Since you are running black, one thing that has been working well for me in my Melira build is main deck hand disruption and cards like Extirpate in the sideboard. I can rip through the many combo decks with ease due to these cards. I just wrote a blog about it that might be worth reading (click the blog entry thingy to the left).
One (two really) card I was thinking about for this is Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus. I know taking up mana to swing with a land might not be the most efficient way to play the deck, but then again you can completely get around counter magic by doing so.
Extirpate/ Surgical Extraction is definitely worth a space in the sideboard. With a mana intensive deck such as this the latter may be a better option but i'll KIV at the moment over which to play.
Right now i have Mutavault in my list because it works well with Spellstutter Sprite's CIM ability. The nexus definitely have better evasion. You are right in saying that using mana to swing with the land for Ninjutsu is not the best way but desperate time calls for desperate measures, sometimes i just have to beat with the land(and return land to my hand :rolleyes:) to ensure my Shinobi can go through to bounce his creature. There are times where the trade-off is worth it so having these lands give us more options.
@Nabbydian- We do have the changeling cycle that might help out. Im looking forward to a primer....
Thanks for the reminder! I always forget about changeling cards LOL. I'll look into it also. I may need a few weeks to work out a detailed primer as I need to start searching for opponents to playtest. But not to worry as i'll post up a more refined decklist over the next few days.
can't really go wrong with bouncing your own Clique. In a format where hand control is key it makes a lot of sense.
Exactly, recycling Spellstutter Sprite is bad, recycling Clique is plain nasty - together with the Ninja effect is a double insult It is quite realistic to pull off because as soon as opponent tapped out without a flyer we'll just EOT clique and beat next turn. We also have Distortion Strike to ensure we can Ninjutsu through. And we only need 3 lands to do these degenerate stuffs.
Loving the idea of ninjas in modern. I have to say, I think the idea with Eyaro, Soratami Ascendant would probably be the best in the modern meta. Although it would seem hard to be able to search for her, play her, and then play 3 more spells that turn to get her flipped.
Does anybody remember the affinityfrogninjas deck that was posted on the mothership some time ago? That might be of some use. It was basically affinity+ninjas.
I like that Mistblade Shinobi can be used to bounce an opposing Emrakul to its owners hand. Also, its not a ninja, but you might want to think about Venser, Shaper Savant. He can put a fairly large dent in plans.
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Quote from ebcubs03 »
so if i am that player do i get to sleep with his girlfriend ?
I was thinking more of a control route. With PT philis that just happened it seems like an easier kind of grasp for control to know what to kind of aim for.
Loving the idea of ninjas in modern. I have to say, I think the idea with Eyaro, Soratami Ascendant would probably be the best in the modern meta. Although it would seem hard to be able to search for her, play her, and then play 3 more spells that turn to get her flipped.
Erayo seems to be played as a early win con and it's not really difficult to pull off, because a cheap Ninjutsu on a Faerie would have meant 2 spells casted already. The difficulty is a reliable method of getting Eryao into our hand and i'm not keen on playing tutoring spells as it will change the focus of the deck.
Does anybody remember the affinityfrogninjas deck that was posted on the mothership some time ago? That might be of some use. It was basically affinity+ninjas.
I have no knowledge of the Mirrodin era so i don't know about affinityfrogninjas deck, it will be nice if we have it for reference or who knows make another Ninja built from it. I'm open to trying all the Ninja variants.
I like that Mistblade Shinobi can be used to bounce an opposing Emrakul to its owners hand. Also, its not a ninja, but you might want to think about Venser, Shaper Savant. He can put a fairly large dent in plans.
Which is why i felt Mistblade Shinobi has to be a 4-ofs, it messes with opponents tempo, bounces Emrakul or creatures that are being cheated into play etc. Venser, Shaper Savant is suitable in this deck too, just that the casting cost is a bit too high. Clique is a legend so we cannot play too many of her therefore i won't strike out the possibilites of playing Venser.
I was thinking more of a control route. With PT philis that just happened it seems like an easier kind of grasp for control to know what to kind of aim for.
Yeah, i was thinking hand disruption and counters like Spell Pierce and Spellstutter Sprite for the control portion before we go aggro with Ninjas.
Erayo seems to be played as a early win con and it's not really difficult to pull off, because a cheap Ninjutsu on a Faerie would have meant 2 spells casted already. The difficulty is a reliable method of getting Eryao into our hand and i'm not keen on playing tutoring spells as it will change the focus of the deck.
Ninjutsu doesn't count as casting a spell, and I don't see you attacking with a faerie the same turn it comes into play.
The way I saw it was it was kinda "Oh, I have Erayo in my opening hand, lets go that route this game." not a "Damn, gotta find Erayo or im gonna lose!" So it seems that there would be no reason to have tutoring spells in main.
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Quote from ebcubs03 »
so if i am that player do i get to sleep with his girlfriend ?
Ninjutsu doesn't count as casting a spell, and I don't see you attacking with a faerie the same turn it comes into play.
The way I saw it was it was kinda "Oh, I have Erayo in my opening hand, lets go that route this game." not a "Damn, gotta find Erayo or im gonna lose!" So it seems that there would be no reason to have tutoring spells in main.
Oh man, how could i forget this ;), especially since i play Legacy Ninjas and Vial Knights.
Yeah, i guess you are correct about Erayo.. *nice to see you in my opening hand* kind of scenario. The decklist is going to be very tight, considering i need to play hand disruption, some counters, some ninja tech & Ninjas so Erayo is another 4 cards in an already tight list.
I'll draw up decklist later so we can have a clearer picture.
Yeah, BOP brings along some very useful advantages we cannot ignore. At the moment i'll focus on the UB Ninjas first before i get loss in a sea of ideas ;).
First turn Ornithopter into Second turn NoDH is one of my favourite plays ever. Even better if we have Inquisition, Duress or Thoughtseize to see his hand on the first turn before sending my Ninja in.
Slower version:
Bop into 2nd turn Clique, attack with 3rd turn Ninjas cheating in and bouncing Clique back for Deja Vu next turn. And we have already saw most of their hand. Do you still need Goyf?
First turn Ornithopter into Second turn NoDH is one of my favourite plays ever. Even better if we have Inquisition, Duress or Thoughtseize to see his hand on the first turn before sending my Ninja in.
Slower version:
Bop into 2nd turn Clique, attack with 3rd turn Ninjas cheating in and bouncing Clique back for Deja Vu next turn. And we have already saw most of their hand. Do you still need Goyf?
...if you run Green, you will need Goyf
I used to be one of those people that hated goyfs... I got my hands on some, finally and I must say, he is most definitely it. I am still in brewing stages of this deck, however, I am most definitely tinkering BUG NinjaFae right now.
...if you run Green, you will need Goyf
I used to be one of those people that hated goyfs... I got my hands on some, finally and I must say, he is most definitely it. I am still in brewing stages of this deck, however, I am most definitely tinkering BUG NinjaFae right now.
That's so true, people who doesn't play G will also splash it for Goyf. I can understand why people hate goyfs. I still hate them now.
I'll also try G later, meanwhile hope to see some lists from you on the BUG Ninjas
Here is the version 2 of my Ninjas - my playtest can only starts next Friday because i'm having trouble finding Modern players in my area. Everying is avoiding the format at the moment because of the combo decks and price spike.
What is your opinion on below list? I'm going for the early hand disruption with a minor faerie counter suite before dropping the Ninjas.
Been bouncing around on this in modern. It has good matchups with combo and can sideboard pretty well against aggro. I think it is suitable for posting here as Ninja of the Deep Hours is an integral part.
The Dimir Infiltrator is unblockable and can tutor up the swords with it's transmute ability. I've been going back and forth between a 2nd FaF or sticking with the BaM sword. Any thoughts?
bom seems only good with extirpate. Otherwise i would add sofi, solas or another sofaf, shadowmage infiltrator seems better than the transmute guy imo.
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P.S im sorry that this "wall" of text is very scary and menacing but i believe you can do it the lack of gramer and punctuation is because i have a blood fued with it due to the fact when i was four and the teacher said i would die poor and lonely and the kids would dance on my grave when i died because i could not correctly punctuate with commas
Been bouncing around on this in modern. It has good matchups with combo and can sideboard pretty well against aggro. I think it is suitable for posting here as Ninja of the Deep Hours is an integral part.
The Dimir Infiltrator is unblockable and can tutor up the swords with it's transmute ability. I've been going back and forth between a 2nd FaF or sticking with the BaM sword. Any thoughts?
Exactly, what I'm very glad with this deck so far is it's ability to play against Combo. Most of my decks auto-scoop to combo so it's refreshing for a change. The hand disruption and cheap counters really counts for a lot here against Combo.
Maybe there is no need to play 4x Dimir Infiltrator since it's unblockable ability is only going to be useful for 4 NoDH. You have flyers such as Nighthawk & Spellstutter for evasion already. I would prefer to play Clique or more Gatekeepers.
Is Memoricide necessary in your maindeck? I know you have Inquisition and Thoughtseize but I think it is too cumbersome.
bom seems only good with extirpate. Otherwise i would add sofi, solas or another sofaf, shadowmage infiltrator seems better than the transmute guy imo.
BOM is good against Goyf too, but SoFI seems massive here providing CA especially when the only CA source at the moment is NoDH for kgoodson3's deck.
Shadowmage Infiltrator is good but i'm worried about increasing the mana curve of the deck.
Rise/Fall is very interesting, I need to add it to my primer!
No matter that, 4 NoDH is a MUST> i'll replace Okiba-Gang Shinobi to max out on NODH. Anyway with so many discard spells Okiba-gang is going to attack an empty hand LOL, jokes aside, I rather you play Ink-Eyes since with so many discard there is a chance opponent's best creature is in the graveyard.
The deck seems like an all out aggro Ninjas which i have no idea how it'll pane out...I think Surgical Extraction is key here in removing their deck options especially when all the discards spells are sorcery speed.
Okiba is cool. Either way I would prefer to have my opponents hand be emptied by the end of my third turn. I dont mind swinging for 3 if they got nothing in hand (and I can always use Rise // Fall to bounce a guy up and then make them discard it).
I am not big on NoDH. Drawing a card is cool and all, but I dont find him to be something I am going to be dropping early. The early game plan was focused discard to disrupt my opponent before putting pressure on them with creatures. With all the ninjutsu, you probably wont be seeing your hand empty very often, so the extra draw is only necessary in games that get drawn out. At least that is my first impression.
Surgical Extraction or Extirpate would probably end up in my board, as well as maybe Ink-Eyes. The biggest issue with Ink-Eyes (who is one of my fav EDH creatures), is that most decks wont be loaded with fat creatures for you to steal. Might cause extra trouble for a Melira deck, but a lot of the time you might just end up with a Deceiver Exarch, or nothing at all. If anything, I would board it in against a Birthing Pod build, but I cant think of anything else it would really be strong against.
On a side note: I really dig Dimir Infiltrator being used to get Terminate, etc... if need be. Its a little slow, but in some situations it might be clutch. It also gives me an additional use for him if I Ninjutsu him back up to my hand.
The only one that I am really interested in is NoDH. The creatures in this deck create 2 for 1s and then get recycled by the ninja for more card advantage. The spells are low casting cost distruption and removal. The draw engines of dark confidant and NoDH keep the goods coming. Sword of Feast and Famine is for closing out the mid to late game. Tarmogoyfs, dryad arbors, wild nacatls, vault skirge, wall of roots/battlement, Doran, Noble Hierarchs and knight of the reliquary are just a few examples of creatures unable to block a sworded dude. Sword is also great as a way to ensure the combo players can not get back in the game after you disrupt their start with faeries and discard.
This approach has been testing well for me and I though I would share it with fellow ninja lovers. Have fun!
Okiba is cool. Either way I would prefer to have my opponents hand be emptied by the end of my third turn. I dont mind swinging for 3 if they got nothing in hand (and I can always use Rise // Fall to bounce a guy up and then make them discard it). .
That is a really nasty way to rape your opponent's hand LOL. I saw you only have 4x Tormented Soul & 3x Dimir Infiltrator as Ninja Enablers, so i'm not sure if they are sufficient enough for you to Ninjutsu freely. Also Dimir might be too costly as an enabler. I feel since you are also not playing Distortion Strike, having more enablers is important here.
I am not big on NoDH. Drawing a card is cool and all, but I dont find him to be something I am going to be dropping early. The early game plan was focused discard to disrupt my opponent before putting pressure on them with creatures. With all the ninjutsu, you probably wont be seeing your hand empty very often, so the extra draw is only necessary in games that get drawn out. At least that is my first impression.
I still think NoDH is king but like i mentioned in another post i'm not sure how your deck's play out so i'm hoping you can return with feedback on your games.
Surgical Extraction or Extirpate would probably end up in my board, as well as maybe Ink-Eyes. The biggest issue with Ink-Eyes (who is one of my fav EDH creatures), is that most decks wont be loaded with fat creatures for you to steal. Might cause extra trouble for a Melira deck, but a lot of the time you might just end up with a Deceiver Exarch, or nothing at all. If anything, I would board it in against a Birthing Pod build, but I cant think of anything else it would really be strong against.
On a side note: I really dig Dimir Infiltrator being used to get Terminate, etc... if need be. Its a little slow, but in some situations it might be clutch. It also gives me an additional use for him if I Ninjutsu him back up to my hand.
Yeah, agreed on the Ink Eyes, sometimes it's lame when opponents don't have anything decent for us to take control of.
It is nice to have Dimir as a tutor in the later part of the game especially when there is no Ninjas in your hand.
The only one that I am really interested in is NoDH. The creatures in this deck create 2 for 1s and then get recycled by the ninja for more card advantage. The spells are low casting cost distruption and removal. The draw engines of dark confidant and NoDH keep the goods coming. Sword of Feast and Famine is for closing out the mid to late game. Tarmogoyfs, dryad arbors, wild nacatls, vault skirge, wall of roots/battlement, Doran, Noble Hierarchs and knight of the reliquary are just a few examples of creatures unable to block a sworded dude. Sword is also great as a way to ensure the combo players can not get back in the game after you disrupt their start with faeries and discard.
This approach has been testing well for me and I though I would share it with fellow ninja lovers. Have fun!
Thanks for explaining how the deck works! NINJAS ROCKS!!! NoDH can recycle Spellsutter Sprite, Gatekeeper and Clique for more degenerate stuff when they enter the board again. Deja Vu! NoDH is really one of the key reasons why we are playing this deck.
The more I look at the decklists posted by everyone it becomes more obvious the discard strategy is very crucial here. I saw you run 7 discard spells which seems just nice as getting one in your opening hand is very important while playing 8 is overkill. 6-7 discard spells is a good number IMO. It also seems Sword of Feast and Famine is more suited to the deck than SBoM.
I like your list very much although there isn't many Ninjas there, what type of decks are you playing against mostly?
I also have 3x Vendilion Clique in my list, as well as a handful of manlands. Ill see about getting a few games in tonight. Should be able to get in a couple rounds at least.
Sorry, I missed out on the Clique, was hoping you could playtest some Distortion Strike too. I also noticed you had a playset of Drowned Catacombs in the list, hopefully they don't end up coming into play tapped too frequently.
Played a round vs 12post, Twin and Melira. Best 2 of 3 each. Beat 12post 2-0, and then proceeded to lose to Twin and Melira 0-2. It seems like the disruption aspect of the deck is working fairly well. I can drop an opponent to top deck mode relatively quickly. The problem comes with finishing my opponent. The ninjas are pretty clunky, which makes the actual killing process very slow and easy to disrupt. Punishing Fire + Grove combo is nasty against a deck that has a bunch of creatures with only 2 toughness.
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can't really go wrong with bouncing your own Clique. In a format where hand control is key it makes a lot of sense.
Extirpate/ Surgical Extraction is definitely worth a space in the sideboard. With a mana intensive deck such as this the latter may be a better option but i'll KIV at the moment over which to play.
Right now i have Mutavault in my list because it works well with Spellstutter Sprite's CIM ability. The nexus definitely have better evasion. You are right in saying that using mana to swing with the land for Ninjutsu is not the best way but desperate time calls for desperate measures, sometimes i just have to beat with the land(and return land to my hand :rolleyes:) to ensure my Shinobi can go through to bounce his creature. There are times where the trade-off is worth it so having these lands give us more options.
Thanks for the reminder! I always forget about changeling cards LOL. I'll look into it also. I may need a few weeks to work out a detailed primer as I need to start searching for opponents to playtest. But not to worry as i'll post up a more refined decklist over the next few days.
Exactly, recycling Spellstutter Sprite is bad, recycling Clique is plain nasty - together with the Ninja effect is a double insult It is quite realistic to pull off because as soon as opponent tapped out without a flyer we'll just EOT clique and beat next turn. We also have Distortion Strike to ensure we can Ninjutsu through. And we only need 3 lands to do these degenerate stuffs.
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
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2 Clique/4 Inquisition?
Yeah, i'm all excited about Clique now. Best of all it is also a faerie with evasion so it works perfectly with Ninjutsu.
I seriously might have to take out Throat Slitter to make space for 6-8 new cards...i thinking of using 2 Clique/4 Inquisition and 2 Duress.
Will need to playtest and see if 3 Cliques is doable.
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Does anybody remember the affinityfrogninjas deck that was posted on the mothership some time ago? That might be of some use. It was basically affinity+ninjas.
I like that Mistblade Shinobi can be used to bounce an opposing Emrakul to its owners hand. Also, its not a ninja, but you might want to think about Venser, Shaper Savant. He can put a fairly large dent in plans.
About Mindslaver rulings:
Erayo seems to be played as a early win con and it's not really difficult to pull off, because a cheap Ninjutsu on a Faerie would have meant 2 spells casted already. The difficulty is a reliable method of getting Eryao into our hand and i'm not keen on playing tutoring spells as it will change the focus of the deck.
I have no knowledge of the Mirrodin era so i don't know about affinityfrogninjas deck, it will be nice if we have it for reference or who knows make another Ninja built from it. I'm open to trying all the Ninja variants.
Which is why i felt Mistblade Shinobi has to be a 4-ofs, it messes with opponents tempo, bounces Emrakul or creatures that are being cheated into play etc. Venser, Shaper Savant is suitable in this deck too, just that the casting cost is a bit too high. Clique is a legend so we cannot play too many of her therefore i won't strike out the possibilites of playing Venser.
Yeah, i was thinking hand disruption and counters like Spell Pierce and Spellstutter Sprite for the control portion before we go aggro with Ninjas.
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Ninjutsu doesn't count as casting a spell, and I don't see you attacking with a faerie the same turn it comes into play.
The way I saw it was it was kinda "Oh, I have Erayo in my opening hand, lets go that route this game." not a "Damn, gotta find Erayo or im gonna lose!" So it seems that there would be no reason to have tutoring spells in main.
About Mindslaver rulings:
NINJAS FTW!!!!!
I am too a convert
Personally, I'd rather play UB Ninjas but we cannot ignore UG nor BUG either.
The G versions can add the taboo card Tarmogoyf, however Birds of Paradise also needs mentioning.
We are in need to test all these options.
Oh man, how could i forget this ;), especially since i play Legacy Ninjas and Vial Knights.
Yeah, i guess you are correct about Erayo.. *nice to see you in my opening hand* kind of scenario. The decklist is going to be very tight, considering i need to play hand disruption, some counters, some ninja tech & Ninjas so Erayo is another 4 cards in an already tight list.
I'll draw up decklist later so we can have a clearer picture.
NINJAS FTW!!! *high five*
Yeah, BOP brings along some very useful advantages we cannot ignore. At the moment i'll focus on the UB Ninjas first before i get loss in a sea of ideas ;).
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Faster:
Ornithopter and his ilk
Slower:
Tarmogoyf and Vendilion...
First turn Ornithopter into Second turn NoDH is one of my favourite plays ever. Even better if we have Inquisition, Duress or Thoughtseize to see his hand on the first turn before sending my Ninja in.
Slower version:
Bop into 2nd turn Clique, attack with 3rd turn Ninjas cheating in and bouncing Clique back for Deja Vu next turn. And we have already saw most of their hand. Do you still need Goyf?
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
...if you run Green, you will need Goyf
I used to be one of those people that hated goyfs... I got my hands on some, finally and I must say, he is most definitely it. I am still in brewing stages of this deck, however, I am most definitely tinkering BUG NinjaFae right now.
That's so true, people who doesn't play G will also splash it for Goyf. I can understand why people hate goyfs. I still hate them now.
I'll also try G later, meanwhile hope to see some lists from you on the BUG Ninjas
Here is the version 2 of my Ninjas - my playtest can only starts next Friday because i'm having trouble finding Modern players in my area. Everying is avoiding the format at the moment because of the combo decks and price spike.
What is your opinion on below list? I'm going for the early hand disruption with a minor faerie counter suite before dropping the Ninjas.
2 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Creatures- Ninja Enablers [14]:
4 Ornithopter
4 Zephyr Sprite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Distortion Strike
4 Familiar's Ruse
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
Lands [22]
1 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Drowned Catacombs
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3 Mutavault
7 Island
6 Swamp
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
4x Ninja of the Deep Hours
4x Spellstutter Sprite
4x Dimir Infiltrator
4x Vampire Nighthawk
2x Gatekeeper of Malakir
Instant/Sorcery/Enchantment
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughseize
3x Mana Leak
2x Spell Pierce
3x Go for the Throat
2x Memoricide
1x Sword of Body and Mind
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
Mana
4x Darkslick Shores
4x River of Tears
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Faerie Conclave
2x Drowned Catacomb
6x Swamp
4x Island
2x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1x Memoricide
1x Go for the Throat
3x Black Suns Zenith
3x Abyssal Persecuter
2x Duress
3x Repeal
The Dimir Infiltrator is unblockable and can tutor up the swords with it's transmute ability. I've been going back and forth between a 2nd FaF or sticking with the BaM sword. Any thoughts?
4x Tormented Soul
3x Dimir Infiltrator
3x Vendilion Clique
3x Okiba-Gang Shinobi
2x Ninja of the Deep Hours
2x Throat Slitter
2x Higure, the Still Wind
Other Spells: 17
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Duress
2x Thoughtseize
3x Rise // Fall
3x Blightning
2x Terminate
1x Doom Blade
1x Go for the Throat
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
4x Drowned Catacomb
3x Verdant Catacombs
3x Marsh Flats
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Watery Grave
1x Blood Crypt
1x Swamp
1x Island
1x Mountain
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Exactly, what I'm very glad with this deck so far is it's ability to play against Combo. Most of my decks auto-scoop to combo so it's refreshing for a change. The hand disruption and cheap counters really counts for a lot here against Combo.
Maybe there is no need to play 4x Dimir Infiltrator since it's unblockable ability is only going to be useful for 4 NoDH. You have flyers such as Nighthawk & Spellstutter for evasion already. I would prefer to play Clique or more Gatekeepers.
Is Memoricide necessary in your maindeck? I know you have Inquisition and Thoughtseize but I think it is too cumbersome.
BOM is good against Goyf too, but SoFI seems massive here providing CA especially when the only CA source at the moment is NoDH for kgoodson3's deck.
Shadowmage Infiltrator is good but i'm worried about increasing the mana curve of the deck.
Rise/Fall is very interesting, I need to add it to my primer!
No matter that, 4 NoDH is a MUST> i'll replace Okiba-Gang Shinobi to max out on NODH. Anyway with so many discard spells Okiba-gang is going to attack an empty hand LOL, jokes aside, I rather you play Ink-Eyes since with so many discard there is a chance opponent's best creature is in the graveyard.
The deck seems like an all out aggro Ninjas which i have no idea how it'll pane out...I think Surgical Extraction is key here in removing their deck options especially when all the discards spells are sorcery speed.
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[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
I am not big on NoDH. Drawing a card is cool and all, but I dont find him to be something I am going to be dropping early. The early game plan was focused discard to disrupt my opponent before putting pressure on them with creatures. With all the ninjutsu, you probably wont be seeing your hand empty very often, so the extra draw is only necessary in games that get drawn out. At least that is my first impression.
Surgical Extraction or Extirpate would probably end up in my board, as well as maybe Ink-Eyes. The biggest issue with Ink-Eyes (who is one of my fav EDH creatures), is that most decks wont be loaded with fat creatures for you to steal. Might cause extra trouble for a Melira deck, but a lot of the time you might just end up with a Deceiver Exarch, or nothing at all. If anything, I would board it in against a Birthing Pod build, but I cant think of anything else it would really be strong against.
On a side note: I really dig Dimir Infiltrator being used to get Terminate, etc... if need be. Its a little slow, but in some situations it might be clutch. It also gives me an additional use for him if I Ninjutsu him back up to my hand.
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The only one that I am really interested in is NoDH. The creatures in this deck create 2 for 1s and then get recycled by the ninja for more card advantage. The spells are low casting cost distruption and removal. The draw engines of dark confidant and NoDH keep the goods coming. Sword of Feast and Famine is for closing out the mid to late game. Tarmogoyfs, dryad arbors, wild nacatls, vault skirge, wall of roots/battlement, Doran, Noble Hierarchs and knight of the reliquary are just a few examples of creatures unable to block a sworded dude. Sword is also great as a way to ensure the combo players can not get back in the game after you disrupt their start with faeries and discard.
This approach has been testing well for me and I though I would share it with fellow ninja lovers. Have fun!
4 DARK CONFIDANT
4 SPELLSTUTTER SPRITE
4 NINJA OF THE DEEP HOURS
3 GATEKEEPER OF MALAKIR
3 VENDILION CLIQUE
ARTIFACTS
2 SWORD OF FEAST AND FAMINE
INSTANTS
1 DARKBLAST
3 GO FOR THE THROAT
1 ECHOING TRUTH
3 MANA LEAK
SORCERIES
4 INQUISTION OF KOZILEK
3 THOUGHTSEIZE
1 SNOW-COVERED ISLAND
2 SNOW-COVERED SWAMP
3 CREEPING TAR PIT
4 DARKSLICK SHORES
4 MUTAVAULT
4 RIVER OF TEARS
2 SUNKEN RUINS
2 VERDANT CATACOMBS
2 WATERY GRAVE
1 URBORG, TOMB OF YAWGMOTH
1 MINDBREAK TRAP
3 FLASH FREEZE
1 THOUGHTSEIZE
1 DARKBLAST
3 THREADS OF DISLOYALTY
2 DEATH MARK
1 SOWER OF TEMPTATION
2 EXTRIPATE
1 SURGICAL EXTRACTION
That is a really nasty way to rape your opponent's hand LOL. I saw you only have 4x Tormented Soul & 3x Dimir Infiltrator as Ninja Enablers, so i'm not sure if they are sufficient enough for you to Ninjutsu freely. Also Dimir might be too costly as an enabler. I feel since you are also not playing Distortion Strike, having more enablers is important here.
I still think NoDH is king but like i mentioned in another post i'm not sure how your deck's play out so i'm hoping you can return with feedback on your games.
Yeah, agreed on the Ink Eyes, sometimes it's lame when opponents don't have anything decent for us to take control of.
It is nice to have Dimir as a tutor in the later part of the game especially when there is no Ninjas in your hand.
Thanks for explaining how the deck works! NINJAS ROCKS!!! NoDH can recycle Spellsutter Sprite, Gatekeeper and Clique for more degenerate stuff when they enter the board again. Deja Vu! NoDH is really one of the key reasons why we are playing this deck.
The more I look at the decklists posted by everyone it becomes more obvious the discard strategy is very crucial here. I saw you run 7 discard spells which seems just nice as getting one in your opening hand is very important while playing 8 is overkill. 6-7 discard spells is a good number IMO. It also seems Sword of Feast and Famine is more suited to the deck than SBoM.
I like your list very much although there isn't many Ninjas there, what type of decks are you playing against mostly?
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
Good luck to your games!
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF