Posts Tagged ‘deck building’

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A Crusher Tag Team: Shikamaru Nara (N-238) and the Second Hokage (N-613)

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on January 14th, 2011 by

The Second Hokage (N-613) isn’t exactly an inexpensive acquisition, but it can be paired effectively with Shikamaru Nara (N-238). I’ve briefly touched on Shikamaru and the Second Hokage having had some strong showings before. However, there are several strong units that players can form together with these two cards.

This tag team is really quite strong, though it may at least initially appear that a lot of the strength rests on the back of the Leaf Village hero. The Second Hokage had sought peace at whatever costs necessary, and the stats of the card clearly show this. The 3/3, 6/4 water attributed Hokage is pretty strong on numbers alone. Two water Chakra can be discarded and a jutsu may be removed from the game when the Matchless Hero aspect becomes valid.

It may be funny to think that Shikamaru might be leading around one of the greatest Leaf Ninja to ever live, but his card can do just that. Shikamaru is rated much more humbly than the Second Hokage, at 0/1, 1/3. However, he has the ability to organize teams of ninja. Whether by melding him and the Second Hokage together, or by forming a team to back up this ninja, the force on the field can be quite unstoppable by any enemy shinobi.

For instance, get together four Genin and place them in a team with Shikamaru at the head. Then, even with the Second Hokage standing alone, there will be plenty of material with which to defend him. After all, a player wouldn’t want an expensive card like that to be easily removed or simply wasted. While there are, of course, other ways to develop a defensive perimeter around a card that needs to be protected, the N-238 version of Shikamaru Nara is particularly useful for this purpose.

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Kakashi Hatake (N-966) and Kakashi’s Test (M-712): An Outlet for Those Jutsu!

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on December 21st, 2010 by

I’ve covered a pair of combos involving Kakashi Hatake (N-966), but so far they’ve both been jutsu. The Mangekyo Sharingan (J-750) and Lightning Blade (J-749) cards are both powerful, but they are both able to be effectively coupled with a mission card. One such mission card, which really needs a jutsu to be pared with, is Kakashi’s Test (M-712).

While Kakashi-sensei may have been routed rather easily in this scene in the anime (he was defeated by being confused with a copy of a book from his favorite Make Out series), this mission is sure to put you in better condition to gain ground on an opponent. Kakashi himself will, as I’ve said before, place a -1/-1 ninja blade coin on a target once a jutsu of his has been deployed. I’ve suggested Mangekyo Sharingan as particularly useful, and Lightning Blade as a less expensive jutsu for those who can’t acquire that version of the Sharingan eye. Both are strong combos, however, that can be made stronger with an extra addition.

Either of these pairs well with Kakashi’s Test. When a jutsu is played, this mission allows the player to draw a card and discard a card. Perhaps i should say forces instead of allows, depending on how you want to look at the situation. This can help to go through a deck quickly for players that have a great number of ninja specific jutsu. Likewise, people who play a machine of different jutsu and need to speed through their deck will find it very useful.

The effect is permanent, and will therefore really mess with your opponent’s head, depending on their style of play. It is particularly devastating whenever paired with one of the abovementioned jutsu. After all, you do need a jutsu to come down in order for Kakashi to gain his Dangerous Opponent specialty as well as deploy the Kakashi’s Test mission.

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Kakashi Hatake (N-966) and Lightning Blade (J-749): Unleash an Exclusive Jutsu

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on December 20th, 2010 by

The Path of Pain series contains some pretty interesting combos; Kakashi Hatake (N-966) and Lightning Blade (J-749) are one of several that feature Kakashi-sensei in a prominent role. The anime and manga depict him as a relatively unstoppable force, at least unless his mind is occupied with one of Jiraiya’s books. In this version of his card, he has pretty decent stats and a strong effect even before any combination jutsu is applied to his offense.

Kakashi-sensei features a 3/1 5/3 stat set that can make him very useful for growth players. This probably makes sense when you consider the number of times that we’ve seen him build up before completing releasing his power. Moreover, I’ve seen some decks that really could have used a Jonin rank ninja and didn’t have any. Rank limited jutsu and mission cards are actually more common than some people realize, and can lead to some very embarrassing mistakes. His Dangerous Opponent effect places a -1/-1 ninja blade coin on a ninja battling against him when he uses a jutsu.

One of the better Jutsu to use with him is Lightning Blade, which is Kakashi Hatake-specific. This card causes the target ninja to receive a shocking (no pun intended) -10/+0 modifier. When you consider the fact that the actual Kakashi card is lending a -1/-1 modifier to the target, it becomes all the more apparent just what a ‘Dangerous Opponent’ Kakashi really is.

Many lower level shinobi can be taken out by this kind of attack, and it can certainly hold off some stronger ones. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt that it would be quite effective against some of my beloved animal ninja. In the future, I should probably start watching how I play my summoning jutsu!

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Stand Behind a Fortress of Earth: Detonating Clay: C2 Dragon (J-744) and Detonating Clay: Mines (J-745)

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on December 19th, 2010 by

Detonating Clay: C2 Dragon (J-744) and Detonating Clay: Mines (J-745) are two sequential jutsu cards that can work together very well in an Earth mono deck. In my last post, I mentioned that the Naruto Series 19 Path of Pain releases feature a number of cards that really look like they can fit well together. These two cards are excellent for these sorts of players, and can be deployed in quick succession to strengthen a position.

I’ve always found that Earth had some very good strategies for defensive players. Detonating Clay: Mines fits well into this kind of an ideology. When played, the user gets +5/+0 and if a higher cost of the jutsu was paid, then the player draws 2 cards. In this condition, your opponent’s moves cannot affect this jutsu. This maneuver sets up a great defensive position that really typifies just what it is that comes to my mind when I think about Earth ninja.

Then Detonating Clay: C2 Dragon can further be used to build up this fine Earth defense. One ninja that is battling against the user of this card goes into stand-by. If the opposition has three or more face-up Battle Rewards, the ninja goes to the top of their deck. Afterwards, three of your opponent’s Battle Rewards get turned down. This is particularly devastating if you have an opponent who uses a number of attacks that are based on Battle Rewards.

Sure, it’s nice to shred through your opponents with ease. However, too much offense can sometimes leave you unguarded. That’s why this kind of strategy can work for even the most bloodthirsty of players if it’s adequately deployed. It might also be effective if combined with another idea, such as the Earth/Water combined offense that I tried describing in my last post.

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Another Mate for Pledge Under a Setting Sun (M-716): Detonating Clay: C1 Snake (J-743)

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on November 29th, 2010 by

Previously I mentioned that Pledge Under a Setting Sun (M-716) and Detonating Clay: C3 Ohako (J-746) make a sort of useful succession combo; however Detonating Clay: C1 Snake (J-743) can also take its place in this grouping. Like Detonating Clay: C3 Ohako, Snake is an Earth jutsu. However, by using it, you’ll probably come out with a more defensive stance. As I said in the Detonating Clay Mines and C2 Dragon article, Earth attributed decks often form a good basis for defensive maneuvers. While some players might feel that defense is unnecessary, and prefer to play from an offensive-only, this is often foolish. If you have no cards left to mount an offense because you had no way of protecting them, then you’ll quickly loose.

The Pledge Under a Setting Sun mission card will mess with an opponent’s chakra balance, and prevent them from mounting an effective offense if they play very chakra heavy attacks. Moreover, when properly paired with a water ninja this card brings back some discards of yours into the chakra area. This can be a great way to stall for time and build up a better position at the same time. Of course, the more copies of the card you have, the better. Deck building models built around this concept will surely stress that fact.

While Pledge Under a Setting Sun stalls you time, Detonating Clay: C1 Snake will hold off any further offensive material that your opponent might try to mount at you. It targets an opposing jutsu in play and negates it, moving that card to the bottom of the owner’s deck. This can remove a particularly tenacious jutsu card from play, which is especially useful if you’re unable to defeat something any other way. Perhaps this is best thought of as a sort of defensive screen from which to act behind.

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Wind Style: Air Bullets (J-168) and Shukaku (N-177): A Complicated Combo to Say the Least!

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on November 14th, 2010 by

The Naruto Eternal Rivalry series Wind Style: Air Bullets (J-168) certainly isn’t an inexpensive card. However, it can form a very useful combo for some deck builders with the even more expensive Shukaku (N-177), when it can be put into play. The deployment of either of these cards is a part of an onerous combo in their own right, and might take a bit of explanation to understand. To be totally honest, the shinobi that get developed in the process might actually end up being more useful to you than the end result.

To play Shukaku, one needs to have another Eternal Rivalry card in play: Gaara of the Desert (Possessed Mode) (N-179).  By using Sand Cocoon (J-138) to deploy this form of Gaara, one can finally deploy Shukaku. It’s a good card, though the entrance cost of eight can be a bit steep. Once again though, I have a bit of a bias towards inhuman ninja cards.

With Shukaku in play, Air Bullets can finally be deployed. It does two damage to the target. While that might not seem like a lot, the fact that cards like the Possessed Mode form of Gaara have been put into play could actually make up for it. In fact, it might be useful to think of Air Bullets simply as an attack for an already in play Shukaku, instead of the end all for the combo. The combo, depending on strategy, might focus more on the deployment of those other cards.

That being said, anyone who would actually want to do the prerequisite deck building to develop this Wind attribute combo would have to put down a lot of money or trading material. None of these cards are considered to be inexpensive by any means, and most people won’t give them up cheaply.

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Dreadful Scars (M-060), The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit (Disaster) (N-650) and After the Battle (M-021): A Deadly Combo…For Both Sides!

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on October 21st, 2010 by

Dreadful Scars (M-060), The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit (Disaster) (N-650) and After the Battle (M-021) used to be a relatively common combo in the Naruto collectible card game. There are several interesting aspects in regards the combo, not the least of which is the humorous artwork of After the Battle as opposed to the rather creepy fare on the other two.

Dreadful Scars deploys all Ninja in injured status. A player better know what they are doing before proceeding with this combo. After all, that right there should serve as a strong warning. Rank beginners usually shouldn’t mess with this sort of a plan.

Once Dreadful Scars has done its job, The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit comes in and works his magic. This card is rather unique in the way that it handles the concept of ‘Evil Chakra.’ The Chakra coins placed on this card can only be removed by the passage of turns; other methods have no effects. This probably represents Naruto Uzumaki’s inability to control the Nine-Tailed Fox demon’s throughout much of the storyline.

This combo in and of itself should have been quite destructive. In fact, taking these actions probably did quite a bit of damage to your own forces. The damage from Dreadful Scars alone should be a major problem, let alone anything that your opponent did manage to pull off. Therefore, After the Battle is employed to heal all of your injured Ninja cards.

For that matter, Dreadful Scars and After the Battle could be used as a combo on their own. Of course, there are so many possibilities to quickly kill off your own shinobi that again caution is warned. Some players have also proposed using one of these combinations with a set of chaff cards. Lay out a few ninja that can take a lot of damage, and use them as a shield while the other cards are in play.

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Naruto Rule Changes came with Series 17: Will of Fire

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on October 11th, 2010 by

As I’ve been covering for some time now, Bandai continues to introduce new cards to the market. These premieres have been shaking things up as always, but I sometimes wonder if some players don’t take well to the changes. That’s why I wanted to bring up the rule changes that were made official with the introduction of Series 17. I was certainly in favor of the rules, but I’m curious as to how many resisted the change over.

First of all, Bandai allowed any combination of Ninja, Jutsu, Client or Mission cards that a player wished for. This really lends itself well to several interesting types of deck building. For instance, the post that Bandai described the changes in used the example of a deck with 50 Ninja cards in it. Of course, this seems absurd, but that would be interesting to play with.

Actually, there might be some merit to that. I’ve never given it a try, so I really can’t say, but there are surely countless varieties of decks that simply haven’t been explored yet. That thought brings us to the second rule change. This allows players to have as many Clients in play as the wish, provided that the uniqueness rules for Ninja and Client cards are observed.

This rule change is quite sweeping, but I feel a lot of players will probably find it liberating. If anything, it certainly makes the game more exciting. When you consider the fact that players can have a deck with more than 30 Ninja cards in it while they can throw out countless clients at the same time, you’ll probably realize that there are a few aspects of your deck that need to be ironed out. Or, better yet, you can play with a new strategy that the old rules forbade!

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Naruto “Untouchable” Collectors Tins

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO, News posted on September 25th, 2010 by

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the Naruto CCG Untouchable collectible tins. They’ll hit shelves by October 29th, and the tins are sure to please on several levels. As well as booster packs, each tin will include one of three tin exclusive cars. The exclusives that are offered with most Naruto sets have actually been pretty good, so the excitement seems to be warranted.

However, what’s more exciting perhaps is the set of tin exclusive pack of reprint cards. Of course, many fans are hoping that specific cards that they have been waiting to acquire will be reprinted as part of this collection. How this will influence the trading world remains to be seen, but it really shouldn’t upset things as many collectors will still want to acquire an original more than a reprint.

The card that was being used as a preview for the collection is Naruto Uzumaki (N-224). Unlike some hardcore collectors, regular players of the game will enjoy re-releases of cards they haven’t had a change to add to their decks. The 0/0 3/0 stats of the main character on N-224 harken back to a much earlier age, where not every Shinobi had the power level of a monster.

Moreover, the story line inherent in the card’s instructions has an old time flare. The fact that the Uzumaki card mentions the rivalry between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto himself is a throw back. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the reprints is the fact that they’re being released as more players turn towards the Naruto Shippuden cards.

Since these cards represent the next development of the game as a whole, the tins might be Bandai’s way of saying that they aren’t abandoning the original run. For countless tournament players, this is just about the best news they could hear.

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The How and Why of Growth in Naruto

Huzzah! An article about NARUTO posted on September 21st, 2010 by

Growth is an important concept in the Naruto trading card game, but many people don’t completely grasp what it’s for. At least some of this misunderstanding stems from the fact that there was a time when there were no growth cards. Before the “Curse of the Sand” series, there were simply no growth provisions. You played a ninja, and hoped that the character would be sufficient to see the day through.

If a ninja has a growth attribute, the word clearly appears after the Village, Class and Gender of the character. When a ninja is played in the Chakra area that has a growth ability, the player places a token on the card. The token, a so-called “Growth Coin”, indicates that an additional level of support and attack statistics is added to the individual.

There are numerous Genin and other higher-level ninja who have been released after the “Curse of the Sand” series who have a growth attribute. Many of these have several different forms, and can work for you on two levels. There are multiple ways to encourage deck building around various forms of the same ninja to expedite growth.

Moreover, growth attributes are available on many of the most popular characters. Many characters like Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga, though, are more likely to see these releases. One should be careful when working with strategies that revolve around Growth. After all, when a card is moved to the Chakra area with a growth coin, it carries with it any other modifiers.

That means that if the character is poisoned, then it carries this aspect over. There are a few other caveats as well. When an injured ninja is replaced with a growth ninja, the injured status marker isn’t removed. Likewise, you cannot grow a ninja that is already in growth mode.

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