Surprise M'Fer

Commander / EDH Tribal UB (Dimir)

Santosjw

Lands (32)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 13x Island
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Throne of the High City
• 1x Watery Grave

Mana Rocks (7)

• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel

Monarch (5)

• 1x Custodi Lich
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Keeper of Keys
• 1x Marchesa's Decree
• 1x Thorn of the Black Rose

Removal (3)

• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Murder
• 1x Shriekmaw

Big Mana (2)

• 1x Connive / Concoct
• 1x Tetzimoc, Primal Death

Card Advantage (10)

• 1x Ashiok, Dream Render *f-pre*
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Devastation Tide
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x ExpropriateGC
• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils
• 1x Temporal Mastery
• 1x Time Warp
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Whirler Rogue

Ninjas (10)

• 1x Higure, the Still Wind
• 1x Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
• 1x Mistblade Shinobi
• 1x Ninja of the Deep Hours
• 1x Okiba-Gang Shinobi
• 1x Sakashima's Student
• 1x Silent-Blade Oni
• 1x Skullsnatcher
• 1x Throat Slitter
• 1x Walker of Secret Ways

Counterspells (6)

• 1x Familiar's Ruse
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Negate
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Swan Song

Anthem (4)

• 1x Arcane Adaptation
• 1x Conspiracy
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Bounce (1)

• 1x Man-o'-War

Commander (1)

Unblockables (8)

• 1x Dimir Infiltrator
• 1x Gudul Lurker
• 1x Invisible Stalker
• 1x Mist-Cloaked Herald
• 1x Mothdust Changeling
• 1x Slither Blade
• 1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1x Triton Shorestalker

Card Draw (6)

• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Coastal Piracy
• 1x Dictate of Kruphix
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Preordain

Top Deck Manipulation (5)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Mystical TutorGC
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea

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Maybeboard

Other (1)

• 1x Chasm Skulker

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The goal is to use the unblockable 1/1s go get your ninjas out and do the real damage. Ninjitsu out your commander and avoid the CMDR tax. Cards are broken up into categories based on they're main use in the deck.

Anthem - These are cards that build on the tribe. Being that ninja's are a small tribe, we use cards like Arcane Adaptation and Conspiracy to make the rest of our creatures meet this tribe requirement for Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow triggered ability. Cards like Herald's Horn promote the use of our "ninjas" and assist in casting cost while Vanquisher's Banner buff the unblockables.

Big Mana - These are a couple cards in the deck just to provide "Big Mana Damage" for Yuriko's Ability. They also have some use in other regions, but the primary use is for that big mana burn. Tetzimoc, Primal Death can be used as removal.

Bounce - Man-o'-War can be used specifically to bounce your ninjas back to hand and make their abilities a little bit more useable.

Card Advantage - Since we are going to be bouncing a lot of cards back to hand and replaying them. It helps to give us more options. Cards like Cyclonic Rift and Devastation Tide give us a chance to get some of our least used creatures in for damage while Time Warp and Temporal Mastery give us extra turns to cycle some of our other Ninjas into play. Some of these have high casting costs as well, but do provide us with alternate means of casting. Meaning that if Yuriko reveals them, they deal that big damage.

Card Draw - The number one most important thing in magic is card draw.

Counterspells - No blue deck would be complete without counterspells. Use things like Mana Drain to counter some of those high cost cards giving us more mana on the side while Negate and Swan Song can counter some of our opponents puzzle piece cards. Familiar's Ruse can counter a spell, while also returning something with a great ETB (For our Ninjas, I like to consider their combat damage effects as ETBs) to your hand.

Lands - We don't use lands that enter the battlefield tapped unless they're REALLY GOOD.

Mana Rocks - While they are some of the lowest CMC cards in the deck, it can get pretty expensive trying to cast hard cast our big mana spells. Thought Vessel helps us with our hand size since we're drawing so many GD cards.

Monarch - Why not throw in a little extra card draw? We already have a lot of unblockable creatures which means that even if we get it stolen from us, we WILL get it back prior to our next endstep. With that in mind, we need some effects that help us clear the board a little and help out our creatures to maintain the board.

Ninjas - These are the heart and soul of the deck. Try to hard cast these as little as possible. We have a lot of unblockable creatures that get protected when they attack. Ninjitsuing out these cards is our best bet to control the board state. Maintain the aggro, push your opponents, and strike where it hurts the most... their life totals. As long as you have Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow on the battlefield, we're generating more card draw as well as burning our opponents. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow does get around commander tax as well when we use her special "Commander Ninjitsu" thus making her perfect to sacrifice when necessary.

Removal - A big part of any black deck. This makes sure we have answers to the big problems that come up and helps us to remove the combo creatures.

Top Deck Manipulation - Being that our commander enjoys burning people for the CMC of the top card. Why not mess with it a little. Make sure that we can get the best bang for our buck. Brainstorm and Ponder allow us to put specific cards on top of our deck. Perfect for when you accidentally draw that 5{B}{B} Temporal Mastery after your first draw. Sensei's Divining Top allows your to completely control the top of your deck, ensuring you burn for the most damage possible.

Unblockables - The second most important part of this deck. This allows us to get our ninjas out without hesitation. With such low mana costs, typically {B}, this allows us to get them out turn one and our commander out turn two for maximum effect. Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive can also make our existing Ninjas unblockable since most have a power or toughness of one.

Summary - Use small unblockables to get out big ninjas to burn. Have fun and be prepared to be targeted. Enjoy!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 27 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.38
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Morph 2/2 C, Monarch Emblem, Thopter 1/1 C