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[Hogtrail]

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 Superstar Strategy Session is dedicated to The Human Suplex Machine... TAZZ!

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

Tazz
Starting Hand Size: 5     Superstar Value: 2
Superstar Ability: Once during each of your turns, you may discard 1 card and then search your Arsenal for 1 card with the word "suplex" in the title, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal.
Your maneuvers with the word "suplex" in the title are -4F and they cannot be reversed by cards with the word "suplex" in the title.
FL, SS1, SS2

A 5 hand size is low, but it allows you to use Buying Myself Some Time, and is also pretty easy to increase. A 2 superstar value is also low, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

As far as his ability goes, it's quite good. Being able to go get a move every turn at a minimal cost is very good, and those maneuvers are discounted by 4F... which is exactly the F cost of this card:

German Suplex
Grapple
When this is the first card played of your turn and you reversed a card from your hand to end your opponent's last turn, this card can only be reversed from his Backlash deck or Arsenal.
Throwback
F: 4      D: 8

So Tazz has F:0 German Suplex's that he can search for. That is a GREAT thing to be able to do.

Beat Me if You Can...Survive if I Let You
Backstage Card
When packing this card, you can pack No Sell Maneuver.
Your maneuvers cannot be reversed by Elbow to the Face or Spine Buster, your Tazz-specific cards are Multi, and ignore the "Then, discard cards..." text on The Mood Is About to Change.
When your Fortitude Rating is 10-, you may remove a Tazz-specific Pre-match card in your Ring from the game to reverse a non-Superstar-specific non-maneuver card.
Unique     RMS logo     ECW logo
V1

Tazz got a huge boost in virtual with this card. Allowing him to pack No Sell Maneuver (which is a realy good reversal), Making ALL of his maneuvers immune to Elbow and Spine Buster is very good, his Specific's are now multi, and one of his actions becomes much better. Seemingly righting all of his wrongs. He also gets to reverse actions from his ring early in the game.

Oh, and this is an ECW card, which allows him to pack this:

The House That Hardcore Built
Backstage Card
This card is considered Superstar-specific.
Can only be packed when you have an ECW card in your Backstage Area.  When packing this card, you cannot pack nWo cards.
Your Foreign Objects are -4F, and your opponent's non-Unique reversals to your Foreign Object and Extreme cards deal no damage.
Your Revolution ECW Originals gains your logo, and cards with "ECW" in the title do not take up a Pre-match slot in your Ring.
Unique     ECW logo     RMS logo

Of course, this seemingly doesn't help Tazz out all that much.

ECW's Human Suplex Machine
Pre-match Event
Cannot be blanked or moved from your Ring by your opponent's effects.
Your Human Suplex Machine cards are not Active, and replace their 'Can only be' text with 'Cannot be reversed when'. Your cards with 'Tazz' in the text are Multi and can only be reversed by 2 reversal cards. When you have lower Fortitude, your non-hybrid non-Revolution Tazz-specific cards played from hand are -13F.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     ECW logo
V7

Here's the text for Human Suplex Machine:

Human Suplex Machine
Mid-match Grapple
Can only be played after a successfully played maneuver with the word "suplex" in the title.
Cannot be reversed by the card titled Backlash!
When successfully played, search your Arsenal for a card with the word "suplex" in the title, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal.
Smackdown logo
Active
F: 7      D: 7

So basically, Human Suplex Machine becomes playable – I'll take it. There are also a few good maneuvers with "Tazz" in the text that I'll get to in Part 2. But my favorite part of this card is the last part, "When you have lower Fortitude, your non-hybrid non-Revolution Tazz-specific cards played from hand are -13F." This makes his specifics much much better. You'll see as we go along.

Red Hook's Premiere Announcer
Pre-match Event
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
The maximum number of Pre-match and Mid-match cards you may have in your Ring area is increased by 1.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     Smackdown logo
VEL

Pretty basic here, reduse his hand by 1 and increase your pre and mid by 1. No reason not to pack this card. And remember, it can act as a non-maneuver reversal because of your Backstage Area card. And it has the Smackdown logo if you're going to a Premiere Smackdown build.

WWE Commentators
Pre-match Event
When played, name Raw or SmackDown! This card is considered to have that logo.
At the end of the Pre-match phase, you may randomly discard 1 card and then search your Arsenal for 1 Action card, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique
VEN

Nine times out of Ten with this card I would go search for:

Ref Takes A Bump
Action
When this card is in your hand and your opponent plays a non-unique printed D: 0 reversal to reverse your maneuver, you may put this card from your hand into your Ring and put the reversed maneuver in your Ring instead of your Ringside.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent

and the other time out of ten I would get this card:

Don't be a Douchebag!
Action / Reversal: Special
As an action, cannot be reversed when you have lower Fortitude; shuffle up to 2 cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal.
As a reversal, ignore any reversal restriction from a card, reverse any non-Unique maneuver that is Revolution or has a reversal restriction from your opponent; when overturned, can also reverse any non-damage card effect (even during the Pre-Match phase), and put this card in to your Ring.
Choose one: draw 1 card or he discards 1 card.
F: 0     D: 2     Unique     Permanent

It can feel risky to discard a random card, however, when you combine it with Managed by Vince McMahon or One of the Big Boys, it mitigates the loss.

Tough Enough!
Mid-match Reversal: Action
Reverse any Action card and end your opponent's turn. You may draw 1 card.
When this card is in your Ring area, if your Fortitude Rating is less than your opponent's Fortitude Rating, his Maneuver cards are +13F.
F: 10     D: 0     Unique
MA, SS2

This has always been one of the best action reversals in the game. Available at will in your Mid-Match, this card can greatly impact the game if you're behind in fortitude.

Tazz-Line
Strike + Strike / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, this card is -6F; choose one: put 1 card with 'Tazz' in the text from your Ringside into your hand, or draw up to 2 cards.
As a reversal, reverse any Strike.
F: 13     D: 6     SV: 1     Unique     Multi
V7

This card will almost certainly be played as a reversal each game. Tazz has enough good suplexes to throw to have to play this as a maneuver. Being able to reverse any strike is quite good. Most superstars have a specific strike.

Head-and-Arms Tazzplex
Grapple / Reversal: High Risk
As a reversal, reverse any High Risk maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
When successfully played, you may draw 1 card.
F: 13     D: 10     SV: 2     Unique
FL, SS1, SS2

There are only a few more satisfying feelings than playing this card as a reversal. And there are more high risks being played in this Raw Deal environment than ever before. Tazz can get to F:13 pretty easily, so this card is pretty accessible early.

Northern Lights Tazzplex
Grapple / Reversal: Grapple
As a reversal, reverse any Grapple maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
When successfully played, you may draw 1 card.
F: 15     D: 13     SV: 1     Unique
FL, SS1, SS2

Another great reversal, this time hitting grapples. You'll notice that Tazz has a bunch of really good reversals, and this one hurts a lot. But the good thing about this card and the last card is that they are both very playable as maneuvers in the right situation.

T-Bone Tazzplex
Grapple
Cannot be reversed.
When successfully played, you may draw 1 card.
F: 22     D: 13     Unique
FL, SS1, SS2

One of the most devastating cards in the Fully Loaded era, back when "Cannot be reversed" meant WAYYYYY more than "Cannot respond to."

This card is still super powerful, although there are a number of cards that stop it now. Oh, and one more thing to remember – this card is -13F when you have lower F. Excellent card.

Tazzmission
Trademark Finisher / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, if your next card played this turn is the card titled Maintain Hold, you can ignore the "Can only be played after..." text.
As a reversal, reverse any Strike, Grapple, or Submission maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
F: 25     D: 13     SV: 3     Unique
FL, SS1, SS2

Another card that is played as a reversal 99% of the time. Hitting all the major types, there's no question why it is. However, being a trademark finisher, it can be worth playing as a maneuver. And the maintain hold text is just about worthless. If you pack maintain hold in Tazz.... you're doing it wrong.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING CARDS ARE F:0 WHEN YOU HAVE LOWER F:

I'm Gonna Teach You a Lesson in Thuganomics
Reversal: Special
Reverse any Strike, Grapple, or Submission maneuver and end your opponent's turn. When he has more cards in his hand than you, he discards cards until he has the same number of cards in his hand as you. 
F: 13     D: 0     Unique     Smackdown logo
DO, SS3

Thank you John Cena for giving Tazz a very good reversal. And making your opponent discard cards is always welcome.

Just Another Victim
Action
Draw 2 cards and end your turn. On your opponent's next turn, the first card he plays cannot be reversed, and then end your opponent's turn. On your next turn, your opponent's Reversal cards to the first 3 cards you play are +13F.
F: 13     D: 0     Unique
BL, SS2

Here's a word of advice for anyone who's going to play this card: Only play this card if you have a Sidewalk Slam, or any other card that reverses an irreversible card.

Ok, now that that's clear, I think this card can really open up the game for Tazz. Getting 3 straight plunged cards, especially early in the contest, can be a game changer.

The Mood Is About to Change
Action
If your opponent has more than 7 cards in his hand, he discards # cards, where # is equal to the number of cards in his hand greater than 7.
Shuffle your hand into your Arsenal, draw 13 cards, and then discard # cards, where # is equal to the number of cards in your hand greater than in your opponent's hand.
F: 13     D: 0     Unique
SUM, SS2

This card used to be a so-so card. Now it's a really great one. Especially if your opponent is a superstar that consistently has a huge hand. Making his discard down to 7, and allowing you to shuffle your hand into your arsenal and draw 13 (remember that you don't discard because of your Backstage Area card).

Thug It – Dead
Action
Shuffle up to 10 cards with the word "suplex" in the title from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal, draw 3 cards, and end your turn.
F: 13     D: 0     Unique
FL, SS1, SS2

This is a good card- not as great as his others- but still good. Shuffling 10 cards is always good, and drawing 3 is always good. I only wish it didn't end your turn, but that's just me being greedy.

That's all of Tazz's specifics. They were all already good, virtual bumped them up into great territory. Tazz finally got the respect he never got in the WWE.

PART TWO
Non-specific cards that can be helpful for Tazz:

(Since Tazz doesn't have too many specific build types, Part Two will be a bit longer this week and Part Three will be a little shorter.)

Any Tazz player will tell you that keeping a hand size is the most difficult thing for Tazz. And anytime I hear anyone say this about any superstar, I suggest my favorite card:

Evening Up the Odds
Pre-match Event
Cannot be packed by Ric Flair or by a Stable.
At the start of each player's turn before their Draw Segment, when they have more than 7 cards in their hand, they shuffle 1 random card from hand into their Arsenal; when they have more than 14 cards in their hand, they shuffle 1 random additional card; and when they have less than 7 cards in their hand, they may draw 1 card.
Before any players' Draw Segment, when both players have 7 cards in hand, put this card from your Ring into your Ringside.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique

I am unapologetic about my love for this card. It helps almost anyone with a superstar ability that is used by discarding. And with Chain being such a popular build, this card has never been more useful.

Two other cards Tazz can build his hand with are:

Underrated Superstar
Pre-match Event
At the end of the Pre-match phase, when your Superstar Value is 2 or less, draw 3 cards. If you are not the player with the lowest Superstar Value, discard 1 card.
Throwback
Active
F: 0      D: 0

I Can't Be Reading This Right...
Action
Cannot be packed by Female Superstars.
When this card is in your Ringside pile, during your turn, if you have fewer cards in your hand than your opponent, you may remove 1 card in your Ringside pile from the game and then put this card into your hand.
F: 0      D: 0

Tazz is also a popular superstar to use a pre-match hand reduction strategy with, and here are some popular hand reduction cards:

Gen Con 2005
Pre-Match Venue.
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
Once during each of your turns you may discard 1 card and then put 1 card with the word "hell" in the title from your Ringside pile into your hand.
(Activated Card Effect symbol)
Universally Active.
Permanent
F: 0 D: 0

Backstage Politics
Pre-match Feud
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
When this card is in your Ring area, during your opponent's turn, he may put 1 non-unique card from his Ring area into his Ringside pile and put this card into his Ring area.
When this card is in any Ring area, cards that go to Right to Censor's Ringside pile are removed from the game and their cards and effects cannot modify the Fortitude of their opponent's Reversal cards.
Active
Permanent
F: 0      D: 0

Old School Manager
Pre-match Manager
The maximum number of Pre-match cards you may have in your Ring area is increased by 1.
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
Universally Unique
F: 0 D: 0

Managed by Terri Runnels
Pre-match Manager: Heel
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
When this card is in your Ring area, as a Reversal, you may put this card into your Ringside pile to reverse any card played by your opponent that allows him to search his Arsenal for 1 or more cards and end his turn.
Universally Unique
F: 0   D: 0

Banned from Ringside
Pre-match Event
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
When this card is in your Ring area, when your opponent reverses an Action or Maneuver from his hand, you may put the reversed card on the bottom of your Arsenal instead of in your Ringside pile.
Smackdown logo
Unique
F: 0      D: 0

Mr. Kennedy, Guest Ringside Announcer
Pre-match Event: Run-in
Cannot be played when any player is Ken Kennedy or The Future Of Sports Entertainment.
Your opponent's Starting Hand Size is -1.
ACE:  During your turn, you may put this card in your Ringside and then search your Arsenal for 1 card with the same title as a card with only 1 copy in your Ring, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal; when it is your next card played, you may ignore the "Can only be played..." text on it.
F: 0     D: 0     Universally Unique

And here are a few key Suplex cards Tazz enjoys:

German Suplex
Grapple
When this is the first card played of your turn and you reversed a card from your hand to end your opponent's last turn, this card can only be reversed from his Backlash deck or Arsenal.
Throwback
F: 4      D: 8

Fall-Away Suplex
Grapple
When this card is in your Ring area, your cards with the word "suplex" in the title are +1D.
F: 7      D: 8

Double Underhook Suplex
Grapple
If played by Tazz, this maneuver is - 1F.
SV: 1
F: 5   D: 7

Northern Lights Suplex
Grapple / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, when successfully played, you may put up to 2 maneuver cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal, then shuffle your Arsenal.
If played by Tazz, you may instead search your Arsenal for any card with the word "plex" in it, put that card in your hand, then shuffle your Arsenal.
As a reversal, may only reverse the maneuver titled Piledriver. End your opponent's turn.
F: 20   D: 12

Atomic Powerbomb Suplexbuster Piledriver Bulldog DDT of Doom
Grapple + Grapple
Cannot be packed by Female Superstars.
Multi
Unique
F: 20 D: 20

Precision Suplex
Grapple
When played, name a number 5 or less. Your opponent shuffles that many of his cards that have been removed from the game into his Arsenal. This card is -2F for each number named.
F: 20      D: 20

The last card can be played at F:6 by Tazz!

One other thing to remember, Tazz has an ECW backstage card, so he can pack these:

Backed by Paul Heyman
Pre-match Event
Can only be packed when you are packing an ECW card in your Backstage Area.  When packing this card, your Managed by Paul Heyman is not Heel.
At the end of the Pre-match phase, put Managed by Paul Heyman from your Backlash into your Ring.
ACE: During your turn, you may put this card into your Ringside and then put 1 Stipulation from your Ringside or Backlash into your Ring, and either discard 3 cards or put Managed by Paul Heyman from your Ring into your Ringside.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent

Managed by Paul Heyman
Pre-match Manager: Heel
When this card is in your Ring area, during your turn you may discard 1 card and put this card into your Ringside pile, and then put 1 non-Backlash-deck card from your opponent's Ring area into his Ringside pile.
   (Activated Card Effect Symbol) 
Universally Unique
F: 0         D: 0

I'm a Paul Heyman Guy
Mid-match Action + Action: Run-in
Cannot be packed by Paul Heyman.  Cannot be reversed when you have a card with 'Heyman' in the title in your Ring.
Search your Arsenal and Ringside for Paul Heyman's Shoot Promo, reveal it, put it into your hand, and shuffle; that card is -4F and cannot be reversed.
When your opponent has at least 15 greater Fortitude and he successfully plays a maneuver, you may ignore the 'during your turn' text on your Managed by Paul Heyman and immediately Activate it.
F: 3     D: 0     Unique     Multi

Paul Heyman's Shoot Promo
Action + Action
Draw up to 2 cards.
ACE: When this card is in your Ring and your opponent moves a card from his Ringside to any other location without playing a card, remove that card from the game, and then remove this card from the game.
F: 7     D: 0     Unique     Multi

Heyman Interferes
Reversal: Special
Can only be played when you have 2+ cards with 'Heyman' in the title in your Ring and/or Ringside; when you have 4+ cards with 'Heyman' in the title in your Ring, this card is -7F.
Can only be played when your opponent plays a card, he puts that card into his hand (or Backlash, if applicable), it is considered not to be played, and end his turn; when you have 4+ cards with 'Heyman' in the title, you may put his card into his Ring, Ringside, or remove it from the game instead.
F: 12     D: 0     Unique

And here's a few random cards that Tazz can also get some use out of:

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

Ring Psychology: Neck
Pre-match Event
If you have 4 or more maneuvers in your Ring area with the word(s) "clothesline," "neck," or "suplex" in the title, you may discard a card with the word "clothesline,"  "neck," or "suplex" in the title to reverse any Action played by your opponent and end your opponent's turn.
Active
Permanent
F: 0      D: 0

PART THREE
Specific Build Types

So, look... With Tazz you're just going to want to throw suplexes and play pain reversals until you win. It's not too difficult. So anything I could give here wouldn't make any sense. It's pretty simple, really, Throw big suplexes.

PART FOUR
In Conclusion:

Tazz was instantly top tier when he was released during Fully Loaded, he then dropped down a few rungs, but Virtual gave him a tremendous boost. I think Tazz can be pretty good, but can also fall short since he's pretty much stuck throwing only grapples. As long as Tazz can keep his hand up, he'll at least be competitive.

All in all, he seems more like a fun superstar than a competitive one.

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

I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully learned a few things.

Check back next week when I cover Victoria!

[rachelmon]

Classic Vertical Suplex is good for him as well

[Painmaker]

Good write up, but there are a few things I think is worth considering. One could argue that the problem with a character like Tazz can be one dimensional, so mixing up the moves may not be a bad idea. One possible idea is to keep throwing suplexes at your opponent to try to get a rhythm going. Then, at a certain fortitude threshold, you can try to switch gears on them and then hit your opponent with hard to reverse submissions. Hopefully, you can catch them off-guard, and it also gives you another reason beyond Tazzmission to pack Maintain Holds.

Another strategy to consider is using There Is No Escape. Tazz can make great use of it since 3 different suplexes that he can pitch and search for. The added reversal restrictions is nice, but not a necessity since it's so easy to be countered (Making Your Escape). What you do get out of it is some lovely, lovely, stun that can go a long way to help keep Tazz's hand up.

[MonkeyLord13]

Good write up, but there are a few things I think is worth considering. One could argue that the problem with a character like Tazz can be one dimensional, so mixing up the moves may not be a bad idea. One possible idea is to keep throwing suplexes at your opponent to try to get a rhythm going. Then, at a certain fortitude threshold, you can try to switch gears on them and then hit your opponent with hard to reverse submissions. Hopefully, you can catch them off-guard, and it also gives you another reason beyond Tazzmission to pack Maintain Holds.

This is how I used to run Tazz.

I'm also a fan of the Rake reversals in Tazz, since the suplexes you can play at 0F net you 7+ Fortitude. When "cannot be reversed" still meant something, a Rake as a reversal, into another Rake as a Maneuvers into an irreversible Indian Deathlock won me more than one game with Tazz.

[CreedP]

Random tech I used to like, back in the day, with WWE Commentators... name the other brand from what you're packing (in this case, Raw, since Tazz has an SD Pre-match), for use with this:

Get Off My Program!
Mid-match Action / Reversal: Special
As an action, this card is -10F, discard this card and draw 1 card.
As a reversal, can only be played if you and your opponent both have a card in your Ring areas with the Raw logo or both have a card in your Ring areas with the Smackdown logo. Reverse any card if it is not the first card played this turn and end your opponent's turn.
F: 10     D: 0     Unique

Might not be as useful now with fewer cards having brands, but you never know... :)

CREED

[Drywall]

Perhaps You Feeling Lucky? TB into a strike or Submission they won't see coming?

Also, Shoot Suplex as a starter is great for opening up Shoot Counter.

House that Hardcore Built could come in handy if you wanted to chuck a Table (Unique Strike) early (perhaps under That's Value!) and/or the dreaded Kitchen Sink. Some foreign object decks can struggle ramping in fortitude to get to sink range; Tazz shouldn't have this problem whatsoever.

Mid-match high-risks are also keen; if you're going Smackdown there's the obvious choice plus Suicide Plancha. I think any Tazz player should consider a Raw build for Raw & Ready since he cannot oversell. Raw also gives you Undermine the Competition, King Interferes, Twisted Smile to name a few. Raw & Ready lets you search for ANY card, which can be killer.

WWE Commentators is great for grabbing ANY action: Douchebag, Feeling Lucky TB, Ref Takes a Bump, Shoot Action, etc. If you wanted to get cute and your build is Heel perhaps consider Title Belt Clubberin' for some discard; nuke the hand, trash with suplexes. Vince GRA in the pre can help with a pesky Multi maneuver. Ego Boost is great to help keep the hand up against the dreaded chain deck; The "On One" Arena and it's support cards is also worth a look as is Backstage Shenanigans to possibly help buy you a turn.

[Mau-cho Man]

I have a question about I'm Gonna Teach You a Lesson in Thuganomics.

Does the opponent having to discard stay on the whole game or is it just for the turn? Thanks!

[Scotty]

I have a question about I'm Gonna Teach You a Lesson in Thuganomics.

Does the opponent having to discard stay on the whole game or is it just for the turn? Thanks!

The discard happens only when the card is played and it only resolves once.