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