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Pojo's Shaman King TCG Card of the Day
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Smoldering
Confidence
Type -
Guardian
Card Number - REI_076
Card
Ratings
Casual: 2.8
Tournament: 3
Sealed: 4.2
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5
scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the
highest rating.
Date Reviewed - 03.21.05 |
|
Dan The
Timid |
Smoldering Confidence
Strike
Type: Guardian
Cost: 0/1/1
Stats: 10/5
Effect:You may not focus Smoldering Confidence.
Hey again, I was kind of sad that there were so
few reviews for my week of card of the day
choices -_- But whatcha gonna do, hopefully
since this weeks choices are Scott's we'll see
his return. I'm not really sure what his theme
was for this week, maybe powerful cards with
weird negative effects? We start this week with
a personal favorite of a close friend of mine.
Aside from the fact that he loves the pic, he
runs a zeke deck with many spirit of fires so it
fits his deck well. But is this Smoldering for
every guardian deck, lets take a look.
Pros:
- Huge Intercept
- Solid Force
- Extremely cheap cost for its stats
Cons:
- All though cheap for those stats its still
kind of expensive
- You can't focus it... ever.
- Only guardian types can use it
Overview: This is one of those cards that for me
at first glance looked good, at second glance
looked really bad, and at third glance seemed
situational but really good if put into the
right deck. 10 intercept is insanely good, if
I'm not mistaken its the highest base intercept
on a strike in the initial set. As long as
youv'e got one of these babys hiding in your
deck you always feel like there no strike you
can't block. If all that intercept wasn't enough
5 force is pretty solid as well, it gets over
the punishers and the plethora of opening attack
returners and with even a slight boost can have
a real shot at scoring a point. The cost at a
yellow and a red is a little hefty but its only
2 furyoku your actually paying so over payment
is rarely going to be an issue and if you really
crunch the numbers you'll find that its really
quite cheap for what your getting. Compare it to
Disheartening Blow for instance, another gurdian
strike with the cost of a green and a red for a
7/4 and a rarely worth it pitch ability. Or the
often considered guardian deck staple
necrawakening, a green and a red for a 5/5 and a
rarely useful charge effect. Basically your
getting alot more intercept then that price pays
for. Thats not to say you won't end up paying
for it though, as Smoldering has a hidden extra
cost, it won't let you focus it. Facing a 1
intercept in your yellow, you've gotta decide
whether to pay a yellow and red to block
something you could have easily with something
cheaper, or discard and move down a row,
effectively adding an extra yellow cost onto
whatever flip you end up using. Yes this card
can really make you pay if it comes up at an
inoportune time. And so far in the initial set
there are no mind/guardian trait combos among
shaman (I suspect Faust may be one in the next
set however) so your not likely to get around it
coming up through deck manipulation. (though
there are ways).
Deeper Analysis: So the question now is, do the
pros out weight the cons. I'd say in an average
deck, just tossed in, no, the pros aren't worth
the cons. HOWEVER there are many types of decks
where the pros most certaintly do out weigh the
cons. Going off our current list of guardian
trait shaman I'd say in general Jeanne and Zeke
are the 2 top prospects. Most of the X-law
Teamworks are about decreasing the intercept of
your strikes to gain some benificiary effect,
when you've got 10 intercept at your disposal
rare will be the time when you won't be able to
use those effects, and in the case of the ones
that aren't limited to once per turn you may
even get some huge boosts out of it. Jeanne Iron
Maiden and Venster Punisher both in particular
LOVE this strike. Even against an opening attack
of 4 force you can use Jeanne's effect twice to
gain back 2 yellow, almost effectively gaining a
5 force counter attack for free. Even better
still combine it with Venster Punisher on a 4
force and with enough furyoku you could easily
send a 4/11 back their way. Even if your
opponent is running their own Smoldering
Confidence it won't be enough to block that.
Zeke also can make good use of it do to his
spirits of fire, every Smoldering that comes up
is effectively a 9/7 if its in a spirit of fire
zone, thats absurdely cheap at only a yellow and
a red. Obviously you still run the same risks as
in any other type of deck, that you have to pay
too much for it or that it comes up when your
out of yellow and or red and have to discard it
but if you can make use of all that extra
intercept Smoldering Confidence can easily be
worth the risk.
Uses/Combos: Well I actually listed most of the
combos in my Deeper Analysis section today but
just some other food for thought, although I
wouldn't suggest Smoldering Confidence in a Jun
deck right now, it only doesn't let you focus
it, it still lets you pitch it, so it does combo
well with Jun Big Sister teamwork. In the future
it might prove a handy combo for say Faust who
will most likely also be guardian and team yoh,
especially since Faust will probably be mind and
thus better able to avoid it coming up when he
doesn't want to use it and can't pitch it.
Final Stat Breakdown:
Constructed: 4/5
Constructed Jun Deck: 2/5
Sealed: 2/5 (even if your running Jeanne or Zeke
the odds of you being able to really make use of
its intercept are far less and its more likely
to be a liability then an asset)
|
|
Darth
Vailo |
Card Name| Smoldering Confidence | Card
Type| Strike| Card Trait| Guardian|
Card Cost| Green-1 & 1 Red| Rarity|
Rare| Force| 5| Intercept| 10|
Set ID Number| REI_076| Art Number|
NASK_0010|
Card Effect| You may not focus
Smoldering Confidence.
Flavor Text| "Are you sweating because
it's hot, or because you're about to be
snuffed out?" Zeke
Foreword
Hi
all! I hope that all of you have been
well. I would like to start by
apologizing to anyone who may have
missed me last week. I had the flu and I
was unable to stand much less write a
review. I also apologize to anyone who
missed my article. Hopefully I will be
able to get it out to you guys this
week. Seeing as Im not completely
better though I cannot make any
promises.
This week we review cards hand picked by
our very own Scott Gerhardt! Read on
Card Advantages
Smoldering Confidence is really just a
one trick pony. It blocks, and it does
its job well enough I suppose. There
really isnt ever going to be a strike
coming back at you that exceeds ten. In
fact I cannot think of anything that has
a higher force than ten. :\ There really
isnt much else you can say about it.
The only deck this will see any play in
is a very defensive deck. It can be a
real beast when used with Spirit of Fire
Immortal Legacy. Even Tao En.
Pros
Good Stats.
Card Disadvantages
Eh, where does one start? Really I think
that that was the shortest Card
Advantages I have ever done. The reason
being is that I just do not see much
good about this card at all. Starting
with the effect everything goes down
hill after the stats. You cannot focus
Smoldering Confidence. This is extremely
hurtful. Basically what you are getting
is a card that is forcing you to cast it
or discard. Thats just no good. One
furyoku can be very crucial in this
game. Especially if you are in the
yellow or red zones. This would not be
to terrible since Smoldering Confidence
has such an uncannily high intercept if
it were not for the cost. One green and
one red furyoku is not cheap. Granted it
is not the highest cost ever, but the
red furyoku cost is much too high.
Really I cannot see anything that makes
that worth the use. When I use my red
furyoku I want something in return.
Maybe some sort of furyoku gain, a
charged zone, a re-flip, anything that
gives me an advantage over the opponent.
But with Smoldering Confidence all that
you are really getting is an emergency
button.
Aside from that the card is a rare, and
franchised. Meaning it is less versatile
and hard to get. I dont know maybe its
just me but I think that the folks at
UDE just went far to hard on this card
in trying to make it more balanced.
Cons
High Cost.
Rare.
Doesnt offer any advantages.
Franchised.
Summary
In
the end I just do not see anything
special about this card. You MAY get
some usefulness from it in a defensive
deck, but really I think there are
better ways to fill the spot(s) that
this would fill. Cards like Point Blank
are just better at getting the job done.
Even with things supporting it I cannot
really recommend it. Stick with the
cheaper defensive cards.
Ratings
Tournament-1.5
Casual-1.5
Sealed-3.5 (The high intercept makes
this baby much better here since you
have no clue what you might be seeing.
Plus five force isnt shabby here.)
Feedback Information
If you have any comments, question,
or suggestions here are some ways of
contacting me,
PM me on the forums at my user
name-Darth Vailo
E-mail me at-darthvailo@yahoo.com
I ll do my best to get back to you asap.
Thanks to you guys again for the kind
words.
^_^v Peace, Love, and may you never find
yourself on Tilt!
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|
andys
island |
Well I
got my May Shonen Jump on Saturday. Did you? If
not, check the mail or head out to the store to
pick up an issue. 2 color pages of an interview
with Brian Hacker about Shaman King TCG is in
there. Plus all the other great things Jump
offers, like two more Shaman King chapters. So
let's start this week off with a Zeke card,
Smoldering Confidence.
Guardian Trait limits this playability to the
current following shamans: Jeanne, Jun, and of
coarse Zeke.
I hate to use red furyoku unless I know it's
going to get me a point. Mostly I save Red for
my strikes, and here is a good one. It costs a
yellow and a red but for the intercept and force
it is well worth it.
10 Intercept. That's double digits right there.
Basically stop anything that comes your way.
Followed by a 5 force is a deadly combo of
numbers. A 2:1 ratio between Intercept and Force
is very solid stats. The 5 force alone is a
target number, but the 10 intercept will stop
your opponent in his/her tracks.
This card as an effect, which tries to pull back
it's power. Not focusing this card isn't a
problem, if you flip, I don't see why you won't
use it. If you choose not to play this card for
any reason, such as lack of furyoku, you must
discard this card. Goes right into the discard
pile and you move into the next zone.
With this rare card, when you are deck building
you must remember the line of "Too much of a
good thing." True, this card has tons of power,
but isn't 4 in your deck too much? If you play
all of them for forces by your opponent where a
5 intercept is needed, you will lose most if not
all of your red furyoku. This card is great, but
you must not waste too much red furoku with 4 of
this card in your deck. So 2 might be a good
number for how many of these should be in your
deck, but 4 might be living too dangerously.
Casual: 4/5
Tournament: 4/5
Sealed: 5/5 (If you pull 4 of these, then don't
use them all, but use the ones you got)
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