Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow | Art by Yongjae Choi

Do you feel like your cEDH days are missing the good-ol’-fun of a classic typal deck? Has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles got you daydreaming of karate chops? Well then, do I have a deck for you.

Let’s take a look at Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, cEDH’s favorite Ninja.

What Does Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow Do?

For , Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow is a 1/3 legendary Human Ninja with two game-breaking chunks of text.

First up, Yuriko’s unique take on the classic ninjutsu alternate cost, commander ninjutsu. At the cost of and returning an unblocked attacking creature you control to its owner’s hand, you may put Yuriko onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. You may do this if Yuriko is in your hand (like classic ninjutsu) or if Yuriko is in the command zone.

Regardless of which zone you do this from, the only mana investment is the ; commander ninjutsu gets around commander tax.

So, what makes Yuriko worthwhile once it's in play? The combat damage trigger: whenever Yuriko or another Ninja you control deals combat damage to an opponent, reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. Each opponent loses life equal to that card's mana value.

Yuriko's all-in typal textbox makes this a commander that demands to be built around. Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver is cEDH’s premier combat-based draw engine, and that realistically only draws two or so cards per turn (peaking at three). Yuriko, meanwhile, makes that look like child's play. Resolve enough Ninjas, and you could be flipping three, four, five cards a turn – all while completely decimating your opponents' life totals.

Key Cards for Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow in cEDH

Ninjas

First off, Ninjas.

This deck is absolutely chock full of them. Small Ninjas, big Ninjas, all the Ninjas! All that matters is that they a) fit our color identity b) have some sneaky way of bending the rules of combat in our favor (ninjutsu, unblockable, etc).

A good balance of individually powerful cards (like Sakashima's StudentSakashima's Student – a solid clone) and cheap sources of guaranteed Yuriko triggers (Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast, an unblockable one-mana Ninja thanks to changeling) is what makes this creature type rise to the cEDH standards here.

Big Flips

Behind every great Yuriko trigger is a card with a terrifyingly high mana value just waiting to drain the life table of the rest of the table.

Enter the InfiniteEnter the Infinite isn’t a card you’d ever realistically cast in Yuriko, and neither is Shadow of MortalityShadow of Mortality, but would you tutor for them? Absolutely! Put Enter the Infinite on top of your deck with Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor and watch as each opponent loses twelve life to a single Yuriko trigger.

Enablers

Lastly, we come to the glue that holds this deck together: the enablers. In one hand, you have the cantrips and sources of top-deck manipulation that guarantee you flip what you want, when you want. Start the game with Shadow of Mortality in your hand? No worries, BrainstormBrainstorm can tuck it right back into your library when you want to flip it.

In the other hand, this deck is also full of cheap, evasive creatures that – despite not being Ninjas – serve as a guarantee that you’ll always have an unblocked attacker at the ready for when you do want to pay a ninjutsu cost. Ornithopter is a real all-star here; cast it turn one for free, then bounce it back to hand on turn two as you swing in with a definitely-surprising Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow.

How Does Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow Win?

Combat Triggers

This deck is the closest that cEDH comes to a consistent combat-kill deck. Sure, the damage from Yuriko’s triggered ability doesn’t count as combat damage, but it’ll be resolving during combat and as a result of dealing combat damage with something, so I’ll count it as a combat win.

In all seriousness, you’d be surprised how easy it is to accidentally kill players thanks to Yuriko’s triggered ability. Flip a Sea Gate RestorationSea Gate Restoration, Temporal TrespassTemporal Trespass, or any other card with a massive mana value and suddenly the greedy Ad NauseamAd Nauseam player is looking a whole lot worse off.

Doomsday

Yuriko is a commander that also has a pretty trivial time busting through a DoomsdayDoomsday pile in one fell swoop.

With five Ninjas out, all you need to do is resolve Doomsday in your pre-combat main phase and voila! Those Yuriko combat triggers will do the job of putting the five cards you chose off of Doomsday straight into your hand.

Now, it’s important to note that there are two primary ways to win off of Doomsday in this deck. The first is a classic combo pile; grab some interaction and a Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, then cast Thassa's Oracle in your post-combat main phase. Your deck will be empty (or near empty) thanks to the Yuriko triggers, and your hand will have all the counterspells you need in order to resolve your Thassa's Oracle.

The second option is basically just to grab the five biggest cards in your deck and watch as each subsequent Yuriko trigger drains the table for a ludicrous amount of damage. Either way, the game’s yours.

Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow cEDH Deck List

Wrap Up

You don't need to be a Mutant Turtle swinging around the streets of New York to appreciate just how powerful the Ninja creature type can be, and Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow has been showing us the way for almost a decade now. Consistent card advantage, the ability to drain enough life to actually threaten a combat victory in a cEDH pod, and some of the best colors in the format - Yuriko has it all.

If you want to see what a typal deck can do when pushed to its limits, then try out Ninjas.