Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche | Art by GOSSAN

Ninjas combine two of my favorite things in Magic: typal strategies and bouncing permanents. Since their formalization as a creature type in the original Kamigawa block, Ninjas have lurked in the shadows of playability.

Ninjas In Magic

Their signature ability, ninjutsu, allows the controller to pay a cost in order to sneak them into play, bouncing one of their unblocked attacking creatures.

In their Standard heyday, Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise and OrnithopterOrnithopter served as cheap disguises for the Ninjas to throw off, with Trygon PredatorTrygon Predator and Umezawa's JitteUmezawa's Jitte adding to the Ninjas’ combat damage triggering abilities.

Monoblue tempo Ninjas have had their moments in both Modern and Pauper, with Ninja of the Deep HoursNinja of the Deep Hours allowing the deck to play like the old-school "Forbidian" deck.

Forbidian is a portmanteau of the cards ForbidForbid and OphidianOphidian, which allows the player to abuse the buyback ability of Forbid to discard the cards drawn for turn and for connecting with Ophidian to effectively blank the top of the opponent’s deck.

One of the most enduring themes of Naruto, perhaps the most internationally-famous Ninja story, is the concept of applying the lessons of the past to the changing present. The Ninja War Arc at the end showed this beautifully by having the living Ninja literally and figuratively facing their dug-up past on the battlefield.

Our task today is similar: to build a Ninja Commander deck using elements of what made them popular in different formats and applying them to a new format using a recent Jumpstart commander: Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche.

What Does Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche Do?

One of the best aspects of Jumpstart commanders is that they tend to be focused designs that don’t need a lot of help. Taeko has decent stats, as a 4/5 for four. It enters tapped, however, which is a flavorful nod to its secondary typing as a Turtle, but a pretty big downside.

It does have two triggered abilities, however, one of which doesn’t require it to attack. And when it does attack, it makes its presence known.

Both of Taeko’s triggered abilities work with the ninjutsu ability. With Ninjas coming and going from the battlefield, it makes sense for us to gain value out of part of it, and Taeko notes their going with a scry and a +1/+1 counter.

When Taeko attacks, it can make a target attacking creature unblockable until end of turn for , which also adds black to the commander's color identity. But, as a fan of the old-school and a player since Kamigawa, why would I ignore those that came before, including a Commander precon?

To explain, I need to go on a bit of a tangent. My heart goes out to the fans of the Quebec Nordiques, who had to watch the subject of their hard work and years of suffering moved to Colorado and rebranded as the Avalanche. Similarly, those who waited through the mono-blue era of Higure, the Still WindHigure, the Still Wind finally saw black added with both the Game-Changing Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow and Satoru UmezawaSatoru Umezawa, but neither are really Ninja commanders.

Just when the type finally got some powerful commanders, they abandoned the archetype.

Yuriko is pretty much the only Ninja in Yuriko decks, as the rest is populated by high mana value cards, evasive creatures, and top-deck manipulation. Satoru is similar, except instead of flipping the high mana value off of the top, it’s about cheating high mana values into play.

Both are exciting, but neither commands Ninjas well. 

I can even remember a time when Ninjas were desperate enough to turn to Vela the Night-CladVela the Night-Clad, but, at long last, Ninjas have a commander that enables and capitalizes off of ninjutsu, just not a familiar face. Still, for those Ninja enthusiasts who have been patient through the years, we finally have a commander they can be proud of.

I’m not going to pull punches, though; a commander deck helmed by a Ninja that doesn’t reflect the lore of Kamigawa feels like the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup after moving from Quebec.

Key Cards for Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche

Taeko is a key facilitator for Ninjas, providing support at various stages. In order to make the most of ninjutsu, the Ninja deck needs cheap, evasive threats to bounce: cards that trigger on combat damage; and ways to protect our board.

Unlike Satoru UmezawaSatoru Umezawa, we’re using real Ninjas, not giving cards in our hand ninjutsu. As a result, we need as many of our Ninjas to have ninjutsu as possible.

Like Satoru, we're going to use creatures to facilitate ninjutsu activations, but we aren’t substituting Ninjas; we’re substituting evasive threats. Taeko can turn Ninjas that are out into Phantom NinjaPhantom Ninjas so we have unblocked attackers to return. We're still running those types of creatures, but we can reduce the amount and add more Ninjas because our commander can make our Ninjas evasive.

One of the more important elements of Taeko is that, like Yuriko, it can win the game on its own. Taeko grows as we bounce our creatures, and its evasion-granting ability can include itself.

As a result, we can out-tempo the table for the majority of the game before making like Throat SlitterThroat Slitter and commander damaging a player out of seemingly nowhere!

Most of the tempo beats come from the combat damage triggers, like Mistblade ShinobiMistblade Shinobi’s board control ability. We can supplement this with Coastal PiracyCoastal Piracy effects to work with the evasive creatures, all the while generating card advantage.

All of these pieces need to be balanced together, however, which can feel like a juggling act. 

While our commander can facilitate this, we need counterspells like Arcane DenialArcane Denial to protect our fragile board. Glen Elendra ArchmageGlen Elendra Archmage is a particularly impactful synergy, as we can reset the counter from persist by bouncing it with ninjutsu. Just be careful; like Forbidian, it can be seen as a soft lock.

Our nonbasic lands provide some subtle support for ninjutsu, with Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage and Access TunnelAccess Tunnel sneaking our creatures through and Creeping Tar PitCreeping Tar Pit and Faerie ConclaveFaerie Conclave animating into creatures to sneak through.

The latter two can also provide a beating after a wrath effect, meaning that, sometimes, we might actually want to let the board get wiped through our permission.

How Does This Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche Commander Deck Win?

We aim to drop quick, evasive threats, trigger off of dealing combat damage, and drop our Ninjas into play. We can protect our board, but we use our aggression to facilitate our board control.

Taeko, the Patient AvalancheTaeko, the Patient Avalanche Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Ninjas have been lurking in the shadows of playability for years, but, while commanders have broken out, the creature type has stayed out of the limelight. But that tends to be where they like it, just waiting to strike unsuspecting opponents.

After all…one of the favorite phrases among Commander players is “I’m not the threat!”

How would you build Ninjas? And do you think we captured their sneakiness? Let us know in the comments.

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