Did you already found the hidden link where we uploaded these cards weeks ago? They have been here all the time – sneaky Ninjas!
Of course, we also have a new group of guests talking about the new cards. We have James Lockwood from Cards Of Ivalice, Lv. 1 Onion Knight Brian Camacho, Worlds Participant Nacho Gonzalez, Luca Reboldi from Team Pota Sdullo, and Worlds Participant ‘GrandJason’ (www.youtube.com/grandjasongaming). Let’s see what they have to say!
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Gekkou 11-006C
4 CP Fire Forward, Category Pictlogica/IV, Job Ninja, 8000 Power
When Gekkou enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 Damage for each Job Ninja or Card Name Ninja you control.
James: Big shock, I really like this card. 8k for 4cp is on curve, and chances are if you are playing Gekkou, you are playing deep into Ninjas. His dealing of 2k by himself is certainly not noteworthy, but the fact that he deals 2k for every "job" + "card named" Ninja (not just forwards) means that you will most likely have Ninja backups as well to contribute towards this damage. Both the backup Ninjas 5-017C and 8-057C see play outside of Ninja's, so they work extremely well with Gekkou to add more damage. Also, being in the FF7 remake set, I'm sure we'll have a Yuffie to help contribute to Gekkou as well. The (1)Fire for brave isn't really noteworthy, but I guess it's a small bonus in case you don't want to suffer Ice's wrath.
Brian: Considering that I’ve been trying to make a Ninja deck work for quite some time now, I was more excited to see a new Gekkou card than anything else, weirdly enough. The big guy of the Eblan Four is similar to other 8k Power Forwards like Firion (1-021H) and Duncan (8-014L), but with the potential for a much higher burn on entry effect - assuming you’ve gotten enough Ninjas on the field of course. Running this guy with Edge (2-053H) means that you’ll have a 9k power Forward with First Strike and on-demand Brave who can deal 8k ping damage with 3 other Ninjas on the field. You could even combo Gekkou with cards like Ninja (7-058C), since it needs to be played in a Fire/Wind deck to get the additional burn effect off.
Nacho: 4cp 8k power is a decent curve, for that cp is what we expect of a card for it to be a good start. We are ok with the cp and power of the cards so let's keep going!
He will deal 2k on entry if he is the only ninja on your side of the field but if he is with a couple of ninja cards he can deal 8k with no problem. The brave adds a good ability for the card. It is a very good card to be play in a heavy "Ninja" theme deck, but in the actual meta right now I’m not sure about it.
Luca: Given the cost, the power level and the auto ability it is comparable to Firion H opus 1 and Zack opus 10, but only if played in a ninja deck it can express its true potential, being able to shoot 8k or more easily, while alone will barely kill a Viking (excellent thing is the fact that it also counts itself); Most likely it will be played in a ninja deck (which would also need at least one "Reynn L" - like card to make it competitive) My Overall rating 7.5 / 10
Jason: Now if you'e seen what I've seen then you'll know that Opus XI is all about having the right job and ninjas are certainly one of those (keep your eyes peeled on more spoilers incoming). But with just the ninjas we currently know about, this card easily has the potential to be a 4cp 8k forward that is able to eat other 8ks for breakfast, just add 3 other ninjas. Ninja 8-057C, 5-017C, 2-115C and 6-097C are easy choices to pump up this removal monster, not to mention a few other ninja buddies in the form of Edge, Onion Knight or Yuffie.
Oh yeh, right… He's also got an ability that can give him brave. Nothing to write home about, but always a useful option to have in tight games.
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Tsukinowa 11-051C
3 CP Wind Forward, Category Pictlogica/IV, Job Ninja, 7000 Power
When Tsukinowa enters the field, choose up to the same number of Characters you control as the Job Ninja or Card Name Ninja you control. Activate them.
W: Tsukinowa gains “Tsukinowa cannot be blocked by a Forward of cost 5 or more.” until the end of the turn.
James: It's Wind, it's power is on curve, and if you are playing Tsukinowa in Ninjas, it's free. I can't see why you wouldn't include him in a Ninja deck. The cannot be blocked by 5 or more ability is just icing on the cake, to get around annoying forwards like Ardyn or Feolthanos. A fine contribution to Ninja's frontline, especially in Fire/Wind.
Brian: Forwards that can activate Backups on entry is a great way to build up your board while continuing your combos, and Tsukinowa can either be played for free if you have two other Ninjas on the field or reactivate your Forwards after an aggressive push. Only being unblockable to Forwards of cost 5 or higher may seem like it won’t be used very much, but keep in mind that Forwards with unblockable effects tend to have much smaller bodies. There are also some popular targets like Veritas of the Dark (8-136L) and Feolthanos (10-098L) that are tricky to deal with, so you can use Tsukinowa to slip right past them. You can even put Ninja (5-017C) into the Break Zone to get around any other smaller targets that would be able to block Tsukinowa - just make sure not to do that if Feolthanos is on the field of course!
Nacho: 3cp for a 7k it a good start, but this card isn't just this!
The effect that can activate characters you control based on job or name ninja cards you control, is strong since you can activate forwards that you use to attack or backups to keep playing more cards! I think this is a great effect.
Also, for 1 wind CP this card gains "cannot be blocked by a forwards of cost 5 or more" this effect is a bit weaker but it’s an ok effect to have. Same as Gekkou, I see this card being played on a ninja theme deck.
Luca: Comparable to Bartz H opus 1 and Vata, in a ninja deck it becomes even more performing than they are! Efficient from the start, in late potentially at cost 3 will be able to reactivate all the characters we will control maybe after attacking with everything to play more in Main Phase 2, giving an excellent advantage also in combo with Miounne! the action ability is the icing on the cake, which will make it unblock-able for the c5 + at the price of a single wind cp. Obviously this card will be limited to the thematic ninja deck. Personally, I believe that it is the best of the 4 cards in my article, as this is the most versatile and useful one in multiple situations. Overall rating 8.5/10
Jason: There are cards that create broken effects and there are effects that are just good value. Tsukinowa is a card that does a bit of both. Our first effect is worded really broadly and has plenty of basic and advanced applications. If you're looking for just a 0cp forward, you can just activate any 3 backups upon entry. Yep, you're not even limited to reactivating ninja cards. If you're looking for defense then feel free to reactivate some forwards. But if you're really looking to push some combo effects then activate some nice monsters in the form of Flandit (5-088C), Cactaur (4-058C) or for some extra spicy effects, Magic Pot 4-094R. And don't even get me started on all the shenanigans this card brings when you can play it using another effect such as Phoenix 5-019L or Izayoi 3-124R?
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Maina 11-060C
3 CP Wind Backup, Category FFL, Job Ninja
EX BURST When Maina enters the field, you may search for 1 Job Ninja Forward or Card Name Ninja Forward and add it to your hand.
James: Another great value card for Wind Ninjas, Maina is essentially a 1cp backup since she seeks out Ninja forwards. And it's on ex-burst as well, so bonus points. As with all these cards, I love that it's BOTH Job: Ninja and Card Name Ninja. Again, auto include in your Ninja deck. Bonus: Artwork is fantastic.
Brian: Having never played Final Fantasy Legends II, I don’t know much about Maina here. What I do know is that she’s a searcher in the same vein as King of Burmecia but for Ninjas which means she’s my new best friend. In fact, of all the job-specific search backups, I’d argue that she’s the best one we’ve gotten so far. Also Duke Goltanna wishes he had an EX burst, and that his outfit was as cute as Maina’s.
Nacho: Yes! 3 cp for a backup searcher plus a EX burst! I like the 3cp backup searchers with EX who doesn’t? She searches for a job ninja forward or card name ninja forward simple and effective. I think it even can be played outside of a theme deck since Maina can search for some interesting ninjas like Yuffie or Onion Knight.
I hope some ninja lovers will prove me wrong and make a meta ninja deck!!
Luca: The perfect searcher for ninja forwards! 3 cost cp with EX and no restriction between role / name is excellent! It will surely find place in every ninja deck. My personal opinion, it is perfect and having EX compensates for the fact that ninja in general are slightly weaker than other thematic cards. Overall rating 8/10
Jason: What do I really need to say about Maina? If you're building a ninjas deck, she's an easy auto -include. Being 3 cost, EX burst, wind element, a ninja herself and not name clashing with any cards so far, there's nothing more you can really ask from this card. Well, except maybe being category IV or VII, but that's a very tiny nitpick.
Finally, outside of strictly ninja based decks, 1 or 2 copies can be included to find specific ninjas for other archetypes. Yuffie 8-064H in Category VII and Onion Knight 4-054L are some relevant examples.
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Zangetsu 11-094C
4 CP Lightning Forward, Category Pictlogica/IV, Job Ninja, 8000 Power
When Zangetsu enters the field, choose up to the same number of Characters opponent controls as the Job Ninja or Card Name Ninja you control. Dull them.
L: Zangetsu gains Haste until the end of the turn.
James: Zangetsu is on curve, and is in Lightning so we have plenty of Ninjas over the past 10 sets to choose from to support him such as standard unit Ninja backups as well as Jinnai or Yugiri forwards. Paying (1) Lightning for haste is actually pretty good, considering as soon as he enters, he can dull any obstacles that would block him, as well as dull their backup resources to get them out of a jam (Yep, he dulls CHARACTERS). So if you are just all in with Ninjas, and you have 5 Ninja backups, you are dulling 6 of their characters when you enter (that's if Zangetsu is the only forward). He jumps into the fray and disables any traps that await him like a true Ninja. Zangetsu will certainly allow you to get those last precious few damage in. Early on he isn't that great, but in the mid to late game, he is a real threat.
I think it's very refreshing to see a big contribution to a theme type deck such as Ninjas, so it should be interesting to see how it pans out and what other cards await us that will contribute to it.
Brian: Ninjas have always been a bit tricky to build a deck around since unlike Dragoons, they’re split across multiple elements, and here we have Zangetsu repping Ninjas of the Lightning variety. At first glance, Zangetsu seems like he’s very similar to Alba (8-091H) since the number of cards they Dull depends on how many cards of a specific job you have on the field. However, Zangetsu is the first Lightning card that lets you choose your opponent’s Backups (or Monsters!) as a Dull target. Of course, you could also get the best of both worlds and run Zangetsu and Alba together with other FFL cards, considering that Jinnai (8-100R) is both a Ninja and a target for Diana (8-101H) to take from the Break Zone.
Nacho: 4cp for a 8k is a good value. His effect is the strongest of the 3 that we see so far, since it dulls characters and not only forwards its very strong. and then for 1 lightning cp it gains haste, this is an awesome addition to the dulling that this card does when it enters. This card is not bad at all, I like it more that the other 2 ninjas that we have just seen, as it has a very strong on entry effect and can gain haste
Luca: At first glance it doesn't seem to bring anything new, but in reality unlike cards like Lightning R opus 1 or Alba, which dull and have haste, it has a much higher body (but you have to pay 1 lightning CP to get haste), he can also dull many more characters in general. Unlike the other 2 Ninja Forwards, it does not require many ninja to be strong and could find a place in mono lightning or Aggro lightning wind as a finisher, since there are already several good ninjas of those elements.
Too bad that the old Zangetsu is a good card together with Edge, but this will replace it great. Overall rating 7.5 / 10
Jason: If removal or cp value aren't what you're looking for in your ninjas then Zangetsu might be the one for you. Similar to his Opus 11 ninja counterparts Zangetsu can dull a huge number of CHARACTERS upon his entry. Typically cards of this cost and size will dull 2 forwards, but Zangetsu has the ability to do a whole lot more. In strictly the lightning element you already have 2 different ninja backups that can make this forward easily dull 3 or more forwards, backups or monsters. If you're willing to go duo or tri-element, then you can basically dull down your opponent's entire board with this card.
And if you're really feeling spicy, imagine playing this card after your Golbez 1-135L summons 4 different ninja forwards onto the battle field. Yes, there are 4 relevant ninjas that can be played from Golbez. Then once you've dulled your opponent's board, Zangetsu helps you get this final bit of reach by being able to give himself haste for the low cost of one lightning cp.
And that’s everything for these spoilers! We’ll have more in a couple days, so be sure to check back here!