Yomi 2/Valerie

Overview

Lore

Valerie Rose has heterochromia, meaning she has one blue eye and one green eye. She "sees things differently," and expresses herself through painting. Emotionally, she experiences highs and lows, which she believes gives her even more appreciation for the full spectrum of human feelings. She also happens to like both boys and girls - a crime in the capital city of Flagstone. She now lives at Rook's Morningstar Sanctuary, a protected city labeled as "enemy of the state" by Flagstone. She serves as Rook's artistic advisor, alongside Max Geiger, Rook's scientific advisor.

Character Stats

Health	Character Type	Maximum Combo Points	Unique Trait
80	Rushdown	6	Agile Hands. You can combo your normal attacks in any order. (Out-of-order normals still count as chain combos).

Strengths

Weaknesses

Speed Painter. Valerie's lightning fast brush makes for a formidable weapon. Her fast rushdown normals are only further improved by her unique trait, allowing her to chain combo in any order. This allows her to easily combo regardless of what she has in hand. The cherry on top of her selection of normals is an E that gives the Edge. Mix-Up Queen. Valerie has more highs and lows than any other character in the game, which makes for a deadly combination when paired with her high speed moves. To send her opponents to the ultimate mix-up hell, her S2 locks them down and forces them to guess block for two turns in a row! Meter for Days. Valerie's X is her real damage cash-out, allowing her to focus her super meter on her S1 reversal or S2 set-up tool. In combination with her easy access to chain combos, you will rarely be short on meter.

Precious Specials. The double-edged sword of Valerie's X functioning as her primary damage cash-out is that she may need to refrain from using her other special moves to pump it. Worse, if she struggles to draw into the right specials, she will need to rely on normals for most of her damage. Card Hungry. While her ability Burst of Speed helps refill her hand, Valerie's combos and specials are generally very card hungry. If she empties her hand too early in a match, she can get stuck in a very bad position. The ever-present demand for cards to use in her combos can make it unwieldy for her to power up as well. Her S1 is her only reversal and a great neutral attack, but finding the right turn to power up for it can be challenging.

Moves

Normal Moves

A. Quick Low Attack	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Attack 3 0 9 Chain Combo 1 Low Alongside B, your primary low poke in neutral. Confirm into bigger combos or don't combo to maintain a healthy hand size. Generally avoid powering up with this or comboing into it; much more useful as an opener. Speed 9 gives you a speed advantage over most of the cast's fastest attack.

B. Light Low Attack	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Attack 4 0 8 Chain Combo 1 Low Alongside A, one of your main pokes in neutral. Should be valued and used in about the same way.

C. Medium High Attack	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Attack 5 0 7 Chain Combo 1 High Your preferred mix-up normal in neutral. On your own turn, out speeds fireballs and a majority of other strikes to more safely call-out low blocking. Works well to combo into or as an opener. C is also a good choice to power-up with sometimes, especially if you have a Z in hand.

D. Heavy High Attack	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Attack 6 0 6 Chain Combo 1 High Generally a weaker opener compared to C, but works identically against knocked down opponent. In most cases, the preferred normal to power-up with or combo into.

E. Power Attack

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Attack 7 0 5 - 1 On Block or Hit: Gain the Edge If not ending a combo with X, E is the ideal attack to end a combo with. Valerie is faster than most of the cast, so in some cases gaining the edge isn't always that large of a benefit, as she was already out-speeding many of their moves. Don't over value and take unnecessary risk trying to land this.

Low Block

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Block - - - - - On block: Draw a card. Recurring. You can punish unsafe on block moves with a full combo. Being a rushdown character allows Val to threaten big damage if she can block an unsafe move. Due to this, Val has a much higher reward off block than dodge. Don't over commit to a combo on a small hand, landing a single throw into knockdown is good as well.

High Block

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Block - - - - - On block: Draw a card. Recurring. You can punish unsafe on block moves with a full combo. Being a rushdown character allows Val to threaten big damage if she can block an unsafe move. Due to this, Val has a much higher reward off block than dodge. Don't over commit to a combo on a small hand, landing a single throw into knockdown is good as well.

Dodge	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Dodge - - - - - - Val's best option to power up with in most cases, since her blocks are often much more integral to her game plan. On a successful dodge, X++, throw or E are the ideal follow-ups. S1 is more situation due to its cost in resources but can also be good.

Throw

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Normal Throw 6 - 6 Starter 3 Knockdown A fast throw that has has potentially great damage payout when comboed into X++. Val's best use of a knockdown is to more safely set-up her S2. If this is not available and you are at a higher hand size(10-12), comboing out of throw can be better than taking the knockdown. Against non-grapplers characters, Val's throw can be a great way to pressure characters without expending too many cards in hand. Mix throw/block for best results.

Special Moves

X. Three Colors

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Special Attack 7 3 7 Ender 2 Pump 2 Special Cards: +7 damage/card. Val's primary way of dealing big damage. Never open with this if you do not have to, it is always better to confirm into it with a combo. Requires other specials to pump itself, so you will often need to play a risk/reward game while you try to draw into more. Ideally, do not pump X with the other copy of X, use them separately.

Y. Cross Stroke	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Special Attack 7 1 6 Starter 1 Low; On Block or Hit: Gain the Edge Most often used as pump fodder for X. Typically a worse opener than A or B in neutral. Against a knocked down opponent, can be a solid opener low, as it grants edge on block.

Z. Rainbow Stroke

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Special Attack 6 2 6 Linker 1 High; Beats lv. 1 projectiles. Most often used as pump fodder for X. Typically a worse opener than C in neutral. Uniquely beats level 1 projectiles, even while knocked down, and can be used as a pseudo-reversal when used against a fireball. Against some characters, like Geiger, that pressure with fireballs in this way, it can be a great opener.

Super Moves

S1. Chromatic Orb	Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Super Attack 10 3 11 Can't Combo - Costs 1 Super Meter. On hit: draw a card. Your only true reversal and the super you will almost always power-up for. Great when used in neutral or while knocked down. Situationally, a solid dodge follow-up, but often not worth the cost in resources vs reward.

S2. Rainbow Disc

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Super Attack 2 8 2 Starter 4 Costs 3 Super Meter. Lv. 3 Projectile; When you open with this and don't get hit, this gets: Ongoing - Disable your throws and the opponent's dodges as openers. Your attacks are infinitely fast and break armor. Discard this from play: after two more combats. Very unique super that works as an alternative win conditions for Val. Risky to open with when not used against an opponent that is knocked down. Do not use this unless your hand is almost full, as if it lands successfully your reward is limited by how much combo damage the rest of your hand can threaten. Typically not worth powering up for over S1, instead wait to draw it from your deck. Val can easily build 3 super meter naturally and you can play that mind game against your opponent, as they will not know when you have drawn it.

Ability Card

Burst of Speed

Move Type Damage Block Damage Speed Combo Type Combo Points Attributes Ability - - - - - Draw 2 cards and this gets: Ongoing - Gain the edge each turn. Discard this from play: After two combats. Val's only way to generate extra card draw without blocking. Always great to draw. The edge is helpful but not always relevant to neutral. If possible, avoid using while knocked down, but sometimes the extra card draw is worth it regardless.

Combos

Basic

Damage Confirm. A > C > D > E > X = 28 Damage / 42 Damage with Pump + 3 Meter. (Any normal, Y, Z, or throw opener works well here too.)

Edge Confirm. A > Z > Z > D > D > E = 34 Damage + The Edge + 2 Meter.

Strategy

Basic Game Plan

As a rushdown character, Valerie is at the advantage in neutral and her S1 also serves as a solid defensive tool - her primary goal throughout the game will instead be building her hand size so that she can threaten higher damage combos. Not counting assistance from her gem, Val's only way to build hand size is to block. With this in mind, you will want to think of cards in hand as a resource that you need to build, cash-out, and then build again. The opponent can of course punish Val for blocking with attacks or throws, so she needs to deter this by poking with her superior neutral options, namely her fast normals. Keeping the opponent afraid of her normals by maintaining a medium-sized hand can be an important part of this resource push and pull; if Val lowers her hand size too much (anything below 7 is dangerous) the opponent can begin to throw with less risk, making it much harder for her to rebuild her hand.

Valerie's high damage combos are locked behind her special moves, primarily her X special, Three Colors. Valerie's X can be pumped to deal up to 21 damage on its own, but doing so will cost three special cards. Valerie's other special moves are solid threats in their own right, but often it is more effective to save them to pump X. Y is an especially good opener threat while the opponent is knocked down, and Z can be a great way to catch zoners by surprise, especially if they have the edge and your A/B normals won't be able to out-speed a projectile. Be conservative when using your specials, but don't completely ignore them.

Powering Up

Valerie has no issues building lots of meter thanks to her unique trait, but will need to carefully decide when to expend cards powering up for her supers. With Val's hand size being such a precious resource she will need to be careful about when and what cards she uses for this. The cards least valuable to Val's core game plan are her Dodge, D, and Throw. The default choice for her power-up will be her S1, which serves as her only reversal; Val's S2 is often okay to just draw from her main deck and she will very rarely need to power-up for meter. Despite its use as a key defensive tool, its important to not weaken your hand by powering up too soon. Waiting until you have at least 9-10 cards in hand before powering up is a usually a solid point of reference.

Knockdown and Rainbow Disc

Lurking insidiously behind Valerie's powerful and fast normal attacks, is her powerful and fast normal throw! The knockdown that this provides allows Val to more easily threaten the opponent with her high/low normal attacks, but also plays well with her plus on block Y special. However, its best addition to her offensive is making it much safer to open with her S2, Rainbow Disc. If Val's S2 doesn't lose to a reversal on knockdown, the opponent will be forced to block (or just accept getting hit) for the next two turns. Since Val is already usually able to combo all of her moves into each other without much effort, the primary benefit of S2 is the opponent losing 2 turns while Val is able to safely poke them. Ideally, you will want to wait to use S2 until your hand is at 11 or 12 cards (unless the opponent is already very close to dying), since you will want to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to more easily land a high damage combo.

Matchups

Grave[No Data]

Jaina[No Data]

Argagarg[No Data]

Geiger
Something about gears.

Setsuki[No Data]

Valerie[No Data]

Rook[No Data]

Midori[No Data]

Bigby[No Data]

Troq[No Data]

Onimaru[No Data]

River[No Data]

Lum[No Data]

DeGrey[No Data]

Menelker[No Data]