Ninjutsu, Is there any way to effectively use and abuse it?
Modern forum
Posted on Sept. 7, 2014, 8:10 p.m. by STIKY55
I have been messing around in modern for a few months and I have seen alot of mechanics that are really interesting and seem to have potential but Never see much play. One of those is Ninjutsu (for anyone reading that is not familiar, Ninjutsu is an ability that can be payed for during your attack step where an unblocked attacker returns to your hand and the ninja is placed on the battlefield tapped and attacking). I Have played around with a few ideas but nothing seem to hit me as spectacular enough to beat out some of the net decks in modern. There are a few notable interactions, like Ninjutsu and Master Biomancer . Ninja of the Deep Hours would enter as a 4/4 unblocked with a normal biomancer, and I would draw a card, which is pretty nice and could be crucial in a tight game. Another interactions could be with cards like Kitchen Finks who would benifit from being bounced from the board over and over, but the issue is that there are many more effective ways to do that. Thoughts or ideas on making this viable? Thanks in advanced
STIKY55
I agree, But is there no way to advance board state with the mechanic? Or perhaps combat tricks that make bouncing my creatures profitable for me (Enter the Battlefield mechanics like Augury Owl or Baleful Strix , Or even Cards like Burning-Tree Emissary or Brain Maggot that can be useful at controlling the tempo?
September 7, 2014 8:57 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #4
There's always the archetype "ninja bear delver"
September 7, 2014 9:14 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #6
There was a deck called Mono-Blue aggro Ninja Bear Delver that use ninjutsu and had some tourney results a while back. Travis Woo made it he had a article about it somewhere but the deck died off awhile back even the primer on mtgsalvation is dead.
The List -
Land
18 Island
2 Mutavault
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Sorceries
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
Instants
4 Vapor Snag
4 Remand
4 Cryptic Command
4 Disrupting Shoal
Sideboard
4 Hibernation
4 Vedalken Shackles
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Echoing Truth
September 7, 2014 9:16 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #7
Crap totally forgot there are not suppose to be deck list in this forum. XP
September 7, 2014 9:17 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #11
vampirelazarus Ninja of the Deep Hours came in handy after all. XP
September 7, 2014 9:27 p.m.
Mono black ninjas isn't great but it works okay. Running Tormented Soul and Nether Traitor to prevent blocks so you can put in ninjas like Throat Slitter and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni . Crypt Ghast Helps hit the mana you need and lets you gain life from recasting your little unblockables. other ninjas and some removal will basically be all you need after that stuff.
September 7, 2014 10:09 p.m.
Hmm.... This is interesting. I like the recursion on snapcaster over and over.Question, Why Phantasmal Bear ?
September 7, 2014 10:11 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #15
The problem is that when you play one, your opponent knows exactly what deck you are playing :P
September 7, 2014 10:14 p.m.
slovakattack says... #17
Ornithopter makes ninjas pretty abusable, since it doesn't actually need to do damage to activate Ninjitsu- it just needs to not be blocked. So, you can throw it out, attack next turn, return it to your hand, cast it again during your second main phase... rinse, repeat.
September 7, 2014 10:42 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #18
It can. They can make decisions based on the information given.
But, any play could hint at whatever deck someone is playing.
Have a Sacred Foundry and a Steam Vents and you play an Electrolyze ? I'm now thinking patriot control, or kiki control, or patriot midrange, etc. etc.
September 7, 2014 10:52 p.m.
I like the Idea, but the issue is that I Need More damage than most of the ninjas can put out.... So far in testing all of my strategies end up being to slow.
September 7, 2014 10:52 p.m.
slovakattack says... #20
Have you considered Ronin Warclub and Quietus Spike ? Ronin Warclub in particular is especially suited to Ninja aggro.
September 7, 2014 10:58 p.m.
well, as I have noticed, running Phantasmal Bear does not guarantee you are running the Ninja Bear Delver deck, it could mean a few things:
You ARE running Ninja Bear Delver
You are running mono-U illusions (like my "And Just Like That... They Were Gone")*
or
- You needed a 1-drop 2/2 for whatever reason (I.E. : Not wasting T1 with just a land-drop)
One card does not always spoil what a deck is....
Just my two-cents worth.
*not posting a decklink for views, but rather only as an example of a deck that utilizes the Phantasmal Bear
September 8, 2014 12:05 a.m.
vampirelazarus says... #22
In the competitive meta, is the deck "illusions" something I should watch out for? Not that I'm aware of.
But NBD is a thing that did make some waves in the meta. That's why it more than likely signals NBD.
September 8, 2014 1:05 a.m.
Master of Cruelties , can't believe no one mentioned this yet.
September 8, 2014 1:39 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #24
Sweet. Thanks GoofyFoot. This is the new grixis control. I CLAIM THIS DECK IDEA!
September 8, 2014 4:52 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #25
In retrospect, Ninjutsu on Master of Cruelties is far too gimmicky to ever be much worth, as you are better off just playing a cheap creature and beating them to death while disrupting their field. Bitterblossom , Dark Confidant , Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion Clique are all better alternatives.
September 11, 2014 10:35 a.m.
I went to a PTQ recently and when i was there, i was watching my teammate play and his opponent was a deck piloting a Mono Blue Ninjitsu deck. It made top 32 in the event with about 200 people. It was basically Mono Blue control with ninjitsu value creatures, 4 Snapcaster Mage
and 4 Vendilion Clique
. The deck was actually very powerful and the other times i saw it being used it was against Twin and Pod, and beat both.
I dont have the exact decklist since he wasnt on my team but it was certainly very cool.
September 11, 2014 7:24 p.m.
slovakattack says... #27
TheGamer: Nice. What counter suite did he have? I'm assuming Vapor Snag to bounce his own creatures back if needed, Remand and Mana Leak ?
September 11, 2014 7:30 p.m.
slovakattack: He ran Cryptic Command , Remand , and Disrupting Shoal . It also ran Vapor Snag .
September 11, 2014 7:46 p.m.
slovakattack says... #29
TheGamer: Ah, yeah. Cryptic Command , the one I keep forgetting about because it's so out of my price range xD
Disrupting Shoal is an interesting choice.
September 11, 2014 7:55 p.m.
I was surprised seeing it actually slovakattack. It's either an extremely over costing counterspell or a free counter if you are lucky.
The way my partner (on Melira pod) lost to him was pretty dumb. He got the opponent to 2 with a Thrun, the Last Troll and Kitchen Finks , but was at 5. the opponent was literally stalling for as long as he could. End of the Pod Player's turn, he goes Vendilion Clique himself. During his turn, he goes Vapor Snag your chumpblocker Birds of Paradise , Snapcaster Mage my Vapor Snag on your other Birds of Paradise , swing for 3 with Clique. It was DUMB! All of us watching were all dumbfounded.
September 11, 2014 8:55 p.m.
slovakattack says... #31
TheGamer: Haha, that's nuts. It's also why Clique is 75 bucks :/
September 11, 2014 9:08 p.m.
Clique is certainly a very good card slovakattack, that's for sure.
September 11, 2014 9:19 p.m.
slovakattack says... #33
TheGamer: I'm surprised he managed to aggro your friend's melira pod down that far in a grind, honestly. Usually a few Finks and a Thragtusk or 2 are enough to stabilize against aggro, if not more.
September 11, 2014 9:48 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #34
I can definitely see mono blue ninjutsu midrange working out really well. The ninjutsu cards combined with the powerful ETB effects of blue make a deadly combination.
September 11, 2014 10:09 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #35
It is a deck. Those cards, even Disrupting Shoal are in it.http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-deck-creation/528059-mono-u-ninja-bear-delver
September 11, 2014 10:33 p.m.
slovakattack: to be fair, my friend did "misplay". He wasnt playing around Vapor Snag into Vapor Snag . The turn clique came in he played Birthing Pod instead of another Kitchen Finks .
CrazyLittleGuy says... #2
The issue with ninjutsu is that it has some inherent resource disadvantage. You're spending your turns and resources just morphing creatures you already have on board instead of advancing your board state. Not to mention how easy it is to play around when you're aware of it.
September 7, 2014 8:42 p.m.