The premise of this deck is simple. Just play small flyers or unblockables, sneak in ninjas, and try to stack your deck so that 7-11 cmc cards (that sometimes functionally cost less) are on top of your deck.
Brainstorm is mvp as well as the tutors. It becomes hilarious to put Commit // Memory on top of the deck for both a versatile answer and an easy 10 damage to all opponents. If it's already on top of the deck, Brainstorm can do it again if you have a second ninja for 20 damage.
Usually having just flying for evasion is enough, as in a typical multiplayer game it is unlikely that literally every opponent will have flyers to block. Really, all you need is one available opponent to wipe the whole table (hence the comparison to Hydra Omnivore)
Temporal Mastery seems like a good addition with all the tutors and library manipulation.
I think some of the ninjas could go. I ended up keeping the ones that seemed playable without the added benefit of having access to the commander.
Overall I really like the list and it seems pretty close to what I was thinking. I'm still not sure "flip over lots of cards until everyone is dead" is a viable path to victory without going all in on either sac outlets or "everything is a ninja now" cards.
Temporal Mastery seems like a good addition with all the tutors and library manipulation.
I think some of the ninjas could go. I ended up keeping the ones that seemed playable without the added benefit of having access to the commander.
Overall I really like the list and it seems pretty close to what I was thinking. I'm still not sure "flip over lots of cards until everyone is dead" is a viable path to victory without going all in on either sac outlets or "everything is a ninja now" cards.
Yup. Actually, the card I plan on cutting for an Expropriate is Omniscience.. It is part of the first draft but I know from experience that one Expropriate usually wins the game.
I think your draft list wants a Commit // Memory. This card is super versatile and is always your tutor target if you want to put on some damage while covering your own back.
I'll try the other ninjas because there's really not much room for "make all creatures ninjas" effects.
I actually don't run Okiba-Gang Shinobi because both the cost and the effect suck for what it is.. Even Skullsnatcher can be dropped on turn 2 in a pinch.
Unblockables I'll hold off on for the time being because all you need is one opponent without the necessary blockers to potentially wipe a table.
Coastal Piracy effects are okay, but I'm trying to see if the card draw needs any boost at all first.
I actually want to run Silumgar Sorcerer. I might cut Arcane Denial because the extra draw might actually throw off my meticulously planned topdeck manipulation at the wrong time.
I actually don't run Okiba-Gang Shinobi because both the cost and the effect suck for what it is.. Even Skullsnatcher can be dropped on turn 2 in a pinch.
Unblockables I'll hold off on for the time being because all you need is one opponent without the necessary blockers to potentially wipe a table.
Coastal Piracy effects are okay, but I'm trying to see if the card draw needs any boost at all first.
I actually want to run Silumgar Sorcerer. I might cut Arcane Denial because the extra draw might actually throw off my meticulously planned topdeck manipulation at the wrong time.
I would play Okiba-Gang Shinobi personally. One card away from being completely on-theme is critical for flavor points. It's commander, the theme is a must! Just my personal preference.
I actually don't run Okiba-Gang Shinobi because both the cost and the effect suck for what it is.. Even Skullsnatcher can be dropped on turn 2 in a pinch.
Unblockables I'll hold off on for the time being because all you need is one opponent without the necessary blockers to potentially wipe a table.
Coastal Piracy effects are okay, but I'm trying to see if the card draw needs any boost at all first.
I actually want to run Silumgar Sorcerer. I might cut Arcane Denial because the extra draw might actually throw off my meticulously planned topdeck manipulation at the wrong time.
I would play Okiba-Gang Shinobi personally. One card away from being completely on-theme is critical for flavor points. It's commander, the theme is a must! Just my personal preference.
If you build this deck, you can run it and not really lose too much efficiency in doing so. It's kind of nice that the theme doesn't interfere too much with what the deck wants to do to win.
Cryptic Command is notably absent. All of its modes are relevant in the deck, particularly the option to tap down an opponent's creatures and go for the win. Four mana can be rough if you're holding it for protection, though.
The hand disruption creatures like Kitesail Freebooter seem very good. With ninjutsu, they should rarely whiff completely, though knowing your opponents and their decks also helps (hint: target the mono-black player if you fear board wipes). They might not always be able to find a way through enemy defenses, though. Even then, pinpoint discard isn't the worst play you could make.
I'm trying to find room for Soothsaying. It's a relevant mana sink, at least.
Cryptic Command is notably absent. All of its modes are relevant in the deck, particularly the option to tap down an opponent's creatures and go for the win. Four mana can be rough if you're holding it for protection, though.
The hand disruption creatures like Kitesail Freebooter seem very good. With ninjutsu, they should rarely whiff completely, though knowing your opponents and their decks also helps (hint: target the mono-black player if you fear board wipes). They might not always be able to find a way through enemy defenses, though. Even then, pinpoint discard isn't the worst play you could make.
I'm trying to find room for Soothsaying. It's a relevant mana sink, at least.
The reasons why I like the Infiltrator are the same reasons why I like spellseeker, only I can get the body to go with it. Either way, you can min-max this deck in any number of ways, but I only have so many black tutors to split between the decks.
I will consider the hand disruption cards after some real testing. Cryptic I'll leave out because of its money and triple blue cost. Mystic Confluence didn't even make it into this list, and I like bouncing a lot more than tapping down creatures. As a proof of concept though, I will try out a similar analogue just to see potential performance comparisons.
I had Soothsaying in the initial build, but it always felt worse to spend mana on it than just going for more blind flips.
I'll probably just cut Omniscience and Rags//Riches for Vexing Scuttler and Elder Deep-Fiend and see where we can go from there. The former two just feel like there are there for getting large amounts of life loss when other cards do the same but also serve useful purposes.
Bitterblossom seems like a good token engine, always make sure you have a creature to use your Ninjas on and bonus if you turn all the tokens into Ninjas with Arcane Adaptation
Not paying for your ninja enablers is one of the best things you can do. Ornithopter, Cloud of Faeries, and As Foretold help with this. I saw the latter two and their mana savings basically won me the game.
This is intution I remember now from my days playing 60 card casual. Your ninja enablers were always the OG thopter, 1 mana unblockables, and 2 mana value such as Thalakos Seer and Baleful Strix. Point is that usually the lower the cost of the enabler, the better. However, the 2 mana enablers provide very important forms of value due to being multifunctional or otherwise to justify their inclusion. I may be adjusting my enabler suite to accommodate more 1 drops in the future.
On that note I want to play cheap cards that make me avoid needing to replay ninja enablers. I also need some kind of defensive card to help buy me time to stay alive.. because well... ninjas don't really block... If they are, you are in a bad spot (unless you're chump blocking with Yuriko). I mean, Propaganda and Meekstone aren't even that bad here...
The best multifunctional card for this slot is Bitterblossom. It provides 1/1 flyers that both enabler ninjas and add a bit of damage and also block when needed. However, the tradeoff is that your Yuriko will not connect until at least turn 4. Nonetheless, the deck is still very consistent and you can usually find other things to do with your mana on that turn to make it productive. Not paying the 2 more than once is key.
I also need to pick up a Shizo, Death's Storehouse. Ink-eyes is next to get cut because her damage trigger is very much not useful in a tempo deck like this. This deck is fast when it gets going. My first win was a turn 6 kill on the table fueled by Cloud of Faeries and Tetsuko.
Lastly, be mindful of your colorless land count. This deck is actually very color hungry and you want to avoid playing ANY unnecessary colorless lands.
Aether Vial could do a lot of work in a deck with so many two drops it wants to play. Here it's a Sol Ring that turns our owls into flashy, uncounterable nightmares.
As for protecting yourself, a few board wipes go a long way in a deck that digs this deep. Meekstone hurts the average deck far more than it hurts us though I don't think I'd include the eldrazi with it. A well timed Winter Orb locks opponents out while our low curve and aggressive strategy breaks parity. Cyclonic Rift is my go to for this kind of thing but I completely understand why it would be banned.
Aether Vial could do a lot of work in a deck with so many two drops it wants to play. Here it's a Sol Ring that turns our owls into flashy, uncounterable nightmares.
As for protecting yourself, a few board wipes go a long way in a deck that digs this deep. Meekstone hurts the average deck far more than it hurts us though I don't think I'd include the eldrazi with it. A well timed Winter Orb locks opponents out while our low curve and aggressive strategy breaks parity. Cyclonic Rift is my go to for this kind of thing but I completely understand why it would be banned.
Vial sounds like a nice idea. It's not as insane as As Foretold but also can be dropped on turn 1. The latter's ability to make counterspells free eventually is actually ridiculous.
As for protecting myself, the next best thing is probably just Toxic Deluge honestly. You generally want it early enough that you don't need to pay too much life into it. I'm keeping All is Dust for now because I can hit 7 eventually in this deck (and also because some enchantments basically just ruin my day and I want an out to them). Just play around your own card by not playing every ninja enabler you run into.
Other cards that are interesting but require space:
I also realized that this list is 99 cards and my list has a Nihil Spellbomb. If I need to, I can cut that, but I'm ready to throw it back in in case of crazy gy shenanigans. I guess I found my open slot.
Mox Amber (sequencing is key here, as this mox is better for enabling turn 3 plays (by having 4 mana) and you always use it first when yuriko is out. When she is not out and is brought out this card enables more effective post-combat plays. If my theory is correct, this card is an autoinclude, especially since using removal on Yuriko is essentially a waste)
Amoeboid Changeling: Similar functionality to Mothdust Changeling, except it works the other way around. Gets benefits from the evasion enablers regardless.
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It's meta dependent but Saprazzan Legate is basically a second copy of Cloud of Faeries if someone has a Mountain. I play with a good amount of people who center around RG creature-based shells so I think it'll be reliable enough to slot in. I also really want to try throwing in a package with Lotus Vale/Scorched Ruins/Peregrine Drake/Palinchron/Frantic Search to net mana on the "free" spells, but I think the strategy folds too hard to getting Strip Mined. Frantic Search may be worth the include on its own though, solely for Delve fuel.
Vela the Night-Clad makes your guys hard to block, plus you can cycle through ninjas to drain out the table. i.e. Attack unblocked, go to blockers, without a declaration, ninjitsu the attacker and then ninjutsu the Ninja. Rinse and repeat until you drain the table sufficiently and then go to damage with the preferred ninja.
Tandem Lookout will turn whatever that gets through into card draw.
Drana, Liberator of Malakir would allow for some shenanigans. First Strike, with her trigger on the stack, Ninjutsu her and get a beefier Ninja in.
I also think a Thrilling Encore would an amazing 'gotcha' moment when someone finally Wraths out your vulnerable board.
Edit: Oh yeah, Key to the City would help you get in and filter cards.
Out of all of these suggestions, I like Frantic Search the most, but space is already very tight. I like how playing them for six is not the worst thing but I have 2cmc evasion enabling at my disposal. Currently I have 18 cards that will dome opponents for 5 or more and I think I like that number to go down to 16 at the very most. Many other lists are far less likely to do ridiculous amounts of damage purely on blind flips.
I eventually cut both of these but of the two I feel like Swan Song is weaker. It's cheaper, but it leaves behind a blocker. I would play a generic hard 2cmc counter instead like Delay or maybe Arcane Denial.
With so much top of library manipulation, wouldn’t Draco be a good inclusion? You’d never cast it but draining for 16 additional damage is nuts.
I'd want to run Draco but I need to put equal weight in the ability as a card draw engine as well as a win condition, and so I don't feel comfortable running cards that feel completely miserable to draw or have in my opening hand. Even Temporal Trespass in my opening hand will become castable around turn 6-7 depending on what happens.
As someone currently iterating their way through a similar-ish Yuriko deck I'm happy to see you coming to a number of the same conclusions that I have. The emerge Eldrazi in particular made me smile; at first I included them as a goof and then soon realized that they provide literally nothing but upside for the deck.
My list overall is much, much greedier but still so satisfying. Lots of high-end nonsense. I love running silly things like Ancient Stone Idol without needing to feel bad.
I'd want to run Draco but I need to put equal weight in the ability as a card draw engine as well as a win condition, and so I don't feel comfortable running cards that feel completely miserable to draw or have in my opening hand. Even Temporal Trespass in my opening hand will become castable around turn 6-7 depending on what happens.
All my high CMC stuff is reasonably castable in the midgame with relevant reductions...bar Draco. Because how else am I going to unironically run Draco in 2018 if not in this deck? That's basically my only justification.
I got more testing in today, figured out that Silumgar Sorcerer actually kind of sucks, and now I know that my blind flip rate of hitting big money is reasonable enough that the main problem I run into is giving the ninjas evasion after they have struck once. Making all of your birds into ninja is one workaround, but I'll try the simple Levitation to attempt to recreate the behavior of ninjas from cheesy soap operas, as well as get in hits more reliably. I find it better than Thassa because although it can be destroyed, Thassa requires a total of a 5 mana investment for a single use of unblockable, while this is 4 mana for giving all your ninjas flying. It also seems better than Writ of Passage. All you need is two ninjas to connect to make your money's worth with this card. Unless it is a 1v1, flying is usually good enough versus a table because it's very rare for everyone to hold up flying blockers.
The other problem of course is not actually drawing ninjas, but that's a different scenario that Arcane Adaptation and friends fix.
Other notes: Colorless rocks not named Sol Ring (or Mana Crypt) kind of suck here because your color commitments are so heavy, and 3cmc counters (especially situational ones) kind of suck here, although an exception can be made to exceptional versatility. Like, I'd throw my Mana Drain in here if I felt like it just to use as a regular Counterspell.
People figure out pretty quickly that Yuriko is really not worth killing with a removal spell, so while I didn't draw Mox Amber in my games, there was basically no situation where drawing one would be a dead card. Speaking of enemy creature spot removal, it is pretty horrendous against this deck in general.
Lastly, bring a Strip Mine for Maze of Ith. Glacial Chasm isn't a problem but maze can be used to stop ninjas. That makes no sense, so blow that **** up.
I think you'll be happy with Diabolic Intent and of course Scroll Rack. Unnatural Selection does a lot of work for me despite the mana investment because I lean real heavy on a large number of evasive one drops. Like, I even run Standardize as a draw spell although I think that card's utility probably wouldn't be enough for your list.
Thanks for the heads up on Strip Mine and Mox Amber, I'm going to add those next chance I get. I, too, have really come to dislike most of my rocks so I'm happy for another cheap one that can do work.
I don't play much control but your words on 3cmc counters echo a friend of mine's. The only non-free ones above 2cmc he'll run have strong utility like Disallow and Cryptic Command.
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Ninjas
1x Changeling Outcast
1x Fallen Shinobi
1x Higure, the Still Wind
1x Ingenious Infiltrator
1x Mist-Syndicate Naga
1x Mistblade Shinobi
1x Mothdust Changeling
1x Ninja of the Deep Hours
1x Phantom Ninja
1x Sakashima's Student
1x Skullsnatcher
1x Throat Slitter
1x Walker of Secret Ways
Flyers and Unblockables
1x Augury Owl
1x Baleful Strix
1x Cloud of Faeries
1x Faerie Seer
1x Invisible Stalker
1x Ornithopter
1x Spectral Sailor
1x Siren Stormtamer
1x Slither Blade
1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1x Thalakos Seer
1x Wingcrafter
Value dorks
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Spellseeker
1x Arcane Adaptation
1x Bitterblossom
1x Cover of Darkness
1x Smoke Shroud
1x Unnatural Selection
Manarocks:
1x Chrome Mox
1x Mox Amber
1x Sol Ring
Library Manipulation
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Brainstorm
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Serum Visions
1x Scroll Rack
1x Discovery // Dispersal
Tutors
1x Insidious Dreams
1x Lim-dul's Vault
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Vampiric tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
High cmc delve draw spells
1x Treasure Cruise
1x Dig Through Time
Extra Turns
1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
1x Time Warp
1x Temporal Mastery
1x Temporal Trespass
Answers
1x Swan Song
1x Consign // Oblivion
1x Commit // Memory
1x Counterspell
1x Curtains' Call
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dismember
1x Submerge
1x Force of Negation
1x Force of Will
1x Force of Despair
1x Snuff Out
1x Wash Out
1x Coastal Breach
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Choked Estuary
1x Command Tower
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Flooded Strand
10x Island
1x Morphic Pool
1x Polluted Delta
1x Prismatic Vista
1x Reflecting Pool
1x River of Tears
1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1x Sunken Hollow
6x Swamp
1x Underground River
1x Watery Grave
The premise of this deck is simple. Just play small flyers or unblockables, sneak in ninjas, and try to stack your deck so that 7-11 cmc cards (that sometimes functionally cost less) are on top of your deck.
Brainstorm is mvp as well as the tutors. It becomes hilarious to put Commit // Memory on top of the deck for both a versatile answer and an easy 10 damage to all opponents. If it's already on top of the deck, Brainstorm can do it again if you have a second ninja for 20 damage.
Usually having just flying for evasion is enough, as in a typical multiplayer game it is unlikely that literally every opponent will have flyers to block. Really, all you need is one available opponent to wipe the whole table (hence the comparison to Hydra Omnivore)
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.
I think some of the ninjas could go. I ended up keeping the ones that seemed playable without the added benefit of having access to the commander.
Overall I really like the list and it seems pretty close to what I was thinking. I'm still not sure "flip over lots of cards until everyone is dead" is a viable path to victory without going all in on either sac outlets or "everything is a ninja now" cards.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Yup. Actually, the card I plan on cutting for an Expropriate is Omniscience.. It is part of the first draft but I know from experience that one Expropriate usually wins the game.
I think your draft list wants a Commit // Memory. This card is super versatile and is always your tutor target if you want to put on some damage while covering your own back.
I'll try the other ninjas because there's really not much room for "make all creatures ninjas" effects.
Also Rags // Riches is very awkward. I might try cutting it for an Unnatural Selection
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.
Overall I love the deck though. Especially since you're playing all the Ninjas available. I say go all out on theme.
Bident of Thassa seems great in here too.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I actually don't run Okiba-Gang Shinobi because both the cost and the effect suck for what it is.. Even Skullsnatcher can be dropped on turn 2 in a pinch.
Unblockables I'll hold off on for the time being because all you need is one opponent without the necessary blockers to potentially wipe a table.
Coastal Piracy effects are okay, but I'm trying to see if the card draw needs any boost at all first.
I actually want to run Silumgar Sorcerer. I might cut Arcane Denial because the extra draw might actually throw off my meticulously planned topdeck manipulation at the wrong time.
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.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
If you build this deck, you can run it and not really lose too much efficiency in doing so. It's kind of nice that the theme doesn't interfere too much with what the deck wants to do to win.
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.
Cyclonic RiftScroll Rack, Unnatural Selection, Counterspell, or just Demonic Tutor/Diabolic Intent after doing its job of getting your ninja through.Cryptic Command is notably absent. All of its modes are relevant in the deck, particularly the option to tap down an opponent's creatures and go for the win. Four mana can be rough if you're holding it for protection, though.
The hand disruption creatures like Kitesail Freebooter seem very good. With ninjutsu, they should rarely whiff completely, though knowing your opponents and their decks also helps (hint: target the mono-black player if you fear board wipes). They might not always be able to find a way through enemy defenses, though. Even then, pinpoint discard isn't the worst play you could make.
I'm trying to find room for Soothsaying. It's a relevant mana sink, at least.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
The reasons why I like the Infiltrator are the same reasons why I like spellseeker, only I can get the body to go with it. Either way, you can min-max this deck in any number of ways, but I only have so many black tutors to split between the decks.
I will consider the hand disruption cards after some real testing. Cryptic I'll leave out because of its money and triple blue cost. Mystic Confluence didn't even make it into this list, and I like bouncing a lot more than tapping down creatures. As a proof of concept though, I will try out a similar analogue just to see potential performance comparisons.
I had Soothsaying in the initial build, but it always felt worse to spend mana on it than just going for more blind flips.
I'll probably just cut Omniscience and Rags//Riches for Vexing Scuttler and Elder Deep-Fiend and see where we can go from there. The former two just feel like there are there for getting large amounts of life loss when other cards do the same but also serve useful purposes.
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.
Not paying for your ninja enablers is one of the best things you can do. Ornithopter, Cloud of Faeries, and As Foretold help with this. I saw the latter two and their mana savings basically won me the game.
This is intution I remember now from my days playing 60 card casual. Your ninja enablers were always the OG thopter, 1 mana unblockables, and 2 mana value such as Thalakos Seer and Baleful Strix. Point is that usually the lower the cost of the enabler, the better. However, the 2 mana enablers provide very important forms of value due to being multifunctional or otherwise to justify their inclusion. I may be adjusting my enabler suite to accommodate more 1 drops in the future.
On that note I want to play cheap cards that make me avoid needing to replay ninja enablers. I also need some kind of defensive card to help buy me time to stay alive.. because well... ninjas don't really block... If they are, you are in a bad spot (unless you're chump blocking with Yuriko). I mean, Propaganda and Meekstone aren't even that bad here...
The best multifunctional card for this slot is Bitterblossom. It provides 1/1 flyers that both enabler ninjas and add a bit of damage and also block when needed. However, the tradeoff is that your Yuriko will not connect until at least turn 4. Nonetheless, the deck is still very consistent and you can usually find other things to do with your mana on that turn to make it productive. Not paying the 2 more than once is key.
I also need to pick up a Shizo, Death's Storehouse. Ink-eyes is next to get cut because her damage trigger is very much not useful in a tempo deck like this. This deck is fast when it gets going. My first win was a turn 6 kill on the table fueled by Cloud of Faeries and Tetsuko.
Lastly, be mindful of your colorless land count. This deck is actually very color hungry and you want to avoid playing ANY unnecessary colorless lands.
My immediately changes are as follows:
- Arcane Denial
- Omniscience
- Rags // Riches
- Scavenger Grounds
+ Silumgar Sorcerer (still untested)
+ Vexing Scuttler
+ Elder Deep-Fiend (This is pretty decent)
+ Shizo, Death's Storehouse
These cards are on the chopping block for the following:
- Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
- Thought Vessel (2 drop rocks are okay, but tapping for colorless is REALLY suboptimal here)
+ Bitterblossom
+ Scroll Rack
This deck is fun. Setting up your flips is nice but blind flipping is so much more fun.
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.
As for protecting yourself, a few board wipes go a long way in a deck that digs this deep. Meekstone hurts the average deck far more than it hurts us though I don't think I'd include the eldrazi with it. A well timed Winter Orb locks opponents out while our low curve and aggressive strategy breaks parity. Cyclonic Rift is my go to for this kind of thing but I completely understand why it would be banned.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Vial sounds like a nice idea. It's not as insane as As Foretold but also can be dropped on turn 1. The latter's ability to make counterspells free eventually is actually ridiculous.
As for protecting myself, the next best thing is probably just Toxic Deluge honestly. You generally want it early enough that you don't need to pay too much life into it. I'm keeping All is Dust for now because I can hit 7 eventually in this deck (and also because some enchantments basically just ruin my day and I want an out to them). Just play around your own card by not playing every ninja enabler you run into.
Other cards that are interesting but require space:
Writ of Passage
Unnatural Selection
I also realized that this list is 99 cards and my list has a Nihil Spellbomb. If I need to, I can cut that, but I'm ready to throw it back in in case of crazy gy shenanigans. I guess I found my open slot.
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.
Mox Amber (sequencing is key here, as this mox is better for enabling turn 3 plays (by having 4 mana) and you always use it first when yuriko is out. When she is not out and is brought out this card enables more effective post-combat plays. If my theory is correct, this card is an autoinclude, especially since using removal on Yuriko is essentially a waste)
Amoeboid Changeling: Similar functionality to Mothdust Changeling, except it works the other way around. Gets benefits from the evasion enablers regardless.
Diabolic Intent: Reset Yuriko, get a card. Easy pickup.
Unnatural Selection: Not drawing ninjas will lose you games. Make sure you have ninjas.
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.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
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Tandem Lookout will turn whatever that gets through into card draw.
Drana, Liberator of Malakir would allow for some shenanigans. First Strike, with her trigger on the stack, Ninjutsu her and get a beefier Ninja in.
I also think a Thrilling Encore would an amazing 'gotcha' moment when someone finally Wraths out your vulnerable board.
Edit: Oh yeah, Key to the City would help you get in and filter cards.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
I plan on cutting one of the four wipes for a Toxic Deluge and probably the Swan Song or the Silumgar Sorcerer (whichever is worse) for the Unnatural Selection.
Ink-Eyes is likely becoming a Bitterblossom, the Nihil Spellbomb will become a Diabolic Intent, and a land will be removed for Mox Amber.
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.
I like these changes, especially the land cut for the Mox.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
I'd want to run Draco but I need to put equal weight in the ability as a card draw engine as well as a win condition, and so I don't feel comfortable running cards that feel completely miserable to draw or have in my opening hand. Even Temporal Trespass in my opening hand will become castable around turn 6-7 depending on what happens.
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.
My list overall is much, much greedier but still so satisfying. Lots of high-end nonsense. I love running silly things like Ancient Stone Idol without needing to feel bad.
All my high CMC stuff is reasonably castable in the midgame with relevant reductions...bar Draco. Because how else am I going to unironically run Draco in 2018 if not in this deck? That's basically my only justification.
I got more testing in today, figured out that Silumgar Sorcerer actually kind of sucks, and now I know that my blind flip rate of hitting big money is reasonable enough that the main problem I run into is giving the ninjas evasion after they have struck once. Making all of your birds into ninja is one workaround, but I'll try the simple Levitation to attempt to recreate the behavior of ninjas from cheesy soap operas, as well as get in hits more reliably. I find it better than Thassa because although it can be destroyed, Thassa requires a total of a 5 mana investment for a single use of unblockable, while this is 4 mana for giving all your ninjas flying. It also seems better than Writ of Passage. All you need is two ninjas to connect to make your money's worth with this card. Unless it is a 1v1, flying is usually good enough versus a table because it's very rare for everyone to hold up flying blockers.
The other problem of course is not actually drawing ninjas, but that's a different scenario that Arcane Adaptation and friends fix.
Other notes: Colorless rocks not named Sol Ring (or Mana Crypt) kind of suck here because your color commitments are so heavy, and 3cmc counters (especially situational ones) kind of suck here, although an exception can be made to exceptional versatility. Like, I'd throw my Mana Drain in here if I felt like it just to use as a regular Counterspell.
People figure out pretty quickly that Yuriko is really not worth killing with a removal spell, so while I didn't draw Mox Amber in my games, there was basically no situation where drawing one would be a dead card. Speaking of enemy creature spot removal, it is pretty horrendous against this deck in general.
Lastly, bring a Strip Mine for Maze of Ith. Glacial Chasm isn't a problem but maze can be used to stop ninjas. That makes no sense, so blow that **** up.
- Island
- Silumgar Sorcerer
- Ink-eyes, Servant of Oni
- Nihil Spellbomb
- Silumgar Sorcerer
- Swan Song
- River's Rebuke
- Mind Stone
- Looter il-Kor
- All is Dust
- Thought Vessel
+ Mox Amber
+ Bitterblossom
+ Diabolic Intent
+ Unnatural Selection
+ Arcane Denial
+ Toxic Deluge
+ Scroll Rack
+ Slither Blade
+ Devastation Tide
+ Levitation
+ Arcane Denial
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.
Thanks for the heads up on Strip Mine and Mox Amber, I'm going to add those next chance I get. I, too, have really come to dislike most of my rocks so I'm happy for another cheap one that can do work.
I don't play much control but your words on 3cmc counters echo a friend of mine's. The only non-free ones above 2cmc he'll run have strong utility like Disallow and Cryptic Command.