Had to start a new mtgsal account since i cant find my log on info for my original one,
What?!? sad to hear indeed, been following this deck since you put it up almost 6 years ago, I stayed with Tassy as my commander ( after all the money spent acquiring cards for it couldn't make the jump to add red dual lands etc.) but still.
What are you brewing up now? Hopefully your still playing commander!
Rip Night of the Living Dead. What are you playing these days?
So after I decided to part ways with this I made Yuriko control with the cards in the deck and added some to my Muldrotha stax deck as well. I also made Zur Astral slide but I actually took apart all of them recently
Tbh i can see some sack outlets work for us but rather have bounce outlets just for the ninjustsu and we can allways send commander to the zone.
So what can we do about this? Was thinking about crystal shard we we can at least bounce a ninjustu guy at end of the turn or force someone to pay the mana or bouncing their creature.
It's very meta dependent. In my group it's far less creature based so Yuriko having someone to connect with very consistently isn't often a problem, with groups that have more creatures I think a route with more bounce or removal would work better
I have a strange idea, depending on your meta.
You like casting small, evasive creatures to bring Yuriko with. You don't care too much about her dying since you can activate her ability again and bring her back. So what about Magus of the Abyss?
Its ability is negligible when it comes to you - you just sac Yuriko all day every day and bring her back with her ability, while your opponents have to get rid of their creatures, which means blockers so you have an easier time attacking into stuff. It's also a creature, which means you can attack with it and bring Yuriko with it as well. Worst case scenario you don't want the ability to happen anymore, so you sac it to its own ability. What do you think?
To me it feels very good. If Braids were legal she would be an all star here. You could also go for Smokestack, but it's a turn slower and there are less synergies. Likewise, if you have U producing mana rocks, you could go for Contamination, but that feels much more risky and much less friendly. Bontu the Glorified also seems interesting. He's indestructible and evasive so you don't mind attacking with him, he's a sac outlet for Yuriko so it can be good synergy, he makes you scry so you can decide on your top card before you resolve Yuriko's ability, and it's some lifegain.
Those all seem decent but the mana cost is a bit high for what I want to do. Plus having an outlet to sac yuriko isn't too important. It's a benefit when a card has upside with a sac like Elder Deep fiend or Diabolic intent but the resesting Yuriko isn't the most important thing, it's more important to make sure opponents can't block and Magus and Smokestack are a little too slow for that. I think
How would you adjust if you had more creature based decks in your meta, I seem to be losing all my creatures and getting beat down in my meta. By turn 4 or 5 everyone has flying blockers. Ideas?
..
I cut massacre because I don't have as many creatures so I would look there first.
Sword of fire and ice for protection and ping seems solid
Muderous cut to kill a critter is decent.
It's important to note that you only need one person to attack with the ninjas so honestly bullying the low creature deck is a viable option. But if none exist cutting some irrlevent stax cards for kill cards with upside would be a good start
Edit
This also may be a better place to add the 1 mana unlockable creatures instead.
So far the deck has been performing very strong even without the extra turns and the only one im even considering is the planeswalker: Mu Yanling which isn't fast but it seems fun haha. And how many unblockable 1 and 2 drops are necessary for good consistency?
I actually cut the unblockable one drops for flyers with perks.
Siren stormtamer probably won't be blocked and has decent ability
I have been thinking of Volrath's Stronghold just because the look on players faces when I put Draco back on the top of my deck after discarding it. Not particularly strong, but really funny to watch.
Adding Ruins to a base Dimir deck is a fine inclusion. Being able to recover dead mana rocks or Stax pieces sounds like a great thing to do. And being able to reuse Draco sounds like too much fun. At that point, I would probably just make the switch to Mindslaver because it still drains for 6 when flipped off of Yuriko while being another Combo outlet. I admit it's not entirely effective, but a well-timed Mindslaver can sometimes hand you the game better than draining for 16 will.
Why not just Emrakul?
I don't like adding too many colorless since its importent to have yuriko online early and often.
I have been thinking of Volrath's Stronghold just because the look on players faces when I put Draco back on the top of my deck after discarding it. Not particularly strong, but really funny to watch.
I used to run stronghold a little while ago when I had a reanimator package but ended up cutting it with the package since I couldn't reliably cast the cards. Plus adding more colorless seems wrong at this point. I do like ruins since it works well with returning stax peices or scroll rack so that one would probably make the cut later, I'll add it to test list
This is definitely an interesting way to build Yuriko and where I was already trying to make a deck with her, I'm going to use this as a base to build my version off. As I don't have budget for the more expensive card nor do I have the fetches and fast mana. The groups I'm in aren't fully competitive so I can afford it slowing down slightly and just be lighter on the stax effects as well for now, but will likely pick them up the remaining stax pieces and have them around as a potential sideboard.
A lot of the stax cards are silver bullets for meta.
If my meta didn't have 2 breyas and arcum plus more i wouldn't run null rod.
Chains, orb of dreams, and cursed totem I feel like are the best.
Transmute artifact and winter orb just sometimes time walk the table.
I just got this commander and build it around the ninja theme and drawing life ofcourse. But the playgroup doesnt like the extra turns cards so should i just go like fk it and use them and get hated or can it work just the same way without the extra turn cards?
Temporal trespass is the only one and works very well with the deck. You can replace it with another high cmc spell (Emrakul?)
I like temporal mastery but trespass is by far the best here
I found that the deck's dps can be pretty unreliable at times and it draws quite a bit of attention even if you're most often likely to hit lands.
I'm actually surprised that many of the comp builds run all the owls. I thought they'd be a bit too mana intensive for that..
Is Rags better than Connive? I'd figure that the commander theft would be better than a -2/-2 effect that wipes all your guys.
Rags hits for a little more so that's a small plus but the massacre effect is actually really nice. Kills a ton of chump blockers and leaves Yuriko.
Plus Riches is pretty decent in late game
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is an interesting card, a lot of builds focus on Ninjas and high cmc cards that aren't usually cast. In this build I wanted to make sure that all the ninjas and high cmc cards are castable in the early parts of the game, trying to speed Yuriko to her absolute most powerful...stax.
Yuriko is a combination of Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, both often considered some of the most powerful commanders ever made. Yuriko loves stax effects because they are not symmetrical.
Yuriko sits through cards like Cursed totem, Orb of dreams, Nether void, chains of mephistopheles and it doesn't do a thing to her. Meanwhile your opponents need to make sure all of them are constantly able to block, which with Chain of vapor, Snuff out, Submerge, and Umezawa's Jitte is unlikely to happen. Enjoy!
CREATURES
The creatures can be split into three groups. We have the low ninjutsu cmc ninjas, evasive value creatures, and good enter the battlefield cards.
Umezawa's Jitte- Makes sure one player is often available for a slap
Winter Orb- Hurts other players, doesn't really effect us
ENCHANTMENTS
Very few enchantments in here but they're some of the best in the deck
Arcane Adaptation- Turns every creature into a Yuriko trigger. Can easily kill the turn it lands
Arcane Laboratory- We often only cast one spell a turn since most of the relevant cards are ninjas which we don't need to cast or instants which can be done during opponents turns
Chains of Mephistopheles-Yuriko's ability isn't a draw so you can outdraw your opponents quickly
Amoeboid Changeling
Baleful Strix
Dark Confidant
Faerie Macabre
Higure, the Still Wind
Sakashima's Student
Ponder
Preordain
Whir of Invention
Rhystic Study
Xenograft
Unnatural Selection
Back to basics
Personal tutor
Cosign
Cover of darkness
Thalakos Seer
Sword of feast and famine
Sword of fire and ice
Dimir Infiltrator
Muddle the mixture
Diabloic vision
Serum visions
Trickery charm
Mission breifing
Emrakul, the promised end
Nexus of fate
Jace, the mind sculptor
Trinket mage
So after I decided to part ways with this I made Yuriko control with the cards in the deck and added some to my Muldrotha stax deck as well. I also made Zur Astral slide but I actually took apart all of them recently
Not at all
The remaining ninjas have too high of a casting / ninjistu cost to be worth a slot
Amoeboid Changeling- Ninja with good ability
Baleful Strix- Evasion with draw
Dark Confidant- Just good
Faerie Macabre- Free grave hate
Higure, the Still Wind- Ninja with amazing ability. 4 mana is a lot though
Sakashima's Student- Not sure about this
Ponder- Seems solid
Preordain- Seems solid
Whir of Invention- Like transmute but not quite as good but the interaction with winter orb and instant speed makes it seem good
Rhystic Study- Stax piece that draws cards
Xenograft- Another ninja effect but probably too expensive
Unnatural Selection- Instant speed makes unblocked creatures into ninjas
Back to basics- Stax that doesn't really hurt
Personal tutor- Less good mystical tutor
Cosign- Removal and hits hard with yuriko
Cover of darkness- Probably bad
Thalakos Seer- Reverse baleful strix
Sword of feast and famine- Evasion with good abilities
Sword of fire and ice- Evasion with really good abilities
Dimir Infiltrator- Transmute and unblockable
Muddle the mixture- Transmute and counter
Diabloic vision- Big ponder
Serum visions- Like ponder
Trickery charm- Instant speed with 3 good abilities
Mission breifing- Like snapcaster but maybe better here
Emrakul, the promised end- Big and relevant cast ability. Can end games easy when bounced
Nexus of fate- Just seems solid, instant speed helps a lot here
Jace, the mind sculptor- Brainstorm and minus is relevant
Murderous cut- High cmc with low cast
Glen Elendra archmage- Meh
Academy ruins- Land that can bring back draco plus other relevant artifacts
It's very meta dependent. In my group it's far less creature based so Yuriko having someone to connect with very consistently isn't often a problem, with groups that have more creatures I think a route with more bounce or removal would work better
Those all seem decent but the mana cost is a bit high for what I want to do. Plus having an outlet to sac yuriko isn't too important. It's a benefit when a card has upside with a sac like Elder Deep fiend or Diabolic intent but the resesting Yuriko isn't the most important thing, it's more important to make sure opponents can't block and Magus and Smokestack are a little too slow for that. I think
I cut massacre because I don't have as many creatures so I would look there first.
Sword of fire and ice for protection and ping seems solid
Muderous cut to kill a critter is decent.
It's important to note that you only need one person to attack with the ninjas so honestly bullying the low creature deck is a viable option. But if none exist cutting some irrlevent stax cards for kill cards with upside would be a good start
Edit
This also may be a better place to add the 1 mana unlockable creatures instead.
I actually cut the unblockable one drops for flyers with perks.
Siren stormtamer probably won't be blocked and has decent ability
Artificer's assistant also sets up yuriko
Mausoleum wanderer is decent
Cloud of faeries is pretty much free
Why not just Emrakul?
I don't like adding too many colorless since its importent to have yuriko online early and often.
I used to run stronghold a little while ago when I had a reanimator package but ended up cutting it with the package since I couldn't reliably cast the cards. Plus adding more colorless seems wrong at this point. I do like ruins since it works well with returning stax peices or scroll rack so that one would probably make the cut later, I'll add it to test list
A lot of the stax cards are silver bullets for meta.
If my meta didn't have 2 breyas and arcum plus more i wouldn't run null rod.
Chains, orb of dreams, and cursed totem I feel like are the best.
Transmute artifact and winter orb just sometimes time walk the table.
Temporal trespass is the only one and works very well with the deck. You can replace it with another high cmc spell (Emrakul?)
I like temporal mastery but trespass is by far the best here
OUT
Island
Swamp
Disciple of deceit
Library of leng
Massacre
Mausoleum wanderer
Spellstutter sprite
Damping matrix
IN
Cabal pit
Elder Deep-fiend
Toxic deluge
Cloud of faeries
strip mine
Spellseeker
Artificer's assistant
Mox diamond
Rags hits for a little more so that's a small plus but the massacre effect is actually really nice. Kills a ton of chump blockers and leaves Yuriko.
Plus Riches is pretty decent in late game
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is an interesting card, a lot of builds focus on Ninjas and high cmc cards that aren't usually cast. In this build I wanted to make sure that all the ninjas and high cmc cards are castable in the early parts of the game, trying to speed Yuriko to her absolute most powerful...stax.
Yuriko is a combination of Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, both often considered some of the most powerful commanders ever made. Yuriko loves stax effects because they are not symmetrical.
Yuriko sits through cards like Cursed totem, Orb of dreams, Nether void, chains of mephistopheles and it doesn't do a thing to her. Meanwhile your opponents need to make sure all of them are constantly able to block, which with Chain of vapor, Snuff out, Submerge, and Umezawa's Jitte is unlikely to happen. Enjoy!
1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Creatures:
0 Ornithopter
1 Artificer's Assistant
1 Mothdust Changeling
1 Sage of Epityr
1 Sidisi's Faithful
1 Siren Stormtamer
1 Wingcrafter
2 Augury Owl
2 Cloud of faeries
2 Gilded Drake
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Sage Owl
2 Skullsnatcher
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Spire Owl
2 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
3 Mistblade Shinobi
3 Spellseeker
3 Walker of Secret Ways
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Sakashima the Impostor
5 Throat Slitter
8 Elder Deep-fiend
16 Draco
Artifacts:
0 Chrome Mox
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Amber
0 Mox diamond
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
2 Cursed Totem
2 Damping Sphere
2 Null Rod
2 Scroll Rack
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Winter Orb
3 Orb of Dreams
1 Mystic Remora
2 Chains of Mephistopheles
3 Arcane Adaptation
3 Arcane Laboratory
Sorcery
1 Imperial Seal
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Diabolic Intent
2 Sickening Dreams
2 Transmute Artifact
3 Toxic deluge
8 Treasure Cruise
11 Rags // Riches
11 Temporal Trespass
Instants:
1 Abjure
1 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Dispel
1 Flusterstorm
1 Mental Misstep
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Swan Song
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
2 Mana Drain
2 Snapback
4 Insidious Dreams
4 Snuff Out
5 Force of Will
5 Misdirection
5 Submerge
7 Commandeer
8 Dig Through Time
10 Commit // Memory
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cabal pit
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
7 Island
1 Mana Confluence
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Morphic Pool
1 Mutavault
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Strip mine
2 Swamp
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
CREATURES
The creatures can be split into three groups. We have the low ninjutsu cmc ninjas, evasive value creatures, and good enter the battlefield cards.
ARTIFACTS
Mostly used for stax or making Yuriko hit better. Yuriko isn't hurt by any of the stax effects
ENCHANTMENTS
Very few enchantments in here but they're some of the best in the deck
SORCERY
Most of these are either staples for Yuriko or Staples for commander.
INSTANTS
Often used to make sure Yuriko is free to beat face but can also be used as good Yuriko targets or messing with separate triggers
Amoeboid Changeling
Baleful Strix
Dark Confidant
Faerie Macabre
Higure, the Still Wind
Sakashima's Student
Ponder
Preordain
Whir of Invention
Rhystic Study
Xenograft
Unnatural Selection
Back to basics
Personal tutor
Cosign
Cover of darkness
Thalakos Seer
Sword of feast and famine
Sword of fire and ice
Dimir Infiltrator
Muddle the mixture
Diabloic vision
Serum visions
Trickery charm
Mission breifing
Emrakul, the promised end
Nexus of fate
Jace, the mind sculptor
Trinket mage
More coming soon
Ended up not switching generals. Actually retired the deck last month