[Yomi] Shadows Expansion - Jaina Stormborne

[Yomi v2.0] - Jaina Guide
[Health:]
85
[Normals:]
X.6 - 2 (1 chip), 3 (2 chip), 4 (3 chip), 5 (4 chip), 6 (5 chip)
[Throws:]
X.6 - 6* (8.6 spd, 7 dmg + 4 [2x Any]), 7, 8, 9, 10 | 7 dmg, Knockdown
[Innate:]
Buy back attack cards (save for Q/A) for 3 HP. Under 35 Life, can buy back Queens and Aces for 4 HP.
[Abilities]
7* "Unstable Power" - Knocked down opponents stand up. You can't play Aces this turn, but you can rotate your combat-revealed attack 180 degrees. If you hit the opponent this combat, search your deck or discard pile for 2 Aces. Otherwise, take 7 damage. [Draw Phase]
10* "Smoldering Embers" - If the opponent dodged while this card is in your discard pile, they take two damage. You can't power up with this card. (It's too hot.) [Combat Reveal]
[Specials:]
J (Slow) - 4.6 (8 dmg) 7 chip | Starter
J (Fast) - 2.6 (6 dmg) 5 chip | Ender
K(+++) - 2.4 (6 dmg + 7[3x K]) 3 chip | Linker
Q(+) - 0.2 (8 dmg + 5[1x Any]) 1 chip | Ender
[Supers:]
A(+++) - 0.8 (10 dmg + 9 [3x A]) 2 chip | Can't Combo
AA - 0.2 (18 dmg) 4 chip | Ender
-----------------------------------
[Overview]
Things are looking pretty different this time around for the fiery twin sister of Grave Stormborne, aren't they? In version one, Jaina took a lot of finesse to get her to work in my humble opinion... though, if you did, she was a terrifying wall of a character that had renewable fast attacks, high damage potential and one of the most safe and suffocating end setups in the game. It goes without saying that Jaina was a very strong character. I often jokingly called playing against v1 Jaina a "timed boss fight" where I had to stop her before she got strong enough to endgame my character.

In version two, Jaina has lost a lot of the safety in her abilities that allowed her to choke out characters who weren't equipped to deal with her properly. Until she is at or under 35 HP, she is unable to buy back her fastest and most damaging attacks (Q/A). Outside of those attacks, Jaina's overall attack speed is pretty moderate, with her fastest speed otherwise located on her K. She has 5 different throws, but two of them are on important abilities (7/10) and all but the 6 are attached to blocks. Her throw speed is also moderate. In addition, now that she cannot power up 10 throws for Aces, she has more typically functioning throws and blocks.

Still, even with the loss of safety with the archer's fastest attacks, with the addition of normal attacks drawing on non-grappler blocks, Jaina does not have many issues gaining a large hand size. With all of her options in hand, Jaina is a dangerous character who has high damage, respectable defensive plays and potent abilities.

[Tricks of the Trade]
Jaina Stormborne has always been a character that has been built around careful hand management and damage management, as she is the only character in the game who can buy back her attacks.

- Buyback Technicality: Jaina can buy back any "combo" cards when she attacks, which also includes any card that she discards as a pumper. Even if you want to hold onto a card, you can usually discard it to her Queen and still buy it back for a net life gain.

- Punishing Blocks: Now with a new sliding scale in chip damage on her red normals, Jaina can entice for good damage in some chip setups early. Attacking an expected block with slow J (7 chip), fast J (5 chip), 5 (4 chip), 6 (5 chip) can build meaty damage early and in the latter two's case, will draw on block for an extra card.

- Unstable Mixup: The new Unstable Power allows Jaina to gain two aces if she successfully hits her opponent. There are a few decision trees below for successful combats -
| vs Fast Attack 0.2-0.0/Burst: | 2-5 Attack/Dodge
| vs Fast Attack 2.3-0.2: | 2-5 Attack/Dodge, Queen
| vs Block: | 6 Attack/Throw, Throw
| vs Dodge: | 6 Attack/Throw, Throw
| vs Throw: | Q, 2-5 Attack/Dodge, 6 Attack/Throw, Throw
*There are also some weird options like flipping J (4.6 slow vs 2.6 fast) to beat a small window of attacks. Not an optimal play in the least.

- Making Throw Matter: Jaina isn't exactly hurting for throws, but most of them are pretty important for making the rest of her card kit work. Additionally, unlike her attack leads... if she leads with a throw, the player is unable to buy her cards back. Two of her throws (7/10) are key abilities that help punish defensive plays as well as gain damage/speed potential and additional damage respectively. Knee Bash (6 throw) can be used to pitch a 10 throw to get them in discard early.