James
How long have you been playing Universus? Is this your first competitive card game?
I started playing Universus back in August of 2022 after picking up a heavily discounted starter set in my local GameStop and, much to my wife’s chagrin, fell off the deep end once I discovered how much fun Universus was. Previously, I have participated in local Magic the Gathering tournaments back in highschool, and, more recently, was heavily involved in KeyForge, but never got involved in high-level play for either.
How was learning the game? Did you find it easy to get started? It took a few practice sessions with the starter set for me to start to get a grasp of the game progression and flow, but once I got a few games under my belt I felt I understood the basics, but even today I’m still learning more. One of the running jokes in our state is “I can't wait until I understand how to play this game.”
Is there anything about the game system that stands out to you? What makes you want to be invested in this game? As an avid My Hero Academia fan, it would be easy to chalk up my love of this game to just being the game that contains the IP so many people have fallen in love with over the last few years, but what draws me to UniVersus and makes it stand out to me is how a game can be both extremely explosive, but methodical in composition and card interaction. While all top tier competitive play has trends, UniVersus really rewards players who find the unique and make it their own.
Which character is your favorite to play, why? I love playing Yuga Aoyama (I). He’s my comfort character for locals when I don’t know what else to bring. I like to press buttons in any kind of game I play and Aoyama gives my attacks great buffs when I flip my foundations, which lets me pile on speed/damage until an attack is just too costly to block.
Are you involved with the community in any way for this game? How do you feel about it?
I judge my local store’s weekly tournaments (shoutout to Paul’s GamerZone in Massillon Ohio). We had our first Provisional Store Championship this year, and have about 8-10 consistent players which was only about 2-3 at the beginning of the year. I also joined the On a 6 team this year to get involved with players ready to practice and discuss strategy. When family commitments allow, I also try to participate in some of the weekly webcam tournaments, as well as play with the players from Columbus, who I try to make the drive down to see for all their Store Championships.
The global community is amazing and if you don’t have a local community, I would recommend getting involved there, but eventually I believe you should find a healthy local scene if possible, even if that means starting one yourself. I’m so blessed that the community from Ohio is thriving and excited to welcome new people. This game got so much more rewarding once I got involved in a community of people who want to get better, help build each other up, and celebrate when one of us succeeds. At the regional I did well at, it was amazing seeing the discord notifications light up everytime I won a match. The camaraderie in Ohio is amazing.
In cultivating a local scene, do you feel that it has any special character that distinguishes it from other games? It’s for sure the characters people love in the anime. Let’s be honest, 95% of your new players are going to dip their toes in the water of this game because they love My Hero Academia. We all have our favorite heroes (and villains) from this anime and have a great opportunity to get new players piloting their favorite characters to get started. Once they find a character they like, they can dive down the rabbit hole of deck building and start to make it their own.
Obviously you’re excited for Nationals; do you have any goals for the tournament? I’m trying my best to keep the goals I have for nats to not involve win/loss ratios. There are going to be so many talented people there, and while I really hope I don’t get absolutely blown out, my goal is that the deck list I’m bringing does what I built it to do. It’s a tested character with a few personal touches I have not seen many other people doing and I’ve had some people I really respect add their advice and input to. I hope that win or lose I put it all on the mat with nothing to regret. Also I have a goal to meet some in-person for the first time and have a great time with my friends who are also making the trip.
Is there anything coming down the line that you are particularly looking forward to? Anything you’re hoping for that hasn’t been announced? I’m really excited about Jet Burn. Like the previous set (Undaunted Raid) we’re going to see some new renditions of some beloved characters, as well as some new characters that people have been waiting years for (looking at you Hawks).
What advice would you offer to a new player? Anything you wish you did differently?
Hold your breath and just dive in. Buy a clash deck of your favorite character, show up to locals or a webcam event once you feel you have a basic understanding of the rules (or don’t learn the rules, we love teaching new people). Ask a million questions and get connected with the people who respond. There’s good content creators passionate about the game to look to for tips and learning. Make use of one of the online deck builders to craft your deck (like www.uvsultra.online). I wish I had done all these things 5 months earlier than I did.
Josh
How long have you been playing Universus? Is this your first competitive card game?
I have been playing since March of 2023, so about 7 months now. This is my first competitive card game in almost 20 years; I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh in local competitions back in 2005 or so.
How was learning the game? Did you find it easy to get started?
Learning the game was a bit of a challenge without playing it. There are a good amount of resources on YouTube to help learn how to play, but, in my opinion this is one of those games where you HAVE to sit down and play a game (physically or digitally) to really start to get a grasp on how to play. Once I played my first game, I had a decent grasp on the overarching rule structure/playstyle and from there it was more about learning the intricacies of the game.
Is there anything about the game system that stands out to you? What makes you want to be invested in this game?
There are two aspects of this system that I really enjoy and I really have trouble choosing one above the other: no guarantees and thematic styling.
I love that the game doesn’t guarantee you anything to an extent, where other games do. In Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh, when you play a land, a spell, a monster, they get played; yes someone can do something to stop you, but that aside, you get to play the card. In UVS, due to the difficulty/check system, you can play a card that is too difficult to play based on your board state, and have an unlucky discard, causing you to essentially have a skipped turn.
The thematic styling is also so well done. When you read a character card or ability, you can understand why that character has those abilities and feel like you are actually playing as that character.
Which character is your favorite to play, why?
This is a tough one. I would have to say it is a tie between Todoroki II and Deku IV. Not only do I enjoy playing with these characters, but they are the first two decks I fully built out and put to the grind, so they kind of have a special place in my heart.
Todoroki is fun because he allows you to pull a card out of momentum (you have the option to store attacks in your momentum when they deal damage, think of it like a special move bar in a fighting game). So you know you will always have an attack at the ready. He is also able to apply a speed and damage buff once per turn as well as give an attack stun: 2 (the ability to tell your rival to commit two of their built foundations).
Deku IV is a blast because he has a high health count (30), has access to three symbols that allow him to play very differently, gives at least +4 damage to every one of his moves, and is able to draw three at the beginning of your rival’s turn, so you ensure you will always have at least a few cards to block with.
Obviously you’re excited for Nationals; do you have any goals for the tournament?
I definitely tend to be hyper competitive so my goals are to not let that get to me, have fun with the crew I’m going with, but also try to get at least a couple wins in. I understand that I’m less than a year into the game and am just ecstatic that I’ve come as far as I have. If I don’t make tops this year, I can always attempt Last Chance Qualifiers at Worlds and there’s always next year.
Is there anything coming down the line that you are particularly looking forward to? Anything you’re hoping for that hasn’t been announced?
I am excited to see how the challenger decks do, but even more than that I am very excited for the Yu Yu Hakusho set. That may have been my first anime after Dragonball Z that I can remember watching (it was either that, Inuyasha, or something else I can’t remember) and definitely holds a special place in my heart (I’ll probably have to re-watch it before the set comes out). I know I’ve seen a good amount of the community echo this so I’m looking forward to seeing some new decks that merge MHA and YYH. I wish we would have gotten some more information about the next MHA set, but I’d rather wait until they have more of that solidified before we get information about it. Hopefully we get some news on that soon, or at least another IP. Maybe, even some other smaller products similar to the Class 1-A reunion box that will come out in the meantime.
What advice would you offer to a new player? Anything you wish you did differently?
I would say don’t hesitate to just jump in and find someone to teach you the game. Watching the videos can make it seem very convoluted, but if you start with the basics and get a demo game in, you can build your knowledge from there. There are some intricacies that get confusing without your basics, so get those and then get into the little things.
I wish I had just gone to a Local Game Store or joined the official UVS discord sooner and gotten my first game in. I tried to use the videos first but nothing in them made sense to me until I got that first game in. I can be afraid to get into new groups so that is what kept me from going into the store at first. But this group is awesome and has become an amazing new group of friends, so I’m really looking forward to seeing where this all goes.