Naruto
Uzumaki & Shikamaru Nara Ninja [Reasonable Choice]
N-278
Review Date:
02.13.08
Average
Card Rating
Constructed: 2.87
Limited: 2.50
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst.
3 = average.
5 is the highest rating.
Beastly Mage
Naruto
Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara [Reasonable Choice]
This platoon is pretty good in constructed. Let's
say you have Special Power Naruto (or any other
Naruto, like the one with 2/0-5/0) and Shikamaru
[Flexibility] (or a Chunin Shikamaru) at turn 2 in
your hand when the effect is applied. That can be
pretty good. Problem is HAVING them two in your
hand. That could prove problematic.
Ratings:
Limited: 2/5
Constructed: 3/5
Art: Good Grief!/5
Alucard of the Abyss
Today's card is one of the
new Super Rare Platoons in Battle of Destiny. Today
we get to Naruto Uzumaki & Shikamaru Nara.
As usual, the stats first. Healthy is a decent 1/3
(3 support on turn 2 is nice) and injured it's a 4/3
which isn't too bad. It's Genin and Chunin, Mental
Power of 4 and has Oil and Shadow Combat Attributes.
It's effect, while interesting, doesn't have a whole
lot of usefulness. You can return it to your hand
during your Opponent's Organization Phase to bring a
Naruto and Shikamaru back to your Field from the
Discard Pile. It's a Valid effect so you can use it
even when it's injured. The effect is handy because
you can ditch the Platoon and get 2 Ninjas back and
get the effects if they are come into play effects,
the main one I can think of is Naruto [Legacy of the
Fourth Hokage]. The downsides to the effect are that
the Ninjas come into play in seperate teams so you
can't organize them into any teams until your next
turn and the other major downside being that you are
getting rid of Naruto and Shikamaru for the Platoon
itself. In the current format it's better to keep
your Naruto and Shika in play because of the useful
effects, Control of Power, Mastering a Secret
Technique, Formation ect. Giving them up for the
Platoon seems counter-productive since the Platoon
itself just gives you back the Ninjas. Another
downside is that you have to find a way to get both
Naruto and Shikamaru in the Discard Pile.
I suppose you can do some combo where you play the
Platoon to generate Chakra (1 w00t) and then use
that Chakra for a Jutsu followed by getting back
both Naruto and Shika and getting the Platoon back
for a hand cost or something. The whole combo
doesn't make a whole lot of sense and there are
simply better things to do, like keeping your
Shikamaru/Naruto out. Especially since most the
better Naruto and Shika have Growth and giving up a
Ninja that was Growth'd for the Platoon is also bad.
I guess another use for it would be if you had
either Naruto or Shika in the Discard and you wanted
one of them back you could Platoon over the one in
play and then find a way to get that from Chakra to
discard, but even then you'd be better off just
playing another copy of whatever Ninja you are
fetching back.
In limited if you can pull both Naruto and Shikamaru
it might have some usefulness. The stats are pretty
good and the effect might randomly help you in a
game or two.
The art isn't very good. The pictures of both Naruto
and Shikamaru could've been better.
Constructed: 2.5/5 (not very useful at this time)
Limited: 3/5 (somewhat useful but only if you can
play it)
Art: 2/5 (don't like it)
Tomorrow we look at yet another Platoon from Battle
of Destiny. Be sure to check it out.
Akira
Today's review is Naruto &
Shikamaru.
When this card was first reviewed on bandai, a lot
of players were upset this was an SR, since it's
effect at first glance isn't as amazing as the
effect of other super rare cards like Shikamaru &
Asuma, Kimimaro AFB, etc.
There are a couple of cool things you can do with
this platoon, though.
You can play Naruto Uzumaki [Control of Power], mill
your deck to get a Naruto Uzumaki [Special Power]
into your discard pile, and then use the platoon to
get Naruto SP (Usually a turn 5 without the mission)
into play on turn 2.
There are other uses too, but that's the most
interesting. You can also use the effect to heal
your guys, to have a ninja with good stats that can
split up into two ninjas when you need chump
blockers, etc etc. There are a lot of cool things
this platoon can do, but most of it is gimmicky. It
doesn't seem competitive to me, but who knows, maybe
somebody will rock a Jonin with a Naruto/Shikamaru
platoon and Naruto Special Power, or discover
another cool combo.
In limited, it's a "meh" card at best. Good stats,
iffy effect, and probably difficult to get into
play. As a rule of thumb, most platoons are
unplayable in limited unless the set has a ton of
one or both ninjas to platoon.
Constructed: 3/5 (In combo deck)
Casual: 2/5
Art: 3/5
Wyatt
Naruto Uzumaki and
Shikamaru Nara. This is a decent platoon, with a few
nice advantages about it. First of all, it has
Chunin and Genin status, as well as the 4 mental
power that is standard for any Shikamaru variation.
Decent stats, 1/3,4/3, obviously meant to be a back
ninja. No Clone status, which makes it a bad choice
for Naruto based decks that use Rasengan. The real
attraction to this card is the effect. Valid: During
your opponent's organization phase you can return
this platoon to your hand, and put 1 Naruto and 1
Shikamaru in your discard pile into play. This
creates combos for reusing this platoon, bringing
back a needed Naruto and/or Shikamaru, or bringing
out Naruto(SP) out early. Otherwise, it is a platoon
with decent stats, and an effect that takes a lot of
skill to really take advantage of.
Constructed:3/5(good stats and a decent effect, but
no clone status and the effect is a little hard to
really take advantage of)
Limited:2/5(No Shikamarus in this set besides
platoons, and most of the Narutos you wouldn't want
to give up.)
