M-618 Determination of Men

Sorry I wasn't here for the past few days, I've been prepping for, and then competing in the Ohio Chunin, which was a blast. Placed 5th-6th or so, and my team won the event, which was sweet. Honestly, I'm still a bit tired from that whole weekend, but I had to get my thoughts up on this card. Also Ninja, I wasn't saying not to use the style of review, I'd just like it acknowledged, kay? ;)

Today's card is a personal favorite of mine, Determination of Men. It was a card that a lot of people didn't like on it's announcement, and I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first too. But after playing with it, my mind was thoroughly changed. But let's check out this card effect, shall we:

Determination of Men
T3 HC1 Fire
Effect: Select up to 3 of your "Male" only Ninjas. Then, remove those Ninjas from their Teams. During this turn, those selected Ninjas cannot be Teamed with any other Ninja(s), and must be sent out to Battle, if possible. At the end of this turn, draw 1 card for each of those Ninjas that still remains in play and place 1 Growth coin on each of them. Additionally, at the end of this turn, if any of them are injured, you can change any or all of them to healthy status.

Again, at first this seems like a suicide run for your ninjas, forcing them to fight without a team. But with Fire's squading capabilities, you could easily have your Sasuke (4/0), Shiba or Kiba/Aka (5/3) or others on field at this time, able to stand against a team of 8 without dying, and getting both effects. Also possible is calling Shikamaru (U) as one of your ninjas, holding one of their guys back, and getting your growth and draw on him without even having to battle with him. It's possible to call your guys when they can't be sent out, so it makes your opponent's halt cards work a bit in your favor. It's especially good on T6 with Itachi (GIG), allowing you to hold back your opponent's biggest team, swing in with all your men, and then draw/growth/heal them all without worrying about reprisal.

It's not the best card, and I'll admit this, but it's one that I think deserves far more credit than it's given. A fun card and worthy of being an SR, this is one of my fav cards from the set, if only because of how balanced it is in an element with Kashi (BH), Chidori, and FBG.

Limited: 1.5/5 Not enough support here
Constructed: 3./5 Great mission, but there's too much here to make this an auto inclusion in your line up
Block: 3.5/5 A good card that if played correctly, can swing things back in your favor
Art: Two men enter, one man leaves...sorry Obito.../5

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3/23/10 M-618 Determination of Men
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Today's card is pretty much the only reason why the "Male" characteristic has any use other than Sexy/Harem Jutsu. In short terms, this card makes you send out three male ninjas out to battle by themselves and you draw one card for each survivor. Additionally, if they survive, they are changed to healthy status (if you want them to be) and get one growth token placed on them.

Pros:
Decent draw power
Heals your suicidal males and makes them more powerful

Cons:
Your ninjas are solo, while your opponent's don't need to be
Chances are that at least one of the ninjas will be OV'd
Not good in Female decks*

Combos:
Best in Fire decks with Chiriku or Uchiha decks when you have Fugaku and SotPC out

This card wold have been much better if it was like NvS and forced your opponent to do they same as you so that way your solo males would have a better chance of living. DoM is a pretty meh super if you ask me

Limited: 2.5/5 Sorta helpful here with the draw and power boost.
Constructed: 3.5/5 Pretty good in most fire decks
Block: 3/5 Not as many good Males in Block
*From now on, I'm going to throw in one useless Pro/Con/and/or Combo