Preparations have started.

Less than 30 days till GENCON. The biggest Naruto Tournament in the US, and im excited. Gotta start preparing but i wont leave u empty handed Bandai has posted that it will be spliting up the preview post between a few sites. Im sure MJM will be back up and running soon but either way ill be posting a list of all the cards as they are released so you have an easy place to go to gather your info. See u at GENCON!!!

Bandai makes some changes!

Its offical. Bandai has made a banned list.

http://www.bandaicg.com/naruto/showthread.php?t=66319

I. Max ZERO Cards (2)

You cannot play ANY copies of the following cards in the Deck & Side Deck combined:

1) Series #14: Emerging Alliance - "Shizune & Tonton (N-636)
2) Series 16: Broken Promise - "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu (J-611)

I. Max One Cards (12)

You can ONLY use ONE of the following cards in the Deck & Side Deck combined:

1) Series #10: Lineage of Legends - "Water Style: Furious Current Jutsu (J-332)"
2) Series #12: A New Chronicle – “Kankuro (N-461)”
3) Series #14: Emerging Alliance – “Yoroi Akado (N-630)”
4) Series #14: Emerging Alliance – “Shikamaru Nara (N-634)”
5) Series #14: Emerging Alliance – “Sealing Barrier (M-486)”
6) Series #14: Emerging Alliance - "Ten Thousand Snakes Wave (J-521)"
7) Series #15: Foretold Prophecy - "Miroku (C-051)"
8) Series #15: Foretold Prophecy - "Baki (N-678)"
9) Series #14: Emerging Alliance - "Secret Meeting (M-492)"
10) Series #13: Fateful Reunion - "Threat of the Tailed Beasts (M-430)"
11) Series #14: Emerging Alliance - "Kabuto Yakushi (N-615)"
12) Series 17: Will of Fire - "Naruto Uzumaki" (N-861)
13) Tournament Pack 1 - "Reanimation Ninjutsu" (J-704)

II. Max Two Cards (2)

You can ONLY use TWO of the following cards in the Deck & Side Deck combined:

1) Series #9: The Chosen - “Just like Drifting Clouds (M-US086)”
2) Series #12: A New Chronicle – “Long Awaited Reinforcements (M-411)”

__________________

Comments/ Questions? Post them here.

Its been a while.

Sorry we haven't made a post in a while. We have been kinda busy preparing for SJC and stuff like that. Things will be back and better soon. We are going to make a few updates to the site and make it more appealing that we will be back and stronger then ever.

AMAZING SUPERS UNVAILED

OMG! thanks for the pic was given by Spiral8.

Piercing Chidori Fire
Fire | Fire
Requirements: "Sasuke Uchiha" or "Kakashi Hatake"
Target: 1 Ninja Battling against the user.
Effect: Your opponent selects 1 of the following and you apply it.
1) The target gets -5/-5 and -5 Mental Power during this turn.
2) You draw 3 cards.


Sakura Haruno T3 H0 Wind
Leaf | Chunin | Female | Mental Power:3 | Medical | Growth
[Women's Life]
During the turn this Ninja is put in play, if you have only "Female" only Ninjas, this Ninja's Team can only be blocked by a Team of "Female" only Ninjas.
Valid: All of your other "Female" only Ninjas get +1/+1 and +1 Mental Power
4/3 0/2 Medicine/ Taijutsu


Naruto Uzumaki & Jiraiya T6 H0 Lightning/?
Leaf | Genin | Sannin | Male | Clone Status | Mastery | SQUAD
[Master and Disciple]
During the Exchange of Jutsu, you can slect one of you opponent;s Ninjas Battling against this Ninja and move a Ninja card that includes the name "Jiraiya","Naruto Uzumaki", and/or "The Fourth Hokage" from your hand to your chakra area. In that case, give 2 Damage to the selected Ninja.
7/3 9/4 Oil/Ninjutsu

Chunin Updates, Set 17 reviews 1, and fun news.

Yo,
Sorry for the long wait for the new post but i had to get ready for local chunin which went great. N. Jolly was a great host and it was a blast. but let us get to todays post.

1. Chunins

So this past weekend was the local Chunins at New Dimension Comics in Butler, Pa. I ran Medical Rush. I didn't place but the trip was still fun i got a lot of great trades, the people were awesome, and it was just a fun day. The winner was J. Bac running his version of the new taijutsu deck and the runner up was running a version of tears for fears. There was a lot of fire decks. I want to say at least 1/2 of the decks were fire, then we had some medic and some misc decks.


2. Set 17 reviews.

I was going to wait to start this till after set was released so i could focus on what changes it actualy brings to the meta rather then just predictions.But i think its safe to start with one or 2 before its release. So today we will be reviewing my personal favorate part of any set and its the name of this blog "THE SQUADS". Ok lets get started.

Shikamaru Nara & Choji Akimichi T3/H0 Earth/Wind
Leaf | Chunin | Genin | Male | Mental Power:4 | Secret Pills | Squad


Lets start here this ninja has a lot going for it and a few things against it.
Good- (Shikamaru +Chunin) this opens up a lot of great jutsu for this ninja to use like Shadow Stitching and Shadow Strangle, (Male) good for splashing so it can be used with "Determination By Men", (Mental Power:4) always a plus
Bad- (Name: Shikamaru) it requires you to get rid of one of the best T2s in the game.

Effect [Leaf's Uncoverd Elite]
During the Exchange of Jutsu, you can remove a Ninja card, that includes "Shikamaru Nara: and/or " Choji Akimichi: in it;s name, in your Reinforcement Deck, from game. In that case, this Ninja gets +3/+3 and +3 Mental Power during this turn.
5/3 3/3

Great! This ninja can be the strongest T3 in the game. it can become an 8/6 with 7 mental. This can out combat even Kankuro [Tactician] and keep up with a Tsunade that was just Shizune/TonTon. This card can be great for fighting mental decks because even Shikamaru/Kakashi has 7 mental as well. The best part is this effect canbe used 8 times(Shikamaru/Choji, Shikamaru/Kakashi, and Shikamaru/Asuma).

So all in all i give this card a 3/5. Great art, great effect but the only downsides are there is better shikamaru, and shikamaru squads so this card will see some competition.

Shikamaru Nara & Asuma Sarutobi T5 H0 Earth/Wind
Leaf | Chunin | Jonin | Male | Mental Power: 5 | 12 Shinobi Gaurdians | Proctor | Squad

Good-(Shikamaru +Chunin)again adds good jutsu,(Jonin) opens up even more jutsu, (Mental Power: 5) even better then the last squad, (Shikamaru/Asuma Platoon) great to combo up with the platoon to get its remove from play effect.
Bad-(Asuma)other then jonin he doesn't give much to squad except Weapon but other then that your adding asuma just as squad bait. The only good thing is we got a good new Asuma.

Effect:[Everlasting Relationship]
Valid: This Ninja cannot be affected by the effects of your opponent's Ninja.
Valid: When this Ninja;s Team wins a Victory or an Outstanding Victory, you win 1 Battle Reward and draw 1 card.
7/5 2/4

Pretty nice effect! Its protected against big meta cards like Itachi(Gig), Baki, and 4th Kazekage. It has pretty aweome heathy stats for head ninja and support. and his second effect its a better Kakashi (ES). Probably the best part of this ninja is both of his stats are valid.


3. Fun and awesome news.

Chibi set looks like its going to be amazing. Andy posted a small preview today. It was an awesome tease of hinata. It looks liek we will be getting an Ino, Anko, Anbu, Might Guy, and some Akatsuki. I am super excited about this set. I really wanna see what old cards will be brought back and what cards will stay when block rolls around.

Another interesting note is that after set 17 they will be discontinueing Black and Gold cards. Though I personaly liked the idea of a new rarity it messed up boxes, the cards scrathed to easy and the design was just to bland.


This week will be buzzing with new combos, news and updates with the new set release friday. We will keep you uptodate on news bout new set, and updates. See you next time.


-The New Squad

Updates, Reviews and More

So today we have a lot of stuff to talk about, as it was a very busy weekend for bandai. In todays blog we will have the following information.

1.SJC Washington Report.
2. Naruto Set 18 information
3.and helpful advice for upcoming tournaments,

ok lets get started.

1. This weekend was the the very 1st Shonen Jump Championship.

05/08/10

Olympic Cards & Comics

Lacey, WA

It was a 2 day event where people from all across the US came to join and see if they could take home the 1st prize. The 1st day ended with the top 8 seeing alot of familar faces but a lot of new deck types. We had:
1. Max Grahnet (Females/Medical)
2. Daniel Collens (Taijutsu)
3. Thomas Cao (Animals)
4. Jerry Balentuangin (Taijutsu)
5. Amir Abboushi (Monofire)
6. Gersain Perez (Females/Medical)
7. Casey Strong (Monowater)
8. Destin Earsery (Unknown)

So we ended up seeing alot of the same decks we have been seeing alot of latly. Medical/Females, Monofire and Animal Rush. But surprisingly the new deck on the block showed a lot of ferocity. Taijutsu was the new deck this weekend at the SJC. It was a Lightening/Earth Build that took the best of both elements. I dont want to ruin the deck for anyone so if you wanna see more on this deck id head over to the WA SJC live updates . The winners got some nice prizes along with extra bonus items that players got for entering. Some of the other prizes included. Platinum Tobi, and early release Set 17 starter decks. But when it came down to it. The final round was between Max Grahnert (Mediacal) vs. Danny Collens (Taijutsu). Dan ended up winning the 1st SJC with the Taijutsu deck so i figure at least for the next few weeks we will see alot of those decks pop up at locals but to see if it sticks around all depends on what next set bring to the table.



2.Set 18 information.

"In Q3, Bandai America will release Fangs of the Snake, the 18th release for the Naruto CCG, with a focus on sealed and draft play; and three Naruto Tins. Naruto CCG Series 18: Fangs of the Snake includes 100 new cards which chronicle the formation of Sasuke’s new Ninja team, “Team Snake.” New Ninja cards of Sasuke, Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu will add strength to players’ Water Decks; new versions of other Naruto universe Ninjas are included to offset the power of Team Snake.

Naruto CCG boosters are $3.99 for a 10-card pack.

The three different Naruto Collectible Tins shipping this fall will each include a special promo card, two Series 17: Will of Fire booster packs, and two Series 18: Fangs of the Snake boosters, all at a $14.99 MSRP."




3.Now on to our 3rd and last subject of the day, upcoming chunnin. We have a local chunin coming up at New Dimension comics and Games in Butler, PA. I figure we will see a few of the new decks (taijutsu) popping up at this but other then then we will probably see alot of the normal everyday big tournament decks. Don't forget to get a good nites rest before the event and make sure you have everything when you leave. Ex.(Decklist, Deck(I hate this but i have seen people show up to events and realize they left their deck at home. In my book those ppl are the real winners. ), Tradeables, counters/dice, and playmats.

You don't wanna bring to much because it will weigh you down and take more time to find everything when you should be calm and completely focused on your next match. and this blog isn't about whining but i just want you all to remember this is a CCG (Collectiable Card GAME). So that means its ok to be competive but its also ment to be fun. So if you lose you lose and it give you knowledge for next time. So i'm gonna end with the most cliched line in the book.

"Go out and have FUN"

I think next post i might do a Tournament checklist, that way players can know and remeber what to bring so they are not flustered when they get to the tournament scene.

Happy Mother's Day!!

This is for all the mother naruto players, and mothers of naruto players(especially in WA for letting then go to SJC).

I'll have a post up tomorrow about the 1st SJC in Washington. And I have a Chunin this Saturday so after i will have top 8 deck list from that and info on the winner.

The Ninja Squad - About Us!

Jesse and I(Russ) have been talking about this for a while but we finally got to making this, A Blog bout CCG. We both play card games made by Bandai so we decided to make it about all of then Naruto, Battle Spirits, and Dragonball.

We will bring you card reviews, set reviews, news, tournament coverage, deck ideas, etc. We will have videos, pictures and links to provide you with the best experience we can. We are always open to suggestions and ideas. Comments will be appreciated. Thanks and hope to have a new post up soon.



The Ninja Squad,
Russ Young
Jesse Spohn