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Swordmaster13 on Naruto
The Elements in Review part 1: Earth
Hello, Swordmaster13
here. I'm working on a 5 part series on the Elements of
Naruto(Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Lightning). While
I've heard that Fire is the strongest element, really
that depends on how you use them. So I wanted to review
each element and give you guys a heads-up on what are
the standout cards of each element. Even if you have
been around since the game first started, maybe you
haven't really given much thought to try something just
a little out of your comfort zone. Since Revenge and
Rebirth came out, Earth and Wind have certainly caught
up to Water and Fire in some respects while Lightning
may be a little behind yet has some gems to be
exploited. Now, let's begin
Earth has come a
long way since its humble start in Path of Hokage.
Earth is the element for the Ino-Shika-Cho formation,
and now we have a set of Jonin for the formation as
well. It is also the element for the Byakugan family of
ninja we all know and have some difference of opinions
about(you hate them if you are beaten by a Byakugan deck
and love them if you've ever run Byakugan, which both
has happened to me). Aside from that, Earth has the
offensive Mental Power cards(Ibiki Moreno, First Chunin
Exam) and some Jutsus you may run defensively, like
Disguise Jutsu and Earth Style: Mud Wall. Since Revenge
and Rebirth came out, the element has improved greatly.
You can finally run enough ninjas, Jutsus and Missions
for an Earth Deck, especially if you run Byakugan.
Before I list the
gems of the Earth element, let me remind you of Earth's
weaknesses and perhaps list some new things to look for
from the new set(possibly) for Earth. For starters,
Earth is the only element without a Sannin or Satoosa
ninja(the new set may alievate that if Tsunade and
Shizune are Earth ninjas). That means pure Earth decks
can't run Jutsus that require Satoosa or Sannin(luckily
Earth right now has no Jutsus like that), but it becomes
an issue as other elements can use these more powerful
Jutsus and ultimately have stronger teams, especially
Water and Fire. Earth is a totally defensive style as
well, really lacking in cards that increase their own
ninja's attack outside of Gentle Fist, which then only a
small handful of ninja can use anyways, and Earth has no
cards that do damage or injure ninja outside Gentle Fist
Style: 64 Palm Strike, which only three ninja can use
currently. As for the new set, you may see a new
Asuma(perhaps in a Platoon with Kurenai or not), perhaps
his elbow blades as well. My fingers are crossed that
Tsunade and Shizune are going to be Earth, but they will
either be Earth or Wind. In my opinion, Earth needs
them more than Wind does. Anyway, that's just some of
what you may find from the next set.
The following are
the cards to consider from Earth. If you run Earth in
some fashion, these are the cards you will want to
consider adding to your deck.
Ninjas:
-Asuma Sarutobi: be
it his turn 4 version or turn 5, Asuma has decent stats,
plus his Turn 5 is good if you aren't running Byakugan
as your theme. Turn 4 is good if you are running Ino,
Shikamaru and Choji's Formation version.
-Hiashi Hyuga: Even
if his effect only works at the moment against Hizashi
and Neji, the 6 combat and Byakugan status, plus the
fact he can use Curse Mark Jutsu(the one the revolves
around the Hyugas) and the Jutsu that goes with
it(forgot the name)makes him a staple in a Byakugan deck
at least. Run him for the Taijutsu combat attribute as
well if you run that type of deck.
-Shikaku Nara,
Inoichi Yamanaka, Chouza Akimichi: The original
Ino-Shika-Cho formation features 3 Jonin with good
healthy stats and the ability to use the Jutsus the
orginally needed Shikamaru, Ino and Choji
respectively(Shadow Possession Jutsu, Mind Transfer
Jutsu, Expansion Jutsu). Alone, each are a powerful
Turn 4 ninja splashable in any deck, but together, they
are a 15 power team that can become a team power 21 if
Chouza uses his Expansion Jutsu. Run Shikaku and
Inoichi for the 3 Support and Chouza if you want the 6
combat at Turn 4.
-Hizashi Hyuga:
Though he has no support and a subpar effect, Hizashi's
strengths are his combat and his Byakugan status, plus
his taijutsu combat attribute. With him added to the
family of Byakugan ninja, you can run a full 10 ninja
with Byakugan, which makes using Byakugan effects much
easier.
-Ibiki Moreno: Ibiki
is the offense for any Mental Power deck, as his effect
turns any attack into a Mental Power battle. Running
ninja with high Mental like Shikamaru and Sakura make
Ibiki dangerous, if not really annoying. He's the best
Turn 3 ninja Earth has right now, so you might as well
run him.
-Neji Hyuga: All
three versions of Neji are good to run. All three are
standard Byakugan ninja and he always keeps his 3 combat
even if injured, plus his effects are valid(at least two
versions are). Run Formidable Gift if your play group
runs a lot of healing, especially Iyashi and when they
come out Tsunade and Shizune(both should have some
healing type ability). Run Striking Chakra Points as
your typical Neji and use Another Method for Absolute
Defense for fun and for its high annoyance factor.
Nejis are good enough to splash simply for the effects.
The last two also have Growth, always nice.
-Hinata and Hanabi
Hyuga: I put the last two ninjas together for a reason.
Standard Byakugan, but their combat and support are
reversed. Hanabi makes all your Byakugan ninja come in
a turn earlier, a staple for Byakugan. Both versions of
Hinata are decent. Gentle Heart heals genin ninja,
which is actually good if you have a pretty good Gennin
in play like Neji, Sasuke or something like that. My
Nindo is a slightly less powerful Naruto, Imposter as if
you are really good with flips(Challenging Again can
help too), she can stay on the field for a while. Again
these are the last of the ninjas you'll run in Byakugan.
-Shikamaru Nara:
Shikamaru isn't overly powerful stat-wise, but his
Mental is the highest in the game. The standard
Shikamaru is Mental Power 4, 0/1 stats, but Shikamaru,
Smarty Pants can potentially have Mental Power 8 and has
0/2. Pairing Smarty Pants with the new Shikamaru, both
of which have Growth, can give him 1/3 if you growth IQ
over 200 with Smarty Pants. Of course, you may want to
keep IQ over 200 as with Sasuke, Flowering Ability, he
can win almost any Mental Power battle on his own.
-Ino Yamanaka: Ino
isn't as powerful Mental-wise as Shikamaru, but she has
Mental 1. Acting is a lot better than people may think
as you can trigger her effect to save your Jutsu if it
would get negated by another Jutsu(I'll find out if that
is true).
-Choji Akimichi:
Choji is Earth's early attacker with 2/0 attack power.
Chubby gets +1/+0 when attacking, so essentially his
stats are equivalent to most Sasukes when attacking. He
makes a great drop for an aggressive early attack.
-Udon: Konohamaru's
buddy Udon isn't impressive stat-wise, but he does net
you a free draw if the top card on you deck is a Jutsu.
His effect can help you draw that key Jutsu you need to
win. He's very splashable for his effect.
Jutsus
-Byakugan: Whether
it's Path's Byakugan or Curse of Sand's Byakugan, both
are good. Either way, you get to empty your opponent's
hand of key cards. The original could take out a
problem Jutsu or Mission and at worst let you glimpse
the opponent's hand, while the Curse one can take out up
to 3 cards in the hand.
-Gentle Fist: The
promo nets another Battle Reward while the common one
makes your opponent discard a card if you get a Victory
or Outstanding Victory. Gentle Fist may only boost the
stats of the user by 2, but that can make the difference
between a defeat and a Victory, plus this card and
Byakugan are the only two cards in the game so far that
force discards from the hand.
-Disguise Jutsu: This
card is the best card to run against Water Style: Giant
Vortex Jutsu and other cards that target the entire
team. Disguise Jutsu makes all ninja in the team
untargetable by Jutsus, which renders Jutsus useless
against them. Kabuto Yakushi, Covert Operative has this
as its effect, and the Sound Four gain Disguise Jutsu's
effect when assembled together. As a Ninja Effect,
Disguise Jutsu is plain sick but is a great defensive
tool otherwise.
-Earth Style: Mud
Wall: I've seen this run in a few decks I've looked over
and as a Jutsu, while it isn't as good as Disguise
Jutsu, it is certainly a good sideboard card if your
opponent runs damage cards, especially Fire.
-Headhunter Jutsu:
This Jutsu is one of the best Jutsus Earth has to use in
battle that can be used offensively. Removing the back
ninja and making them Standby ninja cuts the power of
the team significantly, especially when teams include
Turn 5 and 6 ninjas. The most powerful ninja out there
combat wise I believe is Jiraiya at 7, so most likey you
take down a Team power 13+ team to 6, a very significant
reduction. The only problem is that the user has to be
a Chunin or higher rank.
-Striking Weak
Points: This is Headhunter Jutsu, slightly reduced in
power. If the user has a higher Turn cost than the
targets, their power isn't added to the team power.
Again a little more situational than Headhunter Jutsu,
but still useful.
-Shadow Possession
Jutsu:The original can be useful for Shikamaru or
Shikaku, but the new one is slightly hurt by the fact
that Shikaku has not Mental Power. The original reduces
the target's stats to 0 while the new one reduces team
power by the user's Mental Power. Both are useful,
especially since they are cheap. The second one can be
incredible if Shikamaru,Smarty Pants uses it with the
full 8 Mental he can have, but even a 4 point reduction
in Team Power is nice.
-Gentle Fist
Style:Palm Rotation: The Sand Shield for the Byakugan
ninja reduces damage the user takes to 0. If your deck
is pure Byakugan, this is an incredible defensive tool.
-Gentle Fist Style: 8
Trigrams 64 Palms Strike: The most powerful Byakugan-based
Jutsu can inflict a whole lot of damage or none at all.
Again, Challenging Again helps those who suck at coin
flips. However, If you run pure Byakugan, consider it.
Missions:
-Leaf Ninja Forces:
This is the only card Earth has for drawing outside of
Hyuga Clan Lineage, which is more of a search tool than
a card draw Mission. Still, with this, you'll be able
to have stuff to discard with Byakugan and Gentle Fist.
It also helps Kiba's various Jutsus by thinning out the
opponent's deck faster.
-Hyuga Lineage: This
card revolves around Neji, but you get a Jutsu he can
use for the battle ahead, or to save for later when you
need it. It helps with deck thinning, which is good.
-Insightful Eye:
Earth needs card draws, and this helps Byakugan decks
find what they need faster. You need to use Byakugan to
make use of it, but maniputaing card draws for the
future can really help a lot.
-Caged Bird: This is
probably Earth's best Mission right now as you can
essentially take out a blocker fairly easily. A team
can't be sent to battle if the Head Ninja can't, so
using it on a head ninja takes the entire team out on
your turn. Plus, that ninja cannot be sent to battle
for the next few turns, so you have temporarily threw a
wrench in your opponent's plan. It is a great tool for
Earth.
-First Chunin Exam:
This mission turns all battles into Mental battles for
the next 2 Turns, especially powerful in a Mental Power
deck. For decks unprepared to handle Mental attacks,
this card is dangerous.
That's all for
Earth. Expect Earth to improve as the next sets come
out. I'm hoping Tsunade is Earth, but at least we'll
see Shikamaru as a Chunin in the sixth set as well as a
new Choji and Neji, with more powerful Earth Jutsu and
Missions as well. Overall, Earth and Wind are probably
equal now, maybe Earth a little behind due to the fact
it doesn't have Sannins or Satoosas yet, but hopefully
the fifth set will solve that problem. Next week is
Fire, and this one I'm really looking forward to,
especially with the new set and Itachi finally coming
out. See ya later folks~Swordmaster13
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