Fire Wind: Make-Out Decision

When I decided to make a new deck for the GA SJC I started building off of Fire. I knew I wanted to play Dragon Flame because I was tired of having my only removal being from Naruto/KNS/4th Hokage. I started building a pretty standard Fire Lightning deck, but I really didn't like the restrictions that were set; having to a put a certain amount of lightning cards in the deck, all the standard Ink engine cards, balancing out the elements, not enough room for techy late game ninjas etc. It was just too restrictive for my liking. But I also knew I still wanted to keep the insane power cards that Fire had. I wanted versatility. I enjoy a lot of 1 of's, and Fire had a lot of cool and unique cards to play. I thought about how I might get access to those with relative ease, and the conclusion I came to was to pair it with Wind. Wind allowed me to pick up any card in my discard pile that I needed via Reanimation and search out most of the deck with Shikamaru's Decision. Fire and Wind combined also have two of the strongest draw cards; The Warhawk and Sakura's Decision. If I couldn't search out any two ninjas in my deck like I could with Suspicious Characters, I could just draw into them or pick them up with Reanimation. If you haven't seen the deck yet, here it is:

I expected a higher concentration of Earth or Wind based decks in GA than what I have been used to at MA and MI. I wanted to have adequate mental power ninjas while also having the strength to deal with the power of Lightning based decks. 

The 0 Drops 

Pretty standard except for the Kiba. I like the Kiba because it's a card I can grab with MoP that can help control the flow of the game. It makes a lot of the cards in their deck useless. The only downside to Kiba is the 4th Hokage, so if you need to use Kiba, be wary against Lightning decks. Kisuke allows for me to stall out and if I need to be able to block on consecutive turns late game, he's my guy. 

The 1 Drops

As I said in the video, I don't think Fish will be that necessary in the GA meta. If I'm up against a deck using the Lightning/Ink engine, I'm going to grab Ino on turn 2. If they don't, he's an additional drop I get to grab with MoP. I expect to see a lot of Ino at the event just because the results of the last SJC's have shown that she is an extremely powerful counter card. Karin is a Medical ninja for Reanimation and a great counter to 4th Hokage which is why she was granted the second copy. In addition she is also a hand cost for Make-Out Tactics. Kidomaru (State 1) and Tsukado are situational 1 drops that I can tutor with ease with either Make-Out.

The 2 Drops

What deck isn't playing Konohamaru Ninja Squad? It combos amazingly with both the Decisions and is all around one of, if not, THE best 2 drop in the game right now. Ino is also a great search off of Shikamaru's Decision and her effect is easily turned off with Sakura's Decision, allowing you to reinforce everyone you need to and then you have the option of healing her with Karin or Reanimation during the exchange of jutsu making your opponent unable to do their combos. Ino also has medical making Reanimation even better.

The 3 Drops

Sakura is my heavy hitter on turn 3. Her having medical and allowing me to draw an extra off of Shikamaru's Decision is just icing on the cake. She is one of the main cards I'm going to want to hit on turn 3 because of the pressure she puts on the opponent, especially if you go first with her. Tobi allows me to grab the chakra for Sakura if I need it, make chakra for Tactcis, fuel the additional jutsus that Sasuke grabs me, and grab ambush ninjas from discard pile. He's a great counter to any deck attempting to control your chakra. Obito is great to remove a ninja from a team or off on the side that allows for a big push for a lot of Battle Rewards and his injured stats combo amazingly with Dragon Flame. In addition to the obvious fact that he's an auto reinforcement or squad killer.

The 4 Drops

All of these being tutorable off of a Shikamaru's Decision targeting a KNS is a contributor to why they are all 1 of's. Chiriku's protection is amazing vs. a lot of decks and being able to sit Chiriku in a team with Susano'o for protection is extremely important. Hidan also helps turn off non-valid effects that I don't want to deal with and, of course, for his reinforcement. Sasuke is a card that I think is extremely powerful. He allows for an aggressive turn 4 or 5 followed up with cards like Hidan (Cursed Mode) or Deidara. He can also pick up reanimation which can then pick up any other card you may need to win the game at that point. Growthing the turn 0 Sasuke into him + having an additional drop for the turn is also pretty crazy.

The 5 Drops

Kakashi and Deidara are 2 cards that once played should lead  to me winning the game, or put me into a position where I can make a comeback. While neither have ambush, they are cards that once I draw into them I will hold onto them until I play them or it becomes absolutely necessary for me to charge them for a hand cost. However, once charged I can pick them back up with a Reanimation if needed. Itachi is a card that can be grabbed with Tobi and allows for me to either sit on Hidan (Cursed Mode) or Deidara (once he brings out Susano'o, of course). I think Itachi + Susano'o is important vs other decks that can match the speed of this one and have the late game BR win aspect. 

The Jutsus

Not much needs to be explained about Dragon Flame, but it is one of the best removals in the game. Its only downside is nulled by Karin and Reanimation Ninjutsu. Reanimation Ninjutsu allows me to combat the single damage/injure jutsus or ninja effects that are prevalent in the format at the moment. Having 2 Reanimation and being able to heal the whole board is pretty nuts in my opinion. Fireball is one of those early game cards that ends up winning you the game and also combos well with Hidan if I can manage the large amount of Fire chakra required (Yay Tobi!). Hydro Pump is what it is. It's bound to win you several games and is too powerful not to play.

The Missions

These missions are what pushed me to play this deck. The command over the rest of the cards in your deck that these missions allow is insane. The draw power and search ability is crazy. They have a great deal of synergy with the rest of the deck and allow it to flow very nicely. They give the deck its name. The 2 of The Warhawk may be somewhat alarming for some, but The Warhawk is generally a dead card during some matchups or during certain times in the game. It's an insanely powerful double-edged sword. Sakura's Decision, however, makes up for the 2 of The Warhawk. It allows me to draw 4 off of KNS or 3 off of Sakura and 2 off of several other females. Combined with the healing power the deck generates its downside is diminished quite significantly. Shikamaru's Decision can either grab me the target for Sakura's Decision or grab any ninja in my deck but the 5 drops, essentially. Then, if you need the 5 drops to be searched for, you have 3 Make-Out Tactics. Its search ability is fueled by Leech and Tobi and can be used as early as turn 1 so you can always get what you might need for the current situation. Make-Out Paradise allows me to grab a lot of good cards, but being that I put Fish down to 1, I also put Paradise down to 2. It's a great card that gets even better next set, but in this deck 2 allows me to get a Fish + whatever I may need, or late game it allows you to get specific handcosts + Kidomaru (State 1). 

The Reinforcements

Everything is pretty standard, but some things to point out are the fact that having 3 Susano'os in there will allow you to put another in play if they remove him while you still have Itachi in play. Danzo also has a strong power play by letting you turn your T0 Sasuke into an 8/7 beat stick by reinforcing twice (which still works). A card I forgot to have in my deck during the video is Deidara (C0 Form). This card wont see a lot of play, but it is an option that may win you the game. Against decks that take a lot of set up (Void) its power is crazy and will almost guarantee you a win. It also isn't hard to get very many growth coins with Sakura, KNS, Hotaru, Sasuke, and, especially, Obito.

Tomorrow Genre will be previewing our 1 and only Set 25 Kage's Summit Preview. It's an extremely playable card (A card I would definitely run in this deck, even!). So stay tuned! I will also be putting up a sideboard video for this deck on Monday so be sure to check out or subscribe to the 2EZForums youtube channel.

Veazie