Burn Baby Burn-Degozaru
Burn Ninja`s, as they are subtitled, is a branch off of the <<Ninja>> Attribute that was introduced in BT03: Drum`s Merry go round of inconsistent ideas...I mean Adventures. BT03 was known at the time for being an "Okay" set. Not horrible but not a big step forward, was just a ton of ideas and gimmicks that either worked well or was as good as my health records. From the RNG based ideas of Dungeon World, to making an entire series of Dragon Knights who would eventually become the crown of all memes, BT03 was weird, but fun and it introduced these bad boys.
Burn Ninja`s were introduced in the anime by the Third Katana user in the anime, Kanahebi. A real life ninja who actually led to one of the better episodes of the Sengoku Arc, his deck even having a similarity to his backstory and his character. But lets get back on topic. The overall play style of Burn Ninja`s was simple, Set up your [Set]s, have your Snake Gazes on hand, use your monsters to burn your opponent for the simple act of [Rest]ing, and do all that while being in a card game based on a slow game...
Oh wait how long are games usually now? 2 turns at most? So in general today this deck is...well....
So yeah, the deck is, just like Ninja`s in general, a relic of the past without any real support for their original playstyle. I guess we have Athora but Athora is something that shouldn't be talking about here in our sacred casual realm. So instead of crying about the slower days of Buddyfight, let`s talk about their original play-pieces and play style before the thought of Athora re-ignites my crippling fear of Prisms.
Ninja Snipers...NINJA...SNIPERS!
Sniping Ninja, Yoichi is a size 1 Ninja with a 2/1/5 in stats. While at first the stats may come off as odd for a modern day player, the stats were actually pretty okay at the time since Katana was getting on its feet and the burn variety more focused on defense. His ability is that when a monster in front of it [Rests], you deal 1 damage. It isn't Once per turn so if your opponent had the rare and almighty [Double Attack] at the time, it could do a nice chunk of damage for simply allowing the opponent to try and attack. Never put him in center because while that defense was not horrible back in the day, it certainly is not the Berlin Wall the deck was using back in the day. In the devoted deck around burn (for all three hopeless saps who cannot take a hint) run 3-4.
Fire Steak Ninja, Gokuen is another 2/1/5 Size 1 Ninja, but instead of burning your opponent, he burns you! at the cost of 1 <<Ninja>> in your hand, he can increase his defense by an astronomical 3000!! Look`s terrible today, but 8000 was actually a viable defense back in the day. You would need a hefty size 3, and even then, size 3`s from the bigger power worlds like Dragon, Danger and Dungeon (The Pre Triple D Team). While Magic and other Katana decks would either need some form of spell to deal with them or a big link attack which another card would not let you do as easily. His cost was steep though for the time, but the payoff was still worth it for his time. However all he is going to defend you from now is any form of victory as well as just clog the deck. Do not run him unless you are a Season 1 bonehead.
Sky Ninja, Yamigarasu is a Size 1 Ninja with 4/1/1 in stats. with the exact same ability as Yoichi, however this card has [Move] to compensate. Same idea for the most part as Yoichi, keep him on the left or right, wait for an opponent to try and attack, and then do another burn damage. The move here however allows him to enter two circles on the same turn, allowing you in a sense to burn 2 on one turn instead of 1. He would be in one circle during the main phase, the Ninja player would cast The Best Katana Spell Ever, force your opponents first to rest, deal one damage, then move to another circle, snipe again another damage when your opponents left or right tries to push through center. While this would have worked if you had an open circle, the natural formation of these guys would have Gokuen in center, and both circles occupied by Yoichi and Yami so that way your chances of burning go faster. The [Move] became more of a situational ability then an actual full mechanic as it cannot move once the battle phase started, locking your Yami into a specific circle and trapping your burner in a circle where the opponent wasn't going to use the monster anyway, making you have to use another card to even get Yami off. Still used at 4 as the key burner in the deck. Now to talk about this specific decks [Set] Spells and how they contributed to BURRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
The Great Set Spells that totally aren't relevant any more
Final Showdown on the Great Gojo Bridge is a 1 gauge <<Ninja Arts>> [Set] that allows either players Left or Right to be attacked. This does not mean that the left and right can't attack. It just means that they cannot be targetted for an attack. The left and the right can still be destroyed by effects and the left and right can still attack, but only the Center and the Fighter. This in combo with the two snipers would make the left and right [Rest]ed to attack the center, Gokuen stops it because 8K was a wall back in the day, and then Yoichi and Yamigasaru sniped you for trying, then if you didnt want to use your monsters to attack, The Best Katana Spell Ever would just [Rest] your monsters, making them lose an attack. Setting this up and the next set was an ideal turn, as these two are what made the combo play out even without your opponent needing to attack.
So Dark Ninja Technique, Poison Mist Technique is a long name in English as well as a 2 gauge [Set] <<Ninja Arts>> that burns your opponent for 1 at the beginning of each main phase. Again, during the slow beginnings of Buddyfight, this would have been a fine card. Poking a damage on your turn while your Monsters did 1-2 damage per side of the field would still be a nice amount, and again, this was before people started to learn more complexities of the game so it was simple and more relevant than how it was before, especially since all of your Burn Ninja`s had 1 critical meaning the damage output while minimal, was not fast enough even at the beginning times. Plus this allowed for burn even your opponent was being actually intelligent and just passing for resources until something came up.
So THE BEST KATATA WORLD SPELL EVER (Name one that is better) is a Spell....Spell Attributed <<Ninja Arts>> That lets you pay a life to [Counter] [Rest] an opponents monster. From what I have been explaining throughout this blog, this card is amazing in any Katana deck. Just the ability counter rest as such a cheap cost is amazing enough, and it has just gotten better with time! Unlike older cards which are either now, garbage, amazing, or a shield, this guy was seen as a mess of a card since Katana World and Life Gain was about as true from the fact as saying Gao doesn't deserve all the criticism he gets. As Katana decks got more life options, guess what card just filled the void so easily. He is so good that they gotta write in their abilities that they cannot be Snake Gazed, cause its just so good. Blah Blah Blah, it was used in Burn to force rest an opponent, basically trading life for life which in hindsight sounds incredibly stupid but when you got higher life, it works. Play this at 2-4 in all Katana decks, because this card is just so good. I say 2-4 though because your decks spell lineup can be a mess all on its own.
So for some reason, they decided to make a basically...portable Gokuen in Katon, Blazing Armors...in Triple D...way after the Ninja Burn deck basically died...yeah I do not know why you are here Katon, but you a good card so you can stay. Katon, Blazing Armors is a <<Ninja Arts>>, Fire that can only be cast when your monster is being attacked. Your KATANA WORLD Monster gets +5000 defense and deal one damage. I like how it has the Katana World condition, because at this time, a lot of Katana World users splashed in Dark Miseria into the deck for the life gain. Nice in the burn deck since when used Yoichi and Gokuen, 10K Defense and even with an added burn which while is not much, is better then nothing and added to rushing the burn. Run 2-3 as a Pseudo shield. Wow, that was a lot more cards I needed to write about then I expected...but with a ton of cards...what went wrong?
What went Wrong? The answers may shock you.
Okay, so you guys know how I mentioned at the beginning of the blog all the way up their that the game became so fast that the deck basically became worthless. Yeah, the game itself did not want a slow-burn deck focused on mild size walls for the time proved to be a harder and harder thing to pull off when the game just kept going faster and faster. When watching over the episode Burn Ninja`s were focused on, you could see how their play style works in the longer, slower environment, but we in X territory, where most decks couldn't make the cut and some shined. Heck, most of Katana World kinda died in X. The only decks that survived in X was the new Oni`s, Water (Which by the way, oh my god water is good now), and to some extent the new aggro Ninja`s, but even then...are Ninja`s alive? So what in the world does a deck with so many pieces but not enough power need?
Resources. Katana has been gotten so many good spells in the last four years, and while some are more offensive in response to the growing change of the world, a lot of good cards are defensive as all get out. If their was a way to gain resources based on actually doing your decks job, then burn can get a lot more done for their overall image then just doing nothing but waiting for your opponents moves. So a resource engine submitted by Buddyfight Youtuber Cobaltclaw, he sends in.
My personal issue that could help the deck is being with Gokuen. Look. he was fine in Season 1 and 2 when the power levels were not so high, but this is X we are in, going into a new series. This guy is just bringing the deck down, and with so many <<Ninja Arts>> Discards to use, Gokuen cannot be so lacking on defense when he is supposed to be the wall. So my submitted idea will be.
So in Retrospect
Cool concept, okay execution, terrible momentum. If everything this deck could do was not basically absorbed into the nightmarish Prism Dragons, then I would like to see Burn Ninja`s and Traps taking their place as dominant, budget burn and control decks that focus on different roads to get to the same conclusion. Sadly however, the Ninja Attribute was oddly shifted into an aggro style, the deck has been trying to find a natural identity with its support just branching out into many directions without a clear win-con. If Bushiroad finally kicked themselves in the butt and just chose a play-style for these guys like they did Sun Dragons, then we could see Ninja`s get support that not only has access to Ninja`s entire library of monsters and spells, but allows a bunch more versatility and deck building for that said win-con since Ninja`s have a lot of options to get their, just not a clear path.
Wow this just had me going off on a tangent a bit, but look at it this way. Ninja`s have the potential to be something great, we just need the right man making the cards, and the right loyal Katana World Fans carving the way. So next time on Buddy Relevant...Oh wait...It`s May? Oh god, my final exams are coming up...I gotta ace my tests or else my brother is gonna be so mad!!!!
S-SEE YA!!!
Burn Ninja`s were introduced in the anime by the Third Katana user in the anime, Kanahebi. A real life ninja who actually led to one of the better episodes of the Sengoku Arc, his deck even having a similarity to his backstory and his character. But lets get back on topic. The overall play style of Burn Ninja`s was simple, Set up your [Set]s, have your Snake Gazes on hand, use your monsters to burn your opponent for the simple act of [Rest]ing, and do all that while being in a card game based on a slow game...
Oh wait how long are games usually now? 2 turns at most? So in general today this deck is...well....
 |
| This is all of those players now. |
Ninja Snipers...NINJA...SNIPERS!
Sniping Ninja, Yoichi is a size 1 Ninja with a 2/1/5 in stats. While at first the stats may come off as odd for a modern day player, the stats were actually pretty okay at the time since Katana was getting on its feet and the burn variety more focused on defense. His ability is that when a monster in front of it [Rests], you deal 1 damage. It isn't Once per turn so if your opponent had the rare and almighty [Double Attack] at the time, it could do a nice chunk of damage for simply allowing the opponent to try and attack. Never put him in center because while that defense was not horrible back in the day, it certainly is not the Berlin Wall the deck was using back in the day. In the devoted deck around burn (for all three hopeless saps who cannot take a hint) run 3-4.
Fire Steak Ninja, Gokuen is another 2/1/5 Size 1 Ninja, but instead of burning your opponent, he burns you! at the cost of 1 <<Ninja>> in your hand, he can increase his defense by an astronomical 3000!! Look`s terrible today, but 8000 was actually a viable defense back in the day. You would need a hefty size 3, and even then, size 3`s from the bigger power worlds like Dragon, Danger and Dungeon (The Pre Triple D Team). While Magic and other Katana decks would either need some form of spell to deal with them or a big link attack which another card would not let you do as easily. His cost was steep though for the time, but the payoff was still worth it for his time. However all he is going to defend you from now is any form of victory as well as just clog the deck. Do not run him unless you are a Season 1 bonehead.
The Great Set Spells that totally aren't relevant any more
What went Wrong? The answers may shock you.
Okay, so you guys know how I mentioned at the beginning of the blog all the way up their that the game became so fast that the deck basically became worthless. Yeah, the game itself did not want a slow-burn deck focused on mild size walls for the time proved to be a harder and harder thing to pull off when the game just kept going faster and faster. When watching over the episode Burn Ninja`s were focused on, you could see how their play style works in the longer, slower environment, but we in X territory, where most decks couldn't make the cut and some shined. Heck, most of Katana World kinda died in X. The only decks that survived in X was the new Oni`s, Water (Which by the way, oh my god water is good now), and to some extent the new aggro Ninja`s, but even then...are Ninja`s alive? So what in the world does a deck with so many pieces but not enough power need?
Resources. Katana has been gotten so many good spells in the last four years, and while some are more offensive in response to the growing change of the world, a lot of good cards are defensive as all get out. If their was a way to gain resources based on actually doing your decks job, then burn can get a lot more done for their overall image then just doing nothing but waiting for your opponents moves. So a resource engine submitted by Buddyfight Youtuber Cobaltclaw, he sends in.
Hitofuri`s weak stats again are mitigated by the Kosher effect placed into the item. Any closed-center Katana deck runs some form of either Makiarashi, or Urahonekui. Or your Oni`s and you do not give a damn. In order to use a lot of the new spells, we are going to need tons of more gauge accel as well as draw power for discard resources for Gokuen, as well as getting your essential piece in hand faster even when you have only one sniper on field. You can still gain advantage even on your turn now, since now dropping Snake Gaze isn't a minus in this sense but gives a positive thanks to giving out more resources now.
Again, giving an available outlet for the new Spells to give resources while on your opponents turn to ramp pressure, plus the deck can burn through hand if the deck has enough cancer...I mean aggro potential to deal multiple attacks. Since Katana has as much consistent draw power as Chaos has won peoples hearts in competitive, the burn being slower but still consistent, combined with needing to keep the high aggro output of most decks in check, a Gokuen that can actually do its job would be more specific.
So in Retrospect
Cool concept, okay execution, terrible momentum. If everything this deck could do was not basically absorbed into the nightmarish Prism Dragons, then I would like to see Burn Ninja`s and Traps taking their place as dominant, budget burn and control decks that focus on different roads to get to the same conclusion. Sadly however, the Ninja Attribute was oddly shifted into an aggro style, the deck has been trying to find a natural identity with its support just branching out into many directions without a clear win-con. If Bushiroad finally kicked themselves in the butt and just chose a play-style for these guys like they did Sun Dragons, then we could see Ninja`s get support that not only has access to Ninja`s entire library of monsters and spells, but allows a bunch more versatility and deck building for that said win-con since Ninja`s have a lot of options to get their, just not a clear path.
Wow this just had me going off on a tangent a bit, but look at it this way. Ninja`s have the potential to be something great, we just need the right man making the cards, and the right loyal Katana World Fans carving the way. So next time on Buddy Relevant...Oh wait...It`s May? Oh god, my final exams are coming up...I gotta ace my tests or else my brother is gonna be so mad!!!!
S-SEE YA!!!
