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Pojo's Shaman King TCG Card of the Day

Ward Off

Type - None
Card Number - REI-024

Card Ratings
Tournament- 3
Casual- 3.5
Sealed- 3.5

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

Date Reviewed - 04.25.05

Dan The Timid	Ward Off Advantage Type: None Cost: 1/0/0 Effect: Your strikes have +1 Intercept. In your opponent's red zone, your strikes have -3 force. Welcome again! You may not realize this but this is a big week for us, its our 10th week of Card of the Day reviews. We celebrate are 10 week anniversary with a collection of cards seleted by Darth Vailo. I'm not really sure what the theme of them is to be honest but ... uh... oh well! The card to start the week is one youv'e probably all seen atleast once before and I'd bet almost everyone one of you has to admit that at some point, even if only when you first started off, this card appeared in your deck. That is to say Ward off. Even though I don't see it as much as I did when I first started the game I do still see ward off from time to time. Is it worthy of a place in a competitive deck, lets investigate: Pros - Cheap - Charge a zone - A meager but potentially helpful intercept boost - Any Shaman can use it Cons - In your opponent's red zone it makes your attacks pitiful and often even punishable. Overview: Like the dragon aura we reviewed inagural week Ward offs main effect is pretty simple. Slightly boost your strike for the terms intercept. Unlike dragon aura its cost is REALLY cheap. 1 green means you can (and often will) use this card just for a zone charge even if your already facing something small in force. The +1 intercept can be quite useful though. For decks with alot of low intercepts, such as many melee decks, turning those 5/5s into 6/5s can often be a life saver. Of course unlike ddragon aura or a better comparison would be body's Devoted Sentry, same effect for same cost but wiht out the negative effect, this card does have a catch. Said catch beign the negative effect that whenever you play this card its unlikely your strike is going to score for said turn because once it gets to your opponents red your strikes force is crushed, losing a whopping 3 force. That is most defiantly a large amount of force to lose and not only makes the strike difficult to score with but possibly easily punished. Deeper Analysis: Well first off I think it should be pretty clear that if your running body advantages then ward off is clearly obselete. However if your not running body advantages I think it would be foolish to put too much emphasis on the negative of its effect. In general any time you go to your red your giving your opponent an advantage. Red is the hardest color of furyoku to get and the easiest to prevent your opponent from getting. Many of the most powerful strikes, teamworks, or advantages in the game cost red so every time you return a strike from your red with out negating replinishment (such as with kanna) your really helping at your opponent. What does all this mean? It means if your opponent purposely goes to red to try to make use of Ward Offs negative effect your still gaining an advantage. Obviously if your opponent would ahve had to block from red anyway and couldn't have blocked in red with out your effect ward off's effect will be bother some, but in general most players won't change their stratetgie, they'll still try to return from green or yellow and if they do purposely go to red then they've played right into your hands. Ward off isn't with out a potential negative, but that same negative can some times actually prove to be a positive. Just make sure you have some nice red cost strikes to make use of that extra red. Combos/Uses: Precisely where this card works best is hard to say, control decks don't mind it since most of their attacks have such small force anyway. Non body melee decks running broom corns, crack backs, come uppance, and reverberate, all 5/5 base stats might consider it just as an extra precaution against decks that send tons of 6 forces. Constructed: 2.5/5 (its not just for beginners but there aren't too many decks that really need it that I know of) Sealed: 3/5 (a great zone charger if nothing else)
Darth Vailo	Foreword Well, it is that time again. Thats right foolish mortals it is my week to pick card reviews! Muhahaha! Bow before the terrible cards I shall bore you with throughout the week. Get on your knees and pray for next week when Dan shall choose cards for us to review and the planets shall be aligned correctly again! I vow to not only bore you unsuspecting readers but also kill your brain cells with my annoying antics! Ermuhhhsorryrough weekend. ^_^ So we review my picks this week. As I did last time it was my turn to choose cards for reviewing I chose cards that I like or think deserve a review. There is no real pattern unless you take into account that they are all picked by me. Uhhh, did I mention it was my review week? Sorryread onplease? Card Advantages Ward Off is a defensive card pure and simple. Right? Not exactly. A lot of people have underestimated Ward Off because of the fact that its effect has a draw back. But really if we were to not play a card due to draw backs then we would not have a deck at all. And besides we cannot be to picky with a one set card pool. Ward Off has a lot of good aspects. The biggest one for me is the cheap cost. One green furyoku is basically a free cast. For one green furyoku you would expect to get a somewhat mediocre card, but really you are not. You are getting a re-flip, a charge, and a +1 intercept boost. This is great for one furyoku. As Im sure you all have guessed Im all about cheap and advantageous cards. Well is that not cheap and advantageous? In Yu-Gi-Oh! We would call the a 3 for 1. And in Yu-Gi-Oh! If there were that many 3 for 1s then it would be considered a staple. (A card that is good in any deck.) But as I said before this is a card that not many people respect. The reason will be discussed when we get to the card disadvantages section, but right now I want to talk about the positive aspect of the effect of Ward Off. The effect is pretty simple really, you get a plus 1 intercept boost. Nothing spectacular, but then again it isnt bad either. One point in any direction can be the decider as to whether or not you score/or take a point. Just think about this how many games have you been in where you have flipped up a card only to have its intercept 1 lower than the opposing force? This happens almost 90% of the time right? Or how about those times where you are in a zone that needs charging but you flip up an advantage that costs to much for you at the moment? Well that is where Ward Off comes in. For one green furyoku you get that boost, charge, and a re-flip. That is just plain abuse able. It serves you in several different ways in several different situations. That is the best thing about it. You are getting a card that multi tasks and for a dirt cheap cost. The second biggest thing that Ward Off has attached to it next to the cost in my opinion is the fact that it is not franchised. The fact that you can play up to four in any deck makes this card far more abuse able and far more versatile. Granted there are certain decks that would not need this 1 intercept boost, but there are very few decks that cannot benefit from a cheap charge/re-flip. Plus you can use it with Cherubs Blessing to net you that green that you just paid. Did I mention that it is common? Pros Good Effect. Cheap Cost. Unfranchised. Common. Is an Advantage. Card Disadvantages Okay so there is one major kink in this cards armor, and that is the second part of the effect. When you get into the opponents red zone you decrease your strikes force by 3 force. This is no good of course. It is basically costing you the point scoreor is it? In this game there are certain times that you will want to concede a point in order to better position yourself for a later point in the game. Well when you are in your red zone and have a point to spare is definitely one of those times. Because if you do not take the point you are giving the opponent a full board replenish. That is very costly and should never be done unless you are in extreme duress. So really if you are wielding Ward Off you are losing absolutely nothing. You are A) going to score, or B) get a full board replenish. That means you are gaining not losing Cons Bad Secondary Effect. Summary Ward Off isnt a card all decks will need. In fact there are a good variety of decks that will not even consider this card. But if you do run a deck that could use a bit more defense then this is your card. This sucker is really useful. It plays well and is easy to get. Try it maxed out at 4. Ratings Tournament-3.5 Casual-3.5 Sealed-4 Feedback Information If you have any comments, question, or suggestions here are some ways of contacting me, PM me on the forums at my user name-Darth Vailo E-mail me at-darthvailo@yahoo.com I ll do my best to get back to you asap. Thanks to you guys again for the kind words. ^_^v Peace, Love, and may you never find yourself on Tilt!
andys island	Today's Card of the Day is "Ward Off," A common advantage card. I'm making this short, since I am getting it in alittle late. Amidamaru, as featured in the card image, has no trait limitations. This and combined with a common card means you should be able to get a few of these in sealed. Also his card cost is just 1 green. Great for decks that don't want to waste too much furyoku. The first part of the effect is good since you get a +1 intercept for your strikes. Bring those 4 Intercepts up to a 5. If your deck runs with high intercepts, this card is basically useless, but in such formats as Casual where all your intercepts are low, this could help. This card is all great, until you get to the second effect... If your opponent is in the Red zone, YOUR strikes -3 force. Basically, it wastes your strike. Since your opponent can force themselves into the Red zone then flip a weak force and still beat your strike. I believe this counter balance effect damages this cards playability greatly. This card won't score you a point. But you must also factor in that it's better to keep the volley of strikes going back and forth than taking a hit because your intercept is too low. If you find that you can't block most of the strikes sent by your opponent, use this card to boost your intercept up, even though they will still counter next turn. It's not great, but could be useful if you are low on cash. Casual: 3/5 (great for cheap decks that need some help!) Tournament: 3/5 Sealed: 3/5 (easy to pull, and you may need if you don't pull high intercepts)