Will Opus VIII be the Ninja Opus??

Hey there everybody! Welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The FFTCG Blog owned by that one bad player who stole your spot drafting at Nationals. Haha, SUCKER!! 

Oh hey would you look at that, It's already Opus VIII Spoiler Season-o'clock again. Where does the time go? I haven't posted in awhile, but I've actually been pretty busy with FFTCG stuff, and not at all huddled up in my room with seasonal depression! Here's what I've been up to:

• I did another Cactuar Correspondence with the RVA Returners! It was super nice of them to have me back again so I could say "I like Fire" in new and exciting ways and generally contribute nothing of value to the conversation.
• The FFTCG NYC Team set up our first ever Twin Party System 4-Player Tournament after our Petit Cup! We tested out our new ruleset for the format: Chaos Mode. Big thanks for everyone who participated, and if you want to learn more about the TPS 4-player format or Chaos/Cosmos Mode, you can check it out here!

• I finished a new round of Spoiler Bingo for Opus VIII. If you didn't get a chance to see it making the rounds on Facebook and Reddit, check it out below!

Hmm but what's this? Looks like some shadowy individuals snuck into Onion Knight Headquarters in the cover of night and hit three specific boxes of cards that haven't been revealed yet... but what could those boxes have in common? 

...

Oh hey, they're all Ninjas. 

Also now my wallet is missing?

Welp! looks like the message is clear: I have to finally do that post about the Ninja archetype I've been meaning to do for awhile now. So with that in mind, I'll be asking the following question: Will Opus VIII be the Ninja Opus?
 
So first, what do I mean by the "Ninja Opus"? In the FFTCG, the job system has been used to varying degrees of success to flesh out deck archetypes. Some jobs, like Moogles, Standard Units, Class Zero Cadets, and Warriors of Light, have had a pretty fair amount of support - enough that you could craft a decently cohesive deck with them, if not a top-tier meta one. 

If you go even deeper than that, you'll find a few subsets of cards that are based off of playable classes from the Final Fantasy games which are connected by their name or job. Of these traditional FF classes, Knights and Dragoons currently have the highest amount of consistent deck building support, with Opus VI being the "Dragoon Opus". Hell, even if there weren't 6 new Dragoon cards printed in that set, Legend Estinien - despite not directly supporting Dragoon builds - is enough to give the archetype a boost by virtue of being an amazingly powerful card that just happens to be a Job: Dragoon. So I'm predicting that Opus VIII will do the same for Job: Ninja-based decks.

So what makes me think this will happen? Well, nothing actually. At least nothing super concrete. But I'm mostly basing this off of the fact that the two new Starter decks that will be coming out with the set have a high chance to feature characters who are Job: Ninja - Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII, and Yugiri, that one lady with the horns and the bad case of plaque psoriasis from Final Fantasy XIV. 

No wonder they decided to add the Viera as a playable race after these guys. 

So why even talk about Ninjas at all? They really haven't emerged as a solid archetype in the game, nor are there any exceptionally strong cards with the Ninja name or job yet. 

Well for one, Ninjas are generally pretty cool. Known in-game for chucking Shuriken at enemies, dual-weilding weapons, and using a variety of magical abilities and illusions to befuddle and enfeeble enemies, the Ninja class appeals to that awkward phase in your life where you wore Naruto headbands to high school (Please tell me that I'm not alone in that...). Plus they're also way less controversial than those Martial Artists Monks.

Also it's a little known fact that Ninjas are one of the few jobs in Final Fantasy that have an innate +1 to their basketball dunking skills, alongside Black and White Mages. 

I feel like there's another job that's known for jumping. Weird.  

Also, there are actually a lot of Ninja cards in the FFTCG. There's been at least one new Ninja card printed every set since Opus I, and at 23 cards total there are officially more Ninjas than Dragoons in the game. So with that in mind, how come out of all the Class-based jobs, Ninja is still not a strongly established deck archetype? What can be done to make Ninjas better? Why don't we take a look at what Job: Ninja is working with currently so we can see what could be done in the future to improve the archetype? 

Ninja Support: Edge and the Eblan Four 

Edge-H and his friends are currently the best pieces of Ninja support, though they're a little bit odd being four separate elements, so you'd be less likely to run all of them in one deck. At first I thought this series of cards was just something that was created to support an archetype from Chapters that the FFTCG designers didn't plan on fully committing to in later sets. Weirdly enough though, Gekkou and Izayoi actually didn't have the effects that let them play another Job/Name Ninja originally, so there was a conscious choice made to give Ninjas more archetype support when porting them from Chapters to Opus III. 

Edge himself would be a strong piece of Ninja deck support if not for one glaring problem: There aren't currently a ton of non-Standard Unit cards with Job: Ninja in the game to take advantage of his effect. Currently the only other cards that can are Onion Knight (Wind), Yuffie, and I guess the Opus I Bartz that has all the jobs technically. Onion Knight-L isn't much use without the Sage Onion Knight, limiting the type of deck you can play it in. Of the three Yuffies, one isn't worth running, the second is more concerned with bypassing blocking forwards rather than getting over them with first strike, and the third is a support card for a wind/earth FF VII deck with Vincent. 

Unlike Knights, who have access to powerful characters like Steiner, Beatrix, and Ramza, most Ninja cards are just Standard Units. Because of this, they would probably benefit more by running them in Water alongside Warrior of Light, who does everything Edge does but gives your SU-Ninjas 2k power instead of 1k. You can always run both, but to me that seems a bit redundant since you'd be dedicating deck space to powering up a few of your forwards with it, whereas cards like Maria-H, Opus II Arc, and Water WoL would boost everything in a Standard Unit build, Ninja or otherwise. 

Another weak point I mentioned earlier is their lack of consistency between elements. Dragoons all have the benefit of being Lightning element cards, and although there are Knights in every element except Wind currently, a majority of their strongest Forwards and support Backups are almost all Water or Lightning, and have the additional benefit of having synergy with the Prince/Princess archetype in Water. Ninjas are kind of all over the place, and though there are slightly more Wind Ninjas, most of them have a variety of effects that don't really work well together - Most people who try to use the Eblan 4 package tend to splash a third element in to make the best of it. 

So if Knight's main schtick is having powerful, beefy forwards and Dragoons is having fast attackers that become stronger with more cards on the field, what should Ninjas excel at? 

Shenanigans, that's what. 

Since Ninjas are a tricky class, why not play them in decks that take advantage of their various combat tricks? Let's take a look at some deck building ideas using the Eblan Four members and/or Edge as a base. 

Gekkou/Izayoi - Phantom Lightflies 

Okay, so I'm gonna start this off with a bold claim - Gekkou is the best Ninja card hands down, and for once I'm not just saying that because he's a big buff bara boi. The fact that he can play any 4 or less Job or name Ninja card on entry is kind of insane already. If you chain him with Izayoi, who can drop another Ninja of 3 or less, Gekkou becomes what, like a plus two in terms of value and he can buff all Ninjas by an extra 1k? Seriously, if you can pull it off two extra bodies for a 5 cost is rediculous, but he's also incredibly flexible since he can play either a Forward or a Backup from your hand. Thankfully, one of the best backups in Fire also happens to be a Ninja as well, so depending on your hand you can build up either your front or back line. 

I think Fire/Water has access to the best Ninja cards in general. The First Strike Fire Forward Ninja can become scary when partnered with Gadot and Water WoL - hell even with one of those on the board it becomes a 2 cost that can take out 8k blockers and potentially get Haste from Gadot. 

The Water Ninja from Opus VII, Izayoi's S-ability, and the Fire Ninja backup's abilities that make enemy Forwards unable to block can leave your opponent wide open. Paired with cards like Dark Zemus and other Fire-Unblockables like Tifa-L, Red Mage, Lann-H, and Opus II Zell, you can consistently swing in uninhibited. You could also use smaller 2 drop forwards like Llendar and Vivi-S for cheap hard to remove forwards, and Water's excellent Standard Unit support helps grab or recur the combo pieces you need.

Opus VIII is also brining us a brand new Water Ninja that really brings the Shenanigans in full force.

 

8-124C Ninja [FFTA]
(Water)Dull, put Ninja into the break zone: choose 1 Forward your opponent controls. Activate it, and gain control of it until the end of the turn.
(Translation courtesy of Ban's Final Fantasy Corner)

Oh hi there better Shuyin! This slick little bastard is a perfect fit for this build and has one of the best combat tricks we've seen so far. You can either use his effect to remove a blocker from the field, give it Haste with Gadot or Goblin to attack with it, or even grab one of their Forwards to block an attack for you! If that isn't the best example of shenaniganry I don't know what is, but I have the feeling we'll be seeing this guy played in more than just dedicated Ninja decks. 

Oh and hey, wouldn't you know it, he also marks our first Bingo - The Return of an Underused Card Effect - in this case Mind Control, only used by the aforementioned Shuyin so far.

 

Edge/Zangetsu- Gale Twin Break

I think if you want to use First-Strike Edge to the best effect, Wind/Lightning would be a good combination. Zangetsu's ability isn't quite as strong as Gekkou or Izayoi's in terms of overall solid Ninja support, but doing 7k damage to a Forward while Edge is on the field is nothing to scoff at either. Using a Zapt/Ramuh Package, the standard Al-Cid/Sage Onion Knight combo, or power reduction cards like Barbariccia, Black Mage, or Diabolos, you can quickly damage your opponents Forwards, then finish them off with your smaller Ninjas that have First Strike. 

Most of the Ninja forwards are small, so this is a decent way to make them more of a legitimate threat to your opponent's board through trickery. If Edge is off the field, you could also threaten to ram them Mijin-Gakure style into your opponent's Forwards then break them with 1-cost Ramuh or 5-Cost Orlandeau.

Ninja Onion Knight is also a great candidate for Edge's First Strike since he can do up to 11k damage per swing, soften up bigger Forwards to be taken out by your Ninja weenies or the Opus VI Lightning Ninja backup. If your opponent tries to remove Onion Knight, you can just use his Job-Change ability to fizzle the Summon. Even if you have Zangetsu out with no Edge, you can still ping something for 4k to ensure that you'll get Sage Onion Knight's damage effect when it enters the field. 

This build is pretty similar to Lightning/Wind Seifer but, you know, weebier. 

Edge/Tsukinowa - Wild Moon 

I actually had a deck that used the smaller Wind Ninja with "can't be blocked by X or more" effects awhile back, and I was surprised at how it caught people off guard. I actually prefer the 2-cost Edge for this, since you can get your Tsukinowa's Haste requirement a little easier, and the Valefore-like backup reactivation effect can really help you swarm the field with little guys. Once you get a 1 cost forward like Yuffie or Opus II Ninja with a Spiceacilian on the field, your opponent had better have an answer to deal with them fast, or they'll start racking up damage quickly. 

Many of the other cards that have a similar level-blocking requirement happen to be Job: Thief, so if you wanted to make the ultimate sneaky deck you could pair it with cards like Paul and Nanaa Mihgo for deck milling, or Opus I Zidane who is another great Spiceacilian target since your opponent can't remove him with summons or abilities. Just be sure to have another Spiceacilian or a Shemhazai Summon incase the first one gets removed. 

Running them alongside the Fire unblockable cards I mentioned earlier could also work, and you could include Gekkou to get your Ninjas out faster, even though you'd be getting less value out of him by playing 1 and 2 costs. You could also splash in a bit of lightning so you could run Ninja/Sage Onion Knight and Zangetsu if you wanted to make sure you're getting the most value from your Gekkous. 

Of course, these smaller Forwards are extremely vulnerable to the Yuri/Chelinka Package or Dadaluma/Cactuar, so running some protection like Y'shtola or even your own Yuri/Chelinka in this kind of deck might be a good idea. 

Oh Goddamnit Nanaa Mihgo is a Job: Robber. Here we go again... 

Edge/Izayoi - Do yourself a Favor and Just Play Chocobos

 

Okay okay, that's not really fair. It's not as though there's NOT any synergy using the Wind/Water Standard Units package with Ninjas. If you have either Edge-H or Water WoL out with Maria-H and Backup Arc, your Ninjas can become legitimately scary. The 1-cost Ninja in particular can become difficult for your opponent to play around with only a 2k boost in power, since being able to double his damage dealt on command means he can trade-up with most things, and trading with a 1-cost is something nobody wants to do. 

I just think that the Wind/Water Standard Unit package has better candidates like the aforementioned Chocobos or even using Rangers over the 3 cost Opus I Ninja with her underwhelming "throw weapon" effect.  I think it's missing a few pieces to be worth running like this, and Izayoi's ability is a bit weaker here without consistent blocker removal, though of course, the new Water Ninja works well here too. IMO Ninjas need a few more pieces of wind support to make this deck build idea more cohesive.

Eh... run this if you want a fun, casual deck and you want to see how big your Ninjas can get with Edge and all the other support. Hey, if all else fails, you can use your Ninja Majyyks to turn into a log and abscond before your opponent realizes what happened. Or at least throw your cards at them like they're shuriken or something.

Honorable Mention:

 

I couldn't really think of a place to put this guy, since he really doesn't synergize too well with the other Eblan Four, but he's actually not a bad card. Obviously he needs to be played in Wind/Fire, and he won't get his extra effect if you play him with Gekkou, but one of our local players made it to the top 8 at the NY Petit Cup with a deck using this guy, so check it out! 

---

So now that we've seen some of the potential uses for Ninja cards currently, what do they need to really make them into a cohesive deck? 

For one, the lack of a dedicated searcher really hurts Ninja's overall consistency. If you can manage to pull off a Gekkou -> Izayoi -> 3 or less Ninja, then it gives you a big board advantage, but having all the optimal combo pieces you need without a searcher is difficult. The problem with having a searcher with Ninjas though is that unlike Dragoons, Ninjas are all over the place in terms of their element. You could make the searcher a wind element card, but it makes deck construction more complicated since you would have to splash wind just to search out your better fire/water/lightning Ninjas. 

Lets take a look at some cards from Chapters that handle the Ninja archetypes problems in different ways. 

Edge 

Job: Ninja

When Edge enters the Field, you may search for 1 [Card Name (Ninja)] or [Job (Ninja)] and add it to your hand. [Card Name (Ninja)] and [Job (Ninja)] you control gain [Can't be blocked by forwards of cost 4 or More]. 

This Edge is pretty good - He'd be better if he were a backup of course, but I think I prefer the unblockable field effect more than First Strike, since a majority of Ninja cards tend to have lower power anyway.

If I were going to make one major change to this card though to fix the Element issue with Ninjas, I would add "If any CP generated to play Edge was made by a Job/Name Ninja, Edge can be played with CP of any element." or something along those lines. That way you can tuck Edge into any Ninja build, even if it's not focused on Wind, get your searches, and give the lightning/water/fire ninjas an extra unblockable effect.

Edge 

Job: Ninja

First Strike

When Edge Enters the Field, you may play up to one of each [Job (Ninja)] or [Card Name (Ninja)] of cost 1 or less, cost 2 or less, cost 3 or less, and cost 4 or less from your hand onto the field. They all gain Haste until the end of the turn. 

This version of Edge is kind of like Gekkou and Izayoi amped up to 11. With this you could play a variety of Ninja from different elements, including the Eblan Four, and watch as absolute madness ensues. You would want to only be playing Ninja Characters to get the most bang for your buck here, but it gives Ninjas a Golbez-like playstyle. The biggest restriction here is that the Ninjas have to be in your hand, so if I were going to change this card I would have them be playable from the Break Zone too. That might be a little bit too much, but it would give Ninjas a "sneak attack" sort of mechanic while still letting you play Ninjas from 3+ elements. 

Godo 

Job: Ultimate God 

The cost of [Card Name (Ninja)] and [Job (Ninja)] in your hand is reduced by 1. (This can't become 0.)

, Put Godo in the Break Zone: Choose 1 [Card Name (Yuffie)] in your Break Zone. Return it to your hand.

Godo would be a solid 2-cost and a great first turn play for Ninjas. Not a whole lot more to say about it other than a blanket 1 CP reduction would be great for speeding up Ninjas and giving them more unique tools that Knights and Dragoons don't. The relevance of the his second ability would depend on us getting a better Yuffie card that actually care about his cost reduction effect. 

Ninja

Job: Standard Unit

: Until end of turn, the next time Ninja deals damage to a Forward and the next time a Forward deals damage to Ninja, that damage becomes 0. This ability can only be used once a turn.

So my other observation with Ninjas is that most of the Wind Standard Units are either too small to care much about getting over things or need to be paired with specific elements to work best. A 3-Cost 7k gives Ninjas a more substantial body in Wind that doesn't need to be used in a Fire/Wind build. Giving this guy a power boost and First Strike turns him into a legitimate threat, since he can shadow block anything bigger than him for 2 Wind CP. 

Also he's my obligatory "PORT MORE XI CARDS" card. It wouldn't be a Lv.1 Onion Knight article without it. 

---

That's about it for Ninjas from Chapters I think would help the archetype out. A majority of them used the Equipment mechanic that isn't currently in the FFTCG, and it seems kind of doubtful that we would see it any time soon. I'm really hoping that we'll see some more Ninja support in Opus VIII. Jinnai from Legends is a bit of a stretch, but at this point I'm almost positive we'll see another Yuffie and Yugiri, so that's two more Ninja Heroes than we had before.
Or they could print cards of those characters but they'll be like... Job: Shinobi or something. Oh God. 

Until next time - Keep on Grinding,