Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst.
3 = average.
5 is the highest rating.
Beastly Mage
Itachi
Uchiha [Despair at the Clan]
Simple effect for a complex character, I say. Put
him in play, discard as many ninjas as you want,
draw as many cards as you did discard ninjas. It's
pretty good when getting rid of, let's say, injured
Genins or stuff like that. If you're winning you
have nothing to worry about. If you're losing, I
wouldn't recommend it. It's an SR, so it's kinda
hard to come by in limited, but in constructed it
could help give fire some draw power.
Today we look at quite
possibly the best Itachi in the game so far. Today's
card is [Despair at the Clan], a card of Itachi
before he became part of Akatsuki.
First as usual, I will start with his stats. His
healthy stats are 6/3 which are on par with other
turn 5s although his injured status of 1/3 could be
a little higher but his support remains high. He has
Jonin status which means he can play those all
important 8 Trigrams and other Jonin requirement
Jutsu. He is also Leaf (the only non-Platoon Itachi
with Leaf I might add) for if you are still playing
The One Who Inherits and Entrusts the Will or if you
want to use Suicidal Action with him. Lastly, he has
Sharingan Eye which means he can play the Jutsu
available to Sharingan users. Now, onto his effect.
It may look familiar because it's effect is the same
as a Mission from Eternal Rivalry, Fratricide. As a
mission the effect isn't all that great, but on a
6/3 ninja as a come into play effect it's very nice.
You can drop him late game and toss a couple of your
otherwise useless Ninjas to draw into potential game
winning cards. Now if you don't have any Ninja worth
tossing then his effect is obviously going to be of
little help but by turn 5 you should have at least
1-2 Ninja you can afford to lose for the draw.
I see him finding his way into Mono-Fire decks as
well as Sharingan themed decks. He might also find
his way into Fire/X decks that need some extra draw
power. He won't replace the standard Fire 5 drops
(the various Kakashi) but I do see him being played
alongside them. There's aren't really any combos
with him since his effect uses Ninja unless you are
using it on either a Ninja that is going to be
discarded at the end of your turn anyways or you are
using it on a Ninja you stole from your opponent
(which there are very little cards that do).
In limited you choose him first and build around
him. His stats alone warrant playing him but his
effect helps a lot in this format. Limited generally
lacks any decent draw power and here you can toss
some useless ninjas that you are forced to play for
possibly very important draw. If you can pull enough
Fire to support him then play him and even if you
get a small amount of Fire, play him anyways because
in this format you take anything you can get.
And I usually don't rate artwork, but I might from
now on and this is a good card to start with. The
moon in the background really makes this card jump
out at you. Very good art.
Constructed: 3.8/5 (Pretty good, not the best 5 drop
Fire has, but still good)
Limited: 5/5 (Obvious pick in this format)
Art: 5/5 (simply amazing art)
Tomorrow we take a look at one of the most sought
after cards that came out in Battle of Destiny. Be
sure to check it out.
~Alucard
Mark
Howard
Sasuke [Despair at the
clan]
Ugh! ANOTHER Sasuke!? Wait a second.... Pojo, you
idiot!!!! You wrote "Sasuke" instead of Itachi.
Whatever.
(Pojo Note:
... No one reading has a clue what you are talking
about. As far as they know ... I wrote it
correctly :-P)
This "Sasuke" has the
best picture EVUH! Still, his healthy stats rival
those of Kakashi Hatake (who really SHOULD be a turn
6), but his injured stats are still poo (that rivals
that of Winnie the Pooh!).
I don't really like his effect. It's pretty much
Fratricide as a Ninja, but you have to kill them;
they don't become Chakra. You can find a better
Itachi than this.
Still love that picture.
2/5
And by the way, I'm going to cancel my Combo of the
Week section. I haven't gotten a single reader
email, and so if I don't get one this week, I'm
going to stop doing the section :o So, if you feel
like being human, my email is destinyhero@verizon.net
(Destiny Heroes used to be my favorite YuGiOh cards)
Akira
Itachi Uchiha [Despair at
the Clan]
Healthy Stats - Standard.
Injured Stats - Good. I'd rather have a 1/3 injured
guy than a 3/2 or something.
As for the effect...It's got a lot of combo
potential.
Play Itachi, kill off your off-element ninjas, then
play Selecting the Strongest - instead of just
discarding those ninjas for the mission, you got to
draw cards and demolish your opponent's field.
Also, the SR Kakashi [The Worst Outcome] allows you
to ditch your injured/worthless ninjas for draw
power, which is awesome.
If you're just playing him as a simple 5 drop with
nothing else up your sleeve, he's a bit on the weak
side...I'd rather just use a mission to draw rather
than sacrificing my support/chump blockers.
In limited...He's SR, he's got good stats, and he
can let you draw into jutsus/whatever. A good ninja
to have.
