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[Hogtrail]

Superstar Strategy Session: Umaga

My goal is to spotlight and break down a different superstar every week by going in depth on their cards, referenced cards, and different types of builds for them.

I posted a poll on the TCO discord channel and this week's poll ended in a tie between The Corre, and the superstar this strategy session is dedicated to, The Samoan Bulldozer UMAGA!

PART ONE
Let's take a look at his specifics:

Umaga
Starting Hand Size: 9     Superstar Value: 3
Superstar Ability:  Your opponent's maneuvers are -3D. Your Storyline adds to your Ability instead of replacing it.
You can pack No Sell Maneuver cards, but you cannot pack non-hybrid Action cards or non-hybrid Antic cards without 'powerhouse' in the text.
V3

Umaga has a nice big hand size, and a middle of the pack superstar value, so his stats are pretty good. As for his ability, -3D to all of your opponent's maneuvers is nothing to undervalue. And there are a lot of cards that can help decrease your opponent's damage even further (will cover these in Part 2).

However, Umaga is very limited in the actions he can pack. Only being able to pack Hybrid actions can make recovery pretty tough, since all the big ones (Cavalry, Puppies, Candice, Ready to Fight) are all non-hybrid. We'll dive into other ways to recover in Part 2.

As Big and Tough as Any Two Men
Backstage Card
When your opponent's printed Superstar Value is less than your printed Superstar Value (when you are Revolution The Great Khali or Kane, less than 5), when he plays Handicap Match he may only choose 1 of the 3 effects on the card.
Unique
V1

This card is pretty situational. Umaga's 3 SSV means this card won't always be used, but it doesn't cost anything to pack, so there's no sense in not.

Tribal Trouble
Backstage Card
When you are Umaga, your Samoan Drop is Chain, when you successfully play that card, put up to 3 cards from Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal, and when you do not have a card with that title in your Ring, it is also "Reversal: non-unique maneuver or Clutch Onto Opponent".
During your turn, you may hide this card and then search your Arsenal for 1 non-Unique non-hybrid maneuver, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle.
Unique     RMS logo
V5

Superb card. Makes Samoan Drop a must pack for Umaga, making it an omni-reversal, Chain, and a source of some recovery. Of course this means that you can't pack them when packing BASH cards, but I think the trade-off is worth it. And it's also a free way to search your arsenal for a maneuver.

Managed by Armando Alejandro Estrada
Pre-match Manager
When this card is in your Ring, ignore the "can only be played..." text on your Me Llamo...Armando Alejandro Estrrrrrada cards.
ACE: When you have at least 10 lower Fortitude, you may put this card in your Ringside and then if your next card played this turn is a maneuver, it can only be reversed from Arsenal.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent
V3

And for reference:

Me Llamo ... Armando Alejandro Estrrrrrada
Reversal: Special
Can only be played when you have a maneuver with the word "BASH," "blindside," "dynamic," "precision," or "shoot" in the title in your Ring area.
When played from your hand, reverse any non-unique card and end your opponent's turn.
F: 3 D: 0

This is a good manager. It isn't very powerful, but giving you a free 3F non-unique card reversal is good. The ACE of it is decent in the right situation. Having said that, I wouldn't blame someone if they chose to pack a more powerful manager to better fit their build.

A Family Legacy
Pre-match Event
Cannot be blanked.  Your Umaga-specific cards do not take up a Pre-match or Mid-match slot in your Ring.
Your Samoan Drop is +3D.
ACE: You may put this card into your Ringside and then put up to 3 cards from your Ringside into your hand: when the next card you play is a non-RMS Superstar-specific action with a logo on this card, your opponent cannot respond to it.  When you are Umaga, this cannot be reversed.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent
V5

Another solid card. Gives you free pre and mid-match slots, makes your Samoan Drops even better than they already are, and gives you an irreversible (and very good) ACE.

The Samoan Spike
Mid-match Trademark Finisher / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver this card is -5F and +5D for each maneuver in your Ring.
As a reversal, reverse any card (even if it cannot be reversed), and your opponent discards 5 cards.
F: 55     D: 10     SV: 4     Unique
V3

The rare Mid-Match trademark finisher! I love this card. It's great as a maneuver, and even better as a reversal. The maneuver part of this card can do some serious damage to your opponent. And the reversal part of it reverses MOST cards. Amazing.

The Samoan Bulldozer
Mid-match Action
Cannot be blanked.
When you have no Revolution cards in your Ring, this card is F: 0, your opponent cannot respond to it, and it is considered to be a Storyline in your Ring for card effects.
Your maneuvers are +1D, and he cannot respond to your Umaga-specific Actions.
ACE:  When your maneuver is unsuccessfully played, you may overturn 3 cards and put it in your hand instead; when you are Umaga and you have lower Fortitude, this effect cannot be reversed.
F: 20     D: 0     Unique     Permanent
V5

Another great card, if only for the ACE. Being able to keep throwing the same move until it sticks can be very handy. This effect, along with a card to be discussed in Part 2, is the basis of one of my favorite Umaga tricks.

Umaga's Nerve Pinch
Submission
When you have a Storyline in your Ring, cannot be reversed from hand when played after a successfully played card.  When that card was a maneuver, this card can only be reversed from Arsenal instead.
Draw up to 3 cards.
F: 14     D: 8     Unique

His first arsenal specific card on it's surface isn't a great card. A 14 for 8 submission... However, combined with The Samoan Bulldozer, this because an incredibly playable card. The draw 3 is a nice bonus.

Umaga's Chest Kick
Strike + Strike / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, this card is -15F.
As a reversal, reverse any non-Unique action or when you have a Storyline in your Ring, reverse any non-superstar-specific non-Unique card instead.
F: 20     D: 10     SV: 2     Unique
V3

I really like this card. As a maneuver, a 5 for 10 multi strike that can really open up the game for you. Or, if you can afford to, you can save it for the tremendous reversal it is (When Samoan Bulldozer is in your ring).

The Samoan Scream
Action + Action / Reversal: Special
As an action, shuffle cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal up to the number of maneuvers in your Ring.
As a reversal, reverse any non-maneuver card, look at your opponent's hand and choose up to 2 cards that are actions or antics, and he discards the chosen cards.
F: 10     D: 0     Unique     Multi
V3

The Samoan Bulldozer makes this a very good action that your opponent cannot respond to. I find it's especially in a chain build, since chain moves are often lower damage and you can get more maneuvers in your ring per game. As a reversal, this is a nasty No Chance in Hell that gives you hand knowledge AND lets you strip away a few key cards from his hand.

Face-Painted Fury
Reversal: Special
Reverse any maneuver, your opponent discards 2 cards, and draw up to 2 cards.
F: 12     D: 0     Unique
V7

Pretty simple here. No explanation needed. Great reversal with great effects.

That's it for Umaga's specifics. They aren't many, but they're all pretty good!

PART 2
Non-Specifc cards that are useful for Umaga

Umaga's biggest concern is his ability to recover without playing non-hybrid actions. Here are a few cards that can help:

Iron Will
Action / Reversal: Special
Cannot be played by The Rock.
As an action, discard this card, shuffle up to 2 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal that are not titled Iron Will, and draw 1 card.
As a reversal, when overturned, reverse the cards titled Sleeper, Claw, Clutch onto Opponent, Apply Illegal Leverage, Indian Deathlock, or Test of Strength and end your opponent's turn.
F: 0      D: 0

Iron Will
Action / Reversal: Special
As an action, discard this card, shuffle up to 2 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal that are not titled Iron Will, and your opponent discards 1 card.
As a reversal, when overturned, reverse any Submission maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
Throwback
F: 0      D: 0

¡Olé!
Reversal: Special: Face
Cannot be packed by The Home Team.
Can only be played after your opponent successfully plays a non-unique non-Superstar Specific maneuver.
Blank that maneuver's text and damage for the rest of the turn, discard 1 card, shuffle up to 7 cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal, and he continues his turn.
F: 8     D: 0     Unique     Fan Favorite

Rochester, New York
Pre-match Venue
Once during each of your turns you may put 1 card from your hand on top of your Arsenal and then shuffle 1 card from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal.
When this is a Raw Draft or Rumble Draft format match, you may instead shuffle in 2 cards.
¶ ¶ ¶ (Activated Card Effect Symbol)
Universally Active
Permanent
F: 0      D: 0

Dubuque, Iowa
Pre-match Venue: Heat
When this card is in your Ring or is removed from the game, your other Pre-match effects cannot move cards from your Ringside to your Arsenal. Once during each of your turns when you successfully play a printed D: 4+ maneuver, shuffle up to 1 card from Ringside into your Arsenal.
ACE: When your Fortitude Rating is 10+, you may ignore any of your opponent's reversal restrictions from cards and remove this card from the game to reverse any RMS card or any card with "shoot" in the title; shuffle up to 4 cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal. When you Activate this card, it can be considered to be a hybrid reversal card.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     RMS logo

Hello, Ladies!
Pre-match Event: Run-in: Set-up
When you are a Female Superstar or Val Venis, the maximum number of Pre-match cards you may have in your Ring area is increased by 1.
When this card is in your Ring area, during your turn you may put this card into your Ringside pile and then put 2 cards from your Ringside pile on the bottom of your Arsenal for every card titled Hello, Ladies! in your Ringside pile. 
¶ ¶ ¶ (Activated Card Effect Symbol)
Raw logo
F: 0      D: 0

Trash Talkin' Interview
Pre-match Event: Heel
When this card is in your Ring area, you may place it in your Ringside pile as a Mid-match Action and choose any 4 cards in your Ringside pile and shuffle them back into your Arsenal.
F: 0   D: 0

Chris Nowinski, Guest Ringside Announcer
Pre-match Event: Heel: Run-in
Cannot be played by Chris Nowinski or if your opponent is Chris Nowinski.
When this card is in your Ring area, as a Mid-match Action: Run-in, you may put this card and the card titled Trash Talkin' Interview into your Ringside pile to shuffle up to 12 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal and draw up to 3 cards.
Universally Unique
Raw logo
F: 0      D: 0

Mouths Writing Checks Bodies Can't Cash
Pre-match Event
Cannot be packed when packing Wrestlemania.
ACE: During your turn when you have no cards under this card, you may put 1 maneuver from your Ringside face-up under this card and then shuffle # cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal, where # is equal to the maneuver's Damage and cannot be greater than 12; this effect cannot be reversed.
Before the Draw Segment of each of your turns, when you have fewer cards under this card than the printed Damage of the face-up card +4, put the top card of your Arsenal and 1 random card from your Ringside face-down under this card; if you did not, put the top 2 cards of your Arsenal face-down under this card.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     RMS logo

And if you're going with a Chain build:

Spinning Wrist Lock Hammerlock Headlock Takedown Armbar of Doom
Submission + Submission
When this card is in any area: it is Chain when you have a Chain maneuver in your Ring, it is Heat when you have a Heat maneuver in your Ring, and it is BASH when you have a BASH maneuver in your Ring.
Shuffle up to 4 cards with any of those traits (including BASH), or that are Multi or Unique, from your Ringside into your Arsenal.
F: 12     D: 8     SV: 1     Unique     Multi

Chained Heat
Action: Chain / Reversal: Special
As an action, discard this card and then shuffle up to 2 other Chain cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal.
As a reversal, reverse any Chain card or Heat card and end your opponent's turn. If the reversed card is a Chain card, you do not need to discard 2 cards in order to reverse it from your hand. If the reversed card is a Heat card, it is removed from the game.
F: 0      D: 0

Calgary, Alberta, Canada (V2)
Pre-match Venue
Whenever your opponent reverses a Chain card from his hand or Backlash deck, you may shuffle 2 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal.
Universally Active
Permanent
F: 0      D: 0

I'd like to focus on Calgary for a second. This is my favorite Umaga trick:

1. Play a chain move (Quick Snap Body Slam)
2. Opponent reverses it.
3. Activate The Samoan Bulldozer (overturn 3 and put QSBS back into your hand)
4. Shuffle in 2 with Calgary
5. Unbreakable chain (recover more chain cards and continue your turn)
6. Rinse and repeat.

As long as your opponent doesn't have an ACE reversal in his hand, you can keep throwing your move and recover most of the cards you overturn. And if they keep reversing it, they have to lose a good chunk of their hand.

Now, the other thing about Umaga is his ability to reduce his opponent's damage. Here are some cards to help with that, or benefit from it:

Don't Question the Fire That Burns Inside
Pre-match Allegiance: ECW
Double all numbers in your ECW Championship Belt and you may choose both options.
ACE:  Once during each of your turns, you may discard 1 card and then your next Extreme played this turn is also a Foreign Object.
ACE:  During your turn, you may hide The House that Hardcore Built to put up to # cards from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal, where # is the total number of Extreme, Foreign Object and ECW cards in your Ring.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     RMS logo     ECW logo

ECW Championship Belt - Throwback
Choose one: Your maneuvers are +1D, or your opponent's maneuvers are -1D.  When you are Rob Van Dam, Lashley, Revolution Tommy Dreamer, Jack Swagger or Christian, draw 1 card.
Superstar Value +1     Universally Unique     ECW logo

These two cards give you a total of -5D to your opponent's maneuvers. That's huge.

And Umaga gets better use out of these cards than a lot of others:

Over Sell Maneuver
Reversal: Special
Cannot be packed by Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Deadman Inc, Kane, Tazz, Two Man Power Trip, The Rattlesnake, Big Poppa Pump, Gene Snitsky, or Heidenreich.
Can only be played after a successfully played maneuver.
Blank that maneuver's text until the end of the turn and end your opponent's turn. Overturn cards equal to the maneuver's Damage. Draw up to 2 cards.
F: 0      D: 0

Clumsy Opponent
Reversal: Special
Reverse any maneuver of 4D or less and end your opponent's turn. You may draw 1 card.
F: 0      D: 1

PART 3
Specific Build Types

(Most of these ideas revolve around the ACE of The Samoan Bulldozer)

First Idea: Chain

As I've said throughout this post, chain is a pretty good way to go with Umaga. Not only because of the trick I fleshed out above with Calgary, But also because of Samoan Drop (which becomes chain with his backstage) and a 0 for 7 reversal: non-unique maneuver.

But since chain is a relatively standard deck build, I don't have to really dive in too deep. Stick with a maneuver base of QSBS, Samoan Drop, Body Lock, Atomic Driver, and maybe a few others.

Second Idea: Volley

Volley maneuver's are typically higher damage maneuvers, which can help you get closer to the 50F required for the Samoan Spike. But there's also a few neat combos with Volley.

Cold-cocked
Strike: Volley: 6
If this card is not successfully played, put up to 2 other Volley cards from your Ringside pile into your hand.
"I haven't seen JBL this mad since the last time the market crashed." - Tazz
SV: 3
F: 10      D: 12

You play Cold Cocked, opponent reverses it, you overturn 3, put cold cocked into your hand, and then pick up 2 volley maneuvers from ringside. A great way to keep your hand up if you want to sponge with Sustained Damage.

Another thing about Volley is it's interaction with your ringside pile:

Thrust Kick
Strike: Volley: 8
When this card is in your Ringside pile, if you successfully play a Volley maneuver, you may put this card into your hand.
Cheater Logo
SV: 2
F: 7      D: 8

Thrust Knee Lift
Strike + Strike: Volley: 8
Cannot be packed by Female Superstars.
When this card is in your Ringside pile, during your turn you may put this card on the bottom of your Arsenal and then randomly remove 2 cards in your opponent's Ringside pile from the game.
Cheater logo
Multi
SV: 1
F: 9 D: 8

Overturning these cards with The Samoan Bulldozer can be quite effective.

Third Idea: Dynamic

Remember, Umaga CAN pack hybrid actions. And Dynamic has gotten much better in virtual thanks mostly to this card:

Dynamically Inclined
Backstage Card
Cannot be packed by Doink.
Before starting hands are drawn, search your Arsenal and Ringside for 10 non-Trademark-Finisher maneuvers with "dynamic" in the title, put them under this card, and shuffle;  if you do not, hide this card.  At the end of the Pre-match Phase, choose 1 card under this card, put it into your hand, and shuffle the other cards into your Arsenal.
Your Pre-match Capacity is +1 for each The Luck of The Draw card in your Ring greater than 1.
Your non-Unique maneuvers with "dynamic" in the title are -3F and +2D.
When you have lower Fortitude, your opponent is considered to have double the number of reversals in his Ring for your effects with "dynamic" in the title or text.
Unique     RMS logo

This should give Umaga a nice bid hand full of reversals.

Dynamic also means Umaga gets to use this card to the fullest extent:

The Luck of the Draw
Pre-match Event: Heat
When this card is in your Ring area, once during each turn, you may discard 1 Heat maneuver or put 1 Dynamic maneuver from your hand on the bottom of your Arsenal and then draw 1 card and put 1 card from your Ringside pile on the bottom of your Arsenal.
You may put this card into your Ringside pile to completely reverse any card that allows your opponent to search his Arsenal and end his turn.
¶ ¶ ¶ (Activated Card Effect Symbol)
F: 0 D: 0

This will help you recover key cards, and it's a pretty good reversal too.

Fourth Idea: Technical

The main thrust of this idea is based around this card:

Technically Sound & Brutal
Pre-match Event
When this card is in your Ring area, when you successfully play a maneuver with the word "technical" in the title, choose 1: draw 1 card and then put 1 card from your hand on the bottom of your Arsenal, or put 1 card from your Ringside pile on the bottom of your Arsenal.
F: 0      D: 0

The ability to recover a card when successfully playing a technical maneuver is of particular interest to me. If you have 3 of these in your ring you'll be able to recover a lot of cards once you get a few maneuvers to be successful.

Fifth Idea: BASH

I mention this only because BASH lets you start the game with 3F, which is exactly how much Armando... costs. However, if you go BASH, you cannot pack Samoan Drop with Tribal Trouble – and that idea turns me off to it.

PART 4
In Conclusion:

Umaga has a few very good cards, and an underrated ability. -3D to opponent's maneuvers (or -4/5D with ECW belt) can let you sponge for a long time, or let you reverse more with cards like Elbow to the Face or Clumsy Opponent. Imagine if Elbow to the Face had this text, "Reverse any maneuver of 12D or less." That's basically what Umaga gets to do.

I also feel like Umaga is a straight forward build. Throw moves, and reverse everything. If I was introducing a friend to Raw Deal, Umaga would be near the top of the list of superstars I'd suggest.

Please comment anything I may have forgotten or overlooked, or if you've built an Umaga deck before!

I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully learned a few things. Check back next week when I cover The Corre!

[DebuRaito]

You CAN pack tribal trouble chain Samoan drop with Bash

http://teamcanadaonline.net///index.php/topic,12766.msg154496.html#msg154496

All in all, I still find chain Umaga to be the most stable build. I'd like to throw in a Zack Ryder GRA if I'm running unbreakable chain to forcefully continue my turn as well.

[MightyBP]

You CAN pack tribal trouble chain Samoan drop with Bash

http://teamcanadaonline.net///index.php/topic,12766.msg154496.html#msg154496

All in all, I still find chain Umaga to be the most stable build. I'd like to throw in a Zack Ryder GRA if I'm running unbreakable chain to forcefully continue my turn as well.

I don't think that works the way you think it does.

There's actually two "end of turn" events that happen with that scenario, and Zac(h)k Ryder GRA only stops the reversal that stuffs your Unbreakable Chain.  It doesn't help the one where the Chain maneuver is reversed (unless you have a second Unbreakable Chain to try and it succeeds).