Vendetta the Undead Assassin is an attack poke character. He wants to poke at the opponent with his recurring attacks. His innate, Carrion Reach, reads: Whenever your normal attack is blocked or wins combat, return it to your hand. This allows Vendetta to play an attack/block range to build up his hand. If either option wins it builds his hand at the same rate. Thanks to Carrion Reach even if Vendetta’s normal attacks are blocked his hand will (usually) be built up just as much as the opponents.

Vendetta also has only 75 health which can potentially make him one of the squishiest characters in the game but luckily he has an ability that can protect him. More on that later.

Since Vendetta’s innate revolves around his normal attacks let’s take a look at his fastest normal.


Vendetta’s two attack isn’t too shabby. 2.2 speed is a very reasonable speed for how much damage it can potentially lead into. Vendetta’s 2 is one of his work horse cards because it is his fastest move that benefits from his innate. Vendetta will need to make good use of this card. It is also his fastest neutral non-ace attack. This means that Vendetta can get outsped by a lot of opponents. Vendetta has to play the part of the patient assassin and learn exactly when his moment to strike is.

His 2 attack has a dodge attached to it which are very precious to Vendetta. He needs them to deal with fast attacks and to fuel his strongest ability (more on that later). Luckily with Vendetta’s innate it makes it harder to lose this particular card if it is used as an attack.



Vendetta also has above average speed on his throws. This is his fastest neutral throw. At speed 7.4 it can often be the fastest normal throw in a mu. Vendetta will have to use his throws wisely because unlike his normal attacks his normal throws will not return to hand if they win combat.

Another important note about Vendetta’s 7 is the attack on it. Claw trip is a 1cp ender, speed 3.0, deals 7 damage, and knockdown (KD). This attack is great for a couple of reasons. For one Vendetta can stick this onto any normal attack or throw combat win to get solid damage. Or he can use it as a combat reveal if he is confident then opponent will throw or slow attack. Since Claw Trip is a normal attack if used as a combat reveal it will get the benefits of Carrion Reach (it will return to Vendetta’s hand). When successfully used in either case Vendetta will get the KD and then he can start using his powerful KD mix up (more on that later).

Vendetta has another throw worth mentioning on his 4



Kidney Shot is a somewhat slow throw at speed 8.8. But, it is a strong high risk/high reward play that Vendetta can make. The risk comes from the slower speed and the fact that Vendetta will be losing a dodge. The reward is great if it wins because it leads into some of Vendetta’s biggest damage.

86J+++ = 34

86AA = 32

8567 = 26 + get an ace and the opponent is KD

These combos are various degrees of card hungry so Vendetta will be very sad if these combats get jokered. Landing a Kidney Shot when the opponent is out of jokers can be amazing though.



Vendetta’s J, Tumbling Strike, is his high damage but card intensive card. He can get 20 damage out of it put into any combat win but it takes three more cards in addition to the J to do it. Vendetta is just going to have to make sure he has the hand to support going all in on Tumbling Strike before he plays it in a combo. However, since it can get 20 damage in any combat win it can be great for closing out games.

Even though it is an Ender it is also speed 2.4 which isn’t too bad in a lot of mu. If Vendetta finds himself in a bind he might consider using this card as a combat reveal.



Frost Web’s purpose is to connect Vendetta’s fast normals into anything else. Without Frost Web Vendetta can’t do as much with his 2 and 3 pokes. But with it he can turn his 2 poke into something truly scary. Combos like:

2Q67 = 24 damage plus draw a card, get the 2 back, and the opponent is KD

2QAA = 29 damage (while the Q isn’t needed to combo into the AA here it does put an extra 7 damage into the combo)

Q should almost never be used as a combat reveal and should be saved for putting into combos.

Vendetta’s K is another one of his work horse cards. If used properly/correctly he can get an amazing amount of value out of a single K.

The ability on K, Wall Dive Loop, says: While the opponent is KD, both sides of this card are speed 1.0. When you hit with either side of this card, return it to your hand. This means that if Vendetta has the opponent KD he gets an extremely strong mix up going that he can repeat turn after turn if he guesses it right. Having a 1.0 speed throw means that Vendetta has the fastest non-super throw in the game (it even beats the grappler normal and special throws). When Vendetta KD the opponent he can play a Wall Dive Suplex/dodge mix up. If he gets it right he will have the opponent KD (if the dodge wins Vendetta should dodge into Wall Dive Suplex unless some other move is lethal) again which sets him up for the mix up on the following turn.

Diving Pincer Slice, while extremely strong if it connects, can be tricky to land. Vendetta is going to have to make some strong reads if he is going to connect with this move. When the opponent is KD they are likely to play either a block (to be safe versus the attack and dodge) or an attack of speed 1.0 or faster to be safe from the throw and attack side of K. To be able to land a Diving Pincer Slice Vendetta will have to get a feel for the opponent’s tendencies. If it connects though it can lead into serious damage for not many cards.

KAA = 30 damage

K67 = 25 damage and KD

Wall Dive Suplex is one of Vendetta’s (if not the best) dodge follow up. Any time Vendetta has K in hand and he successfully dodges he should follow up with that K (unless another move is lethal). Even if the opponent face downs a card Vendetta should jam that Wall Dive Suplex. The reason for this is it’s free damage! The card will return to Vendetta’s hand, there is no risk in losing it if you dodge into it. PLUS it gets the KD which sets up Vendetta’s vortex.

Just playing either side of this move when the opponent is standing is pretty risky. Neither side is fast and the throw side is as slow as throws get barring any special slowdown abilities. Having said that it can be super satisfying to successfully land a Wall Dive Suplex when the opponent is standing. To pull this off Vendetta has to be so sure that the opponent is going to block/dodge in order for it to be worth it and even then there is still big risks.



There isn’t too much to say about Vendetta’s aces. Maximum Ven is a two ace super and it can be put into any combo.

Surgical Strike is a three ace move that does 36 damage (his highest damage he can do) and it is his fastest attack (well tied for fastest) at speed 1.0. This is a strong dodge follow up for Vendetta and it is also a good combat reveal. It does no chip damage when blocked however so Vendetta must be certain it will connect.

Vendetta can have some trouble getting aces because he has no normal straights off his faster normals so he will usually either have to draw them or power up for them.



Acrobatics is Vendetta’s last ability. And what an ability it is. It allows Vendetta to discard this card plus a dodge to cancel combat. Play skips forward to next combat phase and Vendetta is 2.0 speed slower for that combat.

The threat of this card will make it so the opponent will be extremely reluctant to play their multi ace super as their combat reveal (unless they have a counter). Vendetta can use this to great advantage. It is also a very good card to escape other painful combat losses. It does have a steep cost of a dodge (Vendetta has 16 dodges) and slowing down Vendetta for the next combat so it should not be used on any old combat loss.

Having an Acrobatics in hand can give Vendetta great comfort and allow him to play more aggressively the he otherwise would.

Well there you have Vendetta. If you want to play a patient assassin that waits in the wings for the right time to strike in addition to having really strong KD mix up turns and don’t mind not having access to a truly fast attack and dealing with the occasional wonky hand then Vendetta might be the character for you.

-This guide was posted with permission of the auther, ClanNatioy.