Help with Ninjitsu deck

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Any suggestions.

Ninjas in Standard
The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I have
slowly whittled away.

Land (20)
20 - Island

Creatures (25)
4 - Ornithopter
4 - Sage Owl
4 - Trinket Mage
1 - Kira, Great Glass Spinner
1 - Temporal Adept
4 - Mistblade Shinobi
1 - Walker of Secret Ways
4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
2 - Higure, the Still Wind

Other Spells (15)
4 - Aether Spellbomb
4 - Boomerang
2 - Hinder
1 - Isochron Scepter
2 - Ronin Warclub
2 - Crystal Shard


I've recently dropped one warclub (down to 2), moved up to 4 boomerang and
added trinket mages and spellbombs to replace veil of secrecy and consuming
vortex.

I've once removed temporal adept but readded her as i am slightly more
bounce-oriented than removal. I've also considered dropping 2 mistblade
shinobi (they really only work well with walker, whom I am not a huge fan of
presently).

I've considered phantom warrior too, I'd like to consider other ways of
making my creatures unblockable, or using some other methods of getting my
ninjitsu to work effectively. Some suggestions for card drawing cards would
be nice too.

I find Kira (although detrimental to some of the effects in my deck) more
than compensates for what she takes away from the deck by making my small
creatures able to survive.

Since, I've added 4 trinket mages (which I love, especially with sage owl),
should I use Shuriken???? I hear good things about it, I used one initially
from the ninjitsu precon, but then opted to use spellbomb instead.... this
is a possible switch for me, as shuriken can easily be sideboarded out
anyway.

One thing I always take into consideration when I play is that my deck
doesn't remove permanents, it merely holds them back for a turn or two.
Although by midgame I can often have a handful of cards and weapons at my
disposal, my deck does deplete my opponents life slowly and occasionally
they can get a solid defense going (vedalken shackles and ghostly prison)
normally.

The deck functions quite well, right now. I still have difficulties with
some creatures (troll ascetic), but mainly Ghostly Prison and Vedalken
Shackles. I don't have a sideboard yet, but I foresee myself using
something like this

Sideboard (15)
2 - Reduce to Dreams (bounce all artifacts and enchantments if I got the
correct name)
2 - Evacuation (mass bounce creatures)

that's about all i can think of sideboard wise

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

"Daniel Austin" <anon@ymous.com> wrote in message
news😱YGdnTZU0OmtK9bfRVn-uw@rogers.com...
> Any suggestions.
>
> Ninjas in Standard
> The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I have
> slowly whittled away.

(snip)

> I've considered phantom warrior too, I'd like to consider other ways of making
> my creatures unblockable, or using some other methods of getting my ninjitsu
> to work effectively. Some suggestions for card drawing cards would be nice
> too.

(snip)

How about Whispersilk Cloak? Makes your creature unblockable and
untargetable.

- Dave

 

[pm]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

"Daniel Austin" <anon@ymous.com> wrote in message
news😱YGdnTZU0OmtK9bfRVn-uw@rogers.com...
> Any suggestions.

More ninjas. This is more of an unblockable/bounce themed deck with ninjas
than a deck truly BASED on ninjas. If you want a real ninja deck, pack it
with ninjas and things that help ninjas. I'd add one (or even two) Walkers
and one or two Shuriken (the Trinket Mages can seek them, assuming you have
enough 'thopters out). Swap the Crystal Shards and possibly two spellbombs
for some kind of counterspell (sure, you have hinder, but you need more!),
since there are some things that you don't want your opponent bringing into
play each round.

The phantom warrior addition ain't a bad idea. However, monoblue ninjas
aren't exactly the most aggressive deck out there! You HAVE to maintain
board control or you're in big trouble.

> 4 - Mistblade Shinobi
> 1 - Walker of Secret Ways
> 4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
> 2 - Higure, the Still Wind
>
> Other Spells (15)
> 4 - Aether Spellbomb
> 4 - Boomerang
> 2 - Hinder
> 1 - Isochron Scepter
> 2 - Ronin Warclub
> 2 - Crystal Shard

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

On 2005-03-31, Daniel Austin <anon@ymous.com> wrote:
> Ninjas in Standard
> The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I have

I just grabbed the Ninja pre-con in addition to the rat one (mostly for the
jitte), and my friend and I were playing them tonight, changing 5 cards each
turn, like Jay Salazar from wizards.com does. He just finished playing with
the Ninja deck, so his thought process is a good read. I find myself, like
him, going more of a control route. Then again, I like control, and I'm
trying out the Deep Hours ninja in my MUC deck.

>
> Land (20)
> 20 - Island

I don't find this to be enough, and don't see you running chrome mox. 20
might be good with moxen, but otherwise, at the very least, I'd go 1 Minamo
school, and probably an additional island, as well.

> Creatures (25)
> 4 - Ornithopter
> 4 - Sage Owl
> 4 - Trinket Mage

I'd drop something here. Not sure what. If you add the shuriken (which was a
bomb in my playtesting and brought me back from a losing game) I'd def keep
the mages. Sage Owl + Deep Hours is awesome, so it really depends on which
route you want to go. With the Mages, maybe you could run less ornithopters,
however, a 1st turn orni is great with a deep hours in hand.

> 1 - Kira, Great Glass Spinner

I'll have to try this, and almost put two in during one of my iterations, but
decided against it. She doesn't stop the club, so I'd keep those if I
played her, although the shuriken will not be nearly as good with her.

> 1 - Temporal Adept

This is a fantastic idea, and I'll definitely be putting some in.

> 4 - Mistblade Shinobi
This might be too many. It can be really good to clear stuff away. Also, w/
the shuriken, they can be killer. Have shuriken attached to one; tap; deal 2
damage; pay 2, attach to other; deal two more damage. That's a good deal.

> 1 - Walker of Secret Ways
Haven't gotten to play her, but I feel that two is right. I guess Higure can
tutor her out, which is cool. However, I see that w/ the shard, boomerangs,
and spellbombs, she's probably redundant. I'd add one of her and get rid of
the shards.

> 4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
> 2 - Higure, the Still Wind
>
> Other Spells (15)
> 4 - Aether Spellbomb
> 4 - Boomerang
> 2 - Hinder
> 1 - Isochron Scepter

What are you looking to imprint on this? The boomerang? That can defintely
be good, but just one scepter? seems like you might want more, or at least a
fabricate.

> I've recently dropped one warclub (down to 2), moved up to 4 boomerang and
> added trinket mages and spellbombs to replace veil of secrecy and consuming
> vortex.

I think all that was good. Like I said above: with Kira, warclubs are good.
Drop her, and the shuriken become the bomb.

> I've considered phantom warrior too, I'd like to consider other ways of

He's on my list and would seem to be a solid addition to this deck.


I see this deck going in one of two ways:
1) more control: add three scepters, prolly some moxen or more lands, and some
counter spells, and the ninja take a support role and control the mid-game
onwards.
2) A more ninja-themed deck w/ more ninja (hopefully some cool ones in
Saviors, as well) unblockability (a'la phantom and such), and I know you went
away from black, but I'd splash a little bit just for Throat Slitter. He is
really incredible.


> making my creatures unblockable, or using some other methods of getting my
> ninjitsu to work effectively. Some suggestions for card drawing cards would
> be nice too.

Thirst for Knowledge is the obvious choice, I think, as you have so many
artifacts. It's a great card. Otherwise, a couple Inspirations. The Deep
Hours should be drawing you a lot of cards, though.


> Since, I've added 4 trinket mages (which I love, especially with sage owl),
> should I use Shuriken???? I hear good things about it, I used one initially
> from the ninjitsu precon, but then opted to use spellbomb instead.... this

I'd say at least two, since you have the mages more isn't really necessary.

> disposal, my deck does deplete my opponents life slowly and occasionally
> they can get a solid defense going (vedalken shackles and ghostly prison)
> normally.

I think Shackles is an obvious addition to your own deck. It could really
take off, especially in the more control-oriented route.

> The deck functions quite well, right now. I still have difficulties with
> some creatures (troll ascetic), but mainly Ghostly Prison and Vedalken

I don't think there's much you can do there. If you went the other route w/
some black, Hideous Laughter would be good sideboard material, especially if
the Troll is prevalent in your metagame.

good luck, since I'm working on the same deck, I'd like to see your decklist
as it evolves. I forsee mine going the control-ish route, and the only reason
I don't have 4 Hinders and 3 Shackles or so is because I don't want to
dismantle my MUC deck.

K

--
In vino veritas

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Thanks for the reply.

I've made a few changes to the deck, and then I rechecked this post.

Turns out I had a Minamo Sightbender and only 19 lands.
Just a personal issue of mine that I tend to run 20 lands max in most decks,
and simply opt to run smaller creatures.

The constant changes are mostly to keep up with a friend of mine who is
continuously improving his decks.

Here's an idea of what I have now.


Lands (21)
21 x Islands (Increased by 2) (I'll put in a Minamo School if I get one, I
got a box of champions and got the green/red and black legendary lands

Creatures (25)
4 x Ornithopters
4 x Sage Owls (Will probably drop to 2 - despite that I love them that
much
4 x Trinket Mages (Might drop a few of these as well, depending mainly on
whether or not I drop aether spellbombs for vedalken shackles (I finally own
2) and/or unsummon, more bounce.
4 x Mistblade Shinobi (I like repetition bounce, but I think this is too
many, this guy is just too vulnerable once he's in play and his lasting
power seems only to be suitable as a shuriken user (or I can use crystal
shard/walker to bounce him myself)
4 x Ninja of the Deep Hours (If I had the choice, I'd use 10 of them)
1 x Walker of Secret Ways (Depends on how many other ninja I end up using...
since I'm probably adding 2 shuriken I'll need more ninja and might use 2 --
also seems to make mistblade more worth playing)
2 x Higure, Still Wind (2, I find is just right)
2 x Temporal Adepts (I put in a 2nd, just to draw them more often.... I also
realized that as much as I'd like, they either do incredibly well or
incredibly poorly, because of the high casting cost. There are too many
decks that can neutralize it, so they'll probably go after I play a few more
games)

Other Spells (14)
4 x Aether Spellbombs (I've only recently ever used these for the card
draw -- I'm debating whether they are any better than Unsummon, and since I
like boomerang/echoing truth so much, I might replace them)
4 x Echoing truth (Replaced 4 boomerangs -- no big change, except that I can
handle multiple ghostly prisons much better)
2 x Hinder (Quash, Condescend or Rewind might replace them, I don't want to
have too many counters in this blue deck in particular, despite a lot of
suggestions to add more)
2 x Ronin Warclub
2 x Crystal Shard

Right now I'm debating what sort of balance I want for creature removal,
bounce (via spells and spellbombs), board control (via shackles) and
counters.

I've removed Kira, Minamo Sightbender, and Isochron Scepter

Cards I'm now considering very closely for adding are (in no particular
order):
- Spire Golem
- Shuriken
- Whispersilk cloak (as Dave suggested in a previous thread)
- More countermagic

Cards I'm considering very closely for removing are:
- Trinket Mages, if I also remove
- Aether Spellbombs
- Mistblade Shinobi
- Temporal Adept
- Sage Owl

Not sure what I should do about (add more/remove)
- Crystal Shard
- Ronin Warclub

Tentatively I will probably replace:
- 2 Sage Owls with 2 Spire Golems
- 2 Temporal Adepts with 2 Shurikens
- 2 Mistblade Shinobi with 2 Whispersilk Cloak


Now that I think about it, whispersilk cloak maybe the card that I've needed
for some time. It's common, so I picked up 4 for 40 cents, whether I use
them are chew them up, it's not much to lose.
One problem I find myself having, is that although an aether spellbomb is a
great one time shot to clear a blocker, once I play something like a
mistblade shinobi, i have an impotent 1/1 creature out there, which can only
be saved by a crystal shard or walker. The other thing is whatever creature
is bounced back to my opponents hand can easily be recast and eventually
I'll run out of steam.
Similar things happen if I have say a deep hours ninja that will give me one
card draw (via a sage owl or ornithopter switch) and then he'll just be "out
there"
I want my deck to run a little more smoothly. I know shackles will solve a
few problems, like getting blockers out of the way and giving me a blocker
of my own, but I plan on using the shackles in a mono blue control deck.

Anyway, I'll finish the post here. Any continued suggestions are greatly
appreciated. Also feel free to send me your ninjitsu or mono blue control
decklists.

Thanks







"Kevin" <ktneely@no.spam.astroturfgarden.com> wrote in message
news:lcOdnTBqo7mUNcnfRVn-rg@speakeasy.net...
> On 2005-03-31, Daniel Austin <anon@ymous.com> wrote:
>> Ninjas in Standard
>> The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I
>> have
>
> I just grabbed the Ninja pre-con in addition to the rat one (mostly for
> the
> jitte), and my friend and I were playing them tonight, changing 5 cards
> each
> turn, like Jay Salazar from wizards.com does. He just finished playing
> with
> the Ninja deck, so his thought process is a good read. I find myself,
> like
> him, going more of a control route. Then again, I like control, and I'm
> trying out the Deep Hours ninja in my MUC deck.
>
>>
>> Land (20)
>> 20 - Island
>
> I don't find this to be enough, and don't see you running chrome mox. 20
> might be good with moxen, but otherwise, at the very least, I'd go 1
> Minamo
> school, and probably an additional island, as well.
>
>> Creatures (25)
>> 4 - Ornithopter
>> 4 - Sage Owl
>> 4 - Trinket Mage
>
> I'd drop something here. Not sure what. If you add the shuriken (which
> was a
> bomb in my playtesting and brought me back from a losing game) I'd def
> keep
> the mages. Sage Owl + Deep Hours is awesome, so it really depends on
> which
> route you want to go. With the Mages, maybe you could run less
> ornithopters,
> however, a 1st turn orni is great with a deep hours in hand.
>
>> 1 - Kira, Great Glass Spinner
>
> I'll have to try this, and almost put two in during one of my iterations,
> but
> decided against it. She doesn't stop the club, so I'd keep those if I
> played her, although the shuriken will not be nearly as good with her.
>
>> 1 - Temporal Adept
>
> This is a fantastic idea, and I'll definitely be putting some in.
>
>> 4 - Mistblade Shinobi
> This might be too many. It can be really good to clear stuff away. Also,
> w/
> the shuriken, they can be killer. Have shuriken attached to one; tap;
> deal 2
> damage; pay 2, attach to other; deal two more damage. That's a good deal.
>
>> 1 - Walker of Secret Ways
> Haven't gotten to play her, but I feel that two is right. I guess Higure
> can
> tutor her out, which is cool. However, I see that w/ the shard,
> boomerangs,
> and spellbombs, she's probably redundant. I'd add one of her and get rid
> of
> the shards.
>
>> 4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
>> 2 - Higure, the Still Wind
>>
>> Other Spells (15)
>> 4 - Aether Spellbomb
>> 4 - Boomerang
>> 2 - Hinder
>> 1 - Isochron Scepter
>
> What are you looking to imprint on this? The boomerang? That can
> defintely
> be good, but just one scepter? seems like you might want more, or at
> least a
> fabricate.
>
>> I've recently dropped one warclub (down to 2), moved up to 4 boomerang
>> and
>> added trinket mages and spellbombs to replace veil of secrecy and
>> consuming
>> vortex.
>
> I think all that was good. Like I said above: with Kira, warclubs are
> good.
> Drop her, and the shuriken become the bomb.
>
>> I've considered phantom warrior too, I'd like to consider other ways of
>
> He's on my list and would seem to be a solid addition to this deck.
>
>
> I see this deck going in one of two ways:
> 1) more control: add three scepters, prolly some moxen or more lands, and
> some
> counter spells, and the ninja take a support role and control the mid-game
> onwards.
> 2) A more ninja-themed deck w/ more ninja (hopefully some cool ones in
> Saviors, as well) unblockability (a'la phantom and such), and I know you
> went
> away from black, but I'd splash a little bit just for Throat Slitter. He
> is
> really incredible.
>
>
>> making my creatures unblockable, or using some other methods of getting
>> my
>> ninjitsu to work effectively. Some suggestions for card drawing cards
>> would
>> be nice too.
>
> Thirst for Knowledge is the obvious choice, I think, as you have so many
> artifacts. It's a great card. Otherwise, a couple Inspirations. The
> Deep
> Hours should be drawing you a lot of cards, though.
>
>
>> Since, I've added 4 trinket mages (which I love, especially with sage
>> owl),
>> should I use Shuriken???? I hear good things about it, I used one
>> initially
>> from the ninjitsu precon, but then opted to use spellbomb instead....
>> this
>
> I'd say at least two, since you have the mages more isn't really
> necessary.
>
>> disposal, my deck does deplete my opponents life slowly and occasionally
>> they can get a solid defense going (vedalken shackles and ghostly prison)
>> normally.
>
> I think Shackles is an obvious addition to your own deck. It could really
> take off, especially in the more control-oriented route.
>
>> The deck functions quite well, right now. I still have difficulties with
>> some creatures (troll ascetic), but mainly Ghostly Prison and Vedalken
>
> I don't think there's much you can do there. If you went the other route
> w/
> some black, Hideous Laughter would be good sideboard material, especially
> if
> the Troll is prevalent in your metagame.
>
> good luck, since I'm working on the same deck, I'd like to see your
> decklist
> as it evolves. I forsee mine going the control-ish route, and the only
> reason
> I don't have 4 Hinders and 3 Shackles or so is because I don't want to
> dismantle my MUC deck.
>
> K
>
> --
> In vino veritas

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Also, since I haven't really listed much of anything sideboard wise... as I
also haven't played any tourneys

2 x Evacuation (used these in the main deck at one point)
2 x Reduce to Dreams
.....

any suggestions sideboard wise are appreciated too.



"Daniel Austin" <anon@ymous.com> wrote in message
news😱YGdnTZU0OmtK9bfRVn-uw@rogers.com...
> Any suggestions.
>
> Ninjas in Standard
> The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I
> have slowly whittled away.
>
> Land (20)
> 20 - Island
>
> Creatures (25)
> 4 - Ornithopter
> 4 - Sage Owl
> 4 - Trinket Mage
> 1 - Kira, Great Glass Spinner
> 1 - Temporal Adept
> 4 - Mistblade Shinobi
> 1 - Walker of Secret Ways
> 4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
> 2 - Higure, the Still Wind
>
> Other Spells (15)
> 4 - Aether Spellbomb
> 4 - Boomerang
> 2 - Hinder
> 1 - Isochron Scepter
> 2 - Ronin Warclub
> 2 - Crystal Shard
>
>
> I've recently dropped one warclub (down to 2), moved up to 4 boomerang and
> added trinket mages and spellbombs to replace veil of secrecy and
> consuming vortex.
>
> I've once removed temporal adept but readded her as i am slightly more
> bounce-oriented than removal. I've also considered dropping 2 mistblade
> shinobi (they really only work well with walker, whom I am not a huge fan
> of presently).
>
> I've considered phantom warrior too, I'd like to consider other ways of
> making my creatures unblockable, or using some other methods of getting my
> ninjitsu to work effectively. Some suggestions for card drawing cards
> would be nice too.
>
> I find Kira (although detrimental to some of the effects in my deck) more
> than compensates for what she takes away from the deck by making my small
> creatures able to survive.
>
> Since, I've added 4 trinket mages (which I love, especially with sage
> owl), should I use Shuriken???? I hear good things about it, I used one
> initially from the ninjitsu precon, but then opted to use spellbomb
> instead.... this is a possible switch for me, as shuriken can easily be
> sideboarded out anyway.
>
> One thing I always take into consideration when I play is that my deck
> doesn't remove permanents, it merely holds them back for a turn or two.
> Although by midgame I can often have a handful of cards and weapons at my
> disposal, my deck does deplete my opponents life slowly and occasionally
> they can get a solid defense going (vedalken shackles and ghostly prison)
> normally.
>
> The deck functions quite well, right now. I still have difficulties with
> some creatures (troll ascetic), but mainly Ghostly Prison and Vedalken
> Shackles. I don't have a sideboard yet, but I foresee myself using
> something like this
>
> Sideboard (15)
> 2 - Reduce to Dreams (bounce all artifacts and enchantments if I got the
> correct name)
> 2 - Evacuation (mass bounce creatures)
>
> that's about all i can think of sideboard wise
>
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

On 2005-04-08, Daniel Austin <anon@ymous.com> wrote:
> Also, since I haven't really listed much of anything sideboard wise... as I
> also haven't played any tourneys
>
> 2 x Evacuation (used these in the main deck at one point)
> 2 x Reduce to Dreams

Hibernation might be good, as it gets rid of all the nasty green creatures
people tend to be playing, but keeps your blue ones in play. Just be sure not
to send their witness back to their hand.

Magical Hack, Mind Bend, or Spectral Shift is great to protect those islands.
With MUC getting so good lately, I think red & green will be siding in Boil &
Choke, respectively. The Hack might be the best, but it's no longer
standard. Shift might be better, and I'm running it in my MUC deck.

Sticking with Blue, anything that MUC uses would be good: Bribery, Acquire,
Time Stop, etc. One card I find fun right now with such jitte prevalence is
Carry Away. Cheap (mana and $$-wise) blue enchantment to steal their
equipment.

Black has so much power, that siding it for some other effects might be good.
If so, running 4 waterveil caverns and/or some Salt Marshes would probably be
necessary. You'll likely have a few of those after opening that Champions
box.

K


--
In vino veritas

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Daniel Austin wrote:
> Any suggestions.
>
> Ninjas in Standard
> The deck is mono-blue, at it's conception it had a bit of black which I have
> slowly whittled away.
>
> Land (20)
> 20 - Island
>
> Creatures (25)
> 4 - Ornithopter
> 4 - Sage Owl
> 4 - Trinket Mage
> 1 - Kira, Great Glass Spinner
> 1 - Temporal Adept
> 4 - Mistblade Shinobi
> 1 - Walker of Secret Ways
> 4 - Ninja of the Deep Hours
> 2 - Higure, the Still Wind
>
> Other Spells (15)
> 4 - Aether Spellbomb
> 4 - Boomerang
> 2 - Hinder
> 1 - Isochron Scepter
> 2 - Ronin Warclub
> 2 - Crystal Shard

You were looking for evasion techniques. This is not a great idea, but
I'll throw it out here anyway, in case it piques someone's interest:
Neurok Transmuter can make your creatures into artifacts for one blue
mana, then a Magnetic Flux can give all your creatures flying. It's
basic evasion, and although a squall or something similar would do your
critters in, it's not bad.

Also, what about the UU creature enchantment Invisibility? The creature
can't be blocked by except by walls.

Just my two cents. I hope it might have given you some ideas.

-wj

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 03:33:13 -0500, "Daniel Austin" <anon@ymous.com>
wrote:

>One thing I always take into consideration when I play is that my deck
>doesn't remove permanents, it merely holds them back for a turn or two.
>Although by midgame I can often have a handful of cards and weapons at my
>disposal, my deck does deplete my opponents life slowly and occasionally
>they can get a solid defense going (vedalken shackles and ghostly prison)
>normally.

Ever consider Equilibrium? When one of your creatures comes into play,
pay an extra 1 to bounce another creature. You can use it on your
opponent to help keep the path clear for your attackers, or you can
use it on your own creatures that have comes-into-play effects like
your owls or mages.