What makes a good Naruto player?

[Green Koolaid]

I want to know your opinions on what makes a great player in this game.

Give me a few example in these areas:

What makes a player good in this game?
What type of moves to people usually make that can lead to a losing game?
Are there any tricks of the trade yet?
Do certain SR's give a player an advantage?

Make up your own if you have any more to add.

But I have been playing this game sinse its release and still cannont break past the semifinals. Usually by mistakes and luck, but I want to play better.

[PC1X1]

Have a solid, consistent build
Don't be afraid to mulligan, +1 advantage means nothing with no ninjas in the field.
Jujtsus are made to keep ninja advantage, not create, thus having alot of jujtsus is useless when theres no ninjas,
in the same token, you can use alot of jujsus to get ninjas on the field, but thats bad resource management.
Make sure you hit the curve,
Don't fret when you are behind, stay cool, this game can easily go both ways late game.
Make sure you have enough chakra at all time to do your moves.
Always charge chakra when needed only, and only if its to negate something.
Play vs the best, and you will become the best.

I know from experience, -Meijin

[Uber_Itachi]

Have a solid, consistent build
Don't be afraid to mulligan, +1 advantage means nothing with no ninjas in the field.
Jujtsus are made to keep ninja advantage, not create, thus having alot of jujtsus is useless when theres no ninjas,
in the same token, you can use alot of jujsus to get ninjas on the field, but thats bad resource management.
Make sure you hit the curve,
Don't fret when you are behind, stay cool, this game can easily go both ways late game.
Make sure you have enough chakra at all time to do your moves.
Always charge chakra when needed only, and only if its to negate something.
Play vs the best, and you will become the best.

I know from experience, -Meijin

He's right on many of these suggestions, here's a few he may have missed:

It's useually a good idea to run around 23-25 Ninja in every deck, just to be sure you have Ninja you can play each turn the average "Ninja Curve" is something around:

6-8 0 Drop
4-5 1 Drop
3-4 2 Drop
3-4 3 Drop
2-3 4 Drop
3-4 5 Drop
1-2 6 Drop

Some people prefer their Ninja curve to look a little different, but this is the best way i've came across for Ninja.

Good players also think very constructively when playing the Naruto TCG. For me it's a "Do or Don't" situation. Attack if you have a bigger team, don't if you have a smaller team. Don't force yourself to use your Jutsu, wait for your opponent to give you the opportunity to play them.

Useually it's a good idea to hold onto your Jutsu until your opponent plays a Jutsu you don't like. In certain situations, if your opponent decides to take the damage from an attack you can 8 Trigram a Ninja you don't like into the Battle Rewards. I've done that pleanty of times.

The most common player errors that many people make are:

Over-extending.

It's not always a good idea to play a Ninja just because you can (atleast late game). I've seen it happen many times where my opponent plays a certain type of Ninja and then they draw into a Ninja that requires a discard of that same type their next turn and not have it.

Charging Chakra for no reason.

Mission cards were made not only to give you the oppotunity to take advantage of their effects, they were also created to fuel your Chakra Pile. I've been forced to Charge Chakra from my hand on many different occasions, I don't like doing it but you've got to go what you've got to do when the situation calls for it.

Run a bunch of useless Jutsu.

Sure, Power Bonus Jutsu such as Kunai and Food Pellets are pretty decent cards and can come out of nowhere to surprise your opponent and possibly win you the current battle. It's normally a good idea to stick to Jutsu that go along with your deck. In most cases the only Jutsu people play are "Negation" Jutsu. Just to stop your opponent's Jutsu from resolveing. Water Vortex Jutsu and Great Breakthrough are used for more than just makeing your attack succeed. ;)

Not know when to Mulligan.

There is a reason they created the ability to Mulligan your hand. As PC1X1 stated, if you've got a bunch of good Jutsu in your hand but no Ninja to play them..their useless.

The main thing you need to look for when decideing weither or not you want to keep your hand is successful Ninja drops from turns 0-1-2-3, Mission cards to draw or search for cards. If your starting hand has a 0 drop, a 1 drop, Jutsu and a card such as Bingo Book or Appearance of Unknown Rivals..Normally it would be a good idea to keep such a hand, as you'll more than likely draw into the higher level Ninja if your Ninja curve is set right

Knowing when to "take the damage" and when to block.

Many newer players tend to think they have to block each and every attack you throw at them. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion where the newer player has little to no Ninja in play when their opponent is controlling the feild because they felt they have to block each attack. It's alright to take Battle Rewards of damage. Dont be afraid.

There's even more to it than what PC1X1 or I have said so far, but I think i'll leave that up to you as the player to figure out on your own. :)

[Eternal Darkness]

Personally, with this Naruto game a lot of things make a good player.

The cards that you own will either help you take home a tournament or make you lose one. If you don't run a Sasuke AoC then you're pretty much dead from the get go. It's a staple in any kind of deck no matter what elements you are playing. Just look at the Gen Con So Cal decks, and Gen Con Indy back in the day. Having no negation Jutsus such as Sharingan Eye or Hidden Mist really hurt you as well because your opponent could easily play Jutsu's like Vortex, and you're dead.

The First six cards in your hand plays a huge role in deciding the game. Mulligans are great, and a good player would use the Mulligan instead of keeping his six cruddy cards.

Knowing when you should let your team block attacks or let them through, sometimes it's beneficial not to block an opponent's attack, while sometimes it is.

Managing your Chakra is another area that either breaks you or helps you. With cards like Yoroi and Curse Temari, playing Chakra too early and getting the chakra eaten away was a waste of chakra charging.

Know the cards in the deck you are running, think of combo's that you could use to help you out.

Learn your opponent's deck. Observe the elements that your opponent runs and it will tell you if the he's/she's a good player or not. This should also determine the strategy you should use to take them down.

[treeborn frog]

Q: What makes a player good in this game?

A: #1, Skill #2, Luck #3, Advantage and good curves.

Q: What type of moves to people usually make that can lead to a losing game?

A: Not charging the right amoint of chakra, not paying attention.

Q: Do certain SR's give a player an advantage?

A: Some Super Rare cards, like Kakashi ES and Haku KGBT, give certain advantages in the game that won't be on a Common.

[Justmcnew]

One thing that makes a good Naruto player is knowing when to take hits from your opponent to keep the Ninja you need most.

For example, the majority of the time starting on turn 0 you want your opponent to get Battle Rewards from you until turn 4 when you want to start thinking about what you need to get done in your current situation depending on how things are on the board.

The amount of Battle Rewards you're opponent gets from you should be ok when it's at 6 or 7, If your opponent gets 8 from you that's when you should start to worry and try to turn the tide of the game somehow.

On turn 4 and beyond, you want to make sure your opponent doesn't get anymore Battle Rewards from you and take the initiative into defeating your opponent without holding back.

You always want to have a 0 drop in your starting hand, If not then mulligan until you get one or a few.

The best ones to use are Sasuke AOC and Naruto (Nine-Tailed Chakra) among other good 0 drops in the game.

Chakra control is very important in this game, and you want to try to foil your opponent's attempts at trying to play certain Jutsu at all.

Cards like Exhaustion of Stamina, Naruto (Pervy Sage's Training), and Temari (Wind Charmer) help lower your opponent's chances of playing devastating Jutsu such as Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu or 8 Trigram.

You also want to keep an eye on how much Chakra you have and whether or not If you're gonna spend it right away, save it for something big, or If you have a different plan in mind.

Mental Power Battles can help turn the game in your favor, this is an important thing to remember when playing the Naruto CCG.

Alot of decks lack Mental support except for a few decks which do in the forms of offense and defense, Ibiki is your offense and Suzume is your defense when it comes to Mental. The stronger the Mental offense or defense, the better.

Teaming up Ninja with high Mental Power with Ibiki or Suzume can help give you an edge in the game, and possibly win as well.

Not every Ninja in the game has high Mental Power and that's why some decks with Ninja that have high Mental Power can overcome deck's that don't.

Ninjas are the main focus of winning you the game and having a consistent number of Ninja will help you get better as well.

Clients are good but the bad part about them is that they use up deck space and can't defend as chump blockers like Ninja can. The main advantage they have is that they can be spent to play high cost Jutsu, but that's about it.

Missions help make your Chakra Area bigger, and when you Growth a Ninja you can deploy an additional Ninja on the same turn If you haven't already deployed one yet.

You want to focus on draw advantage, offense, defense, your tempos, your kills, and deck consistency in order to win as well.

[Akira]

i'm not even a genin yet but i do pretty well. these are just some basic things to know, i'll try to mention things i didn't see other people go over. here's my ideas:

1. Don't charge chakra unless you don't have a mission to charge the chakra you need for a jutsu. (or if you're about to play the one that inherits...)
I've seen my opponents charge 2-3 chakra in a turn, and not play any jutsus for several rounds. This is generally not going to "psych" your opponent out (Like, oh im charging chakra if you attack i'll play a KUNAI!) reason is, smart players know when an opponent wants to psych them out...dumping cards like that shows that your desperate. Good players will charge 1 chakra once in a while, very subtle about it, and use missions so that there's chakra in their piles and it doesnt look like they're planning to use it.
Also if you're dumping cards into chakra it will just mean you have less resources later on. Like, oh that earth chakra that you never used would have been more helpful in the form of Caged Bird. (I saw this at the premier several times...part of the reason I got 1st.)

2. Make sure you know the effects of your cards as well as your opponents.
Here are a few examples.
Opponent has shino and temari AM. I have a team bigger by several points with shikamaru [IQ 200+]
I attack, my opponent blocks and plays Giant Fan, increasing Temari's Support by like 3. So that's 3 wind chakra down the drain. I activate a mental battle. My opponent's all ****y like, "Read the card, it also increases Temari's mental so i win the mental battle" i had to explain that the card says support OR mental. So that right there was a fatal mistake. he wasted 4 cards (3 chakra and a jutsu) and didn't get any advantage (other than making me discard 2 cards, which might have been smart if i didn't already have such an advantage.)

another example, again with Shika, you gotta read cards. One of my opponents attacked into a definite Complete Defeat because he didn't know Shikamaru could activate mental when his team blocks...

That's all i can come up with right now and they're pretty obvious, but just keep cool, if you get nervous in a big tournament you're more likely to mess up. (i learned that the hard way)

[Ryu Juini]

One of the most important rules is to not bump old topics...

[Mastermike1011]

Most of the things posted on here are basic stuff when it comes to naruto, The game itself takes very little skill. The only real thing I can tell you is learn how to set your opponent up for stuff, and always be prepared for your field, and learn to read your opponents next moves, generally top players already know what there going to play next, and what your opponent is going to play.

Simple tips from a old school player ;)

[IPlayYugiohNaked]

If you know how to play a Sasuke AOC on turn zero, and you can add, then you're a good naruto player. it's not that hard.

[Green Koolaid]

If you know how to play a Sasuke AOC on turn zero, and you can add, then you're a good naruto player. it's not that hard.


That is scary true.

[Space_Monkey]

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[ll BRS the OWA ll]

lol the last thing I guess, since nobody mentioned it, is mind f--cking with your opponent when he has set himself up. Constantly do I swing with a lower power team + kurenai, when my opponent forgot to charge chakra and I had 3 water in my chakra. (Vortex anyone?) I rarely ever do have it, because I draw horribly in this game >.>, but it's a nice tip when you understand that Fire is meant to beat the hell out of your team, Water can only win if it wins the big Jutsu battle Late Game, if Fire/Water hits curve, you're f--cked, and that if you don't play the above two archetypes...don't expect to top 8 outside of Locals. lol =\ Sad but true.

[soviet prince]

to those people who say theres no skill in naruto needs to play yugioh then they will see what a game with no skill is naruto requires a lot of skill alot more then counting numbers like somebody said on this board

[Never4ever]

to those people who say theres no skill in naruto needs to play yugioh then they will see what a game with no skill is naruto requires a lot of skill alot more then counting numbers like somebody said on this board

That's a very noob-ish statement. YGO requires a great deal of skill, especially at the "pro" level. It's not as simple as net decking someone.

[soviet prince]

That's a very noob-ish statement. YGO requires a great deal of skill, especially at the "pro" level. It's not as simple as net decking someone.

your a noob! yugioh does require alittle skill but it reallys more on luck a total noob can take a sj deck a win a tourement with it.

[Underbheit Henchman]

Well if you guys are going to bring it up at least don't lump all YGO into one general statement. Some decks require skill to play (I like to think my deck does), others require a vague sense of game mechanics and could be played by a monkey.... and not a very smart monkey at that...(this includes almost any deck that has made top 8 in any YGO event in the past year.)

Do I think Naruto requires skill? At this point in the games developement the skill is in not screwing up. Obviously not enough cards are out yet for people to be developing much in the way of "skilled" game play. The pyramid style of deck building makes every deck look exactly the same and is boring.

What makes a good Naruto player is coming up with new ideas. The Five Prong Deck, Mill Decks, etc. These decks are fairly original and, although I wouldn't say they are on the same level of competition as the generic style, they are a step in the right direction.