Most lower level historical charts have Argagarg beating Vendetta in this matchup. Just recently has @vengefulpickle 's tireless search for the best heuristics unveiled a previously underlying
“secret”: Vendetta wins this matchup. The question now, is why? Why am I 20-7 over tournament performance in this matchup while most everyone else flounders? Why am I revealing this now?
Well, I can answer the last part pretty easily. For a long time I wanted to closely guard my power in this game to maximize my winrate. Once you divulge your techniques in Yomi publicly, anyone can read them and then people can just straight counter them if they know what you are doing. Oh well, here are my thoughts:
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Argagarg can’t counter everything. For most characters, Arg’s counter is basically saved for ONE of their abilities (the most powerful one, duh). Well Vendetta has TWO abilities that harass the little fishman, so he has to make decisions on the fly on what to counter (what that ends up translating to is: counter the first thing you see).
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Hex is NOT inevitable. For almost every character in the game (other than Gloria), Hex of Murkwood has a finite clock, and it can lead to somewhat reliable checkmates. Gloria’s exemption also applies to Vendetta for a different reason: Vendetta can somewhat reliably knock down from any revealed option, and infinitely knock down with successful King combat wins. Acrobatics ALSO negates a turn of Hex so that can also be used if you slip up. Vendetta is one of two or three characters who can be facing 1 life to 85 and still conceivably win.
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(In general) don’t attack unless you have Acrobatics backup or you are fairly confident they don’t have A. There is no reason to give Arg Bubble Shield without working for it, especially since popping it can be quite annoying for Vendetta as he might have to sacrifice a valuable 7-throw or other resource with little reward.
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This is in general good advice for most characters, but don’t throw unless you have substantial reward for doing so. Don’t use a 9 throw just to get a knockdown. That sucks. If you’re going to put your ass on the line make sure they pay for it. Since the other person will know this, this leads to the next point…
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You should K throw early if possible. Since in the early game your normal throws are low-reward (which I specifically advised against a moment ago) they are subsequently also low-percent plays. Which means they won’t be looking for throws. Which means K throw might win combat. Yes it sucks losing a K throw to a biffed raw walldive, but that’s what backflips are for.
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The K/D game is all about 2.2, until they know that it’s all about 2.2, then it’s all about whatever you want it to be about. When you have the opponent in a K/D loop, NEVER play K attack. Ever. Always play mixup normals (leaning toward 2 attack of course), dodge into K throw AAA or J+++, or raw K throw. This is where you will get your dividends. Once your opponent realizes you will never play a K attack (which, now that I’ve posted this, may be immediately) they will start using Q to bust up your mixup attempts. This is what opens up K attack again. I will reiterate: don’t use K attack on KD until they prove they will play Q on wakeup.
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Only use Acrobatics on raw AA or A block.
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Try not to power up until you’ve had a few things countered. In general don’t power up until you have 3oaK or you’re going to go over your hand limit.
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Don’t get flustered. You will almost always start this matchup off behind. Vendetta doesn’t care. He can win in three combat reveals. Be patient and because of point #2 don’t panic.
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Keep Arg wanting cards. He will be spending counters to try and stop your wall dives and backflips. He will be spending cards to power up for As. He will be spending cards when you acro his As. Keep him low and he can’t constantly have As on deck and you will have advantage time. His combat wins will be insignificant compared to yours (they already kind of are).
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This is just general Vendetta stuff: Don’t play raw 7 attack unless the situation is extremely dire (like it’s a post acro turn and that’s your only attack). The reward is too low to lose such a versatile card.
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You may have to use 8 throw. Don’t do it until later in the match, but consider it a much higher percent play than against almost any other character. Conversely, don’t just use them all as throws. You want to put pressure on Arg’s counter game (and also, Acro is like one of the most powerful abilities in the game).