Ninja
Ninja (NIN-ja)[2] is a job. Most ninjas are blue, black, or both.
| Creature Type | |
|---|---|
| (Subtype for creature/kindred cards) | |
| Introduced | Betrayers of Kamigawa |
| Last used | Final Fantasy Commander |
| Beeble Scale | 6[1] |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
|
123 cards  1.6%  9.8%  22.8%  24.4%  6.5%  10.6%  24.4% | |
|
8 token creation cards 37.5% 12.5% 25% 25% | |
|
24 typal synergy cards 12.5% 4.2% 25% 16.7% 4.2% 37.5% | |
|
116 artworks 12.9% 6% 29.3% 25.9% 3.4% 7.8% 14.7% | |
Description
Ninjas, also called Shinobi (shee-NO-bee),[2] are masters of both stealth and armed combat who may find employment as spies, warriors, mercenaries or assassins; they are famed for their versatility.[3][4][5] Secretive in the extreme, some ninja practice magic that further enhances their abilities of infiltration. Some ninja come together in clans, though many others are solitary rogues.
The ninjutsu ability, its variant commander ninjutsu, and its successor sneak are exclusive to ninjas.
History
Until 2017 the only sets featuring Ninjas were Betrayers of Kamigawa and Planechase 2012 (in the Night of the Ninja deck). They reappeared in the silver-bordered Unstable[6] and in Commander 2018 (Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow).
According to Mark Rosewater, it was likely that Ninjas would also return to black border.[7] That came true when they appeared in Modern Horizons.[8][9] This set featured Ninjas from several planes and with several creature types (including Vampire, Illusion, and Spirit), with many of them also featuring the ninjutsu ability.[10] Incidentally, this set introduced the first black-border Ninjas without the ninjutsu ability, with Phantom Ninja having a ninjutsu-enabling ability and Throatseeker having a ninjutsu-benefitting ability.
Ninjas return to Standard Magic in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Fewer Ninjas have saboteur abilities, with designs leaning towards developing tricky combat steps, and many also do not have ninjutsu. There also is the first white Ninja and four green Ninjas. Among the green Ninjas, there is one that is also a Turtle, which, alongside a Rat Ninja lord with a cane that lives in the sewers, likely takes inspiration from the comic book series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Said comic would later receive its own product.
Universes Beyond
The first monored Ninja, Yuffie, Materia Hunter, hailed from Final Fantasy, the only one in the set. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a set with a major Ninja theme, with 63 Ninjas across all colors over all the associated products; however, many of them were reiterated characters.
Notable Ninjas
- Kamigawa
Pirates vs. Ninjas
Duel Decks: Pirates vs. Ninjas was a joke Duel Deck set for April Fools' Day 2008.[11] The set has not been released as a product.
Tokens
| Token name | Color | Type line | P/T | Text box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ninja | Creature — Ninja | 1/1 | This creature can't be blocked | |||
| Creature — Ninja | 2/1 | |||||
| Creature — Ninja | 1/1 | |||||
| Ninja Turtle Spirit | Creature — Ninja Turtle Spirit | 1/1 | ||||
| Mist-Syndicate Naga | Creature — Snake Ninja | 3/1 | Ninjutsu Whenever Mist-Syndicate Naga deals combat damage to a player, create a token that’s a copy of Mist-Syndicate Naga. |
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (2013-03-22). "Ninjas in an expert expansion on the Storm Scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b Magic Arcana (January 24, 2005). "A Kamigawa Glossary, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 10, 2005). "When Ninjas Attack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 32, 2005). "Ninjas & Pirates & Myrs… Oh My!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03.
- ↑ Alex Smith (March 07, 2005). "Truth in Fantasy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 01, 2017). "With regards to Ninja's". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 24, 2018). "Can you tell me how likely ninjas are to return to Black border? (With or without ninjutsu).". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Dan Musser (May 24, 2019). "Fallen Shinobi". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30.
- ↑ Cynthia Sheppard (May 22, 2019). "A Sliver of Direction". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-05-22.
- ↑ Ethan Fleischer (May 31, 2019). "Mark Rosewater strongly advocated that we free Ninjas from ninjutsu!". Twitter.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 1, 2008). "A Special Product Announcement". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2017-10-11.