Mist-Syndicate Naga

Creature — Naga Ninja

Ninjutsu {2}{U} ({2}{U}, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)

Whenever Mist-Syndicate Naga deals combat damage to a player, create a token that's a copy of Mist-Syndicate Naga.

Tokens

• Copy Clone

Legality

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

Discussion (41)

Rhadamanthus on Do Mutations copy with the …

7 months ago

Yes, copies of a merged permanent take all the merged characteristics, but let's get clear about the specifics of your example. A merged permanent starts with the characteristics of the top-most object and adds the abilities from everything below it. This means:

• If you put the Heron on top then you will have a 3/4 Elemental Bird named Dreamtail Heron with mana cost {4}{U} that has the Dreamtail Heron abilities plus the Mist-Syndicate Naga abilities
• If you put the Naga on top then you will have a 3/1 Naga Ninja named Mist-Syndicate Naga with mana cost {2}{U} that has the Naga abilities plus the Heron abilities

carpecanum on Do Mutations copy with the …

7 months ago

If I mutate Mist-Syndicate Naga with Dreamtail Heron will copies be 3/4 flying ninja naga's?

Durahan-Brewer on Ninjas

1 year ago

Yo ! Love seeing more Ninjas representation in decks, sweet brew friend

A suggestion would be to add some copies of Fatal Push since you're already in Dimir/UB. Fatal Push synergizes with Ninjutsu activating the Revolt requirement. Copies of Counterspell over Negate I think would be outright better for your brew too, being more U than B the UU shouldnt be hard to get over (1)U.

As for Win cons; I completely hear you. Ninjas are kinda soft in that department but there are options. Kaito Shizuki as you already have I would consider one, Mist-Syndicate Naga is an extremely sleeper card IMO, never seen something get out of control so fast. Fallen Shinobi is another option, being a fatty (5/4) it's hard to remove and can win off value from 1 connect. Albeit; it can also whiff and get nothing or sit in your hand w.o a way of getting on board.

I'm surprised to not see any copies of Ingenious Infiltrator in your brew. I would say II is genuinely the strongest Ninja printed currently in MtG. Outside of Ninja Tribe there can be other Win-Cons included; I run Faeries as my Enablers so I also run Bitterblossom as a Win-Con.

Polaris on Will other "becomes blocked" effects …

2 years ago

Yes for two reasons.

Becoming blocked is an event. Your Gustcloak Savior does not change the event, it only changes the condition of the creature (it is no longer in combat, attacking, or blocked after the trigger resolved but it still attacked and was blocked for triggered abilities that care). These creatures would not be eligible for things like ninjutsu (i.e. Mist-Syndicate Naga) because that looks for the condition of being an unblocked attacker (not just not blocked), but triggered abilities only care about the triggering event, not what happens after.

The second reason is that all four triggered abilities go on the stack at the same time before any of them resolve. Once an ability goes on the stack, it exists independently of the source. Your opponent could destroy all of your creatures in response and the triggers would still resolve. Some parts of them might not do anything (Gustcloak Savior obviously can't remove the creatures from combat, because they're in the graveyard) but nothing stops you from drawing the cards, draining the life, etc.

Spirits on Yuriko, Shadow of Fate EDH

2 years ago

Wow thanks Virlym!!!

Agreed Thrasios, Triton Hero or a Kess, Dissident Mage way more value for Fish-Consul, was hoping for some flavor, along with the easiest win in commander today. Goal is to build a fun, rogue style deck, but that I can play in High power format games, 8+. I'll think on the fish overnight, certainly is powerful (and lots of interaction in the format to deal with it, a couple you identified). Doomsday without fish wouldn't be good either, too much work and weird cards would have to be put in without it. I defintely want a focused strategy not just play stuff for needing to play it.

Agreed Mana Vault is wrong, not on curve, going to replace that one with something. Dark Ritual I think I might need, a T1 Opposition Agent or Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion, maybe an Arcane Signet into an Unblockable with a Sensei's Divining Top lots of scenarios I can see using that {b}{b}{b} Dauthi Voidwalker that grabs me a fetchland I can use to not miss my T3 land drop, etc.

For Mox Opal I haven't done an analysis "yet", i have calculated the hypergeometric probabilities and charted them, see Kaalia Deck, but it's generally low, even lower with no Mana Vault.

The land selection supports the Thassa's Oracle + Tainted Pact, if you have any duplicate cads (including basic lands) then Tainted Pact doesn't work as a Tutor or a win enabler. I included the basic & it's snow-covered counterpart for maximum coverage there. I'm prioritizing lands that 1) Never enter tapped, 2) are T1 useable lands. Spire of Industry might not be right, similar argument to Mox Opal what is it's activation probability. Could go back to Tarnished Citadel or Ancient Tomb maybe? I dont like the colorless, or maybe just an Island like Cephalid Coliseum. I've tried finding another dual colored land that meets the criteria but can't which is why I landed on Spire of Industry. If I abandon fish-pact, can add more basics.

Satoru Umezawa I had a hard time. His CMC4 activated ability is useless, I was more evaluating on the following 1) Whenever Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow commander ninjitsu, I get to a) Look at the top 3 cards of library, b) Choose one for my hand (a counterspell or land or something), c) was a ninja lol. Looking again, his ability isn't a "may" so he's actually going to break the sorcery speed top deck manipulators like Imperial Seal or Personal Tutor, so he's bad, needs to come out, the draw isn't worth disrupting the synergy of the deck.

Viscera Seer has goldfished ok with me so far, why i've liked him a) He is CMC 1, so could be an early swing unblocked to commander ninjitsu and doesn't cost much to recast, b) He can put Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow back into the command zone, so that she can commander ninjitsu in "unblockable" again, dont want her stuck on the board with no way to attack, c) The top deck manipulation helps drawing what you need when you need it or getting rid of a card so that you can connect with a bigger spell. He also protects my stuff from exile effects, or effects that might turn her into an indestructible insect or a land or whatever all those things want to do! d) Can block and sac against lifelink (if that matters, probably not), not giving their footing back when I'm trying to kill with my Yuriko ability. He's not critical value, but having a way to consistently cast that unblockable, commander ninjitsu, replay the unblockable and get Yuriko back in command zone, is good isn't it? Cunning Evasion dpes this for all ninjas where Viscera Seer only works with Yuriko.

Praetor's Grasp probably wrong. Reevaluating there thanks.

I don't like that Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar only triggers once, thought he was for each creature. Hmm. If unblocked draw a card. If blocked return to hand vs. if blocked return to hand. Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar gives them additional incentive to block, but not much more, it's an extra card per turn, with the unblockables it should be anyway, so like a Phyrexian Arena with a second ability? Easier to remove. Cunning Evasion really just de-incentifies the block, especially if Yuriko on the field, but most stuff is unblockable or will draw a card. So point taken, is the extra card here or there worth the extra mana, and making it easier to remove, hmm. Maybe both are good?

Opposition Agent agent certainly is good stuff, but it has so many benefits a) It's a CMC3 instant speed tutor (for a land, any card, multiple lands, etc). It's going to get you something you want b) It's an essential stax piece, the higher power you get, the more value he is, essentially it stax locks down oppoents lands (too many fetches not enough basics the higher you get), finding an answer to you board (no looking for a board wipe for your ninjas (high power usually have 1 or 2 and rely on tutors to find it when needed), or even looking for an answer to Yuriko. Opponents durtle under Opposition Agent unless they have a removal "in hand" forces them to draw into a solutions, under a restricted mana base, decks playing 10-20 tutors shuts down 20% of their deck, slows them down etc. Until they ban this card that should never have been printed, or at least printed in White instead, have to play him. In Mid>High games or lower, he's far less useful as you see more basic lands, or more enters tapped, more draw effects and fewer tutors understandably.

This is really fantastic discussions, appreciate it, hopefully not consuming too much of your time :)

Thousand-Faced Shadow, I got hyper focused on his CMC4 ninjitsu for a "lack luster" ability and didn't even consider he's a CMC1 with flying evasion built in, that's also a ninja! Who cares about his dumb ability! He's going in 100%.

Mist-Syndicate Naga he's really just a 3/1 for 3 (bad), no evasion (bad), ninjitsu is CMC3 (bad, why not CMC1?). He replicates and then exponentially populates, but you can't bounce the copies to hand to protect them, and as with exponential growth, it's the T1-3 growth that kills you, the game isn't going to go long enough for him to deliver the value he could, let's say on T14 of a game, his T4 swinging. It's extra draw, but how is this guy getting through all these times to draw the cards, and why would I even Ninjitsu him lol. Can't get there on this guy.

Moon-Circuit Hacker and Ninja of the Deep Hours I keep thinking about though, their Ninjitsu costs are reasonable, but can't decide what they take the place of, a control card? a tutor card? That tutor finds me a win-con piece, a big spell for Yuriko to hit with, or a Ninja that delivers more advantage. However, if Yuriko is offline for whatever reason, they can draw into a solution themselves. In reconsidering mode on those. Thought I was close to having the list, your points have made me reconsider so many things.

The other low-cost ninjitsu are a little too situational and for like Mid>High games where board state matters more. The higher you get, the less important a board state is, and other than disrupting 1 player at sorcery speed (since Ninjitsu is on your turn, during attack, and only unblocked) it's utility is low. If the games are 5-7 power level, things tend to come out, wait around a turn before they do their thing in 7+ "usually" the thing comes out and it's already done it's thing Dockside Extortionist or a creature with haste that activates, etc. There are some exceptions like an Esper Sentinel or something, but in general Destroy/bounce are usually bad, want Exile at instant speed to have more "interaction".

Doomsday isn't really necessary, it's just an easy T1 win-con that tutors all the cards in combo. I haven't figured the stack but probably 1BBBB (5CMC T1 win), 1BB with a dark ritual. I'll build the stacks but that seems right. T2 win with lots like Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox. I'm just not 100% sold if it's needed and also means can cut Plunge into Darkness as well, although I think Night's Whisper would still stay even without Doomsday. Fish-consul is UUB T1 or Fish-pact 1UUB, so there are more efficent lines than Doomsday. There is a BBB Doomsday win-line but too many cards that don't synergize well with the commander in the deck.

Thanks so much, a bunch more modifications to the decklist coming tonight! Was extremely helpful.

Virlym on Yuriko, Shadow of Fate EDH

2 years 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.

azja on Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow (1st CEDH deck)

2 years ago

If I had to pick some creatures to cut, I'd potentially go with these:

Forsworn Paladin: menace is even less reliable than flying, and you generally won't have the mana to activate its abilities

Fourth Bridge Prowler: if your playgroup is heavy on mana dorks it can be really powerful, but otherwise it's pretty underwhelming

Phyrexian Walker/Ornithopter: good if your playgroup's decks are light on creatures, otherwise they cant get through often

Thassa's Oracle: not worth playing unless it's for the Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact combo, since there's better topdeck manipulating enablers such as Augury Owl

Walker of Secret Ways: looking at someone's hand can provide useful info, but it's one of the weaker 2-drop ninjas in my opinion, it may not be necessary to include now that Kamigawa is out

Mist-Syndicate Naga: can definitely take over the game if someone doesn't have blockers, but making one non-evasive token can be underwhelming for 3 mana

Also I checked my list and I'm playing 29 creatures, so 32 isn't that far off!

Optimator on Yoriko and Some Tricky Ninjas

2 years ago

Fallen Shinobi might be worth a slot. Most of the MH1 ninjas are worth a look. Ingenious Infiltrator - Throatseeker - Phantom Ninja - Moonblade Shinobi - Mist-Syndicate Naga

Dream Cache and Brainstorm are some of the only ways in the whole game to put cards in hand on top of your library. Worth noting at the very least.