It's no secret that turn zero is probably one of the most influential turns in the game. The ninja you choose to start with can easily depict whether you spend the first few turns taking battle rewards, digging for combo pieces, generating card advantage, or defending your village. From the very first set until now the game's turn zero has undergone many transformations, and before I give you guys todays preview, I want to go through some of these stages with you guys, so that you can appreciate the new card.

Set's 1-3: Sasuke [Analysis of Competence], Naruto [Nine tailed Chakra], and Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino [Formation!] all saw a strong amount of play in the first three sets. While majority of the Ninja used were about over powering your opponents ninja, cards like Kiba [Ninja art of Beast Mimicry] and Konohamaru [Hokage's Grandson] were used despite having weaker stats, to gain knowledge of your opponents options and to ramp into bigger cards earlier, respectively.

Set's 4-10: In this period of time it was less about power and more about effects. Shikamaru [IQ over 200] and Naruto [Control of Power] were widely considered two of the best turn zero Ninja's, and Choji [Formation] helped define an entire format. With the addition of Naruto [Legacy from the fourth Hokage], Sakura [A Double Personality], Kiba [Man beast Clone], and Nawaki [12th Birthday] the game also introduced some stable turn zero options which provided card advantage, to give players more options on their upcoming turns.

The present block (11-17): The current group of turn zero ninja that see play depend greatly on the deck. Control and combo oriented decks are looking to play cards like Kiba [Keen Nose] and Sakura [A Double Personality], while aggressive decks are looking to play cards like Sasuke [Vanilla] and Rock lee [Eight Inner Gates]. A water deck would most likely play Tracking ninja [Vanilla], and Anko [Pupil of Orochimaru] because they fit with the themes of the deck, while Wind based decks would look to play cards that have synergy with Substitute like Shino [Insect Warriors] and Kiba [Man beast Clone]. Back before the games overhaul in set 11 the game there wasn't nearly this much variety in the turn zero ninja slot, which goes to show how much this game has evolved in the past 4+ years. This brings me to todays preview:

You're welcome Andrew. ~Tsu

While not as good as Sasuke or Tracking Ninja Stat wise, this guy brings some to the table that neither have; Animal and Ninja toad characteristics. By being able to fit into deck types which Bandai has been looking to expand, Gama is sure to see play in the near future in said archetypes, if not in just generic aggressive decks. I look forward to see what other Toad based effects set 18 brings us, and I hope you guys will give Gama a chance with the release of Fangs of the Snake. Until next time!

-Andrew

Labels: Fangs of the Snake, previews, Zero