As stated in mondays post, my team has recently started testing out decks for the new format. While we haven't tested everything, we have gone through different variations of about five or so deck types we felt were strong enough see a good amount of play on a competitive level.

To give you guys a bit of insight to our test results I figured I would post up a list of cards from the new set that we have been working with, and how they worked for us. Since we haven't tested everything, take what I say with a grain of salt, because even though a card may work/not work for us now, doesn't mean our opinions are set in stone.

Spectacular (cards that seemed to work really well for us)

Tobi (N-717)- Obvious, I know. I can't see myself NOT running 3 in every deck. I've had turns which involved using Shino/Kiba, a Tobi, then a draw mission, leading into a second Tobi. It's hard to lose when you dig through over 6 cards of your deck in one turn at no real cost. The current price tag on Tobi put's him as the most expensive uncommon ever printed, and I can't say I blame sites for charging that much. Pick up your set ASAP.

Haimaru Brothers (N-723)- This one might not have been completely expected in a format without Kakashi AD, but I assure you these guys are the real deal. Too often have we been able to set up a team of Giant Tiger, backed by two Haimaru Brothers on the second turn of the game in our Zoo variants, that's an 11 on turn 1 with practically no effort involved to set up. Similar to NVS, Animals has always lingered around the tier 1.5 mark without ever winning anything big, but Haimaru brothers might change that.

Yakumo Kurama (N-777)- I really like Yakumo, mostly because a lot of people seem to be ignoring her. In the first batch of our test decks I was the only one running Yakumo, and because of that, she felt really strong and stalled out games against decks faster than my own. Recent decks in our group run either Yakumo or cards to try and counter her. I expect Yakumo to see a decent amount of play, and much more post rotation when our favorite turn one ninja, Temari, leaves the format.

Kakashi Hatake (Boyhood) & Chidori (N-709 & J-604)- When Kakashi was first previewed I was sure this guy would make waves, and after testing with him I've found him to be even better. Kakashi single handedly removes one of fire's biggest draw backs, it's lack of hand conservation, by allowing you to pick up a game winning jutsu and pushing through for damage every turn, but that's not all he does. Kakashi removes the draw back of two very popular cards, Michiru and Tobi. Instead of having to lose resources when playing these cards, why not just discard a chidori, then pick it right back up via Kakashi? I love the engines the two cards can create and I expect to see a lot of these guys at the top tables soon.

Wind Scythe Jutsu (J-631)- I don't think there's much I really need to say about this card. We all played Gigantic Fan, and this card costs only one more chakra, but can hit any jutsu and even has an added bonus if the user happens to be a card every deck plays at least 1 copy of. In wind, an element which relies more on it's ninja effects and draw power than it's jutsus, it definitely helps to have well costed generic negation, especially in decks using Temari/Kankuro Platoon.

Lackluster (Cards that seemed underwhelming for us)

Fear By Genjutsu (J-640)- Yep, I went there. In just about every deck we played this card in, it was incredibly underwhelming. Most often the card sat in our hands waiting to get some use, and eventually either negated a Jutsu or pushed back a super big team in desperation, and in no way changing the board position for the following turn. This basically made the card an over priced negation, or an easier to play around Pass Permit majority of the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the card is bad, because it isn't, but more often than not this card will either be a more expensive Wind scythe, or a Chidori you can't pick up. With that being said, I do like it in Animals, as it give's them an actual answer to Jutsus and a way to push through for game.

Pressing (M-614)- I was really looking forward to playing with this card, and after just one game I realized the awful truth: This card is a worse One morning. Basically, I will just let my opponent draw two cards 90% of the time, making it a One morning a turn earlier. "Then how is it a worse one morning?" you might be asking yourself, well there's that 10% of the time where you play this card with nothing in hand, and I choose to discard two cards just to leave you handless. There is also that ruling that states the opponent can choose the "discard two cards" option if they have less than two cards in hand, and because of the wording, they don't have to discard anything at all. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like liabilities in my one mornings.

Tears of Determination (M-592)- In Tear's defense we mostly tested fast paced decks like Animals and Puppets, making this card a death sentence more than a solid option. I still think this card will essentially have the same results in a format filled with Animals, Naruto/Hinata and other swarmtastic goodies.

Moving Ninjas (N-771, N-772, & N-773)- Basically, as much as we like these cards, their pretty dual symbols, and Anti-Shikamaru effects just aren't good enough reasons to run them over the Guardian of the Prince, Strong Spirit, and Infuriation variants. Maybe post rotation these cards might get some action?

Neutral (Cards we haven't really come to a conclusion on)

Chidori Stream (J-635)- This is the only card we've tested with where I'm not really sure what to think. A lot of games were won with it, and a number of games my opponent dropped a ninja, killed my Sasuke and left me in a terrible position. I feel like if we continue working with it we can make the card win more often than whiff, so for now I see a lot of potential in this card.

And thats it for my notes, I'll be sure to post up some more in the future as we test more decks in the coming weeks, and remember to comment bellow.

-Andrew

Labels: broken promises, Playtesting, Zero