WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WoN POKER!

Swapping is a major part of WoN (especially in ladders). You may not be using it much during missions (due to integral points such as full collab teams, etc.), but it is integral if you plan on fighting in ladders. A single swap can turn a supposed hopeless matchup into a devastating comeback win.

Swapping in of itself is a bluffing game. It is not that far away of a concept to WoN, in which you win by outsmarting enemies and using most of your skills effectively and without flaw.


RULES IN SWAPPING:

1. YOU CAN ONLY SWAP IN 1 ITEM AND/OR 1 CHARACTER

Jun's Katana of Niiro changed to Warbanner of Offense...

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...or Jun changed to Yuudai.

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2. IF YOU SWAPPED 1 CHARACTER, ONLY THAT CHARACTER CAN HAVE A SWAPPED ITEM

If Toraji was swapped for Jyouzo, only Jyouzo can have a swappable item.


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SWAPPING STYLES

There are three swapping styles each unique in their own rights.They are essential tools if you plan on dominating the WoN ranks. Outsmart or be outsmarted.

1. DEFENSIVE SWAPS

Defensive Swaps are the most common types of swaps in which you swap in a specific item or character for the sole purpose of defending yourself against an alleged threat. A simple example of this would be swapping in WoR(if you are using a Tactic Team Spammer) or Sake whenever you spot at least 2 stunners.

You sense the hater of all armors and wildlife, and thus need the extra moisture to survive its intents to burn all living things.
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2. BLUFF SWAPS

- Normal - in which you swap in your actual 3rd character so enemies would be unprepared for him/her. An example would be to swap in Kurai to avoid giving enemy preparations against his permastuns. Make sure your present visible team has zero stunners to completely avoid any possible way enemy can swap sake in.

ENEMY: Oh good, another mindless spiking team. No probs then.
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PLAYER: Time to reveal my real team. You can't defend against this now.
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- Reverse - in which you swap out a 3rd character to feint the enemy into an insecure swap. An example of this would be to swap out Kurai so your enemy would think of swapping in a Sake even though you'll swap out Kurai with a non-stunner character wasting their item swap.

ENEMY: Oh a Niwa. I will get wrecked if I don’t add some Sake or Metsu.
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PLAYER: If he swapped in a Sake or Metsu, say byebye to 2 of your useful items now.
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3. CHARACTER STREAK SWAPS

- Defensive - in which you swap out your streak character to safeguard it against questionable or threatening teams which might destroy your hard-earned streaks. Make sure you only have 1 streaking character INSIDE the team or pay the consequences of losing your full team streak. After swapping, you can just surrender if you particularly don't care about winning and would rather use your precious time finding better match-ups.

You sense your Amaya's streak is in danger against these speedy spikers, and as such have taken matters into your own hands.
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- Offensive - in which you swap in ANOTHER streak character outside your present streak character when you deem the match-up to be in your favor. This is a great combination with the Defensive Character Swaps so you can safeguard 2 character streaks at a time instead of just one.

You sense the match-up to be in your favor and as such unleashed your 2nd streaking character, Tadashi, along with Amaya.
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NOTE: Once you do the swap and pressed the OK button, rest assured they won't see the swap UNTIL you pressed the READY button. Even then, just let the timer run out. Even if you ran out of time, it still considers the swaps you changed as long as you pressed the OK button in time.

In the end, even your opponents might bluff swap. It all comes down to who has a better, flexible team. That's where "The Ladder Team" comes into play.

"THE LADDER TEAM"

The most effective ladder teams are those in which you can swap anything and anyone you might ever need against anyone while keeping your main strategy. In other words, the best ladder teams are hybrid.

Why hybrid teams you ask when perfectly good drainer and pure affliction teams are present? Because a single swap might void those teams into an unwinnable battle. Pure affliction teams hate healers WITH painkillers, while drainers fall prey to Toraji and Jinsei's insane battery capabilities of gaining energy.


TIPS IN BUILDING A LADDER TEAM

- Your 3 unswapped characters can handle as a team without any swaps.
- Your team should still work even if you swap ANY character out.
- Swap items to characters who don't RELY on their respective items.
- Make sure your swapped/unswapped team does not rely on a single strategy.
- If it does rely on a single strategy, make sure it works great against your present enemy team.
- Swap the respective characters to whom they clash energy with.
- If clashing is not an issue, swap out the character who you deem would contribute the least in the battle.
- You only have 40 seconds to think your swaps, make the most out of it.


LADDER TEAM SAMPLE



This is a nice example of the base of a Ladder team. Single strategy with enough variety to survive on its own. This team's main strategy is to spike the enemy with different variations of damage like Affliction, Anti-Heal, Uncounterable, and Piercing. They can also perform their respective skills with little energy and have amazing energy gaining capabilities.


BLUFF AND DEFENSIVE SWAPS FOR TEAM ABOVE


Niwa works great for stunning any mental and melee skill you need controlling. And because the present team shows no stunners (only spikers), they would not have Sake ready for her. I DON'T swap her in whenever I sense a WoR team. I use Battle Armor for Spikers, Sacred Flower of Kusa for Agressive Damagers, Cleansing Water for Flamers, and Painkillers for Pure Affliction...or just SHOJI! I swap out Ryu for her.


I put in Jinsei for just 2 reasons. It is either the enemy has Shoji (use Painkillers), or because the enemy is Pure Drainer/Amaya (Pipe of Energy). I swap out Toraji against Shoji, swap out Jun against Drainers. Seriously, once Pure Drainers see Jinsei (w/ Painkillers), Ryu, and Toraji, it's a lost cause for them.


You might not see this but Shoji is an excellent swap. You just need to know when he would be useful. I use him against characters who are summon-spammy (yes, to me, he works better than Kamiko). I use WoR when enemy has stunners, Cloak when there are none. Swap out Toraji.


Takeo is an excellent aggressive damager. But I only use him for one single thing. I swap him with Crystal Ball when enemies have more than 1 counter on the team. Swap out Toraji or Ryu.


NOTE: This team is not invincible. No team truly is. It works great however because it is flexible, and if you count all the possible swaps, you have a wide range of strategies per battle.

GUESSING YOUR ENEMY'S WILD CARDS

Even once you have swapped in the perfect character and item to do the job against the enemy's present team, you still would not know what items they would be holding. There are only two ways in knowing/guessing what your enemy might hold/swap in.

1. ITEM-DEPENDENCY

No matter how flexible your characters are with each of their items, there are still items in which some characters rely in to obtain their full potential. I cannot name every possible combination of items there is, but we can safely assume there are FAVORITES to each characters. Every character I WON'T name means they have a very flexible item repertoire.


Yukigaaru tips: Increase cooldown or be ready to take punishment.

Daiki tips: Use skills that bypass invul like Niwa and Tadashi.

Ken tips: Either you kill him quickly or he does.

Akira tips: Stun, Smokebomb, or counter her.

Jun tips: Slow him down as much as possible.

Yuudai tips: Take it like a man and ignore him.

Shoji tips: Stall his attack by using invul.

Kurai tips: Force him to cloak early or use Niwa.

Amaya tips: Stun, Smokebomb, or counter her.

Nozuchi tips: Kill him quickly or use Metsubishi.

Takeko tips: Don't bother killing Ootake and afflict her.

Nori tips: Kill Ookami to reset her stacks and kill her with afflictions.

Niwa tips: Use Sake or Hai or Metsubishi if you're feeling lucky.

Full Honoo tips: Give Cleansing Water to someone who can take damage.

Full Kozan tips: Take the damage, add some healers, or try counters.

Ryu tips: Stun his mental and don't let him grow.

Yuurin tips: Bypass the wall or wall yourself.

Arasoi tips: If WoR is activated, nothing else you can do unless you have Sainan.


2. SWAPS AGAINST YOU!

Another way to assume what the enemy would swap in depends on how readable your strategy is. If you have a straightforward team to show the enemy, they would swap in an item which would work well against you. This is where you use Bluff Swaps to make them waste potential item threats. This is Defensive Swapping of your opponent, so assume what they would do if you were them.

Considering you have to know every possible Defensive Swapping against each enemy type, I will now list every character and item swap-worthy in the next section.

SWAP-WORTHY

You can swap anyone or anything in if you just plan to bluff, but there are certain characters and items which what I truly considered "Swap-Worthy," a title I give to certain characters and items that could truly change the cycle of specific situational battles. These are the characters and items that are perfect for Defensive Swapping.

1. SWAP-WORTHY CHARACTERS


(Anti-Drain/Ki/Blood)
Jinsei is an excellent swap whenever you see drainers which mostly have Hana and Amaya. Against Yume however is a different story since she can stun Jinsei's tactic skills. Also if you are facing against a Shoji and simply want a lot of reassurance against him, swap in Jinsei AND Painkiller.


(Melee Control)
You might say Daiki might be a good swap just for his walling capabilities, but his efficiency comes from his zero cooldown melee counter. He is perfect for those Juns, Tadaos, and Takeos. Watch out for stuns though.


(You Can't Run Away)
If you are against certain walling teams and have about zero stunners with them, Tadashi is the man to split open that barricade. If the enemy do have at least some stunners, be ready for some sake.


(King of Afflictions & Nightmare of Archers)
Do you spot a protector spammer? Kamiko would be your answer right? Well she would be good, but she's easily countered by Amaya and heavy attackers. Shoji is great for those SINGLE characters who rely on protectors and DRs. Shoji is also a good pick against those full-ranged teams.


(Anti-Tactic/Ranged/Stun)
Yume is like a Jinsei in terms of swapability, except more. Her affliction increases energy usage but ALSO reduces Ranged Damage. Her Fortune can give unstunnable status and a small defense bonus. Most of you would just swap her in for Waking Dream. It is a devastating move to stun all possible tactical skills. Just don't plan on using her against WoR teams.


(Nightmare Counter and Attrition)
Swapping her is very rare but she works wonders on occasions. If the enemy doesn't have spikers or pure afflictions and you need the extra help in countering killer attacks like Kurai's, Tadashi's, and Kamiko's, Amaya is the girl for these occasions.


(Anti-Drug & Major Slowdown)
Having Jatai in the sidelines is very helpful. She can slow down enemies either by draining or increasing cooldown. A single energy loss per turn can disable your opponent's full potential. Most of all you would swap her in to remove pesky drugs like Painkillers and Sake.


(Everyone's Favorite Tank)
Do you spot the infamous AoE teams in the distance? Takeko will be your main protector. Ootake's high HP and reduction support has been one of the most annoying things AoE teams will encounter. Make sure to bring in a Smokebomb just in case Ootake cannot be summoned early.


(Bane of Skill Spammers)
Nori is quite a good swap against any teams who are reliant on being able to use skill after skill every turn. It would either be aggressive attackers or pure drainers. Once Ookami is summoned, those teams' effectiveness and speed has already been halved.


(Anti-Heal & Unlimited Battery)
I swap Toraji mostly when I see a full Drain team which is full affliction. Just summon Byakko against full drain/affliction teams and earn that 1 extra energy without a care in the world. His Strength of the Tiger King is a bonus to lock down those pesky heals.


(Inescapable Mental and Melee Lockdown)
Niwa is a perfect swap if you want to control 2 characters with lethal melee/mental skills. I mostly use it for those pesky AoE wall spammers like Yuurin and Kurai.


(Burn all Protectors)
There's no point in arguing. Kamiko is the perfect way to fully destroy all protectors of enemies especially if the enemy's full team relies on it.


(You cannot run, you cannot hide)
Yuzuki is a popular choice if the enemy loves to stall with walls, counters, protectors, and DRs. With her combination of formations, the enemies will have no way to defend themselves.


(Plague of Slow Teams)
Jikkouso Wallers may not be enough to handle spikers but her main goal is to slaughter slow, attrition teams who rely on stuns, afflictions, and drains. She can also become quite the god against characters like Akira and Tadashi.


(Item-Stealer & Tactic Killer)
Sainan is the perfect swap if the present enemy team relies heavily on items, and key tactics. An example of such would be the high-tier teams reliant to WoR. I deem her the Anti-Shoji.


(Friendly Skills are banned in my eyes)
Arasoi is the embodiment of anti-wallers or anti-support characters. His simple Smokescreen is enough to shut down Jinsei and Yuurin's support capabilities as an example.


2. SWAP-WORTHY ITEMS


(Nightmare to Preps and Channeling Alike)
This is a perfect item to counter those pesky 1 turn WoR'd preps like Book of Mentality and Ken as well as channeling nightmares like No Tomorrow, Devour, and Leeching Sickle. Just make sure you can defend your Smoke Bomber from permastuns.


(Aggressive Melee Self-Destruction)
A perfect swap for those full melee teams which require momentum or attack often like Jun, Takeo, Jyouzo, etc.


(Potential Ranged Lockdown)
If there are specific characters in an enemy's team which have lethal ranged attacks like Niwa and Hana, swap this in.


(Early Staller)
Sleeping Powder may not be much but if you want a particular mental skill to be stalled like Ryu and Jikkouso in particular, this is a great bet.


(Melee Lockdown)
If your enemy tends to have at least 2 melees who are not very aggressive attackers, this is a good item for a diversion. Even better when you have extra ways of adding protectors to it like Crimson Viper of the Hebi and Kame's Genbu.


(Firefighter)
Kamiko, Saigai, & Youko are present potential Fire AoE. Wash the pain out with this item.


(Affliction-be-gone)
It might not remove Afflictions themselves but they ignore Affliction damage for 4 full turns that they might as well not exist.


(I can't feel the stun)
A very good swap if you feel threatened by potential permastuns or channeling killers.


(WoR's Sweetheart)
If you are threatened in getting your Jinsei locked by Yume, this is a good item to spam during those Waking Dream turns in order for you to do a tactical skill in a crucial moment. There's no cooldown or affliction damage. Just spam it away if your character needs not use any skill.


(It's as if nothing happened)
One of my most famous combos is to spike one character to death while using the flower. IT will intimidate the enemy to see a full HP 3v2 handicap. Either ways this is perfect if enemy is a very aggressive damager like Jun, Jyouzo, Takeo, Asami, Yuudai, etc.


(I countered your counter)
There may be few counters as of now, but they will hurt a lot especially when you waste your high-cost, high-cooldown move just to remove possible counters.


(Bite Me!)
If the enemy has at least 2 melees and you have someone who can summon up some extra protectors, insert the viper to the character BEFORE he summons the protector. This way, the newest protector will defend the Crimson Viper which will be insanely lethal to any melee who would dare destroy it.


FINAL NOTE: I will continue to edit in good insights from other players who post as well as update this guide for every balance update and new characters and items revealed.

BLUFF YOUR WAY TO FAME AND GLORY!

You can only see enemy swap when you click ready..so no way to counter swap before time expires.Other then that great guide man..

Updated the fact that swapping cannot be seen until the READY button is hit. Going to update the item and character swap usage now.

I think this is one of the awesomest guides out there, telling people not some specific teams, but actual tips, how to make decent team... totally thumbed up, man

Could have put this into guide section also

Could have put this into guide section also

No idea about the difference in Guide Section and Tactical Discussion. I thought it would fit more into tactical discussion considering only a few part of the guide is about the rules of swapping and more into the tactics in using it.

Nice guide it will help a lot of people :D

This should be in guide section :S

Considering how some (2 people) consider this topic to be better in Guide Section, I will relocate it with the help of some friends.

I don't see Nori in your swap-in list. She can get targeted number one, but if they can't get rid of her dd, they are in deep trouble. Works for me most of the time, especially against energy teams.

My Item combo guide might also give some hints of what items the enemy have.

I don't see Nori in your swap-in list. She can get targeted number one, but if they can't get rid of her dd, they are in deep trouble. Works for me most of the time, especially against energy teams.

My Item combo guide might also give some hints of what items the enemy have.

I don't see her as a defensive swap due to pure tactics to counter enemies. I see Nori more of a bluff swap so enemies would not ready Afflictions against her.

Unless you can prove to me that Nori is a good ANTI for a specific team, then I might add her in the list. If your answer is against agressive damagers like Jun and Takeo, not good enough. I've killed Nori with those.

(...)

I don't see her as a defensive swap due to pure tactics to counter enemies. I see Nori more of a bluff swap so enemies would not ready Afflictions against her.

Unless you can prove to me that Nori is a good ANTI for a specific team, then I might add her in the list. If your answer is against agressive damagers like Jun and Takeo, not good enough. I've killed Nori with those.

I found Nori useful against energy teams(and I mean something like, Hana, Kao, Yume, Hahen something and not battery teams) because they always target her when she has the protector on. They can't deal massive amount of affliction that way, so she can use her charge for no cost, unless they add an extra cost, but it's still not a problem. If you use only that, you can still spare some energy, while the enemy cannot perform his annoying moves often enough. While we're at it, she's stacking, so later she'll deal more massive punch, and possible to take out 2 guys in 1 strike. It's not 100% assured, that she can win against those teams, but she looks very effective against them, and that's why I swapped her in a lot of times, and got a 11 streak with her.