How it plays
Satoru costs {1}{U}{B}. Each creature card in your hand has ninjutsu {2}{U}{B}, and whenever you activate a ninjutsu ability you look at the top three cards of your library, put one into your hand and the rest on the bottom in any order. It only triggers once each turn.
Ninjutsu lets you return an unblocked attacker to your hand and put a creature from your hand onto the battlefield attacking in its place. With Satoru, that creature can be any creature: the deck fills up with creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects and small, evasive attackers that open the way.
Mana curve: A low curve: cheap evasive attackers, mid-cost ninjas and creatures with enter effects. Satoru, at three mana, arrives early and leaves mana for the rest of the turn to activate ninjutsu.
Game plan by phase
- Early game
Play cheap, evasive attackers and, once they connect, use ninjutsu to swap them for a more valuable creature.
- Mid game
With Satoru on the board each activation looks at three cards: turn the attack into card draw and into enter-effect creatures you repeat every turn.
- Late game
Keep an evasive creature and mana to activate ninjutsu and reuse enter effects to win the game through card advantage.
Key cards
| Role | Cards |
|---|---|
| Cheap, evasive attackers | Looter il-Kor, Spectral Sailor |
| Ninjas | Ninja of the Deep Hours, Ingenious Infiltrator, Mistblade Shinobi, Thousand-Faced Shadow, Sakashima’s Student |
| Enter effects | Mulldrifter, Ravenous Chupacabra, Gravedigger |
| Ramp | Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet |
| Interaction | Counterspell, Doom Blade, Go for the Throat |
| Evasion | Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue’s Passage |
Bracket and budget
It is a two-colour deck with small creatures and many enter effects that can be built with inexpensive cards. The difficulty is not the price but the sequencing: deciding which creature to play and when to attack. If you would rather we design it with you, we will build it to order.
Weaknesses
The deck depends on an attacker connecting: without evasive attackers, ninjutsu cannot be activated. A table with many blockers or fast removal slows the plan. Also, each activation costs four mana, so it is best not to spend all your mana before combat.
How to upgrade the deck
- More evasive attackers and evasion tools to connect consistently.
- A set of enter-effect creatures that draw, remove or recover cards.
- A solid Dimir mana base with lands that enter untapped.
- Cheap counterspells to protect the turn you activate ninjutsu.
Frequently asked questions
What is ninjutsu in Magic?
It is an ability that lets you pay a cost and return an unblocked attacker to your hand to put the creature with ninjutsu from your hand onto the battlefield attacking in its place.
How does Satoru Umezawa work?
It gives ninjutsu {2}{U}{B} to every creature in your hand and, when you activate a ninjutsu ability, lets you look at three cards from your library and keep one. That ability triggers once each turn.
Is Satoru a difficult commander to play?
It is high difficulty: it demands deciding which attackers to keep, when to activate ninjutsu and how to split the turn’s mana. In return, it offers a lot of card advantage.