Welcome to another edition of Character "Gems" Corner, I am NJ Brock and today we learn about Capoeira.  Capoeira, a Brazilian Martial Arte that resembles street dancing or break dancing, an art that focuses on balance as well as well choreographed kicks and throws, a very unpredictable fighting style indeed.  How does this fighting style translate to UFS some would ask, the answer is in Christie Montiero, a character that when I heard Tekken was coming to UFS that I knew I had to get as soon as possible; now that she has been released she has gotten a lukewarm welcome to say the least, why some ask, well lets look at her right now:





As you can see she's a 7 hand size which is still to this day a good thing, and has 18 vitality; the vitality is her first drawback as 18 is chipped away very quickly with the right set-up by your opponent.  Her symbols of All, Life and Water are good resources for Kick attacks, though if she would have had Fire she'd have some more access to kicks, I'm assuming this was a balancing issue to NOT give her Fire.  Her 2 abilities work so well with each other though at the same time hinder each other.  First ability is very reminiscent of Promo Athena Asamiya and ::Sophitia:: she draws 1 card for each Kick in her card pool but must move directly to her end phase.  This is basically used if you have attacked with everything in your hand and possibly over committed yourself, and want a full hand in order to Block + Reversal during your opponents turn.  The only drawback with the first ability is that she commits to do so.  Her second ability is a very simple one "E:  Commit 1 foundation:  Your Kick gets +1 Speed for each Kick in your card pool."  another great ability as if you strung together a couple kick attacks each one becomes double progressive difficulty to block[if your opponent has blocked one before hand] now if only multiple Kicks retained their Kick Keyword she'd be a monster.

Some ask how do you build a Christie and make her work... well I have 3 different builds for her one off each resource and all 3 are different blocks the first being Block 4, second being Block 3 and the other being Straight Legacy, we will first look at her cards; her most prominent cards are the S-S-S Loop those being in order:  Side Flop -> Slippery Kick -> Samba, just like in the video game these cards combo off of each other to the point that you can loop them if you wish till your opponent is knocked out but not always necessary, her other Attacks range from Lunging Brush Fire which is a MUCH more balanced version of Kunai where it adds a card from your card pool to your momentum then discards itself from your card pool; you have Knee Thruster(or as I call it SHINNING WIZARD!!!!) which allows your next Kick this turn to gain Multiple 1; Asphyxiate which is WEIRD because it's a punch in a Capoeirista's arsenal... unusual but it is a Reversal and allows you to dig for Kicks, and finally the Granddaddy currently of kicks Fruit Picker, which if played after a prolonged S-S-S combo and then clearing your card pool into an Action followed by Knee Thruster is devastating, it's simple combo enhance, which requires an Action and Kick to precede it, it gets +1 Damage for EVERY Kick you have played this turn, yes not kick in your card pool, Kick played this turn, it also gets a +2 Speed bonus through it's generic enhance, for an overall 7/3 after all difficulty is in account this is a Kill condition for almost EVERY Christie deck.

Her two action cards are mainly utility cards for Characters OTHER THAN herself but can be used in her to set up the Fruit Picker if needed be, You Have No Rhythm also doubles as anti-momentum against crazy chaos decks in legacy and in standard.  Designer Clothes is a Kunai from your staging area as it helps with quick momentum Generation, my only complaint is that it is unique, outside of that an overall great card.   Her Foundations are VERY diverse and mostly help other characters more than her; Brazillian Beauty is best left for Agro Ivy Decks that rely on Switch Weapon Styles + Frantic Search to dig through their deck quickly for their attacks, as it clears your card pool of 2 actions for the price of 1 card.  Capoeira Style is an amazing utility card if you have excess momentum, as you can offload your momentum to get your Kick attacks +1 Speed for the rest of the turn.  Close Friends, AMAZING card for +2 Speed to your kick attack, 1/5 is nice to, wish it had SOME block though.  Hoping for the Best, hey it's Wisdom from a Confidant reprinted as a foundation, and better since it has a 5 check instead of a 3.  One with the Rhythm is ALMOST a staple for a well built kick deck as it decks your opponent to their card pool for every Kick attack of yours that deals damage, the ONLY bad part of the card is it is a 3/4 with no block.  Relaxing Model, can you say STAPLE, this card single-handedly shuts down decks that rely on one keyword throughout their attacks, ala Balrog with his Punches or King with his throws, you can reduce the speed OR damage of their attack by the number of attacks in their card pool that share a keyword with this attack, amazing against Astrid too.  Searching for Family is almost emergency draw, nice to have but NOT really necessary.

Now I will build 3 separate decks for Christie the first will be based off of All and will be Block 4

Character:  Christie Monteiro

Actions(4)
Warrior's Path x4  2/5  +2M

Assets(4)
Designer's Clothes x2  2/5  Unique  +3H
Paul's Gi x2  2/4  Unique  +2M

Attacks(24)
Fruit Picker x4  5/3  3H6  Combo:  Action, Kick  +1M
Knee Thruster x3  5/2  3M5  Kick  +2L
Neutron Bomb x4  4/3  3M4  Combo:  Stun  Kick  +2M
Samba x3  4/3  3H3  Combo:  Mid Kick  +2M
Side Flop x3  4/3  3L3  Combo:  High Kick  +2H
Slippery Kick x3  4/3  3M3  Combo:  Low Kick  +2L
The Boot x4  4/3  3M5  Stun: 1  Kick  +2L

Foundations(32)
Close Friends x4  1/5
For the Money x4  2/5  +3M
Hoping for the Best x4  3/5
Hunt for Jin x4  1/5  +2L
One with the Rhythm x4  3/4
Relaxing Model x4  2/5  +3H
Rivalry with a Bear x4  2/5  +3M
Searching for Family x4  2/4

Yes 24 attacks it may seem like much but when you drop searching for family your hand will be full of attacks in no time and be able to start the beat down.  Lets move on to the block 3 deck, I will be basing this off of Life.

Character:  Christie Monteiro

Actions(8)
Flurry of Thrusts x4  2/4  +3M
You have No Rhythm x4  3/5  +2M

Assets(4)
Robes of the Grandmaster x2  2/4  Unique
Ostrheinsburg Castle - Twilight x2  3/5  Terrain  +3M

Attacks(20)
Fruit Picker x4  5/3  3H6  Combo:  Action, Kick  +1M
Naruto x5  5/3  4M5  Kick  +3M
Samba x3  4/3  3H3  Combo:  Mid Kicik  +2M
Side Flop x3  4/3  3L3  Combo:  High Kick  +2H
Slippery Kick x3  4/3  3M3  Combo:  Low Kick  +2L

Foundations(32)
A Means of Self-Defense x4  2/5  +2M
Adoration x4  2/5  +2M
Heidern's Assassination Arts x4  2/5  +1L
Hunt for Jin x4  1/5  +2L
Relaxing Model x4  2/5  +3H
The Anti K' x4  1/5/4  +3M
Weapon's are Unnecessary x4  1/5  +1H
Will for the Fight x4  2/5  +3M

a simple life rush deck, once you get a Robes and a Castle out with a couple of key foundations, namely Assassin Arts and Will for the Fight you should be able to overwhelm your opponent very quickly with a couple attacks.  Lastly lets look at Water Legacy Christie.

Character:  Christie Monteiro

Actions(4)
The Dragon of Mt. Lao x4  2/5

Assets(3)
Interpol Badge x3  3/4  Unique  +1L

Attacks(22)
Enkidu the Valiant x2  6/3  4H6  Kick  Reversal  +1M[B:  2]
Fruit Picker x4  5/3  3H6  Combo:  Action, Kick  +1M
Killer Vortex x4  3/3  3H3  Kick  +1L
Leaping Snap Kick x4  3/3  3H3  Kick  Reversal  +1M
Lunging Brush Fire x4  5/3  4M4  Kick  +1M
Yoko Sen Kyaku x4  3/3  4H3  Kick  Reversal  +3L

Foundations(36)
A Means of Self Defense x4  2/5  +2M
A New Low x4  2/5  +1M
Awakening x4  2/5  +2M
Battle Disc System x4  2/6
Come Through in the Clinch x4  3/5  +3H
Rapid Ares Style x4  2/5  +1M
Relaxing Model x4  2/5  +2H
Schmetterling Fighting Performance Arts x4  2/5  +3L
Soul of Ling Sheng Su Style x4  2/6  +2H

A Simple water rush deck, once you get Schmetterling and Soul of Ling Sheng Su out you should be ready to string an attack string together, the kill can come from EITHER Enkidu or Fruit Picker just make sure you get a Killer Vortex or 2 into momentum, that's what Brush Fire is for, Dragon is to set up the combo on Fruit Picker and make any attack strong enough, if possible kill turn SHOULD be Killer Vortex -> Dragon -> Lunging Brush Fire -> any Kick -> Fruit Picker, 5H9 should be big enough by that time to leave a huge dent in your opponent.  Tech card is Interpol Badge, this card pretty much allows you to check against printed difficulty, look it up when you get a chance.  Thank you for reading until next time this is Nathan "NJBrock22" Spade signing off.

Originally submitted 13/10/2009