Beastly Mage

N-721 Chiriku [VIRTUE]

I might be judging at Gencon!  Go me, go me!  I'm really looking forward to finding this out, as I'd love to be able to help at an event like that.  As some of you may know, I'm a judge more than a player now.  But yeah, make sure you keep an eye out for me at your bigger events, as I may be hitting a few SJCs this season.

Today's card sure is a step down from yesterdays, we've got Chiriku today.  He's just a guy, a powerful guy, and...there's really not a lot to say about him, so let's take a look at his stats, shall we:

T4 HC0 Fire

Male | 12 Shinobi Guardians

5/3 0/1 CA: Taijutsu

Set 16: Common

...uh yeah, really exciting...I'm not a fan of his power, as he drops like a rock as soon as he takes a punch, which is very unlike most other Tai ninjas.  He has Male, which is worse than female, and the as of yet untouched 12 Shinobi Guardians characteristic.  Without that having a purpose, it's pretty much vanilla, so I can't really give him anything for it.  Tai isn't bad, but he's the wrong element to take advantage of most things that make it good.  Not a great card, but let's see if it's effect can save it, shall we:

[VIRTUE]
When this Ninja is sent out to Block, you can select 1 of your injured Ninjas. In that case, during this turn, this Ninja gets +X/+0 while that injured Ninja is in your Village. X = the printed Combat of the selected Ninja.

...so it's a stall card, huh?  And it has a requirement to it's pump too?  Really?  It could be huge in a Tai deck with Might Guy, or maybe on element with Obito, but not a solid choice in any deck.  I myself am not a fan of stall cards, especially fragile ones who lose effect if injured and have garbage injured stats.  This is a bad card, and it should feel bad.

I myself hope they do something with the 12 SG trait, but as of now with just Asuma and this guy having it, it's gone nothing on any other trait.

Limited: 2.25/5 Not horrible, decent stats, and might get his effect off

Constructed: 1.25/5 Not worthless, but nearly

Block: 1.5/5 A bit better, but just barely

Art: He has a furrowed brow and a pansy little waist band...he's adorably dorky!/5

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3/11/10 N-721 Chiriku
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Today's card is everyone's favorite monk that was killed by the Akatsuki and had his dead body sold for millions of Ryo! (Sorry, this was the best opening I could come up with... let's just review him for now)

Chiriku
Fire
EC: 4 HC: 0
Male | 12 Shinobi Guardians
Healthy: 5/3 Injured: 0/1
Combat Attribute: Taijutsu

Other than Taijutsu CA, there is nothing important to see here. 5/3 healthy is nice for a T4 but his 0/1 injured is not pretty. 12 Shinobi Guardians is a useless characteristic but it might have some function next set but right now it means nothing. Male is as useless as ever unless you are running Determination of Men, which this card is a good candidate for due to his effect.
[VIRTUE]

When this Ninja is sent out to Block, you can select 1 of your injured Ninjas. In that case, during this turn, this Ninja gets + X/+0 while that injured Ninja is in your Village. X = the printed Combat of the selected Ninja.

I see this effect being used mostly in Lightning since you're going to have an injured Naruto out most likely. If that Naruto is Tailed Beast Mode, this guy is going to get a major pump. I really don't think this will see any play outside of Lightning though since you generally don't want to have injured ninjas and injured ninjas should be used for chumps, not pumps (Dr. Seuss moment unintended). Actually, this guy is worse in his own element, Fire, which I think has the worst ninjas when injured.

Limited: 3.5/5 Good healthy stats and a semi-decent effect
Constructed: 3.5/5 He is very good in Taijutsu decks and a nice splash for Lightning if you can fit him.
Block: 3.5/5

chiriku
T 4 HC 0
5/3 0/1
male/ 12 shinobi guardians
taijutsu CA

Today's card is Chiriku. One of the 12 shinobi guardians of the fire country. IMO he is a must for taijutsu decks all around. He has good combat and great support for a turn 4. On top of that, when he is sent out to block, you can add the combat of one of your injured ninjas to his combat. If this is used right, he can be at least a 12 or higher as a head ninja!!!!

Constructed: 4/5
Limited: 2.5/5