Walker of Secret Ways

Creature — Human Ninja

Ninjutsu {1}{U} ({1}{U}, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card into play from your hand tapped and attacking.)

Whenever Walker of Secret Ways deals combat damage to a player, look at that player's hand.

{1}{U}: Return target Ninja you control to its owner's hand. Active this ability only during your turn.

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
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (35)

legendofa on [EDH] Gorion Adventure Deck Review

5 months ago

Kappa Tech-Wrecker is removal, Moonblade Shinobi is battlefield advantage, and Spring-Leaf Avenger is recursion. Sakashima's Student is the high-budget option, and Ninja of the Deep Hours, Mistblade Shinobi, Walker of Secret Ways and Mist-Syndicate Naga are also slightly more expensive.

Dana_in_Love845 on Ghosts N' Ninjas

11 months ago

Nice! I would probably replace Covert Technician with something else though, maybe Ingenious Infiltrator. Also Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is a very strong legend for ninjutsu. Walker of Secret Ways might also be helpful, letting you recast all the ninjas and trigger their effects. Hope I could help!

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!

Snake57 on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

3 years ago

My playgroup agreed on not using permanent proxies to keep the power level as is, but I'll definitely grab the more expensive fetches, I'm just waiting for the reprint coming up in Modern Horizons 2 :) I'm also currently trying to grab a Mana Crypt and Mana Drain locally but it's proving harder than expected.

You are completly right about Song of the Dryads and Walker of Secret Ways I guess there are still some situations where it could be useful returning Yuriko to my hand but that realization admittedly made it a lot worse, makes me a bit unsure about committing to that switch.

Great to hear that we seem to agree on Abjure Mystic Reflection I'll try to find some space for those as soon as I can get my hands on them Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire may just be too slow, you are right. I often forget just how fast Yuriko can be, it may just be good in a lower powered Yuriko deck. Nether Traitor Is kind of in the same boat as well, and quite frankly I wouldn't be sure what to cut for it either.

I sometimes forget considering how important it is to have cards to pitch for Force of Will / Force of Negation / Commandeer , you are again absolutely right.

You seem to have a very firm grip on what to switch out for new cards, since my decklist is so close to yours it's super nice for you to let me pick your brain about it, again it really is much appreciated! Since this is probably my strongest deck by a pretty good margin and it's already very optimized I think I need to be careful about how I approach new inclusions.

I'm really hoping I'll be able to get some more games in soon, I miss flipping Dracos and Blinkmoth Infusions! Maybe I should finally figure out a setup to play some games online at some point.

azja on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

3 years ago

@Snake57 Sounds like you've got a good plan!

• If your group is okay with proxies, then I would definitely add Mana Crypt , Mana Drain and all of the zendikar fetches. If not, I would actually prioritize getting the fetches first. They drastically improve the cards Sage Owl , Spire Owl , Scroll Rack , Sensei's Divining Top , Brainstorm (and probably even more that I'm forgetting!) because you can fetch to shuffle away cards that aren't useful.

• Also, I think Yuriko is no longer a ninja once she's enchanted by Song of the Dryads , so Walker of Secret Ways wouldn't be able to bounce her. Although I still agree that you can cut Azra Smokeshaper for it.

• Abjure seems really spicy. I've been thinking about trying it out soon, as well as Divert . I love one mana counterspells, so I want to add more of them eventually.

• Mystic Reflection seems pretty strong. Like you mentioned, it turns an enabler into one of your ninjas, or the next best creature on the board.

• I'm a bit skeptical about Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire . It has to survive at least one turn around the table to attack and costs a combined 5 mana. I would suggest Cruel Tutor instead if you feel like you're lacking topdeck manipulation.

• Hullbreacher is insanely powerful, especially if your playgroup plays a lot of wheels. I still have to get my hands on one, but the even harder part is what to cut for it :')

• Maskwood Nexus definitely replaces Conspiracy and Xenograft for any Yuriko lists who have them. But like you said, 4 mana is pretty slow. Plus it isn't blue, so you can't pitch it to Force of Will like Arcane Adaptation or Unnatural Selection .

• I've never tried out Nether Traitor , but I'm hesitant to add any more 2 mana enablers. I would probably add Baleful Strix first, if you need stronger enablers.

• I think Karn's Temporal Sundering is stronger than Alrund's Epiphany because it costs one (or two) less mana and bounces a potential blocker. Plus if you foretell it, it's not in your hand to pitch to Force of Will effects. And if your playgroup is familiar with your deck, they know exactly which card you foretold.

Thanks again for the feedback and suggestions! I really appreciate talking Yuriko with someone else who's super invested!

Snake57 on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

3 years ago

It's always a pleasure to read through your thoughts and what you've been testing, again thank you so much for the detailed response!

Unfortunately (and for obvious reasons) I haven't been able to play much paper magic recently but I have been playing around with some new ideas for inclusions, however my primary focus right now it to tune the manabase further, I'm still missing some of the new cards from recent sets like Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip, Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip and Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip in addition to some of the more expensive fetches you've recently added.

I'm also looking to add a Mana Crypt , and Mana Drain , with those additions I'm also feel pretty good about adding a Cyclonic Rift . In my playgroup "hate pieces" like Engineered Plague aren't very common so I will be swapping out Azra Smokeshaper for Walker of Secret Ways , also since it get's Yuriko out of Song of the Dryads like effects, which are more common in my case. I've also wanted to add more targeted removal so I will be trying out Dismember and Snuff Out (especially since there always seem to be plenty of targets for it in my playgroup). I'll also consider adding a Commandeer instead of Commit / Memory However I still haven't quite gone through finding out what to remove, so I'll be keeping an eye out for your final verdict! :D

I'm also really looking to add Abjure since the value of sacrificing one of the many small creatures we tend to play to counter any spell for one blue definitely seems to be worth it in my book.

Looking at more recent cards I'm also strongly considering Mystic Reflection for it's versatility and Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire which seems great considering you can use the boast ability in tandem with the Yuriko trigger, maybe Hullbreacher since there are a lot of wheel effects in my group. Maskwood Nexus also seems good, but I'm unsure if I'll end up with too many of those effects and if 4 mana may be a bit too slow. Nether Traitor seems like a surefire way to connect and similarly to Gingerbrood lets me start getting Yuriko back onto the board again as fast as possible after something like a boardwipe. I'm also considering to cut Karn's Temporal Sundering for Alrund's Epiphany , not too sure about that one though.

As always I'd love to hear your opinions! :)

Wishing you all the best!

P.S. Oh, and I'm still a big fan of Gingerbrood based on my play experience! Try giving the cookie monster a chance ;)

azja on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

3 years ago

Hey @Snake57! It's great to hear from ya!

I haven't been able to play too many games with the new cards that I'm testing, but this is what I think so far:

• Darkwater Catacombs is great for paying for Yuriko's ninjutsu, but is awkward for casting 1 mana spells. Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip is an improvement and it plays very similarly to Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip.

• Walker of Secret Ways was helpful because I got to look at my opponents' hands and adjust my plan accordingly. But it got easily shut down by Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and Engineered Plague . In these scenarios, Azra Smokeshaper would have been practically unaffected, so I'm unsure about this swap.

• Commandeer countered a game-winning Victimize when I was tapped out, and hits hard when you flip it with Yuriko. Exiling 2 blue cards is a steep cost, but it's more helpful than Commit / Memory , which is pretty difficult to cast.

• As expected, Snuff Out is a lot less powerful in my playgroup since black is our most played colour. Even so, it can usually hit one creature on the battlefield, which clears the way for Yuriko. The card that I had to cut to make room was Cover of Darkness . It tends to be a win-more card, in that it's good when my board state is good, but bad when my board state is bad. So far I think that snuff out deserves the spot more.

• I haven't drawn Cyclonic Rift or Liliana's Triumph , so their reviews will have to be postponed :')

There are also a few cards that I plan on trying out later on:

• Gingerbrute is a card I've always been on the fence about, but I've heard nothing but good things from other Yuriko players.

• Merfolk Windrobber is a classic 1/1 flyer for 1, and can replace itself in the late game.

• Street Wraith deals 5 damage when you flip it with Yuriko, then you can immediately cycle it for another card that's more useful. It fills the graveyard for delve spells like Temporal Trespass and Dig Through Time too.

• Gitaxian Probe is a cedh staple, and banned in both modern and legacy. For only 2 life, you get to look at your opponents hand and it replaces itself. It also fills the graveyard for delve spells.

• Dismember is a 1 mana removal spell that kills most creatures, and hits for 3 damage with Yuriko.

I hope that all made sense! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you've found any hidden gems for Yuriko!

azja on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

3 years ago

@Questionblock Good point! I think there's pros and cons to both ninjas:

Walker of Secret Ways has a more valuable ability than Azra Smokeshaper, and you can pitch it to Force of Will and other similar cards.

On the other hand, Azra Smokeshaper deals 1 more damage when revealed by Yuriko, and is more likely to connect with an opponent later on in the game (since it has a 3/3 body rather than 1/2).

I'm glad you mentioned Walker of Secret Ways! It's been in my binder for a while, and I'm tempted to test it out again.