Subject: Re: questions on red

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Jason Langston"
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 23:13:18 -0500

First, I would just like to say thank you for taking time out of you hectic schedule to help all of us DBZ(soon to be GT) players.
Now to my questions.

>> I try. I still have like 37 decks to tech in my mailbox, and this
>> computer programming class has been killing me ever since I started
>> college. I've been struggling to find time just to keep up with my
>> own game and do the COTDs. Not to mention other parts of my life. I'm
>> hoping I'll find some time to get some of those done; biggest key is
>> getting the weekly program done early, which I've only been able to
>> do for Vegas... sorta.
<<

I have been playing the game ever since it came out, but I have never been to a big event, like a National or Regional Tournament. I was wondering, in your opinion, what makes a deck top tier for events like this? I myself like to run my oldschool red goku anger at store tournaments, but I'm not sure that in todays environment, it would fair to well.

>> I took one of my friends to Las Vegas this past weekend, and he
>> played old school Goku Red anger. I even teched it to make sure it
>> could be as good as I thought it could get (though I think I should
>> of put more blocks in). He didn't do very good and I blame that on
>> two things... the last minute Sensei change (please play North) and
>> the fact that Red anger isn't very viable. It wasn't his fault at
>> all. Of course it is too late to change the past, so I'm just going
>> to let it pass and take him to LA Regionals next year.

A deck is top tier when it can deal with all the other archtypes and still win quickly and effectively. It has the ability to counter all decks that it can face, and should only lose to decks that are totally teched out to beat it (which lose to all other decks anyway), bad draws, or your opponent getting lucky. Or mirror matches (hopefully not though). Often there are a couple top tier decks that form a rock paper scissors effect. Key is the fact that it should be able to counter all the popular deck types currently. <<

Another question, do you think Red Anger decks are cheap? I personally believe that ones made in like 5 minutes are, but to someone who has been using one forever and constantly working with it, I believe it can be a force to reckon with. At a recent tourney, I barely lost to a Dragonball Deck( roshi of course).

>> Red anger owns you all. Red is my favorite style. Red anger is not
>> cheap unless you are only playing 3 levels. Then it is uber cheap.

My friend has been working on his Red anger since pretty much the game began, along with me as well. It can easily be a force to be reckoned with, believe me. Kid Buu has some broke cards for Red. <<

What personality levels of Goku do you think best suit a Red Anger Deck? I use:

Goku, the Puppet
Goku, the Saiyan
Goku, Earths Hero
Goku, the Kings Pupil
Goku, Super Saiyan 3

>> My friend uses...
Goku the Hero Level 1 (card draw helps a lot)
Goku the Saiyan Level 2 (card draw again)
Goku Earth's Hero Level 3 (card draw again)
Goku on Namek Level 4 (this was random, but he likes it. Main reason is I took out all his drills so Kings Pupil didn't work anymore. It all depends on your deck. Goku doesn't have a good level 4 for anger. He also refuses to run Victorious Drill for some odd reason, and... well, I don't have a spare Champion Drill, unfortunately.) Goku Super Saiyan 3 Level 5 (who really cares, but you gotta go SS3) <<

Last one: Do you think that non-combats belong in an anger deck? I run the staples of course, but I also put in ones like Trunks Finds the Answer (for TES), Krillin's Concentration( for battle pausing).

>> My friend runs...
2x Face Off (shuts down DB nicely, as well as DV, ally, and many many other decks) 1x Fatherly Advice 1x Where There's Life There's Hope 1x Expectant Trunks 1x Eternal Dragon's Quest (this is his alternate way to victory, definitely not needed in straight anger. He uses this to grab Earth 4/5 for anger, alt 3 for card advantage, etc to help anger along.)

I think he runs a couple more but I don't remember off the top of my head. But the key is you don't want to run too many because it will kill you in the long run. Drawing them when defending will screw you over against beatdown, seeing you need anger nice and fast. Expectant Trunks is extremely nice because you can play it, enter, and get another card back of your choice, being even better than a normal card draw. Face Off is just a great tech card. Trust me I've been killed by that thing before.

You should be running 2-3 City In Turmoil because anger does not need non-combats to win. The environment is highly non-combat based currently with all the Carpet Attack, Dragon Ball (any type, Blue Goku, Black Gohan EDQ Stop, Blue Buu MBS EDQ, Roshi old school, etc), Freestyle Goku/Buu, and Orange Drill decks out there. If you can run City without screwing up your current strategy, do it. You can always run a 4th Location/Battleground to get rid of it if necessary. <<

Just some questions I had. Thanks for your time and best of luck at the Grand Kai Invitational.

>> Thank you and I hope I do good. I'm just happy I secured my top 8
>> position in the Kai point standings after Las Vegas, and expect a
>> tournament report from GKI. I might post one of Vegas, but I did
>> pretty bad compared to the other events so my motivation is a bit
>> low.
<<

-Jason Langston

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