Mistblade Shinobi

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pauper Legal
Pauper Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Mistblade Shinobi

Creature — Human Ninja

Ninjutsu _(, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card into play from your hand tapped and attacking.) _

Whenever Mistblade Shinobi deals combat damage to a player, you may return target creature that player controls to its owner's hand.

Virlym on Yuriko, Shadow of Fate EDH

1 year ago

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with the Thassa's Oracle line. There's much better generals out there for it over Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow (like any Thrasios, Triton Hero deck partnered with something that has black in it). Doomsday could still work with Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow as a game ender tho if you really wanted to keep that in. It's really your call, but I never liked setting myself up to lose if something gets countered (Trickbind makes you lose to the Thassa's Oracle line, and something like Angel's Grace will make you lose to the Doomsday line). Having said that, the following will assume you are focusing on Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, and not a planted "good-stuff" strategy.

glaring issues in a general sense from your list :
1)You have poor ramp choices for Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
2)Your land base is too awkward and has unnecessary things in it.
3)You have some turtle cards that don't really have much use in Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

1)Mana Vault is more for a deck that wants big explosive turns, not ramp for small things over multiple turns. You are hardly ever going to want to dump 4 mana into untapping it. Same concept applies to Dark Ritual as well, especially considering it only gives you black mana. Lotus Petal falls into this category as well to an extent. You don't want explosive turns, you want consistent pressure. Mox Opal makes you life more complicated for a potential free mana, which leads into the next issue.

2)Your land choice is too awkward. You have artifact lands to turn on Mox Opal, but they serve no other purpose and can be wiped out with artifact removal. If you are running so many different lands, you generally want to be taking advantage of something where that matters (like Field of the Dead, and you usually want to avoid using the non-indestructible artifact lands unless you have a lot of artifact synergies. They are too vulnerable to just have for 1 or 2 cards. You have more fetch lands than you have targets for those fetches. You have 3 black fetchs, 3 blue fetches, 1 black/blue fetch, and 1 basic land fetch. You only have 4 basic lands, and 2 fetchable dual lands (giving you 8 fetches for 6 targets). Spire of Industry is honestly too reliant on other things that it can basically be counted as a colorless land with no utility.

3)Satoru Umezawa is cute, but doesn't help in a Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. It's main purpose is to cheat in big things for 4 mana. Anything you have over 4 mana should already have a ninjutsu reduction to that. Spellseeker is only good for the Thassa's Oracle line and has no real impact with Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow aside from tutoring for a tutor, which is awkward (Solve the Equation follows the same line of thought). Viscera Seer's scry ability may seem decent to try and find something for Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, but you would need to sac ninjas or enablers, which would lower the amount of triggers you would get. The only real payoff for it is if you're trying to win that turn and you sac your ninjas after they trigger Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. Praetor's Grasp is too reliant on your opponent having something useful to you, and isn't reliable enough for what Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow wants to be doing. And if you're using it to remove you opponent's wincons from their deck, you might as well just use something like Extract for that as it's cheaper, or Sadistic Sacrament as it will hit more targets. Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar is a little too fragile for the bounce it gives and you would be better off running Cunning Evasion. The card draw on it really isn't necessary. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow tends to give you more cards than you need, you don't need additional card draw reliant on damage. Opposition Agent kinda just falls under the "good-stuff" category and will most likely have a prompt death by any1 after you get a land off it, otherwise if kinda just sits in your hand and people will assume it's just a counter.

Ninjas of note that aren't included: Thousand-Faced Shadow, get it, it's too good. 1 drop flier is an enabler spot, but it is also a ninja. Later on, it can be used to double up some ninja triggers as a toolbox card. Mist-Syndicate Naga, expanding your ninja army is really nice and forces value from your opponents to deal with the growing threats. Moon-Circuit Hacker / Ninja of the Deep Hours, extra card draw on cards ninjas with low ninjutsu costs.

Some more meta call ninjas: Throat Slitter / Dokuchi Silencer, removal is nice, especially when it's already lending towards what you already want to be doing and not taking up additional space. Mistblade Shinobi temp creature removal, can set people back a turn if you hit something big, has a tap effect, etc. Skullsnatcher, graveyard hate.

SoupyYumYumSlurp on I know you are, but what am I? (extra combats)

2 years ago

Cool deck! If you really wanted to stick to the Naruto theme you could add some cards with Ninjutsu. I think that Mistblade Shinobi would make a good reference to the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist, for example.

Guerric on [Primer] Crouching One-Drop, Hidden Ninja

2 years ago

February 7, 2022- Continuing Thoughts on Neon Dynasty Spoilers

Once again, I'll post my thoughts on some additional ninjas as well as a few non-ninjas that may be relevant to the deck.

First of all, the underwhelming

1) Inkrise Infiltrator He's an evasive ninja I guess. Even without ninjutsu he'd be playable if he was a one-drop, but paying two just isn't worth a slot. We also have to remember that 2cmc is still bad off the top. We always prefer a higher cmc with a heavily discounted ninjutsu ability. If its going to be an enabler it needs to be one.

2) Mukotai Ambusher What's good here is that it does four off the top but can come down turn two with ninjutsu. Its otherwise a vanilla lifelinker though, which makes it an otherwise underwhelming choice. The fact that it isn't enabled by Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive just aggravates this.

Second, the Promising

1) Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion This is essentially a second copy of Fallen Shinobi that gets more cards, but you can only use one of them and have to pay for it in life if it has a cmc. This is definitely very powerful and something that will scare your opponents. I have to say though, I'm not always a fan of random effects like this, and we aren't in a deck where paying life is usually a great idea. This one is interesting, but time will tell if we want to include it.

2) Dokuchi Silencer This card is much better, and is likely to at least be tested. Single-target interaction is something we need to be running in much higher quantities in commander today, and getting a two-for-one by stapling removal to a ninja is one reason why Mistblade Shinobi and Throat Slitter are two of our best cards. Yuriko usually makes it so we have way more cards than we can use, so the cost of discarding a card isn't much of a drawback here. The only thing that would make this better is if it had a higher cmc. 2cmc is great for its ninjutsu entry, but I wish it would do four or five off the top. Still, beggars can't be choosers in this category, so it will probably make it in.

3) Moon-Circuit Hacker Ninja of the Deep Hours is perhaps the most famous ninja of all time, and this is a discount version that comes down for one, except it loots if it didn't enter the battlefield this turn. That alone might make it good enough, as 1cmc ninjutsu abilities are rare indeed, and helpful for early game tempo. We generally don't mind looting as we're discarding cards do to overdrawing from Yuriko anyway, so a little extra hand sculpting is great. The biggest drawback is that Ninja of the Deep Hours does four off the top whereas this does only two. That is a limitation. We always have to remember that as far as ninjutsu creatures goes, the higher cmc the better as we'll rarely if ever cast it for cmc, and we might as well be doing damage. Still, the benefits are substantial, and it certainly could serve as an early enabler if we don't get a one drop.

4) Prosperous Thief This is where we hot the boundary between promising and truly great, and I suspect this will make it into the latter category, though I'll reserve my optimism for now. Earlier we mentioned how there is an early game tension between getting out ninjas early and ramping. Covert Technician is one possible answer to this dilemma, and this card is another. This can come down on turn two and make us temporary mana in the form of treasure tokens whenever a ninja hits. Nice On top of this, it comes down for two but does three off the top, so it narrowly fulfills that criterion. While Covert Technician gives us permanent ramp when it works, it can potentiall whiff if we are lacking an artifact, whereas this ninja will always be doing something for us. I suspect both will make the deck, and in any case I am really glad to see the design people at wizards seem to have a real knowledge of how one of their most popular commanders works.

The Truly Great

1) Moonsnare Specialist This is effectively a second copy of Mistblade Shinobi, one of my favorite cards in the deck, except that it can bounce our own stuff back as well, which is awesome utility. It comes down for three, which is well worth if if we are removing a problematic creature, and does four off the top. What's more, just like Mistblade Shinobi it will deter our opponent from casting big, scary creatures which we can bounce for three. This deck needs more ninja-based interaction, and this is a perfect example of how to do that.

Non-Ninja Items

1) Kaito's Pursuit While giving all your ninjas menace for a turn might seem like a good way to get through, I'd rather have a more expensive (and hence higher damage off Yuriko) but permanent mass evasion card like Archetype of Imagination any day. We don't need this.

2) Secluded Courtyard An Unclaimed Territory that works with Ninjutsu? Neat! The fact that its in a Kamigawa set with appropriate art is an added bonus. There is no reason not to play this.

3) Otawara, Soaring City This is a legendary land that comes in untapped, but which we can discard if we need some recurion. Its not lifechaning, but there is absolutely no downside here, so it goes in.

4) Takenuma, Abandoned Mire Ditto what we said about Otawara. There's no reason not to include this.

Corrosive_Cat on

2 years ago

I reckon 2 or 3 Access Tunnels - I’d argue 2, depends how often you needed mana and instead go one of them.

Personally I prefer Idyllic Tutor but it’s totally preference.

And Modern has a Ton of cards, worth scanning Scryfall for a time. At a brief glance, you could consider Mistblade Shinobi, and if you’re feeling risky, Wall of Shards.

jakeelephant006 on its too late they are already under your bed

3 years ago

This deck performs very well with some decently large deficiencies. I think you need to cut some weaker cards (sorceries and creatures mostly) and add in more Ninjas and ninja synergies.

Cards to Cut: Creatures: Definite cuts are Jeskai Infiltrator, but I'd also heavily consider trimming Dark Impostor, Deathcult Rogue, Etrata, the Silencer, and Nezumi Cutthroat.

Sorceries: Definitely cut Hour of Eternity, Kefnet's Last Word, Paranoid Delusions and consider trimming Ghostform, Slip Through Space, or Stealth Mission.

Artifacts, Enchantments, Instants, Planeswalkers, and Lands: I would definitely cut Briber's Purse, Fatal Push, and Vraska, Scheming Gorgon while also giving thought to the merits of including Skygames, Bontu's Monument, Forge of Heroes, Unclaimed Territory, and of, or at least the Amonkhet, cycling lands.

The cards I have recommended are either slow, have low to zero synergy with the rest of the deck, or are typically weak in commander.

Cards to Add Creatures: Ninjas, ninjas, and more ninjas (plus some cheaper unblockables for good measure). There are 19 Ninjas in mtg history (excluding changelings). You have 11 in this deck. I think you ought to have more. The cheapest are Mistblade Shinobi, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Skullsnatcher, Throat Slitter, and Walker of Secret Ways. Higure, the Still Wind and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni are both reasonable splurges in terms of powerful Ninjas to acquire. Now for other creatures to enable Ninjitsu. First off, I could have included Changeling Outcast in the last section since it is also a Ninja and you should absolutely be running it in here. Other small unblockables for you to Ninjitsu into are Gudul Lurker, Slither Blade, Tormented Soul, Faerie Seer, Mothdust Changeling, Gingerbrute, Dimir Infiltrator, Baleful Strix, Invisible Stalker, Augury Owl, Sage Owl, Spire Owl, and Cloud of Faeries. All of these cards are less than 3 cmc, and are either entirely unblockable or have good etb/ltb or dealing combat damage synergy (and are mostly pretty cheap too). I'd recommend adding at least 3 or 4 of them in addition to the above ninjas.

Other cards: This section is mostly for general things that you could do to make this deck more consistent and enjoyable to pilot, but there are a couple specific synergies I think you're missing out on. They're both pretty intertwined so I'll just address them together. I think you could be putting in a few more cards that are good to reveal off of Yuriko's trigger and ways to manipulate the top of your library so you get those card when they are most impactful. I am referring to cards like Treasure Cruise, Sibsig Muckdraggers, Temporal Trespass, Dig Through Time, Draco, Consign / Oblivion, Murderous Cut, Far / Away, Curtains' Call, Into the Story, Submerge, Commandeer, Commit / Memory, Discovery / Dispersal, Rags / Riches, In Garruk's Wake, and any other high cost card that has an alternate mana cost, mana reducing ability, split card, or is a high impact card. Then you could also throw in a few ways to manipulate the top of your library like Brainstorm, Ponder, Serum Visions, Tamiyo's Epiphany, and Crystal Ball. The only other synegystic thing you could put in here is making your other creatures Ninjas as well with Conspiracy, Xenograft, Arcane Adaptation, and Amorphous Axe.

Otherwise, you could probably add in some more ramp (Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Star Compass, etc.), card draw (see cantrips above and Last Thoughts), board wipes (could probably replace Bontu's Last Reckoning with some of the ones from the last section or just add those ones or some other good boardwipes) and spot removal or counterspells (I don't see a lot of good ways to deal w/ non-creature permanents in here).

dingusdingo on Yuriko Reality and Consultants - cEDH

4 years ago

MadCatMax I gave a very clear reasoning. You are able to hit your infinite turns combo much faster if you are able to pay the mana reliably.

Your combo costs

  • for the Oboro activation
  • Play a land and have at least 3 other islands in play
  • Cast Time Warp for
  • Total cost is
  • 3 Islands + Mystic provides
  • There is still required every execution of your turns loop
  • You run 3 rock accelerators in a 99 card deck, and also Dark Ritual which is not effective for the loop
  • Even utilizing the untap effect from Oboro on one of your own lands, the earliest you can rip this combo is turn 6 without accelerators.
  • This is assuming you hit a land drop every turn for 6 turns. 29 lands, probably not.

You have colorless mana costs in Intuition Oboro Breezecaller Commandeer Force of Negation Misdirection Spellstutter Sprite Tale's End Gingerbrute Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive Fallen Shinobi Ingenious Infiltrator Mist-Syndicate Naga Mistblade Shinobi Sakashima's Student Skullsnatcher Universal Automaton Brazen Borrower Contagion Cyclonic Rift Snuff Out Submerge Whiplash Trap Back to Basics Chains of Mephistopheles Cursed Totem Grafdigger's Cage Scroll Rack Temporal Manipulation Temporal Mastery Temporal Trespass Time Warp Demonic Tutor Diabolic Intent Hope of Ghirapur and Snapcaster Mage. That's 35 cards, literally exactly half of your non-land cards. Of course you can argue that a handful of these have alternate costs that don't include colorless mana, such as the pitch-to-play and some of the ninjutsu, which removes 10 cards from the "uses colorless mana" list. Either way, a quarter of the actual cards you draw and a third of the non-land cards you draw use colorless mana, and the alternate cost cards you will undoubtedly sometimes pay full price for when games go long and resources are available. I didn't even count your two burn cards.

I know you're trying to be clever by cutting slots, and I know this deck doesn't have the explosive plays of hitting Sol ring into mana rocks. Don't try to reinvent the wheel and get clever by cutting mana positive rocks in a deck that uses mana.

My comment is more directed at your friend, who I wrote a very elaborate response to as for inclusions for Sensei's Top in his Doomsday list, and how being reliant on your commander and creatures entirely for card advantage as well as pile cracking is setting him up for failure. Rather than respond, he chose to delete and block me. These decks have a bigger overall problem of being decent competitive decks against most match ups, but absolutely entirely worthless against certain match ups that completely hose the strategy because of how reliant on the commander these decks are. Nevermore on your commander either causes you to scoop or pray for amazing top deck. Repeated Pyroclasm effects resolving cause scoops. Choosing to run Misdirection over Swan Song means if you're counting on Misdirection to stop Pyroclasm you're scooping, or if you're counting on it to stop Demonic Consultation or Flash or Tainted Pact you're scooping. Yes I know it makes a bird token for blocking, but slotting bad cards is your biggest problem.

No I'm not joining your discord. You two are clowns, enjoy brewing your mediocre deck on your own. I'll enjoy the free wins if I ever end up in a pod against someone playing one of these decks.

KidKontrol on Ninja strike force

4 years ago

-Cut fallen shinobi, too high ninjitsu cost, replace with a killspell like Tragic Slip .

-Ninja of the new moon isn't up to snuff, replace with Ninja of the Deep Hours .

-Replace the phantom ninja with Mistblade Shinobi .

-Mist-Syndicate Naga will probably be soft to a lot of decks, replace with Changeling Outcast .

-Choking tethers needs to be another killspell too, or maybe Gudul Lurker

sleeper_agent007 on Ninja Shenanigans

4 years ago

This looks a bit like my first draft. Here are few comments.

I would run more 0-1 drops because you really want to be dropping Infiltrator or Deep Hours on turn 2. You want to get the card advantage going early otherwise you risk falling behind as the game progresses. After all, Ninja have smaller bodies, no natural evasion and are costly if not supported by cheap enablers. You can consider Tormented Soul or maxing out thopter.

I would also try to maximise your mana by adding cheaper support spells. With the in mind, I would run Duress over Thought Erasure and Vapor Snag over Doom Blade .

I REALLY like your idea of pushing Naga and Tetsuko. I would probably run the full set of Mist-Syndicate Naga and replace Cunning Evasion with a full set of either Distortion Strike or Shadow Rift so you can keep connecting with Naga and making clones. Cover of Darkness would be even better if this is just for casual kitchen table magic.

The Naga/Tetsuko synergy would be my prinary focus in this build and I might be dropping Fallen and Moonblade for Skullsnatcher and an extra Mistblade Shinobi since they are both cheap and ca potentially wreck opposing strategies by exiling cards from the yard and clearing the way your clone army. Both also benefit greatly from Tetsuko.

Overall it is very inspiring!

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