@Wayneh73 i'm pretty sure you can. "Whenever Etrata deals combat damage..." is a trigger that goes on the stack, at which point you can bounce/Ninjutsu* her away before it resolves. (*Your Ninja won't deal combat damage though, unless Etrata had first strike somehow)

There is even reminder Text on scryfall to support this:

"If Etrata leaves the battlefield while its triggered ability is on the stack, it remains in its new zone and Etrata’s owner shuffles their library. (2018-10-05)"

As you stated though no combat damage will be dealt, it’s a combat damage not an attack trigger. I tried this on Arena and that’s how it worked unfortunately. You have to deal combat damage for the ability to go onto the stack. The ability then resolves before you can bounce her back

That's all kinds of wrong. Yes it's a combat damage trigger, it goes on the stack if she does combat damage. At that point you choose your targets. Then everybody (including you) can respond to that trigger. For example your opponent might try to give his targeted creature hexproof or stifle the ability. You can bounce/kill/ninjutsu/phase out Etrata away, the trigger will still resolve (as long as the targeted creature is still a legal target) and said creature will be removed with a hit counter on it. Then you'll shuffle Etrata into your library if she's on the battlefield, if she isn't you'll still shuffle your library.

If Arena actually works the way you're describing it's a bug or bad implementation. Did you try this in full control mode? Did you have a way to bounce her and enough mana open?

tl;dr: It's a combat damage trigger, which will go on the stack (if there is a legal target) and all players can respond to that trigger. As active player you'll have to respond first, you can't wait to see if you opponents do anything about that trigger.

You choose your targets when you declare attacks not when combat damage is assigned

You declare an attack. Your opponent declares blocks. You then can cast instants. Your opponent can respond etc and all of this goes on the stack. You still haven’t actually done any combat damage yet though so Etratas ability is not yet on the stack

Next after the stack has been resolved combat damage is assigned, this is when Etratas ability goes on the stack, life totals are adjusted and any combat damage triggers are resolved. Etrata now gets shuffled back into your deck.

There is a final end combat step where you can cast an instant but it’s already to late as Etrata ability has now resolved

I also thought like you and googled it to death before then trying it Arena to be 100% sure

Well, maybe Stefouch knows the answer?

Got a question for you that I just thought of as I was replacing Xenograft with Conspiracy in my Yuriko deck after looking at yours. If one were to play both Conspiracy and Arcane Adaptation (or Xenograft for that matter), seeing as how Conspiracy replaces creature types rather than adding them, would one card "overwrite" the other, or would both apply? In other words, if I had both in hand, could I play Conspiracy , name Ninjas, then play Arcane Adaptation naming Rogues, and now all creatures including those in my deck are both? Now, if I reversed the order and played Conspiracy second naming Ninjas, would they all be Ninjas only?

Hi guys! So I'm a Magic Judge Level 1 since 2015 and will try to help you clarify some rules.

@Wayneh73, @Heisenbrain, @CommanderAdventures:

Etrata's second ability is a triggered ability. It triggers as soon as Etrata deals her combat damage.

At that point, the ability goes on the stack, and the active player gets the priority. All players will be able to respond one after the other. This is how the stack and the priority work.
The ability does not trigger when declaring attackers, nor when declaring blockers. It's on combat damage, which are assigned and dealt during the Combat Damage Step of the Combat Phase. At the end of this step, after dealing damage, the players will get priority before proceeding to the next and last step of the Combat Phase.

Shuffling Etrata into the library is part of the ability, so you apply this effect only when you resolve her ability on the stack.

So yes, you may respond to that ability and target Etrata with a bouncing spell or ability. (e.g. Unsummon ). When the Etrata's ability will resolve, there will be no more Etrata to shuffle back to the library.

Flickering and Blinking Etrata in response to her ability works also, as when she comes back she will be a new object not related to the previous one.

More info may be retrieved here: Etrata's extra rulings.

@alexjustdoit:

It's a layer question, see rule 613. Usually when two effects want to modify the same characteristic (the creature subtype), you follow the timestamp rule (if there is no dependency), which means you apply the effects in the order they arrived.

In your example, if you played Conspiracy first, then Arcane Adaptation, all your creatures will be Ninja Rogue.
In the reverse order, all your creatures are only Ninja.

@stefouch

Sorry, to bother you, but so I just understand my interpretation. So you can still trigger Etrata’s ”exile target creature” part of her trigger, even though she is in hand, or wherever else?

Kind of like thinking her effect comes in 3 parts?

Thanks for taking the time to reply and clarify Etratas ability Stefouch

I've tried this again on Arena when I had Blink of an Eye , Unexplained Disappearance and Rescue in hand and it would not let me play any of these to bounce Etrata back. I'll submit a bug report about this

Has anyone played a good amount of this deck as the list stands now (or in the last couple updates)? Wondering about power level %. Tempted to take apart my Yuriko list and rebuild it like this to take to the LGS on commander night.

@alexjustdoit We play this deck alot in our playgroup and its a favorite.

It can end games pretty efficient and has many cool synergies. Always fun to see it go off.

Overall its on powerlevel 8 I'd say. Depends on your LGS meta how good it performs. It's tuned for casual+ multiplayer around powerlevel 7-8 not for competitive play (power level 9/10).

If you want to up it I recommend checking competitive Yuriko combos and adding a few (Doomsday, high-cmc cards etc.)

Hope that helps.

Regards Sebastian

I'm not sure, if I get the mechanics.

Attack with rogues like Deathcult Rogue and ninjas like Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni, opponents will probably want to block your ninja if they have to choose - Then use "smokebomb" cards like Crystal Shard or Erratic Portal, bounce your ninja and use ninjutsu on the unblocked rogue! Now that's ninjastyle... ;)

Am I right, if I say:

Attack with both (rogue and ninja). Hopefully my opponents block the ninja. I bounce it, the ninja, back on my hand, use it's ninjutsu ability, return the rogue (unblocked) to my hand and bring back the bounced ninja to activate it's triggered ability?

Uh... I like that. My playgroup didn't see this coming. I think I will invest the necessary 250€ on this deck. This one seems fun to play and I LOVE X. Had to read it like three times to get, what it does, but once I got it, it was like: "OMFG! That's awesome fun!"

@bl4ckb0l7 yeah that's exactly how it works! You can ninjutsu during every step of the combat phase (even after damage was dealt)

CommanderAdventures

How can I play a card attacking after damage was calculated and the attack phase is over? Does it still attack?

bl4ckb0l7 Well its still combat phase after damage resolves, just use it before going to second main phase.

Creature counts as attacking until combat phase ends and second main phase begins

Just read all comments and the judges comment on Etrata, the Silencer. This is awesome.

Another question... why is Scheming Symmetry the Grand Finale?

@bl4ckb0l7 Place card with high cmc on top of your deck, trigger yuriko, deal lots of damage.

I prefer Scheming Symmetry over usual tutors because it has a nice political flavor. But you can use other tutors too of course.

CommanderAdventures You know what I like about MTG?

A lot of people consider me a smart person, but MTG makes me feel stupid so often.

Of course that’s a finale!

Thank you!

Just ordered the cards and I will report my experiences with it.

What about Sakashima of a Thousand Faces?

Halimar Depths would be a nice utility addition here.

hello, i don't queit understand why in the description it mentions cards like Deathcult Rogue and Extract when they are not in the deck at all? also it says that Etrata is part of the 99 cards but it isn't

It has been a while but I came around to update the decklist with all the goodness from Neon Dynasty.

Have fun! :)