Legendary Creature — Human Ninja

Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

Mana value3EDHREC#2,407

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The Commander

Commander ninjutsu {U} {B} ( {U} {B} , Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand or the command zone tapped and attacking.)

Whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage to a player, reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. Each opponent loses life equal to that card's mana value.

Guide

Gameplan

Yuriko wins by sneaking in evasive attackers, using Commander ninjutsu to swap a small unblocked creature for Yuriko herself, then dealing combat damage to trigger her reveal ability that drains every opponent for the revealed card's mana value. Stack your deck with high-MV cards and chip in repeatedly each combat to burn the whole table. Cheap evasive enablers and extra combats turn each turn into massive lifeloss.

Strengths

Hits all opponents at once with each Ninja combat trigger, scaling fast in multiplayer
Cheap, recastable commander that dodges removal by bouncing to hand via ninjutsu
Built-in card advantage every combat keeps the deck refueled
Low average mana curve means fast, mana-efficient setup with explosive payoffs

Weaknesses

Needs unblocked attackers, so blockers, fogs, and flying defense slow her down
Damages Yuriko's owner is fine but she's the centerpiece — heavy creature removal hampers the engine
Top-of-library variance can whiff with low-MV reveals
Can paint a target as the deck is well-known and telegraphs lethal drains

Key Cards

Mystic Sanctuary — Helps fix the top of your library and recur big spells for huge reveal triggers.
Brainstorm — Sets up the top of your library to reveal high-mana-value cards for maximum drain.
Fierce Guardianship — Free counterspell that protects Yuriko and your combat steps at no mana cost.
Changeling Outcast — Unblockable one-drop Ninja that's the ideal repeatable ninjutsu enabler.
Temporal Trespass — A 13+ mana value card you can hardcast cheaply via delve, dealing massive Yuriko damage plus an extra turn.
Mass Manipulation — X-spell with a sky-high revealed mana value when stacked on top, draining the table hard.

Upgrade Path

Prioritize cheap unblockable enablers (Changeling Outcast, Mistblade Shinobi, Ingenious Infiltrator) and pack the deck with high-mana-value bombs that are cheap to cast or free, like the Eldrazi titans, delve spells (Temporal Trespass, Dig Through Time), and big X-spells. Add top-deck control (Brainstorm, Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top, Mystic Sanctuary) to guarantee maximum reveals, plus free protection (Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting Swat) and extra combats (Aggravated Assault) to push the power ceiling.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Repeated Yuriko combat-damage triggers draining all opponents to zero
▸Stacking high-MV reveals (delve spells, X-spells, expensive bombs) for huge lifeloss bursts
▸Extra combat steps multiplying Yuriko triggers in a single turn
▸Commander damage from a buffed, unblockable Yuriko as a backup line

Archetypes

Ninjas / Tempo — Yuriko rewards a critical mass of evasive Ninjas that bounce and replay to trigger her drain each combat.
Spellslinger / Big-MV Topdeck — Loading the deck with high-mana-value spells and library manipulation maximizes each reveal's lifeloss.
Combo / Extra Combats — Extra-combat and unblockable effects let Yuriko trigger multiple times per turn for explosive lethal swings.
Control — UB counters and removal protect Yuriko and stall while the drain engine grinds opponents out.