Pojo's Naruto Card of the Day
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Beastly Mage
Shikamaru
Nara
Today's card is a new Super Rare Shikamaru. This
version of everybody's Lazy Bum Ninja can stop a
Ninja from battling. During the Mission Phase (no
specific Mission Phase noted) you can pick one Ninja
on your opponent's side and that Ninja (as well as
Shikamaru) can't battle on that turn. Problem is
that the selected Ninja must be a turn 2 or less.
This is good early game, but late game it could be a
problem (unless you run the Orochi/Sasu squad). In
limited, if you run this guy and manage to draft his
Jutsu, you're set. In constructed, he could be good
too. Try it and see!
Ratings:
Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 3.5/5
Art: He looks like me on Monday mornings.../5
N. Jolly
N-634 Shikamaru Nara-Unwillingness
Another day, another life lesson learned with your
hero, N. Jolly!
Today we have yet another of EA's most valuable
cards, Shikamaru-Unwillingness. As per normal, let's
give a rundown of his stats: Leaf, Male, Chunin,
Mental Power: 4, Growth, 0/3 0/2 and T2 with Shadow
combat attribute. That's a pretty nice ninja just
based off of all of that, seeing as he still has his
old 4 mental, as well as Chunin rank so he can play
the new Shadow Stitching, which is a card I really
like in Earth. He's pretty standard for a Shikamaru
on this turn, but I like him more than any of the
other ones for stats alone. But that's not why we're
playing him, now is it?
His effect is that during THE mission phase, you can
select him and one other ninja whos turn cost is two
or lower. During this turn, both the selected ninja
and this ninja cannot be sent out to battle. Now to
some, this doesn't seem like too bad an effect, and
I myself admit that I underestimated how good it
was...that was a mistake. This guy has single
handedly won battles, and there's a good reason why.
He's able to hold back a lot of good early game
supporters such as Temari, Shikamaru-Formation/Flexibility,
Kabuto, and loads of other really good supporters.
But what he does best is hold back your opponent's
teams when you're swinging in. Early game, he pretty
much makes sure your opponent can't block at their
best, which can be really scary if they're running
FCJ or other jutsu that don't need to battle to
cause pain. He's even worse if your opponent can't
hit their late game, as he continues to hold back
their best team over and over again.
He's another Shikamaru from a long line of great
Shikamarus, and he's going to be played for a long
time. I wouldn't be shocked to see him take a ride
on the Rogue List this upcoming season.
Constructed:4.75/5 Just a great card overall and
almost ban worthy
Limited:5/5 He can't really be stopped here at all.
Art:Someone else go save the village, I don't wanna..../5
StormVyper Zera
Shikamaru Nara [Unwillingness]
This is a very good card, for nothing more than his
nice stats. His effect, however, is quite the gem
especially if you go first. This card singlehandedly
keeps your opens best Ninja out of battle early, but
it requires a bit of setup, in most cases. His
effect is much easier to use if you went first, as
you'll have 3 ninja (including Shikamaru) to your
opponent's 2. When going second, it's a little
trickier, as you'll likely find yourself throwing
him into your team just to match your opponent's
team. Growthing this guy over your [Formation]
versions is a nasty perk. Free drop 4 Support CIP on
Turn 2 seems pretty good.
Limited: 4/5
Constructed: 4/5
~StormVyper Zera
Master Wang
Shikamaru~Unwillingness
Another day, another card and today's....confuses
me...
Shikamaru~Unwillingness has done something that no
other card has done in a long time...confuses me as
to how and why it's so widely accepted as awesome. I
can easily dismiss this by saying it simply needs to
be playtested to fully understand its power, of
which is very true, but this card, to me isn't so
simple to declare awesome.
I mean, yes, all the stats are great, but with cards
like Shikamaru, it's all about the effect. Being
able to prevent him and one of your opponent's
ninjas with an EC of 2 or less from being sent out
to battle on both player's Mission Phases sounds
good at first, but it all sounds so situational. I
can't help, but find this as a pure rush card. Sure
I see some late game use for this...kinda, but I
guess it's all about getting him before turn 5 where
a team or teams could have a ninja with 2 or less EC
in their team.
I mean...that's all I can say about it. It's nothing
sophisticated, yet it's situational. I can sort of
see why people like him so much, but it's just the
fact of him not being sent out to battle either that
makes me scratch my head, but then again
Shizune~Medical Kunoichi has the same drawback and
that hasn't affected her playability.
All I can say is, in the end, be careful how you
play this card. He can be destructive if he's played
early enough, but even then, your opponent can
adapt. As a closing note, I'm giving this review
with little test or experience in playing this card
since I haven't pulled it or proxy-tested with it,
yet. This is just one of those cards that a player
has to play him or herself to see if it works for
them. Bottom line, I just don't see the perfection
of this card. I see the awesomeness, but not
perfection....yet.
Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 4/5
Art: Even Shikamaru looks perplexed at his effect!
/5
