1.0 Introduction:written and contributed by MichMash
1.1 BACKGROUND & HISTORY
With the release of Betrayers of Kamigawa WotC added a new, fun and resonant creature tribe - Ninjas - to the Magic Multiverse. Ninjas immediately turned out to be quite popular among casual and competitive players. Not only were these Ninjas beautifully illustrated, they also featured the unique "Ninjutsu" mechanic. Ninjutsu allows a player to unexpectedly switch an unblocked attacker with a Ninja from his hand. Although Ninjas deal limited amounts of damage, the Ninjutsu mechanic makes these creatures inherently powerful, simply because:
Using Ninjutsu doesn't count as casting a spell. Ninjutsu therefore circumvents traditional countermagic.
Ninjutsu is a skill-testing mechanic that punishes bad blocking decisions.
The Ninjutsu-cost is always lower than the card's regular casting cost, thus allowing to cheat powerful creatures into play at a discount.
Ninjas come with interesting abilities that trigger when combat damage is dealt to an opponent. Unblocked Ninjas draw cards, bounce or kill creatures, force opponents to discard and tutor for or reanimate additional threats. All these effects can create huge tempo swings and make Ninjas quite dangerous.
Modern is a very young format. It was conceived in 2011 by WotC as an answer to the growing inaccessibility of Legacy. Legacy's biggest problem is WotC's own reprinting policy. As Legacy becomes more and more popular, the relative supply of unreprintable staples diminishes, driving up prices. If you want to compete with the top-tier decks, you'd therefore better have some pocket money spare. Top-tier Legacy decks easily set you back 800$ if not more - especially if you have to assemble these decks from scratch. Luckily, none of the cards legal in Modern fall under WotC's restricting reprinting policy, guaranteeing accessibility in the long run. Barring a few exceptions, most cards can be bought for less than 20 quid. But, there's more... WotC has also drafted up an extensive banlist in an attempt, not only to keep the format fresh and balanced, but also to differentiate it from Legacy. This banlist is a bit of thorn in the eye of the aggro-control enthusiast. With both Bitterblossom and Stoneforge Mystic banned, two contemporary and highly successful aggro-control archetypes ("Faeries" and "Caw Go") got severely crippled to the extend that they essentially are unplayable in Modern. To this day, no real archetype has surfaced that caters to the specific needs and wants of the aggro-control enthusiast. It is in this vacuum then, that one should give a closer look at various Ninja-driven strategies. Aggro-control is all about tempo; and tempo is exactly what Kamigawa's Ninjas generate. If you have tempo over your opponent, you are further ahead in developing your game plan, which is (for an aggro-control archetype) enforcing a so called "five-turn clock".
1.2 NINJAS IN KAMIGAWA STANDARD AND ITS BEGINNING
WotC initially launched two theme decks that showcased the aforementioned Ninjutsu mechanic. The first deck - simply called "Ninjutsu" - was a mono-blue deck that featured every single blue Ninja. The deck counted multiple copies of the commons Mistblade Shinobi and Ninja of the Deep Hours, it had a single uncommon Walker of Secret Ways and it included Higure, the Still Wind as one of the two deck's rares. Out of the box this first theme deck was a bit of a strategical hopscotch. Instead of generating tempo and creating card advantage it did the exact opposite. Animated lands (through Genju of the Falls), aren't 'creatures' you want to Ninjutsu into since you lose the land AND the enchantment. Additionally this first theme deck lacked good quality evasive one-drops (so called ninja-enablers), ran to much useless (defensive) creatures and downplayed the importance of a good countermagic suite (it included only a single Hinder). The second theme deck - called "Rats' Nest" - wasn't branded as "the" quintessential Ninjutsu deck. Although this mono-black deck did come with some solid black Ninjutsu cards like Throat Slitter and Okiba-Gang Shinobi, these cards hardly explain the popularity of the deck. Rats' Nest sold like hot cake, not because it featured some cool Ninjas, but simply because it included a single copy of Umezawa's Jitte - one of the more powerful and most sought-out cards of the whole block. Although WotC actively pushed the Ninjutsu mechanic through these two theme decks, Ninjas never made a profound impact on Standard. Giving Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni away as the set's prerelease foil, didn't really change this. The lack of good support cards in the environment combined with the brokenness of Mirrodin and the deepness of Ravnica's card pool, never made the Ninja-archetype a real competitive option. Despite its flavorful and powerful Ninjas, Kamigawa in fact, turned out to one of the biggest commercial failures in the recent history of the game and a set with a negligible impact on eternal formats...
1.3 NINJAS IN LEGACY
Immediately after the release of Kamigawa, innovative deckbuilders started to explore the possibilities of the Ninjutsu mechanic with earlier printed cards. Smart deckbuilders always knew that Ninjas could potentially be quite good in Legacy. In comparison with Vintage, Legacy is defiantly 'slow' enough to support clever creature-based strategies. Once people realized that one could Ninjutsu through Standstill, a new Legacy archetype was therefore born. Cheap evasive creatures like Ornithopter, Flying Men and Cloud of Faeries functioned as early ninja-enablers that could be cast before the board was 'locked' down with Standstill. A powerful countermagic suite further complimented the deck's core strenghts. Cards like Force of Will and Daze basically don't backfire in a deck that can cheat threats into play without cracking Standstill. In recent years new cards were gradually added to the deck. Lorwyn block, for example, introduced Spellstutter Sprite (one of the better blue commons ever printed) and a card that has some strong tribal synergy with Cloud of Faeries. Mirrodin Besieged, finally, introduced Signal Pest and Mental Misstep, two new cards that further solidified the archetype. FearieNinjaStill, the name under which the archetype is known today among the Legacy crowd, is a strong (and budget friendly) archetype that isn't top-tier but that will always tickle players looking for a rogue-deck.
2.0 Card Choices:
2.1 NINJAS - The creatures call Ninjas
Higure, the Still Wind - Ninja Tutor allowing us to search NoDH for CA, Slitter to kill non-black creatures or Shinobi to bounce black creatures you cant kill with Slitter. Somemore Higure is able to make your Ninjas unblockable(including himself) for a very affordable 2 which can be utilise multiple times. Higure is also strong enough to stay out of Lightning bolt & Helix range.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni - Win con. Critical to turning a losing game board around. Regeneration is also useful here.
Mistblade Shinobi- Stall board & delay so the legendary Ninjas can join in the battle. Does a decent job of disrupting opponent's tempo at a very low Ninjutsu cost.
Ninja of the Deep Hours - Best card draw a ninja can possibly have @ a low Ninjutsu cost. Can come down on the second turn as long as you have an Ninja enabler on the first turn.
Top-Grade Enablers: Ornithopter - Evasion and at free casting cost. Signal Pest - Evasion and useful battlecry. Zephyr Sprite - Evasion and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability. Tormented Soul - Enabler of choice for Ninja decks with black as the main color. Jace's Phantasm - Evasion and late game beater, good during early turns as a cheap enabler, outstanding during the late turns as a potential 5/5 flying beater. Could well be the late game missing reach/link that Ninjas are missing at the moment.
Useful and Utility Enablers: Spellstutter Sprite - Creature with evasion and conditional counterspell in one. Vendilion Clique - Evasion, card manipulation and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability. Dimir Infiltrator - Evasion and useful transmute. Cloud Sprite - Run Zephyr Sprite first, before you consider this. Normally choosen if you need extra faeries, it also supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability as every Faerie does.
2.3 EQUIPMENTS - Ninja's Tools
Top Grade Weapons: Sword of Feast and Famine - Successful hit allows us to untap lands for counterspells and forces opponent's discard, thus generating virtual card advantage. Works towards a enventual bigger Jace's Phantasm as well. Sword of Fire and Ice - Generate card advantage and can clear opponent's smaller creature/deal extra player damage.
Permission Spells: Familiar's Ruse - Counter spells and 'recycle' our Ninja tech & Spellstutter or return Ornithopter at no cost. Mana Leak - Cheap counterspell. Spell Pierce - May be required to stop opponents' removal on our Ninjas.
There are a few different variants available at the moment, we can either go for heavy hand disruption, counter-suite with Faeries or Mana Ramp with & without Erayo.
Possible Ninjas decks in the pipeline:
How much playtesting have you done? Is 15 ninjas too many?
I have done 0% playtesting because the deck is not formed yet. However my intention is to convert my existing BU Legacy Ninjas Deck into a Modern deck. Based on my experiences with the legacy version, i usually need at least 8 Ninjas enablers and around 12 Ninjas.
How fast is this deck? The reports trickling out from Philly seem to indicate that it is a pretty fast format. I don't know how competitive you want this to be (I would imagine very; ninjas are awesome!) buuuuut I dunno if they can keep up with 12 post/twin/swath/melira/etc.
You're obviously more familiar with the deck than I am, so that's why I'm asking.
If it's slow, maybe up the amount of counter magic? Or splash green for some pump, make the ninjas more explosive?
I like this and hope it can be developed further. Ninjas was one of the first things I thought of when I heard about modern, mainly just for sheer fun factor.
How about some targeted discard, since youre in black.
Hm! I like Tormented Soul a lot more than Signal Pest!
I also agree that we could definitely make use of 4 Inquisitions/Thoughseize. I'd go with Inquisition because like it has been said this is a fast format and there's not a lot of big things Thoughtseize hits and Inquisition doesn't.
What about Skullsnatcher as well? Seems very useful to me! Turn 1 Ornithoptor, Turn 2 Attack with Skullsnatcher...against a Living End deck it's pretty much game over at that point since they can no longer cycle!
Adaptive Automaton? It wouldn't be much of surprise when you name ninjas though....
That is if we are playing straight out damage dealing aggro. It won't be suitable here as Ninjas are elusive and evasion attackers who control the board after landing. Another Ninja enabler would be better.
How fast is this deck? The reports trickling out from Philly seem to indicate that it is a pretty fast format. I don't know how competitive you want this to be (I would imagine very; ninjas are awesome!) buuuuut I dunno if they can keep up with 12 post/twin/swath/melira/etc.
You're obviously more familiar with the deck than I am, so that's why I'm asking.
If it's slow, maybe up the amount of counter magic? Or splash green for some pump, make the ninjas more explosive?
Oh my gosh this is a very slow deck which is very mana intensive and tempo driven. I'm not keen to splash green as it will reduce the deck consistency.
Cards like Shinobi/Familiar Ruse/more removal might gives us a chance against those decks.
Since we are playing black we can also play targetted discard like Inquisition of Kozilek, Duress or Thoughtseize.
I think Spell Pierce or some really cheap counters would be better here. I'm most worried about my Ninja being removed in response to being Ninjutsu in.
What about Vendilion Clique? You should really fit at least 1 of those.
Really like the idea, and I'm definitely gonna watch this thread and see the deck evolve.
Great, how could I leave out the best faerie which could also be a Ninja enabler? I could do with an EOT Clique, beat face next turn and Ninjutsu a Ninja to return it to my hand for more shenanigans later. I'll try to slot one into the deck.
I like this and hope it can be developed further. Ninjas was one of the first things I thought of when I heard about modern, mainly just for sheer fun factor.
How about some targeted discard, since youre in black.
Yup, Ninjas are really fun to play with ;). Although realistically there doesnt seems to be any Ninjas on the pipeline but there could be better Ninja Tech in future which could make the deck stronger.
I can add in a discard suite, and take out the faeries for it. I'll try to make another list shortly.
NINJAS FTW!!!!
I have a mono-blue ninja deck that I play with casually and its pretty awesome =D
how about Distortion Strike? small pump, and gives evasion for 2 turns. good way to get our ninja's abilities going without having to use Ninjutsu.
Also what do you think about Walker of Secret Ways, the shenanigans with it are pretty mana intensive so it might not work well, but its pretty well when you can get it going, and getting to see their hand is pretty nice.
I feel like most if not all ninja decks should be running Ronin Warclub; its one of the main ways I win with my deck.
Hm! I like Tormented Soul a lot more than Signal Pest!
I also agree that we could definitely make use of 4 Inquisitions/Thoughseize. I'd go with Inquisition because like it has been said this is a fast format and there's not a lot of big things Thoughtseize hits and Inquisition doesn't.
What about Skullsnatcher as well? Seems very useful to me! Turn 1 Ornithoptor, Turn 2 Attack with Skullsnatcher...against a Living End deck it's pretty much game over at that point since they can no longer cycle!
It's definitely some sideboard tech maybe?
That’s right! Tormented Soul has an even better evasion than Signal Pest at the same cost!
I think in this meta we need to make use of Inquisitions & Thoughtseize to take out combo pieces or removal spells (so they cannot kill our Ninjas in response to Ninjutsu). I might go with 6 to 8 disruption spells as I think it is crucial for us to know when and how to Ninjutsu in. It seems like I may have to remove my faeries package to make space for the discard spells though.
I'm not sure if we should play Skullsnatcher or the traditional Nihil Spellbomb but i guess it's worth a try in the sideboard. Playing Skullsnatcher means our graveyard hate can be tutored thanks to Higure, the Still Wind
in a format filled with combo decks, normal ninjas just seem too slow
Thanks for the link! I read the first post and will go through the rest of the thread over the next few days.
It’s great to know Ninjas ever had successes before. I’m just worried with GUNinjas we don’t have a way to protect Erayo properly but the interaction and synergies in the deck is mind-boggling.
That is why hand disruption is important here, to slow them down by taking our their key spells. Currently I’m trying to finalise my BU list, I’ll try the Ninja-Erayo shortly.
NINJAS FTW!!!!
I have a mono-blue ninja deck that I play with casually and its pretty awesome =D
how about Distortion Strike? small pump, and gives evasion for 2 turns. good way to get our ninja's abilities going without having to use Ninjutsu.
Also what do you think about Walker of Secret Ways, the shenanigans with it are pretty mana intensive so it might not work well, but its pretty well when you can get it going, and getting to see their hand is pretty nice.
I feel like most if not all ninja decks should be running Ronin Warclub; its one of the main ways I win with my deck.
NINJAS FTW!!!! (I think we should start every sentence with this :p)
Distortion Strike is already in my maindeck. IMO Distortion Strike is definitely mainboard material as it allows our Ninjas to beat through without enablers.
Since we have discard spells which enable us to see our opponent hands, Walker of Secret Ways is not so relevant anymore. In most cases your would rather land a Shinobi or NoDH anytime I believe.
I’m still unsure whether we have the space or mana to run equipments, but Ronin Warclub is a house with Ninjas. Right now I have a list of suitable equipments and Ronin Warclub certaintly ranks high over here.
I dont know how often you are going to be able to activate Tar Pit, attack and still have mana left over for ninjutsu.
Maybe some of those unblockable guys?
When all else fails(permission package or wrath effects or stall board) and we are unable to beat through with one of the Ninja enabler, we can fall back on this unblockable land...I also do not think we can use it early as it's too mana intensive.
This is the advantage of a non-wasteland format. Otherwise I wouldn't touch Creeping tar pit with a barge pole.
I am not saying its bad. I like Tar Pit and would probably run it if I were in those colors. I was specifically talking about the OP where it is listed as a ninja enabler.
I am not saying its bad. I like Tar Pit and would probably run it if I were in those colors. I was specifically talking about the OP where it is listed as a ninja enabler.
I should have been a little more clear in my post.
I see your concerns...I categorized it as "ninja enabler", because I still use it as a ninja tech, only that it is a very very late enabler compared to the rest. It's a desperate way to push a ninja through really.
I'll improve my card explanations shortly. Do kindly point out to me any irregularities you notice in my OP. I could do with some help :).
I'll improve my card explanations shortly. Do kindly point out to me any irregularities you notice in my OP. I could do with some help :).
I dont know how much help I can be in developing the OP for this deck, since its not a deck that I have any experience playing. Regardless, I do have a few tips:
1. Center some of the main parts. The images, title, etc...
2. Use spoilers for different sections (such as creature selection, etc...) so that people arent staring at a wall of text when they first look at your post. This would allow people to check out the sections that interest them.
You can check out the Primer I have been developing for my Melira deck. Maybe use it as a guideline while you develop your own Primer.
Okay, you've peaked my interest. I may try to sleeve this up.
Yeah! Another Ninjas convert.
We definitely need more Ninjas than what WotC has given us so far...I can't believe when i keyseached a list of the Ninjas - we had only a grand total of 8.
I dont know how much help I can be in developing the OP for this deck, since its not a deck that I have any experience playing. Regardless, I do have a few tips:
1. Center some of the main parts. The images, title, etc...
2. Use spoilers for different sections (such as creature selection, etc...) so that people arent staring at a wall of text when they first look at your post. This would allow people to check out the sections that interest them.
You can check out the Primer I have been developing for my Melira deck. Maybe use it as a guideline while you develop your own Primer.
I created the thread in an hour yesterday(which is why I titled it as "developing"), after deliberating over playing Ninjas in Modern for the past few weeks.
I'll definitely improve it along the way - I just couldn't suppress my love for Ninjas anymore that is why i created it hastily last night.
p.s Initially i only wanted to do a deck list, but seeing the interest the decktype is gathering i think it is worth doing a primer thus i added in some card choices and explanations.
That is what i intend to do. Right now i have some ideas running in my head. One of them is the NinjaFaerie list in the OP, the other will be a hand disruption Ninjas list.
Give me some time, i'll sleeve up my draft list and test it over the next few weeks. However I have a limited meta to test out, as most of the legacy players in my area was put off by the bannings and price spike so i may have difficulty playing against Tier one modern decks.
Since you are running black, one thing that has been working well for me in my Melira build is main deck hand disruption and cards like Extirpate in the sideboard. I can rip through the many combo decks with ease due to these cards. I just wrote a blog about it that might be worth reading (click the blog entry thingy to the left).
One (two really) card I was thinking about for this is Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus. I know taking up mana to swing with a land might not be the most efficient way to play the deck, but then again you can completely get around counter magic by doing so.
Trained in the art of Espionage - Sabotage - Infiltration - Assassination
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1.0 Introduction: written and contributed by MichMash
With the release of Betrayers of Kamigawa WotC added a new, fun and resonant creature tribe - Ninjas - to the Magic Multiverse. Ninjas immediately turned out to be quite popular among casual and competitive players. Not only were these Ninjas beautifully illustrated, they also featured the unique "Ninjutsu" mechanic. Ninjutsu allows a player to unexpectedly switch an unblocked attacker with a Ninja from his hand. Although Ninjas deal limited amounts of damage, the Ninjutsu mechanic makes these creatures inherently powerful, simply because:
Modern is a very young format. It was conceived in 2011 by WotC as an answer to the growing inaccessibility of Legacy. Legacy's biggest problem is WotC's own reprinting policy. As Legacy becomes more and more popular, the relative supply of unreprintable staples diminishes, driving up prices. If you want to compete with the top-tier decks, you'd therefore better have some pocket money spare. Top-tier Legacy decks easily set you back 800$ if not more - especially if you have to assemble these decks from scratch. Luckily, none of the cards legal in Modern fall under WotC's restricting reprinting policy, guaranteeing accessibility in the long run. Barring a few exceptions, most cards can be bought for less than 20 quid. But, there's more... WotC has also drafted up an extensive banlist in an attempt, not only to keep the format fresh and balanced, but also to differentiate it from Legacy. This banlist is a bit of thorn in the eye of the aggro-control enthusiast. With both
BitterblossomandStoneforge Mysticbanned, two contemporary and highly successful aggro-control archetypes ("Faeries" and "Caw Go") got severely crippled to the extend that they essentially are unplayable in Modern. To this day, no real archetype has surfaced that caters to the specific needs and wants of the aggro-control enthusiast. It is in this vacuum then, that one should give a closer look at various Ninja-driven strategies. Aggro-control is all about tempo; and tempo is exactly what Kamigawa's Ninjas generate. If you have tempo over your opponent, you are further ahead in developing your game plan, which is (for an aggro-control archetype) enforcing a so called "five-turn clock".1.2 NINJAS IN KAMIGAWA STANDARD AND ITS BEGINNING
WotC initially launched two theme decks that showcased the aforementioned Ninjutsu mechanic. The first deck - simply called "Ninjutsu" - was a mono-blue deck that featured every single blue Ninja. The deck counted multiple copies of the commons Mistblade Shinobi and Ninja of the Deep Hours, it had a single uncommon Walker of Secret Ways and it included Higure, the Still Wind as one of the two deck's rares. Out of the box this first theme deck was a bit of a strategical hopscotch. Instead of generating tempo and creating card advantage it did the exact opposite. Animated lands (through Genju of the Falls), aren't 'creatures' you want to Ninjutsu into since you lose the land AND the enchantment. Additionally this first theme deck lacked good quality evasive one-drops (so called ninja-enablers), ran to much useless (defensive) creatures and downplayed the importance of a good countermagic suite (it included only a single Hinder). The second theme deck - called "Rats' Nest" - wasn't branded as "the" quintessential Ninjutsu deck. Although this mono-black deck did come with some solid black Ninjutsu cards like Throat Slitter and Okiba-Gang Shinobi, these cards hardly explain the popularity of the deck. Rats' Nest sold like hot cake, not because it featured some cool Ninjas, but simply because it included a single copy of Umezawa's Jitte - one of the more powerful and most sought-out cards of the whole block. Although WotC actively pushed the Ninjutsu mechanic through these two theme decks, Ninjas never made a profound impact on Standard. Giving Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni away as the set's prerelease foil, didn't really change this. The lack of good support cards in the environment combined with the brokenness of Mirrodin and the deepness of Ravnica's card pool, never made the Ninja-archetype a real competitive option. Despite its flavorful and powerful Ninjas, Kamigawa in fact, turned out to one of the biggest commercial failures in the recent history of the game and a set with a negligible impact on eternal formats...
1.3 NINJAS IN LEGACY
Immediately after the release of Kamigawa, innovative deckbuilders started to explore the possibilities of the Ninjutsu mechanic with earlier printed cards. Smart deckbuilders always knew that Ninjas could potentially be quite good in Legacy. In comparison with Vintage, Legacy is defiantly 'slow' enough to support clever creature-based strategies. Once people realized that one could Ninjutsu through Standstill, a new Legacy archetype was therefore born. Cheap evasive creatures like Ornithopter, Flying Men and Cloud of Faeries functioned as early ninja-enablers that could be cast before the board was 'locked' down with Standstill. A powerful countermagic suite further complimented the deck's core strenghts. Cards like Force of Will and Daze basically don't backfire in a deck that can cheat threats into play without cracking Standstill. In recent years new cards were gradually added to the deck. Lorwyn block, for example, introduced Spellstutter Sprite (one of the better blue commons ever printed) and a card that has some strong tribal synergy with Cloud of Faeries. Mirrodin Besieged, finally, introduced Signal Pest and Mental Misstep, two new cards that further solidified the archetype. FearieNinjaStill, the name under which the archetype is known today among the Legacy crowd, is a strong (and budget friendly) archetype that isn't top-tier but that will always tickle players looking for a rogue-deck.
2.0 Card Choices:
2.1 NINJAS - The creatures call Ninjas
Higure, the Still Wind - Ninja Tutor allowing us to search NoDH for CA, Slitter to kill non-black creatures or Shinobi to bounce black creatures you cant kill with Slitter. Somemore Higure is able to make your Ninjas unblockable(including himself) for a very affordable 2 which can be utilise multiple times. Higure is also strong enough to stay out of Lightning bolt & Helix range.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni - Win con. Critical to turning a losing game board around. Regeneration is also useful here.
Mistblade Shinobi - Stall board & delay so the legendary Ninjas can join in the battle. Does a decent job of disrupting opponent's tempo at a very low Ninjutsu cost.
Ninja of the Deep Hours - Best card draw a ninja can possibly have @ a low Ninjutsu cost. Can come down on the second turn as long as you have an Ninja enabler on the first turn.
Throat Slitter - Doom blade on a ninja.
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Skullsnatcher - Has become more relevant by 'eating' up the 'food/fuel' of the most popular creatures in Modern such as Snapcaster Mage's flashback, Deathrite Shaman's ability, Knight of the Reliquary's lands, Scavenging Ooze and the big bear - Tarmogoyf.
Walker of Secret Ways
2.2 NINJA-ENABLERS - Ninjas Tech
Top-Grade Enablers:
Ornithopter - Evasion and at free casting cost.
Signal Pest - Evasion and useful battlecry.
Zephyr Sprite - Evasion and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability.
Tormented Soul - Enabler of choice for Ninja decks with black as the main color.
Jace's Phantasm - Evasion and late game beater, good during early turns as a cheap enabler, outstanding during the late turns as a potential 5/5 flying beater. Could well be the late game missing reach/link that Ninjas are missing at the moment.
Useful and Utility Enablers:
Spellstutter Sprite - Creature with evasion and conditional counterspell in one.
Vendilion Clique - Evasion, card manipulation and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability.
Dimir Infiltrator - Evasion and useful transmute.
Cloud Sprite - Run Zephyr Sprite first, before you consider this. Normally choosen if you need extra faeries, it also supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability as every Faerie does.
2.3 EQUIPMENTS - Ninja's Tools
Top Grade Weapons:
Sword of Feast and Famine - Successful hit allows us to untap lands for counterspells and forces opponent's discard, thus generating virtual card advantage. Works towards a enventual bigger Jace's Phantasm as well.
Sword of Fire and Ice - Generate card advantage and can clear opponent's smaller creature/deal extra player damage.
Useful and Utility Weapons:
Mask of Riddles - Gives Evasion and useful card draw.
Ronin Warclub - Tailor made for Ninja Tech.
Loxodon Warhammer - Lifelink crucial in buying time before legends arrives.
Quietus Spike - Deathtouch on our 1/1, worth the trade-off everytime.
Whispersilk Cloak - Shroud and card draw.
Mask of Memory - Useful Card draw.
2.4 SPELLS - Ninja's tricks
Discard Spells:
Inquisition of Kozilek - Disrupt by discard.
Duress - Limited discard spell.
Thoughtseize - Disrupt by discard.
Permission Spells:
Familiar's Ruse - Counter spells and 'recycle' our Ninja tech & Spellstutter or return Ornithopter at no cost.
Mana Leak - Cheap counterspell.
Spell Pierce - May be required to stop opponents' removal on our Ninjas.
Removal Spells:
Go for the throat - Go for other creatures throat.
Unblockable Spells:
Distortion Strike - Tailor made for Ninjas.
Artful Dodge
Veil of Secrecy
Other Spells:
Aether Tradewinds - Utility bounce spell.
Echoing Truth - Utility bounce spell.
2.5 LAND - Ninja's training ground
Creeping Tar Pit, Mutavault, Blinkmoth Nexus , Inkmoth Nexus - Evasion option when board stalls, mostly played during emergency purposes, when you really need to use Ninjutsu.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Useful because we have a few legends in Clique, Higure and Ink-eyes.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Gives evasion to legends, good for Clique, Higure and Ink-eyes.
3.0 Decklist:
There are a few different variants available at the moment, we can either go for heavy hand disruption, counter-suite with Faeries or Mana Ramp with & without Erayo.
Possible Ninjas decks in the pipeline:
Decklist in second post.
4.0 Tournament History or Results(all formats):
Ninja deck finished 2nd at a PTQ Hollywood 2008 - Mono U Ninjas
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/hollywood08ptq/0216losangeles
German Nationals Top-8 in 2006 - GU Ninja-Erayo
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=48095
5.0 Other Links:
Rulings on Ninjutsu and First Strike
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10184829#post10184829
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
3.1 Modern UB NinjaFaerie
3 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
4 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Throat Slitter
4 Ornithopter
4 Zephyr Sprite
3 Spellstutter Sprite
Spells [12]
4 Distortion Strike
4 Familiar's Ruse
4 Go for the throat
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Drowned Catacombs
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
8 Island
5 Swamp
2 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Creatures- Ninja Enablers [14]:
4 Ornithopter
4 Zephyr Sprite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Distortion Strike
4 Familiar's Ruse
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
Lands [22]
1 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Drowned Catacombs
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3 Mutavault
7 Island
6 Swamp
2 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Creatures- Ninja Enablers [12]:
4 Ornithopter
3 Zephyr Sprite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
Spells [14]
4 Distortion Strike
4 Familiar's Ruse
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
Lands [22]
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Mutavault
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
6 Island
6 Swamp
3.2 Modern UG Ninja-Erayo
4 Ornithoper
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Higure, the Still Wind
Spells [16]
3 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
3 Familiar's Ruse
2 Boomerang
4 Repeal
1 Cryptic Command
1 Voidslime
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
Land [22]
6 Forest
8 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Breeding Pool
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
4 Ornithoper
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Higure, the Still Wind
Spells [19]
3 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
1 Boomerang
1 Echoing Truth
4 Repeal
2 Cryptic Command
1 Voidslime
2 Gitaxian Probe
2 Noxious Revival
6 Forest
8 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Breeding Pool
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Tectonic Edge
3.3 Modern UW Ninja-Elspeth
2 Higure, the Still Wind
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ornithopter
3 Signal Pest
1 Zephyr Sprite
3 Jötun Grunt
3 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gigadrowse
2 Peel from Reality
2 Noxious Revival
2 Silence
Planeswalkers [2]
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Lands [22]
11 Island
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mutavault
2 Mystic Gate
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
2 Higure, the Still Wind
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ornithopter
4 Zephyr Sprite
1 Cloud Sprite
2 Jötun Grunt
3 Perilous research
3 Gigadrowse
2 Peel from Reality
1 Noxious Revival
3 Familiar's Ruse
Planeswalkers [2]
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Lands [22]
11 Island
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mutavault
2 Mystic Gate
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Marsh Flats
2 Plains
3.4 Modern MonoB Ninja Rats - Idea conceived by Eseph
3 Black Cat
4 Typhoid Rats
4 Skullsnatcher
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Chittering Rats
3 Throat Slitter
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Patron of the Nezumi
4 Night's Whisper
1 Undying Evil
Artifacts [3]:
3 Infiltration Lens
Planeswalkers [4]
4 Liliana of the Veil
Lands [22]:
15 Swamp
4 Swarmyard
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
3.5 Modern UW Flying Ninjas - by MichMash
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Signal Pest
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Ornithopter
4 Aven Mimeomancer
3 Mask of Memory
Spells [12]:
4 Familiar's Ruse
2 Peel from Reality
2 Echoing Truth
4 Silence
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Mystic Gate
1 Hallowed Fountain
13 Island
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
I have done 0% playtesting because the deck is not formed yet. However my intention is to convert my existing BU Legacy Ninjas Deck into a Modern deck. Based on my experiences with the legacy version, i usually need at least 8 Ninjas enablers and around 12 Ninjas.
By the way these Ninjas are a must:
4x Mistblade Shinobi
4x Ninja of the Deep Hours
2x Higure, the Still Wind
I think i can do without Throat Slitter but i need Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni as a win con.
What is your take on this?
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
H/W List http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=112656
You're obviously more familiar with the deck than I am, so that's why I'm asking.
If it's slow, maybe up the amount of counter magic? Or splash green for some pump, make the ninjas more explosive?
How about some targeted discard, since youre in black.
I also agree that we could definitely make use of 4 Inquisitions/Thoughseize. I'd go with Inquisition because like it has been said this is a fast format and there's not a lot of big things Thoughtseize hits and Inquisition doesn't.
What about Skullsnatcher as well? Seems very useful to me! Turn 1 Ornithoptor, Turn 2 Attack with Skullsnatcher...against a Living End deck it's pretty much game over at that point since they can no longer cycle!
It's definitely some sideboard tech maybe?
That is if we are playing straight out damage dealing aggro. It won't be suitable here as Ninjas are elusive and evasion attackers who control the board after landing. Another Ninja enabler would be better.
Oh my gosh this is a very slow deck which is very mana intensive and tempo driven. I'm not keen to splash green as it will reduce the deck consistency.
Cards like Shinobi/Familiar Ruse/more removal might gives us a chance against those decks.
Since we are playing black we can also play targetted discard like Inquisition of Kozilek, Duress or Thoughtseize.
I think Spell Pierce or some really cheap counters would be better here. I'm most worried about my Ninja being removed in response to being Ninjutsu in.
Great, how could I leave out the best faerie which could also be a Ninja enabler? I could do with an EOT Clique, beat face next turn and Ninjutsu a Ninja to return it to my hand for more shenanigans later. I'll try to slot one into the deck.
Yeah, Ninjas FTW!!!!
Tormented Soul looks good. If i was to play this i might have to take out the faerie companions...isnt Dimir Infiltrator better than Infathom Infiltrator?
With your suggestions i may want to have another Ninjas built without any faeries. It might works better here.
Yup, Ninjas are really fun to play with ;). Although realistically there doesnt seems to be any Ninjas on the pipeline but there could be better Ninja Tech in future which could make the deck stronger.
I can add in a discard suite, and take out the faeries for it. I'll try to make another list shortly.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
in a format filled with combo decks, normal ninjas just seem too slow
I have a mono-blue ninja deck that I play with casually and its pretty awesome =D
how about Distortion Strike? small pump, and gives evasion for 2 turns. good way to get our ninja's abilities going without having to use Ninjutsu.
Also what do you think about Walker of Secret Ways, the shenanigans with it are pretty mana intensive so it might not work well, but its pretty well when you can get it going, and getting to see their hand is pretty nice.
I feel like most if not all ninja decks should be running Ronin Warclub; its one of the main ways I win with my deck.
That’s right! Tormented Soul has an even better evasion than Signal Pest at the same cost!
I think in this meta we need to make use of Inquisitions & Thoughtseize to take out combo pieces or removal spells (so they cannot kill our Ninjas in response to Ninjutsu). I might go with 6 to 8 disruption spells as I think it is crucial for us to know when and how to Ninjutsu in. It seems like I may have to remove my faeries package to make space for the discard spells though.
I'm not sure if we should play Skullsnatcher or the traditional Nihil Spellbomb but i guess it's worth a try in the sideboard. Playing Skullsnatcher means our graveyard hate can be tutored thanks to Higure, the Still Wind
Thanks for the link! I read the first post and will go through the rest of the thread over the next few days.
It’s great to know Ninjas ever had successes before. I’m just worried with GUNinjas we don’t have a way to protect Erayo properly but the interaction and synergies in the deck is mind-boggling.
That is why hand disruption is important here, to slow them down by taking our their key spells. Currently I’m trying to finalise my BU list, I’ll try the Ninja-Erayo shortly.
NINJAS FTW!!!! (I think we should start every sentence with this :p)
Distortion Strike is already in my maindeck. IMO Distortion Strike is definitely mainboard material as it allows our Ninjas to beat through without enablers.
Since we have discard spells which enable us to see our opponent hands, Walker of Secret Ways is not so relevant anymore. In most cases your would rather land a Shinobi or NoDH anytime I believe.
I’m still unsure whether we have the space or mana to run equipments, but Ronin Warclub is a house with Ninjas. Right now I have a list of suitable equipments and Ronin Warclub certaintly ranks high over here.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Maybe some of those unblockable guys?
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
When all else fails(permission package or wrath effects or stall board) and we are unable to beat through with one of the Ninja enabler, we can fall back on this unblockable land...I also do not think we can use it early as it's too mana intensive.
This is the advantage of a non-wasteland format. Otherwise I wouldn't touch Creeping tar pit with a barge pole.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
I should have been a little more clear in my post.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
I see your concerns...I categorized it as "ninja enabler", because I still use it as a ninja tech, only that it is a very very late enabler compared to the rest. It's a desperate way to push a ninja through really.
I'll improve my card explanations shortly. Do kindly point out to me any irregularities you notice in my OP. I could do with some help :).
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
EDIT: Durp. It's Piqued not Peaked. I shouldnt post before caffeine.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
I dont know how much help I can be in developing the OP for this deck, since its not a deck that I have any experience playing. Regardless, I do have a few tips:
1. Center some of the main parts. The images, title, etc...
2. Use spoilers for different sections (such as creature selection, etc...) so that people arent staring at a wall of text when they first look at your post. This would allow people to check out the sections that interest them.
You can check out the Primer I have been developing for my Melira deck. Maybe use it as a guideline while you develop your own Primer.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=347941
Hope that helps
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
Yeah! Another Ninjas convert.
We definitely need more Ninjas than what WotC has given us so far...I can't believe when i keyseached a list of the Ninjas - we had only a grand total of 8.
So far i only have experiences on Legacy Ninjas and the core of the deck has changed upon losing all the free counters and Standstill.
By the way i clicked on your Melira link, which is a very impressive and well thought out primer. Great job!
Maybe i didn't state clearly(now it's my turn).:p However i do wrote a few primers of my own before:
[Deck/Primer] Competitive Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
I created the thread in an hour yesterday(which is why I titled it as "developing"), after deliberating over playing Ninjas in Modern for the past few weeks.
I'll definitely improve it along the way - I just couldn't suppress my love for Ninjas anymore that is why i created it hastily last night.
p.s Initially i only wanted to do a deck list, but seeing the interest the decktype is gathering i think it is worth doing a primer thus i added in some card choices and explanations.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
ie, hand disruption in black, bounce/counter in blue... just different approaches.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (MTGO)
Lavinia of the Tenth (MTGO)
That is what i intend to do. Right now i have some ideas running in my head. One of them is the NinjaFaerie list in the OP, the other will be a hand disruption Ninjas list.
Give me some time, i'll sleeve up my draft list and test it over the next few weeks. However I have a limited meta to test out, as most of the legacy players in my area was put off by the bannings and price spike so i may have difficulty playing against Tier one modern decks.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
One (two really) card I was thinking about for this is Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus. I know taking up mana to swing with a land might not be the most efficient way to play the deck, but then again you can completely get around counter magic by doing so.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
H/W List http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=112656