Grave = Ryu
Jaina = Ken
Midori = E. Honda but he can turn into a dragon also(?)
Setsuki = Ibuki
Rook = Zangief/Potemkin
DeGrey = Dudley/Slayer
Valerie = Fei Long
Geiger = Guile
Lum = Blanka(?)
Argagarg = Dhalsim
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Blanka/Faust
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Quick note: if you’re willing to shell out for it, getting the cards for just one of the Round 1 decks printed out and sleeved isn’t much more than the $10 to buy the deck outright, since Round 1’s print-and-play is free. So that possibly leaves Grave/Jaina/Midori/Setsuki on the table. (I actually specifically printed Grave out, since I own Round 2, because of his usefulness for teaching.)
DeGrey might instill a few bad habits, maybe, but he’s got some forgiving aspects for a beginner: Moral High Ground gives some bonus damage when they go down on cards (which beginners are likely to do), and Ghost Riposte, as a recurring full combo dodge, is a really really nice card to have, especially since it doesn’t get discarded vs a block.
Definitely recommend Rook. A lot of health (again, very forgiving!), and it’s fun to grapple through blocks.
Onimaru is nice and simple, although he doesn’t teach players how to combo. He feels really powerful, though, and the most complex part of the character is hand management, which is an important skill for them to learn.
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Ooh, I’d forgotten about the print-and-play! I’ll see if I have enough left over sleeves from Codex for a deck or two (hopefully they’re big enough too).
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They should be same size. I fit Codex and Yomi into Dragon Shields.
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Good to know! I was thinking of using a spare deck or two of normal playing cards for the backing, and I assume Yomi decks are roughly the same size (since they’re based directly on playing cards). If all this is true, then at least for now I’ve got a good way to get started with the game!
I still want to get the proper decks at some point just for the higher quality, but if I end up getting an individual deck first I’ll probably get Rook for myself. I enjoyed him in what little I’ve played of Fantasy Strike, and I expect to like him in Codex (two lives + birds sounds awesome). Plus it would be good to have a simpler deck, both for myself and other new players.
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I think Valerie, Vendetta, Argagarg, DeGrey, Menelker are all fine choices. All of them have simple abilities and none of them skew the basics of the game too hard.
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I usually keep Grave, Jaina, Rook, and Valerie with me as my beginner teaching decks. Rook vs. Valerie is probably my favorite beginner matchup, neither of which are in the Round 1 pack.
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That does sound like an interesting matchup and a good way to learn! I’ve printed out Grave’s deck already, but I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Perhaps trying that matchup will convince my sister to give her Steam copy of Yomi a second chance?
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I find the core game play, that one on one battle of wits and nerve, to be intoxicating and downright addictive to anyone who tastes it. Sirlin attempted to reduce the entry requirements to reach that game play by reducing months of grinding combos and manual dexterity in training mode with placing a card face down on the table. I think he mostly succeeded but the unfortunate truth is that there is still some entry level speed bumps.
New players seem to see the combat reveals as completely random and hand management as a vague concept. Grasping these fundamentals can be very simply for an experienced gamer; I’ve even had the pleasure of teaching someone who grasped it all very quickly. The main barrier for new players is peeling though all the seemingly random and confusing system mechanics in order to glimpse the genius beneath.
Semi-drunken rant aside, my point is that deck selection isn’t very important. Exclude the most confusingly complex characters (Persephone, BBB, Quince, Gloria) and focus on engaging and fun teaching methods.
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I find it amusing that all the characters you mentioned are “Shadows” characters, so if someone got the Steam version they wouldn’t be able to try any of them unless they went all-in and bought the expansion characters too.
Anyway, I’ve printed Grave and Jaina out for now (Finished cutting Grave, just started cutting Jaina). I may print the other two later, but Grave seems like the most beginner friendly of the four and Jaina will be both a pseudo-handicap for me against brand-new players (due to her relatively difficult to use abilities) and an appealing choice for the friend I mentioned in the first post (though I’ll warn him that she’s a bit tricky to use). I’m hesitant to print the others out because of how different they are. Watching @mysticjuicer’s old “Getting Good at Yomi” videos, I felt like having a new player face against a grappler would make them less likely to block than they ought to (not to mention the whole transformation thing), and Setsuki works so differently from the rest of the cast that I’m worried that anyone using her might get bad habits. Any thoughts?
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Well, from a competitive perspective, you’ve got to learn how to play against grapplers and rushdown characters. From a casual perspective, you might really enjoy the puzzle of fighting against grapplers and/or rushdown characters.
TLDR; buy all 20 characters, and do it twice because you want to be able to play the mirrors, obvs
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Well, if you think it’s OK I’ll go for it! I have to admit I liked Setsuki a lot in the brief time I played the Steam version, so having her available will be nice. I can think of another person I taught Codex to who might like Midori because he’s in Green (his preferred color), so I really have no good excuses left, do I? 
Reasons I want people to get the Steam version: not having to spend $400 on a non-collectable card game! 
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It’s the lobster ice cream theory of gaming - not everyone is going to enjoy it, but those that do are going to LOVE IT. 
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A man after my own heart 
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Well, keep in mind that part of the reason is that I haven’t gotten any of the expansions yet (so he’s only seen Red and Green) and that he loves the existence of T-Rex. He does like green in Magic too, so it’s not like he only likes it for lack of options… It’s just that he could like something else more once everything is in front of him.
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T-Rex character for Yomi when
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It’s been a while, but while I haven’t gotten around to getting one of the standalone Yomi decks yet, one of my uncles sent me the Round 1 box as an early Christmas gift! So, uh, now that it no longer applies to me, I hope this whole discussion helps someone else? 
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I’m just here to quote this.
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Reviving this old thread of mine to mention that the info I got here was useful for my friends who wanted to pick up Yomi decks after I taught them how to play. I recommended one of them get either Rook or Valerie based on @LK4O4’s suggestion, and he surprised me by buying both! That worked out well, considering that he had family visit to prevent us from meeting after his decks arrived – he just taught his family instead, using one of the best beginner matchups.
Another friend was disappointed that Onimaru was only in Round 2, since he didn’t want to shell out $40 for 3 characters he didn’t care about and 1 that he did, so he went for his second choice… Menelker. I tried to dissuade him, but he had already placed the order when he told me about his decision, so there’s nothing I can do but brace myself for that. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though – my favorite of the characters I have is Setsuki, so I’m expecting lots of quick games!
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