Hello everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel Show, and today we're looking at a commander that landed on the "Game Changer" list for the new commander bracket power level system. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow may have the most broken ability of all, thanks to her commander ninjutsu. We're going to analyze Yuriko as a card, explore the decklist, highlight key cards, and, most importantly, discuss how to beat it. Let's start with the card itself.

Commander:

Yuriko was a surprise addition to the Aminatou preconstructed deck in 2018. She can be ninjutsu-ed into play onto any creature for just 2 mana. The real issue? This ability is not affected by commander tax, effectively making Yuriko immune to it altogether. Combined with unblockable creatures, she becomes one of the most frustrating commanders in all of EDH.

Deck:

The Yuriko deck typically operates in three phases:

1. Deploy small, unblockable creatures with a mana cost of one or two.
2. Leverage commander ninjutsu to sneak Yuriko into play and start maximising card advantage.
3. Reveal high-mana-value spells like Temporal Trespass to deal substantial damage to each opponent.

Though the strategy remains mostly consistent across different power levels, this article focuses solely on brackets three and four and should not be used for cEDH games.

Here is an example of a Yurkio deck.

Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow | Commander | EDHRec Average List

• Commander (1)
• 1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

• Creatures (33)
• 1 Baleful Strix
• 1 Changeling Outcast
• 1 Faerie Seer
• 1 Fallen Shinobi
• 1 Gingerbrute
• 1 Higure, the Still Wind
• 1 Ingenious Infiltrator
• 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
• 1 Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
• 1 Mist-Syndicate Naga
• 1 Mistblade Shinobi
• 1 Moon-Circuit Hacker
• 1 Mothdust Changeling
• 1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion
• 1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
• 1 Ornithopter
• 1 Prosperous Thief
• 1 Sakashima's Student
• 1 Satoru, the Infiltrator
• 1 Shadow of Mortality
• 1 Silent-Blade Oni
• 1 Silver-Fur Master
• 1 Skullsnatcher
• 1 Slither Blade
• 1 Spectral Sailor
• 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1 Thousand-Faced Shadow
• 1 Throat Slitter
• 1 Tormented Soul
• 1 Triton Shorestalker
• 1 Universal Automaton
• 1 Wingcrafter

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

• Instants (19)
• 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Commandeer
• 1 Commit // Memory
• 1 Consign // Oblivion
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Deadly Rollick
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Fell the Profane
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Imperial Seal
• 1 Misdirection
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Negate
• 1 Sink into Stupor
• 1 Vampiric Tutor

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration
• 1 Temporal Mastery
• 1 Temporal Trespass
• 1 Treasure Cruise

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Arcane Adaptation
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Smoke Shroud

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Lotus Petal
• 1 Mox Amber
• 1 Scroll Rack
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Dominance

• Lands (29)
• 1 Choked Estuary
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Clearwater Pathway
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Halimar Depths
• 9 Island
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Shipwreck Marsh
• 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Watery Grave

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Strengths:

What makes this deck powerful is its balance between speed and durability. With early-game evasive creatures, mid-game card advantage, and explosive late-game spells, the deck is highly versatile. The unblockable creatures circumvent blockers, and a well-timed topdeck flip can end the game. Being in blue and black, the deck boasts excellent card advantage and removal. Yuriko also runs a significant number of high-mana-value bombs that can be cast for devastating effects in the late game.

Weaknesses:

Despite its strengths, the deck's primary vulnerability lies in its reliance on 1/1 creatures for combat. Larger creatures can easily outmatch them, and opponents tend to retaliate strongly after taking significant damage from Yuriko triggers. The combination of low-cost evasive creatures and expensive spells makes the deck weak to mid-game aggression if removal runs out. Yuriko needs to be able to attack to get the card advantage and reveal card damage, so if Yurikois put on the back foot and is forced to keep creatures back as blockers, it will drastically slow down their plans.

Key Cards to Watch Out For:

1. Mist-Cloaked Herald - This seemingly innocuous creature allows Yuriko and other ninjas to attack unblocked, only to return to play for just 1 mana in the second main phase. It's a major value engine and should be removed when possible.
2. Imperial Seal - Any topdeck tutor in this deck is likely searching for a high-mana spell like Temporal Trespass to maximize damage.
3. Scroll Rack - Yuriko players use this to repeatedly put high-mana spells back on top of their library. Removing this artifact is crucial.
4. Arcane Adaptation - This card turns every creature into a ninja, meaning every attacking creature will trigger Yuriko's ability.
5. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares - A new addition from Duskmourn, Kaito can be ninjutsu-ed into play for 3 mana and immediately generate value through emblems or card draw. Take it out quickly.

How to Beat Yuriko:

There are three rules when it comes to playing against Yuriko in a game of commander. Gameplan: Here is how the game should go in order to beat Yuriko.

Rule #1: Keep Yuriko off the board. The entire deck revolves around her, and disrupting her presence disrupts the deck's rhythm. Whether it's turning her into an elk, repeatedly destroying her, or outright stealing her, crippling Yuriko significantly hampers the deck's effectiveness. You cannot let the card advantage and damage start rolling or there will be no stopping it.

Rule #2: When in doubt, swing out. Granted, you may have to keep blockers up for the other players, but we want to pressure Yuriko's life total early and often to mitigate our own life loss.

Rule #3: The magic window. We need to hit Yuriko in the middle game when the board is only small evasive creatures and there isn't enough mana to cast the big spells. Once Yuriko can both get multiple triggers off of combat damage and cash in on those big spells, it will be over.

Commander Kryptonite:

If Yuriko is giving you trouble, consider these counter cards:

1. Disruptor Flute - Since ninjutsu is an activated ability, this shuts it down entirely. If you can protect it from counterspells, Yuriko players will struggle to deal with this artifact. It also increases Yuriko's mana cost significantly, slowing the deck down.
2. No Mercy - If Yuriko's ninjas die upon dealing damage, the Yuriko player may struggle to replace them, redirecting their attacks elsewhere.
3. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - This will wipe out most of their creatures, and since Yuriko will have zero power, she won't be able to trigger her ability. Meanwhile, Elesh Norn doubles the damage dealt to the Yuriko player.

And there you have it. That is how you beat Yuriko. Though this is a very powerful commander and a game changer, Yurkio is not unbeatable if you get your plan together. If YOU have a suggestion for Commander Kryptonite, send us an email at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, happy gaming!