What it does
Ninjutsu lets you return an unblocked attacking creature you control to your hand, then put a creature with ninjutsu from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking, by paying its ninjutsu cost. You do this during the declare blockers step, after blockers are declared but only if your returning creature wasn't blocked.
The key nuance: the ninja enters already attacking the same player or planeswalker the swapped creature was attacking, so it deals combat damage that turn—but it skips combat triggers tied to "attacks" (like saboteur triggers that say "whenever this attacks"), since it never declared an attack. It does still trigger "deals combat damage" abilities. Also, the bounced creature returns to hand, dodging removal or saving a valuable attacker.
In Commander, ninjutsu shines with evasive enablers and cheap unblockable creatures, repeatedly swapping in heavy hitters or value engines while protecting your commander from removal.
Iconic cards with Ninjutsu
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