I suspect that it wins by chaining extra turns and ways of stacking big cmc cards on top of your deck. Ninjas aren't known for their damage output, so you need enough tutors and big stuff to help stack your deck.
I think this'll work a lot better as an all-in combo deck than a grindy value engine. You're probably going to win most games by stacking 3-4 Yuriko triggers and then casting Insidious Dreams to put 40 CMC worth of stuff on top of your library. I'd even be inclined to throw in Dark Ritual effects just to get more bodies on the board.
I think this'll work a lot better as an all-in combo deck than a grindy value engine. You're probably going to win most games by stacking 3-4 Yuriko triggers and then casting Insidious Dreams to put 40 CMC worth of stuff on top of your library. I'd even be inclined to throw in Dark Ritual effects just to get more bodies on the board.
Interesting. I overlooked this line of play and it makes me lean towards "everything is a ninja" cards like Arcane Adaptation and Unnatural Selection to more easily reach a critical mass of ninjas to stack your deck for lethal damage. I'm not sold on going all-in since it makes the deck more fragile, but considering how easily the combo slips into the deck it might as well go in. Chaining together a few turns with a few ninjas out and some topdeck manipulation to drain everyone seems strong, too, and the strategies complement each other. I still think the eldrazi are weaker than stacking delve and time magic cards.
I think this'll work a lot better as an all-in combo deck than a grindy value engine. You're probably going to win most games by stacking 3-4 Yuriko triggers and then casting Insidious Dreams to put 40 CMC worth of stuff on top of your library. I'd even be inclined to throw in Dark Ritual effects just to get more bodies on the board.
Interesting. I overlooked this line of play and it makes me lean towards "everything is a ninja" cards like Arcane Adaptation and Unnatural Selection to more easily reach a critical mass of ninjas to stack your deck for lethal damage. I'm not sold on going all-in since it makes the deck more fragile, but considering how easily the combo slips into the deck it might as well go in. Chaining together a few turns with a few ninjas out and some topdeck manipulation to drain everyone seems strong, too, and the strategies complement each other. I still think the eldrazi are weaker than stacking delve and time magic cards.
I'm still working on a full list myself but the basic premise I'm going for is that you only need one player to be open in order to drain everyone out. You get in with as many Ninjas as you can, draw into some cheap removal/permission to stop Wraths and clear the way for the next turn, then eventually hope to win off of one giant Standardize/Arcane Adaptation/Notorious Throng/Temporal Trespass/etc chain. It's like Edric but instead of green you're packing Black, with all the awesome tutoring and removal.
Edit: I'd like to note that Exploitcards work very well with Yuriko, because you can always get her back for two mana. I don't know if any of them are worth playing, but the synergy is there.
Silumgar Sorcerer is the most playable of the bunch, thanks for reminding me. You can also bounce the sorcerer with the commander to keep it going. It's kind of like Cavern Harpy in that respect.
I think this'll work a lot better as an all-in combo deck than a grindy value engine. You're probably going to win most games by stacking 3-4 Yuriko triggers and then casting Insidious Dreams to put 40 CMC worth of stuff on top of your library. I'd even be inclined to throw in Dark Ritual effects just to get more bodies on the board.
Interesting. I overlooked this line of play and it makes me lean towards "everything is a ninja" cards like Arcane Adaptation and Unnatural Selection to more easily reach a critical mass of ninjas to stack your deck for lethal damage. I'm not sold on going all-in since it makes the deck more fragile, but considering how easily the combo slips into the deck it might as well go in. Chaining together a few turns with a few ninjas out and some topdeck manipulation to drain everyone seems strong, too, and the strategies complement each other. I still think the eldrazi are weaker than stacking delve and time magic cards.
Going ninja tribal is one route and perhaps more persistent with cards, though combo WITHOUT ninja is entirely possible, as long as Yoriko can get her hit through (likely with extra turns).
Edit: I'd like to note that Exploitcards work very well with Yuriko, because you can always get her back for two mana. I don't know if any of them are worth playing, but the synergy is there.
In the same vein, Emerge is a mechanic that pulls triple duty with Yuriko, giving you a way to sac her to let her Ninjutsu again, they are all ETB guys to recur, and they're all 7+ mana bombs to hit off Yuriko that really only cost 4 or so.
Of the available options, Elder Deep-Fiend, Distended Mindbender, and Vexing Scuttler (can't link, on mobile :/) all seem playable, with Wretched Gryff being a serviceable draw engine that I think is too inefficient.
Deep-Fiend taps down blockers for your Ninjas while keeping big attackers off your back, Mindbender can pick apart the hand of whoever you think is threatening you, and Scuttler fits with the Warp recursion theme, making an infinite, though expensive 11 mana combo with Yoriko: cast Time Warp, sac Yoriko to Scuttler getting Warp, on your next turn attack unblocked with Scuttler (Key to the City etc) to Ninjutsu Scuttler back with Yuriko, go back to step 1.
Edit: I'd like to note that Exploitcards work very well with Yuriko, because you can always get her back for two mana. I don't know if any of them are worth playing, but the synergy is there.
In the same vein, Emerge is a mechanic that pulls triple duty with Yuriko, giving you a way to sac her to let her Ninjutsu again, they are all ETB guys to recur, and they're all 7+ mana bombs to hit off Yuriko that really only cost 4 or so.
Of the available options, Elder Deep-Fiend, Distended Mindbender, and Vexing Scuttler (can't link, on mobile :/) all seem playable, with Wretched Gryff being a serviceable draw engine that I think is too inefficient.
Deep-Fiend taps down blockers for your Ninjas while keeping big attackers off your back, Mindbender can pick apart the hand of whoever you think is threatening you, and Scuttler fits with the Warp recursion theme, making an infinite, though expensive 11 mana combo with Yoriko: cast Time Warp, sac Yoriko to Scuttler getting Warp, on your next turn attack unblocked with Scuttler (Key to the City etc) to Ninjutsu Scuttler back with Yuriko, go back to step 1.
I actually like this idea a lot. Vexing Scuttler is functionally an Archaeomancer in this deck that domes people for double the cmc.
Shutting down blockers, even from just one player, is also great in that you can potentially win the entire game just from having one open avenue. I want to find room for Elder Deep-Fiend too!
To give some love to the Distended Mindbender, I think it also has some use as a political tool. If someone at the table is being the archenemy, another player at the table can allow your Mindbender to get through unblocked so that you can Ninjutsu it back to hand (you can even have your Ninja attack the archenemy thanks to how Ninjutsu works) to rip their hand apart again. Both the Ninjutsu and the Mindbender trigger are immune to conventional counterspells too.
Also I just realized that while the Scuttler-Warp-Yuriko combo takes 11 mana to be infinite, it only takes 9 to start as long as you hit your land drops on your extra turns. Turn 9 is Time Warp + Vexing Scuttler saccing Yuriko recurring Time Warp, turn 10 is Time Warp + 5 mana you can spend removing blockers, Turn 11 is Ninjutsu back Scuttler with Yuriko, sac Yuriko to Scuttler getting Warp, play Warp. That's wayyyy better than I thought it was.
I like the idea of Emerge and Exploit, similar to how Derevi is sacced for various effects. What are other tricks Derevi could do that could be applied to Yuriko as well?
I am building her as a control deck that wins with plenty of evasive critters and all the Arcane Adaption effects. I think the lifeloss will be enormous if you draw at least three, more often five cards per turn. I won't run "rearrange top of library" cards in favor of just getting more bodies and more card draw triggers overall. Mana Severance and Trench Gorger are good late game library manipulation, just like Insidious Dreams as has been mentioned. Wound Reflection and the new battlebond demon that doubles life loss at eot might also be decent finishers. Overall, I will want to play this deck as a control deck with lots of answers. Expensive cmc removal and counterspells that can be cast for free fit right in, such as Commandeer and the wonderful Pthisis.
(I am travelling until next week, so I can't do card tags for a while. Sorry about that)
EDIT: managed to get a decent internet connection and added some card tags
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
How about manipulating her trigger by sending cards from the graveyard back to the top of the library? There are several that give that option (Bone Harvest, Dead Reckoning, Footbottom Feast, Haunted Crossroads, Mortuary Mire, Volrath's Stronghold). Obviously they don't work with the original Eldrazi titans, but they can still deliver huge swings, especially the instant speed Bone Harvest and Footbottom Feast, which can set up three or four big hits that could be game ending on their own.
Also, if you're going for a build like this with non-legendary Eldrazi, Jalira, Master Polymorphist might be a fun way to get some extra value.
So I've been trying to come up with a "core" set of cards that no Yuriko deck would want to exclude, in order to assist in narrowing down a subtheme. This is my current list, which is up for debate/discussion. I've included individual card explanations below.
The Ninjas are all the ones that are cheap to swap out so that they're relevant early on in the game. I'm avoiding anything with a Ninjutsu cost of 4 or more (Except higure because he's great) because using all your turn's mana mid-game to swap out a single creature doesn't seem great. Metallic Mimic is nice and cheap, comes with a team buff, and works with Tetsuko, and the 1/1 Changeling gives pseudo-haste to your non-ninjas by allowing you to tap them to give him flying.
Cover of Darkness, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive: These are basically unblockable for Ninjas. Key to the City: It's one of the only "Can't be blocked" abilities that doesn't require an additional mana investment (unless you want to draw), and also fills up the graveyard for Delve spells. Profane Command: This seems like it does everything this deck wants. Make the team unblockable, get back a guy, get the opponent with the highest life total down to everyone else's level, or clear a blocker? I can't imagine it'll ever feel bad casting this. Also better than Open into Wonder because the fear actually helps with Ninjutsu, while Open cheats you out of the card you would've drawn.
Extra turn spells: Nexus of Fate at your opponent's EOT is basically Time Stretch, giving you one full turn to drop an army and a second one to drop Arcane Adaptation to win on the spot. Temporal Trespass has Delve and domes for 11. Time Warp is just the cheapest version of the effect available. If you build for Rogues Notorious Throng is definitely on this list, but not everyone will do that.
Topdecking: Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, and Brainstorm are all staples in their color and also function at instant speed for 1 mana to get you the exact card you want in-hand and/or a huge drain to the table off of a Yuriko trigger. These are 100% non-negotiable unless budget is an issue (which is a shame considering the price tags). The other cantrips are slightly less useful being sorcery speed, but they're played in every competitive format for a reason. You're never going to end up worse off for having cast Ponder. It'll smooth your draws, help you hit land drops, and also occasionally make Yuriko hit someone for 10. Insidious Dreams is there for the potential to win the game on the spot. If you can cast it for 3-4 with counterspell backup and get the triggers, it's game over.
Type Hacking: The big three enchantments are mandatory, I think. They're must-answer permanents that can threaten a win the turn you drop them if you have 4-5 creatures in play. Standardize is also something that should be taken into consideration, because of its instant speed ability to turn a situation with a lot of tokens and no Ninjas into a very explosive turn. Artificial Evolution is similar, but it has another use: Altering Yuriko or a tokengenerator to give you additional type flexibility. If you build Rogues, you can hack Yuriko to give you Rogue triggers instead! Bitterblossom can give you a flying Ninja Rogue token every turn! This one depends on your build the most but I think with some persistent forms of token generation it really shines.
Split spells: Commit // Memory is just a nice unconditional answer to any permanent which happens to dome for 10. It also doubles as a counterspell and the back end is legitimately decent. Other split cards like Far // Away or Never // Return tend to fall under the category of "one half is a slightly underpowered version of an effect I kinda want and the other half is garbage". I wouldn't fault people for running them, I just don't think they're essential. Curtains' Call, Dead Drop: Tons of damage off of Yuriko and they clear blockers for little to no mana. Submerge, Ensnare, Commandeer, Misdirection, Unmask, Foil, Force of Will, Snuff Out: Free spells that let you tap out on your turn to drop dudes and not worry about them making it through the circuit. Turns all those extra cards you're drawing into fuel for actual spells. Unmask lets you rip something from someone's hand before it becomes a problem for you and gives you a peek at their hand so you know for sure whether the way is clear. Saprazzan Legate: Free 1/3 flyer that you can keep dropping post-combat even while tapped out. Might be meta-dependent but I think the guaranteed flying body all the time is worth a slot. Treasure Cruise: Temporal Trespass and Dead Drop take a lot of delving on their own so I don't think more than 3-4 total Delve spells are reasonable in this deck, but you definitely want as many as you can take. This seems to be the best of the remaining bunch, although I could see a case for something like Murderous Cut too.
So that's where I'm at now. The other slots depend a lot on individual taste; currently I'm bouncing between Rogues, Faeries, and Thopters as secondary tribes. you need a good stream of evasive bodies to keep the Ninjas coming. Rogues are basically UB Edric, Faeries fall into more of a Flash/ETB theme, and thopters are aiming to amass an army by using stuff like Sai, Master Thopterist and Tezzeret, Artifice Master. I'm not sure what my favorite one is yet, but building has been a blast. This is definitely going to be my favorite deck when it gets finished.
I've just got some individual thoughts on cards and card effects that may or may not have been discussed yet:
Crystal Shard/Erratic Portal/Cavern Harpy/Vedalken Mastermind: I think along with sac outlets to enable Yuriko's constant Ninjutsu, self-bounce effects do the same while both protecting our creatures from removal and enabling the reuse of ETBs. It's worth mentioning that unlike the sac outlets, these cards help non-Yuriko Ninjas get back to your hand for more Ninjutsu action.
The Harpy I feel is a little slow and clunky, but there is something to be said for a creature that flies in to enable Ninjutsu and is basically unkillable. If you draw the Harpy, you're going to be able to enable Ninjutsu for the rest of the game, even if it costs you a bit of mana and life.
Shard and Portal both seem very good if your strategy has a big emphasis on powerful ETBs like Spellseeker or Venser, Shaper Savant. Unlike Harpy they protect your guys at instant speed and can clear blockers against opponents who drop their guard or are forced to tap out.
Mastermind seems a bit weaker, but can be useful at protecting important noncreatures like Arcane Adaptation and can also get in for Ninjutsu on an opponent with their pants down.
Triton Shorestalker/ Slither Blade/Gudul Lurker/Mist-Cloaked Herald/Tormented Soul: My current build of Yuriko is playing all of these, and I haven't tested the deck yet, but in theory they seem powerful. Being 1 mana means you can Ninjutsu Yuriko in on turn 2 (which overdraws you fwiw), but the real value is starting the chain of card draw and unlockable Ninjas super early to draw into your power cards and make land drops as fast as possible. Being 1 mana also means you can drop them back down on the cheap after you've Ninjutsu'd them up while still leaving up interaction. I feel like there's less of a need to run some of the jankier big CMC cards (Never//Return, Consign//Oblivion) if you increase the number of times you trigger Yumiko, which is what you want to be doing anyway. The first two on the list are also Rogues, which is helpful with both Notorious Throng andKnowledge Exploitation.Coastal Piracy/Bident of Thassa become way more threatening as well. How competitive do you think this strategy is compared to a build that's more control heavy?
Wingcrafter/Siren Stormtamer: In a similar vein to the last group of cards, having cheap evasive utility dorks seem like real good things to have to enable our Ninjas. I'm unsure how often Stormtamer will actually do anything, it seems more likely for our board to get wrathed than for any of our dorky creatures to get targeted, but it has more play to it than Slither Blade. Wingcrafter is both something to play early when there are likely no blockers to get Yuriko in there, while later enabling in-play Ninjas flight to jump over blockers while being a flier itself for another Ninja to Ninjutsu.
Lay Claim/Striped Riverwinder/Street Wraith/Cycling cards: I don't think I'll go this route, but it would be interesting to fill the deck with a bunch of cycling cards you don't intend to cast for the purpose of doing big damage with Yuriko without needing to always use Scroll Rack, Top etc. And unlike some of the less impressive and clunky big CMC cards, you can cycle these for 1 or 2 mana (preferably 1, though a card like Lay Claim will occasionally be worth casting sometimes and thus is worth the higher cycling cost) and still have a relatively smooth draw. They also help fuel delve, and you can potentially go for a Living Death strategy with lots of value dorks and looting.
Lim-Dul's Vault: If you are looking for more topdeck manipulation and tutors, this acts like a painful cross between the two. You can dig deep to find whatever card you need to win the game, or just flip cards till you find a pile with 3-4 8+ mana cards and blow the table up with Yuriko. Seems worth testing.
I think I've taken a little more "grindy" approach to the deck. That's why there's some amount of "goodstuff" in here (Faerie Artisans, Sower of Temptation, Mulldrifter, Metamorph and Quietus Spike as a plan B of sorts). Since Yuriko will pretty much always cost UB, there's no real need to hurry. However, the deck has pretty weak defenses overall, so a combo-oriented approach could indeed be better? I don't know yet.
The Emergers (Scuttler, Mindbender), Exploiters (Sidisi, Silumgar Sorcerer) and Owls were great ideas I picked up from this thread. I'm especially impressed by the owls - never thought they'd be this good! Interestingly I ended up cutting more and more Ninjas as I went along and may end up cutting even more. So far I've had the most trouble with reliably bouncing or saccing Yuriko. Quickling works really well with her and all the other Ninjas, but you have to have a creature on the battlefield before you can let them start their little "dance", same with Cavern Harpy. Scroll Rack is a must in this deck imo, being able to put Lay Claims and Expropriates on top of your library to reveal them with Yuriko/other Ninjas again is really nice. Expedition Map finds Volrath's Stronghold (recurs CMC5+ creatures in the late game for more damage) and High Market, two pretty important pieces. Depending on how it plays in actual games, Violet Pall is probably going to get cut - it's one of the earlier inclusions, I originally put it in because it has a decently high mana cost, kills something and leaves behind an evasive attacker for Ninja shenanigans.
Here's my second draft. I'm still unhappy with it, but making cuts is really hard. I'm trying to walk a fine line between low cost evasive beaters for ninjutsu and expensive cards to close out games. My 2cmc slot is seriously gummed up between mana rocks, beaters, disruption, ninjas, and Yuriko's ability, so I'm looking at diversifying.
i reckon the deck would benefit also from creatures with abilities that trigger on attacking like warkite marauder
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Huey, Dewey and Louie are always dressed in RUG. it is CLEARLY going to be the wedges block Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm
Here's my second draft. I'm still unhappy with it, but making cuts is really hard. I'm trying to walk a fine line between low cost evasive beaters for ninjutsu and expensive cards to close out games. My 2cmc slot is seriously gummed up between mana rocks, beaters, disruption, ninjas, and Yuriko's ability, so I'm looking at diversifying.
Instead of the cost reduction plan, I've been going with cards like Ornithopter, Cloud of Faeries, and As Foretold to have essentially free ninja enablers.
I know from experience playing casual many years ago that ninja enablers should ideally cost 1, and 2 is acceptable under conditions where the bounce gives significant value, and 3 and over is right out. 0 of course is the best option.
I played 4 games today. Won 2, got hyper close to winning a 3rd even with Stranglehold shutting down half my hand (if it didn't I would absolutely win and I also mulled to 5 that game) and I got completely dogpiled in a silly 6 player game on the fourth (but not after doming everyone else for 25)
Many of them were won on the cost reduction principle, but taken a step further. Not paying for your ninja enablers is one of the best things you can do. I don't know why lists don't run the OG thopter. It's a holdover from my days playing old casual and it really works.
In practice, the flyers only taper off when multiple players are eliminated and the ones that remain carry flying blockers.
how about Draco? that can do a a nice chunk of damage.
And at the same time, Mirror Gallery with Clones. Saw a test match where a guy had mirror gallery and Rite of replication kicked Yuriko That was 6 yuriko and managed to connect with all 6 meaning that was 36 cards.
I couldn't find room for sac outlets or Arcane Adaptation effects. I think at least one will be necessary to generate a viable win condition.
1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Creatures: 22
1 Archaeomancer
1 Augury Owl
1 Baleful Strix
1 Blighted Agent
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Hostage Taker
1 Inkfathom Witch
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sage Owl
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Salvager of Secrets
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Spire Owl
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Thalakos Seer
1 Throat Slitter
Artifacts: 9
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Dimir Signet
1 Hero's Blade
1 Mind Stone
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Thought Vessel
1 Ash Barrens
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Choked Estuary
1 Command Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Halimar Depths
12 Island
1 Morphic Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Hollow
5 Swamp
1 Tainted Isle
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Underground River
1 Watery Grave
Sorceries: 15
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Expropriate
1 Never // Return
1 Night's Whisper
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Read the Bones
1 Serum Visions
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Temporal Trespass
1 Time Warp
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Blink of an Eye
1 Brainstorm
1 Consign // Oblivion
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Delay
1 Disallow
1 Evacuation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Far // Away
1 Forbid
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Negate
1 Swan Song
1 Vampiric Tutor
Enchantments: 2
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Dire Undercurrents
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
In testing, Spellseeker helps a lot with it.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
I'm still working on a full list myself but the basic premise I'm going for is that you only need one player to be open in order to drain everyone out. You get in with as many Ninjas as you can, draw into some cheap removal/permission to stop Wraths and clear the way for the next turn, then eventually hope to win off of one giant Standardize/Arcane Adaptation/Notorious Throng/Temporal Trespass/etc chain. It's like Edric but instead of green you're packing Black, with all the awesome tutoring and removal.
Edit: I'd like to note that Exploit cards work very well with Yuriko, because you can always get her back for two mana. I don't know if any of them are worth playing, but the synergy is there.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Going ninja tribal is one route and perhaps more persistent with cards, though combo WITHOUT ninja is entirely possible, as long as Yoriko can get her hit through (likely with extra turns).
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
In the same vein, Emerge is a mechanic that pulls triple duty with Yuriko, giving you a way to sac her to let her Ninjutsu again, they are all ETB guys to recur, and they're all 7+ mana bombs to hit off Yuriko that really only cost 4 or so.
Of the available options, Elder Deep-Fiend, Distended Mindbender, and Vexing Scuttler (can't link, on mobile :/) all seem playable, with Wretched Gryff being a serviceable draw engine that I think is too inefficient.
Deep-Fiend taps down blockers for your Ninjas while keeping big attackers off your back, Mindbender can pick apart the hand of whoever you think is threatening you, and Scuttler fits with the Warp recursion theme, making an infinite, though expensive 11 mana combo with Yoriko: cast Time Warp, sac Yoriko to Scuttler getting Warp, on your next turn attack unblocked with Scuttler (Key to the City etc) to Ninjutsu Scuttler back with Yuriko, go back to step 1.
I actually like this idea a lot. Vexing Scuttler is functionally an Archaeomancer in this deck that domes people for double the cmc.
Shutting down blockers, even from just one player, is also great in that you can potentially win the entire game just from having one open avenue. I want to find room for Elder Deep-Fiend too!
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Also I just realized that while the Scuttler-Warp-Yuriko combo takes 11 mana to be infinite, it only takes 9 to start as long as you hit your land drops on your extra turns. Turn 9 is Time Warp + Vexing Scuttler saccing Yuriko recurring Time Warp, turn 10 is Time Warp + 5 mana you can spend removing blockers, Turn 11 is Ninjutsu back Scuttler with Yuriko, sac Yuriko to Scuttler getting Warp, play Warp. That's wayyyy better than I thought it was.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
(I am travelling until next week, so I can't do card tags for a while. Sorry about that)
EDIT: managed to get a decent internet connection and added some card tags
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
Also, if you're going for a build like this with non-legendary Eldrazi, Jalira, Master Polymorphist might be a fun way to get some extra value.
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Throat Slitter
1 Walker of Secret Ways
1 Metallic Mimic
1 Mothdust Changeling
Evasion
1 Cover of Darkness
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Key to the City
1 Profane Command
1 Temporal Trespass
1 Nexus of Fate
1 Time Warp
Topdeck Manipulation
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Serum Visions
1 Ponder
1 Insidious Dreams
1 Preordain
Type Hacking
1 Arcane Adaptation
1 Xenograft
1 Artificial Evolution
1 Standardize
1 Conspiracy
1 Commit // Memory
1 Curtains' Call
1 Snuff Out
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dead Drop
1 Commandeer
1 Misdirection
1 Force of Will
1 Foil
1 Ensnare
1 Submerge
1 Unmask
1 Saprazzan Legate
The Ninjas are all the ones that are cheap to swap out so that they're relevant early on in the game. I'm avoiding anything with a Ninjutsu cost of 4 or more (Except higure because he's great) because using all your turn's mana mid-game to swap out a single creature doesn't seem great. Metallic Mimic is nice and cheap, comes with a team buff, and works with Tetsuko, and the 1/1 Changeling gives pseudo-haste to your non-ninjas by allowing you to tap them to give him flying.
Cover of Darkness, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive: These are basically unblockable for Ninjas.
Key to the City: It's one of the only "Can't be blocked" abilities that doesn't require an additional mana investment (unless you want to draw), and also fills up the graveyard for Delve spells.
Profane Command: This seems like it does everything this deck wants. Make the team unblockable, get back a guy, get the opponent with the highest life total down to everyone else's level, or clear a blocker? I can't imagine it'll ever feel bad casting this. Also better than Open into Wonder because the fear actually helps with Ninjutsu, while Open cheats you out of the card you would've drawn.
Extra turn spells: Nexus of Fate at your opponent's EOT is basically Time Stretch, giving you one full turn to drop an army and a second one to drop Arcane Adaptation to win on the spot. Temporal Trespass has Delve and domes for 11. Time Warp is just the cheapest version of the effect available. If you build for Rogues Notorious Throng is definitely on this list, but not everyone will do that.
Topdecking: Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, and Brainstorm are all staples in their color and also function at instant speed for 1 mana to get you the exact card you want in-hand and/or a huge drain to the table off of a Yuriko trigger. These are 100% non-negotiable unless budget is an issue (which is a shame considering the price tags). The other cantrips are slightly less useful being sorcery speed, but they're played in every competitive format for a reason. You're never going to end up worse off for having cast Ponder. It'll smooth your draws, help you hit land drops, and also occasionally make Yuriko hit someone for 10. Insidious Dreams is there for the potential to win the game on the spot. If you can cast it for 3-4 with counterspell backup and get the triggers, it's game over.
Type Hacking: The big three enchantments are mandatory, I think. They're must-answer permanents that can threaten a win the turn you drop them if you have 4-5 creatures in play. Standardize is also something that should be taken into consideration, because of its instant speed ability to turn a situation with a lot of tokens and no Ninjas into a very explosive turn. Artificial Evolution is similar, but it has another use: Altering Yuriko or a token generator to give you additional type flexibility. If you build Rogues, you can hack Yuriko to give you Rogue triggers instead! Bitterblossom can give you a flying Ninja Rogue token every turn! This one depends on your build the most but I think with some persistent forms of token generation it really shines.
Split spells:
Commit // Memory is just a nice unconditional answer to any permanent which happens to dome for 10. It also doubles as a counterspell and the back end is legitimately decent. Other split cards like Far // Away or Never // Return tend to fall under the category of "one half is a slightly underpowered version of an effect I kinda want and the other half is garbage". I wouldn't fault people for running them, I just don't think they're essential.
Curtains' Call, Dead Drop: Tons of damage off of Yuriko and they clear blockers for little to no mana.
Submerge, Ensnare, Commandeer, Misdirection, Unmask, Foil, Force of Will, Snuff Out: Free spells that let you tap out on your turn to drop dudes and not worry about them making it through the circuit. Turns all those extra cards you're drawing into fuel for actual spells. Unmask lets you rip something from someone's hand before it becomes a problem for you and gives you a peek at their hand so you know for sure whether the way is clear.
Saprazzan Legate: Free 1/3 flyer that you can keep dropping post-combat even while tapped out. Might be meta-dependent but I think the guaranteed flying body all the time is worth a slot.
Treasure Cruise: Temporal Trespass and Dead Drop take a lot of delving on their own so I don't think more than 3-4 total Delve spells are reasonable in this deck, but you definitely want as many as you can take. This seems to be the best of the remaining bunch, although I could see a case for something like Murderous Cut too.
So that's where I'm at now. The other slots depend a lot on individual taste; currently I'm bouncing between Rogues, Faeries, and Thopters as secondary tribes. you need a good stream of evasive bodies to keep the Ninjas coming. Rogues are basically UB Edric, Faeries fall into more of a Flash/ETB theme, and thopters are aiming to amass an army by using stuff like Sai, Master Thopterist and Tezzeret, Artifice Master. I'm not sure what my favorite one is yet, but building has been a blast. This is definitely going to be my favorite deck when it gets finished.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Crystal Shard/Erratic Portal/Cavern Harpy/Vedalken Mastermind: I think along with sac outlets to enable Yuriko's constant Ninjutsu, self-bounce effects do the same while both protecting our creatures from removal and enabling the reuse of ETBs. It's worth mentioning that unlike the sac outlets, these cards help non-Yuriko Ninjas get back to your hand for more Ninjutsu action.
The Harpy I feel is a little slow and clunky, but there is something to be said for a creature that flies in to enable Ninjutsu and is basically unkillable. If you draw the Harpy, you're going to be able to enable Ninjutsu for the rest of the game, even if it costs you a bit of mana and life.
Shard and Portal both seem very good if your strategy has a big emphasis on powerful ETBs like Spellseeker or Venser, Shaper Savant. Unlike Harpy they protect your guys at instant speed and can clear blockers against opponents who drop their guard or are forced to tap out.
Mastermind seems a bit weaker, but can be useful at protecting important noncreatures like Arcane Adaptation and can also get in for Ninjutsu on an opponent with their pants down.
Triton Shorestalker/ Slither Blade/Gudul Lurker/Mist-Cloaked Herald/Tormented Soul: My current build of Yuriko is playing all of these, and I haven't tested the deck yet, but in theory they seem powerful. Being 1 mana means you can Ninjutsu Yuriko in on turn 2 (which overdraws you fwiw), but the real value is starting the chain of card draw and unlockable Ninjas super early to draw into your power cards and make land drops as fast as possible. Being 1 mana also means you can drop them back down on the cheap after you've Ninjutsu'd them up while still leaving up interaction. I feel like there's less of a need to run some of the jankier big CMC cards (Never//Return, Consign//Oblivion) if you increase the number of times you trigger Yumiko, which is what you want to be doing anyway. The first two on the list are also Rogues, which is helpful with both Notorious Throng andKnowledge Exploitation.Coastal Piracy/Bident of Thassa become way more threatening as well. How competitive do you think this strategy is compared to a build that's more control heavy?
Wingcrafter/Siren Stormtamer: In a similar vein to the last group of cards, having cheap evasive utility dorks seem like real good things to have to enable our Ninjas. I'm unsure how often Stormtamer will actually do anything, it seems more likely for our board to get wrathed than for any of our dorky creatures to get targeted, but it has more play to it than Slither Blade. Wingcrafter is both something to play early when there are likely no blockers to get Yuriko in there, while later enabling in-play Ninjas flight to jump over blockers while being a flier itself for another Ninja to Ninjutsu.
Lay Claim/Striped Riverwinder/Street Wraith/Cycling cards: I don't think I'll go this route, but it would be interesting to fill the deck with a bunch of cycling cards you don't intend to cast for the purpose of doing big damage with Yuriko without needing to always use Scroll Rack, Top etc. And unlike some of the less impressive and clunky big CMC cards, you can cycle these for 1 or 2 mana (preferably 1, though a card like Lay Claim will occasionally be worth casting sometimes and thus is worth the higher cycling cost) and still have a relatively smooth draw. They also help fuel delve, and you can potentially go for a Living Death strategy with lots of value dorks and looting.
Lim-Dul's Vault: If you are looking for more topdeck manipulation and tutors, this acts like a painful cross between the two. You can dig deep to find whatever card you need to win the game, or just flip cards till you find a pile with 3-4 8+ mana cards and blow the table up with Yuriko. Seems worth testing.
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Dimir Signet
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Hedron Archive
1 Unstable Obelisk
1 Thought Vessel
1 Crystal Shard
1 Scroll Rack
1 Quietus Spike
1 Crystal Ball
1 Coldsteel Heart
Creatures
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Throat Slitter
1 Walker of Secret Ways
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Faerie Artisans
1 Quickling
1 Whirler Rogue
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Baleful Strix
1 Cavern Harpy
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Shriekmaw
1 Augury Owl
1 Thalakos Seer
1 Silumgar Sorcerer
1 Distended Mindbender
1 Vexing Scuttler
1 Sage Owl
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Mulldrifter
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Archaeomancer
1 Spire Owl
1 Inkfathom Witch
1 Bitterblossom
1 Lay Claim
1 Wound Reflection
1 Arcane Adaptation
1 Unnatural Selection
Instants
1 Violet Pall
1 Curtains' Call
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Negate
1 Nexus of Fate
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Commit // Memory
1 Dig Through Time
1 Fact or Fiction
Sorceries
1 Damnation
1 Baral's Expertise
1 Expropriate
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Time Warp
1 Never // Return
Lands
1 Polluted Delta
1 Watery Grave
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Morphic Pool
1 Fetid Pools
1 Bad River
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Command Tower
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Submerged Boneyard
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Tainted Isle
1 Underground River
10 Island
5 Swamp
1 High Market
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Darkwater Catacombs
I think I've taken a little more "grindy" approach to the deck. That's why there's some amount of "goodstuff" in here (Faerie Artisans, Sower of Temptation, Mulldrifter, Metamorph and Quietus Spike as a plan B of sorts). Since Yuriko will pretty much always cost UB, there's no real need to hurry. However, the deck has pretty weak defenses overall, so a combo-oriented approach could indeed be better? I don't know yet.
The Emergers (Scuttler, Mindbender), Exploiters (Sidisi, Silumgar Sorcerer) and Owls were great ideas I picked up from this thread. I'm especially impressed by the owls - never thought they'd be this good! Interestingly I ended up cutting more and more Ninjas as I went along and may end up cutting even more. So far I've had the most trouble with reliably bouncing or saccing Yuriko. Quickling works really well with her and all the other Ninjas, but you have to have a creature on the battlefield before you can let them start their little "dance", same with Cavern Harpy. Scroll Rack is a must in this deck imo, being able to put Lay Claims and Expropriates on top of your library to reveal them with Yuriko/other Ninjas again is really nice. Expedition Map finds Volrath's Stronghold (recurs CMC5+ creatures in the late game for more damage) and High Market, two pretty important pieces. Depending on how it plays in actual games, Violet Pall is probably going to get cut - it's one of the earlier inclusions, I originally put it in because it has a decently high mana cost, kills something and leaves behind an evasive attacker for Ninja shenanigans.
1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Creatures: 25
1 Archaeomancer
1 Augury Owl
1 Baleful Strix
1 Cavern Harpy
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Mulldrifter
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Sage Owl
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Salvager of Secrets
1 Shriekmaw
1 Silumgar Sorcerer
1 Siren Stormtamer
1 Spellseeker
1 Spire Owl
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Thalakos Seer
1 Throat Slitter
1 Vexing Scuttler
Enchantments: 3
1 Arcane Adaptation
1 Conspiracy
1 Unnatural Selection
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Expropriate
1 Never // Return
1 Night's Whisper
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
1 Temporal Trespass
1 Time Warp
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Walk the Aeons
Instants: 15
1 Arcane Denial
1 Brainstorm
1 Commit // Memory
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Disallow
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Far // Away
1 Forbid
1 Insidious Dreams
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Negate
1 Snuff Out
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Dimir Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Thought Vessel
Lands: 34
1 Ash Barrens
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Choked Estuary
1 Command Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Halimar Depths
1 High Market
10 Island
1 Morphic Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Hollow
6 Swamp
1 Tainted Isle
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Underground River
1 Watery Grave
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons
ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Have you tried moving the slot down?
EDIT: so far the cost reduction plan kinda stinks, but Sapphire Medallion is definitely good in this deck. There's a lot of 2Us and 1Us to drop.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I know from experience playing casual many years ago that ninja enablers should ideally cost 1, and 2 is acceptable under conditions where the bounce gives significant value, and 3 and over is right out. 0 of course is the best option.
I played 4 games today. Won 2, got hyper close to winning a 3rd even with Stranglehold shutting down half my hand (if it didn't I would absolutely win and I also mulled to 5 that game) and I got completely dogpiled in a silly 6 player game on the fourth (but not after doming everyone else for 25)
Many of them were won on the cost reduction principle, but taken a step further. Not paying for your ninja enablers is one of the best things you can do. I don't know why lists don't run the OG thopter. It's a holdover from my days playing old casual and it really works.
In practice, the flyers only taper off when multiple players are eliminated and the ones that remain carry flying blockers.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
And at the same time, Mirror Gallery with Clones. Saw a test match where a guy had mirror gallery and Rite of replication kicked Yuriko That was 6 yuriko and managed to connect with all 6 meaning that was 36 cards.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist