KO 1 enemy character. (*****) A walking 800 BP Double KO card. Oh, and he also gives 4 SP. He is one of the more easily obtainable [S] cards (trading machine) and is one of the more powerful cards in the game. Get 3 of him in your deck ASAP. Jin can give and take damage, and if his BP gets too low, can KO himself, making space for another card, while taking an enemy down with him. C074 [D] Blodia BP: 1000 SP: 0 Backup: Jin Saotome Helps: Jin Saotome, Proto Man, Saki /\ Energy Cost After playing, you must have and loose 10 SP or this card KO's itself. (**) Somewhat hard to grade as Blodia is pretty useful after the game is over, when SP is plentiful because you have lots of rare or uncommon cards like Mech Zangief or Pyron. If you have Guile in play, Blodia can enter the ring with no consequence. At the very least, it makes a good back-up to Jin & Saki. C075 [S] Zero Akuma BP: 1500 SP: 0 Backup: Akuma Helps: Zero, Saki None (****) Special ability: has 1500 BP at the start. That's good enough for anyone to want one of these (or Geese) in their decks. I remember the fear I felt when facing this crazy monster in Cyberbots (Capcom's best robot 2D fighting game!), and you will too when you see it in this game. Even though it gives 0 SP, it's 1500 points of power and can be piloted by Akuma! If there is any downside to this, it's that Zero Gouki will be a big target for guys like Wild Iori, Evil Ryu, and Akuma himself (who you need to obtain Zero Akuma). C076 [D] Leo BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Shigen, Shishiou Helps: Shigen, Shishiou None (**«) Very nice for a [D] rank card. 500 BP is nice, and gives 2 SP to boot. C077 [D] Kenji BP: 300 SP: 3 Backup: Ibuki, G. the Ninja, Hanzo Helps: Hanzo, Zantetsu None (*) Like Rolento, Adon, and Dee Jay before, Kenji is a sub-par card who can at least back stronger characters up. C078 [S] Tessa BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Al & Iven, Mai Ling Helps: Al & Iven [] Solar Cane For this turn, the next AC card you use is free of SP cost. (*) Despite being the most well-known Warzard character, she's very weak. Despite her [S] rank, she doesn't even have a decent ability. It's nice that you can get a free AC use and conserve SP, but by the time you obtain Tessa, you probably won't need to. What's worse is that she can only be randomly won from a game-link VS battle. The only reason I can think of having her in a deck is if you build one around her filled with 0 SP characters, AC cards, and Saki. You never want to take the risk in filling your deck with AC cards though. What do you think would happen if your starting hand were all ACs? C079 [D] Al & Iven BP: 100 SP: 5 Backup: Felicia, Tessa, Cham Cham Helps: Felicia, Tessa, Cham Cham None (*) 5 SP and then they die. What do you expect from Tessa's cats? C080 [D] Mai-Ling BP: 300 SP: 4 Backup: Hsien-Ko, June, Xiang Fei Helps: Hsien-Ko, June, Tessa, Xiang Fei None (**) A card with decent stats that makes a great team with Hsien-ko, June and Xiang Fei. These four work well together and are all decent cards. C081 [C] Batsu BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Kyosuke, Hinata Helps: Kyosuke, Hinata () Boiling Blood All characters entering ring can use [] abilities right away. (***«) The three members of the Taiyo Gakuen are a good team, but Batsu & Kyosuke stand out more. "Burning" Batsu here has good stats and is pretty strong during mid-game as well as for being a [C] card. His ability is fairly obscure, but helpful at times. This can turn Rimururu/Rimnerel (T) into a cheaper Yamazaki, able to Freeze an enemy upon entering the ring. NOTE that this also affects your enemy too! C082 [B] Kyosuke BP: 600 SP: 3 Backup: Batsu, Hinata Helps: Batsu, Hinata () Cool Decreases AC card cost by 2 for both players. (***«) Like Batsu, this Rival School teacher has good stats, but his ability is double-edged. While you can play certain AC cards for 0 SP, so can your opponent if they have them. Between the two, Batsu might be the safer choice, but it's also helpful to have 0-cost ACs. C083 [D] Hinata BP: 300 SP: 2 Backup: Sakura, Batsu, Kyosuke Helps: Sakura, Ibuki, Batsu, Kyosuke, akira /\ Go for it! Raise 1 character's BP by 200. (**«) Hinata is a good card to have in your deck even after you get Duck King (who gives a 300 BP boost). Hinata is great to use as a "generic" back-up character, able to boost the BP of 5 good characters by 300 or any other character by 200 (when you place Hinata in the ring). C084 [C] akira BP: 500 SP: 5 Backup: Sakura, Hinata, Daigo Helps: Daigo /\ Brother Search Looks through deck from the top and put the 1st Action card you find into your hand. Discard all the cards you've looked through. (*«) A rather dangerous card to play since it may be long way down until you get an Action Card. Hopefully Lilith or Laundry Day is coming up so you don't loose half your deck. If you could bypass this ability, akira would be a great card to play. C085 [D] AKIRA BP: 400 SP: 3 Backup: Daigo, King, Kojiro Helps: Daigo None (*«) Decent stats, but this helmeted biker's sister doesn't help anyone but her brother. The three she can receive back-up from are all stronger than her. C086 [A] Daigo BP: 800 SP: 0 Backup: akira, AKIRA Helps: akira, AKIRA /\ Finish It! BP doubles when enemy has 3 characters in their ring. (***«) Potentially the strongest single non-enchanted character card. With both back-ups, Daigo would have 2200 by HIMSELF. Even without his ability activating, he's still an 800 BP beast (that doesn't give SP though). I'd rather have Krauser who starts with 1200 BP and gives 5 SP, but Daigo is definetly a force to be reckoned with. C087 [B] Kyoko BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Hideo, Kim Helps: Hideo /\ Massage Ends Freeze phase for all characters in your ring. (***) Good stats, but fairly weak ability. In essence, playing Kyoko is the same as playing a "Fight!" (another Justice Gakeun picture) card. To make the most of her ability, have your in-ring characters use their [] first (to freeze themselves) and then play Kyoko. C088 [C] Hideo BP: 500 SP: 3 Backup: Kyoko, Kim Helps: Kyoko None (***) The other Justice High teacher's stats are just as good as Kyoko's. C089 [B] Falcon BP: 700 SP: 2 Backup: Ayame, Rouge, Alfred Helps: Ayanme, Wang Tang, Ryoma, Rouge, Alfred [] Power Stone Randomly discards 1 card from your hand. Select one of your characters to receive 300 BP. (***) A strong card that gives decent SP. His ability is risky since it removes a card at random from your hand, but it turns that card into a free Awakening AC. C090 [D] Ayame BP: 200 SP: 5 Backup: Ibuki, Falcon, Mai Helps: Falcon () Ohka-Gakure At beginning of your next turn, she shuffles back into the deck. (**) Very valuable early on to give yourself lots of SP quickly when you don't mind rando-mixing your deck. A quick 5 SP and the next turn she auto-removes herself from the field (if she's still there) and into your deck. Later, when you pick up beefier cards that give SP bonuses, the Butterfly Illusion starts to become annoying. C091 [D] Wang Tang BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Fei-Long, Falcon, Lee Rekka Helps: Fei-Long None («) Barely passable BP, almost no SP, and he's not that great a helper. C092 [C] Ryoma BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: B.Hayato, Falcon, Jubei Helps: B.Hayato, Jubei None (*) Almost decent stats and can help out two decent cards. C093 [D] Rouge BP: 200 SP: 5 Backup: Rose, Falcon, King Helps: Rose, Falcon None (**) 5 SP is attractive, and she can back-up two good cards. C094 [A] Hiryu BP: 900 SP: 3 Backup: Option, Option, Option Helps: Option [] Cypher KO's one character who is receiving backup. (****) Powerful stats alone make Strider Hiryuu worthy of being in your deck. His ability is a great addition; it KO's a single character as long as they're being backed-up like the "Break Up" AC. Honestly, you probably won't use his Cypher (Zero) Blade that often, but Strider's 900/3 BP/SP should be enough. C095 [D] Option BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Hiryu, Option, Option Helps: Hiryu, Option () Support Allows entering characters to receive back-up (including itself). (*«) The ability is nice, but 400 SP and no SP hurts. Option is great in combination with the "Activate!" AC and either Q-Bee or M.Bison who summon their own Back-Ups upon entering. C096 [C] Cody BP: 500 SP: 2 Backup: Guy, Haggar Helps: Haggar None (**«) Final Fight players should know why Cody's not willing to help Guy. Cody is a decent heavy-hitter early on with 500 BP and 2 SP, but few friends means he won't stay in your deck after mid-game. C097 [A] Haggar BP: 700 SP: 3 Backup: Guy, Cody Helps: Zangief, Victor, Cody [] Spinning Lariat Returns all characters in ring back to their decks & shuffles decks. (****) Mayor Haggar has very good stats AND has a great ability that can turn the tide of a fight if you're being outnumbered. Activate his ability (which doesn't KO anyone) before you send in your new card. C098 [B] Damnd BP: 600 SP: 0 Backup: Sodom, Rolento Helps: Sodom, Rolento [] Whistle Draw a character at random from your deck and put it into your hand. (***) Faithful Damnd, his ability is pretty worthwhile if you've got lots of other strong players left if your deck you want out sooner. His 600 BP is good too, though I wish he gave SP. Grading Damnd is hard, since he's more useful if you've got a great deck, or else this will end up acting like he does in Final Fight: just calling in weak jobbers for your enemy to beat up. C099 [B] C.Commando BP: 700 SP: 4 Backup: G.the Ninja, M.the Knife, Baby Head Helps: G.the Ninja, M.the Knife, Baby Head [] Captain Corridor Freezes himself and then gives 400 damage to all Frozen characters. (***«) A very powerful card by himself, 700 BP and 4 SP is great for a[B] card, but his ability (sort of like the Crush AC) is a little iffy. You have to wait until the enemy does something (so they're still frozen your turn), but this is a great way to weaken several enemies at once. Cap.Com. might even be able to do it again and wipe them all out (possibly himself too) simultaneously. Still, a good card to consider for his BP/SP anyway. C100 [D] G. (Ginsu) the Ninja BP: 200 SP: 4 Backup: C.Commando, M.the Knife, Baby Head Helps: C.Commando, Kenji, M.the Knife, Baby Head None (*«) Weak, but he gives 4 SP and can back-up C.C. C101 [D] M. (Mack) the Knife BP: 200 SP: 2 Backup: C.Commando, G. The Ninja, Baby Head Helps: C.Commando, G. The Ninja, Baby Head None («) Worth. Less. I wouldn't even have him in my deck to back C.C. up. C102 [D] Baby Head BP: 200 SP: 3 Backup: C.Commando, G.the Ninja, M.the Knife Helps: C.Commando, G.the Ninja, M.the Knife None (*) Why are all of C.C.'s buddies, well, junk? At least Baby Head is tolerable as back-up fodder. C103 [B] Leon BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Claire, Jill Helps: Claire, Jill [] Confinement Stops use of ACs during the next enemy turn. (***) Good stats, decent power, a welcome mid-level card for any deck. C104 [C] Claire BP: 400 SP: 4 Backup: Leon, Jill, Saki Helps: Leon, Jill [] Decoy KO this character and draw 1 character randomly from deck. (***) A nice card overall. Claire has good stats, good teammates, and has a fair ability if she's weakened or if you think you have stronger cards left in your deck. The ability is a bit of a risk, but everything else is solid. C105 [C] Zombie BP: 200 SP: 0 Backup: L.Raptor, Zombie, Zombie Helps: L.Raptor, Zombie, Red Arrember, Mukuro [] Resident Evil KO's this character and turns another character into a zombie card. (*) A somewhat funny card. Zombies carry and infect enemy cards with their T-Virus (BioHazard, the Japanese name of the Resident Evil series), which means they can turn your cards into Zombies, which means you can use the T-Virus again... Eventually somebody decks themselves if no ACs are played. On the plus side, if you don't want to do this, you can just use them as back-up bait, or even back them up with other Zombies. C106 [D] Jill BP: 400 SP: 1 Backup: Leon, Claire, Saki Helps: Leon, Claire [] Beretta Damage one enemy character or enemy 100 pts. (**) I added the extra half-grade since she's part of a good team. Otherwise, she's got average BP, sub-par SP, and a weak ability. C107 [B] Mega Man BP: 600 SP: 5 Backup: Roll, Rush Helps: Roll, Rush, Proto Man, Mega Man X [] Enemy Ability Steal the ability of any one character card in the ring. (****) One of the greatest cards you can find early on. He gives a big 5 SP, has a nice 600 BP, which should really just be great on their own, but the Blue Bomber has one more trick up his arm cannon: he can steal, not duplicate, but remove the ability from the target card and give it to himself. This means that the 'bot formerly known as Rock could remove annoying abilities from your opponent, even [] Enemy Ability from a Mega Man. It could also remove annoying abilities from your own heavy hitters like Iori's () Blood Contract cutting the 1000 BP monster loose. C108 [C] Roll BP: 400 SP: 0 Backup: Mega Man, Rush Helps: Mega Man, Rush [] Roll Buster Decreases all characters' BP (including this one) 200 pts. (*«) Rock n'Roll isn't one of the game's stronger combinations. Roll is still fair to keep if you want to back Mega Man up. Her Roll Buster has the potential of hitting 3 enemies, but try to make sure you don't have that many on your side. Early in the game, 200 damage should really annoy the enemy. Later on, wait until you see Ryu (B). C109 [D] Rush BP: 200 SP: 2 Backup: Mega Man, Roll, Galford Helps: Mega Man, Roll, Galford None (*) Maybe for back-up would I include Mega's canine companion. C110 [D] Proto Man BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Huitzil, Blodia, Mega Man Helps: None None («) For someone who constantly gets the drop on Mega Man, he's awefully weak and his lack of helping others is just plain awful. C111 [C] Mega Man X BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Mega Man, Zero Helps: Zero [] Parts Change Discard 1 action card from hand and draw 2 cards. (***) Good BP and fair SP make X a decent addition to a mid-level deck. He makes a good team with Zero, too. X's ability pretty much changes any AC in your hand into Lucky Kitty. Useful if you need to sift through your deck faster. C112 [C] Zero BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Huitzil, Zero Akuma, Mega Man X Helps: Mega Man X None (**«) Like Mega Man X, Zero has good BP and decent SP. He can also receive back-up from Huitzil and can also back-up X. Nothing too special except Zero and X can back each other up. C113 [D] Arthur BP: 300 SP: 1 Backup: Arthur, Arthur Helps: Arthur None («) He can back himself up, but then, why not just get a 500/1 [D] card? C114 [C] Red Arremer BP: 600 SP: 1 Backup: Demitri, L.Raptor, Zombie Helps: Demitri, Lucifer None (**) A 600 BP [C] card, but it also gives 1 SP. Not much else to say from this Ghosts & Goblins fiend (who became a Gargoyle on a Quest). C115 [S] Lucifer BP: 1000 SP: 0 Backup: Red Arremer Helps: Pyron [] Sacrifice KO 1 character in your ring. Give its BP as damage to 1 enemy card. (***) 1000 BP is nice, even though you get no SP out of it. The flaming boss of Ghosts & Goblins basically has a Bopper AC at his disposal. The ability is best used to clear your side of the ring of weaklings. NOTE: Lucifer cannot KO himself. C116 [B] Ryu (B) BP: 800 SP: 3 Backup: Nina Helps: Hayato, Nina [] Transform Decrease all enemy characters life by 100. (****) A strong card to have, and a useful, if weak, ability to use. 100 BP is more of an annoyance since you shouldn't want to clear the enemy's ring of weaklings, but it's nice to have if Ryu (B) ever gets hurt. C117 [D] Nina BP: 400 SP: 2 Backup: Ryu (B), Michelle Helps: Ryu (B), Michelle () Wings Disable Counter-attack when you're out of cards (in your hand). (*«) She has decent stats and can back up Ryu (B). Her ability is less straight-forward. Much like Capcom's GUY, only if Nina is attacking is the enemy's counter-attack disabled, so it's nicer if she's powered up. I don't rely on this much. C118 [D] Michelle BP: 300 SP: 5 Backup: Nina, Saki, Athena Helps: Nina, Athena None (**) The Capcom Legendary Wings heroine of old, Michelle, gives you 5 SP and has passable BP. She can also back-up two nicer characters. C119 [A] Saki BP: 600 SP: 2 Backup: Blodia, Zero Akuma, Mech Zangief Helps: Claire, Jill, Michelle /\ Stand By Select 1 character card from deck and put them on top of the deck. Shuffle the rest of the deck. (****«) Every time Saki enters the field, she telegraphs your next card to the opponent and shuffles your deck. Still a good trade-off if you want to draw a person you really wanted for next turn. Her stats are pretty good as well. C120 [S] Mech Zangief BP: 1200 SP: 5 Backup: Zangief Helps: Birdie, Q, Saki None (*****) 1200 BP #and# 5 SP is special enough. Mech and Krauser are the only two cards that can do this, but only Capcom players may "naturally" get a Mech Zangief. Don't waste him as a helper, and he doesn't really need help unless you don't have anything better to do with Zangief: 1200 BP! 5 SP! -= III. COMMON COMBOS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- CAPCOM GAKUEN Hinata, Ibuki, Sakura, Shingo, Karin School-girl (except Shingo, sorta) theme. All very balanced and can help each other out a lot. Lots of useful abilities too. SNK BURNING SOLDIERS Ralf, Clark, Leona, Heidern Interchangable parts in a great machine. If you can manage to beef up Heidern, all the better. Or someone else and have Heidern sap SP. CHINESE MYTHOS June, Mai Ling, Xiang Fei, Hsien-ko Just as strong as CAPCOM GAKUEN, but without the special abilities. OROCHI RISING Yamazaki [A], Goenitz, Vice, Mature Discounting Yamazaki, this is similar to the Ikari team without special abilities. KUNG-FU FIGHTIN' Yun, Yang, Fei-long, Lee Rekka Much like Chinese Mythos, but with fewer SP. KIZUNA GANG Rosa, Hayate, Carol, Kim Sue Il A weaker version of the Burning Ikari Soldiers or Orochi Rising, with moderate characters. But they're stronger than team METAL SLUG. GHOST BUSTERS Gaira, Nicotine, Retsu, Donovan [C] The four make a well-oiled team; Retsu & Nicotine provide the SP, while Gaira and Donovan can provide the muscle. The team has a bunch of quirks though: Gaira's ability can help your opponent, Nicotine's can stop Donovan, and Donovan is a [C] rank. BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT Claire, Jill, Leon [B] The three are fairly strong and can slow the enemy down. OROCHI '98 Yashiro [A], Shermie [B], Chris A strong team, but Yashiro & Shermie may be hard to find. DUOS A.Asamiya, Kensou Kojiro, AKIRA Mega Man X, Zero etc. -= IV. ACTION CARDS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Rating: * Useless ** Useful sometimes, given the right situation; rarely used otherwise *** Probably use it a few times (maybe have 1 to turn the tide) **** Very useful; lots of occassions to use it (good to have 1-2) ***** Usin' it, usin' it, and usin' it again! (good to have 2-3) A001 [D] Fight! Cost: 2 Effect: Undoes Freeze Phase for all characters in your ring. (**) Not bad. If you have lots of [] characters, or get Frozen by your opponent a lot, Natsu & Shoma tells them to act again. A002 [D] Lightning Cost: 2 Effect: Keeps your characters out of Freeze Phase after attacking this turn. (**«) Essentially makes all your characters have Terry/Ken's () ability for 1 turn. A003 [C] Double Cost: 4 Effect: Keeps one already Frozen character Frozen their next turn too. (****«) Don't pity Kyo. This is great to stop a strong attacker who's just hit you from doing it again. Definetly have one of these in your deck if you have a Puppet AC or Yamazaki or Rimururu (T). A004 [B] Puppet Cost: 6 Effect: Freeze or un-Freeze a character. (****«) Thank the evil mastermind in RB: Fatal Fury for the versatility of stopping a character cold or awakening them to fight. A005 [D] Escape Cost: 3 Effect: Returns 1 of your cards to hand. (****) Useful to recover a powerhouse that's dying. Or to use it one someone with a useful /\ ability that you'd like repeated. If you're desperate for space, you can recall a weakling back into your hand. Much like image of G-2 chasing Sherry, it's best if you leave the wimp to go out fighting on the field. A006 [C] Peacemaker Cost: 6 Effect: Return a character of yours and of the enemy's to their owner's hand. (***) Ah, Tung Fu Rue making peace between two brothers. This can be a nice card to have if you want to recover a weakened card AND remove a strong card from your opponent's ring. Keep in mind, you don't want to give the opponent back a card with an annoying /\ ability or a card that gives lots of SP or a card you've significantly weakened. There are better card that you'll eventually see, but Peacemaker will be good enough in the beginning. A007 [B] Reparation Cost: 7 Effect: Returns any 1 character to hand. (****) Mary Miyabi might seem like an expensive version of Escape, but she also let's you shunt an opponent's character back to their hand. This card will probably be used later in the game, when you make the extra SP to spend. A008 [A] School's Out Cost: 8 Effect: Returns all characters to hand for both sides. (***) A semi-useful card. This lets you get a breather if your opponent is just out-numbering you on the field. Kyo's girlfriend Yuki is nothing more than a stall though since you probably know which characters your enemy will play down soon. A009 [D] Cover Fire Cost: 4 Effect: Decreases 1 character's Life by 300. (***«) Highly useful early on in the game where Chris & Rebecca can KO a 300 BP card in one shot, or severely wound a 400-500 BP guy. A010 [D] Bopper Cost: 4 Effect: KO's one of your characters to turn their BP remaining into damage against a character of your choice. (**) It's a cheaper way to clean your ring of unwanted characters than putting them in a United attack. Lucifer has this as a [] ability, but Dan & his Oyajii (Dad) let you use this before you find Lucifer. A011 [C] Chaos Cost: 5 Effect: KO's one character. Decrease all other character's life 300 points. (*«) For 1 SP more and a sacrifice to Rugal, this lets you use Cover Fire to injure everyone in the ring. Very uncontrollable unless you only have 1 character and the enemy has 2-3. You can cripple them before putting in a fresh guy. A012 [C] Grenade Cost: 5 Effect: Decreases enemy's life by 300 HP. (***) It's Super Joe (y'know, from from Commando) to the rescue with some straight-forward direct damage. I could think of better ways to spend 5 SP, but it's nice if you've got 3 of them in your deck. A013 [B] Mega Crush Cost: 7 Effect: Decreases all characters' life 500 pts. (**) A more powerful Chaos card that doesn't require a sacrifice. Though I'm pretty sure the guys in your ring aren't going to be pleased when a P-38 and Super Soldier (Unknown Soldier) comes crashing through. A014 [B] Earth's Pike Cost: 8 Effect: Decreases enemy's life 500 HP. (***«) Kouryuu offers a 66% more powerful grenade for 60% more SP. Good deal. A015 [D] Break Up Cost: 4 Effect: KO's any 1 character receiving back-up. (**«) Pretty nice. If someone gets back-up, call Geese's flunkies KO them. Once you own Strider Hiryu, you no longer need to reserve space in your deck for this. A016 [C] Nothingness Cost: 5 Effect: KO's all characters with 400 BP or less. (**«) It's nice to wipe away weaker cards on the field early on, but later you want to keep weenies on the field, at least for your opponent. But earlier in the game, Orochi almost acts like a cheap Slaughter AC. A017 [C] Double KO Cost: 6 Effect: KO's 1 of your characters to KO any 1 enemy character. (*****) Always wondered who would win between Lee Rekka and Yun. Wicked card you should almost always have in your decks. It let's a weak/weakened character take out a fresh opponent before they go. If you have Jin Saotome, you can afford to drop some of these. A018 [B] Seraphic W Cost: 6 Effect: KO's all characters with 500 or more BP (****) For one extra SP, Gill will appear instead of Orochi and KO the real heavy hitters of the field. This can take out the entire strong- arm of your opponent if you have nothing (or almost nothing) on your side. And when the field is devoid of bruisers, play one of your own. A019 [B] Fate Duel Cost: 7 Effect: Select 1 character on your side & 1 on their side. KO everybody else. (***«) A very specific Seraphic W, it can give you a strategic edge in the fight if you've left your opponent with only one character. Moreso if you haven't put down a character for your turn yet! Oh, and Iori is at a disadvantage if he's the defender to Kyo. A020 [A] Slaughter Cost: 8 Effect: KO's all characters in the ring. (***«) I find Seraphic W to be cheaper, but Slaughter is always a surprise. Better than Bopper or School's Out, everyone just gets trashed. A021 [D] Raw Shield Cost: 1 Effect: KO's one character and heals you by the amount of BP they had. (*«) Nakoruru is a cheap AC to use to clean your ring of weaklings, but unless you desperately need HP, I'd leave those weaklings to absorb attacks. A022 [C] Grace Cost: 5 Effect: Gain 500 HP. (***«) Good to have if you have (or your opponent has) Grenade cards. Sally will pray for you from her heart. Better than using Raw Shield. A023 [C] Abduction Cost: 0 Effect: KO's any # of your characters that you want. Gain 2 SP for each KO'd. (*«) Amakusa's ability in Amakusa's card. In case you ever use Amakusa. A024 [B] Psyche Up Cost: 0 Effect: Raise SP by 5 (****«) What's not to like about a card that gives free SP? So what if Hayato is beating it out of Batsu, I'm sure he's having fun. A025 [B] Hey! Hey! Cost: 5 Effect: Reduces both player's SP to 0. (**) Ryo. Dan. Together. If your deck isn't keeping enough SP, might as well screw the other player up. Still, I'd rather have Dan or Heidern or even Remy to drain your enemy's SP than this card. A026 [D] Heritage Cost: 0 Effect: KO any # of characters you have. Draw 1 card for each KO'd character. (**) A decent ring-cleaning AC to have, especially if you have to cycle through a lot of dead weight in your deck, may as well let Ryuhaku & Kasumi do it for free. A027 [D] Best Shot Cost: 1 Effect: See your top 3 cards. Choose 1 to add to hand and discard the other 2. (***) Ran & Yugumi can draw a useful card to your hand in a pinch, but hope you have a Revive or Shopping card in case you ditch a good card. A028 [C] Lucky Kitty Cost: 3 Effect: Draw 2 cards. (****) Highly useful until the end of the game. Having Pure & Fur cycle more cards into your hand is always helpful until you want to replace this card with heavier hitters like Akari (P) and Saki. A029 [B] Round 2 Cost: 6 Effect: After discarding hand, draw 5 cards. (***«) Hinako (KoF '97) will give you 5 completely new cards after trashing your current hand. Weigh how much you can stand to lose your current hand and how many cards you may gain. I still like Makeover better because you don't discard anything and it costs less, unless I only had 1 or 2 cards left in my hand. A030 [C] Awakening Cost: 3 Effect: Raises 1 character's BP by 300. (***«) There is no downside to adding 300 BP to a card. After beating the game, you'll find many powerful cards that Kaede won't help as much. A031 [C] Morph Cost: 5 Effect: Select a character whose BP you want to change. Select the top card of your's or the enemy's pile. BP of the character becomes equal to that card's value. KO's character if Action Card is on top. (*) Take a gamble on turning Kuroko into Wan-Fu? Never a good thing. I've seen the CPU use this card 4 times. Twice it has KO'd itself and once it managed to raise it's BP only moderately. This AC requires a lot of set-up to use effectively, such as Mischief or Saki. A032 [C] Showtime! Cost: 5 Effect: Raises all of your characters' (that are in play) BP by 200. (***«) Better than Awakening since it raises all your characters, but Lilith is only more cost effective if you're boosting 3 people. A033 [C] ESP Cost: 4 Effect: Copy 1 character's [] ability and give it to 1 of your characters. (**) Surprised they acknowledged Athena's PSX adventures. This is pretty nice, but it doesn't really hurt the enemy like Mega Man's ability. A034 [B] Substitute Cost: 4 Effect: Select characters with ability and switch their abilities. (***«) Better than ESP, Lin Lin & Rei Rei outright steals an opponent's ability. Not only are they stuck with no, or worse yet, a crappy ability (such as Ukyo's Dwindling Life or the Ump's Mystic). You can also try to take a strong ability from them (such as S.Dynamite)! The posibilities are endless. A035 [S] Curse Cost: 4 Effect: All characters get 1 ability found in this game. (**) The ability that all in-ring characters get is completely random. Mizuki may give everyone Mystic for all we know. A036 [C] Stifler Cost: 3 Effect: See enemy's hand and select one of their cards to discard. (***«) Very useful to see an opponent's hand, even more useful to select something valuable of theirs to trash. Thank you Awakened Yuki! A037 [B] Storm Rush Cost: 6 Effect: Each player reveals their hand and then discards all character cards. (**«) Not bad to play after you put a character down. If you had no, few, or bad characters, you can still come out on top since your opponent is forced by the shinsengumi to discard theirs. A038 [B] Pride Cost: 6 Effect: The player with most cards in hand discards their hand and then picks the same number of cards as other player. (**) Seiger's not that useful an AC to use. The biggest benefit is to hope your opponent lost some strong cards. Side-benefits include seeing your opponent deck (reach 0 cards) themselves, or to power-up Oro. A039 [D] Mischief Cost: 1 Effect: See the top 3 cards of either deck, then arrange them in any order. (*) You're better off putting Lucky Kitty in your hand instead of Efu. A040 [D] No Tricks Cost: 2 Effect: Discards all Action Cards in deck. Shuffles deck after discard. («) Franco here screws you over by removing all ACs from your deck. A041 [C] Makeover Cost: 2 Effect: Returns hand to your deck. Shuffle deck and draw the same # of cards you had before +1. (in other words, hand size including Makeover) (****) Athena's learned, from her wardrobes over KoF '94 - '99, this is much better than Round 2 since you now end up with more cards without trashing any. However, you still have a chance to get some useless cards back. A042 [C] Pester Cost: 4 Effect: Take the top 3 cards from enemy pile and discard them. (****) Rints is pretty good to annoy your opponent and help deck them. A043 [B] Management Cost: 1 Effect: Select 1 AC from deck. Shuffle deck and put that card on top. (**«) Poison acts like Saki would, but for ACs. Not bad if there's a specific one you need at the moment, like Makeover or Slaughter. A044 [A] Last Resort Cost: 8 Effect: Reduce deck to 5 cards of your choice & order. Trash everything else. (**«) The characters from the game with the same name. If you have a plan, like combining this with Laundry, go right for it. A word of warning though, you still have to draw your 5 cards one at a time. Make sure you win the game after drawing your 5th card, or make sure you have and use Laundry. You lose if you have no more cards to draw. A045 [S] Roulette Cost: 3 Effect: Changes top card on you or your opponent's deck to a different card. («) The card it changes to is a completely random one from the game. That card remains changed for the duration of the battle. A046 [C] Shopping Cost: 3 Effect: Draw up to 3 cards that you have discarded, shuffle them into the deck and draw one card. (*****) The highly successful Masters family provides a highly useful AC in that you get to choose which cards you want back and get a bonus draw. A047 [C] Laundry Cost: 4 Effect: Return all discards to the deck, then shuffle the deck. (****) Billy Kane's sister Lily is invaluable in replenishing your deck. A048 [C] Study Cost: 4 Effect: Draw 1 Action card from discard pile and put in hand. (***) Momo puts the AC straight into your hand, ready to be re-used. A049 [C] Revive Cost: 6 Effect: Draw 1 character card from discard pile and put it in hand. (***«) Just like Study, just putting a card you want into your hand is highly useful. All it takes is 6 SP and one Orochi-powered madman. A050 [B] Emulate Cost: 6 Effect: Mimics one AC card from enemy's discard pile. (*«) Not bad if your enemy put an expensive AC like Slaughter or Dregs into their discard. Otherwise, like Shingo & Sakura, you look silly. A051 [C] Activate! Cost: 4 Effect: During this turn, you can back-up all your characters repeatedly. (**) Tron & Kobuns are great if you have Q-Bee or M.Bison in your hand. Since those two cards summon both their back-ups into you hand, you can play them, use Activate! to bypass the "1 back-up per turn" rule and use both their back-ups right away. The ultimate use of this card is if you managed to SP Partner M.Bison & and Q-Bee with Option in the ring. On that same turn, you can Activate! and start backing everybody up at once. NOTE: This does not break the individual card's back-up limit; i.e., M.Bison can only be backed up by ONE Juni and ONE Juli card. A052 [D] Tooptadon Cost: 0 Effect: During this turn, all Unite attacks cost 5 SP less. (**«) Great to get a free 2 character Unite combo thanks to Roy & Tiffany. A053 [A] SP Partner Cost: 7 Effect: Lets you bring in one more character if you've played one already. (****) Similar to Activate!, this let's you bypass the game's "play only 1 character per turn" limit. Very handy throughout the entire game, but you'll probably only have enough SP near the end of the game. Play this card AFTER putting out your first character or you waste 7 SP. To bring out three cards in one turn, you'll need 2 SP Partner ACs. No idea why Whip & Anita/Amanda are on this card. A054 [C] Synchro Cost: 1 Effect: Each player chooses 1 card from the other's deck and keeps it for the duration of the game. («) Why would you give your opponent a chance to take something from your own deck? (unless you have no deck left) Great job Nagare/Rikuo. A055 [B] Indulge Cost: 6 Effect: All character's BP becomes 200. (**) Similar to Chun Li's ability to reduce everyone else's BP to 100 (for all your SP), Devilot's Indulge is the substitute for something like Seraphic W. If the enemy's ring was full, Indulge leaves them (and you) with a slew of weaklings. However, I'd rather have Seraphic W to wipe out 3 strong enemies at once leaving their HP open. A056 [B] Glare off Cost: 6 Effect: You can't attack this turn, your enemy can't attack their turn. (**«) Helpful stall card. Like playing Shermie except you can't attack this turn. It'll give you an extra turn to live to come up with an R2 or something. (Z-force is right, this is nice pic of Mai vs Chun Li) A057 [S] Shadow Cost: 5 Effect: Change one character to another in the game. (Discard backups) (*) Completely and utterly random. I suppose if anything, use it on a dying character. Behaves just like Vampire Savior's Shadow. A058 [S] Tri-Quiz Cost: 5 Effect: Choose Grenade, Grace, or Showtime. Card has that effect. (*****) Either damage enemy HP 300, gain 500 HP, or have all cards in your ring gain 200 BP. The ultimate AC to have, you should have 2-3 ASAP. A059 [S] Reset Button Cost: 10 Effect: KO all of your characters. After you end your turn, start another. («) This is, in effect, a Heritage AC plus SP Partner AC in one. Except it costs more, gives you only 1 card, and KO's all your characters. Tell Tsukushi it's not worth it. I'd rather just used SP Partner. A060 [S] Dregs Cost: 15 Effect: Shuffle hand cards into deck, use Discards as your hand this 1 turn. (***) If you have the SP (or Tessa) and want to re-use your Discard pile right away, go for broke. Just remember: The turn after, your giant hand goes back into the Discard pile. Unless you have SP to burn, mix with Last Resort in some big gamble. -= V. DECKS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As a tip, keep your decks mixed. Try not to invest more than 33% of your deck in Action Cards, sometimes your opening hand can be 4-5 ACs. The FAQs on GameFAQs will deal with deck-creation strategies such as a "quick-kill" deck, or a "decking deck". SLIGHTLY MODIFIED STARTER DECK Terry, Blue Mary, Alfred, Eiji, Galford x2, Kyoshiro, Tam Tam, Cham Cham, Nicotine, Shiki (C), Asra, Zankuro, Heidern x3, Leona x2, Ralf x2, Clark x3, Chin Gensai, Saishu, Shingo, Chris x2, Mature, Vice, Lee Rekka x2, Shigen, Hibiki, Hayate, Carol, Rosa x2, Kim Su Il x2, Gai/guy, Dhalsim, Zangief Lightning, Cover Fire, Bopper x2, Best Shot, Awakening x2 43 Characters, 7 Action cards I removed as many of the 0 SP characters as possible; this deck is meant to stuff up the field as much as possible with low and high BP cards. Good enough to take on the non-Boss CPU fights so you can build your deck up for, at the very least, the bosses without 700+ BP cards (the Zombie). You won't have many high-BP cards from the get-go, so it will be hard to keep your opponent limited to 1-2 cards on their field. Instead, let them play 3 and work on whittling them down to 100-200 BP; this will put your low-BP characters to good use. This is especially important against people with lots of back-ups in their deck like Fo. Just make sure your HP is still high enough to take a few hits (1000-2000). Never let the CPU whittle one of your cards down to 100-200 BP, go for a double-KO instead. Now the CPU will be pelting your HP with their weak cards and have little or no SP to use AC cards or United Combo attacks; take the hits and place down strong/powered-up cards. Your victory will come when you have 3 strong cards and enough SP amassed to take out large chunks of their HP away with repeated Combos. The CPU must block with their whimpy card (and whatever cards they put down later); replace any KO'd cards with stronger cards. If, however, you CAN keep the opponent to 1 card (and have 2-3 cards on your side of the field) go for it! INTERMEDIATE DECK Terry, Mai, Duck King, Blue Mary x2, Kasumi x2, Rimururu (T), Tam Tam, Nicotine, Shiki (C) x2, Asra, Zankuro, Heidern x3, Leona x2, Ralf x2, Clark x2, Goenitz, Mature, Vice, Shigen, Hibiki, Setsuna, Takato, Chun-li, Zangief, Vega, Cammy (A), Morrigan, Rikuo, Donovan, Lilith, Jin Saotome, Daigo, Claire, Mega Man X, Zero Lightning, Cover Fire x2, Grace, Awakening x2, Makeover 43 Character cards: 1 [S], 1 [A], 4 [B], 21 [C], 16 [D] 7 Action cards: 4 [C], 3 [D] There is technically no such thing as an "intermediate deck"; the deck you make against the Biohazard Mansion and beyond entirely depends on how much time you want to put into it by beating up people with rare cards like Taka or what you win in VS mode or how many cards you get from the Trading Machine. This deck was only after about 5 hours of playing the game. It's not much different from the modified starting deck because the number of fights and trips to the Trading Machine were kept to under 3 dozen. The characters aren't terribly strong or even useful, but they will weaken enemy cards to 100-200 BP. With luck this can get you to the last match. For the final match, replace as many sub-500 BP cards with stronger cards, such as Duck King with Geese or Mech-Z, and adding 3-5 AC cards such as Stifler, Showtime, and Shopping. While you can beat the game in under 7 hours like this, you'll only have discovered half the cards. Keep playing to see them all! (only wish SNK and Capcom kept all the flavor text) PERSONAL DECK Terry, Andy, Blue Mary, Yamazaki x2, Krauser x2, Haohmaru, Nakoruru (C), Nakoruru (T), Rimururu (T), Sougetsu, Kyo (P), Chizuru, Yashiro x2, Shermie, Wild Iori, Akari (P), Akuma x2, Chun Li (A), Rose, Morrigan x2, Pyron, B.B. Hood, Lilith, Jin Saotome x3, Hiryu, Haggar, Mega Man, Saki, Mecha Zangief Lightning, Double, Puppet, Escape, Reparation, Seraphic W, Psyche Up x2, Pester, Shopping, Laundry, SP Partner, Tri-Quiz x2 36 character cards: 8 [S], 15 [A], 11 [B], 1 [C], 1 [D] 14 action cards: 2 [S], 6 [B], 4 [C], 2 [D] This took several hundred fights and trips between the Slots and the Trade Machine to achieve, but the cards are so powerful, I don't need to wait for my opponent's ring to fill up. A highly diverse deck; this is ready for a variety of troubles. I like to keep my SP high and try to clear/freeze the entire enemy ring. -= VI. EOF =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- End of File! I wonder why the Unknown Heroes of Crystalis/God Slayer weren't included?