Since I never did finish my weekly card reviews, I decided to post up a list of the cards I feel to be the top ten cards to come out of the Naruto CCG's set 17 "Will of Fire".
The First Hokage is a card a lot of people underrated when initially previewed by Bandai. Being another Four Pillar Prison user with Mastery pretty much gave earth a guaranteed win condition, provided they could hit the jutsu. His ability to slow down your opponents game by taking back Battle Rewards, while also giving you hand advantage played a huge part in the third place deck at the Georgia Shonen Jump this past week, not to mention his recurring effect also made it easier to go into the long game without fear of decking out. I expect to see a lot more of this guy in upcoming events.
Unlike The First Hokage, people were hyping The Second Hokage like crazy when he was shown. While he hasn't yet lived up to the hype, he does have the ability to end the game, or at least swing it back into your favor. By taking back a Water Style: Water dragon and a Threat of the Tailed Beast with The Second Hokage's effect, you can pretty much lock up the game thanks to The Second's Mastery. While that might be a bit of a dream scenario, the ability to pick up Ambush Ninjas each turn is still very powerful and can completely change the tide of the game. While he didn't make top tables at the jump, I can easily see him there soon.
#8. Kigiri (N-801)
The ability to turn off any Ninja or Client effect every turn on a splashable two drop Ninja? How could you not love this card? If I had more room I probably would have squeezed a copy or two of this guy in my board for the Shonen Jump, as he turns off most of the common hate such as Shimon, Miroku, Naruto & Shion Squad, and even my favorite two drop Shino. All in all Kigiri ended up seeing a decent amount of play in the top tables, and I expect he will end up seeing even more post rotation.
This one should be rather self explanatory. It's a Vanilla Sasuke with two Mental Power, a water symbol, Ambush, and most importantly; a different name. While Tracking Ninja isn't "broken", it was probably a poor decision on Bandai's part to print a functionally better Sasuke vanilla that allows water to max out on turn four Sasukes without worrying about their early game. Curving this guy into Shikamaru [Flexibility] is a pretty big beating against most decks, so don't be surprised if you start to see flex being played in a multitude of decks along side this card.
Having played with her for awhile now, I can say for sure that she is pretty invaluable in the decks she's played in. While testing for the Shonen Jump I often tried cutting her in favor of other cards just to put her right back into the deck a few games later. Although I didn't always get to heal a Ninja when putting her into play, I was never upset to play her, as more often then not she made my team strong enough to take down my opponents. Ton ton also gave me the ability to play her on turn two, which was just a beating. I love this card, and I wish I could have put her into the top five.
This guy is awesome. I was very skeptical of him at first, as the [Man Beast Clone] variant of Kiba is so strong, but I definitely don't regret running [Keen Nose] this past weekend. One of the things I hate the most when playing in tournament is when I open with a hand without a mission. Without a Substitute, Just like Drifting Clouds, Long Awaited Reinforcements, etc in my opener, I know my curve will be entirely subject to what I rip. I mean, I'm not going to throw back a hand of Sasuke, Shikamaru [Flexibility], Ino [Pressing], but I would strongly prefer if there was some kind of mission to back up my curve. Thats why Kiba is so good, he dig just deep enough that the math is usually in your favor at hitting at least one mission in the revealed cards. While he doesn't set up an automatic Kiba Inuzuka & Akamaru Squad, he does increase the odds of hitting an early Shino Aburame & Kiba Izukuka squad via hitting any of the previously mentioned Missions. I would run this Kiba in any deck playing at least nine missions, without a doubt.
I had a bit of a hand in hyping this card, so let me be the first to say that this card should not be rogued. While this card is without a doubt more powerful than any of its predecessors, I think that in a format where the commonly played missions are both permanent and non-permanent and happen between turns two and three, neither Lone Avenger nor Catch-Out would cut it. That doesn't mean I believe this card is perfectly fair however, as it probably should be turn three and not turn two, I do believe that it is needed, at least for now. Having played with and against the card both at the Shonen Jump and in testing I can say that I was never blown out by the card unless I made a greedy play with Succeeded Will of Fire, but there needs to be cards like that in the format, other wise we don't need to think about when it's appropriate to play a mission, nor do we have to play conservatively.
Some of you might find it weird that this card is above Interruption, but the reality is that this card is way better. Being dual symbol means that twice the number of decks will be using it, and that earth will probably be playing a singleton Kabuto [Database] somewhere in the main deck or the board to fetch this card. In my opinion, what makes this card so much better is it's versatility as a sideboard option. Against decks where you need mission negation, it's mission negation. Against decks where you need client hate, it's client hate. Against decks with Mission hate, it helps you resolve your other missions. This card is amazing, and will probably help keep earth and water strong options against the rest of the field.
#2 Asuma Sarutobi (N-823) & Shikamaru Nara & Asuma Sarutobi (N-860)
I put these cards together because they are essentially the reason the other is so good. After seeing the number of decks playing one to two copies of Asuma, no one should really be surprised at how high this card is on the list, but for those of you who are, all I can say is that Asuma does everything you want him to. He provides excellent late game, a free block/trade before squading, card advantage, and most importantly a win condition. Several of my games at the Shonen Jump were won off the back of this card, and if I could somehow make space I would probably play a second copy of him. I expect Asuma to end up similar to how Kiba [Man Beast Clone] did, being played in majority of the decks due to how powerful and how easy to set up the squad is.
This one should have been incredibly obvious, as this card is just ridiculous. With the number of dual element missions in the game, this Naruto can easily be splashed into any deck to help set up guaranteed turn three missions and in most cases pump your team's totals. At the Shonen Jump Fire players were grabbing Succeeded Will of Fire, Earth laters were grabbing Respective Dreams and Pledge Under a Starry Sky, and Wind and Lightning players just grabbed every mission in their deck. I'm not saying that the ability to grab a mission is completely unfair, I just believe that in the current pool he has can search too many powerful cards, while also boosting all of your ninjas. This guy just isn't balanced, and until he is rogued I will probably continue playing decks in which I can abuse both of his effects. On the upside, between this guy and the Sakura, Bandai should be getting a lot of money off the Starter decks.
And that ends my count down of the ten best cards in will of fire. Be sure to comment bellow on any cards you think deserved to be in the top 10 that weren't, or that you felt should be higher or lower then they were. Until next time!
-Andrew 
Labels: reviews, Will of Fire, Zero
So I just got home last night from Grand Prix Washington D.C., and I had a great time. I ended up going 6-3 missing out on making day two by one win, but for my first Grand prix I can't complain, especially since there were over 1900 players in the event. Now that the GP is over, Pat and I plan to start playtesting to prepare for both the Georgia and Pennsylvania Shonen jump events, and just like last set I plan to post up our notes on new cards and how they tested for us, as well as what decks we are playing with.
Despite the beating Bandai gave to water with the most recent rogue list, I'm still interested to try out some of the new cards such as The Second, Kigiri, and Nurari who all seem to be incredibly powerful. I think the decks we will most likely end up with are either Fire/X or Lightning/X builds though, because a guaranteed turn three Will of Fire or Group Lesson off of Naruto [Reliance] is game breaking in theory. With the lack of support given to them in teh core set, I'm pretty confident that both Wind and Earth probably wont make it into our gauntlet, except maybe the medical deck, however with Kabuto being put down to one and more powerful mission hate coming out, I don't think I want to play a deck thats fairly reliant on missions this format.
So we will keep you updated with our results from testing during the week, and I will probably put up a review on the top 5 cards of the set per rarity to replace the missing Element reviews, as most of you pobably don't care too much about the bad cards in each element. Until next time.
-Andrew 
Labels: Blurbs, Will of Fire, Zero
(to view the picture better, right click and hit "View Image")
brb fapping to/building medical/females
Labels: Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, previews, random, tsu, Will of Fire
In 22 test games over Skype, I've been Sealing Barrier'd off of my L.A.R. 16 of those times. Now I'm not going to say that the people I play with are cheating me but... yeesh. I must be unlucky. Someone cut me a break ;_;
Anyways, we know who the real culprit is to blame for all of this: Tylar. He made Sealing Barrier. He's the reason for my anguish in this test games. GET HIM!
In other news, Water is way too damn powerful. They really need a few things to keep them checked otherwise they're going to just run over everyone this format. After playing test games with Will of Fire, Water just seems to crush anything in it's way. Even aggressive decks like Animals or NVS thanks to Sea Monster and choice sideboard cards.
Things that I'd love to see rogue'd:
1. Tobi
2. Ninja Info Cards (If Tobi doesn't get rogue'd)
3. Water Dragon
4. Threat of the Tailed Beast
5. Kabuto (Because putting Threat on this list and keeping him at 3 doesn't do anything)
I'd put Hiding but that's just cause I'm a serious hater on Water. That's definitely a fair card.
Cards that I'd love to see banned:
1. Snake Waves
2. Sealing Barrier (-.-;;)
Before you guys fire off comments about saying how wrong I am, know that I'm a serious hater on water and most of this is purely in jest (I'm serious about roguing Dragon and Tobi though. Leaving them unrestricted would be one of the biggest mistakes Bandai has ever made). Hahaha. But no seriously, Water is really good this set.
Edit: So... out of NO WHERE All Things Fun announced their Chunin date... which is in 5 days (Sunday). So who is going, considering the short notice? Format is Broken Promise. Prizing is Broken Promise.
Re-Edit: Just got called into Work on Sunday. Not attending this unless it gets moved.
Labels: AllThingsFun, Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, Chunin, Playtesting, Rogue list, tsu, Will of Fire
So I'm finally out of classes, which (Hopefully) gives me more time to write for the blog. With regionals tomorrow and the GP next week, I will still be a bit busy, but without classes forcing me to get up early, and taking up half my day I should be able to devote some of my time to this blog.
First thing on the Agenda: The Georgia SJC. As most of you know, Pat and I have been planning on going to this for awhile. Unfortunately after taking with the group, I decided to sit this one out. Despite our initial plans of training or driving to GA, the rest of the group deemed that flying was the most cost effective plan for them, as they happen to have Air miles. As I don't happen to be so lucky, flying would not be a cost effective option for me, and I have no intention of going on this trip by myself.
It might be a good thing that I'm not going on this trip, because that would force me to look closely at the new set and see exactly how shafted wind got as a whole. Based on the themes I can easily see how poor the support for them was, in a BASE SET due to the lack of generic Negation, or decent theme support. Not to mention Winds super Tsunade is incredibly lack luster. As someone who enjoys playing, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed in the designers, because the rest of the colors were supported fairly well, while wind was left alone in the dark for no real reason.
So yeah, I started an article and never finished it, and I know my excuses are no longer valid. I will do my best to both finish the article and get through the other two articles before the set drops next week, though I can't promise the wind review wont just be "Theme sux" written for each day of the week. Yes, I'm that bitter over this.
On a positive note, I really like Naruto Shippuden Live's Preview Sea monster. Not only does it provide a strong side board option against one of the supposed top tier decks for the upcoming format, but it will also hopefully achieve what Both Shino IW and Konohamaru IA tried to achieve, and failed at: Creating a slower format. Naruto seems to just speed up with each release, so much that many players are opting not to play ninjas above entrance cost five, unless they can be tricked into play. Sea monster makes it so attacking profitably is pretty hard until the game gets to be about three to four turns deep. I'm actually excited to see how this card will impact the meta, and if we will actually see a slower paced format!
Until next time guys,
-Andrew
Labels: bandai, Blurbs, Will of Fire, Zero
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(ಠ_ృ)
- Consider yourselves on notice, chaps.Edit:
Tsu Kiyo Me: Wind week sucks.
Final Valkyrie: I believe you're mistaken.
Tsu Kiyo Me: Don't gimme that.
Tsu Kiyo Me: You been smoochin' with everybody!
Tsu Kiyo Me: Snuffy
Tsu Kiyo Me: Al
Tsu Kiyo Me: Leo
Tsu Kiyo Me: Little Moe with the gimpy leg
Tsu Kiyo Me: Cheeks
Tsu Kiyo Me: Boney Bob
Tsu Kiyo Me: Cliff...
Final Valkyrie: What are you smoking?
Tsu Kiyo Me: I could go on forever, baby!
Final Valkyrie: This is why I dont talk to you often >_>
Final Valkyrie: Well that and you just walk away from your computer all the time without telling me, or something.
Tsu Kiyo Me: Oh. All right.
Tsu Kiyo Me: I believe you.
Tsu Kiyo Me: But my Tommy gun don't!
Tsu Kiyo Me: Get down on your knees and tell me you love me.
Final Valkyrie: 1...
Final Valkyrie: 2...
Final Valkyrie: 10!
Tsu Kiyo Me: *shoots you*
Final Valkyrie: *ninjas out of way*
Tsu Kiyo Me: Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal
Tsu Kiyo Me: And a happy New Year
Tsu Kiyo Me: *shoots you again*
Tsu Kiyo Me: ... Wind being sh**** makes you do crazy things.
Tsu Kiyo Me: Let's just quit Naruto together
Tsu Kiyo Me: Only 2 months until BlazBlue
Final Valkyrie: Well when i win the Sannin with Kunoichis, I'll shoot you
Tsu Kiyo Me: ^_^
Final Valkyrie: I feel like taking it seriously this year
Final Valkyrie: I have a recorder
Final Valkyrie: Specifically made for when I play Naruto
Final Valkyrie: before we start
Final Valkyrie: I hit the button and it says
Final Valkyrie: The Wheel of fate is turning... rebel 1... action!
Final Valkyrie: And the same for Rebel 2
Final Valkyrie: But not Rebel 3
Final Valkyrie: Cuz I 2-0.
Tsu Kiyo Me: Pro-Noel stuff right here.
Labels: bandai, previews, random, tsu, Will of Fire
I told you guys I would try to get my earth preview week review up during the week, so here it is (Well, mosty of it anyway):
Saturday April 24th: Saturday Preview
Earth Style: Earth Pike: What a cool way to transition from water week to earth week. I've been advocating cards like this for a long time, so I'm pretty happy that we finally got something along these lines. I saw a lot of love for this card on the boards, which I'm not surprised by, after all it's good card design and it has Kakuzu showing his pimp ring. Despite how much I clearly like this card, I personally don't think the card is strong enough to see any competitive play. With both Disguise jutsu and the new Water shark bomb both in format, doing what this card does to a better extent I don't see a reason to run a worse copy just because it can be both. Still, I'm glad the designers are finally taking the initiative and designing cards like this.
Sunday April 25th: Sunday Preview
Kiss of Death: we've had about 6 or so jutsus that do essentially the same thing as this card, none of which ever saw any real play, so you can't really expect much from this card playability wise. Maybe if Bandai had tacked on a draw one or something like that to make you go positive? I don't know, it just needs something in my eyes.
Monday April 26th: Asuma Theme
Asuma Sarutobi [For the Next Generation] + Asuma Sarutobi & Shikamaru Nara [Everlasting Relationship]: I'm going to talk about both cards, simply because it's impossible to talk about one without talking about the other as the two cards make each other good. For starters I saw a lot of hate on the Asuma card, which I didn't get. Why would you want him to be a super? Why would you want an incredibly linear effect? I'm happy with my Uncommon Revamped Kiba MBC. Yep, Thats exactly what Asuma is. Some of you are probably like "No, Kiba is a good zero drop any deck can play that tutors a ninja you can play for free." While you are technically correct that there is a difference between turn zero and turn four, and that Kiba's target hit's play for free, Asuma does everything better than Kiba on a better turn.
Asuma, as a stand alone ninja is aggressively stated for a turn 4 jonin in earth, giving an early six combat ninja to an element which curves predominantly support, where Kiba was always under stated regardless of the deck, unless your opponent started with a sakura. Asuma's search is also better than Kiba's because unlike Akamaru, you are probably playing Shikamaru because he is a good stand alone card that fits in your deck and has a relevant effect. Akamaru is fit into the deck specifically to obtain value out of your Kiba. Lastly, and most importantly Asuma & Shikamaru squad is far more game breaking then Kiba & Akamaru squad ever was.
A turn five 7/5 with Jonin rank, five mental power, two relevant combat attributes, and a powerful effect seems a lot better than a turn three 4/3 with a strong ability, in my book at least. One of the main reasons I like this guy is because it brings us back to the early stages of the game, where size is everything, and stall breaking effects are a legitimate win condition, as opposed to the blow out one turn win effects we've become used to over the past year. One last little thing I want to about is the wording on the Asuma card, which allows you to grab any card with "Shikamaru Nara" in it's name, allowing you to not only set up Shikatemaris for decision, but also allows you to grab the Shikamaru Asuma platoon, play it, and then squad into the big guy on turn five trigger the platoon's effect netting card advantage and allowing you to deploy on that turn as well. I'm not sure how viable that is, but in theory it's pretty awesome.
I personally think that every deck should, and probably will be packing at least one copy of the Asuma. There really isn't a strong enough reason not to, especially if you intended on play Shikamaru in your deck to begin with.
Present for the Promotion: I like that this card doesn't have a hand cost, that way any deck can use it, and that it always causes you to break even by using it. Despite how similar it is to Emina, I'm pretty confident it won't be nearly as playable as she once was. Still, this card makes a pretty good one of to allow you to pick up steam in the late game by returning all the Jutsus to your deck.
Tuesday April 27th: The First Hokage Theme
The First Hokage [Supremacy]: I really like this card a lot. Not only does he have a strong, game changing effect just for entering play, but he also has an effect that helps give your deck some resilience in the late game? Having solid stats and mastery just adds to my love for this card. While I don't exactly know what kind of deck he will go in (Aside from tree based decks, which I am not a fan of), I assure you that I will probably find something to play this guy in even if I have to splash for him alone. While he probably isn't going to go for as much as the Second, I can easily see this guy ending up being one of the more expensive supers in the set.
Farewell: We have cards that already do this, why make more? At least it's a common.
Earth Style: Stone Plate Coffin: So earth gets Hidden Mist Jutsu? Interesting, but I don't think that will really do much in a format with disguise jutsu, as well as other negation options that at least appear to be better than this card.
Wednesday April 28th: Yugito Ni Theme
Yugito Ni [Rage]: Nice artwork! Unfortunately the card itself is rather lack luster. That kind of effect isn't particularly game breaking, and in an aggressive format, you need a good reason to play Ninjas that come out so late. At least Yugito's effect makes sense flavor wise, plus she has Tailed beast mode in her characteristics! I would be pretty surprised if Yugito saw some real play, but I don't know, the format might develop in a way that her seven combat might be relevant.
Howl: Again, good artwork, lack luster effect. Even in a cooled down environment, two chakra to not really change the board position isn't great. I feel like this card could have had a tack on of something small and it probably could have seen a bit of play post rotation, but as it is I'm going to just say no.
The Last Message: I really don't know what to think of this card. The cost seems really steep, but at the same time there could probably be some kind of combo with it to make it good. For now I'm going to say no to competitive play, but it has potential.
As I need to finish writing my final paper before I go out tonight to the Ironman 2 premier, I'm going to have to finish up this review later. Please be sure to comment bellow to let me know what you guys agreed or disagreed with. Until next time
-Andrew
Labels: previews, reviews, Will of Fire, Zero
Now that I've actually had a chance to look over all of the previews for the past two weeks, I figured I would post up another review for you guys. I'm only going to go over the Water theme today, as I have a paper due tomorrow, but I should be able to do the Earth themes at some point during the week.
Saturday April 17th: Saturday Preview
Combination Jutsu: I really like this card a lot, simply because it's costed so well. two generic chakra to water prison a ninja is pretty good value, especially in an aggro based deck like NVS which shouldn't have an problem getting this card to always have the better of the two effects. My only complaint about the card is the other effect. Why is it -2/-2? Isn't negatives a fire based effect? Should have given the user a pump, or something that made sense. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if this card saw some play prior to rotation.
Sunday April 18th: Sunday Preview
Princess Koto: Another strong client effect. While she might not seem as amazing as Michiru, or Emina, she is capable of some pretty crazy things when put in a deck that plays predominantly female ninjas. Odds are, this chick will constantly force the opposition to use jutsu's first, which is exactly what you want in a deck using cards like Counter and Wind Scythe Jutsu. I kind of dislike that she doesn't have the wind symbol, but I can also understand why she was given the two symbols she currently has. Princess Koto is a card I would be aware of when getting ready for the SJC this season, because if you don't have a way to deal with her in your board, you might be fighting an uphill battle against Kunoichi or Medical decks during the day.
Monday April 19th: Kisame Theme
Kisame [Water Clone]: I'm actually really disappointed with this card. While the effect is exactly what you would expect the effect to be for water clone Kisame, there are several things missing from the card that just ruin it. First of all, where is the clone status? The card is a picture of Kisame using water clone, has the surname [Water Clone], and the effect of putting an exact copy of Kisame into play... So where is the damn clone status? The other thing that bothers me is his inability to get his effect off of Ambush. I think thats pretty grimy, simply because water's entire play style has developed around Ambush, and I don't really think that by getting his effect off of an Ambush, he would be OP.
As for the card it self, I'm not sure if I actually like it or not. I can see the blow out moments where making two ninjas in one turn wins you the game, but I also see his effect causing the player to make bad plays due to keeping it in hand instead of charging it, and charging another card like a jutsu or mission, just to get Kisame's effect. It probably wont see play until after rotation, but even then, I feel like his draw back is too big to be played over Guren.
Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu: Right off the back you can probably determine the playability of this card in water decks in the current format by looking at it's name. Competing with one of the most efficient negation cards in the game means that this card is most likely not going to make the cut any time soon. However, the designers opted to not only forgo a requirement on the card, but also make the cost generic allowing any deck to utilize this card. While in the current format, I'm not sure what deck will want to use this out side of a rush based deck, post rotation this card might actually see some play.
The Top Priority: All I can say is that giving your opponent the ability to pick for an effect means that you will seldom gain a lot of advantage off of said effect. Pressing was the same way, while both effects were really good, allowing your opponent to pick between the two effects just meant that you would never really get the effect you want. This card is pretty much the same in that, yes sending a ninja to chakra is good for a mission effect, but sending a turn zero ninja, or a ninja with ambush to chakra isn't particularly good. Even in Limited, I probably wouldn't take this card until very late in the pack.
Tuesday April 20th: The Second Hokage Theme
The Second Hokage [Supremacy]: This card was really well designed for the core set in my opinion. The Second's effect pretty much ties all of water together, and in a way represents water as a whole. For those of you wondering what I mean, the best example I could probably give comes from other card games like Duel masters, where each base set they had Ultras that catered specifically to their color's main themes, which is exactly what The Second does. Helps you generate a lot of chakra? Check. Helps you play a lot of powerful Jutsus? Check. Helps you Ambush Ninjas? Check. Helps you burn Chakra? If you have Threats in your Chakra area when you put him in play, check. The Second just does everything you want him to do in water, so there really isn't a reason to play cards like Kakuzu over this guy, as Kakuzu is more narrow and less game breaking then the Second.
I really like this card a lot, not only from a design standpoint, but from the stand point of someone who likes cards that reward the more skilled player. Second's effect can just as easily be a game winning play for a skilled player who played the game thinking ahead, as it can be a decent play by a less skilled player who didn't think past the current turn. By planning ahead, you can easily manipulate your chakra to insure you get the exact three cards that will win you the game, like two Water dragons, and a Threat of the Tailed beast. All in all I think the Second is just really good, an dI expect him to be one of the chase supers from the set.
Bounty: Bounty isn't a bad card, as it has synergy with all the ambush ninjas water has, but I have never been a fan of conditional draw power that either has a good effect or none at all. it might see some play, but I sincerely doubt it.
Black Strings: Healing jutsus never seem to see play simply because there are better tricks you could be playing instead, and I don't feel as though this card is any different. While Black Strings does happen to be costed well for it's effect, it still doesn't do enough to warrant it seeing play in a competitive environment.
Wednesday April 21st: Haku Theme
Tracking Ninja: I personally think this card is a step in the wrong direction for Bandai. Including a 4/1 turn zero Ninja with two mental power, relevant combat attribute, and ambush, in a set with a bunch of decent turn zero ninja with weaker stats doesn't make sense to me at all. It was stated that they were making good turn zero ninjas on all colors to reduce splashing, but then they make a ninja who is better than those other ninjas, and leagues better than vanilla sasuke ever was in water. So the reality is, they made a bunch of turn zero ninjas that no one will play because they also made tracking ninja who has better stats, and has synergy with certain decks.
Killer Shot: So it's a fire ball for two generic? It's definitely better that any deck can utilize it, but I still feel as though it isn't good enough. Maybe if they allowed you to bounce it back to hand if the user had some kind of characteristic or something, I don't know. I just feel like the card is too narrow and doesn't really help unless the opponents entire strategy is reliant on a client or permanent mission.
The Next Target: This card is so incredibly good. This one mission gives water the ability to deal with things they could never deal with before on an early enough turn to hit almost anything. This card would probably have gotten my vote as best common in the set if tracking ninja wasn't around.
Thursday April 22nd: Kabuto Theme
Kabuto [Recycling]: Not only is this guy good in your deck, he is also good for the environment! Bad puns aside, I think this might be my favorite card in the set. Most of you can probably recall that I was one of the biggest advocators of Sasori TBT, and even ended up playing him in this years past sannin event. Kabuto's effect is incredibly powerful, and completely puts Sasori TBT to shame. Not only do they have similar stats and characteristics to begin with, but Kabuto's effect is more cost efficient and the Ninja actually sticks. I would without a doubt be playing with this guy at Gencon this year, if DB didn't exist. Because DB has solidified him self as a staple three of in every water or water/X deck, there really isn't any good justification to not play him. Hopefully DB gets restricted or something so I can justify playing this guy, because if not, what a waste of such a good effect.
Earth Style Ultimate revival Jutsu: Soil Bodies: This card is waaaaaay to narrow to see play, even with it's alternate cost. I'm not a fan of cards that rely on your opponents cards to do anything, and thats exactly what this card does. Even for limited, this card has no real reason to be a rare.
Tragic Destiny: I'm not a fan of this card for the same reason stated in the above; I don't like cards that rely on the cards your opponent plays to do anything. In water, this card lets you ambush a ninja, which probably already has ambush and give it an effect which may or may not help. So you are pretty much playing a mission that says "Give target ninja the effect of a ninja your opponent controls". I guarantee you that card would never see play. Yes, you could pick up a ninja from discard pile, and Yes I like Kabuto which does just that, but it's completely different. Kabuto allows you to abuse cards like Temari WS, the new Second Hokage, and Shino IW by constantly getting them back, where this card is a one shot deal that cost more for a potential bonus.
The card has more of a use in Fire decks, as they don't have access to similar effects, and have far less cards with Ambush on them. Still, I feel like there are much stronger cards to be playing in the current pool, and even if there weren't I'm just not a fan of this type of an effect. I will say that I probably would play this in EDH though, because recursion in a format of one ofs is obviously much more powerful, not to mention your opponent is guaranteed to have a powerful ninja effect via their general, so more often then not this cards second effect will be relevant.
Friday April 23rd: Three Tails Theme
Three Tails [A Monster who Lives in the Abyss]: This guy is pretty scary. As long as he is on the table with a jonin, you really cant attack or block profitably. Couple that with his huge stats and you have a pretty big threat. ALone this guy probably wouldn't see too much play, but the next card is what really makes him playable in my opinion.
Yukimaru [Guide]: His first effect is almost negligible, as most of us just read him as "You can play your Three Tails really early" and I'm pretty sure thats what is going to make this guy see play. I haven't tested out this concept yet, but believe me I plan to do so once the set lands. I never saw the Three tail fillers, so I'm not sure exactly who this guy is or why he gives the three tails a lower entrance cost though, so if someone would like to fill me in that would be great.
Stolen Bodies: While it probably wont see much play in the current environment, this card is a strong candidate to replace threat post rotation. It may not be as game breaking, but it does work in a similar manner. I'm actually okay with this card replacing threat, as threat happened to be pretty stupid, especially in multiples.
As I said before, I will try to get the Earth themes review up later in the week, but no promises. Please comment bellow to let me know what you agreed/disagreed with, what cards you think will end up seeing play, or if any of these cards is being over rated/over looked. Until next time.
-Andrew
Labels: previews, reviews, Will of Fire, Zero
Well let me rephrase things. There is content. This is the part where I could talk about how boss that new Shikamaru is for Earth Decks but I can't because Andrew has his new weekly "review" entry. . . so that's out the window.
So I'm basically just sitting here, tossing darts at the dart board wondering what to write about... eating this delicious cinnamon raisin bagel. Toasted with cream cheese by the way. Kinda tired. Was up until 3 AM last night talking to Gary (VSA), Nick Botchis (Shino's Dad), and Tylar (Hungry Ninja) about nothing in general and I was expressing this same sense of emptiness for the game right now... there's just nothing going on besides previews. Anyone else agree? It's like we've all just opened the door expecting some amazing stuff only to be greeted with
The Void
void
void. . .
*stares around blankly*
Yeah it's kind of like that. Or like that one time when you were a kid and no one was home to hang out with but your friend's mom was like "Well s/he'll be back at 5 PM." And you sat there on the porch throwing stones or twiddling your fingers waiting for someone, anyone to show up.
It's almost a lot like madness when you think about it. I have a method to mine by the way, thanks for asking.
So . . . I guess I'll talk about my wish list for Will of Fire now:
-Good offensive jutsu for Wind. Not something uber broken but something decent... at least better than Knockout Blow. Hell I'd take a Knockout Blow for the same cost if it didn't have the requirement... or change it to turn cost 3 or higher.
-Good draw mission for Earth. I could play the Wind/Earth hybrid if there were good Earth missions.
-Better Earth early game. Other reason I couldn't play Yamato was because the element count didn't allow for him to be relevant all the time.
-First Hokage. Oh wait we already got that one.
-Tsunade. A good one. That doesn't suck.
-Some pretty boss mission negation for Wind and/or Earth. No, that turn 3 Earth Counter Mission is not good mission negation.
-To top an event with my deck name being "Mademoiselle Han's Purple Escort Service"
And that about covers it. Expect my interview with Jerry Balentuangin, the Sannin of '08, posted later today on Bandai.
Question of the Day (QOTD): What would you guys like to see in the Month of May for "Teach Me Professor Tsu Kiyo Me!"?
You can leave your answers in the comments below... if I like a subject I might actually use it!
Labels: QOTD, random, tsu, Will of Fire, You're Boring the Crap Out of Me
Due to the overwhelming amount of comments for Pat's new "The good, the Bad, and the Ugly" segment, where Pat uses two other cards to mask the fact that he wants to complain about one specific card, I decided to put up a weekly review of the previews posted on the main site. Hopefully you guys are still somewhat interested in my card evaluations now that I no longer have previews of my own to give out on a podcast that you can skim through. Anyway, let's get this started with.
Monday April 12th: Sora Theme
Sora [Broken Seal]: So before I get into anything too deep on this one, I want to point out that I never watched the Sora fillers, and I only really know that apparently he has the over flow of the 9 tails chakra in him, or something like that? Anyway, I like Sora. Not because I think he is good or anything, the reality is that he probably wont ever touch competitive play. The reason I like Sora is because he was designed to be another Naruto for a casual Tailed beast mode deck. He fills the roll of "Radiant Energy User" on turns three or four if you are desperate, or if you need someone else to use the jutsu for whatever reason. He also gives cards like Destructive swing a chance at seeing play. On a minor note, Sora is also Stated very well for limited play, so you might want to pick him sooner rather than later in a draft.
Beast Wave: Palm Hurricane: I feel this card is a step in the right direction for design. Most of you probably didn't notice this, but the card, while being primarily Lightning (cost and requirement wise) the effect is a Wind effect. I wouldn't mind seeing a cycle of Jutsu cards that are dual colored that allow an element a chance to use an effect that it normally wouldn't be able to use. My only complaint is that it probably should have costed Wind l Wind instead, so that Lightning would have to pay more for an off color effect, though I understand it was costed the way it was to be more playable in it's theme. In terms of power level, I feel like this card is far under what we have now, but might be much closer post rotation.
Hate: I really don't like this card. I do like the concept of giving lightning the ability to negate missions at a cost, where fire has that ability for free, however this card is just to situational with the current pool of cards. There are very few good effects that provide growth coins, and even growthing itself is generally un-advantageous. For a card like this to actually see play, one of two things would probably need to happen: 1) Bandai gave more solid effects that provide growth coins to lightning, or 2) Bandai made a broken mission card that completely destroys the foundation of the game and as such every deck needs a way to try and play around it.
Approaching Shadow of Death: I also like this card alot because of how it interacts with Hidan (Cursed mode). Granted Disaster is a far better card, I still plan on trying this card out, as the Hidan deck probably wont be able to compete until post rotation, where we are left disasterless. I'm also happy Bandai is sticking with lightning being the primary effect damage element.
Tuesday April 13th: Sai Theme
Sai [Study]: The only card in the theme that has anything to do with Sai! His effect is very strong, but due to how fast paced the current format is, I doubt he will see much play until post rotation, where I will probably end up playing him in everything. I really like this Sai a lot, and I think it's a prime example of a card that could easily be reprinted in future core sets, only without the terrible artwork.
Just like that Hero: Freaking awesome. This is a card that combo decks have been waiting for for a long time. Granted, it is turn four in a fast paced format, but I still wouldn't bet against this card seeing play in some deck during the next year, wether it be NVS, or some other crazy concoction. This is exactly what a super rare should be in my opinion: a card that is Fun, unique, and something people want to build around.
Scattered Thousand Birds Jutsu: Generic Negation for lightning that follows lightnings established Niche of sending cards to the bottom of deck. I have no problems with this card, in that it happens to be well costed for it's effect and it has a wide range of users. The unfortunate thing is that there are several cards in the current card pool that fulfill this cards role in lightning decks better, so this card might not see play right now.
Wednesday April 14th: Clone theme
Distraction: So basically this is a substitute for the Efficient training deck? I like that they are giving it some support, but I don't think this card makes the deck any better. Still, it would be pretty cool to play Naruto [Reliance] on turn three, search this card, then on five turn naruto into tailed beast mode in injured status and blow up a guy. due to this card not having a hand cost, it can be done in any deck too. This card might be worth looking into, but it's most likely too situational to see competitive play.
Rasengan: My initial thought was "Name is Rasengan, so it probably wont see play due to the Broken promises variant being amazing." However, I've grown to appreciate this cards value in the side board. Being able to kill a Ninja, and then Blow up a Michiru, or Miroku is incredible value. This card is exactly what we have been asking Bandai to give us, and I for one am happy with it. If the Hidan deck takes off, you lightning players might want to pack these guys in against it, cause without Ritual it becomes exceedingly hard for that deck to win.
Thursday April 15th: Taijutsu Theme
Agira [For the Revenge]: I think this card is awful. Not only is it awkwardly stated for a Taijutsu Ninja, but it's effect is random and over costed. This is a bad example of support for a theme because it isn't supporting the theme do what it's good at, it's just random and bad. It also doesn't help that they didn't give this guy a rank, or any mental power.
Gensho [For the Revenge]: This card is much better, in that it actually follows the theme slightly better by pumping itself, however I don't think the card is strong enough to see play for several reasons. The first thing I have against this card is it's timing. By using it's effect before they block, your opponent instantly knows if blocking you is a good or bad plan. Had they made his effect during the exchange of Jutsu, it would require more decision making, and therefore more skill to know when to block him, and when blocking might not be the best plan. My other complaint about the card is the lack of growth. I normally consider growth a worthless mechanic, but in this case I feel it's pretty relevant due to the turn zero version of this character being so good.
Rokaku [For the Revenge]: This guy might be the best card in the theme, which is unfortunate because his effect has nothing to do with the Taijutsu theme. A Disguise jutsu on a stick for lightning might be good next format, due to the decreased power level, and even now it could be pretty relevant when going up against cards like Chidori and Rasengan from Broken Promises. I think Bandai could have made this guy better for the theme, and stronger in general by changing the cost to removing two Taijutsu ninja from your discard pile from the game. This way, his effect would only be usable in the theme, and it would be legitimate because he would protect your Ninja's after they use pumps to get bigger than the opposing teams.
Jako [Support]: Card is bad. Seriously, Whoever made this card is retarded. Theme support doesn't mean "Give them a bad card that becomes on curve if used in the theme" because if that were the case, why not just play something on curve to begin with? He should have had the two support, and either gotten an additional support, or given a combat to the head if he was in a team with a Taijutsu ninja, giving incentive to actually run this card. The irony behind this card's surname has my head hurting.
Yagura [Probationer]: This one has growth, but not the turn four, wut? Despite that, I really like this card because not only does it fit the theme it also adds to the list of cards that benefit from the new rules regarding note taking a major events. Being able to look at a card in your opponents hand every turn is a pretty good ability for a zero drop, especially since he can use it from the side lines. I except this guy to definitely see play if not this format, then the next for sure. I also think this card would make a great platinum promo.
Friday April 16th: Lee Theme
Rock Lee [Motto]: Definitely fits in Taijutsu themed decks well, it's just unfortunate that they aren't good, otherwise this guy might be a house. Curving only Taijutsu ninjas with this guy could be such a savage set up, now if only Bandai could give us the resources to make this possible in a competitive environment. Looks like this Lee is getting my vote for "Cool card that isn't going to see any ply whatsoever" of the set. A shame, really.
Rock Lee [Eight Inner Gates]: Sooooooo good in aggressive decks. In Animals and NVS particularly this guy will pretty much always be a 5/2 after turn one, allowing him to nab more battle rewards, and beat down on even the toughest genin in the format. Love this guy, and I really like the unique card design and use of Lightnings "Turn marker maters" sub theme.
Raigo! Thousand Hand Strike!: At first glance the card appears to be limited fodder, but at second glance you realize that it might even be worse. It pumps worse then just about every other pump in the set, and it's effect doesn't seem to be too relevant in limited play (so far from what we've seen). In constructed there are much better options as far as stopping mental power battles go.
Sudden Entry: I saw that a lot of people really seemed to like this card on the boards, which confused me. In the current format, there is so much splashing that I cant ever see this effect going off reliably. Even post rotation cards like Baki AB, Tobi MoM, and Yakumo will still be around, and you aren't going to opt not to run better cards to try and get this card to go off, when at best you only have around a sixty percent chance of it going off anyway.
So that concludes the first edition of my weekly card reviews. I'm going to aim to do these every weekend, but those of you who know me well know that I have a habit pushing things off. I hope you guys enjoyed the review, and please feel free to comment and let me know if you agree or disagree with anything I stated. Until next time.
-Andrew
Labels: previews, reviews, Will of Fire, Zero
The Good
Lightning. It's good. Really good. I'm pleasantly surprised that for the first time in probably 8 sets that Lightning is actually a viable element without the use of a dumb broken card.
. . . Okay maybe I spoke a little too soon but I was tired of having to play Lightning and it being awful because it lacked good missions besides just Box Lunch & Reunion. And I was also tired of having to play broken Narutos just to be "On Par" with other decks. That's not how you make an element "good" . . . what happened to having costly but powerful Jutsu? Where's my Pumps? And how about some Ninja not named Jiraiya that are worth a damn? Well with the new missions introduced in Set 16 such as Messenger Ninja, Group Lesson, and Succeeded Will of Fire, Lightning is a POWERHOUSE. It can quickly amass lots of chakra, powerful Ninja, and has devastating jutsu and that's a good thing. It's embarrassing that the main character's element has been the laughing stock of the game pretty much the entire time the game has been out. I mean, even Earth has had the same success or better with the help of the First Hokage and Yamato.
I'm very much looking forward to Lightning in set 17 and for once I'm happy to say the deck can stand on its own two feet without having to be paired for Fire or having to run an untouchable ninja just to make up for weak spots of having "decent" jutsu.
The Bad
Sai.
Let's face it.
He sucks.
And that's a shame considering what an interesting character he is in the manga & anime. What's even more disappointing than that is this:
Top 20 Ninja Effects Printed Ever. Easily.
That card...no matter how you look at it, is CRAZY GOOD. Negate any Ninja on your opponent's field, the ability to chain to pretty much everything under the sun, 6/4, 5/3 stats, Mental Power:5 + Female, Chunin, Medical... do I need to go on? And the worst part about it? It gets cycled out after GenCon.
The problem is two fold:
1. You have to give up in the best case a turn 0 and a turn 4 for another turn 4. Most squads come from turn 0 and turn 1 components that are played in competitive play.
2. If you drop Shino, but don't have Kiba, Shino is still good. Kiba is still good. Naruto is still good. Hinata not so much. Shion is still good. Sasuke is still good. Orochimaru is still good. Sakura is still good. Sai? He sucks.
It's almost unreal if you think about it. A card with this effect will NEVER see top tables simply because the ONE component of the Squad sucks on his own. Don't believe me? Let's just go through them all then.
Envoy - Everyone plays Michiru so blowing up your clients is awful. The only good play this card had with was Emi, who is no longer in block. Lightning has no use for him because of The One Who Lives Within and now Giant Eagle. 4/3, 3/2 stats are good, but are you going to play this guy over Sasuke? Baki? Father & Mother? Kakashi (Boyhood)? See where this going? It's not worth splashing anymore.
Singled Out - Arguably the best Sai simply because he doesn't count as a deploy. But that's only in Lightning. And it's damn hard to do it in that too. He's vanilla effect and guess what? He's the best one. So a 4/3, 3/2 with no effect is the best iteration of a Ninja? How sad. Still not playing it over Baki & Co.
Heartless Eyes - Okay so who comes up with the surnames? But besides that, you might think this guy is amazing because of his Mastery, but he's not. He has Kujaku stats on Turn 4, and Kujaku is a turn 3 and she has a reusable Temari Wind Scythe Effect. Guess what? She doesn't see play because her stats suck. "But Tsu, what about the Mastery?" Well that's AWESOME. So what can he play?
. . .
. . .
Paper Bomb? Giant Shuriken? Fireball Jutsu? A requirementless negation Jutsu like Wind Scythe?
So that's 4 cards? That seems awful. Well Lightning isn't going to play Shuriken or Paper Bomb anyway unless they're animals in which case why do you have Sai & Sakura in Animals? So, you want me to splash in him in Wind or Fire? Well... I'd rather play Kakashi, Baki, Puppets, etc.
Sorry to the Sai fans out there but he just... is bad.
. . . and The Ugly
This one comes as no surprise. If the following card surprises you in anyway, you should probably hit the X button on your browser right now:
Now before I go any further, it's going to get ugly from here on in so I figure I'll post the following disclaimer in hopes that many of you won't consider me an ***hole by the time this entire argument is done:
... cuz you asked for one ~cuz ya need it~
Got that out of the way. Are we good? Good.
I'm still not understanding what people don't get about this card and the fact that it is broken. Some players actually want this card banned or Errata'd. Why? Because we don't want this card dominating the SJC Season. I'm not a fan of going to travel halfway across the country just to get sacked by Naruto & Hinata every single round and lose because there was no way to come back since s/he went first and had this card.
For starters, this card is good in EVERY DECK. But if you build a deck that is meant to capitalize on the fact that your opponent missed a drop, it becomes all the more insane. I'm tired of people saying "I'll just chump block your next attack. It's no big deal." or "So I give you 1 to 3 Battle Rewards, it's no big deal." Now I'm going to assume that your opponent has at least taken 2~4 Battle Rewards in the first 2 to 3 turns because most players usually have given up at least 2 by turn 3 unless you just hit the nuts and your opponent did not.
The most likely thing that can happen is they skip your turn 3. Given the fact that you no longer were able to squad, you have a bunch of weak ninja in play. Your choices: Bunch up and I can swing around you for massive BRs. Split to avoid BR damage and just take a few chumps. Both are awful. One has you losing 60% of your life. The other has you losing all your Ninja. If they have Baki, it's even worse because since you split, you essentially gave up BRs, lost Ninja, and probably Baki locked yourself. How? Well since you only have 3 Ninja cause of Naruto & Hinata, I'm getting at least 2 cause I triggered Baki. The others you will either give me 2~4 for the attack, or get OV'd. Getting OV'd causes a Baki Lock. Giving me 2~4 means you have to split anyways otherwise you will lose. So... Baki Lock? Or lose to 10 BRs on turn 4~5?
This one works with any deck but it shines the most in Wind. If at any point your hand contains: Naruto or Hinata, Kiba or Shino, Substitute, LAR or SOTRS or Kankuro or Ebizo + Puppet, you can pretty much assume you won. It's very easy in Wind to drop Naruto, then drop Kiba, then drop anything and sub it into Hinata. Then tutor or play Kankuro. Ideally you'll have a 5, a 5, and a 7 (Shino&Kiba, NaruHina & Akamaru, Kankuro & Sally). It doesn't happen all the time but you can build decks that will make it happen half of the time or so.
If I Naruto & Hinata you on turn 3, then Platoon into Shizune & Tonton and get Tsunade, how do you stop me? I didn't even deploy yet since I platoon'd Tonton. Now let's say I dropped Shikamaru Unwillingness. That's giving me 5 Battle Rewards right there, with a guarantee that I'm getting at least 2 more next turn. 7 BRs in 2 turns. If I took at least 2~4 in the first 3 turns like most decks do, you just lost. :/
Same thing as before only now I prevented you from dropping a female so I get a game push. Or a medical ninja so you can't block me.
Skip your turn. Swing out with Naruto & Hina, Jiraiya Childhood, and perhaps another team like Kiba & Akamaru. Again, 5~6 BRs, and if you block the Rasengan Jutsu will rain down on you and leave you with probably no field and no Ninja. If they have LAR in their hand? Baki Lock.
Swing with Oro Childhood. 10K. Naruto & Hinata them at the start of their turn. Self explanitory.
Not quite as devastating as others but curving Naruto then Hinata after a stream on block hurts.
Drop Kankuro or a Jonin on 3, swing out, Water Dragon to destroy their board, then Naruto & Hinata them. (Edit: Because Tsu is dumb and doesn't read cards, scratch this one. Kankuro and Temari can't use Dragon. Still, you can do this later on for good damage)
If you Picture Book someone early so they have no hand,they usually have a hard time making drops. Naruto & Hinata after a successful picture book means your opponent should scoop.
Are we seeing a pattern here? This card is essentially "Cold Wave" from Yugioh only without the drawback of it effects you as well. Guess what? Cold Wave is limited to 1 in Yugioh and it has a drawback. This card is at 3 here. And it has none. And you can't restrict it. So what do you suppose we do? If you can't restrict it and you can't ban it... then you have to errata it or go back and allow bans.
Before anyone says these are all situational, yes that is true...but so are a lot of other plays. I will tell you what isn't situational though...and that's the consistency with which you can pull off the Squad.
With 3 Naruto & 2 Hinata in the deck as well as 3 Substitute & 2 LAR... going first... 48% of the time you will get your opponent with it on turn 2. But it's all the turn 3 plays that cause the real damage, which bumps up the percentage. But hey! I didn't draw cards with Tobi yet! Or my draw missions like Sakura's Decision or Ninja Info Cards or even Messenger Ninja. All of those cards propel the percentages way up. I've gotten in a test sample of 50 hands (Riffle Shuffle 3 times, Pile Shuffle, Riffle Shuffle 3 times, Pile Shuffle, Riffle Shuffle)... 84% of the time I locked my opponent down with Naruto & Hinata on turn 3. Of that 84%, about a little more than half of those I was in such great field position that my opponent couldn't help to come back unless he had crazy good Jutsu. I didn't even keep track if I had Jutsu in my hand.
So either I'm the biggest sack in the world, or this card is really broken. I wouldn't complain this much if there were answers to the card...but you know what? Only 3 exist. One requires you to give up 3 Battle Rewards and a Ninja...while I still have Naruto OR Hinata... just drop a Ninja and substitute. Some counter. Captivity? You give up a Ninja & 2 Cards from your hand just to be able to play another Ninja. I might as well have just made you miss your drop since you essentially just played a Substitute instead of making an actual drop. Granted, the other Ninja can be something like Orochimaru and you can 10K me, but you still gave up something and I can still do it again next turn with a tutor or just holding the other Naruto or Hinata in my hand. *shrugs* Lastly, Crying in Vain. Everyone goes to this for the sideboard. The ruling is you still get hit with the effect. Fine. I lose a guy. You miss a drop still and I'm getting first dibs on dropping the bigger guy. Again, I still have the advantage. *shrugs*
Now, I'm not trying to be a jerk with this segment but I really don't understand how people don't see this as a problem... There's a hell of a lot more dangerous plays than the ones I listed above for the card and I know a lot of people know them to (such as Team Chicago, Team Shadow, etc.)... just they're all keeping it quiet so they can use it at the SJCs in WA, Georgia, PA, VA, and the rest.
Labels: bandai, random, The Good The Bad and the Ugly, tsu, Will of Fire
Haven't done a blurb in awhile. I'm currently sitting in school trying to type up an essay for my short stories class, but I figured I would take a break and post up some of my feelings toward some of the things going on in the narutoverse.
Now that Kakuzu (Courtesy of Naruto Shippuden live) and Hidan have been posted up there is a lot of talk on how they will fair in competitive play, and exactly how much they will be going for. I don't actually like Kakuzu, due to how slow he is, how conditional his burn is, and the minor benefit from using his effect on turn 7, though I'm sure he will end up seeing some play, or at worst end up like Obito did in BP.
Hidan I feel has a better chance of seeing play, simply because of his good stats and ability to force an action out of your opponent. Playing around with his curse mode leads me to believe that while it might not be the best deck in the format, it does go off and you do win when it happens, but it's still turn 7 and fragile. I still plan to keep tweaking with cursed mode, but I don't expect it to hit the top tables until post rotation.
Speaking about the current format, how about that Naruto/Hinata squad? There's alot of debate as to if it needs to be banned or not, and while most of you know my opinion, I though I would highlight the opposing arguments, simply to further prove how right I am. Here's a few of the responses as to why Naruto Hinata isn't broken and shouldn't be dealt with:
Naruto Hinata does give the player the upperhand but most players will(should) be smart enough to prepare for the worst and have some early game jutsu in their side decks to get rid of ninja's that can become potential squads.
Yeah, it isn't like NVS where we can side in like six cards and turn off their deck. It's one card, and by siding in card specifically to stop it, you are playing linear answers to one card, so that you can get steam rolled by their deck's actual threats. Not to mention the only answers to it are Shimon, Miroku, and Crying in Vain, one of which is rogued, and another is a turn too late, and the last is only available to water and pretty much just stops one card from happening.
ooooo scary naruto/hinata stops u from deploying for 1 freakin turn if u cant hold off for 1 turn well i guess ur deck needs fixed.
It's a freaking curve based game. Missing drops ALWAYS put's you behind the clock, and this one is done manually, while accelerating into a turn 2 4/3 7/3 ninja with 2 mental power.
Simply create a card that can remove a card in your reinforcement deck of your choosing actually I think there is a counter mission that allows you to draw 2 cards and remove a squad that is put in play from the game and plenty of cards that flat out stop squads from being summoned (shimon). Stop crying that you lose to 1 card and learn from it instead...easy.
Silver bullets are bad, and in every instance of their creation in this game they have either not worked (Control of the Nine-Tailed), or been ridiculous and ruined an aspect of the game (USF Ninjas, Miroku). There is a counter mission that blows up squads, but because it's a counter mission, you can't use it on Naruto/Hinata as it comes in on your opponents turn. Lastly, the only thing I've learned from Naruto/Hinata is that Bandai is even more ignorant when it comes to the impact of missing drops in a curve based game.
So for those of you who are on the fence and haven't really decided where you stand on the issue, all you need to do is look at the different arguments being presented, and it should become obvious to you. Just for the record though, I'm sure all of us would be happy with just an errata on Naruto/Hinata, though that's more retarded and less effective, but as it stands bandai has dug them selves into a hole with this card, and if we want the upcoming SJC season to not completely suck something needs to be done about Naruto/Hinata.
Last thing I wanted to talk about is that I will be transfering schools in the fall and It's quite a trip for me. I'll be going to UB (University at Buffalo) which happens to be 7 hours away from my home town. I haven't had a local store to play at in a long time, so if any one happens to know a store that isn't far I would gladly check it out. I actually don't know anyone going to the school or in the area, so I'm really going to be out on my own, which I think is for the best. I'm looking forward to moving, and hopefully I won't be too busy eating Buffalo wings to update this blog ;)
Until next time,
-Andrew
Labels: bandai, Blurbs, naruto ccg, Will of Fire, Zero
I know that there are several of you out there who are upset at Hidan (Cursed mode) being just a Hidan with slightly better stats, but a I've said on the boards, Hidan in cursed mode wasn't any more powerful in the show. In order to become a real threat, he needed to complete his ritual, and it's the same in the card game!
First we gotta draw a circle!
Ritual Circle might not be the best jutsu, but it does grab you the Mission card needed to complete Hidan's "Ritual". I Personally would Just play the new Naruto Starter deck card, as he can not only grab the Ritual mission card, but several other key Lightning missions, making him less linear than the jutsu. Never the less, Ritual circle will still probably make it into the local fun deck versions to keep the flavor of the Hidan deck.
Conditions met!
Yes, you read it right. Every Injured Ninja. Disaster of the 9 tailed fox wipes the board save for Hidan, Sasuke CH triggers a massive wipe, or at least auto kills 1 ninja, heck even New pervy ninjutsu wipes a team! I personally really like these cards and I can't wait to try out the Hidan deck for next format. I want to thank Tylar again for letting us Preview these cards, and for bringing us a cool combo deck that doesn't just lose to a poor board position. I hope you guys liked the previews, and be sure to comment bellow!
-Andrew
Labels: hidan, previews, Will of Fire, Zero
First, for all of those people who are complaining about Hidan burning 4 cards a deck per turn cycle, we have answer for you:
Giant Eagle is a wonderful client, especially in decks that utilize cards like "Hidan" and "The One Who Lives Within." Make no mistake, it's no Emina, but it is certain a powerful card that will allow you to filter your hand to make sure you get exactly what you need. Coupled with the new Client Rulings in Set 17, running him along side your trusty Prince Clients will be no problem. I expect him to be a 1 or 2 of in almost every deck that plays the Lightning Symbol. Genma making a comeback anyone?
Now class, before we begin discussing the final preview, I think it's time we stretch out those brains and do a little review session. To motivate where this is going, let's take a look back at "Design Space" on the Bandai CG Forums. Over the course of the article, I, with some assistance, fleshed out some ideas which I was hoping would flesh out the game, including things such as Dual Colored Jutsu, which while they're not as great as I would've liked them to be at the moment, we're clearly moving in the right direction.
For the longest time, I recall Tylar was a big advocate of the Reinforcement Deck doing more than just being "The Squad Deck," which was confirmed later on when talking with other play testers too. I know Tylar and I were on the same page here in our love for alternate states for key ninja in the series. As such, the following idea was developed:
After this article and the follow up "Going In(to) Depth" where posted, Tylar shot me a message telling me "Good Job." I never really knew why he praised me on those two articles in particular until the other day,
when Tylar gave me today's Preview. And contrary to what I posted, it is actually... NOT A SQUAD.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the "Transformation" topic is indeed a reality. It is with great pride that I'm proud to introduce to you all the Game's First "REINFORCEMENT" Type Card (At least going by the card number):
Tylar had been planning this idea all along, and the support from the article I assumed only added fuel to the fire. This is the first Ninja Transformation state that you will be able to play in your Reinforcement Decks (Hence the Squad Type Slow Spoil). Now, let's look a look at what he does shall, we?
With all the same characteristics as the normal Hidan, you're not "sacrificing" anything by putting him into play. In fact, you're getting an upgrade of 7/3, 7/0 stats rather than 6/2, 6/0. However, unlike his regular counter part, Curse Mode does not discard cards off the top of the deck every turn, rather opting to discard when he takes damage. Combo this with the Giant Eagle card above and Hidan is a draw/filter engine almost by himself. Keep in mind the fact that he still can't die. Oh and did I mention it has Name: Hidan? That means you theoretically should be able to "Squad" him into himself again to get back to Healthy stats.
If he ever gets removed from play, since normal Hidan returns to your hand when removed from play, you should easily be able to put him into play again. And again.
But going back to the "Squadding", how do you put him into play? Tylar said already that you can't straight up "Squad" or rather "Reinforce" this guy into play like you would a normal "Squad." You need to meet a special requirement for this card to come into play. So the question now is... how does he come into play? And what is the point of Three Bladed Scythe's second effect?
Perhaps we'll find out later this week?
I want to again thank Tylar immensely for these previews and giving me the wonderful honor of being the first to show you all the "Reinforcement" Card Type. (Designated by it's "Red" Squad border, rather than the Purple I showed you yesterday. It's like a Squad...but it's not :P)
Labels: hidan, previews, tsu, Tylar, Will of Fire
Now I'm still slightly confused why all the bad rap on this card? It's a monster in draft and even in Constructed post GenCon rotation, it is hardly a bad card. A Snipe Injure for 2 Fire without having any real requirements to speak of is pretty nice if you ask me. You get the Bonus Effect of giving yourself a damage if Hidan was the user. Sounds strange? Well Hidan can't die by damage, so why worry anyway?
While Andrew may have spoiled some surprises (and my fun) for you all, I think I'll have to find some other way to amuse myself. How about I slow spoil one of our many preview cards to come?
And yes, that is indeed a Squad Border.
What could it be?
I'll unveil the preview card tomorrow night, immediately after the airing of "Naruto Shippuden Live"
Until then!
~Ja ne
Labels: previews, tsu, Tylar, Will of Fire
So, last week in an interview with Tylar, one of the game's designers, we revealed the effect text of the first ever Hidan card, as well as one of his jutsus. As a follow up, we thought we would discuss our opinions of each of the cards, as well as include the pictures Tylar sent to us, so that those of you dying to see the card image could finally stop messaging us begging for pics. So here's the man you've all been waiting for:
Before I go into the card itself, yes we actually water marked the card to prevent the usual image leeching. Anyway, first off I wish it had a lightning background, as it looks really meh with the fire background in my opinion. Secondly, I really like the care that went into the card. As a player who also follows the series religiously (Get it?), having an effect that truly follows the story line, while also being really solid is a big deal. As a veteran of the game, it also makes me happy working with brand new card effects, such as Hidan's inability to die by damage, to see how I can "Break" them. I've already found some cool combos, and I'm sure some of you have as well.
All in all I think Hidan is a really solid card. On his own he isn't amazing, but with the help of some other cards he might turn out to be a pretty big contender in the upcoming format. Check back later this week for more Hidan previews, including the much talked about Cursed mode Hidan! Also a big thanks to Tylar for providing us with these previews!
-Andrew 
Labels: hidan, previews, Tylar, Will of Fire, Zero
First off, I'm glad many of you guys enjoyed our first set of previews in Hidan & one of his Jutsu. Please check back later on for those uploaded images as well as interviews with the rest of the play tester staff for Set 17 Will of Fire. We hope to provide you all with more previews next week. I have heard we receiving at least 3 previews... one of which is supposed to be very good from what I hear. I'll be just as excited as you all to find out what they are. Again, check back constantly for updates.
A new addition to the website, the stat calculator, can now be found at the bottom of the website. Previously we had no way to figure out how many of you guys were actually reading the site outside of asking you all to post comments or follow our site. This counter will now accurately reflect the number of UNIQUE VISITORS. So no, F5ing the page will not increase the counter to absurd heights. We're trying to get an accurate gauge on what content people like so we can provide you with more of it.
A big thank you to Scubadude and his crew for plugging us last night on the new Naruto CCG Podcast "Naruto Shippuden Live!" Although it was a shame that Andy didn't show up for your program last night, we still tuned in for it and thank you again for your plug on the air. More support is always a plus as there are still a lot of readers on Bandai who do not know about us so tell your friends and local play groups to check us out if they haven't done so already.
A number of people have been messaging me for my Chunin Deck List since it was withheld in previous article. Sadly, I'm still not going to post it. That's just the way things go when you're a competitive player in the CCG world. The game doesn't have enough depth yet for me to feel comfortable giving out key cards.
Due to Tylar being at Gama this week, as well as me being quite behind due to a lot of work, this week's "Teach Me Professor Tsu Kiyo Me!" will be delayed. Expect to see it late Friday night or early Saturday morning. This will be the last in the series of "Where I've Been/What I've Learned" articles that will cover from GenCon 2009 Day 4 up until this past week's Chunin Victory as well as how I landed the Bandai writer position, the inspiration for the formation of this blog, and a few odds and ends. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, as voiced by one of Bandai's Moderators, but I'm glad that even the "haters" so to speak love my writing style. Next Month's Article series will be entitled "The Elite Four." I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out what that series will be about.
Also, we are now one month away from the release of Capcom's "Super Street Fighter 4." For those of you readers who play the game on the X-Box 360, myself as well as Bandai Poster "Saitsuofleaves" will be hosting a midnight release game session for the game. So for those of you who are getting the game and would like to talk Naruto CCG with me and Saitsu as well as have a little bit of fun, get online on April 27th @ 12:30 AM EST(30 minutes after the game's launch).
That's all for now people. Back to work ; ;
Labels: articles, bandai, previews, tsu, Will of Fire
Question 1: Who are you, and what do you do at Bandai?
Tylar: I go by Hungry_Ninja on the forums, which I plan on changing soon I just don't know to what, and my real name is Tylar. I do: Q&A, lead Q&A at this point, I design, test, uhh edit for errors. Pretty much everything. I'm in charge of article writing, I keep the article writers in check, which Pat can attest to. umm I don't think there's a single thing I haven't done. I've even compared marketing numbers before.
Question 2: Ice breaker! If you could have one Super power, what would it be and why?
Tylar: The power to grant myself any power I want? Nah, but seriously seeing the future seems like the best thing ever. You'd be the ultimate at everything. "I'm going to put a thousand dollars down on double zero" "Why?" "Because it's going to be double zero." Then again, you'd probably go to jail because they would think you were cheating. Maybe I'll have to rethink that, or just do sports bets. But yeah seeing the future seems good.
Question 3: How exactly does the design process work?
Tylar: We are still in the experimental stages, but I can tell you what we did for set 17. We actually met in the room I'm sitting in now. There were six of us and we were told to start from scratch and come up with basic effects. Then James Takenaka came in and gave us two to three marketing goals for the set, and said "Every card must reflect these goals". Next we took the five elements and made kind of a pie chart out of them, and we divvied up the special niches between each element and then tryed to make those diametrically opposed, much like people would know from Magic: the Gathering. No offense to anyone who dislikes Magic, but a game going on for that long means it has to be doing something right.
Anyway, after that we took out a bunch of scrap paper and we calculated the total number of ninjas we need to on average get a good curve in draft. We then split them up so that each element has an equal number of zeros, each element has the same number of ones, twos, threes, and so on. After this we started giving the cards names and effects. Effects are really a kind of down the road thing, thats the thing that takes the most time. I distinctly remember the very first day working on this was fifteen hours long, because James was going to be like "Hey guys, it's been eight hours, it's time to go", but were were on such a huge roll that he didn't want to stop us. Each day after that we would come in and work on the effect text, wether we wanted to scrap them and start over, or wether we wanted to keep them because they were basic enough.
In the end we came down to a few problem cards that we wanted to balance the story line with the actual game, though I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about. Hidan was a big problem, as I think he started out with five valid effects. We eventually broke him down to to the point where both sides of the group were happy, cause Brian and I are big on the story line, and Andy and Alex are big on the game play. In the end I'm pretty satisfied with set 17, we put a lot of work into it.
Question 4: What specific types of effects do you prefer to put on cards when designing?
Tylar: I don't really think of cards as a single entity. I don't stare at a card and say "Hey this card is good". When designing I tend to think "if I was making a deck, what would I need to make this type of deck playable?" and then I go from there and have cards bounce off from each other in one way or another so that it still feels like you are playing Naruto, but the way that you are playing it is more in tune to the character or the mechanic you are attempting to play with. It's more fun that way and it adds variety to the game if you ask me.
Question 5: So about that Hidan guy. Since you had full design over him, what can you tell us about him?
Tylar: Well, he originally started as a smattering of valid effects, you know there were a few things from the story line side and a few things from the game play side. From the game play side we wanted him to be playable in the current format um, in this right he couldn't be a stand alone stupidly good card. I'm okay with his regular version being a good stand alone card, but the curse mode had to be separated or something he transformed into. There were lots of card ideas and new mechanics floating around for cursed mode Hidan.
For story line purposes, Hidan had to be an idiot, he had to lose to shikamaru, and we reflected it no problem. The other thing we wanted to show, which was the biggest hurdle is him never dying. Without being over powered, that's a really hard thing to touch on, especially in a game with so much removal. It was really hard to get this card to really show the story without it being busted. I had some trouble when I first started working on him, and eventually had to give somewhat of a presentation of the card to try and prove my point about him. But eventually we came to a nice middle ground with the cards, including the weakness of Hidan and how he never dies.
Question 6: What decks do you think will do well with the introduction of set 17?
Tylar: Set 17 was shortly done, as we only had something like three weeks to build this set from scratch. it was very difficult when adding in getting license approval, asking Bandai japan for approval, and the artist working on the cards. We had something like three PDFs going back and forth in a mater of a week, which was impressive. For what little time we had though, I think this is a really well made set.
For what it will do to the meta, I know the Hidan deck might show up as it has a wickedly good combo to it, I don't really think any other new deck types were developed aside from Hidan and Kakuzu cause they were central to the set. Still, other decks will get stuff cause Shikamaru is going to beat Hidan he's going to need some mental power stuff, so that will be there too. I'm not really sure with the meta, as my head has been buried in the sand in set 18 as of late, but I expect a lot of these cards to make a splash. There shouldn't be anything completely busted, as we are trying to slow the game down, but yeah I expect to see some intresting developments with set 17.
Question 7: For future sets, what do you plan to work on in particular?
Tylar: For set 18 we started off three months ahead of time, sat down at the table and asked who wants what element, what characters do we want to make, and where do we really want to go. And I'm not thinking set by set I'm thinking block by block. were going to need a pain deck soon, as he is close at hand in the story line. Pain goes hand in hand with sage mode, and toads. As for elements, I ended up getting stuck with an element I didn't like at first. It wasn't exactly my flavor but I turned it into my kind of flavor. Everyone has been working on specific deck ideas, and since we are trying to think block by block we can actually plan out cards ahead of time so that by the end of the block, the deck is fully complete. It makes sense. I kind of ignored your original question, didn't I?
Andrew: Kind of. What element were you stuck with?
Tylar: Lightning. Keep in mind though, it's lightning as a first element. Things having two elements is still not out of the question. I will say that right now, there are three different deck types I'm working on for this next block (sets 18-21).
Question 8: In the current format, what card do you feel is the most problematic, and why?
Tylar: Tobi. He is playable in everything which is one of the things I'm deeply against. I'm for cards being playable in everything but they shouldn't be that good in everything or the best in everything. There should have been some kind of cost associated with it to try and slim it down. In the end that card should have never been printed. I have a small fear the new Might guy might turn out to be the same thing, but I don't think so.
Question 9: The tournament pack. What exactly went into it?
Tylar: We started with a huge list of characters and we thought: 1. What do we need for our set 17 archetypes? 2. What do we need for our set 18 archetypes? And 3. what would look really cool as a chibi?
Pat: Lots of Sakura Haruno?
Andrew: Ino Megamilk in Chibi? Both her head and her breasts would be huge!
Tylar: *Laughs* There are some really awkward picks in this pack, but number one priority was for draft ability so any effects that would affect making drafting easier, we would definitely put in the pack. Market and designing always seem to be at ends, last week we had a couple of cards James said we couldn't have the set so we had to cut them. Luckily we just got it finished up before this. So I feel pretty happy about this too.
Question 10: That cool Sakura Chick who is clearly three cards in one. How did that come about?
Tylar: Let's put hokage rocks on a body. It's still kind of bad, what do we do? Futaba is rotating out and the Chicago players love Futaba, lets put it on her. It's getting there, but how does it work in medical? Well, it needs to heal. Bam, Done. We put all three decent effects together and thats what came out. Why fire? I think it should have been Wind/Earth to fit in Kunoichi butas Fire it fit with the other "Reliance" Ninja cards. Story wise Sakura's personality and Inner sakura are always angry and have angry flames.
Question 11: What are your plans for the Taijutsu archtype?
I will tell you that that has been one of the decks on my mind for awhile. It's been away from the spot light too long, in fact it never had it to begin with. It's one of those decks that exemplified lightning in what it does and I really think they deserve a pump up. The question is what does Taijutsu do? "I get big and kick your ass". Thats the obvious answer anyway, but to exemplify that answer in teh card game I have a few Ideas but nothing is concrete just yet.
Question 12: Platoons with Hand costs... Why?
Tylar: It's dependent on what effect is on it. We start without a hand cost, and look at the effect and if the consensus is that the card is too good and splashable, then we add a hand cost or some kind of restriction. This is why Tenzo requires two earth chakra instead of one for his effect. If it has a hand cost, the hand cost has a place... Well now anyway.
Question 13: Sasori and Zabuza are rotating out, plans to reprint them?
Tylar: We watch ninja that are cycling out and in. We are already aware of the things that are leaving, and with Sasori and the puppets leaving it isn't beyond us to revisit puppets. Just next time without Lifeless Warrior and without that Kankuro guy.
Question 14: Is Sasuke BTL being reprinted?
No. We were sitting at the table when it was brought up. Three of us said instantly said "Not Sasuke BTL" A couple of people looked up at us. We stared them down. Then they were like "Okay, were not." The only way Sasuke BTL comes back is if the Chidoris in format were really balanced, like lightning blade from set 1, and you couldn't recur it.
Andrew: I like lightning blade from set 1...
Question 15: Have you tried out EDH?
No, haven't had enough time to try it.
Previews:
Three Bladed Scythe
Cost: Fire Fire
Requirement: Printed Entrance cost of 3 or more
Target: 1 Ninja
Effect: Injure the Target. Then, if the User is Hidan, you may give 1 damage to the user.
Tylar: This card Originally started off as a blanket one damage. Pay this give one damage. We thought it was too bland, too stupid, and didn't fit really well with Hidan. It's based on when Hidan swings his scythe at Asuma, and Asuma ducks and it hits Hidan. It's generically okay, when you play it in a deck it's meant to be played in it's good.
Hidan
Fire/Lightning
T5 HC:1
Characteristics: Akatsuki l Rogue Ninja l Male l Jonin l Mental Power: -1
[Immortal]
Valid: This Ninja cannot be removed from play due to damage.
Valid: When this Ninja is removed from play, return it to the owners hand instead.
Valid: Discard the top two cards of your deck at the start of your turn.
Stats: 6/2 Healthy, 6/0 Injured
Combat attribute: Curse/Weapon
Super rare
Tylar: Hidan started with four or five valid effects and was boiled down to three effects on this card, and two effects on the cursed mode card. I gave Hidan the milling effect because I was out hanging with a friend who was eating a burrito. After awhile my friend said "This burrito is to big, I can't finish it" and then it clicked. Even though he wont die, he will eventually run out of steam.
Hope you guys enjoyed the interview, as well as the previews (Pics will be up later in the week when we get them). Thanks again Tylar for letting us Interview you!
-Andrew 
Labels: hidan, Interview, previews, Tylar, Will of Fire, Zero
Run By:
Patrick O'Neill
(Tsu Kiyo Me)
Andrew Kardis
(Zero)
Joshua Lu
(JDragon)
Staff Writer(s):
Nick Botchis
(Shino'sDad)
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