Hello and welcome to Weekly Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Dark Leo & Shredder!

Dark Leo & Shredder is a two mana 1/3 with Sneak for a white and a black, gives attacking Ninjas you control have deathtouch, and whenever Dark Leo & Shredder deal combat damage to a player, create a 1/1 black Ninja creature token, then if you control five or more Ninjas, that player loses half of their life, rounded up.

Continuing on with looking at TMNT Commanders we have an interesting Ninja typal Commander in that we are removing one of the primary Ninja colors in blue and adding in white, which prior to the TMNT set we had precious few white Ninjas.

Dark Leo & Shredder have an interesting game plan in filling the board with Ninjas and reducing our opponent’s life totals dramatically when they deal combat damage, with the caveat that this is going to be pretty telegraphed since they are our Commander. This also means we need some ways to get our creatures through without being blocked so we can get Sneak and Ninjutsu our way in.

That was also something that blue provided in spades, meaning we need to get a bit creative in getting our Ninjas into play with a few tricks up our sleeve, as is the Ninja way.

Unblockable Threats

So the first thing we need are ways to get our creatures to go through and attack without being blocked in order to get our Ninjas into play through Sneak or Ninjutsu.

Changeling Outcast is actually the ideal creature for this deck because while it can’t block, it also cannot be blocked, is one mana to cast so when we get our Ninjas in we can redeploy very easily, and incidentally very importantly also has Changeling. This means that if we need some more Ninjas in play, at the very least we have a cheap Ninja to cast that can help facilitate our game plan.

Tormented Soul is also a one mana creature that can’t block and can’t be blocked without the benefit of being a Ninja, Gingerbrute is a one mana creature that has haste and for one mana can make themselves unable to be blocked except by creatures with haste, and Clockwork Druid which can exert itself in order to become unblockable and gives us the utility to also scry 1 when it does so.

There are also alternative ways we can get our creatures to be unblockable, like with Beloved Chaplain, which while it doesn’t strictly say it cannot be blocked, it does have protection from creatures, which means that it is essentially unblockable.

Ferropede is an interesting creature to consider because it is unblockable, but it also has the benefit of when it deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a counter from target permanent. While it wouldn’t serve too much use from removing a +1/+1 counter because of how easy they are to remove, there are a variety of other counters like ability counters, -1/-1 counters, and even loyalty counters from Planeswalkers are potential options.

We also have a couple of ways to give our creatures the ability to become unblockable like Secret Tunnel, which not only itself can become unblockable if it was animated, but for four mana and tap you can give two creatures you control that share a creature type to become unblockable.

While Seasoned Dungeoneer is a bit more niche and dependent on other creature we control, they can make it so that whenever we attack target attacking Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, or Warrior we control gains protection from creatures until end of turn and it explores as well. Not only that, but when the Dungeoneer enters we take the initiative, which also provides a whole host of bonuses.

If we want to give our creatures a better chance of going through unblocked, then Cover of Darkness works well because we choose a creature type when it enters and creatures of the chosen type have fear, which means that they can’t be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.

Ninja Army

While our pool of Ninjas is smaller by a bit without having blue, we still have a decent number of Ninjas that we can use in our colors.

We have access to plenty of utility Ninjas like Azra Smokeshaper, which when it enters we can give target creature we control indestructible until the end of turn, and it also has a cheap Ninjutsu cost of two mana.

Blade-Blizzard Samurai has a more expensive Ninjutsu cost of four mana but it also has double strike, Okiba-Gang Shinobi has it so that when they deal combat damage to a player then that player discards two cards, and when Skullsnatcher deals combat damage to a player then we exile up to two target cards from their graveyard.

There are some Ninjas that don’t have Ninjutsu or Sneak abilities, but also serve as a way to provide some utility like April O’Neil Kunoichi Trainee which scries 2 when she enters and can’t be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater, which means she is either going in unblocked or can potentially trade for something else.

Foot Mystic is a great way to also take advantage of creatures leaving the battlefield under our control because it has a Disappear ability that when it enters the battlefield, if a permanent we control left the battlefield this turn, we make a 1/1 Ninja token. This is helpful as well because we can potentially get some recursive value from Foot Mystic if we return it to our hand from a Ninjutsu or Sneak ability so we can make use of it’s ability again.

Another Ninja that doesn’t have a way to cheat themselves in that can be very useful is Throatseeker, which has it so that unblocked attacking Ninjas we control have lifelink, which if we cheat in a bunch of Ninjas can mean we have a decent amount of life gain on our hand.

This can be very useful with something like Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion, which when they deal combat damage to a player, we exile the top card of each player’s library and until the end of turn we may play one of those cards, and if we cast a spell this way we can pay life equal to the mana value of the spell rather than it’s mana cost.

There also happens to be Ninjas that have an ability to recur things from our graveyard or our opponent’s graveyard like Karai, Future of the Foot who whenever they deal combat damage to a player, we return target creature from our graveyard to our hand unless her Sneak cost was paid then she can put that creature onto the battlefield instead.

Shark Shredder, Killer Croc is also a solid option for taking creatures from a graveyard because when they deal combat damage to a player, we put up to one creature from that player’s graveyard onto the battlefield under our control tapped and attacking, which is also handy because Shark Shredder has first strike.

Ink-Eyes, Servant of the Oni is very similar in that regard because when they deal combat damage to a player we put a creature from their graveyard onto the battlefield under our control, but that creature doesn’t enter tapped and attacking, but the benefit is that Ink-Eyes can regenerate for two mana, which is very useful when wanting to keep a Ninja in play after a board wipe.

Flourishing Defenses

Since our deck is comprised of a l lot of small creatures as well as needing to have a certain amount of creatures, we need some additional ways to keep our board safe as well as to make sure that there are ways to recover.

Fogs are one of the better ways we can prevent a ton of damage coming our way since we are going to be without blockers a good chunk of the time, which Inkshield does amazing at because not only does it prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to us this turn, but it also makes a number of 2/1 Inkling creature tokens with flying which we can use to cheat our creatures into play.

We can use cards like Darkness, Ethereal Haze, and Holy Day as traditional one mana Fogs to prevent combat damage or in the case of Ethereal Haze damage dealt by creatures this turn, Luminesce to be a way to prevent all damage dealt by black and red sources this turn, and Riot Control to gain us 1 life for each creature our opponents control and prevent all damage that would be dealt to us this turn.

There are also cards like Angel’s Grace, which is a Split Second instant that says we can’t lose the game and our opponents can’t win the game this turn and until the end of turn, damage that would reduce our life total to less than 1 reduces it to one instead as a way to prevent alternate win conditions or our opponent’s going into a combo win.

Our deck also needs some form of resilience, and Endless Foot Assault is pretty good at this because whenever we attack, for each opponent, we create a 1/1 Ninja creature token that is tapped and attacking that opponent. This is also great in the later game because it has Squad, which means we can potentially get multiple copies of this in play in order to get a bunch of Ninjas back in play if we make a single attack to replace any from a potential board wipe.

Black Market Connections is a neat and risky way to get a bunch of solid benefits because at the beginning of our precombat main phase we choose one or more modes and that is create a Treasure token then lose 1 life, draw a card then lose 2 life, and create a 3/2 Shapeshifter token with Changeling then lose 3 life. Ramp, draw, and make a secret Ninja all in one card for the price of a minimum of 1 life and a maximum of 6 life each turn is not a bad deal, especially if we aren’t dealing with aggressive decks.

If we are dealing with aggressive or go wide decks then the classic of Ghostly Prison can be pretty good for us because we can make it so that our opponents need to pay two mana for each creature that attacks us.

Game Changers are an interesting point because other than some of the usual generic ones, the one I want to highlight in particular is Opposition Agent, which is a creature with Flash that let’s us control our opponents when they search their libraries and while our opponent’s are searching their library they exile each card they find, and we may play those cards as long as they remain exiled and can spend mana as though it was mana of any color to cast them.

Opposition Agent works really well as preventative measure from opponents that tutor for their combo pieces and, in my opinion, is a solid punishment tool for tutors in general. Now playing it early when people are establishing mana bases or doing basic ramp it can be a bit mean, but that is also context dependent.

If your play group does a lot of early tutoring for combo pieces or some insane ramp strategies, then Opposition Agent is a check for your opponents to make sure they don’t get too greedy, or they potentially give you their best lands or combo pieces.

Victory from the Shadows

Finally are the number of ways that we can win the game, of which we have a couple of interesting ways to achieve this.

First their are cards that are very similar to Dark Leo & Shredder that have our opponents lose half of their life, like Shredder, Shadow Master, which whenever they attack a player, for each other opponent we create a token that is a nonlegendary copy of Shredder that are sacrificed at the end of combat and has it so that whenever Shredder deals combat damage to a player, they lose half their life rounded up.

Unstoppable Slasher also comes to mind because when it deals combat damage to a player they lose half of their life, but also when it dies if it had no counters on it then we return it to the battlefield tapped with two stun counters, making it a persistent threat.

If we are dealing with a player that has a lot of life gain, we can use a tricky card like False Cure, where until end of turn if a player would gain life, they lose 2 life for each 1 life that they gained, which can really add up and be an actual threat to some life gain decks.

We also have the avenue to win via combat with a decently wide board, so some of the standard aggro strategies can also prove to be very helpful like Virtue of Loyalty, which puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature we control and then untaps them.

Akroma’s Will can make it so that if we can either give our creatures flying, vigilance, and double strike until end of turn or lifelink, indestructible, and protection from all colors until end of turn or both if we control our Commander.

Leader’s Talent is also a great consideration because at Level One whenever we attack we put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature, Level Two we gain 2 life if a creature we control that had a counter leaves the battlefield, and Level Three is whenever we cast a spell we put a +1/+1 counter on each creature we control.

Finally there are cards that can end an opponent instantly if we manage to get a way for our opponents to lose half of their life like Wound Reflection, which has it so at the beginning of the each end step, each opponent lose life equal to the amount of life that they lost this turn.

Bloodletter of Aclazotz, while expensive to buy, makes it so that if an opponent would lose life during our turn, they lose twice that much life instead, which not only works great from any of the effects that halve our opponents life, but also if we play an aggressive list then our creatures become even more effective.

In Conclusion

Dark Leo & Shredder is a neat Commander that puts an interesting spin on the usual Ninja typal strategy by making it more go wide and aggressive in order to have our opponents lose life as fast as possible.

Some of the usual threats of go wide decks are present like board wipes and exiling our Commander, but an interesting issue that comes with our Commander is that it is pretty telegraphed what our Commander is wanting to do, meaning that if we get them in play early, we are likely to be targeted.

The idea of going slow is much better because we can slowly have our opponents establish their board and become the threats while we slowly build ourselves up, using our Fogs to stay in the game. Once we have enough advantage going for us, then we can strike and make it so that we can potentially become the surprise threat.

Strike from the shadows, and win by having our opponents deal with each other rather than us until it becomes too late for them to win and we have a solid way to get ahead and win the game.

Thank you for reading, see you all next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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