Ninja of the Deep HoursNinja of the Deep Hours | Art by Dan Scott

Hey, everyone! Wow, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TNMT) really snuck up on me! My last article covered the most played cards in Lorwyn Eclipsed, and all of the sudden we're back in New York City. With all the Ninjas in TMNT, it seems like the perfect time to write about a mechanic that has had a pretty big influence on the design of the latest set: ninjutsu.

Ninjutsu may not actually be on any TNMT cards, but it's the precursor to the new sneak mechanic. Sneak handles things a bit differently: you actually cast the card with sneak, meaning that the mechanic can appear on instants and sorceries as well as creatures.

We'll see how sneak fares in Commander soon enough; TMNT has wisely leaned into the backwards compatibility of the two mechanics by printing new Ninjas like Splinter, Radical RatSplinter, Radical Rat.

In the meantime let's dive right into which ninjutsu cards appear in the most Commander decks!

10. Mistblade ShinobiMistblade Shinobi - 42,868 decks

I love beginning a list with a card from the set (or a set in the block) that debuted a mechanic. Mistblade ShinobiMistblade Shinobi, from Betrayers of Kamigawa, the second set in the original Kamigawa block, is a simple, clean design that plays into ninjutsu's strengths and flavor.

The Ninja strikes from the shadows, disrupting your opponent's game plan by making one of their combatants - poof! - disappear. It's such a strong design that we saw something pretty similar when we returned to Kamigawa in Moonsnare SpecialistMoonsnare Specialist.

Since the ninjutsu cards all play well with each other, they all tend to see play in the same decks, led by a small core of commanders: Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, Goro-Goro and SatoruGoro-Goro and Satoru, and Satoru UmezawaSatoru Umezawa are all popular choices for decks tagged on EDHREC under Ninjutsu, Ninjas, and to a lesser extend aggro and tempo builds.

9. Ingenious InfiltratorIngenious Infiltrator - 45,201 decks

Since first appearing in Kamigawa block in 2004, Ninjas have become a pretty beloved — by some, and surely reviled by others for the play pattern — creature type. The mechanic has shown up on new cards in the time-skipped Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Modern Horizons as a color-pair mechanic for Dimir (), Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander, and even as a one-off design on Yuffie, Materia HunterYuffie, Materia Hunter, incidentally the only Ninja in the color red.

With that kind of airtime (or print-time?) you'd expect that we'd also see a few "lords" or creatures that give your other Ninjas a boost. Ingenious InfiltratorIngenious Infiltrator does just that, turning the rest of your typal army into better copies of Ninja of the Deep HoursNinja of the Deep Hours.

Interestingly, while you'll see Infiltrator in very Ninja-focused typal decks — it's currently in 86% of Yuriko lists — you may not be running a critical mass of Ninjas in decks like Satoru Umezawa. It's great having options and not having to build around a certain type or mechanic a certain way!

8. Ink-Eyes, Servant of OniInk-Eyes, Servant of Oni - 46,239 decks, 358 as commander

As both a Rat and a Ninja, Ink-Eyes can be a great bit of top-end in Yuriko and other Ninja decks, as well as Rat typal decks led by commanders from Kamigawa or Bloomburrow.

Her saboteur ability is powerful and it scales well with a longer game, but five mana is a lot to pay for a ninjutsu ability, so you're going to have to do a bit of setup with an evasive creature like Slither BladeSlither Blade or Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast and keep additional mana open for her handy regeneration ability.

One hit should be enough to accrue a big advantage, and it might have to be enough because it'll be hard to get another hit in. Of course, Ninjas have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, like Cover of DarknessCover of Darkness, Cunning EvasionCunning Evasion, and Smoke ShroudSmoke Shroud to help guarantee hits and keep the ninjutsu engine operational.

7. Silver-Fur MasterSilver-Fur Master - 48,472 decks

This is the bread-and-butter lord for the Ninja type: it gives your creatures a stat buff, even being so kind as to include Rogues in the family, and it even makes the ninjutsu mechanic better with a nice one-mana discount.

The Rogue bonus isn't just trinket text. It means Master will do great work in an Anowon, the Ruin ThiefAnowon, the Ruin Thief Rogue typal deck and it also buffs important creatures in your deck that don't actually have the Ninja creature type, like Slither BladeSlither Blade.

6. Silent-Blade OniSilent-Blade Oni - 50,510 decks

Oni is very similar to Ink-Eyes, aside from the latter's ability to lead her own deck. They're both expensive to activate, so hopefully you're guaranteed to get a hit in with them. Because if you do, both creatures can put you pretty far ahead. While not being able to take the best creature out of a graveyard, Oni does essentially draw two cards when it connects. You discard the best spell from your opponent's hand and you get to cast it for free.

The ability is so powerful that you're pretty heavily incentivized to play this alongside ways that make dealing combat damage more likely. Whispersilk CloakWhispersilk Cloak and Brotherhood RegaliaBrotherhood Regalia can be pretty useful for a wide range of Ninjas, especially since they tend to be a lot less threatening on the battlefield than in your hand.

Kamiz, Obscura OculusKamiz, Obscura Oculus, meanwhile, is an interesting non-Ninja commander that wants to run Oni and Ink-Eyes for their potentially devastating synergy.

5. Thousand-Faced ShadowThousand-Faced Shadow - 53,765 decks

I love cards that are both payoffs and enablers. Thousand-Faced ShadowThousand-Faced Shadow is aptly named, too; costing one mana and having evasion puts it nearly at par with powerful setup cards Slither Blade, Triton ShorestalkerTriton Shorestalker, and Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast.

Then, if you didn't need to cast it early or if you drew it later, the 1/1 packs a ninjutsu ability that copies your best attacker. That's pretty incredible value for a single blue mana, which is why it sees play in between 70-85% of decks with common commanders Yuriko, Satoru, and Satoru's duo card with Goro-Goro.

4. Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow - 24,348 decks, 29,909 as commander

Speak of the Tiger and she shall appear! Yuriko is by far the most popular commander for both Ninja typal and ninjutsu decks, which draw from the same card pool and often have a lot of overlap. She is truly a force to be reckoned with. Her spin on ninjutsu gives you similar functionality to Derevi, Empyrial TacticianDerevi, Empyrial Tactician; no matter how many times she is destroyed, she can keep coming back for just two mana. And because she costs two mana to put into play from the command zone, she turbocharges your starts with the evasive one-drops I've discussed.

I'm one paragraph in and I've only talked about how easy it is to set her up to do her thing. That thing she does is magic: card advantage, advancing the game state by draining opponents, and even giving Ninja decks an alternate angle of attack. Yuriko encourages you to play powerful and expensive finishers that turn her into a Heartless HidetsuguHeartless Hidetsugu of sorts and gives you reasons to play on-type creatures that may otherwise be pretty clunky, like Higure, the Still WindHigure, the Still Wind, Silent-Blade Oni, and Ink-Eyes.

It's pretty easy to set up with BrainstormBrainstorm, Mystical TutorMystical Tutor, and Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor, among other cheap spells, giving you a terrifying amount of versatility and inevitability.

3. Prosperous ThiefProsperous Thief - 55,314 decks

A lot of the previous cards on this list either feature expensive ninjutsu costs or buff other Ninjas. Thief is just a great utility Ninja that is cheap to activate, allowing you to gain an early-game advantage with the Treasure and to put some of the big hitters back in your hand to recycle.

This article has already become a sort of mini-guide on building Ninja decks, so I'll give you another tip. Ninjas with cheap ninjutsu costs let you do shenanigans like put another ninjutsu creature into your hand and activate it in the same turn, letting you reuse enters abilities like that of Moonsnare SpecialistMoonsnare Specialist.

2. Fallen ShinobiFallen Shinobi - 68,764 decks

This five-drop is pretty devastating and reasonably common in Cube, too. Shinobi is quite simply one of the best finishers you can have for the Ninja archetype, because it costs less to put into play than Silent-Blade Oni and you can get lucky and hit two good spells off it.

It's also a Zombie, meaning you can play it in Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver and The Scarab GodThe Scarab God, though it's definitely better suited to a deck built around dealing combat damage.

1. Nashi, Moon Sage's ScionNashi, Moon Sage's Scion - 71,131 decks, 446 as commander

Why is Nashi played more than, say, Yuriko or a more versatile card like Thousand-Faced Shadow? Well, like Ink-Eyes, he's also a Rat and thus pretty playable in Wick, the Whorled MindWick, the Whorled Mind and other typal decks, but he's much cheaper and thus more desirable overall.

Being mono-black unlocks playing him in monocolored decks that don't really care about Ninjas per se, like Gonti, Night MinisterGonti, Night Minister and Rev, Tithe ExtractorRev, Tithe Extractor, who nonetheless still both key off combat damage triggers.

He also packs a pretty powerful punch, similar to what you'd get out of Shinobi or Oni. All in all, he's a great role-player in different kinds of decks that play black.

Don't Fear the Blade, Fear the ShadowsDon't Fear the Blade, Fear the Shadows

Most of these Ninjas often appear in the same lists, so I hope that aside from learning more about the ninjutsu mechanic and how it's used, readers might get a better idea of how to build around this particular mechanic or around the creature type.

With TMNT in the picture, I'd also check out Kurohitsuki's article on Splinter showing how to build around a new commander, and Alejandro's tier list of Ninja typal commanders.

Now, Ninja enthusiasts, what's your secret weapon or pet card that's not among the most played ninjutsu cards? Let us know!