Hello there,

Love this deck, but i got one question why is Walker of Secret Ways never mentioned?

Seems to me that it has a better ability than Azra Smokeshaper and has the same ninjitsu cost.

@Questionblock Good point! I think there's pros and cons to both ninjas:

Walker of Secret Ways has a more valuable ability than Azra Smokeshaper, and you can pitch it to Force of Will and other similar cards.

On the other hand, Azra Smokeshaper deals 1 more damage when revealed by Yuriko, and is more likely to connect with an opponent later on in the game (since it has a 3/3 body rather than 1/2).

I'm glad you mentioned Walker of Secret Ways! It's been in my binder for a while, and I'm tempted to test it out again.

azja Thanks for responding so quick!

How about Moonblade Shinobi for Mist-Syndicate Naga? It has the same ninjitsu cost, deals 1 more damage of Yuriko and creates 1/1 flyers that can go through easier.

What's your opinion on those two cards?

Questionblock That's another tough call!

I used to play Moonblade Shinobi in Mist-Syndicate Naga's place. In the earlier days of this deck, I played more ninjas with expensive ninjutsu costs like Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni and Okiba-Gang Shinobi, and I also had more "turn everything into ninjas" cards like Xenograft and Conspiracy. So I liked Moonblade Shinobi better because I could get use out of every 1/1 flyer that it created.

Eventually I ended up cutting those cards to increase the speed and overall competitiveness of the deck. Currently I only have 9 ninjas with ninjutsu (other than Yuriko herself) and half as many "turn everything into ninjas" cards. Now I have less ways to utilize Moonblade Shinobi's tokens, so I'd rather make more ninjas with Mist-Syndicate Naga.

So, it probably comes down what your Yuriko deck looks like. I hope that helps!!

Hello again Azja, hope you are well!

Just wanted to take a look at what new things you‘ve come up with and the stuff you are testing looks really interesting! Do you have any preliminary opinions on those cards?

Hey @Snake57! It's great to hear from ya!

I haven't been able to play too many games with the new cards that I'm testing, but this is what I think so far:

• Darkwater Catacombs is great for paying for Yuriko's ninjutsu, but is awkward for casting 1 mana spells. Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip is an improvement and it plays very similarly to Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip.

• Walker of Secret Ways was helpful because I got to look at my opponents' hands and adjust my plan accordingly. But it got easily shut down by Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and Engineered Plague . In these scenarios, Azra Smokeshaper would have been practically unaffected, so I'm unsure about this swap.

• Commandeer countered a game-winning Victimize when I was tapped out, and hits hard when you flip it with Yuriko. Exiling 2 blue cards is a steep cost, but it's more helpful than Commit / Memory , which is pretty difficult to cast.

• As expected, Snuff Out is a lot less powerful in my playgroup since black is our most played colour. Even so, it can usually hit one creature on the battlefield, which clears the way for Yuriko. The card that I had to cut to make room was Cover of Darkness . It tends to be a win-more card, in that it's good when my board state is good, but bad when my board state is bad. So far I think that snuff out deserves the spot more.

• I haven't drawn Cyclonic Rift or Liliana's Triumph , so their reviews will have to be postponed :')

There are also a few cards that I plan on trying out later on:

• Gingerbrute is a card I've always been on the fence about, but I've heard nothing but good things from other Yuriko players.

• Merfolk Windrobber is a classic 1/1 flyer for 1, and can replace itself in the late game.

• Street Wraith deals 5 damage when you flip it with Yuriko, then you can immediately cycle it for another card that's more useful. It fills the graveyard for delve spells like Temporal Trespass and Dig Through Time too.

• Gitaxian Probe is a cedh staple, and banned in both modern and legacy. For only 2 life, you get to look at your opponents hand and it replaces itself. It also fills the graveyard for delve spells.

• Dismember is a 1 mana removal spell that kills most creatures, and hits for 3 damage with Yuriko.

I hope that all made sense! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you've found any hidden gems for Yuriko!

It's always a pleasure to read through your thoughts and what you've been testing, again thank you so much for the detailed response!

Unfortunately (and for obvious reasons) I haven't been able to play much paper magic recently but I have been playing around with some new ideas for inclusions, however my primary focus right now it to tune the manabase further, I'm still missing some of the new cards from recent sets like Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip, Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip and Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip in addition to some of the more expensive fetches you've recently added.

I'm also looking to add a Mana Crypt , and Mana Drain , with those additions I'm also feel pretty good about adding a Cyclonic Rift . In my playgroup "hate pieces" like Engineered Plague aren't very common so I will be swapping out Azra Smokeshaper for Walker of Secret Ways , also since it get's Yuriko out of Song of the Dryads like effects, which are more common in my case. I've also wanted to add more targeted removal so I will be trying out Dismember and Snuff Out (especially since there always seem to be plenty of targets for it in my playgroup). I'll also consider adding a Commandeer instead of Commit / Memory However I still haven't quite gone through finding out what to remove, so I'll be keeping an eye out for your final verdict! :D

I'm also really looking to add Abjure since the value of sacrificing one of the many small creatures we tend to play to counter any spell for one blue definitely seems to be worth it in my book.

Looking at more recent cards I'm also strongly considering Mystic Reflection for it's versatility and Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire which seems great considering you can use the boast ability in tandem with the Yuriko trigger, maybe Hullbreacher since there are a lot of wheel effects in my group. Maskwood Nexus also seems good, but I'm unsure if I'll end up with too many of those effects and if 4 mana may be a bit too slow. Nether Traitor seems like a surefire way to connect and similarly to Gingerbrood lets me start getting Yuriko back onto the board again as fast as possible after something like a boardwipe. I'm also considering to cut Karn's Temporal Sundering for Alrund's Epiphany , not too sure about that one though.

As always I'd love to hear your opinions! :)

Wishing you all the best!

P.S. Oh, and I'm still a big fan of Gingerbrood based on my play experience! Try giving the cookie monster a chance ;)

@Snake57 Sounds like you've got a good plan!

• If your group is okay with proxies, then I would definitely add Mana Crypt , Mana Drain and all of the zendikar fetches. If not, I would actually prioritize getting the fetches first. They drastically improve the cards Sage Owl , Spire Owl , Scroll Rack , Sensei's Divining Top , Brainstorm (and probably even more that I'm forgetting!) because you can fetch to shuffle away cards that aren't useful.

• Also, I think Yuriko is no longer a ninja once she's enchanted by Song of the Dryads , so Walker of Secret Ways wouldn't be able to bounce her. Although I still agree that you can cut Azra Smokeshaper for it.

• Abjure seems really spicy. I've been thinking about trying it out soon, as well as Divert . I love one mana counterspells, so I want to add more of them eventually.

• Mystic Reflection seems pretty strong. Like you mentioned, it turns an enabler into one of your ninjas, or the next best creature on the board.

• I'm a bit skeptical about Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire . It has to survive at least one turn around the table to attack and costs a combined 5 mana. I would suggest Cruel Tutor instead if you feel like you're lacking topdeck manipulation.

• Hullbreacher is insanely powerful, especially if your playgroup plays a lot of wheels. I still have to get my hands on one, but the even harder part is what to cut for it :')

• Maskwood Nexus definitely replaces Conspiracy and Xenograft for any Yuriko lists who have them. But like you said, 4 mana is pretty slow. Plus it isn't blue, so you can't pitch it to Force of Will like Arcane Adaptation or Unnatural Selection .

• I've never tried out Nether Traitor , but I'm hesitant to add any more 2 mana enablers. I would probably add Baleful Strix first, if you need stronger enablers.

• I think Karn's Temporal Sundering is stronger than Alrund's Epiphany because it costs one (or two) less mana and bounces a potential blocker. Plus if you foretell it, it's not in your hand to pitch to Force of Will effects. And if your playgroup is familiar with your deck, they know exactly which card you foretold.

Thanks again for the feedback and suggestions! I really appreciate talking Yuriko with someone else who's super invested!

My playgroup agreed on not using permanent proxies to keep the power level as is, but I'll definitely grab the more expensive fetches, I'm just waiting for the reprint coming up in Modern Horizons 2 :) I'm also currently trying to grab a Mana Crypt and Mana Drain locally but it's proving harder than expected.

You are completly right about Song of the Dryads and Walker of Secret Ways I guess there are still some situations where it could be useful returning Yuriko to my hand but that realization admittedly made it a lot worse, makes me a bit unsure about committing to that switch.

Great to hear that we seem to agree on Abjure Mystic Reflection I'll try to find some space for those as soon as I can get my hands on them Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire may just be too slow, you are right. I often forget just how fast Yuriko can be, it may just be good in a lower powered Yuriko deck. Nether Traitor Is kind of in the same boat as well, and quite frankly I wouldn't be sure what to cut for it either.

I sometimes forget considering how important it is to have cards to pitch for Force of Will / Force of Negation / Commandeer , you are again absolutely right.

You seem to have a very firm grip on what to switch out for new cards, since my decklist is so close to yours it's super nice for you to let me pick your brain about it, again it really is much appreciated! Since this is probably my strongest deck by a pretty good margin and it's already very optimized I think I need to be careful about how I approach new inclusions.

I'm really hoping I'll be able to get some more games in soon, I miss flipping Dracos and Blinkmoth Infusions! Maybe I should finally figure out a setup to play some games online at some point.

Hey, I was wondering something about the interaction of two cards. Let's say I have a board with 5 creatures. 1 of them being Yuriko, another one being either Spark Double/Sakashima copying Yuriko. What would happen if I were to cast Sakashima's will and target Spark Double/Sakashima? Can I get 5 Yurikos on the board?

@IzmAYAYA Hey there! That situation has never actually come up for me in a game. I read through some of the rules on the gatherer and this is what I found:

" Spark Double isn’t legendary if it copies a legendary permanent, and this exception is copiable. If something else copies Spark Double later, that copy also won’t be legendary. If you control two or more permanents with the same name but only one is legendary, the “legend rule” doesn’t apply."

I'd assume that Sakashima of a Thousand Faces would interact similarly when copied. So I think the answer to your question is that you could get 5 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow !

Thanks for the answer azja! <3 Do you think it could be a thing? Like a combo to make you win. I mean it's not that hard I guess. Even if you have 3 creatures (Yuriko, Spark Double and a third one), that's still 9 triggers.

But then you need to have a way to make them unblockable. I was thinking about Tetsuko to do that, meaning you have to use Sakashima's to make that happen.

Do you see any other way to make them all 3 unblockable in some way? One that comes in mind is cover of darkness.

I just thought about something, what if I cast sakashima's will and target spark double, won't all my creatures be turned into 0/0? In my opinion, it will copy all my creatures into what is printed on the card, in this case a 0/0.

@IzmAYAYA You're welcome, I'm always happy to chat about Yuriko!

I believe that choosing Spark Double with Sakashima's Will would turn all of your creatures into whatever Spark Double is a copy of, not 0/0 creatures. But I'm no judge, so you might have to double check that!

Personally, I think that making extra copies of Yuriko is often a "win-more" strategy. What I mean by "win-more" is that it works well when you're ahead on board (you have a few creatures, your opponents have little to no blockers, you have lots of mana to spend, etc.), but can be clunky or ineffective when you're behind. Yuriko is very mana-intensive early in the game, so your mana is better spent recasting your enablers and ninjutsu-ing other ninjas to trigger Yuriko.

I hope that makes sense!

azja Yeah so I did doublecheck with a judge and you're right. Sakashima's will turn every of my creatures into what spark doubles copied, so that's at least good.

And yeah of course, I totally agree with you 100% about the fact that Yuriko is very mana-intensive early in the game.

Here's my decklist maybe you can give me your thoughts? https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/yuriko-and-the-ninjas-2/

I have been improving it for the past few months. I don't have infinite budget but still I'm pretty happy with what I can afford.

Hi! Nice decklist. Have you tried things like: Boon of the giftgiver (6 damage, cicling for 1 estoy game, draw 4 late game or pitch to FoW etc) Windcaller Aven (6 damage, cicling for 1, and when cicled gives evation to Yuriko) Shark Tiphoon (6 damage, when cicled might create an enabler)

@ivan94 Hey, thank you for the interesting suggestions! I've never tried out any of those cards before.

I especially like Windcaller Aven because it has a cheap cycling cost, and gives one of my creatures flying until end of turn. I think Shark Typhoon is a bit too expensive though, since you have to pay a minimum of 3 mana to get a creature out of it. Some spice nonetheless!

Disclaimer: High-powered deck POV

Hey everyone! I wanted to comment on this deck from a POV of actually being on the receiving end of it in real life. Basically, you think your high powered deck is good enough, BUT your deck feels like you are slapping this a*hole @azja with a pool noddle. THEN THIS MF COMES ALONG AND PROCEEDS TO SKULL FCK THE SHIT OUT OF YOU CAUSE HE CONSTANTLY HITS BIG SPELLS, AND NOT ONLY THAT HE GETS CARD ADVANTAGE WITH IT. The deck breaks the rules of probability, 11/10 times I am losing.

Hey Azja, hope you are well!

I was just perusing your decklist again and was curious about your opinion on a few cards.

Have you looked at Baleful Mastery or other cards from Strixhaven?

I guess the second card is more a suggestion for you to consider, but i‘ve added a Lotus Petal while cutting a land since I like to make extra sure to get Yuriko out early and so far I’ve been liking the results.

I can see you have added Spell Pierce to your deck but I feel like it would be too narrow in my playgroup, have you considered playing Pact of Negation instead, or perhaps in addition to it?

I also feel like trying out some more cycling cards that do high burn damage yet have a cheap cycling cost like Boon of the Wish-Giver or Street Wraith What is your opinion on those?

Have you done any more testing with the most recent additions?

Best regards!

Hey Snake57, good to hear from you again!

So far, I haven't seen many possible additions from strixhaven. I think Baleful Mastery is awesome if you can get a small favour from the opponent who draws the card. But my playgroup is all too familiar with my shenanigans, so they don't make deals with me anymore :')

Lotus Petal seems like a good addition! Even with 33 lands, sometimes find myself with too many, so it's probably reasonable for me to cut a land for it too.

I've been pretty satisfied with Spell Pierce, but you're right about it being narrow. If your opponents are playing a lot of ramp, or tend to pass with mana up, then Spell Pierce might be too weak. I don't think I'd play Pact of Negation because the upkeep cost is too much of a downside (if you can't win the turn you cast it). I think Pact of Negation is best suited for combo decks that can win right away if their spell resolves.

As for the cycling cards, I really like Street Wraith and want to find room for it. I'm not totally sure about Boon of the Wish-Giver, but it seems promising enough to try out!

I haven't been able to play much commander lately, but I feel pretty confident about my most recent changes, so I'll try to add them to the primer soon! I do miss playing Commit / Memory since it was a key target for Personal Tutor and Mystical Tutor, but I just don't think it's strong enough.

Speaking of Personal Tutor, I've been considering cutting it since it can't grab Draco or Blinkmoth Infusion. Another potential cut I've been considering is Unnatural Selection, it's felt kind of weak recently.

A couple of additions I'm thinking about are Street Wraith, like you mentioned, and Run Away Together since it can bounce two of my opponents' creatures, helping Yuriko connect on the following turn.

Cheers!

So what's your reasoning behind running draco instead of scion of draco? I get draco is a 16 vs 12 but I feel as though scion of draco gives you more options.

Hey Cyclonious24, good question!

Essentially I value the extra 4 cmc of Draco more than the cheaper cost and extra abilities of Scion of Draco. A 4/4 creature that gives our other creatures hexproof and/or lifelink is just not powerful enough for an 8 mana spell. Our mana is much better used to ninjutsu another ninja, hold up counter magic, or take an extra turn. On the other hand, tutoring up Draco and dealing 4 extra damage can be extremely relevant, possibly the difference between winning or losing the game. Hope that answers your question :)

Hey azja I love the list! I am lookin to build somethin' similar.

I was wondering if you had considered any of the new Forgotten Realms cards yet, and what you might swap for them? Notably Krydle of Baldur's Gate, Silver Raven, and Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar

I also am looking for input on Alrund's Epiphany since it gives a flyer for ninjutsu and can be reduced in cost, sorta, with fortell.

One last card I had been looking at is Diabolic Vision to help with some top deck manipulation and maybe put a good ninja in your hand before attackin. Most of this stuff I've asked about could just be too slow for the deck but I was curious what you had to add!

Oh, and do you see Mana Crypt helping more than hurting usually? My playgroup could just run the game longer, we play a lot of removal and stuff, but it seems to outlast its welcome usually.

Thanks for any reply! :P

Thank you kieferzilla! I appreciate it!

I'll start with the Forgotten Realms stuff first, then move on to the other cards:

Krydle of Baldur's Gate - Paying 2 mana for a creature that isn't a ninja and doesn't have any evasion isn't really where we want to be. His second ability is decent, but not nearly powerful enough to make the cut.

Silver Raven - It's no Faerie Seer , but it has some potential as an enabler. I definitely want to try it out, maybe in place of Tormented Soul since it can't be pitched to Force of Will and friends.

Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - This card is powerful as well, but I think it just misses the cut. Its abilities are only relevant when you have a couple enablers and ninjas on the battlefield already, so I worry about it being too "win-more" for my playgroup. I would probably include this card in a more casual meta though.

Alrund's Epiphany - Seems decent, but just not quite as good as the other extra turn spells out there. I don't think it's worth the extra mana (compared to Time Warp or Temporal Manipulation ) even if it does come with two 1/1's. I would like to test it out at some point though.

Diabolic Vision - Looking 5 cards deep for 2 mana is definitely no joke, but being a sorcery and not an instant really makes this card seem meh to me. If you want to use it as topdeck manipulation, you have to cast it on your precombat main phase instead of in response to Yuriko's combat damage trigger, which means it isn't too late for an opponent to remove Yuriko and save themselves some damage. You also can't hold up countermagic and use it on the player-to-your-left's endstep like Dig Through Time . I think it's a reasonable option if you don't have something like Sensei's Divining Top or Vampiric Tutor though.

Mana Crypt - In my experience, it helps way more than it hurts. Since you have 40 life to work with in commander, taking 9-12 damage throughout a game is pretty negligible when you're ahead by 2 mana every turn. It's by no means necessary to include in a Yuriko deck though, since we don't have a lot of ways to utilize colourless mana.

I hope that all makes sense, let me know if you have any more questions/suggestions!

Oh man! I really love this deck!, Owning a competitive ninja deck was my dream since Kamigawa,

(Still waiting a new Kamigawa block, just like Mirrodin and Ravnica received)

Please never stop updating this beautiful deck.