Every workday throughout the preview season for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Insight is taking a quick look at one new deck featuring the latest cards from the upcoming set. Let's start by checking if there are enough good Ninjas now to make a viable tempo deck in Modern!
Ninjas are out in full force again. (While also hiding in the shadows of course.) At first sight, they resemble Faeries quite heavily. Both run Dimir colors and are somewhat hard to block. Unfortunately, neither work in a purely tribal capacity. During the early days of Modern, tribal Faerie decks were a thing, but they always relied on support by tempo/control elements. Some renditions included both Faeries and Ninjas, but I think it's time for the latter to take the wheel.
The main win condition very well could be combat damage through ninjutsu. Think , as it's the biggest Ninja around. The single most influential one in the new set, though, is probably . It has everything a good Ninja ought to: a low mana cost, low ninjutsu cost, and a static power buff.
is another good one, given how it hits for 3 and can control an opponent's hand. That's not to mention the fact that it efficiently blocks later and even trades with a delirious held back to block. I also like how you can choose between having menace and hand control. Versatility in creatures is always welcome, so this may be a solid performer, even though it's not super flashy.
What really keeps this deck together, though, is . He can either draw you a card or create an unblockable creature token, then do the other thing on your following turn. Given how he phases out and due to the decreased popularity of removal like , chances are he'll stick on the board for at least two turns.
Are there any other good new Ninjas? Not really, not yet anyway. I find amazing and disappointing at the same time. I'd still try it, at least early on, because it's also quite versatile. It's either a turn one unblockable threat or an incredible ninjutsu threat.
Taking Ninjas new and old, , and the current popularity of into account, here's an experimental Ninja list. The sideboard is, of course, highly experimental, but I'm eager to try out some wacky Ninjas instead of the usual hate … for science!
| Dimir Ninjas, Modern |
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| Main Deck | Sideboard |
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