Historically, Unmatched has been a stage for characters from myth, legend, and various popular franchises to come together and duke it out. Only rarely does a real person end up with a deck. Readers who frequent our discord will know Justin Jacobson is a deep fan of Muhammad Ali, so if you ask him, the Louisville Lip’s addition was a matter of how and when, not if. But how to fit him in?
Bluntly speaking, single-character boxes are a tougher business proposition. They require much of the same work as a two-pack while offering a lot less revenue to justify that work. This restriction was part of the reason we had initially written off a Bruce Lee reprint, but it ultimately became the key to getting Ali in the door. It took a lot of behind-the-scenes magic on Justin’s part, but the end result was Lee vs. Ali, a joint-license set that brought back a fan favorite and paired him with a fantastic new entry to the Unmatched roster.
A Matchup for the Ages
Now that we had our box concept, we were left with an interesting puzzle from a development standpoint. Bruce Lee was essentially locked in. We could reformat and update the wording on the cards, but decided very early on that we didn’t want to make any changes to the way the deck worked. In addition, while a four-pack box has six potential matchups (thanks, combinatorics!), a two-pack box has only one, so we really need to make that count. A lot of Ali’s deck naturally evolved from his Bruce Lee matchup, and in the end we had a pile of considerations that all made the design tricky.
- Ali needed to be a melee range solo fighter. There really isn’t any other combination that makes sense for a fighter that’s a boxer. Bruce’s special ability makes for a very rough game for that exact type of fighter, so we needed a way to address that.
- Bruce is an established fighter with a lot of very swingy matchups. He has a lot of unique cards that, when combined with his recursion, can lead to a lot of variance.
- Bruce relies on action gain and other effects in his deck to execute his game plan. Characters that can prevent him from doing his thing do very well, but that leads to an uninteresting game. We wanted Ali to let Bruce do his thing without necessarily getting buried by it (this turned out to be a tall order!)
- On top of all that, Ali needs his own schtick that makes him feel unique in the Unmatched roster. Something that really captures what fighting like a boxer feels like. And he needs to have his own space in the Unmatched ecosystem. We didn’t want to tailor his deck for a perfect in-box matchup at the expense of something too strong or weak against the upwards of 60 other fighters available.
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
We tried a number of powers for Ali. Some of them are really promising mechanics that didn’t end up working for the box, but may still find a home in a future set. In the end, we settled on a stanza from one of his iconic quotes. Ali flips between butterfly and bee stances. This ended up working well from both a thematic and practical standpoint.
Fighters with range tended to have a better matchup into Bruce Lee, whose special ability and high movement often meant a melee opponent couldn’t really unload with a power turn of their own. Butterfly gives Ali a little extra range (representing his famed footwork) and extra effects on cards, giving him a trickiness that matches Bruce without nullifying it entirely.
Fighters who have access to attack bonuses (colloquially called ‘+2 fighters’) also perform really well against Bruce. The nature of his defenses means he can block very often but not very high. Ali having repeatable access to a heavy hitting attack means he can often put together damage without relying on a specific card coming up or not.
Switching between these two advantages means Ali always has something helpful in the only matchup in the box, and it’s up to the player to leverage each of them at the right time.
Ringside Advice
Once the stance system clicked, the rest of the deck fell into place. But there’s no denying that, at first glance, Ali is a little trickier to pick up than Bruce Lee. I’ve spoken with some members of our focus group* to put together some tactical advice for anyone looking to get a little more oomph out of their right hooks.
- While Ali has access to a +2 stance and action gain, he’s not a strictly aggro fighter. Just like in the ring, you’ll get more value out of playing a longer game—watching your positioning, picking your windows, and keeping your hand up to protect your face.
- Try not to get into trouble you can’t get out of. Ali’s defensive game is much stronger in Butterfly stance. If you can’t switch back out of Bee immediately, make sure you have solid defenses lined up. Close and Clinch can set up a strong next turn that returns you to Butterfly, while Champion of the World and Fancy Footwork are reliable options that buy you crucial breathing room against a melee fighter.
- Get in their head. It’s difficult to deal large chunks of damage in Butterfly, but if your defenses are strong, your opponent still has to respect every attack you throw. Cards like Jab and Stronger Than Skill can strip defenses or set up a powerful one-two if they let something through.
- If you set up turns with a double attack, you can capitalize with a flurry that really puts your opponent on the back foot. This becomes even more effective if you’ve already drawn out some of their defenses—either with bait attacks or by landing something like Stick and Move or Louisville Lip. If you sense they’re light on defense, Close and Clinch or Answer the Bell can let you pour it on in a moment’s notice.
Of particular note in the Bruce Lee matchup:
- 4 damage is the magic number. Bruce has very few cards that can fully stop a 4 power attack, so if you have one (or can reach it with Bee’s bonus) you can be fairly confident it sticks.
- Depending on his draw, Bruce can come out of the gate extremely fast. But if you weather that initial storm, he will often be low on hand size, which gives you a window to act.
- Don’t assume you’re safe just because you have one good defense. Bruce can unleash multiple attacks in a single turn. You’ll need several defensive cards or the ability to build space while blocking (Fancy Footwork, Hard to Be Humble, and Champion of the World) if you want to avoid a pile of Jeet Kune Dos.
- Close and Clinch works particularly well against Bruce’s end-of-turn hop, giving you a chance to wallop him on the following turn. Answer the Bell also creates a window for multiple attacks, which can let you activate Bee and return to Butterfly in time for your opponent’s turn.
- It can feel incredible to land The Greatest, but Bruce runs a lot of strong defenses, so your odds of getting it through are fairly low early on. Once you’ve drawn out enough of his premium defenses (Skirmish, Be Like Water, and Feint) you can go for the knockout. Just watch out for an empty-hand Little Dragon ruining your plans.
The Greatest
We’re really happy with how the deck for Muhammad Ali ended up. He’s a high-mobility hard-hitting fighter that rewards rhythm, control, and picking the right moment to hit like a truck, just like the champ himself. If you can get in your opponents head, you’ll walk them right into a knockout that feels oh so satisfying. When you grab a copy, let us know what you think on our discord or socials. Good luck out there!
*special thanks to Angelcake, Flome, Jerry, and the rest of the focus group for their efforts!