Thanks SqRagnarok it means a lot!

I definitely don't plan on retiring this deck any time soon! It's just as strong as it is fun, and has a different feel than most commander decks. I'm also hoping for a return to Kamigawa... Give us more ninjas!

so i had a question cause my friend brought up a point but there are no rulings on the card that i can find but does caltrops completely shut down ninjas kinda? with our 1 1 unblockables cause once theyre declared theyre attacking which means it triggers and they die cause if i recall you can ninjutsu at that point.

@Cyclonious24 Unfortunately Caltrops would trigger when we declare our 1/1 as an attacker. That means it would die before we can use ninjutsu, because ninjutsu must be used on an unblocked attacker (i.e. after declare blockers). I wouldn't worry too much about Caltrops though. It seems like it would be pretty bad against almost every commander deck except Yuriko, so most players wouldn't even play it.

I am in awe of this deck, it has the ninja motif all the way. Have you thought of including an Isochron Scepter to reuse brainstorm or have any other of the cheap instants at the ready?

Thanks Herudur, I appreciate it!

I think that Isochron Scepter works best in two kinds of decks: A midrange commander deck such as Kess, Dissident Mage that wants to play the long game and out-value their opponents, or a combo deck with an infinite mana sink such as Thrasios, Triton Hero which can capitalize on the Isochron Scepter+Dramatic Reversal combo.

When I'm playing Yuriko, I'm ideally trying to win by turn 6-8. So I typically can't spend 2 mana to cast Isochron Scepter and hold up another 2 mana to use the spell that's imprinted on it. I also don't have a way to win the game after making infinite mana from Isochron Scepter+Dramatic Reversal. So although Isochron Scepter is a very powerful card, it doesn't fit that well in the deck.

I hope that was clear :) thanks again for leaving a comment!

kamigawa is returning in 2022 in bright, colorful fashion. i can't wait to see where the new set takes us and i'm praying for some new ninja goodness to hit our rooftops.

Hey again Azja!

How have the cards you've been testing treating you? I've been trying to find space for Opposition Agent and Dauthi Voidwalker as both seem to be incredible value pieces against graveyard strategies and tutors, fetches and more. (considering this is a deck that's definitely up there on the power scale and would play against decks that do a lot of this)

What do you think about those cards? Has Street Wraith paid off for you generally?

Have you looked at adding any new cards from recent sets? I've been considering Consider (heh) but Ponder may straight up be better. I'm also looking to find a spot for Boon of the Wish-Giver as I feel like my CMC has gotten a bit too low and it hurts the cinsustency of my burn damage. Also been looking at Scion of Draco as I feel like my big burn spells can end up stuck in my hand or get exiled, but not sure if it fits or what I would cut it for.

Hope you are well, flipping Yuriko triggers and hitting the big spells ;)

It's great to hear from ya again Snake57! I've been a bit busy with school, and getting back into in-person modern events, so I haven't been playing much edh lately :( but here's what I think of the cards I'm testing:

• So far Gingerbrute feels like a good fit for Yuriko. I think the upside of having haste outweighs the downside of having to pay to make it unblockable. I chose to cut Tormented Soul because it also can't be pitched to Force of Will and I want to keep my density of blue cards high, but I still think it's a solid enabler.

• I've also been pretty happy with Ponder over Personal Tutor. The problem I have with Personal Tutor is that I don't have a ton of sorceries that aren't just big, clunky extra turn spells. In contrast, Vampiric Tutor and Mystical Tutor have a lot more targets and provide utility at every point in the game, not just on the final turn. I would definitely suggest Ponder over Consider because you can also control what's on top of your deck, not just the card you draw.

• I have mixed feelings about Chain of Vapor. It's awesome in the early game when your opponents don't have enough lands to reasonably sac one to copy it, but it feels pretty bad in the mid-late game when they do. Also at 1 cmc, it doesn't do Yuriko any favours. I chose to cut Spire Owl in its place because I had 4 2-mana enablers, and it felt like a bit too many. From what I can tell, I think 3 is the right number.

• Dauthi Voidwalker has been an awesome addition to the deck. It hinders graveyard strategies, can be used as enabler if needed, and most importantly, steals an opponent's removal spell or counterspell. I chose to cut Throat Slitter because my meta used to be filled with black aristocrat decks. But lately it's been shifting from that, so I may try to find a spot for it again.

Now for the cards you mentioned:

• I've tried Opposition Agent in some other decks, but not in Yuriko. I've found that it mostly ends up stealing someone's ramp or fetchland, rather than an actual tutor. This makes me think it might be a bit underwhelming in Yuriko.

• I've really been liking Street Wraith so far. It's a heavy hitter when you reveal it with Yuriko, and you can immediately cycle it for a more useful card. It also fuels your delve spells, and you can use it to set up a miracle Temporal Mastery.

• I also feel like the overall cmc can be a bit low, so I think adding Boon of the Wish-Giver could be a good call. At 1 mana it's pretty easy to cycle, plus it's not too bad of a card either.

• I would hesitate to play Scion of Draco because we can only reduce it to 8 mana, making it almost uncastable. If you need another big card for burn, I would maybe go with Enter the Infinite because both Mystical Tutor and Vampiric Tutor can tutor for it, and it can be exiled to Force of Will.

As always, thanks for commenting and let me know if you have any more suggestions from the new sets!!

Hey Azja! As always thanks for getting back to me :)

Great to hear Gingerbrute is working out for you, I've definitely have good experiences with the card since adding it. I was actually considering to purchase Personal Tutor, but looks like I can spend that money somewhere else then. In regards to Consider, I actually mixed my cards up. I meant Otherworldly Gaze from the same set. which seemed pretty good to me as it also fuels the graveyard when necessary and can be cast at instant speed (twice). Not sure it beats out Ponder though? I'm unsure if I can fit both in the deck.

I've just ordered a few copies of Dauthi Voidwalker so I am looking forward to giving that card a try, do you end up using it as an enabler often? I'd assume it just sits on the board for as long as possible.

For me I'm really split on Opposition Agent, I feel like if I can get it out early it completely screws up my opponents early land plays giving them issues playing fetchlands (of which there are a good amount in the pods I play Yuriko in). Later in the game i'll likely have the mana open to flash it out as well, but it may take some time to find the right moment, it also feels like somewhat of a removal magnet as it needs to be dealt with before tutoring for a wincon for example. However it doesn't really further my own strategy directly, and is unlikely to be used as an enabler. I'm genuinely having a hard time with this one.

I've just added Street Wraith to my main deck so I'm curious to see how it performs for me, I didn't think of the interaction with Temporal Mastery, seems good! Also, I've added Abjure and it really has felt like a decent addition to the counterspell package as the downside tends to be manageable (and sometimes adds more delve-fodder)

I'll see if I can get ahold of Boon of the Wish-Giver, to me the card just seems to make sense in Yuriko. I'm currently running 32 lands with a ton of fetches and I still feel like I've been hitting lands way too often (maybe I've just been unlucky recently) But it makes me consider cutting a Land for the card as it can be cycled as well.

You are right, Scion of Draco probably isn't the right choice, Enter the Infinite is definitely an option, however I feel it may be better to raise the CMC of my deck across the board a little. I'm looking into adding more delve cards and cards that synergise with that. Maybe Murderous Cut, Otherworldly Gaze, Frantic Search, Treasure Cruise. Perhaps I could add cards that untap lands as well, a Treachery, Cloud of Faeries, Time Spiral is what I'm looking at currently.

Maybe I've just had a few - not so great games recently and I should give it more games before I rush to change things around that much.

I am very curious to see what what the new Kamigawa Set will bring, here's hoping there will be some good additions for Yuriko.

Hello, been a while since I've really done much here, but I saw a highlight for your deck and thought I'd stop by. Your Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow seems to be designed for a higher-end playgroup than mine (given the Force of Will, Mana Crypt, etc.), but I figured I'd throw in a couple of fun things to consider.

First: 2-piece combo, Library of Leng + Unfulfilled Desires. Unfulfilled Desires is basically the only repeatable card that makes you discard as part of an ability instead of a cost so it can actually work with Library of Leng. You have 3 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow triggers on the stack and 3 open mana? Vampiric Tutor up a bomb like Draco before the first trigger resolves. After the trigger resolves and you dome your opponents, activate Unfulfilled Desires to draw a card and discard Draco back to the top of your library. Then repeat for the rest of your triggers (mana allowing). While it's a tad slow, it packs a huge punch. It also allows for some extra enablers such as Looter il-Kor. So even if you don't have any ninjas to go around, you can resolve Looter il-Kor before a Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow trigger and discard something big in your hand to the top of your deck with Library of Leng to reveal for Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow's trigger.

Another 2-drop enabler to consider is Nether Traitor. While it does cost 2 mana, it has haste and shadow, so it's not really that bad. The only issue with it is the double black cost when you're building heavy blue for Force of Will. But it also has the upside of being able to come back to play on its own when something else of yours dies.

Due to my friends liking graveyard decks, I also opted to run some disruption in the form of Weathered Runestone. While it does turn off Nether Traitor's last ability, it also lets me run Dimir Infiltrator as an enabler and tutor. The 3-cost, sorcery speed tutor is a little slow, but being able to get things like Weathered Runestone, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, Scroll Rack and Cyclonic Rift for games when I've been faced with someone stalling out my early aggression is nice.

Whether you add anything in or not is up to you and how they fit in your playgroup. Was just nice being able to share. Hope you continue your shadowy fun. :)

Hello, ive been studying your deck quite a bit in the last few months and I am building a deck quite similar to this. I was wondering what you would recommend as some decent alternative to the 0 cost mana rocks. At the moment that is not within my budget, however, I am not sure what I could be running instead. I was thinking maybe Talisman of dominance and Sol Ring.

Hey Snake57, sorry about the very late reply! My playgroup has been the same 3-4 people in the past couple of months due to covid, so I've been messing around with some new decks for more variety in our games. Don't worry, I still absolutely love Yuriko, but I haven't made any changes to the list lately!

Ponder vs Otherworldly Gaze: Ponder wins this one for me because it acts as topdeck manipulation and a cantrip. With Otherworldly Gaze you get to see more cards, but you also go down a card in the process.

Personal Tutor: Although I'm still not a huge fan of this card, I've been playing with it in favour of Insidious Dreams. Insidious Dreams is more powerful in the right situation, but quite mana intensive, and brutal if it gets countered.

Dauthi Voidwalker: Love this card so far. I mostly keep it untapped as a threat rather than an enabler, but the shadow is a nice plus!

Opposition Agent: I'm also split on this card. Most times it just steals a fetchland and then gets removed, which makes it feel kind of underwhelming. But the upside of stealing an actual tutor could be worth it.

Abjure and Boon of the Wish-Giver: I have both of these in my binder but I haven't tried them myself. How have they panned out for you?

Enter the Infinite: I also agree that raising the overall cmc is better than playing this card. I think 2 is the perfect number of cards in the "high cmc but useless" category (Draco and Blinkmoth Infusion). Like you said, delve cards or big cards that cycle seem like a better solution.

Have you made any changes in your list? Let me know!

Also, any thoughts on neon dynasty so far?

I think Kaito Shizuki looks quite powerful and, for once, I'm looking forward to trying out a planeswalker in Yuriko!

As for Satoru Umezawa, it seems too mana intensive for this deck. But I'm excited to see another ninjutsu commander with a different spin!

Hello JXCASTILLO! Glad you like the deck! For budget mana rocks, I would suggest Sol Ring and Talisman of Dominance as you mentioned, as well as Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, and Fellwar Stone. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

Hi azja

I'm really enjoying your Primer on Yuriko and just wanted to say thank you! I've been playing Commander for a few years and took a break. Finally getting back into Commander and decided to build my first CEDH deck. Looking forward to seeing what changes you make with the new Kamigawa Set upon release.

@Elipson This comment made my day, thank you so much!

I'm glad you enjoyed my primer, and hope it helps with your return to commander!

Kamigawa looks amazing, and we got some sweet new ninjas. I'm hoping to get my hands on them in a couple of weeks and start testing them out!

Though you have the 2 cc rule for the deck, have you thought of Thalakos Seer. Basically unblockable and you get card draw from the ninjutsu ability. I've also found that Hatred or Tainted Strike can win the game in one go with so many unblockable options.

@freezerboy Thank you for the comment!!

Thalakos Seer (and similarly Baleful Strix) are definitely powerful with ninjutsu and extremely close to being in the decklist. I chose to lean towards speed/mana efficiency with my deck, so they unfortunately didn't make the cut. If it were a bit slower and value-based (i.e. playing better ninjas than Skullsnatcher) I would likely include them.

The decks in my playgroup are a bit too competitive for Hatred on an unblockable creature to work consistently, but I would love to see someone try that out, it's just janky enough to work :')

As for Tainted Strike, if I targeted one of my unblockable creatures wouldn't it just deal 2-3 infect and not much else? Maybe I am missing the synergy here, let me know!

I've used Tainted Strike in my ninja deck pretty effectively on other people's creatures that are dishing out more than 10 damage in one swing to effectively take out an opponent through another's attack. It pairs well with Hatred as well, though it sounds like you're keeping all costs low throughout. I tended to use poison counters as a subtheme for my deck, running cards like Swamp Mosquito and Inkmoth Nexus to get a buildup of counters on a player. The mosquito pairs well since it gives counters and doesn't need to deal damage either and can still be a ninjutsu target. There's no one way to be a ninja.

If you're interested, the deck is Agents of Darkness