December 22, 2012
Fire has been a dominant force for
several sets now, gaining a snowball effect of better cards each set
to help fill out it's vast repertoire of strengths. To highlight
that point a bit better, I have written up a brief history and
summary of the best cards that Fire has gotten over the past Block.
Set 22 Weapons of War gave Fire a
powerful removal Jutsu in the form of Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu,
which has seen play almost always as a 3 of in any Deck that includes
Fire in it. Set 23 Invasion gave us overtly powerful draw in the
form of The Warhawk, as well as a solid tutor Mission with Patriarch,
and one of the staple Turn 0 Ninjas of any deck that includes Fire,
Kisuke Maboroshi [Death]. Tournament Pack 4 offered a early game
rush Jutsu, Subdue, as well as reprinting Obito Uchiha [Hidden Strength], who's Jutsu negating effect means that you will always be
controlling how Jutsu resolve in the mid-game. Set 24 Sage's Legacy
only pumped Fire's early game even more with the introduction of
Sasuke Uchiha [Solo Attitude], who brought many a cheer and jeer from
many players. Pakkun [Sense of Smell] gave us back the Mission
negation aspect of Fire that many players had come to expect, and
Hidan (Curse Mode) [Linked Fate] gave Fire (as well as Lightning) a
late game win condition. Set 25 Kage Summit closed up the current
Block by giving Fire access to a few powerful late game Ninja with
three of the Five Kages possessing Fire as one of their Elements.
Additionally, a proper Mission negation was printed with New Orders,
and those who remember Biscuit will see some resemblance In Hidan [Immortal Soul] (Who, when combined with Hidan (Curse Mode), was
powerful enough that a rules change on how Reinforcement cards worked
has to be made).
As for the current New Block that began
with Set 26 Avenger's Wrath, Fire as begun the preemptive rebuilding
process for when Set 22 through 25 rotate come next fall. We still
have nearly a year to go, so there isn't too much to worry about
right now. Set 26 introduced a list of new keywords to the game,
with each element initially receiving one of them. In Fire's case,
that keyword was Inherit, which allowed you to transfer the effect of
the Ninja with that keyword to another Ninja you control when the
Inherit Ninja is discarded.
In Set 27, Fire borrowed Water's
keyword of Desperation this time around. An interesting thing to
note is that this shift was perhaps hinted back in Set 26, with the
cards Sasuke Uchiha [Desperate Avenger], as well as Susano'o (Sasuke) [Spirit of Vengeance] being dual element to Fire and Water.
Desperation itself being the effect that, if your opponent has five
or more Battle Rewards, those Ninjas with Desperation may use their
Activated Effects up to twice per turn, rather than the usual once
per turn. The actual cards that received Desperation are not
entirely anything too worthy of note, though. Mr. Ostrich [Untamable] was so close to being a solid 0 drop, were it not for his
initial low stats of 2/0 0/0. Had he been a 3/0 0/0, I would
actually very well probably play him, as he is a solid 4 Combat in
the early game, and a possible 5/0 later on. Sasuke Uchiha [Genius'Privilege] is a Desperation card that does more good for your
opponent than is does good for you. Though, if you happen to have
five Battle Rewards, you can attach a Konoha's Strongest Genin to him
and get two uses of the Mission's effect before Sasuke is discarded.
Obito Uchiha [Time of Action] is a solid card, but not because he has
Desperation. The only actual way to even get double the use out of
his effect is either double activating him on the chain, the first
time to get your opponent to respond, and the second time to still
get to apply his effect, or using Karin [Absorption] in between the
activations so that he will be Healthy again by the time his first
activation is ready to resolve (The chain would be Obito 1, Karin,
Obito 2, and would resolve as Obito 2 – injure and injure a Ninja,
Karin – Heal Obito, and Obito 1 – injure again and injure a
Ninja, then Obito would return to your hand). The last Fire Ninja
with Desperation is Masked Man, whom is a tough call anyways, as his
effect is initially already expensive, and by Turn 6, you probably
already have almost all of your Tailed Beasts in play, so using it
twice would be a very rare occasion.
Interestingly enough, none of those
prior mentioned cards made my Top Five list, which took some time to
construct, seeing as there are a few cards that almost made the cut,
but fell just short. Because of that, I have an Honorable Mention
for Fire, because there were so many solid cards this set.
Honorable Mention: Backstab
In a similar vein to Subdue, Backstab
is a Fire Jutsu that only costs 1 Fire, and has the potential to
decimate a Team on its own. At it's worst, the card is a single cost
injure effect, which can snowball an already Victory into a kill on
the Head Ninja, or possibly trigger an Outstanding Victory, wiping
the opposing Team out. This is not only great for early game rush,
but is mostly only viable at that point as well. Later in the game,
your opponent is likely going to have access to removal Jutsu or
negation Jutsu, which trumps your injure or single damage Jutsu.
Number Five: Jonin's Intervention
The card made the Top Five list because
it is a potentially powerful card that can give you an almost game
winning advantage as early as Turn 1. The reason it isn't higher up
on the list is due to its inherent inconsistency. Yes, you can tool
your Deck to make this card more consistent, but in that case, you're
dedicating slots to what can easily become an all or nothing combo.
If you don't happen to hit Jonin's Intervention, you need to still be
able to play the game normally, or you will end up losing. It is
important to note that while this card has 'Target: 1 Jonin Ninja in
your hand', you cannot actually target a card in your hand, as it is
a private zone, and there is no precedent for what it would entail.
Expect this card to receive either a clarification as to whether you
must reveal the card you target and keep it revealed until the effect
resolves, or much more likely, the target line will be removed and
the effect text revised.
Obvious choices for this effect are going
to be powerful Jonin Ninja that have an immediate effect on the
board. The new Kakashi Hatake [Well Versed] is going to be a nearly
unblockable 6/3 while he is still in play, not to mention that he
will pass his effect to one of your other Ninja from Inherit when
Jonin's Intervention expires. Baki [Cleaning Up] is weaker stat
wise, but can cause a major shift in tempo, as your opponent will
have to sacrifice Ninjas for the next two turns due to Baki's effect.
Asuma Sarutobi [Knockout Punch] enters play and discards a Non-Leaf
Ninja with an Entrance cost of 2 or less, which can be a crippling
effect if cheated into play as early as Turn 1. A very tempting
choice is also Kabuto Yakushi [Intellectual Pursuit], as any Ninja
that he happens to bring into play from the Discard Pile not only
ignores Entrance Cost and Hand cost themselves, but also stays in
play. Imagine having a Ninja like The 3rd Hokage [Fire Shadow] in your Discard Pile and using Jonin's Intervention to bring
out Kabuto. You can sacrifice your wimpy Turn 0 Ninja for a Powerful
Kage, or in a much more ironic fashion, sacrifice Kabuto himself to
his own effect on the last turn before Jonin's Intervention would
expire. If you happen to have another Kabuto in your Discard Pile,
you can sacrifice your Jonin's Intervention'd Kabuto for the other
one, and that Kabuto stays.
Obviously, if you can somehow manage to keep that big Jonin you played a few turns early, you would want to,
right? Luckily, Pakkun [Sense of Smell] can do just that for you.
On your opponent's turn before the last coin is removed from Jonin's
Intervention, you can activate Pakkun, targeting your own in-play
Jonin's Intervention. The effect of the Mission will be negated, and
then it will be discarded. Because the effect was negated at the
time the Mission left play, you would not have to discard the Jonin
you put in play with its effect! This can also be accomplished with
any other Mission negation type card that you might have, such as New
Orders, Self Conversation, or Secret Book.
Number Four: Path of the Avenger
We've seen a similar effect to this in
Sneak Attack, but I feel like this card is actually stronger and more
reliable than Sneak Attack. What I like about this card is that you
can hit a Turn 0 Ninja without having to remove anything from your
Discard Pile. While this doesn't seem like a very helpful effect on
Turn 4, it is still a viable use for the card, setting your opponent
back a Ninja and possibly changing their plans. The best use for
this card is of course going to be hitting their high drop Ninja that
they play, and this card can be chained to the triggering of a put in
play effect, depriving your opponent of both a powerful Ninja as well
as a potent effect. Ninjas will naturally wind up in your Discard
Pile due to being used as Hand costs for Missions and subsequently
used for the cost of Jutsu and effects as well, so getting a few
Ninjas in your Discard Pile in preparation isn't setup as much as it
is just playing the game. If you do prefer a way to guarantee that
your Discard Pile has some Ninja to use for this card, you can always
use any of the Chakra filter Ninja from Set 25 such as Bartender Cat,
who can start digging useless Turn 0 Ninjas from your Deck every turn
as soon as Turn 1. I personally have been testing this card in a
Wind/Fire field control deck, and it has been serving be pretty well.
Number Three: Kakashi Hatake [Well
Versed]
While I don't think I would rank this
Kakashi over Kakashi Hatake [Assassinate], I will admit that he is a
solid card. His best use is going to be paired with Jonin's
Intervention, giving you a Ninja that is unlikely to be able to be
Blocked while it is around, as well as transferring that effect to
another of your Ninja when Jonin's Intervention runs out of coins.
Nearly nine out of ten times, Kakashi is going to be able to Attack
alone and not be able to be Blocked, due to the fact that his effect
requires Any Ninja that Blocks him to have to have the same Combat
Attribute as him. That means that every Ninja in the Team has to
have Genjutsu, which is going to be a rare occurrence outside of
almost any deck. Better yet, if you are transferring his effect onto
a Ninja with a particularly exotic Combat Attribute, your opponent
may never be able to mount any sort of considerable defense. A good
way to add insult to injury is sending Kakashi Hatake out as the only
Team, ensuring that you are the only one with a Ninja on the
Battlefield, and then using Reverse Tetragram Sealing Jutsu with him,
wiping out all of your opponent's lower turn Ninja.
Number Two: Shadow of the Leaf
A lot of people's first reaction to
this card was “What? Another Mission negation for Fire?”
I can echo that sentiment, though it makes sense. One of Fire's most
prevalent effects has been Mission negation, and receiving another
one is fine, since it was printed in a new Block of sets. New Orders
will be rotating next rotation, leaving us with Shadow of a Leaf
still. Now, the problem is that I feel Shadow of the Leaf is
strictly better than New Orders in almost every way. If you're
playing Fire, chances are that you are going to want to play one of
the Turn 4 Sasuke Uchiha that we currently have available. At its
worst, Shadow of the Leaf is a straight Mission negation, which is
very good. At its best, it not only negates a Mission, but also
let's you injure up to two of your opponent's Ninjas of your choice.
This can easily cripple their field and leave them with a group of
Ninjas that they will not want to Attack with, and will end up losing
if they have to Block with next turn. Compare that to the extra 1
draw off of New Orders, and you can see why this card will be played
almost exclusively over New Orders, save for the rare occasion that
you aren't playing a Turn 4 Sasuke Uchiha. The way I see it, Fire
got a strict upgrade for one of its Mission slots.
Number One: Sasuke Uchiha [Exhausted]
Before I get into talking about this
card, I'd like to play a small game. Can you tell me what these
three cards all have in common?
If you said that they were all bad card, then you're correct. If you said that they all allowed you to pay for Jutsu from alternate sources, I guess you're right too. No, actually the second is more correct than the first, only because Naruto Uzumaki (Sage Mode) isn't absolutely terrible, just over hyped. Sasuke completes our group of alternate Jutsu cost abilities, and he is arguably the best of the four. Sage Mode is great, but he's also a Turn 7 Reinforcement with a Hand cost, while Sasuke is a simple Turn 4 Ninja. Being able to use a Jutsu without actually having to pay Chakra is a powerful effect, and Sasuke goes a step further by being able to do it any number of times a turn due to his wording using 'may' instead of 'can'. Also, you don't have to worry about having the correct Symbols at all for Sasuke, as he considers all specific symbols to be (1), thus allowing you access to Jutsu you might not normally have been able to pay for even with the Chakra you have. The fact that he has Inherit means that he gets to give his effect to another Ninja when he gets discarded at some point. An obvious combination is giving his effect to a Turn 5 or higher Ninja with Genjutsu in order to play Genjutsu almost guaranteed.
If you said that they were all bad card, then you're correct. If you said that they all allowed you to pay for Jutsu from alternate sources, I guess you're right too. No, actually the second is more correct than the first, only because Naruto Uzumaki (Sage Mode) isn't absolutely terrible, just over hyped. Sasuke completes our group of alternate Jutsu cost abilities, and he is arguably the best of the four. Sage Mode is great, but he's also a Turn 7 Reinforcement with a Hand cost, while Sasuke is a simple Turn 4 Ninja. Being able to use a Jutsu without actually having to pay Chakra is a powerful effect, and Sasuke goes a step further by being able to do it any number of times a turn due to his wording using 'may' instead of 'can'. Also, you don't have to worry about having the correct Symbols at all for Sasuke, as he considers all specific symbols to be (1), thus allowing you access to Jutsu you might not normally have been able to pay for even with the Chakra you have. The fact that he has Inherit means that he gets to give his effect to another Ninja when he gets discarded at some point. An obvious combination is giving his effect to a Turn 5 or higher Ninja with Genjutsu in order to play Genjutsu almost guaranteed.
That wraps it up for all these
Comparative Strengths articles. As you may have noticed, this
article came out a bit late today, due to me being ill. Hopefully the
article didn't suffer too much because of that, as I feel my writing
may have been a bit lacking today. Hopefully I'll be better for the
coming holidays. Be sure to check out the blog over rest of the
weekend, as he have a few things prepared for before the holidays and
our small break.
Please leave any comments and questions
below, and be sure to check out and like our Facebook Page, so that
you can get updates on when new articles are posted in real time.
Loved the article, I've been waiting for It all week as fires my favorite element, Just as I suspected Sasuke made it to 1st. I was a bit suprised that JI was so low on the list but it is rathe situational when I really think about it. I honestly didn't like it that much, but everyone on bandai seemed to hype it up so hard lol.
ReplyDeleteAnywho hope you get better soon Shino'sDad (no your articles were great as usual don't think it was anything less then great), and thank both of you for the great week of articles. :)
Thank you very much, and I'm glad you enjoyed this week's articles. Jonin's Intervention used to be much higher, but the more I tested with it, the less I liked it for how situational it was. While I feel it's a good card, the cards above it just are more reliable. Everyone is going to have their own opinions though on how the order should be. As for me, I'm starting to feel a bit better. Lots of soup and rest today.
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