Commander blueprint · Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

How to build Dark Leo & Shredder

Dark Leo & Shredder halve the life of any player they deal combat damage to once you control five Ninjas, and their sneak cost puts them into combat after blockers are chosen. This build sends them back to your hand after each hit, because cast from there the sneak is two mana every time and the commander tax never applies.

Art by Thomas Chamberlain-Keen

Return them to your hand and the sneak never pays tax

Commander tax only counts casts from the command zone. Sneak Dark Leo & Shredder from there and the price rises by each time, the same as for any commander, so the third cast is plus . When a commander would be put into your hand, though, moving it to the command zone is your choice rather than a rule, and a commander cast from your hand pays no tax at all. Keep them in your hand and the sneak is on turn four and on turn fourteen. So the list carries three cards that send them home after they connect. Prehistoric Pet returns another creature you control to your hand for and a tap, during your turn only, so it does the job in your second main phase once combat is over. Kor Skyfisher returns a permanent you control as it enters. Flock Impostor has flash and returns up to one other creature you control as it enters, which also rescues the commander from a removal spell aimed at it.

Your hand is also the safest place to keep a commander. Between your attacks Dark Leo & Shredder are a card you are holding, so a board wipe on someone else's turn or removal cast at sorcery speed finds nothing to hit. They can only be answered from the moment they enter in your combat until you send them back, and three open mana for Flock Impostor covers most of that.

The other choice every sneak asks for is which attacker goes back. A token returned to your hand simply stops existing, so when the count to five is tight, return a card. Changeling Outcast is the usual one. Nothing can block it, so it is always there to return, and it costs to cast again. Graveshifter returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand each time it enters. Three cards reward the bounce itself, since every sneak takes a permanent off the battlefield. Super Shredder gets a +1/+1 counter whenever another permanent leaves the battlefield, Foot Mystic makes a Ninja token as it enters if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, and Ninja Teen makes each opponent lose 1 life whenever a creature you control leaves the battlefield.

Five Ninjas means three more, because the commander and its token count

The trigger makes its token first and counts afterwards, and Dark Leo & Shredder are a Ninja themselves. So the commander and the token it has just created are two of the five, and the halving needs three other Ninjas on the battlefield as the trigger resolves. Endless Foot Assault gets there by itself at a table of four. Whenever you attack, it creates a 1/1 black Ninja token tapped and attacking each opponent. Attack with Changeling Outcast alone, take the three tokens, and sneak the commander in by returning the Outcast, which nobody could block. That is the commander, three tokens and the new one, five Ninjas on the first hit from two cards and the commander. A token that gets blocked dies with its blocker before the trigger counts, which is the one way a table can hold the number down, and every such block costs them a creature. The enchantment's squad cost of makes a copy of it each time you pay it, and every copy adds another token per opponent to each attack.

The Last Ronin's Technique is the other big jump in the count. It makes three 1/1 Ninja Turtle Spirits, and cast for its sneak cost of during the declare blockers step they enter tapped and attacking after blocks, so they are unblocked as well. The five changelings count wherever they are: Changeling Outcast, Universal Automaton, Flock Impostor, Mirror Entity and Graveshifter. Mirror Entity goes further. For it makes every creature you control an X/X with all creature types until end of turn, so the creatures here that are not Ninjas count too, and a board of 1/1 tokens hits as hard as you can pay for.

Name Ninja on every card that asks for a creature type. There are eight: Roaming Throne, Patchwork Banner, Herald's Horn, Vanquisher's Banner, Secluded Courtyard, Unclaimed Territory, Kindred Dominance and Crippling Fear. Roaming Throne becomes the chosen type as well, so it is a Ninja for the count. What naming Ninja leaves out is the five creatures that are something else: Bloodletter of Aclazotz, Welcoming Vampire, Tymna the Weaver, Kor Skyfisher and Astarion, the Decadent. The banners give them nothing. Kindred Dominance destroys every creature that is not of the chosen type, so it kills those five along with everything your opponents control that is not a Ninja. Crippling Fear gives the same creatures -3/-3, which Bloodletter of Aclazotz and Astarion, the Decadent survive and the other three do not. Cast either one while those five are off the battlefield, or after Mirror Entity has made them Ninjas for the turn.

Half, rounded up, needs five hits from 40

Combat damage is dealt before the trigger resolves, so the halving works on whatever the attack has left. The commander deals 1 on its own, and a player on 40 goes to 39 and then loses 20, finishing on 19. Hit by the commander alone on later turns, that player drops to 9, then 4, then 1, and the fifth hit kills. Every point the rest of the attack deals that player comes off before the halving, so the tokens beside the commander matter, but on its own the trigger still has to land on several turns.

What the halving does guarantee is that its victim ends the turn with no more life than they lost during it. They keep half of what combat left them, rounded down, and they lost the other half plus the combat damage. So any card that repeats a turn's life loss finishes them. Wound Reflection does that to each opponent at the beginning of each end step. Astarion, the Decadent does it to one opponent as your end step begins, if you choose its Feed mode, and one is all it needs, because the player the commander hit is the one to point it at. Bloodletter of Aclazotz gets there inside the same combat. An opponent who would lose life during your turn loses twice that much instead, so the 1 damage costs them 2 and the halving takes all the rest.

The other route is a second halving. Shredder, Shadow Master halves any player it deals combat damage to with no Ninja count to meet, and the copies of itself it sends at your other opponents are Ninjas too, so they carry the commander's deathtouch. Quietus Spike gives the same halving to the creature it equips, and on Changeling Outcast it lands every turn, because nothing can block the Outcast. Return something else for the sneak on those turns, or the Spike falls off. Roaming Throne naming Ninja makes the commander's trigger happen an additional time, which is two tokens and two halvings from one hit. Akroma's Will gives your creatures double strike, and with your commander on the battlefield after the sneak you may choose both of its modes, so the attack is indestructible as well and the commander deals combat damage twice and triggers twice.

Deathtouch on the attack turns every block into a trade

The deathtouch line only works while a Ninja is attacking, and it changes how a table blocks. Any amount of damage from a creature with deathtouch is enough to destroy the creature it hits, so a 1/1 token kills whatever blocks it, and blocking with anything worth keeping is a bad deal. Most players take the point instead, which is how this deck keeps finding the unblocked attacker that sneak and ninjutsu both need. First strike makes the trade free, because the blocker dies before it deals any damage back. Leonardo, Leader in Blue gains first strike for , Shark Shredder, Killer Clone has it printed, and Leonardo, Sewer Samurai has double strike.

For the turns a table does block, a few Ninjas get past by themselves. April O'Neil, Kunoichi Trainee cannot be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater, Prehistoric Pet cannot be blocked by creatures with greater power than its own, and Inkrise Infiltrator flies. Turtle Lair makes a Ninja unblockable for and a tap, and Rogue's Passage does the same for any creature at . Two of the ninjutsu cards clear the way for the next attack too. Throat Slitter destroys a nonblack creature belonging to the player it hits, and Dokuchi Silencer destroys a creature or planeswalker of theirs if you discard a creature card.

Vanquisher's Banner draws on a sneak and not on ninjutsu

Sneak is a way of casting a spell. Ninjutsu is not, since it puts the card onto the battlefield straight from your hand, and that difference decides which card draw works here. Vanquisher's Banner, naming Ninja, gives your Ninjas +1/+1 and draws a card whenever you cast a Ninja creature spell, so it draws on every creature you sneak, the commander included, and on none of the six ninjutsu cards. Herald's Horn takes off each Ninja creature spell with generic mana in its cost, and each upkeep it puts the top card of your library into your hand if that card is a Ninja creature. The rest of the draw comes from connecting. Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising draws a card each time it deals combat damage to a player. Tymna the Weaver lets you pay 1 life per opponent dealt combat damage this turn and draw that many cards in your second main phase. Welcoming Vampire draws once each turn that another creature with power 2 or less enters under your control, and the commander's own 1/1 tokens usually qualify.

Smothering Tithe and Necropotence are the core list's two Game Changers, and both sit where the list is thinnest. Six artifacts make mana, counting Patchwork Banner, which is few for a deck that wants open every turn, and Smothering Tithe makes a Treasure each time an opponent draws a card unless they pay . Necropotence turns life into cards on the turns nobody gets hit, and a deck that halves its opponents can afford to spend some of its own.

The core list

Dark Leo & Shredder and ninety-nine more, $387.79 at today's prices. Point at any card name on this page to bring the card up.

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Every finish but Bloodletter's has a budget twin

Fourteen swaps take out ten of the twelve dearest cards in the core list, and what is left costs $108.12 with no Game Changers in it. The job of the rung is to keep each route from one halving to a kill at a lower price. Warlock Class does what Wound Reflection does once it reaches its third level: from then on, each of your end steps makes every opponent lose the life they lost that turn. Reaching that level costs , then , then . Grievous Wound is an Aura you put on a player, and it halves them whenever they are dealt damage, so a hit from the commander halves that player twice. Unstoppable Slasher halves any player it deals combat damage to and comes back once when it dies with no counters on it. Kaya's Onslaught gives one creature double strike for , and on the commander that is two combat damage steps, two tokens and two halvings.

What the rung gives up is the kill inside a single combat. Bloodletter of Aclazotz has no cheap twin, so the budget list waits for an end step to finish anyone, and Warlock Class asks for ten mana in all before it does. Akroma's Will gave the whole attack double strike and indestructible, where Kaya's Onslaught covers one creature, and Roaming Throne's second trigger is gone. The other swaps trade like for like. Super Shredder, Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni and Orochi Soul-Reaver become Mukotai Ambusher, Okiba-Gang Shinobi and Biting-Palm Ninja, and Marsh Flats, Silent Clearing and Brightclimb Pathway become Orzhov Guildgate, Tainted Field and Shineshadow Snarl, which costs a little speed on the turns the Guildgate comes in tapped.

Bracket 4 finds the finisher instead of waiting to draw it

Ten swaps make a list that costs $975.34 and holds eight Game Changers, which puts it at bracket 4. Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor fetch whichever piece the board is missing: Endless Foot Assault when the count is short, Bloodletter of Aclazotz or Wound Reflection when it is not. Splinter's Technique was already a tutor in the core list, and at its sneak cost of it searches in the middle of combat, in time to find Akroma's Will and cast it before damage. Teferi's Protection keeps the board through a wipe, and The One Ring, Mana Vault and Ancient Tomb speed up the turns before the first attack.

Two of the adds change how the attack gets through. Bitterblossom makes a 1/1 flying Faerie Rogue at the beginning of each of your upkeeps for 1 life, and a flier is the easiest unblocked attacker to hand back for a sneak. Cover of Darkness, naming Ninja, gives every Ninja fear, so only artifact or black creatures can block them. Cavern of Souls naming Ninja makes every Ninja spell impossible to counter, the commander's sneak included, and Esper Sentinel draws you a card off each opponent's first noncreature spell of a turn unless they pay . Out go Throat Slitter, Orochi Soul-Reaver, Leonardo, Sewer Samurai, Astarion, the Decadent, Kor Skyfisher, Herald's Horn, Night's Whisper, Fellwar Stone and two of the three lands that always enter tapped.

FAQ

Does the Ninja token from Dark Leo & Shredder count toward the five?

Yes. The trigger creates the 1/1 black Ninja first and only then counts your Ninjas, and Dark Leo & Shredder are a Ninja as well. So the commander and that token are two of the five, and three other Ninjas on the battlefield as the trigger resolves are enough. A Ninja that was blocked and died in the same combat damage step has already left by then, so it is not counted.

Can you sneak Dark Leo & Shredder out of the command zone?

Yes. Sneak is a way of casting the card, and a commander can be cast from the command zone, so during the declare blockers step you can return an unblocked attacker and cast them from there. The tax of for each earlier cast from the command zone is added to the sneak cost like any other. From your hand there is no tax, and a commander on its way to your hand may stay there rather than go back to the command zone, so this list returns it with Prehistoric Pet, Kor Skyfisher and Flock Impostor.

Do the Ninjas keep deathtouch when they block?

No. Dark Leo & Shredder give deathtouch only to Ninjas you control that are attacking, so a token blocking on an opponent's turn is an ordinary 1/1. Undead Hand Ninja and Astarion, the Decadent are the two creatures in the core list with deathtouch printed on them, and they are the ones that keep it on defence.

How much does a Dark Leo & Shredder deck cost?

$387.79 for all hundred cards, and Smothering Tithe and Roaming Throne are over a quarter of that on their own. Fourteen swaps bring the budget rung to $108.12. The bracket 4 rung costs $975.34, with Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault and The One Ring its three dearest adds.

Can Dark Leo & Shredder's life loss kill a player on its own?

Only one the combat damage has left on 1 life, because half of 1 rounded up is all of it. A player on 40 hit once a turn by the commander and nothing else survives four hits and dies on the fifth. What ends a game from a high total is the halving together with Wound Reflection, Astarion, the Decadent or Bloodletter of Aclazotz, each of which turns one connection into a kill.

What bracket is this Dark Leo & Shredder build?

Bracket 3. Smothering Tithe and Necropotence are its only Game Changers, one fewer than that bracket permits, and nothing in it loops. The commander with Bloodletter of Aclazotz takes a whole life total in one combat, but that is two cards, five Ninjas and an attack that connects, not a combo that wins from nowhere. The budget rung drops both Game Changers and nothing left in it rules out any bracket, and the bracket 4 rung brings the count to eight.