I think I finally found a way to change my Dimir archetype into Ninjas. I envision the archetype not as actual tribal but as a tempo deck getting value from the ninjas ninjutsu and saboteur abilities. But first I'd like to check if the riptide gang has (as usual) something useful to say to that topic.
For starters, you'd need a bunch of ninjas, I guess. Those here are my favorites currently (but I probably need more):
Here are all the cards with the ninjutsu ability: https://scryfall.com/search?q=o:ninjutsu&unique=cards&as=grid&order=color&dir=
Sucks a bit that 4 of them are gold cards, since I only have 2 slots in Dimir for them. I wonder how many actual Ninjas a 40 card deck with a low curve wants.
My first idea was to pair them with cheap EtB creatures that fit the tempo nature of the deck, optimally being evasive too. Stuff like this:
Cards like these are far from narrow and work well with a blink theme, which I have in WU like many others here. I already run a few incidentally.
Now, you could add stuff that makes your ninjas come trough. But I think you'll start looking at narrow cards quickly. Stuff like Artful Dodge just doesn't seem appealing for any non-ninja-drafters, and maybe not even there, it will be too great. Things might change if one does also run archetypes like heroic or auras, but for me that's not the case. Since we're in blue/black though, I think the best thing to do is grabbing some bounce and kill spells to keep the path clear, once you ninjutsu'd a ninja or two into play. EtB bounce/kill guys like Man-o'-war or Nekrataal seem especially sweet.
But in general, evasive creatures and those with EtB abilities are great cube cards for most power levels anyway. I imagine and hope, the Ninjas will be a cool element to tie them together in a tricky archetype. But before I start with the work (it will be days), I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Probably there are many cool cards to add and things to try within that archetype, as well as traps to pass - all of which I haven't thought of yet.
For starters, you'd need a bunch of ninjas, I guess. Those here are my favorites currently (but I probably need more):
Here are all the cards with the ninjutsu ability: https://scryfall.com/search?q=o:ninjutsu&unique=cards&as=grid&order=color&dir=
Sucks a bit that 4 of them are gold cards, since I only have 2 slots in Dimir for them. I wonder how many actual Ninjas a 40 card deck with a low curve wants.
My first idea was to pair them with cheap EtB creatures that fit the tempo nature of the deck, optimally being evasive too. Stuff like this:
Cards like these are far from narrow and work well with a blink theme, which I have in WU like many others here. I already run a few incidentally.
Now, you could add stuff that makes your ninjas come trough. But I think you'll start looking at narrow cards quickly. Stuff like Artful Dodge just doesn't seem appealing for any non-ninja-drafters, and maybe not even there, it will be too great. Things might change if one does also run archetypes like heroic or auras, but for me that's not the case. Since we're in blue/black though, I think the best thing to do is grabbing some bounce and kill spells to keep the path clear, once you ninjutsu'd a ninja or two into play. EtB bounce/kill guys like Man-o'-war or Nekrataal seem especially sweet.
But in general, evasive creatures and those with EtB abilities are great cube cards for most power levels anyway. I imagine and hope, the Ninjas will be a cool element to tie them together in a tricky archetype. But before I start with the work (it will be days), I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Probably there are many cool cards to add and things to try within that archetype, as well as traps to pass - all of which I haven't thought of yet.
