Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst. 3 = average. 5 is the highest rating.
Akira
Today's
card is Shikamaru Nara [Formation]
He might be the best ninja in the game.
Why you ask?
2 Support.
4 Mental power.
He shuts down some of the most frequently played and
powerful ninjas:
Naruto Uzumaki [Control of Power] Gaara of the
Desert [Tragic Name] Zabuza Momochi [Demon of Cloud
Village] the list goes on and on and on.
Also, he combos with Choji.
I feel like I'm forgetting something. He rules. Holy
cow.
Pretty much, you should run 3 of these guys. They're
so good, man. There are times when I've had
Shikamaru & Asuma in play and my opponent plays a
ninja and I start wishing I had Shikamaru's measly
two support and gigantic effect to shut them down,
rather than my crazy platoon.
Um I don't know what else to say.
He is amazing. Unless you are playing a "Shadow"
deck or mental battle deck, he's the best choice.
In limited, run him.
He comes in on turn 1, and low ECs are important
here.
He's got good support, which you'll need.
Effect. Mental power in case your opponent opened a
Flex or something. Etc.
Constructed: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Art: 1/5 (The only thing about this card that
stinks...)
Alucard of the Abyss
This week we finish out
the top 10 cards of 2007 and today we start with
number 5 and it's one of my favorites in the game.
One that has indeed earned his place on this list.
One that I will give a rating I will probably never
give another card in the game this rating again
because it is a make or break card. If you aren't
decking it you are at a disadvantage even before you
know what you are playing against.
Today's card is none other than the best ninja
negater in the game himself: Shikamaru [US
Formation]. This card is seen in just about every
deck no matter what the element for good reason.
Starting off with his stats they are solid for a
turn 1. Two support is standard for turn 1 Shikamaru
and he also has Growth which adds to his
playability. Onto his effect, it's simply one of the
best in the game. He negates the effect of the head
ninja battling against him as well as reducing it's
turn down to 0. Is a Gaara [Tragic Name] troubling
you? Well block with Shikamaru's team and worry not
(if Gaara is the head ninja of course). His effect
also helps against effects such as Dosu and Naruto
[One Last Attack] because both of those effects
happen while the battle is still being processed.
Other cards it works well against are [Beyond the
Limits] Sasuke, [Control of Power] Naruto and [US
Formation] Choji which are all seen in a lot of top
decks.
There are a couple of combos to abuse him with and
the most obvious is with his fellow Formation member
Choji. Shikamaru reduces the turn count of the ninja
for Choji to damage it. Even further is including
the last Formation member Ino on the team and
choosing who you want to negate and damage if with
Choji, only on your opponent's turn of course. He
also comboes great with both the super rare First
and Second Hokage from Quest for Power because of
his turn reducing effect. Basically he is one of the
most versatile cards in the game at the moment. The
only downside is the fact that he is not valid but
most the time you will want him healthy anyways.
In limited this is a first pick. His solid stats are
the first things you pick in this format and his
effect could come in handy for a couple of games
against those ninjas your opponent's happen to pull
with good effects. He is just as solid here as he is
in normal play.
Constructed: 5/5 (I've said before that I can't give
cards a perfect score in this format but this is one
card, in the entire game, that truly deserves this
rating)
Limited: 5/5 (solid stats + solid effect = first
pick)
Tomorrow we look at the number 4 card on our
countdown and she is the strongest Kunoichi in the
Leaf Village.
Wyatt
Shikamaru Nara
(Formation), one of the best cards EVER to be made
for the Naruto ccg. This card has almost
singlehandedly stopped Freedori(besides the erratas
on Inherits and APW) from being tier 1.
Now, let's take a closer look at the stats. He's a
turn 1, Earth, Leaf/Genin/Male/Growth/Mental Power:4
0/2,0/0 ninja. He's a good early supporter with 2
support. He has growth, which allows for making him
bigger, and a whopping 4 mental power. No wonder
Shikamarus in general are a staple in Mental Power
decks. But the thing that makes THIS Shikamaru Nara
a staple in just about every deck, is his effect.
The head ninja battling against this ninja has it's
entrance cost reduced to 0, and it's effect text
blanked. This negates many bothersome effects such
as Choji(Formation), Gaara(Tragic Name),
Naruto(Control of Power, One Last Attack), and
Sasuke(Beyond the Limits) to name a few. Although
it also works devistatingly well WITH
Choji(Formation[as you might expect]) to be able to
deal a damage to any head ninja, and not have to
worry about the effect. This card is a staple, run
it. I normally don't like calling anything an
absolute staple, and I encourage originality, but
this card is just too good, and too splashable to
pass up.
Constructed4.8/5(weak injured stats, non-valid, and
a turn 1 instead of 0 are the ONLY things that hurt
this ninja)
Limited5/5(you run this, PERIOD.)
Ünderbheit Henchman
Shikamaru Nara [Formation]
N-us015
In the
Eternal Rivalry set we saw a boost in the power and
defense of Earth and this card played no small part.
This card is easily one of the most solid 1 drops in
the game so far. It is a universal card, seeing play
in almost every competitive deck build.
Constructed it's
negation effect and stats make it an asset at nearly
any point in the game. It's not necessary to into
all of them. It has growth and is an extremely
common card so playing it in multiples is easy and
beneficial. The only downside is that it isn't
valid. In a meta dominated by damage infliction it
made this card necessary to negate the effects of
ninjas like Choji [Formation] and Gaara [Tragic
Name]... (both of which didn't make the list).
For Limited, this card
has as much strength as it would in Constructed for
the most part. It's good with any deck type and it's
stats are average for a turn 1 ninja. If you have a
choice for draft purposes this is a good pick.
-Ünderbheit Henchman
Constructed: 4.5/5
Limited: 5/5
Mark
Howard
Monday
Sorry I wasn't here to
review the last week or so. I had to take a High
School SAT a few years early because I was smart
(and boy, was it boring!) and had to spend the whole
week "studying" (what I call... Sending strange
pictures of Pokemon Snap to friends via Wii and
playing the original Paper Mario till you drop).
Anyway, this is what we
have for today as one of the best cards evuh!
Shikamaru Nara
[Formation] is the supposed 5th Best Card in the
Naruto CCG, and NEEDS AN ERRATA!!! First of all,
he's got an okay Support Value of two, which is nice
for a while, and not only does his kickass effect
negate the opponent's ability, it also makes their
Entrance Cost turn to zero! That's means that all of
those cards that require Ninjas with high Entrance
Cost, such as the new "Sand Tsunami" "Giant Sand
Burial" and other new Jutsu for big Gaaras can't be
used, and his awesome effects go down.
Now Third Hokage, and
everyone else, will be useless. And since this card
is even SO easy to get, it also gets
