January 26, 2013
Alright
everyone, Mull to Four should be back into the swing of things, and
not only because of preview season revving up again, but also to dole
out plenty of other information on the game as well as deck articles
and game commentaries.
Although,
as you can probably tell from the title of this entry, today we are
going to be talking about the newest set being released in March, Set
28 Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. Coinciding with the release of the new
video game of the same name, it seems Bandai has gone into full cross
promotion mode, as every card in the set will feature images from the
game itself as well as including nearly every Ninja that is in the
game as well. Find out more after the jump...
If
you've been keeping track of the previews via Facebook, you'll notice
that they've begun previewing the revived Seven Swordsmen of the
Mist, as well as their signature Jutsu. These previews give us a lot
of information about the set as a whole that I will go into further
later on in this article. What I'm most excited to talk about though
is the fact that we here at Mull to Four were fortunate enough to
once again receive exclusive previews for this upcoming set. In Set
27, Hero's Ascension, we were given a few Lightning cards to review
that weren't outstanding, but interesting none the less. This time
around, we have SEVEN exclusive previews for everyone that we will
slowly be releasing along with a completing review article over the
next several weeks. I don't want to give away too much about them,
but a few of them are very interesting discussion topics for one
reason or another, as well as a special surprise at the very end.
Another
thing that we'll be doing as previews on Facebook are released is
reviewing them in detail here on Mull to Four. We'll only be doing
this with Facebook previews from Bandai though, any exclusive
previews from other sites will be left entirely to them, as we have
no intention of stifling their viewer flow, just as we'd ask the same
of anyone else for our previews.
With
that in mind, I'm going to dive right into the first few previews
posted by Bandai over the last couple days, starting with the big
reveal of what we're going to be looking forward to in the new set
from a Mission that spells it out and a Ninja that demonstrates it.
Mist's
Greatest Swordsmen and Haku
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Mist's Greatest Swordsmen is a card that is brimming with information about the new set. A Permanent Void Mission that lets us ignore Sacrifice on [IMPURE RESURRECTION Ninjas tells us that all of the revived Ninjas in the set are going to have the effect name [IMPURE RESURRECTION as well as have Sacrifice of some kind. The 2nd effect at first leads us to believe that it just offers us an outlet of card filtering for the deck, with the added bonus of Desperation letting us utilize the effect twice per turn later in the game. Once we take a look at Haku though, we realize that the 2nd effect of Mist's Greatest Swordsmen is there to let us set up our effects of the [IMPURE RESURRECTION] Ninjas. By RFGing (Removing from the game) a Haku in either player's Discard Pile when Haku is put in play, we get an additional Ninja deploy that turn. This is a nod back to Haku [SUPERHUMAN SPEED] from Quest for Power, who let you flip a coin when he was put in play, and if the coin was heads, you were able to deploy an extra Ninja during the turn. The new Haku portrays him as he was when he was revived by Kabuto's Impure World Resurrection Jutsu, thus he has the effect name, requires a sacrifice of 1 Ninja, and is just Void.
Mist's
Greatest Swordsmen will be an automatic 3 of for any deck that plans
to run a high number of [IMPURE RESURRECTION] Ninjas, with extra
support in the form of Spiral of Pain, which can alleviate the
Sacrifice cost of any Void Ninja, as well as Madara Uchiha, who can
remove Sacrifice in exchange for lowering your Turn Marker by 1.
Haku is overstated for a Turn 2 Ninja, which fits from having to
Sacrifice a Ninja in order to get him in play (unless you cheat
around it with the prior mentioned cards), and if you happen to have
an extra Haku in your Discard Pile, or better yet, if you opponent
does, you get an extra Deploy too. The problem with this deck that I
see is that if you plan to run any [IMPURE RESURRECTION Ninjas in
the deck, you are going to almost Have to run 3 of them, in order to
give you any real shot at getting the bonus effects from them that
all require an extra Ninja of the same name in either Discard Pile.
It also means that mirror matches for the deck will be all sorts of
strategic fun, having to be mindful of what is in your Discard Pile
due to your opponent possibly being able to make use of your own
resources.
Jinin
Akebino and Helmsplitter's Rush
Jinin
reveals some interesting information. All of the Seven Swordsmen it
seems will both curve in Turn Marker, retain Mist, and also have
Jonin. Curving is going to be important if you plan on having any
sort of a functional Deck that uses them all, which is where The Four
Sound Ninja decks failed for the longest time back when they were all
always Turn 3. Mist is obvious, but means that we have more support
for Utakata [Snapwave], a Mull to Four Ninja favorite. Jonin is
hardly important when it comes to Block Format, but those who are
interested in Unlimited now have very early users for very powerful
Jutsu. Jinin himself is a 5/0 on Turn 1, which is pretty good. Even
Tsukado is only a 4, though Tsukado is also Valid and gets bigger
every time he Attacks, so this is a terrible comparison anyways. His
effect isn't based on any prior card really, but rather, in exchange
for a copy of Jinin from either Discard Pile, smashes a Ninja's Power
by -4/-4, with the bonus of giving 1 Damage to that Ninja if it has
“Weapon”. This just makes the mirror matches all the more heart
breaking, as Jinin vs Jinin is going to result in whoever pulls the
trigger Last. Although, he is Valid, so it would just be a bad day
for Both Jinin, resulting in a Draw and a trip to the Discard Pile.
Helmsplitter's
Rush, showcasing Jinin's signature weapon, the dual combo of an axe
and a hammer designed to deliver a one-two punch, is a Jutsu usable
by any “Weapon” Ninja, so this means that Weapon decks as a whole
are getting a boost that they've been waiting for since Sage's Legacy
when the three Cloud Ninja were printed (Samui in particular, for
being able to double up the Jutsu, though we'll need something that doesn't target, since she'd just double up on the same target). The Jutsu itself is a Water Prison Jutsu for any 2 Chakra that also locks the target's Power, so
that they can't just increase it again with an effect after the Jutsu
resolves. Of course, it isn't usable on a “Taijutsu” Ninja, even
though the artwork depicts Jinin giving Might Guy an ass kicking. If
the Jutsu is used by Jinin though, it turns into a Howl, as even
though you just made the target 0/0, they're becoming Stand-by
anyways.
Jinpachi
Munashi and Spatter's Rush
Jinpachi
continues the curve of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist by coming in
as a Turn 2 Ninja. Once again, as standard now, his effect requires
another copy of himself in either Discard Pile, and is Valid, to
avoid pesky interruption in the form of being injured. Jinpachi's
effect is a hearkening back to Paper Bomb from Coils of the Snake,
which is actually in format now due to a reprint in the Set 23
Invasion Lightning start deck. You target a Ninja with his effect,
planting that Paper Bomb on them, and when the Showdown rolls around,
if that Ninja didn't use a Jutsu at all during the turn, the bomb
explodes and they take 1 Damage. He shares a Turn Marker with Haku,
who might edge this guy out for that seat in any Impure Ninja deck,
as getting an extra deploy is really useful, though forcing a Jutsu
early game or in the event of them not having a Jutsu, giving a
Damage, is also pretty good as well.
Jinpachi's
signature weapon, Shibuki, is in the unfortunate position of sharing
the same name as one Shibuku, the cowardly Takikage, and also being a
giant toilet paper roll of exploding tags. A ridiculous weapon in
presentation, but the Jutsu based on it, Spatter's Rush, is quite the
opposite. 2 of any Chakra, usable by any “Weapon” Ninja, results
in injuring 1 opposing Ninja as well as pumping the user by +3/+0.
Early game, this card may as well read “Effect: The user wins an
Outstanding Victory during this turn.”, as injuring a Ninja and
getting +3/+0 will usually be more than a shift of 5 Team Power. If
Jinin is the user, then it becomes even more explosive, giving Damage
based on the number of unresolved Jutsu on the chain. That is just a
cherry on top of a sundae that is already really good without, to the
point where if that sundae never had a cherry on it, no one would
care. Between this Jutsu and Helmsplitter's Rush, Spatter's Rush
definitely gets the Jutsu slot. Locking a Ninja at 0/0 is nice, but
it usually isn't going to be enough for an Outstanding Victory, plus
Spatter's Rush can hit pesky Taijutsu Ninja.
Be sure
to check back daily for more updates as we get deeper into preview
season for Naruto CCG Set 28, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. A series of
articles on effect types and other rulings is in the works, and we
should have some interesting testing videos for decks that might
appear in the upcoming Jonin Events starting in March. Be sure to
check out our Youtube Channel and Facebook page as well.
Excelente articulo!!!
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