MMC

Manic Mind of Chuggy – Florida Aggro

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Eyo! Here I sit at work; warehouse rocking a smooth 110 degrees, trapped in the office for fear of melting into the pavement… And I have quite honestly hit a wall! I’m awaiting many things between image processing, to watermarking, to inspiration to once again strike my boiling brain… While I await the inevitable flames of Florida to consume me, why don’t you join me on a wild trip to the south. Or at least join me in considering Florida Aggro as your next way of life. For that is what most Floridians view the “Florida Aggro” deck philosophy as.

Let me roll it back just a bit though; what is “Florida Aggro”? Florida Aggro is the subscription to being an aggressive deck builder in this game. This is enacted through having less overall stops in the deck; and mixed well with competitors that require less turns overall to be an effective combatant. A Florida Aggro player will often be seen running more than 3 finishes in a deck, whether this means teching in Schoolboy (which will we touch on specifically further into this article), utilizing competitors that are more consistently able to Finger Poke of Doom, and subscribing to a thought process of only having a maximum of two answers for finishes versus an “optimal” strategy of putting the full three possible answers for a finish in deck. 

To be Florida Aggro is to embody the essence of Florida Man himself, to go all in on a mechanically efficient build; and to have virtually no “bad turn”.  A Florida Aggro player will often forgo 1-3 in favor of a mix of a draw engine on their highest/lowest skills (for deck filtering) or boosts to their turn rolls on their 8 or 9 to hedge turn rolls in their favor. Florida aggro at its base also typically runs only a single stop in their 13-15; correlating to the 10 stat. More conservative players and characters will opt to place a stop on their 9 stat. But to correspond with the 13-15 line – as you are moving into your “See One Stop Ones” on 19-21 they will typically alternate their slots. If they have a stop on 13, then 19 will typically be what we key as “Toolbox” cards meant to gimp the opponents progress in some manner, or further hedge their stats towards turn roll domination. Going further we will discuss different “Levels of Florida Aggro” and how they typically look build wise. 

There are typically three levels of Florida Aggro players, and this may be confusing but… All Florida Aggro players are all three at their core! But in a match you’re only looking at one of these loonies at a time; and it’s very easy to discern what level of Florida Aggro your fighting at that exact moment. 

Starting at the lowest level of Florida Aggro you are looking at players who are just learning the philosophy; and are haphazardly placing cards that garner little room for safety purely for the sake of building haphazardly. This can range from young bloods just learning the game and having a lack of appropriate cards to make a steady deck, to seasoned pros building manic six stop decks. This is also where you see a nice chunk of players running “bad finishes” like Finger Poke of Doom “because they can.” These are often times the hardest Florida Aggro player to discern, because at face value it just seems like they are playing cards to play them. You’ll see starter level aggro competitors such as 9 Stop Viral, All Spotlight Dick Thunderlips, or Turn Roll Nightmare King. These are all competitors that imply a strategy of steamrolling the opponent by jamming cards until they work; and at the end of the day sometimes that works! But more often than not characters such as these lack reliable bounce-back mechanics. But even a seasoned Floridian falls back into wacky “my opponent never gets a turn” competitors. Why? Because it’s fun. 

The second level of Florida Aggro is where a player begins to actively use the philosophy in genuine tournaments. As previously stated you will often see consistency in their 1-3, with the occasional stop to counter Apocalypse, Rejected or Derailed depending on their characters abilities. If you see that they have a 10 Agility you can typically assume they will have a 13 but not a 19. You’ll also start seeing them play a modified 4-6 as regular cards instead of trying to bait them out as stops. You can run into a lot of “Derailed” heavy builds in this tier, and if you see Derailed you can often times assume a Brain Washed is also just around the corner. A quote I often find myself saying, being a subscriber to “4 Derailed Chugganomics” is “Derailed is a stalemate breaker.” If you don’t want to go through baiting, passing, burying multiple times to blow through an enemies stops, just Derail them! But how do you “know” that you’re sitting across a mid-level Floridian? Well Florida Aggro teachers are very vocal about their students, so that’s one way… Others are to take a look at their competitor, and pay attention very early to their playstyle. Here is where you’ll start seeing more conservative builds such as 2 Answer Ariel, a build I myself have taught a few budding Floridians. It’s a deck that focuses on constant pounding of same-type effects, with a consistency gimmick.  If a deck has a passive manner to attain cards, or sift through the deck, then it is possible to turn it into Florida Aggro; and most Florida Aggro players hover in this regards for competitive play.

The third and most clearly visible level of Florida Aggro is almost exclusively Floridian by state. If you look at a player, and know their deck has some crazy low number of stops, and they pull out the competitor you know them for; congratulations you’ve met the simple, yet illustrious level of Florida Aggro. When a Florida Aggro player wants to get something done, and they’ve toiled and troubled over every minute detail you get some terrifying decks; that are designed to win fast decisively, or lose fast just as decisively. For example, if you look at most Master Dosmodious players you get anything between typical defensive builds to the second level of Florida Aggro. But when you get into specifcally Chugganomics “Toolbox Dosmo” list, you are met with a terrifying 6 Finish List, with only a single answer to each Finish. But every finish in that list comes out fast, and sets up every other Finish to come out even sooner. Another example is the terrifying madness of Arcade Addict Aaron’s Khloe Mai list; which turns her into a terrifying deck out list, chaining School Boy, after School Boy until it works. (I hear a Lead that increases the crowd meter and draws at least 4 while clearing board is pretty good; especially when it shuffles itself back in against a 0 Rejected opponent.) These are decks that their handlers have slaved away on to perfect, and watching them go off in perfection often emulates the pacing of a more mechanically intense game such as Magic. 

In short the most efficient way of determining the level of Aggro you’re against is to look at the competitor and the first few cards in their “Key” slots (1-9) if you see an overabundance of turn roll boosts with no real shuffle, comeback, or draw mechanics in it then you are probably dealing with an entry level Floridian. If you see a more “consistency” based gimmick on your opponents competitor and those key slots match up you are probably dealing with the second. If you are against the third… Well you better pray you already know what’s coming; otherwise be prepared to see some of the most ridiculous cheese of your life. 

Let’s end this rambling on a… Healthy reminder. If Schoolboy is in your deck, there better be a good reason for it. If you cannot turn it into a better card, it doesn’t deserve a slot in your list over a “Turn Up” on your lowest 13-15 and one of your free 19-21. Schoolboy is a trap in most Florida Aggro builds (Although that won’t stop a Floridian from running it). This is also said for the entire Finger Poke of Doom line; if your character has no digging potential at the start of the match (Movie Night does not count, because no respectable player is going to give a Florida Aggro player their free finish), you should not be playing these cards. The math is so exponentially low on your average competitor that these cards are not efficient additions to the deck. If your name is not Ginn or Big Match Pete don’t even glance at these cards.

Don’t even get me started on Backslide.

Not even Floridians run that crap. 

Manic Mind of Chuggy – Fun Police

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Oh god, shut him up before he starts talking again! The clown is back for another heat induced nonsensical rant. You’re probably sick of me by now; I know, believe me! Writing this chaos induced dribble can sometimes come off as the “Florida Aggro” player coping with his poor choices in cards. But y’know what else can get you down? Hoo boy, I hope you never run into these players. Fun Police are some of the most infuriating deck archetypes out there… 

What’s awful is when they work you want to tear your hair out, and when they fail you want to tear your hair out. But as always, the Cola-addicted Clown is getting ahead of himself. “Chuggy what is a Fun Police player?” Well I hate you vehemently because you asked. A Fun Police player is to Supershow, what a Stax player is to Magic the Gathering. Fun Police wake up in the morning and say “Man I really don’t want to play Supershow” and proceed to restrict their friends from playing it for the next 5 hours as well. 

To some people this is just coming off as the same unintelligible gibberish I’m always spouting, so I’ll start from the top. Fun Police are players who exclusively play “Restrictive” competitors and decks; competitors that lock an opponent out from multiple game mechanics. Cards that snootishly say “Um Actually” to your cool interesting deck builds. Entrances that are blatant middle fingers to your existence. Let’s dive further into it why don’t we. We actually have some deeply personal stuff to talk about unlike our dear friends the Omnipilots. (Love ya! Your archetype is pretty straightforward though!)

Let’s think like a budding Fun Police player here. I wake up, I brush my teeth with sandpaper, I get a bowl of nails and grease for breakfast; I go to Supershows sale site and I see Night Terror, click add to cart. Boom. Enlightenment. “You’re telling me I can make everyone hate me, just by putting this card in front of them? That sounds awesome.” Yikes that’s bleak. Lemme cut yall some slack. Just dipping your toes into Fun Policing is not a problem; there are so many answers in Supershow these days that just “playing a little Night Terror as a treat” isn’t going to get you more than a couple groans in a Monday Night Fights. If you’re starting out at this level and you want a good defensive competitor, and you build a generically good deck. Good for you, you are growing like the rest of us; and honestly the competitors in the Fun Police pool are all amazing. 

It’s when it’s the only thing you do that it’s a problem. Let’s develop this further into an intermediate styled Fun Police. Your dipping into every one of your competitors being restrictive, and a significant portion of your deck is dedicated to the upkeep of your strategy and dominance of the game. I am going to deem these players “Good Cops” because while it is annoying when you get Yata-Locked for the fifth time in a row (I really have no place to speak here, I love Player of the Era and have him built the same), you still have a “hope” to get back into a playable state. Good Cops are trying to play a very heavily controlled match; they are the personification of Stax; you are playing this game at THEIR pace. It does not matter if you are Florida Aggro, Chad 15, or a Chaos Crafter; the pace is set by them and them alone. 

So if their is a “Good Cop” there must obviously be a “Bad Cop” and that’s what I’m here to belly-ache about. When your entire deck is just built to make someone miserable you need to be stopped. And thankfully a “Bad Cop” deck has one attributing factor to being able to be stopped. If this was not a Dice Game a Bad Cop deck would dominate the meta. Bad Cops are not only running the abusive competitor (Let’s say Night Terror), an abusive entrance (Let’s say Impact is Family), an abusive 19-21 (Let’s say… Toolbox cards like Kissing Booth), an abusive 7-9 (Mixture of Muay Thai Knees, and Tornillos), anti-skill stop cards (something on 4-6 that’s unstoppable), turn roll minusing/board destruction on 10-12, and most importantly… If you bring a bad attitude on top of your toxic deck, you’re a Bad Cop. Aspire to put Fun back into your Policing. Give your opponent hope. Try a different competitor. A different deck. A different entrance. For our sakes. 

And for your sake get ready for the match of a lifetime and it’s scheduled for ONE FALL!

ONE FALL!

Hey y’all we’re back with some matchup analysis and we’ve got a lot of people to talk about. This formats getting a little wild to upkeep, eh? We’re going to start at the lowest end of Fun Police, then we’ll talk briefly how I believe Good Cops and Bad Cops do in their respective matchups. 

At the beginning level a Fun Police, like every other player is just learning, and I think you have as much of a chance to beat any other deck in any other category… Unless you’re against our dear friends the Chaos Crafters or my babies Florida Aggro. I think you are too early in your journey to set the pace against these two builds and you are at an inherent disadvantage against their standard manipulations of decks and counting of cards. Against every other build you have about an even 50/50 chance of coming out on top, especially because at this stage you’re still having fun, you’re experimenting with cards, you’re not locking your opponent out completely. 

Let’s quickly jump to what I believe is the worse of the two cops… Bad Cops… These decks are horrendous abominations and every matchup hates you. But that doesn’t mean you win these matchups; because at the end of the day the hero HAS to win; and I’ll be damned if I think the Heel gets the game every time. Against my Florida Aggro players you have us in the palm of your hand. You single handedly ruin our speed, and our consistency, if our deck isn’t running multiple abusable finishes you have our number. Chad 15 generally has more consistency in their builds and will go toe to toe and outvalue your lack of stops at the end of the day. Sealed Dedicationists probably want to headbutt you; if they are running something out of the box they better hope its one of the well tuned boxes, if they are One Deck God they have your number. Chaos Crafters are not allowed to have fun here, you should feel ashamed. Omnipilots likely have you more decisively than Chad 15, if the Pilot can see far ahead enough they are more likely to put you down. 

And then you become a Good Cop… And holy moly, you have some divisive matchups, but people don’t hate you. I genuinely believe that Good Cops are the penultimate builds of their decks because they are not sacrificing every slot for misery. I respect these decks, and their players. Certified Floridians are still completely locked out but you have enough through-ways that they at least have a sliver of hope, you’re not locking their gimmicky deck ideas out completely. Chaddest of 15s you’re back to 50/50 baby, we got an even match. One Deck Gods may dip back into that 50/50 slot again as you’ve regained a couple more safety slots. A Cultist of Chaos still at the end of the day has the ultimate goal of “doing the cool thing” for his dopamine rush, but you are the equivalent to rehab for these players. Ace Pilots I am still in the boat of “Two heads are better than one” they have you figured out and if it’s a booked match your lockout isn’t going to work. 

Phew… Another wild rant complete… I guess that means it’s time for me to address the Floridians in the room right? Hey Aggro Players.

Don’t fight a stax player. 

(All ribbing aside, Chuggy loves every player, even the Bad Cops.)

Manic Mind of Chuggy – Omnipilots

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Hoo boy… Is it that time again? It’s your MC of the MMC, one MC Chuggy up in the crib, this time talking about a topic recommended to me by a certain Chaos Crafter of the high seas! Turns out after digging through the community I do believe we have an archetype not covered yet! Today I would love to talk to you about the joys of Omnipiloting. “What in the seven-hells is omnipiloting you geriatric clown.” Well today’s archetype comes from two-headed point of view! That’s right today we are talking about individuals who may not be the best crafters of decks, but if one is made with love and handed to these individuals, they exceed expectations!

We have an easy one today folks. Omnipiloting only comes in four flavors! Our tasting menu consists of… Bad Crafter/Bad Pilot, Bad Crafter/Good Pilot, Good Crafter/Bad Pilot, and the penultimate Good Crafter/Good Pilot; which we will be referencing as an “Ace Pilot” for our purposes today! Without further adieu let’s give a quick once over short descriptors for each set. 

BCBP (Bad Crafter/Bad Pilot) occurs when you have a newer player building decks, and you hand your pile to another new player. This combination often results in the crafter setting this player up for failure – do not aspire to be this combination of two people. BCGP (Bad Crafter/Good Pilot) often occurs when a veteran player forgets their decks, and has to simply nab a spare from someone else. We do not aspire to be these players either. We in fact will not be talking about either of these two sub-domains of the Omnipilot any further. If your friends keep handing you garbage please seek a different playstyle. (Florida Aggro is still pretty lonely, wink-wink.)

Let’s talk about the real meat and taters here. GCBP (Good Crafter/Bad Pilot) is the true entry level into becoming an Omnipilot. You’ve got either a Coach, a Veteran, or someone with a truly elevated mind crafting your decks. They are handing you a complete and wholesome list, often similar to your Chad 15 friends. The Omni works here, but our Pilot still needs practice. Maybe they are still understanding the basics, or trying to wrap their hands around the cards, but a couple wins with these builds will have them coming back for more… And more… And more… Until…

You become an Ace Pilot. You hate building decks. Building decks brings you dissatisfaction. Playing decks makes you feel good, and when that deck is real good, the feels are even good… Er? So an Ace Pilot is really two people… You have a deck fully kitted out for the scenarios it’s going into, and you have a player who understands the raw mechanics of the game enough to make split decisions mid match, that certain other players may not see… The two good variants of Omnipilots excel at Booked Matches, because the person “willing to exit” their comfort zone and the person piloting the deck are two entirely different people; and that often times opens up your pilot to holding more hard counters for their matchups; with the willingness to throw them and not regret it. 

Quick and short… Y’know we love to see it, but something else we love is… Wait for it… Wait… For… It… THIS MATCH IS SCHEDULED FOR ONE FALL!

ONE FALL! 

And it is to determine how our Ace Pilots fly around the ring when compared to our other archetypes. Today we’re only bringing out the two good archetypes, because the bad ones truly fail at every stage, both in the ring and personally. They often lose to any of the listed individuals and need to break their cycle. 

So first up is GCBP vs Chaos Crafters, I am typically geared towards giving this one to the Chaos Crafter, since a Bad Pilot is still trying to understand the basics of the game, the Chaos Crafter’s “basics” are headache inducing. GCBP vs Chad 15, you are in for a fun match, but Chad 15 will likely defeat you; although they will take every step of the way to try and encourage you to master the build you’re running, listen to their advice! GCBP vs Sealed Dedicationists, I feel you may be able to get the upper hand on them, their starters are not as effective cards as yours, your crafter truly has your back here. GCBP vs Florida Aggro, you will likely have the resources in your deck to deal with my children… Especially at this level! 

But what about our Ace Pilot? Are two heads better than one? Honestly. Maybe. Let’s kick off this discussion with Ace Pilots VS their brethren (and probably the crafters of there decks in the first place) the Chaddest of 15’s. Toss a coin, you’re playing at the pro level here folks, I am actually a little more in favor of our Ace Pilot here, I do feel two heads are better than one, and your crafter has maybe given this matchup more thought than the Chaddest of 15 did, and maybe is packing something they won’t expect or be able to answer. Let’s move it on over to Ace Pilots vs One Deck Gods, where I am more inclined to say a One Deck God is slightly more in favor to win. They have stuck to their guns to such a degree that their lines of play and mid-match knowledge can beat out the Pilots on the fly understanding of the Crafters build. Ace Pilots vs Cultists of Chaos is truly an abhorrent matchup if the Crafter of the deck does not understand the person they are going up against. An Ace Pilots crafter may inadvertently see a matchup they think they understand is clear cut, and completely build a deck one way; only to watch their Pilot crash into the ground after getting hit by the 9th Derailed this crowd meter. Last and certainly never least… Ace Pilots vs Certified Floridians may be your worst matchup, if they have their finely crafted monstrosity sitting in front of you, a deck that they have painstakingly mathed out; they know. They know everything. Your crafter cannot hide secrets from these players; just try to play a quick, honest game… Don’t be surprised when “Schoolboy for Game” gets exclaimed at the end. 

Not as widely detailed as the last ones I know. Omnipilots come in many flavors, but the lowest of these flavors amounts to you helping a new player out when you yourself are new! The community appreciates you, but your decks need some work; and we are willing to work with you! Many players find themselves dipping into the Omnipilot archetype. In fact every time you ask for a deck list, if you go and put that list together, you’re an Omnipilot, congratulations! 

My biggest advice to Omnipilots is do not be afraid to ask for assistance. Do not be ashamed of net decking. And keep putting those haters down. If you ever want to adapt into any other style, a skilled pilot can practice… And before you know it you have an amalgamation of every play style. 

Still around right? Hey Florida Aggro fella’s. Papa’s here with some words of advice! The keyword today is “Fundamentals.” If you want to overcome an Omnipilot you need to understand the basics. Basic math. Basic card counting. Basic prediction. If there is a card you are going to hate getting hit by and you’re across from an Omnipilot it’s a very real scenario that they have it in their hand at any point in the game, until verified. Play with Fear, but play up the pressure. Don’t let the pilot breath and you’ll find your way to victory! You feel you’re against an Ace Pilot? Good, your deck is built with a clear goal in mind. A clear. Abusable. Goal. Push that advantage, and use your mastery of deck building to overcome even the scariest of Ace’s. 

Manic Mind of Chuggy – Sealed Dedicationists

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Hey-diddly-dee, it’s been about a month or three! It’s ya boi Chugganomics, and he’s coming at you with a long awaited installment of Manic Mind of Chuggy! This time sponsored by rampant pollen allergies, and dehydration… Instead of our usual 100 Degree shenanigans! I guess that’s why we got a slightly different mindset of play here. Today we are talking about a term I have coined graciously as “Sealed Dedicationists.” We’ll be going over what it is, what it means to be one, and how you can potentially improve your playstyle. 

To start we need to go over what a Sealed Dedicationist is; because it’s very plausible you have played with one or have been one at some point. To adopt the mindset of a Sealed Dedicationist is to in almost literality take any officially sealed product, and slam it onto the table. With almost no changes, outside of the character and your 28-30. The extreme end of this mindset is you have built a deck you feel so confident in, that you only swap your 28-30 and the Face card; and you only ever play that deck. While all methods of play are viable, and the dice ultimately decide a match, not everyone can be a One Deck God. 

Let’s quickly go over different levels of intensity when it comes to the Sealed Dedicationist. At our base level we have “Starter Box Only” players, and while extremely respectable (and out of the box Snake Pitt being just as terrifying as a tuned Snake Pitt), can often times come under a very predictable light, and depending on the exact starter expected end posts for the decks are also just as predictable in the best case, and non-existent in the worst. Players that bust out the Pitt/Hombre Starter are probably going to get decent into a tourney because the cards are solid, and the gimmicks are solid, however if you bust out a raw Iku-Zo Starter in a tournament it is likely you’re not making top. (The competitors are over-tooled for kill-shots, and the deck is not safe enough for newer players to pilot against Supershow Starters) Of course these are starter level arguments, and when Iku-Zo fights Iku-Zo or Pitt Fights Hombre you have a very balanced and family friendly experience. But bringing these into a tournament against certain tooled builds can leave a bad taste in your mouth.

So what is our next step up for this manner of playing? Well the next sealed (Non-randomized) products to come out were the Faction Packs, and these unfortunately do not exist in the same vacuum that a Starter VS set does. They garner a couple cool toys, but running a faction pack raw out of the box will leave a messy deck, meant to kit out the members of the faction. With that being said in these faction packs you do often find some rather consistent gimmick characters that may start you in our next topics direction. 

And that would be “Set Releases” such as “Steel Cage”, “Ring of Fire”, or even the new “Steel Chain” set’s that have been released. A player that picks one of these up and uses the base 1-27 are guaranteed some highly synergistic effects. If you are entering your journey as a Sealed Dedicationist I cannot recommend a greater product than these Stipulation Based releases. Of course, a pure-blooded Sealed Dedicationist is going to have some heavy shortcomings if they are not substituting out the weak-links in some of these decks. For instance if you are running the (One of my favorite lines) Mayhem Maul line in Steel Cage 1 you are going to suffer. Most games will mathematically end on Crowd Meter 2; a stop that only works in Steel Cage or Meter 2 and Up, is often too slow in your 25-27 slot. Before I hear it, Mauraders and the Crusaders also fall into this tier, they are highly tuned decks that are designed to work well with at least that one competitor; so you’re one step closer to achieving “One Deck God” status. 

Speaking of that; what do I mean by it? Well it’s rare, but there are some players in this game who have one deck. A single deck comprised of 1-27 cards, that they use for everything. The “Quintessential Heel” of Florida and owner of House Rules Games being probably the truest form of this playstyle. To be the One Deck God your deck is no longer straight from box to table. You have tuned it once. You have only ever tuned it once. This deck has the recursion you want, the stops you want, and it fits a stat-line you will only ever subscribe to once. The only thing that ever changes is your 28, 29, 30 and your Competitor; and you win. Exorbitantly. There are not many One Deck Gods; but when you run across one, you will bless the day you have finally claimed your first win against them. 

With all the dramatics aside though, how does a player like this get better, and how do you realize you are playing against one? Well the latter is easy… If you see Terror Skull V2, and you see any of the steel chain deck available cards that aren’t a Chain (Like the multitude of dog cards in the deck); boom. You know his entire deck list; and you can guess he’s only playing V2 finishes. If you see any of the Crusaders or Mauraders, you probably know the gist of their build. If you see someone open a payoff pack and play it raw with one of the sealed competitors and this isn’t draft, run. They are a psychopath. Sleeve your cards. On terms of improving your play as a Sealed Dedicationist turn that dedication to perfection. If you aren’t willing to take the step to becoming a One Deck God, learn your deck inside and out; and find a competitor that works exceptionally well with just those cards. For instance if we’re back in the Steel Chain deck and you want a significant upgrade for a minute amount of money. Buy Bandersnatch. Bandersnatch in a Steel Chain Deck is one of the most terrifying things conceptualized. Got that juicy Snake Pitt starter, and happened to get a The Family Faction Pack? Well you’re two steps closer to having a highly efficient Rock Newman build. What about the Ultra Cosmic Set? Well Mr Match of the Year would love to have a word with you; and similarly so with Steel Cage, Zookeeper would love to Death Choke you into Ligers Den Sub-sets. 

Overall a Sealed Dedicationist is probably the most frugal of Supershow players. For a significantly small sum of money they often times are regarded as the pinnacle pilots of certain competitors. I personally could not tell you a better Gold Standard player than House Rules Owner, Savoi and that same deck was used to claim both a Tornado title, and steal Trio’s titles in our local scene. Strive to be the One Deck God, and the game will fold to your whim. Well… With that being said let’s schedule this match between Sealed Dedicationists, Florida Aggro, and the Chad 15 for a triple threat…. ONE FALL

ONE FALL! 

This is my favorite part of these little manic minds, where I get to go over what matchups typically look like at each end of these spectrums per perceived playstyle. 

Starting at our low end, the Sealed Dedicationist is often times the lowest of the low, but it’s often times shared with Chad 15, you’re both starter players, and you’re going to have an honest match; but let’s be honest. Chad 15 has your number. Spruce up your fundamentals, learn the inner workings of your deck, and adopt a force strat based on your Chad 15’s weak stat. On terms of Florida Aggro’s low end, you honestly probably fought each other in a surprise pop-up at a convention and the Florida Aggro player is what hooked you into the game. High energy, wild cards, and on average the Sealed deck beats out a bad Florida Aggro build. Because a bad Florida Aggro build, is just a bad deck. Great for putting others over. 

At our middle end our Sealed Dedicationist is now rocking Cosmics like a boss. When matched up against our mid-level Chad 15 player, you actually have a pretty back and forth match, on average the Chad 15 Player is more expected to win, just because of a tooled deck, however your faster, lower stopped pre-con also has just a chance to get an edge over the slower more methodical player. Of course getting one over on a slower player is not possible against a mid-level Florida Aggro player; unless their dice are committing some form of war crime. Florida Aggro at this stage sees one card, and knows your entire list. They are going to walk all over you and drag you into their madness. Keep your cool, re-evaluate what cards actually matter to stop, and don’t let the whims of Florida Man get in your head. 

Last but certainly not least, the absolute top end of these three titans squaring off. Well One Deck Gods vs The Chaddest of 15’s no longer comes to the cards in the deck. It comes to the experience of the players. One Deck Gods experience of their deck and lines of play vs Chaddest’s matchup experience, and highly tooled deck build. Eventually the scale tips one way or the other. Let’s get our Certified Floridian in vs One Deck Gods then… Well if the Certified Floridian has busted out the deck they are known for, and the One Deck God sticks to their principals, then it is once again a matter of the dice. It becomes a Synergy vs Fundamentals matchup. The Certified Floridian is going to have no cards in deck by their fifth turn, and you’re going to be staring down a Crowd Meter 3 Finish; it’s the One Deck Gods responsibility to utilize his limited resources in the best disruptive way possible. It’s not always about stopping the Finish when it comes to Floridians. It’s about ruining their momentum. 

Of course hey, it’s me… Your dad again, hi Florida Aggro! Because our first installment did not get the “One Fall” treatment, I am once again here to give some advice to my dear children. Do you want to stop a Sealed Dedicationist in their tracks? Learn the cards that don’t make sense in there deck, abuse that gap. Push. That’s a sealed Ginn the Heavy? That deck has a dead stop on his 5 stat, just play through it. Steel Cage? Finishes suck before 2, force plays early. Florida. It is your mission to know your opponents deck better than your opponent, by the time they play their first or second card. Juggle those juicy numbers, and use all that nice information (If you see one card, you can probably guess the other 2 cards on those slots are the exact same effect), and play through the dead zones.

To summarize. Florida Aggro is Aggro. Chad 15 is Control. Sealed Dedicationists are Mid-Range. Coming up next are Chaos Decks!

Toodles~

Manic Mind of Chuggy – The Chad 15 Stop Meta

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Well how-dee-doo! It’s ya boi Chuggy back with another heat induced rambling! When I’m busy beating the heat, I’m usually busy getting beat; often by the topic of interest for todays jumble of words. Last time you listened to this madman speak it was over the theory of Florida Aggro and its wild processes of fluctuating results; but deeply enticing matchups. We’re flipping that concept on its head today folks.

Today we are discussing the “Chad 15 Stop Meta” or in this case… The way most players choose to play the game; and rightfully so! This manner of playing is widely received as being the safest manner of playing a deck and hinges on having as many answers to enemies cards as possible. To start we will go over what makes you a Chad 15 deck. From there we will once again discuss tiers of players and how you can identify them mid-play, and from there we will be adding a session on how these decks matchup with previously written deck theories. So in this case we will also be going over the Chad 15 VS Florida Aggro matchup. 

So what does “Chad 15 Stop” mean? Well honestly it’s just a phrase the heat induced Clown Prince of Cola came up with… But that aside, I do in fact have a verbiage for my insanity. Decks with the “Perfect Stat Line” have access to 15 slots that they could realistically run a stop on the 1-6, 13-15, 19-21, and 25-27 slots. Those who subscribe to the theory of Chad 15 will often times have every single slot labeled be an active stop. On top of this you will often find an over abundance of “Rejected” in these lineups. Most people, even if unaware, usually run some variation of the Chad 15. 

If this is the most optimal manner of playing then why isn’t everyone topping tourneys with this applied mindset? Well that boils down to a deeper conversation. For starters just because you have 15 answers for everything, doesn’t mean everything needs to be stopped. Doubling down on this just because you have 15 answers in a deck, doesn’t mean you can hold everyone of them at a time. You still got to find a way to close out the match. So what separates a bad Chad 15 player from a good Chad 15 Player happens to be your knowledge of the card game. Every deck theory can benefit from a Chad 15 professional mindset, because these pro’s are typically your headliners holding the belts in the first place. 

Knowledge is an integral part of this game no matter who you are playing as or with. If you’re looking to just improve your gameplay in general, (Not even in this singular methodology) then here are a couple pointers for you to practice with… For starters you need to understand how your stat line compares to your opponents, and at the start of the match get a gameplan for forcing your best finish. (Your best finish is comparable to the card you are best at stopping on 13-15, where you have both stats over in the Power/Grapple, Strike/Agility, or Submission/Technique categories.) From there, if you are playing a more conservative gimmick that can safely acquire cards without winning turn rolls, your goal doesn’t necessarily become reach the finish, but reach your safety nets while avoiding opponents triggers. (If you know your opponent is in a Colossal Smash line, there becomes a certain point where you just never throw a Submission. Ever again.) From there we, as many, are at the mercy of the dice. Generally the Chad 15 player is utilizing a competitor that will succeed in a longer match, and have many comeback mechanics, good examples of these competitors are Brain, or Gia. At the highest level of play within the methodology you begin to see entire decks revolving around your safe stat line; and forced plays become rare. The last key play of a Chad 15 player is the “Pass and Bury” because in the event you know you have no line of play against an opponent with no board, there is truly zero reason to force an opponents hand and give away free board state.

Most newer players fall into this category simply by the fact of most 2-Player Box sets come prepackaged as Chad 15’s. Someone starting out will typically only have their whole Chad 15 lineup as either the “Punch” or “Snap Punch” styled stops; and as a player integrates further into the community they acquire more versatile toolboxes in these slots, because a good Chad 15 player also knows when to play a free card. (Please keep in mind some of these decks also have dead stops on 13-15, so they are automatically on the lower end.) Good key products I can personally recommend to upgrade your game in this regards are Steel Cage 1 and 2, and the Ultra Cosmic Faction Pack. The stops you get from these sets are unique and versatile enough that you can turn a lot of competitors up a notch higher just by adding these cards in. (It also never hurts to have predestined tech in your deck for the most common stipulations in Supershow, ala Steel Cage and surprise Triads.)

Before we get into the Florida Aggro Matchup, we would like to discuss some key cards you should almost always be playing in this mindset, and some cards you should avoid like the plague. Starting off with one of the most popular cards ever printed, “Rejected” is almost a necessity in these builds. Your deck is typically running a high degree of shuffle or specified search and pulls that a Rejected just fixes your deck state like no other card can. “Apocalypse” is another key card for competitors that have recursion gimmicks, because Apoc only gives you more time to get your stuff back. A new addition is one of the Fujiawara Armbar line in some cases, as we notice our Chad 15 brothers go a little on the offensive to counter our Chad 15 players. One or two of the “Boss Beats” line is almost integral these days to mess up those pesky “If Stopped” text. Last but certainly not least, you’re usually seen packing the biggest middle finger to spotlight finishes known to man, New “Impact is Family” it’s too good not to run in most of these counter based decks. 

Cards you should avoid are typically obvious. Anything that has “Schoolboy” or “Backslide” in the name are to be avoided at all costs. You should also not rely solely on one line of cards in a set. For example run one Forearm shot, not the whole line. Unless your character is hyper specified on a gimmick trigger like Rhino, then you should only ever have at max 2 of a line. Then you also have the not so easy to spot “Traps” in deck building. We’ll let you in on an industry secret here, as we have data collected on every stat line in the game… Running Lariat on an 8 is not a good idea, Running Lariat on a 9 is only slightly better and should be your cutoff. However if your Strike is not 10, you have a better chance of resolving an offensive card in the line that actually does something. Other traps are character specific. Such as if your character has a built in draw mechanic then your stops should NEVER be “Each Player Draws 1” and vice versa if your character cannot sustain itself you should always be getting cards back. Either way… This theory matchup is scheduled for… 

ONE FALL!

Finally we end our wacky ride with a new segment I like to call. One Fall! In this segment we will take every prior discussed theory and match them up with the presently discussed, providing tips and tricks for both. At the moment we are only looking at Chad 15 vs Florida Aggro. When a Chad 15 player is against a known Florida Aggro player you need to immediately look your opponent in the eye… Now look down at their competitor. If you know their face matches that competitor in your memory banks your first and only solution is to break down into the fetal position and cry. You are at the mercy of the dice, either the Florida Aggro player is going to be out of a deck in the next 5 turns or you are going to win. There is no in between. Now… If you have looked your opponent in the eye and the competitor they are playing does not trigger bile building up in your throat, you have a chance! Understand that these players typically only have two answers in their decks for your finishes. So look at your stat lines, understand that they will almost never run a stop on their 8, and the stat that’s on their 8 is likely the See 1 Stop 1 on the neighboring slot. If you see one schoolboy your instant reaction should generally be to do a strong pivot to your Submission Finish, especially if you have stat superiority on #14. Keep your pacing, and understand they are going to break through your defense one way or another, just be prepared to counter the cards that matter. 

Let’s do a FLIPPAROO, Florida Aggro players, hey. It’s me, your dad. And dad’s proud of you. You’re sitting across from what people typically consider “the superior” deck, and hoo boy, lemme tell you this matchup fluctuates like crazy depending how lost in the sauce you are. But dad’s here to bring you back to The Light. You have to understand your character, in and out. If you have built your deck appropriately to be considered within the upper tiers of Florida Aggro then you are prepared for these scenarios, and your best friend is the big chaos energy you bring to a match. Your deck construction is specifically built to deal with these top decking, stop slinging upstanding citizens. The few stops in your decks are typically flips or shuffles on the offensive play side, forced derailed/brainwash combos will break the stalemate if the Chad 15 player goes wide on the dice, and your slots that the Chad 15 player says “Should Be” stops are instead worked at recurring your finishes consistently. Because if they stop one Followup Grapple that top decks a card, the chances of them blowing a more expensive stop on the second Followup Grapple that top decks a card is far less… And if you are a Florida Aggro player with Schoolboy, understand that once you show that you have it in the deck you need to be ready to own it. Your gimmick better recur it, you better have answers to submissions, and if you played Backslide I’m disowning you. Understand that the match is designed to end fast, in either direction; but that’s the burden all Floridians share! We’re the first players done in bracket and were already shuffling for the next friendly while we wait for top cut! Take your wins humbly, take your losses with wild fun and fervor.