So I know you've all been dying for this, so here it is, our Super Rare preview for Weapons of War:

This is a pretty amazing jutsu for Water to be receiving, and I think that... wait a second. Oh, sorry guys...

GG.

-Shino'sDad (Nick B)

In case you missed it at the Morristown tournament last Saturday, here is our 3rd preview courtesy of its creator Eric M. a.k.a. Squee.

I won't say much about the card as you can all ask him about it. Needless to say...the card reads ridiculous and will probably make Fire a complete force post rotation.

NOTE: Card has been corrected. It is as printed.

Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, previews, Set 22, tsu

For the first time in history, TPC went down last night and I was unable to log in to upload top 8 decks from the event.

Here they are:

T8:
Genre (True Allies)
Brad Wright (True Allies)
Joe Colon (Lightning/Wind True Allies splash Anbu/Biscuit)
MJM (No Hand Water)
Elric (Fire/Water Haku/Kakashi/EOTS instant-Ninja Kill)
Dalegna (Distal Shrapnel OTK)
Saul Pena (BR Flip Earth)
John B. (Monowater)

John vs. Joe
Saul vs. Genre
MJM vs Elric
Dalegna vs Brad

T4:
Joe vs. Genre
MJM vs. Dalegna

T2:
MJM vs. Joe

Winner: Joe Colon

Congrats Joe and I hope everyone who came had a lot of fun. Also I want to give a shout out to MJM for not only playing extremely well against a lot of tough players, but being the best user of the note taking rule I've ever seen. Using Karin [Warden] he was able to figure out opponent's hands by turn 1 or turn 2 and just use the information to out play his opponents...was very interesting to see someone use this very under utilized rule. We apologize for the low turnout, however despite that, we were invited to come back again and host another one of these in October. Anyone interested in attending one of these in the off season?

Lastly I apologize that the finals was not live streamed. I left the room for a minute and came back to see that Joe had moved to a different table then the 1st seed table to play his game and as such I wasn't able to live stream it. I requested they moved back before they started but Joe just ignored me and started playing...so I had to move to text based updates only. I hope you all at least enjoyed the live stream considering it was broadcast from my cell phone.

Shout Outs:
Dalegna - Nice meeting you bro. Had a lot of fun...I'm sad we didn't play in Marvel/Smash but maybe next time! Sick deck. I'll try to write more article based content just for you. I do miss it.

Saul - Fun matches in Marvel. GenCon Indy has an MVC3 machine across the street. We'll settle things there on quality sticks. I. HATE. ZERO! You still have an amazing BR flip Earth deck...there's a few things I'd slide in there for tech though :P

Joe - Why you so sacky? Ha ha ha. I'm watching all your games and your opponent's put you on the ropes and then you research into the nuts and then Tobi exactly into the perfect hand. See you at Gencon, we'll have a blast!

Mike (OneWingedAngel) - Good to see you made the trip. Always a pleasure talking to you. Come hang out with us at GenCon... definitely going to the noodle shop a few times over the weekend. I love that place.

Genre - I'm sorry there was no gym at this event for you. As always, great to see you as you're a hilarious guy. Gen(re)con is going to be awesome!

Elric - Glad you're starting to get back into the game. Losing only to a misplay or two in top cut for a deck you were handed several hours before with no experience is pretty impressive.

Andrew - Thanks for watching my stuff and helping run the event. Always a fun event when you're around. No thanks for taking my slice of pizza & thinking this was a Pokemon competition over the mic.

Brad - Top cut for playing like... 1 game I think the whole day...that's a new record. See you at Gencon man.

Eric - Thanks for letting us preview you your card and help run the deck. I'll talk to you this week.

-TsuMobile

Labels: reports, tournament, TsuMobile

Those of you who have ever talked with me online or at events have probably heard me talk about my favorite card once or twice. Even during the days when I ran the podcast for bandai I occasionally mentioned my love for Tunneling fang. Back in the days before rotation I would constantly try to build decks that used cards like Loosing control of Chakra and Release of Chakra to trying and mill twenty plus card in a single turn off of TFang. While Tunneling fang never made it into competative play, it still holds a place in my heart and nothing makes me more excited than to see bandai supporting animal based mill, because it gives me hope that maybe they will give TFang another shot. Anyway, here is todays preview:

Yeah, thats right, he mills cards like a fiend and prefers not to be called a cute little doggie.While some of you (The ones who for some unknown reason hate mill) will probably be unhappy with this card, I honestly couldn't be more happy with him. While Pakkun doesn't do anything by himself (except act as a two support one drop for fire, a color which rarely sees those) he does however make every card in a deck built around milling your opponent to death, better. Not fully convinced? Lets look at World of Fire, the current "Best" mill card. The card essentially reads "Mill 2 cards a turn" and based on an average deck of 30 ninjas and 20 non-ninja cards the odds of getting that extra card milled off of pakkun are pretty good.

Another cool thing about pakkun is his wording. Since he's a triggered effect any effect that causes a Non-Ninja card to get milled over will cause him to trigger, even his own effect. So for example, lets say you deploy Pakkun and then remove a coin from your world card to force your opponent to mill two cards. Unfortunately for him, one of the two cards is a jutsu, causing pakkun to trigger. Pakkun forces your opponent to mill one card, which happens to be a mission. Pakkun triggers again, and this time it's another jutsu discarded from the top of your opponents deck. Looks like Pakkun triggers again and again until he mills a ninja... Put then you play your Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu... and you see where I'm going with this. Pakkun is an awesome card, and will hopefully have a positive impact on block as more mill based cards come out. I hope you enjoyed my favorite of our preview cards from "Weapons of War". Be sure to check back next week for another preview, and for those of you attending the 1K we are running this weekend in Morris town, NJ we will be having a special preview shown during the tournament! Until next time.

-Andrew

Labels: previews, Set 22, weapons of war, Zero

Yes. I said it. Females are competitive.

Tier 1? Nope, probably not.

Tier 2? For sure.

And by the end of this short article and the unveiling of our first preview, I intend to try to make you a believer.

For once, it seems like Females is ACTUALLY viable. The Kimono deck, after getting my preview Monday and slowly making adjustments to a proxy deck that I've been playing, has surprisingly come out... good. It can at least go toe to toe with a post-rotation Earth deck with all the trimmings, Deidara, C4, and C0 in tow. And it's all thanks to a couple of key cards that I think a lot of people are overlooking.

The Kimono Deck at a Glance

Pros:
-MASSIVE...team power
I'm not even kidding. It is very possible on turn 6 to swing out with 3 teams whose powers exceed 16+. And I'm not just saying this on a whim...it happens almost every other game.

-The ability to draw about half of your deck by turn 4~5

-Reasonably powerful Jutsu lineup

-Incredibly Strong Late Game (even more so than Earth)

Cons:
-Somewhat Luck based
This isn't as big a con as you might think. It's incredibly easy to get the results you want once you're setup. Things are only rocky turn 0 and turn 1 usually.

-Very susceptible vs. Hina
Most missions in the deck are Permanent. Hina hurts very badly. However, my build plays 12~14 missions so I hope they have a way to recycle it.

-Very susceptible vs. Mill/Deckout
Because of all the mandatory draw power in the deck, you should arrive at turn 5~6 with 15 or so cards left in the deck. If your opponent is playing mill, all it takes is once shot with something like Great Dragon Flame Jutsu (Give 1 Damage/Mill 5) in the early game and you'll need to wrap things up by turn 7 or you're screwed.

-No 2 drops
Hardly a draw back but there's no good post rotation female 2 drop besides KNS and you risk that dying to Shizune. It's at your discretion if you want to play it. Ino Yamanaka [Playful] is not an option as it kills your deck's draw engine.

-Poor Chakra Generation
We counter act that in a few ways (Bonds, Hard Charging) but chakra lock, like Mill, is a bad matchup.

The Cards

Ninja
Hotaru Katsuragi
Boobie Lady is the ideal 0 drop in the deck. Neither of her coin flip effects have a draw back and she's a very good stated Ninja. I play 3.

Temari
Broken. You should know why we're playing this. I play 2.

Hinata Hyuga (Kimono)
Her effect is barely a drawback. On turn 0, you're either going discard 1 of the cards in your opponent's hand or she's a 3/0. You're going to want to try to go for heads obviously as a few good flips and you pretty much lock up the game. I would play 3 in this deck. I'd shoot to drop her on turn 1 though.

Tenten (Kimono)
Neither of her draw backs are bad. She's a 3 combat turn 0. You should be playing 3 of these. Even if you hit tails early with this card, there are other card effects in the deck that benefit greatly from milling cards off the top of your deck.

Ino Yamanaka (Kimono)
Literally unplayable. The worst upside of any Kimono Card. The worst downside as well.
Do me a favor and stick to this broken Ino instead. Her stats will serve you far better than any coin flip effect can. Just so you know, I play 3 of that vanilla Ino.

Sakura Haruno (Kimono)
The second best Kimono Ninja. You should be playing 3 of these as this is what makes the deck run. Almost every card in the deck will generate you card draw off of Sakura. It's very easy to draw 4+ cards a turn with this card and Tenten. My record in I believe 10 in one turn. 3 of. No exceptions.

Rin
Was in some earlier builds of the deck. Decent female. Heals your Hinata. Can be abused with other cards in the deck. You might find it okay to run but I think it's subpar so I've cut it. When I did play it, it was at 1. Just thought it was worth mentioning. The deck has no 2 drops so if you want more 1 drops to fill the void, she's one of the best ones you're going to get.

Shizune (Kimono)
The third best Kimono. She has no real downside and her effect can be stacked multiple times. It's very easy to get +2/+2 every turn with her. Some turns you can go broken and get +5/+5 for every Ninja on your board. You should be playing 3 of this.

Chiyo
A necessary 3 drop. If you mill over Tsunade with Tenten, your late game is screwed. You need this Ninja to pick up Tsunade and for that it's a staple. I would probably play 2.

Anko Mitarashi (Kimono)
Anko is the Kimono I'm most on the fence about. Growth coins are very good, especially since you can have turns where it's possible to put 3 or 4 growth coins down. The reason why I'm weary of playing her is because she can very well eat all your chakra...something the deck already lacks because almost every mission is permanent. Your chakra comes almost exclusively from hard charging and Bonds in this deck... I have recently changed her to this Anko because of how many Ninjas you can put in play with this deck. It's simply a safer option.

Kurenai Yuhi (Kimono)
Ya'll ain't ready for this card. Seriously it's too good. So that's why we're not going to play it and opt for Genjutsu Reversal instead. It protects you from Jutsu on both players turns and has solid stats, without having to worry about decking out or giving your opponent advantage.

Konan
Techy option for a 5 drop. I've been experimenting around with it. Good synergy with max hand size increase cards.

Mission
Dreams of the Past
In many ways, this is the only reason this deck is playable. Being able to get 3 chances to hit the Kimono effects per turn starting on turn 1 is a must. If you stack at least 2 of these, you'll be able to resolve every effect for the rest of the game unless your opponent Hinas you. The D1 on T1 isn't bad either, especially if you curved Tenten/Sakura.

Fond Memories
I've played without it most of the time but I realized that it's definitely a necessary card in the deck. It's not better than Dreams but it allows for you to destroy your opponent mid/late game if you have a way to trigger all your Ninja effects at least 3 times in a turn.

Bonds of Frienship
A necessity. The deck simply has crap chakra generation and this helps smooth it out. The growth coin can be helpful late game too.

Ino's Tears
It's been awful for me. Just don't play it. The deck draws enough cards as it is...this is completely unnecessary. If you're playing the correct number/quantity of cards, you should draw them every game with this deck's amazing draw engine.

Barrier Preperation
I shouldn't have to explain why we're using this one. Blink out an injured Kimono, put it back into play, trigger your whole board.

Daydreaming
Draw 2, Heal a Ninja, trigger all my ninja effects, and my max hand size is increased by 2? Derp good in this deck.

Jutsu
Hydro-pump
BROKEN. BROKEN. BROKEN.

Stunning Strike
Sucks. Don't play it. I'm serious. Only on here cause I know someone is going to see "Expert: Female" and try it. Just...no.

Reanimation Ninjutsu
Fair choice. I don't play it but it's there if you want to draw a card/heal a ninja and pick up a Jutsu from the discard pile. It's main use is to loop Hydro Pump.

Kick of Anger
Injure spell for the whole deck. Built in howl if you tie or better on the EC. A very solid choice overall for this deck post rotation, since Wind has few better options.

Ferocious Punch!
Negation of choice. I shouldn't have to tell you how good this card is in this deck.

Infinite Embrace
The best card in the whole deck. Remove a Ninja and trigger all your effects....which means the card essentially reads: Move the Target to it's opponent's chakra area. Then, you draw 2 cards and discard 1 card from your hand. Then your opponent discard's a card from their hand. Then all your Ninja's get +1/+1 and you get a growth coin on 1 of your ninjas. If you have a second Embrace (which is very likely given what Tsunade does) or draw into a second Embrace...yeah. Good times.

Okay so if you actually read all of that, you have my gratitude. I just wanted to show people that there are a decent number of tools and that you can actually build a viable deck out of this. I'm not saying this is the best way to build it...keep in mind I've only been proxying for a day or two now...but for a Day 1 deck that's still rough around the edges...it has promise.

Oh and here's this TSUNADE (KIMONO)

that I'm sure you've all been waiting to drool over.

What a finisher for the deck right? Every turn you can trigger all the abilities of your Ninjas for 1 chakra. In addition, you get to pick up a Jutsu in your discard pile. Even the Haters can't say a Wind version of Jiraiya [Instruction of the Hidden Technique] is bad. Even if the Female/Kimono deck fails, I expect Tsunade to see play regardless. I feel she's just that good ... any respectable Wind deck should be able to easily muster 3 female Ninjas considering every Ninja in those decks is usually a Puppet, Female, or both if you consider Sasori.

*ba dum tiss*

*crickets*

*ahem*

I hope you've enjoyed our first preview card for Set 22. Check back for our other previews soon!

Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, Deck Building, previews, reviews, Set 22, tsu

We just got our Set 22 Previews fresh from Bandai. After our set 20 preview fiasco (that shot us in the foot pretty badly mind you), we received some really stellar stuff to make up for it this time around. Get ready for the best set of previews yet! If the rest of the card's in the set are on par with what we got, I can only assume we're in for one hell of a good time post GenCon.

See you Friday! And trust me, it will be a good one!

Preview Hint: new KIcks for Miss melONs? Oh my!

Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, previews, Set 22, tsu

Just as a reminder, we will be helping host along with 2010 SJC Champion "Squee" a tournament in Morristown, New Jersey on Saturday July 23rd.

You can find all the details on the official post on the Bandai boards located

Here

PLEASE POST IN THE THREAD IF YOU ARE COMING! WE NEED A HEAD COUNT!

This tournament needs a minimum of 30 players so please let us know if you are coming so we know if we are making our quota. If this event is successful, you can expect to see one perhaps in the winter time.

As an incentive for people to show up, we will be showcasing an exclusive preview that you can only see by attending this event. Be one of the first to see a very powerful card from Set 22, 2 weeks before its release!

Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, previews, tournament, tsu

At this point I'm sure some of you have seen the card on Troll and Toad but none the less here is our last preview:

Barrier Battle Arts

Hope you enjoyed these previews. Check back for Set 22 previews very soon!

Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, previews, Tournament Pack 3, tsu

So yeah, I just got my PC back in working order in order to bring you guys this derpy looking bro here.

Be careful Genin Ninjas, or you will get injured.

-Shino'sDad (Nick)