After following and trying out Mystical Teachings, I've had a good read of this thread and the linked oldschool UG discussion, have decided to give it a shot, and have never used Ninjutsu so bare with me. Won't have the cards till next week so I can't test until then, although did have some questions with Transmute.
I always find my decks using 3CMC transmute, as opposed to Muddle or Dimir. What are the 2CMC that this deck that this deck would want to possibly tutor for? I usually go for Swords, Crystal Ball, Semblance Anvil etc. Something that as 1-of won't really hurt the deck and is still nice to draw at start of turn, or just tutor for a hard counter like Cancel or something. Now I think about it, Semblance Anvil looks okay as it can potentially make your creatures the same cost as using Ninjutsu, which can only be a good thing imo.
Also probably be using Inkmoth instead of Mutavault because of the $cost, so I guess Spellstutter is out for me, opening up more aggressive options like Swords and such (never liked faeries anyways). Maybe Quietus Spike? Not sure yet.
What about some form of Trinket Mage package, like Locket of Yesterdays for lands, or Infiltration Lens for combat mind games and CA, to help get ahead on the table? Tutorable Signal Pest to start the tricks, rather than having 4 and hoping not to topdeck them? Maybe I am ahead of myself, because the list is already tight enough as is..
As much as I like U/B, and Ninjas to be more fun than the T2 U/B play of Discard/Leak/Throat -> go -> Grave Titan, I would really like to get a feel for how the turn sequences are like using Ninjutsu, as I always find myself to be the more aggressive control player heh.
Hope this thread get some more attention, as I know quite a few people looking at the Ninja archetype. So kudos for the thread!
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.
True, I was struggling to finish off my opponents even when i was playing Legacy Ninjas, Ninjas tend to bring you to the brink of victory but it just either lacked the final touch or took too long a time. Back then I relied on Jitte and Ink-Eyes for the final push.
Back to topic, it seems Vendilion Clique & Higure, the Still Wind are your main form of damage dealing which probably isn't fast enough thus giving your opponent time to recover.
Do you think equipments are needed here? I tried to find a good 2cc equipment to work with Dimir's Transmute ability without success. Otherwise SoFI, Quietus Spike & Ronin Warclub might be playable equipments.
After following and trying out Mystical Teachings, I've had a good read of this thread and the linked oldschool UG discussion, have decided to give it a shot, and have never used Ninjutsu so bare with me. Won't have the cards till next week so I can't test until then, although did have some questions with Transmute.
Welcome to the Ninja Tribe!!! Ninjas FTW!!
The best thing about Ninjas - they are kept completely intact in Modern (okie there is only 8 of them). But the uncounterable & surprise element it provides makes for a very attractive proposition. There is something mysterious about Ninjas which i find very intriguing.
I have the deck formed and ready but can only playtest next weekend so updating the primer gotta wait for the time being. I apologise for the delay here.
I always find my decks using 3CMC transmute, as opposed to Muddle or Dimir. What are the 2CMC that this deck that this deck would want to possibly tutor for? I usually go for Swords, Crystal Ball, Semblance Anvil etc. Something that as 1-of won't really hurt the deck and is still nice to draw at start of turn, or just tutor for a hard counter like Cancel or something. Now I think about it, Semblance Anvil looks okay as it can potentially make your creatures the same cost as using Ninjutsu, which can only be a good thing imo.
I tried to did a search on 3cc cards with Transmute and only found this:
Based on this choices it doesn't seems like Transmute for 3cc will work here.
I find Crystal ball too slow, but I always look at Semblance Anvil as a card with potential. I'm still waiting for somebody to make the card broken but at the moment I don't see it in any competitive decks yet; is the card really not worth playing? Perhaps it's casting cost of 3 is the main reason.
Also probably be using Inkmoth instead of Mutavault because of the $cost, so I guess Spellstutter is out for me, opening up more aggressive options like Swords and such (never liked faeries anyways). Maybe Quietus Spike? Not sure yet.
Inkmoth is good too, it has evasion although it doesnt have the synergy with Spellstutter. But Mutavault should still be better as we don't really expect to attack with manlands.
What about some form of Trinket Mage package, like Locket of Yesterdays for lands, or Infiltration Lens for combat mind games and CA, to help get ahead on the table? Tutorable Signal Pest to start the tricks, rather than having 4 and hoping not to topdeck them? Maybe I am ahead of myself, because the list is already tight enough as is..
Nice suggestions on the Trinket Mage toolbox, definitely something we can look into in future but like you mentioned the list is already so tight now i don't know how i can possbility add in additional several cards! If Trinket Mage had evasion i'll might try to force it in, but at 3cc, Clique is my choice.
As much as I like U/B, and Ninjas to be more fun than the T2 U/B play of Discard/Leak/Throat -> go -> Grave Titan, I would really like to get a feel for how the turn sequences are like using Ninjutsu, as I always find myself to be the more aggressive control player heh.
Hope this thread get some more attention, as I know quite a few people looking at the Ninja archetype. So kudos for the thread!
Yeah....the T2 U/B play is so Zzzzzzz.
Thanks for throwing out so many new ideas and suggestions! Ideas like Anvil and Trinket Mage is really good.
I was just playing with the maindeck and did not do any sideboarding between matches.
Clique was usually pretty decent. The problem I feel is the ninjas. They are pretty mana intensive without a great return. I almost feel like I should just go with a faerie or cruel control build instead.
I was just playing with the maindeck and did not do any sideboarding between matches.
Clique was usually pretty decent. The problem I feel is the ninjas. They are pretty mana intensive without a great return. I almost feel like I should just go with a faerie or cruel control build instead.
Were you using the above decklist? No doubt Ninjas are chunky, other than NoDH/shinobi all the other Ninjas are very mana intensive. But I feel the returns are absolutely worth it. Drawing a card with NoDH or destroying opponents creature with Throat Slitter is massive.
Since you already maindeck 4 creature removal spells & multiple hand disruption, perhaps Throat Slitter can be replaced with NoDH. Okiba can also be replaced by additional cheap Ninja enablers or Mistblade Shinobi. These will reduce your Ninjutsu cost substantially.
Anywho, I haven't really played many games with the deck yet, but I'll let you know in a week or so how my games go.
Unfortunately I think those cards belong more to a block or limited format:
Agony Warp - It can target both artifact/black creatures but I still think the likes of Go for the throat/Doomed blade are miles better. Tidehollow Strix - It is a decent enabler, but I would rather go with a one-drop flyer. Æther Adept - Good Ninja Tech, might belongs more to a casual setting I think. Neurok Invisimancer - Another good Ninja Tech, belongs to casual. Zombie Outlander - Great sideboard against Elves, thanks for pointing out.
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll probably include Adept, Neurok & Zombie in the primer at some stage.
Do you have a decklist? I'm keen to know how your Ninja list looks like.
Here is the deck I have been building and refining since the inception (correct word used here ;-) ) of this deck.
As I said before I was going to make a BUG version of this deck, I came across a few speed bumps in that the deck performed really well under 4-5 turns, but then it got really tough to push through in the end.
I also noticed that I totally suffered against Zoo, as I know I have a ton of burn lands and that is my biggest flaw, I need to improve on that match-up game 1.
I've played vs. a couple of 12post decks, and a few U/R Combo decks.
Below is my proposed list of the BUG version.
The Swords have proven to be invaluable once you disrupt your opponent's plans.
I am having issues with aggro as I lose too much life and the deck does tend to be too slow. I might, in the end drop Green but Tarmogoyf and Birds have been all-stars.
I like your list very much although there isn't many Ninjas there, what type of decks are you playing against mostly?
There are a lot of U/r combo decks and random rogue decks. The list I posted was configured more against combo and control. It has a rough zoo/affinity match up which I address with the side board. Also punishing fires combo is really good against all ninja decks so a few extirpates/surgical extractions seem necessary.
The Sword of Feast and Famines have been outstanding in testing. They apply great pressure on combo and control and the pro green and +2/+2 is great against zoo game one. I usually board them out against aggro for games 2 and 3.
The problem comes with finishing my opponent. The ninjas are pretty clunky, which makes the actual killing process very slow and easy to disrupt.
Agreed! That is why I only run the NoDH. When it connects I always get paid and it only cost the 2 mana. That is important for the curve.
Example, On turn 2, play Sprite EOT(hopefully countering a cmc1). This leaves up the threat of mana leak or removal. T3, Attack and ninjitsu. Play a land and discard spell to protect the ninja for the next turn.
This not a magical christmasland series of events. This line of play is pretty common and practically a KO against U based combo.
I'm using the one you have up, except without the Cliques because I'm poor
I use ninjas in pauper though and all of those cards are in my deck either in SB or MD. It's a pretty casual list as you've likely figured out though.
The Clique is important (that explains its price now :rolleyes:) but you can always play more faeries(to support Spellstutter) or more hand disruption.
Even with the casual list I can imagine it being very fun to play with. Duress is dirt cheap and Inquisition is affordable, the rest is just cheap enablers and cheap Ninjas? Everyone time I successfully activate an Ninjutsu I'll always sing "Ninja Warriors - We are the Ninja....." while my opponent goes :rolleyes:...
Here is the deck I have been building and refining since the inception (correct word used here ;-) ) of this deck.
As I said before I was going to make a BUG version of this deck, I came across a few speed bumps in that the deck performed really well under 4-5 turns, but then it got really tough to push through in the end.
I also noticed that I totally suffered against Zoo, as I know I have a ton of burn lands and that is my biggest flaw, I need to improve on that match-up game 1.
I've played vs. a couple of 12post decks, and a few U/R Combo decks.
Below is my proposed list of the BUG version.
The Swords have proven to be invaluable once you disrupt your opponent's plans.
I am having issues with aggro as I lose too much life and the deck does tend to be too slow. I might, in the end drop Green but Tarmogoyf and Birds have been all-stars.
NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
This looks like a very demanding deck to pilot. Is Distortion Strike effective in the deck? I can imagine swinging twice with an unblockable Goyf to win the game or to generate massive advantage with a Ninja.
I felt the hand disruption & counter-suite in the list is quite diluted. I did some goldfishing and realised that i almost always want to have a discard spell in my opening hand. A good opening scenario will be to cast an Ornithopter & a discard spell in my opening hand following up with a Ninja.
I suppose Remand was there to disrupt your opponent's tempo and subsequently remove the spell with Clique or hand discard - did it work smoothly or was it too difficult to pull off?
Aggro is a tough matchup, and i relied a lot on Mistblade Shinobi to slow them down, even then I can only delay a couple of turns (Throat Slitter is too slow) and usually run out of steam against them - Goyf does a lot to stall in such a matchup.
There are a lot of U/r combo decks and random rogue decks. The list I posted was configured more against combo and control. It has a rough zoo/affinity match up which I address with the side board. Also punishing fires combo is really good against all ninja decks so a few extirpates/surgical extractions seem necessary.
The Sword of Feast and Famines have been outstanding in testing. They apply great pressure on combo and control and the pro green and +2/+2 is great against zoo game one. I usually board them out against aggro for games 2 and 3.
Agreed! That is why I only run the NoDH. When it connects I always get paid and it only cost the 2 mana. That is important for the curve.
Example, On turn 2, play Sprite EOT(hopefully countering a cmc1). This leaves up the threat of mana leak or removal. T3, Attack and ninjitsu. Play a land and discard spell to protect the ninja for the next turn.
This not a magical christmasland series of events. This line of play is pretty common and practically a KO against U based combo.
Noted on the combos and punishing fires, extirpate or Surgical Extraction is definitely sideboard material.
Both you and Necroticah concur that Sword of Feast and Famine is a house here in a mana-hungry Ninja deck. Maindeck material check.
This is what i adore about NoDH, the example you described is a common occurrence and when you have Distortion Strike in your hand it is even more insane advantage. Further more we have already seen our opponent's hand and also have the same Spellstutter back in our hand.
From your reviews and Necroticah's, the deck looks reasonably competitive and I'm quite excited the deck is doing well against Combo especially. NINJAS FTW!!!!!!!
My current ninja deck, I am pretty sure it's modern legal... I don't have the list in front of me. But is a W/U build that uses Quest for the Holy Relic and Argentum Armor/Swords/Jitte.
I use Ornithopter and Trinket Mage to get Ornithopter. Ninjas, Trinket Mages and ornithopters are great for buffing up Quest for the relic. Then once it's active its hard to lose. I also use random cards like Harm's Way, Dawn Charm, Aether Adept. It works very well, Ninjas with swords can pack quite a punch.
I have been evolving a ninja deck for over 5 years. The one thing I have learned throughout the experience is Higure sucks and should probably be cut.
I actually thought Higure is a house. He is a Ninja Tutor allowing us to search NoDH for CA, Throat Slitter to kill non-black creatures or Shinobi to bounce black creatures you cant kill with Throat Slitter. Somemore Higure makes your Ninjas unblockable(including himself) for a very affordable 2 and can be utilise multiple times.
Higure is also strong enough to stay out of Lightning blot & Helix range.
Despite that, usually Higure is always killed off by other methods when he enters play, that is why playing black is important as we can play hand discard to take out their removal spells before Higure comes in.
My current ninja deck, I am pretty sure it's modern legal... I don't have the list in front of me. But is a W/U build that uses Quest for the Holy Relic and Argentum Armor/Swords/Jitte.
I use Ornithopter and Trinket Mage to get Ornithopter. Ninjas, Trinket Mages and ornithopters are great for buffing up Quest for the relic. Then once it's active its hard to lose. I also use random cards like Harm's Way, Dawn Charm, Aether Adept. It works very well, Ninjas with swords can pack quite a punch.
Interesting..I havent thought of playing W for Ninjas. Quest with Ninjas is a solid idea but is that any better than the Kor Skyfisher & Glint Hawk route that we see in Standard? I can visualise Ninjas with quest seems slower.
I think other than Jitte the rest of your list should be Modern legal, seems like most of the cards will be from the Quest shell.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the most efficient route to go would be to play massive bounce. Once you get a good card draw engine going, you will be able to start bouncing multiple cards per turn. Along with this, Raven's Crime seems like it would prove beneficial, giving you something to do with all of the extra lands you draw, as well as emptying the opponent's hand (that is full of the permanents that you've been bouncing).
This would seem particularly good against the current meta, bouncing Cloudposts, Ascensions, goblin tokens (Echoing Truth), infect creatures that might be swinging for lethal, and so on.
The main concept, as I see it, would be to use the early turns (1-3) for discard, with Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Raven's Crime, Funeral Charm, and/or Duress. The specific discard package you use would have to depend on your meta. Then you play your creatures (having already stripped their hand of removal). You then swing in with unblockables, ninja away, and start bouncing permanents. You use Raven's Crime to make them drop the cards that you've bounced, keeping. This tempo should win the game, I would think.
This looks like a very demanding deck to pilot. Is Distortion Strike effective in the deck? I can imagine swinging twice with an unblockable Goyf to win the game or to generate massive advantage with a Ninja.
I felt the hand disruption & counter-suite in the list is quite diluted. I did some goldfishing and realised that i almost always want to have a discard spell in my opening hand. A good opening scenario will be to cast an Ornithopter & a discard spell in my opening hand following up with a Ninja.
I suppose Remand was there to disrupt your opponent's tempo and subsequently remove the spell with Clique or hand discard - did it work smoothly or was it too difficult to pull off?
Aggro is a tough matchup, and i relied a lot on Mistblade Shinobi to slow them down, even then I can only delay a couple of turns (Throat Slitter is too slow) and usually run out of steam against them - Goyf does a lot to stall in such a matchup.
Noted on the combos and punishing fires, extirpate or Surgical Extraction is definitely sideboard material.
Both you and Necroticah concur that Sword of Feast and Famine is a house here in a mana-hungry Ninja deck. Maindeck material check.
This is what i adore about NoDH, the example you described is a common occurrence and when you have Distortion Strike in your hand it is even more insane advantage. Further more we have already seen our opponent's hand and also have the same Spellstutter back in our hand.
From your reviews and Necroticah's, the deck looks reasonably competitive and I'm quite excited the deck is doing well against Combo especially. NINJAS FTW!!!!!!!
NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
The Ninjas I played didn't perform, honestly speaking, the only ninja I ever want to play is NoDH and maybe a singleton Ink Eyes.
Distortion Strike was an all star and I pulled miraculous wins with that card.
The deck curved out great, I either had a bistering fast start or a good control start.
Vendilion Clique, Tarmogoyf, NoDH and SoFaF are by far the best cards in the deck. As for the discard, yeah, I had an issue with not having one in my opening hand, it hurt a bit.
However you do 8 ways to strip their hand of their best / breaking card and that is always a plus side.
The changes that I'm going to make is firstly take majority of the Ninjas out and Replace them with more Fae and/or Life Gain... Man my Aggro match-up sucks.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the most efficient route to go would be to play massive bounce. Once you get a good card draw engine going, you will be able to start bouncing multiple cards per turn. Along with this, Raven's Crime seems like it would prove beneficial, giving you something to do with all of the extra lands you draw, as well as emptying the opponent's hand (that is full of the permanents that you've been bouncing).
This would seem particularly good against the current meta, bouncing Cloudposts, Ascensions, goblin tokens (Echoing Truth), infect creatures that might be swinging for lethal, and so on.
The main concept, as I see it, would be to use the early turns (1-3) for discard, with Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Raven's Crime, Funeral Charm, and/or Duress. The specific discard package you use would have to depend on your meta. Then you play your creatures (having already stripped their hand of removal). You then swing in with unblockables, ninja away, and start bouncing permanents. You use Raven's Crime to make them drop the cards that you've bounced, keeping. This tempo should win the game, I would think.
I'm not really in favor of a massive bounce strategy, because there is bound to be threats which slip through that we might not be able to recover from. Right now the main concept as you explained, is to use early hand disruption either to remove their combo pieces or to ensure our Ninjas can beat through.
Let me explain, after the early Duress/Inquisition/Thoughtseize, the next choices we have is usually the following:
Create CA with Ninjas
Start bouncing with spells aka Echoing Truths etc
Counterspell mania with hard counters or Spellstutter Suite
I playtested today against a Tier one legacy dreadnought/Stifle & BGW Junk decks for several games and the conclusion is - we can't do any of them devastating enough.
The CA generation portion is quite slow, therefore the heavy discard approach does not work well. As a "slow" deck we are unable to bounce opponents' permanent fast enough before they settle down.
Instead, I find that cheap counters/ Mistblade shinobi works well here. Shinobi is also tutorable with Higure around, allowing me to bounce troublesome creatures which we can counter next turn.
That said, the deck was effective in its application, being able to generate decent CA and degenerate stuff recycling Spellstutter. Whenever Higure stay around for a few turns I usually win the game.
I simply couldn't get any modern deck to playtest it's that bad.
The Ninjas I played didn't perform, honestly speaking, the only ninja I ever want to play is NoDH and maybe a singleton Ink Eyes.
Distortion Strike was an all star and I pulled miraculous wins with that card.
The deck curved out great, I either had a bistering fast start or a good control start.
Vendilion Clique, Tarmogoyf, NoDH and SoFaF are by far the best cards in the deck. As for the discard, yeah, I had an issue with not having one in my opening hand, it hurt a bit.
However you do 8 ways to strip their hand of their best / breaking card and that is always a plus side.
The changes that I'm going to make is firstly take majority of the Ninjas out and Replace them with more Fae and/or Life Gain... Man my Aggro match-up sucks.
NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
Higure was superb in my matches today. Because i play more Ninjas I was able to utilise his ability to the fullest. Distortion Strike was an all star for me too and many times it allows me to gain incredible advantage either via CA, Tutoring or crazy bouncing on their creatures. My deck also curved out smoothly so I was quite pleased with it.
I agree it hurts when there is no opening hand discard, however I'm happy with the 6 maindeck discard spells. I had at least a discard spell in 70% of the games which really get things going.
Try the Faerie/Mutavault countersuite, it is massive. There was a game when I casted a first turn Zephyr Sprite, follow by a SpellStutter to counter his Stoneforge Mystic(I was playing a legacy tournament deck that is how desperate I was), thereafter I flashed in another Spellstutter to counter his Trinket Mage, next turn drop Higure and it was good game..
Other games were not as perfect but plays similar to this happened very frequently. Right now i'm having a headache on what to remove to include some equipments.
Just as a off topic aside, I find it hilarious that a person with a knight themed sig is a ninja enthusiast. ;P
What can I say?
Knights to me is like the wife at home, which is the greatest love I'll never forsake, always dependable, prim & proper....while the Ninjas are like the little mistress which you can't get out of your mind, always erratic & elusive, who gives you a oomph factor whenever you managed to Ninjutsu in. It's like a successful escapade.
Both you and DOLZero have recommended SoFF - I'm thinking of putting a singleton in my deck. My manabase could also do with some fixing especially adding Verdant Catacombs & Watery Grave. Did the 4x River of Tears work well for you? I have a playset but I'm not totally convinced of it yet.
River of Tears have been really good. It is important to have an untapped black source on turn one in order to curve out starting with a discard spell. With 4x River of Tears, 4x Darkslick Shores, 2x Swamp, 2x Watery Grave, 2x Verdant Catacombs and an Urborg, my list has 15. It is also important for my list since I run gatekeeper of malakir. A lot of black mana is used on my turn and blue on the opponents turn. River of Tears fills this space in my mana development admirably.
One of the nice things about this deck is the land. It is very rare to get colour screwed with 20 black sources and 18 blue sources and it has 7 man lands. Best of all the mana does very little damage to you (confidants and thoughseizes do that :P).
River of Tears have been really good. It is important to have an untapped black source on turn one in order to curve out starting with a discard spell. With 4x River of Tears, 4x Darkslick Shores, 2x Swamp, 2x Watery Grave, 2x Verdant Catacombs and an Urborg, my list has 15. It is also important for my list since I run gatekeeper of malakir. A lot of black mana is used on my turn and blue on the opponents turn. River of Tears fills this space in my mana development admirably.
One of the nice things about this deck is the land. It is very rare to get colour screwed with 20 black sources and 18 blue sources and it has 7 man lands. Best of all the mana does very little damage to you (confidants and thoughseizes do that :P).
Thanks for the card review! I definitely need to fix my mana base.
Your mana base. You forgot to type in the darkslick shores. It is a very good land for your deck allowing for more options on turn one. Zephyr Sprite or thoughtseize? I think you have too many basic swamps and verdant catacombs. I would try something like this for your current spell selection:
4 river of tears
4 darkslick shores
1 watery grave
2 verdant catacombs
1 minamo, school at water's edge (sick for the amount of legends you have)
4 mutavaults
2 creeping tar pit
4 island
2 swamp
24 lands
22 may be to few. Ninjas and swords are mana hungry.
I would not worry too much about blood moon. You will lose more games not having the right colour for the spell in your hand. You have discard and counterspells to fight that line of play.
How has Distortion strike been? I think it is likely better to have removal in that spot. You dont need to sneak by creatures that are dead (except zombies). Maybe smother or go for the throat. I personally love darkblast in these decks. So good against the inkmoth/glistner elf, affinity, elves, pestermites, dryad arbors, noble hierarchs, etc. I run 1 main and 1 side.
Isn't anyone going to run Invisible Stalker? It enables Ninjistsu easily, and it can't be dealt with. Sure, it's not as fast as other options, but it is more consistent.
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"If you don't wear your seatbelt, the police will shoot you in the head."
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
Everyone knows that good luck and good game are such insincere terms that any man who does not connect his right hook with the offender's jaw on the very utterance of such a phrase is no man I would consider as such.
Isn't anyone going to run Invisible Stalker? It enables Ninjistsu easily, and it can't be dealt with. Sure, it's not as fast as other options, but it is more consistent.
I'm sure once it's released and available, we'll all be trying it out
Isn't anyone going to run Invisible Stalker? It enables Ninjistsu easily, and it can't be dealt with. Sure, it's not as fast as other options, but it is more consistent.
Until it's released we shouldn't even consider it.
I have been turning my back on this deck recently as I won't be using Ninja's anymore.
I enjoy Ninjas however they seem to clunky for me where they give a ton of gas for a 50cc...
Your mana base. You forgot to type in the darkslick shores. It is a very good land for your deck allowing for more options on turn one. Zephyr Sprite or thoughtseize? I think you have too many basic swamps and verdant catacombs. I would try something like this for your current spell selection:
4 river of tears
4 darkslick shores
1 watery grave
2 verdant catacombs
1 minamo, school at water's edge (sick for the amount of legends you have)
4 mutavaults
2 creeping tar pit
4 island
2 swamp
24 lands
22 may be to few. Ninjas and swords are mana hungry.
I would not worry too much about blood moon. You will lose more games not having the right colour for the spell in your hand. You have discard and counterspells to fight that line of play.
How has Distortion strike been? I think it is likely better to have removal in that spot. You dont need to sneak by creatures that are dead (except zombies). Maybe smother or go for the throat. I personally love darkblast in these decks. So good against the inkmoth/glistner elf, affinity, elves, pestermites, dryad arbors, noble hierarchs, etc. I run 1 main and 1 side.
Opps, I have to own up here, I didnt include Darkslick Shores because I don't have them. I know we are attempting an optimal build here so bear with me for the moment :embarrass:.
Thanks for the recommendation, I have all the land cards already less Shores, and after playing several games each with Mono-G Posts and Zoo yesterday, was messed up a few times being unable to cast either a discard in the opening turn or failing to get UU for my Vendilion Clique or Familiar's Ruse. Shores should be able to solve the problems I encountered here.
On the other hand I alway seems to have sufficient lands(even by running 22), as NODH almost always connects in every game. Because i ran 7 cheap Ninja enablers & 6 discard spells, this combination ensures I have a high chance of connecting with NODH. Distortion Strike also allows me to pull more cards getting more lands in the process.
Distortion strike is massive because it allows Ninja's in play to beat through & abuse their ability further. It is suitable for my deck because i ran a variety of Ninjas, for example when I use it on Mistblade shinobi, he can bounce their creatures which I can counter when they cast it again which I did it multiple times yesterday. There was an epic match with Mono-G 12 posts whereby I had to bounce his Ulamog for 3 turns while he destroyed 3 permanents when he re-cast it 3 times. I won the game with my strength in numbers and with distortion strike on my biggest Ninja swinging for lethal.
Distortion Strike allows me to either swing for Ninja advantage or deal lethal damage. It also allows an early NoDH to continue drawing 2 cards in the next 2 attack(that is 6 player damage on the opponent). Distortion Strike works well in my deck because my discard spells will take out their removal so my Ninjas are able to utlise the unblockable without fear of removal.
Isn't anyone going to run Invisible Stalker? It enables Ninjistsu easily, and it can't be dealt with. Sure, it's not as fast as other options, but it is more consistent.
Until it's released we shouldn't even consider it.
I have been turning my back on this deck recently as I won't be using Ninja's anymore.
I enjoy Ninjas however they seem to clunky for me where they give a ton of gas for a 50cc...
LOL, I know where you are coming from, at times it is exasperating as it seems to take forever to reduce our opponent to zero life, I could attack successfully for a few turns and my opponent could still be seating at 10-14 life. My current build is actually Control-Aggro mid range and it is not meant to win early. However I did managed to force my opponents to concede a few times when my Ninja & Faeries combined to lock them out with no cards & permanents in play.
Right now, I'm having a lot of fun with Ninjas, and people were also surprised and intrigued with the deck i was playing.
LOL, I know where you are coming from, at times it is exasperating as it seems to take forever to reduce our opponent to zero life, I could attack successfully for a few turns and my opponent could still be seating at 10-14 life. My current build is actually Control-Aggro mid range and it is not meant to win early. However I did managed to force my opponents to concede a few times when my Ninja & Faeries combined to lock them out with no cards & permanents in play.
Right now, I'm having a lot of fun with Ninjas, and people were also surprised and intrigued with the deck i was playing.
Nice, I also own those but I also try to fit them in an Affinity Build... Do they work with Ninjas at all? Never tested it, besides you kinda have to build Erayo, correct?
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I always find my decks using 3CMC transmute, as opposed to Muddle or Dimir. What are the 2CMC that this deck that this deck would want to possibly tutor for? I usually go for Swords, Crystal Ball, Semblance Anvil etc. Something that as 1-of won't really hurt the deck and is still nice to draw at start of turn, or just tutor for a hard counter like Cancel or something. Now I think about it, Semblance Anvil looks okay as it can potentially make your creatures the same cost as using Ninjutsu, which can only be a good thing imo.
Also probably be using Inkmoth instead of Mutavault because of the $cost, so I guess Spellstutter is out for me, opening up more aggressive options like Swords and such (never liked faeries anyways). Maybe Quietus Spike? Not sure yet.
What about some form of Trinket Mage package, like Locket of Yesterdays for lands, or Infiltration Lens for combat mind games and CA, to help get ahead on the table? Tutorable Signal Pest to start the tricks, rather than having 4 and hoping not to topdeck them? Maybe I am ahead of myself, because the list is already tight enough as is..
As much as I like U/B, and Ninjas to be more fun than the T2 U/B play of Discard/Leak/Throat -> go -> Grave Titan, I would really like to get a feel for how the turn sequences are like using Ninjutsu, as I always find myself to be the more aggressive control player heh.
Hope this thread get some more attention, as I know quite a few people looking at the Ninja archetype. So kudos for the thread!
True, I was struggling to finish off my opponents even when i was playing Legacy Ninjas, Ninjas tend to bring you to the brink of victory but it just either lacked the final touch or took too long a time. Back then I relied on Jitte and Ink-Eyes for the final push.
Back to topic, it seems Vendilion Clique & Higure, the Still Wind are your main form of damage dealing which probably isn't fast enough thus giving your opponent time to recover.
Do you think equipments are needed here? I tried to find a good 2cc equipment to work with Dimir's Transmute ability without success. Otherwise SoFI, Quietus Spike & Ronin Warclub might be playable equipments.
Did you manage to Extirpate or Surgical Extraction their Punishing Fire to stop the combo?
Welcome to the Ninja Tribe!!! Ninjas FTW!!
The best thing about Ninjas - they are kept completely intact in Modern (okie there is only 8 of them). But the uncounterable & surprise element it provides makes for a very attractive proposition. There is something mysterious about Ninjas which i find very intriguing.
I have the deck formed and ready but can only playtest next weekend so updating the primer gotta wait for the time being. I apologise for the delay here.
I tried to did a search on 3cc cards with Transmute and only found this:
Based on this choices it doesn't seems like Transmute for 3cc will work here.
I find Crystal ball too slow, but I always look at Semblance Anvil as a card with potential. I'm still waiting for somebody to make the card broken but at the moment I don't see it in any competitive decks yet; is the card really not worth playing? Perhaps it's casting cost of 3 is the main reason.
Inkmoth is good too, it has evasion although it doesnt have the synergy with Spellstutter. But Mutavault should still be better as we don't really expect to attack with manlands.
Nice suggestions on the Trinket Mage toolbox, definitely something we can look into in future but like you mentioned the list is already so tight now i don't know how i can possbility add in additional several cards! If Trinket Mage had evasion i'll might try to force it in, but at 3cc, Clique is my choice.
Yeah....the T2 U/B play is so Zzzzzzz.
Thanks for throwing out so many new ideas and suggestions! Ideas like Anvil and Trinket Mage is really good.
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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
Clique was usually pretty decent. The problem I feel is the ninjas. They are pretty mana intensive without a great return. I almost feel like I should just go with a faerie or cruel control build instead.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
Anywho, I haven't really played many games with the deck yet, but I'll let you know in a week or so how my games go.
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
Since you already maindeck 4 creature removal spells & multiple hand disruption, perhaps Throat Slitter can be replaced with NoDH. Okiba can also be replaced by additional cheap Ninja enablers or Mistblade Shinobi. These will reduce your Ninjutsu cost substantially.
Unfortunately I think those cards belong more to a block or limited format:
Agony Warp - It can target both artifact/black creatures but I still think the likes of Go for the throat/Doomed blade are miles better.
Tidehollow Strix - It is a decent enabler, but I would rather go with a one-drop flyer.
Æther Adept - Good Ninja Tech, might belongs more to a casual setting I think.
Neurok Invisimancer - Another good Ninja Tech, belongs to casual.
Zombie Outlander - Great sideboard against Elves, thanks for pointing out.
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll probably include Adept, Neurok & Zombie in the primer at some stage.
Do you have a decklist? I'm keen to know how your Ninja list looks like.
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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'm using the one you have up, except without the Cliques because I'm poor
I use ninjas in pauper though and all of those cards are in my deck either in SB or MD. It's a pretty casual list as you've likely figured out though.
Here is the deck I have been building and refining since the inception (correct word used here ;-) ) of this deck.
As I said before I was going to make a BUG version of this deck, I came across a few speed bumps in that the deck performed really well under 4-5 turns, but then it got really tough to push through in the end.
I also noticed that I totally suffered against Zoo, as I know I have a ton of burn lands and that is my biggest flaw, I need to improve on that match-up game 1.
I've played vs. a couple of 12post decks, and a few U/R Combo decks.
Below is my proposed list of the BUG version.
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Water Grave
2 Breeding Pool
4 Island
2 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Mutavault
3 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Mistbind Clique
1 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Ink-eyes, Servant of Oni
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Distortion Strike
2 Spell Snare
2 Remand
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
The Swords have proven to be invaluable once you disrupt your opponent's plans.
I am having issues with aggro as I lose too much life and the deck does tend to be too slow. I might, in the end drop Green but Tarmogoyf and Birds have been all-stars.
There are a lot of U/r combo decks and random rogue decks. The list I posted was configured more against combo and control. It has a rough zoo/affinity match up which I address with the side board. Also punishing fires combo is really good against all ninja decks so a few extirpates/surgical extractions seem necessary.
The Sword of Feast and Famines have been outstanding in testing. They apply great pressure on combo and control and the pro green and +2/+2 is great against zoo game one. I usually board them out against aggro for games 2 and 3.
Agreed! That is why I only run the NoDH. When it connects I always get paid and it only cost the 2 mana. That is important for the curve.
Example, On turn 2, play Sprite EOT(hopefully countering a cmc1). This leaves up the threat of mana leak or removal. T3, Attack and ninjitsu. Play a land and discard spell to protect the ninja for the next turn.
This not a magical christmasland series of events. This line of play is pretty common and practically a KO against U based combo.
The Clique is important (that explains its price now :rolleyes:) but you can always play more faeries(to support Spellstutter) or more hand disruption.
Even with the casual list I can imagine it being very fun to play with. Duress is dirt cheap and Inquisition is affordable, the rest is just cheap enablers and cheap Ninjas? Everyone time I successfully activate an Ninjutsu I'll always sing "Ninja Warriors - We are the Ninja....." while my opponent goes :rolleyes:...
NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
This looks like a very demanding deck to pilot. Is Distortion Strike effective in the deck? I can imagine swinging twice with an unblockable Goyf to win the game or to generate massive advantage with a Ninja.
I felt the hand disruption & counter-suite in the list is quite diluted. I did some goldfishing and realised that i almost always want to have a discard spell in my opening hand. A good opening scenario will be to cast an Ornithopter & a discard spell in my opening hand following up with a Ninja.
I suppose Remand was there to disrupt your opponent's tempo and subsequently remove the spell with Clique or hand discard - did it work smoothly or was it too difficult to pull off?
Aggro is a tough matchup, and i relied a lot on Mistblade Shinobi to slow them down, even then I can only delay a couple of turns (Throat Slitter is too slow) and usually run out of steam against them - Goyf does a lot to stall in such a matchup.
Noted on the combos and punishing fires, extirpate or Surgical Extraction is definitely sideboard material.
Both you and Necroticah concur that Sword of Feast and Famine is a house here in a mana-hungry Ninja deck. Maindeck material check.
This is what i adore about NoDH, the example you described is a common occurrence and when you have Distortion Strike in your hand it is even more insane advantage. Further more we have already seen our opponent's hand and also have the same Spellstutter back in our hand.
From your reviews and Necroticah's, the deck looks reasonably competitive and I'm quite excited the deck is doing well against Combo especially. NINJAS FTW!!!!!!!
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
I use Ornithopter and Trinket Mage to get Ornithopter. Ninjas, Trinket Mages and ornithopters are great for buffing up Quest for the relic. Then once it's active its hard to lose. I also use random cards like Harm's Way, Dawn Charm, Aether Adept. It works very well, Ninjas with swords can pack quite a punch.
I actually thought Higure is a house. He is a Ninja Tutor allowing us to search NoDH for CA, Throat Slitter to kill non-black creatures or Shinobi to bounce black creatures you cant kill with Throat Slitter. Somemore Higure makes your Ninjas unblockable(including himself) for a very affordable 2 and can be utilise multiple times.
Higure is also strong enough to stay out of Lightning blot & Helix range.
Despite that, usually Higure is always killed off by other methods when he enters play, that is why playing black is important as we can play hand discard to take out their removal spells before Higure comes in.
Interesting..I havent thought of playing W for Ninjas. Quest with Ninjas is a solid idea but is that any better than the Kor Skyfisher & Glint Hawk route that we see in Standard? I can visualise Ninjas with quest seems slower.
I think other than Jitte the rest of your list should be Modern legal, seems like most of the cards will be from the Quest shell.
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
This would seem particularly good against the current meta, bouncing Cloudposts, Ascensions, goblin tokens (Echoing Truth), infect creatures that might be swinging for lethal, and so on.
The main concept, as I see it, would be to use the early turns (1-3) for discard, with Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Raven's Crime, Funeral Charm, and/or Duress. The specific discard package you use would have to depend on your meta. Then you play your creatures (having already stripped their hand of removal). You then swing in with unblockables, ninja away, and start bouncing permanents. You use Raven's Crime to make them drop the cards that you've bounced, keeping. This tempo should win the game, I would think.
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NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
The Ninjas I played didn't perform, honestly speaking, the only ninja I ever want to play is NoDH and maybe a singleton Ink Eyes.
Distortion Strike was an all star and I pulled miraculous wins with that card.
The deck curved out great, I either had a bistering fast start or a good control start.
Vendilion Clique, Tarmogoyf, NoDH and SoFaF are by far the best cards in the deck. As for the discard, yeah, I had an issue with not having one in my opening hand, it hurt a bit.
However you do 8 ways to strip their hand of their best / breaking card and that is always a plus side.
The changes that I'm going to make is firstly take majority of the Ninjas out and Replace them with more Fae and/or Life Gain... Man my Aggro match-up sucks.
I'm not really in favor of a massive bounce strategy, because there is bound to be threats which slip through that we might not be able to recover from. Right now the main concept as you explained, is to use early hand disruption either to remove their combo pieces or to ensure our Ninjas can beat through.
Let me explain, after the early Duress/Inquisition/Thoughtseize, the next choices we have is usually the following:
The CA generation portion is quite slow, therefore the heavy discard approach does not work well. As a "slow" deck we are unable to bounce opponents' permanent fast enough before they settle down.
Instead, I find that cheap counters/ Mistblade shinobi works well here. Shinobi is also tutorable with Higure around, allowing me to bounce troublesome creatures which we can counter next turn.
That said, the deck was effective in its application, being able to generate decent CA and degenerate stuff recycling Spellstutter. Whenever Higure stay around for a few turns I usually win the game.
I simply couldn't get any modern deck to playtest it's that bad.
NINJAS FTW!!!!!!
Higure was superb in my matches today. Because i play more Ninjas I was able to utilise his ability to the fullest. Distortion Strike was an all star for me too and many times it allows me to gain incredible advantage either via CA, Tutoring or crazy bouncing on their creatures. My deck also curved out smoothly so I was quite pleased with it.
I agree it hurts when there is no opening hand discard, however I'm happy with the 6 maindeck discard spells. I had at least a discard spell in 70% of the games which really get things going.
Try the Faerie/Mutavault countersuite, it is massive. There was a game when I casted a first turn Zephyr Sprite, follow by a SpellStutter to counter his Stoneforge Mystic(I was playing a legacy tournament deck that is how desperate I was), thereafter I flashed in another Spellstutter to counter his Trinket Mage, next turn drop Higure and it was good game..
Other games were not as perfect but plays similar to this happened very frequently. Right now i'm having a headache on what to remove to include some equipments.
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
What can I say?
Knights to me is like the wife at home, which is the greatest love I'll never forsake, always dependable, prim & proper....while the Ninjas are like the little mistress which you can't get out of your mind, always erratic & elusive, who gives you a oomph factor whenever you managed to Ninjutsu in. It's like a successful escapade.
Both you and DOLZero have recommended SoFF - I'm thinking of putting a singleton in my deck. My manabase could also do with some fixing especially adding Verdant Catacombs & Watery Grave. Did the 4x River of Tears work well for you? I have a playset but I'm not totally convinced of it yet.
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
One of the nice things about this deck is the land. It is very rare to get colour screwed with 20 black sources and 18 blue sources and it has 7 man lands. Best of all the mana does very little damage to you (confidants and thoughseizes do that :P).
Thanks for the card review! I definitely need to fix my mana base.
Drowned Catacombs is decent but I'll give River of Tears a try, I also intend to add 3 Verdant Catacombs due to it's interaction with River of Tears, and a singleton Watery Grave.
I'll also slot in a singleton SoFF to replace Mistblade Shinobi.
Modern NinjaFaerie - Version 3 - 15th Sept 2011
2 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
2 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Creatures- Ninja Enablers [14]:
4 Ornithopter
4 Zephyr Sprite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
Spells [14]
4 Distortion Strike
4 Familiar's Ruse
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
Lands [22]
1 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3 Mutavault
4 River of Tears
1 Watery Grave
4 Island
5 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
Your mana base. You forgot to type in the darkslick shores. It is a very good land for your deck allowing for more options on turn one. Zephyr Sprite or thoughtseize? I think you have too many basic swamps and verdant catacombs. I would try something like this for your current spell selection:
4 river of tears
4 darkslick shores
1 watery grave
2 verdant catacombs
1 minamo, school at water's edge (sick for the amount of legends you have)
4 mutavaults
2 creeping tar pit
4 island
2 swamp
24 lands
22 may be to few. Ninjas and swords are mana hungry.
I would not worry too much about blood moon. You will lose more games not having the right colour for the spell in your hand. You have discard and counterspells to fight that line of play.
How has Distortion strike been? I think it is likely better to have removal in that spot. You dont need to sneak by creatures that are dead (except zombies). Maybe smother or go for the throat. I personally love darkblast in these decks. So good against the inkmoth/glistner elf, affinity, elves, pestermites, dryad arbors, noble hierarchs, etc. I run 1 main and 1 side.
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
I'm sure once it's released and available, we'll all be trying it out
Until it's released we shouldn't even consider it.
I have been turning my back on this deck recently as I won't be using Ninja's anymore.
I enjoy Ninjas however they seem to clunky for me where they give a ton of gas for a 50cc...
Opps, I have to own up here, I didnt include Darkslick Shores because I don't have them. I know we are attempting an optimal build here so bear with me for the moment :embarrass:.
Thanks for the recommendation, I have all the land cards already less Shores, and after playing several games each with Mono-G Posts and Zoo yesterday, was messed up a few times being unable to cast either a discard in the opening turn or failing to get UU for my Vendilion Clique or Familiar's Ruse. Shores should be able to solve the problems I encountered here.
On the other hand I alway seems to have sufficient lands(even by running 22), as NODH almost always connects in every game. Because i ran 7 cheap Ninja enablers & 6 discard spells, this combination ensures I have a high chance of connecting with NODH. Distortion Strike also allows me to pull more cards getting more lands in the process.
Distortion strike is massive because it allows Ninja's in play to beat through & abuse their ability further. It is suitable for my deck because i ran a variety of Ninjas, for example when I use it on Mistblade shinobi, he can bounce their creatures which I can counter when they cast it again which I did it multiple times yesterday. There was an epic match with Mono-G 12 posts whereby I had to bounce his Ulamog for 3 turns while he destroyed 3 permanents when he re-cast it 3 times. I won the game with my strength in numbers and with distortion strike on my biggest Ninja swinging for lethal.
Distortion Strike allows me to either swing for Ninja advantage or deal lethal damage. It also allows an early NoDH to continue drawing 2 cards in the next 2 attack(that is 6 player damage on the opponent). Distortion Strike works well in my deck because my discard spells will take out their removal so my Ninjas are able to utlise the unblockable without fear of removal.
That's right, why not? Another Ninja Tech is always worth trying.
LOL, I know where you are coming from, at times it is exasperating as it seems to take forever to reduce our opponent to zero life, I could attack successfully for a few turns and my opponent could still be seating at 10-14 life. My current build is actually Control-Aggro mid range and it is not meant to win early. However I did managed to force my opponents to concede a few times when my Ninja & Faeries combined to lock them out with no cards & permanents in play.
Right now, I'm having a lot of fun with Ninjas, and people were also surprised and intrigued with the deck i was playing.
I have also brought a playset of Erayo, Soratami Ascendant from my LGS yesterday.
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
EDIT: NINJAS FTW!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice, I also own those but I also try to fit them in an Affinity Build... Do they work with Ninjas at all? Never tested it, besides you kinda have to build Erayo, correct?