Yuriko and her Ninja Rats

Format: Commander

Commander: Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 36

Deck overview

This deck is a hybrid Dimir tempo build combining the card advantage and direct burn of Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow with an aggressive Rat typal engine. The primary game plan seeks to land a cheap 1-mana creature on Turn 1, cheat Yuriko into combat on Turn 2 via commander ninjutsu, and immediately begin drawing cards while draining opponents based on revealed mana values. Mid-game turns transition into expanding the board with evasive Ninjas, planeswalkers like Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and scaling Rat payoffs such as Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm and Pack Rat. While Yuriko provides exceptional inherent resilience against commander tax and spot counterspells, the deck does not field fast combo finishes. Instead, it converts accumulated card advantage into a multi-turn combat clock supported by high-mana burn flips like Temporal Trespass and Plague of Vermin, closing the game around Turn 8.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
  • 1 Assassin Gauntlet
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Brotherhood Regalia
  • 1 Burglar Rat
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commander's Plate
  • 1 Cover of Darkness
  • 1 Darkslick Shores
  • 1 Disdainful Stroke
  • 1 Dismember
  • 1 Dolmen Gate
  • 1 Donatello's Technique
  • 1 Drainpipe Vermin
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fallen Shinobi
  • 1 Go for the Throat
  • 1 Hero's Downfall
  • 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
  • 11 Island
  • 1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
  • 1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
  • 1 Kaito, Dancing Shadow
  • 1 Karumonix, the Rat King
  • 1 Killing Glare
  • 1 Kitsune's Technique
  • 1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
  • 1 Macabre Waltz
  • 1 Maskwood Nexus
  • 1 Moonsnare Specialist
  • 1 Mukotai Ambusher
  • 1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion
  • 1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
  • 1 Ogre Slumlord
  • 1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
  • 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
  • 1 Pack Rat
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Pestilence Rats
  • 1 Phyrexian Arena
  • 1 Plague of Vermin
  • 1 Preordain
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Rat King, Pale Piper
  • 1 Ravenous Rats
  • 1 Refute
  • 1 Rev, Tithe Extractor
  • 1 Revenge of the Rats
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Satoru Umezawa
  • 1 Shadow Alley Denizen
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sign in Blood
  • 1 Silent-Blade Oni
  • 1 Silver-Fur Master
  • 1 Snuff Out
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Splinter, Hamato Yoshi
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 11 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tainted Isle
  • 1 Tangled Colony
  • 1 Temporal Trespass
  • 1 The Water Crystal
  • 1 Thieves' Guild Enforcer
  • 1 Thousand-Faced Shadow
  • 1 Throat Slitter
  • 1 Typhoid Rats
  • 1 Undercity Dire Rat
  • 1 Vibrant Cityscape
  • 1 Vren, the Relentless
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow