I was initially surprised when I looked at the list and saw that pretty much every highly played deck of the past got slammed, save for Puppets, which went completely untouched. Regardless, puppets is back and better than ever due so cool new inclusions:

-Hiruko: Now you don't need to flash a puppet onto your team before using an offensive Concealed Weapon! He also forces your opponent to make bad blocks to prevent getting out tempo'd, something puppets already tries to do. and lastly: So yeah, probably poor foresight on Bandai's part, but Kankuro [Trick] can grab Hiruko, making Trick even deadlier than he was before. He also works great with Kankuro & Black ant, letting them lock down a ninja, while Hiruko picks off their teammates.

-Gaara & Temari: One of the problems with Puppets was its lack of high powered ninjas without the assistance of puppets. The new squad not only gives you a powerful effect at the cost of 2 commonly played low drops, but a 7/5 body as well!

-Entrustment: The draw power puppets wished they had before they were rotated is finally in their hands!

-Kankuro's puppet show: I initially thought this card was strictly worse than arbitration, but after Pat kept talking about how good it was I tried it out. I still dislike it in block, but in Unlimited it gives you a lot of sick interactions, such as picking up an Ebizo, then replaying him to pick up a puppet (Also giving you a draw since he is Sand), targeting Temari for draw and other chance at picking off a Jutsu, and picking up a Salamander while having tactician in play, thus giving the card NO draw back. I really like this card in this list, and may even bump it to three if I see fit.

Miroku does a number on this deck, so I would probably side a few Kigiri's, since he is probably the best way of dealing with her, not to mention fits right into the curve of the deck. The Shika/Asuma Package isn't necessary, and it makes the deck a little clunky (seven 1 drops) but I feel like he's too good not to play, especially since it prevents your opponent from just chumping your huge puppet teams until they find an answer.

Check back each week in October as I discuss decks and strategies for the New Unlimited format, and check back tomorrow when I post up the first of our Preview cards for Naruto CCG's set 19 "Paths of Pain"!

-Andrew

Labels: Deck Building, decklists, Path of Pain, Shaping the Format, Unlimited, Zero

"You're going to judge us? Do you get all your ideas from comic book villains?"

No, seriously, the whole Unlimited vs. Block thing has gotten a little out of hand lately. What started apparently last night I guess on Naruto Shippuden Live (that's the first I've heard of it) has turned into some huge petition thread on Bandai. I don't really know what to make of it.

Basically the scenario is this: The Shonen Jump in Lacey, Washington is considered to be an Unlimited Tournament rather than Block like all the other Shonen Jump Championships. And that strikes people the wrong way, especially a few from out of state who were intending to travel out there who are afraid they'll travel all that distance only to get sacked by an OTK deck.

Unlimited at the moment to my knowledge has 3 OTK decks, one of which is turn 0. It also has access to Chain Lightning which combined with the Lightning support from Set 16 puts them into absolutely ridiculous status. And let us not forget about Freedori which has tons of support this set.

Block is the other choice for the tournament, and while it seems to have a much more diverse and balanced play field, I can understand the appeal to want to play Unlimited. You already have the cards to play Unlimited, why spend money to play Block? It's also much more difficult to build a deck for Unlimited due to a larger card pool. Momentum Shift is much more constant in Unlimited as simply dropping 1 or 2 Broken cards can put you back into the game. It makes for a very "Yugioh-esque" meta which some people like better. More is happening and it makes for a more exciting game from time to time.

The best way to deal with the issue is not to petition on Bandai to make "All Shonen Jump" championships but rather there should be a Poll for each Shonen Jump Championship Location as to what the decided format should be months in advance (Read: NOW). Close the thread like 5 weeks before the event and that's the decided event. Of course, polling results should be open so that way we can filter out duplicates and fake accounts just by looking at the number of posts as well as people who we know have more than one (Here's looking at you Tom and Josh). I think that's the only real fair way to do it.

As I said when Block first came out, it's your job to promote your format of choice. If you're not happy, fix it. But do it in a constructive way. I'm tired of every Bandai argument basically turning into something along the lines of bad movie/video game/comic dialogue.

"Every day humans are one step closer to self destruction. I'm not destroying the world, I'm SAVING IT!"

No you're not. You're just making yourself look like a jackass by posting about how your format is superior and is for expert players and everyone else who disagrees is a noob. Two formats. Two very different games in my opinion. It takes more foresight in Unlimited and it takes more quick decision making skills in Block. To each their own. Make your choice. Just let it be laid to rest. Lest we have another thread that's like:

"Why don't you understand Bandai? Do you really believe this format is worth saving? Natural selection leaves the survivors STRONGER and BETTER! Humans have escaped this winnowing for far too long!"

Labels: bandai, Block, random, tsu, Unlimited