At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow
- Colors: Blue / Black (UB)
- Archetype: Dimir ninja topdeck-burn tempo (budget)
- Power tier: competitive
- Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
Same game plan as the power build, just crafted almost entirely from commons, uncommons, and cards you already own: flood the board with cheap unblockable and flying one-drops, then swap them for ninjas via ninjutsu so Yuriko and her crew connect every turn. Every connection reveals the top card and burns each opponent for its mana value, so the deck runs a fat pile of cheap scry/surveil (Faerie Seer, Preordain, Brainstorm, Consider) to set the top and loads the library with castable-but-huge delve and split spells (Dead Drop MV10, Consign // Oblivion MV7, Striped Riverwinder MV7, Treasure Cruise MV8, Gurmag Angler, Sultai Scavenger, Set Adrift) that double as burst reach and real removal. Dense cheap interaction (Fatal Push, Bloodchief’s Thirst, Infernal Grasp, Drown in the Loch, Counterspell) protects the clock. Wins the same way the ideal does, just a hair slower: a single revealed delve fatty drains the table or an unblockable ninja swarm closes it out.
Upgrade path
This is the playable-NOW build. The only rare/mythic wildcard you spend is the commander, Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow (you don’t own her yet); every other card is owned or a cheap common/uncommon craft, so exactly 1 rare/mythic total for the whole deck. It swaps the ideal’s unaffordable rares for in-role budget pieces: the ninjutsu-tutor and premium-ninja rares (A-Satoru Umezawa, Satoru, Nashi, Biting-Palm Ninja, Mist-Syndicate Naga, Fallen Shinobi, A-Thousand-Faced Shadow) become a wider commons/uncommons ninja shell (Moonsnare Specialist, A-Nezumi Prowler, Covert Technician, Moonblade Shinobi, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Inkrise Infiltrator, Soaring Thought-Thief) plus more unblockable carriers (Invisible Stalker, Nezumi Cutthroat, River Sneak); the high-MV flip package (Temporal Trespass, Shadow of Mortality, Dig Through Time, Necropolis Fiend, Commit // Memory) becomes Dead Drop / Consign // Oblivion / Striped Riverwinder / Sultai Scavenger / Set Adrift; and the card-advantage/interaction rares (Mystic Remora, The Reality Chip, Bident of Thassa, Cyclonic Rift, Swan Song, Psychic Frog, Thief of Sanity, Dauthi Voidwalker, Bitterblossom) become Quick Study, Deduce, Winged Words, Deadly Dispute, Into the Flood Maw, Disdainful Stroke, and Coldsteel Heart. The power version at data/decks_json/brawl-yuriko.json is the upgrade target: re-craft the ninjutsu rares and the delve/high-MV bombs first, they’re the biggest jump in kill speed.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Deck
1 A-Moon-Circuit Hacker
1 A-Silver-Fur Master
1 Skullsnatcher
1 A-Dokuchi Silencer
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 A-Prosperous Thief
1 Ingenious Infiltrator
1 Moonsnare Specialist
1 A-Nezumi Prowler
1 Covert Technician
1 Moonblade Shinobi
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Inkrise Infiltrator
1 Changeling Outcast
1 Slither Blade
1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
1 Triton Shorestalker
1 Faerie Seer
1 Spectral Sailor
1 Spyglass Siren
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Nezumi Cutthroat
1 River Sneak
1 Soaring Thought-Thief
1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Gurmag Angler
1 Sultai Scavenger
1 Dead Drop
1 Set Adrift
1 Striped Riverwinder
1 Consign
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Consider
1 Opt
1 Chart a Course
1 Quick Study
1 Deduce
1 Winged Words
1 Read the Bones
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Reconnaissance Mission
1 Deadly Dispute
1 Fatal Push
1 Bloodchief's Thirst
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Heartless Act
1 Drown in the Loch
1 Sheoldred's Edict
1 Into the Flood Maw
1 Counterspell
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Spell Pierce
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Arcane Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Command Tower
1 Undercity Sewers
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Watery Grave
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Underground River
19 Island
12 Swamp
Ideal build (upgrade target)
The power-ceiling build (multi-agent workflow output) — every premium payoff and the full combo/synergy package. The current list is the playable-now budget version; craft toward this as your wildcards come in.
Crafts to reach the ideal: 23 (2 mythic, 18 rare, 3 other)
- Mythic: Mystic Remora, Temporal Trespass
- Rare: A-Satoru Umezawa, A-Thousand-Faced Shadow, Bident of Thassa, Biting-Palm Ninja, Bitterblossom, Commit // Memory, Cyclonic Rift, Dig Through Time, Mist-Syndicate Naga, Nashi, Searcher in the Dark, Necropolis Fiend, Otawara, Soaring City, Psychic Frog, Satoru, the Infiltrator, Shadow of Mortality, Swan Song, The Reality Chip, Thief of Sanity
- Other: Dauthi Voidwalker, Dimir Signet, Fallen Shinobi
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Deck
1 A-Thousand-Faced Shadow
1 A-Moon-Circuit Hacker
1 A-Silver-Fur Master
1 Skullsnatcher
1 A-Dokuchi Silencer
1 Nashi, Searcher in the Dark
1 Satoru, the Infiltrator
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 A-Prosperous Thief
1 Biting-Palm Ninja
1 Mist-Syndicate Naga
1 A-Satoru Umezawa
1 Ingenious Infiltrator
1 Fallen Shinobi
1 Changeling Outcast
1 Slither Blade
1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
1 Triton Shorestalker
1 Faerie Seer
1 Spectral Sailor
1 Spyglass Siren
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Bitterblossom
1 Dauthi Voidwalker
1 Psychic Frog
1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Thief of Sanity
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Temporal Trespass
1 Shadow of Mortality
1 Gurmag Angler
1 Necropolis Fiend
1 Commit
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Consider
1 Opt
1 Chart a Course
1 Mystic Remora
1 The Reality Chip
1 Read the Bones
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Reconnaissance Mission
1 Fatal Push
1 Bloodchief's Thirst
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Heartless Act
1 Drown in the Loch
1 Sheoldred's Edict
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Counterspell
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Swan Song
1 Spell Pierce
1 Arcane Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Command Tower
1 Undercity Sewers
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Watery Grave
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Underground River
19 Island
11 Swamp
Card images & data via Scryfall.