Decklist

https://moxfield.com/decks/OtUIXzPys02sA7YCD680sg

Credit: R0bot0

Primer

https://moxfield.com/decks/8CkGkfcOfkGNkYf0WnwzVg/primer

Introduction

I’ll start this intro by saying how I started the deck. My wife made this deck for our first anniversary together, and I evolved it into competitive gameplay. After seeing the potential that Yuriko had at my first tournament (I won 2nd place in my first, small, Japanese tournament) and my wife being my main supporter to win, I have been developing it every tournament to get better and more consistent. Yuriko has totally turned into one of my favorite commanders and has easily and consistently gotten me 1st and 2nd place in tournaments here in Japan. My journey with Yuriko has been two years+ as her pilot as of now and exclusively using her as my cEDH commander. She has a special place in my heart and a special place in every tournament certainly instilling fear into my enemies revealing cards off the top and burning.

Yuriko’s ability to never have to pay commander tax and be a card draw and pain engine from the command zone is an amazing advantage over other Turbo Naus decks and it can be molded to be an adaptive deck that’s ready for the long haul. Our main strategy is the Thassa’s Oracle/Demonic Consultation combo, but has several outputs so we don’t ever run out of options. Yuriko is an exciting and difficult deck to build, since you can build her as a combination of reanimation, burn, and Turbo Naus. I have objectively decided that the Turbo Naus is the fastest way to win, but more value uppage of CMC to the Sneaky Farm made by Braden so we can pressure Ad Naus decks as well, AND a small reanimator package in the cards Reanimate and Yawgmoth’s Will. In other words, we’re trying to combine a little bit of all the best stuff and, so far, it’s definitely been a powerhouse everywhere I take it.

Farm Creatures

Our little guys are not powerful, but they’re easily dismissed, evasive, and cheap. They will grant us card advantage and/or ping our opponent a lot more than they suggest by their power/toughness. Some of them are just plain advantage engines. You’ll see when you read their effects. I’ll list them by importance for combo/card advantage/useability.

1. Sakashima’s Student (This card is insanely flexible and it allows us to make infinite mana with Dockside Extortionist anywhere on the field and win from there. Read the comments if you want to know how to infinite combo works and how to win from there.)
2. Thassa’s Oracle (This is our main win condition. Nothing else to say about it)
3. Orcish Bowmasters (Control the board for flips and beats if Naus or Thassa fails. Because why not?)
4. Dauthi Voidwalker (It’s graveyard hate, card advantage, and an unblockable creature all in one. With graveyard strategies becoming more and more prevalent, this creature can pose as a powerhouse on the battlefield and it can also be a Yuriko trigger when no graveyards are in use.
5. Blood Pet (Although not being a good enabler mid or late game, it’s fuel for the fire and an enabler early game and a good mana reserve for us. It does a lot because of this and it’s been really good so far.
6. Faerie Seer (The longer the game goes and the more you use Yuriko to sac for other stuff, the more you get to see off the top of your deck and set yourself up for beats or to win.
7. Opposition Agent (This helpful creature might take a land, or even any combo piece to make it your own from any opponent and after that the effect still remains. Opponents will be left with top decking for removal unless they countered it as it came in and often just stops the game when paired up with Notion Thief, even though we don’t run the Thief.
8. Mausoleum Wanderer (Mausoleum Wanderer is a makeshift Spell Pierce and enabler.)
9. Thousand-faced Shadow (Stole a Dockside with Gilded Drake or copied it with Sakashima’s Student and wanna actually get value out of it now or couldn’t go infinite with the student loop? Copy it and win. You can do some convoluted stuff with this ninja, but he’s also a really good evasive enabler.
10. Changeling Outcast/Mothdust Changeling (Our makeshift ninjas! )

Win Conditions

Thassa’s Oracle

As much as I liked the older Rooftop Storm/Acererak the Archlich combo. It never really fit in well with everything else this deck did and it was hard to find something with more synergy. After an Ad Naus, we do tend to at least cast enough spells to blow someone out of the game with Aetherflux Reservoir and plus Top/Citadel has good synergy with life being used as a resource which is exactly what we like. After having made this changed I honestly haven’t looked back. It’s hard to interact with and see it coming.

Doomsday

(NO LONGER RUN IN THIS DECK… too slow 😢)

Sakashima’s Student

The name of the title says it all. Sakashima’s Student can win you the game out of nowhere or with careful planning. It’s the most flexible ninja in your arsenal and can win with the infinite combo loop of end-of-combat looping Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow and Sakashima’s Student to copy Dockside Extorsionist and, as long as it nets you at least 5 treasures every loop, you can create infinite mana, and then loop the last Sakashima’s Student on Thrasios, Triton Hero, Spectral Sailor, Elsha of the Infinite, or anything that can win you the game from there or be abused constantly for board/card advantage.

This nifty ninja can save you in a pinch by also just copying someone else’s commander that gives us the win, Gilded Drake to steal more stuff (because we love stealing stuff… we’re ninjas!), or just doing something crazy and copying Najeela, the Blade-Blossom because why not? Oh, I see you have a Drannith Magistrate over there that looks really good and it’s blocking our commanders from coming in! It would be a shame if I had one too and it was a ninja on top of that. In conclusion, Sakashima’s Student is a powerful engine for whatever you want it to be and doubles up as a ninja, so you will never be running out of options as long as he’s not exiled.

Yuriko and the Ninjas

Everyone seems to forget that you can become the classic ninja deck you always wanted even with your Sneaky Farm/Turbo Naus package. As long as you have Mothdust Changeling, Changeling Outcast, Sakashima’s Student, and Thousand-faced Shadow as a makeshift extra, you have a trusty gang of ninjas that’ll slowly sap your opponents out of life the classic way. The more the game drags on and the more they stay on the field, the deadlier you become even with just Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow and one more of your gang out there. Of course, most of the time, this’ll happen with one to two strong stax decks happening, but it can still happen and I’ve definitely won games grinding that way. It’s rare but worth noting and very relevant.

Single Cards Notes

Ad Nauseam

One of the most important cards (if not the most) in our deck is Ad Nauseam. Our deck is entirely based on value cards with low CMC so we can draw an average of 20-30 cards early game and win the game through 0 CMC mana rocks and other combo pieces. It’s actually very easy to win the game and have interactions up when you draw that crazy amount of cards. This card is one of the ones you want to have early in game to start explosively, but isn’t needed in every starting hand to be relevant. It’s most definitely the main win condition to fetch Thassa’s Oracle/Consultation good stuff. Preferrably do it someone’s end step if done early or you’ll probably have a hard time winning, since we can’t use stuff like Dockside Extorsionist, other red rituals, and Underworld Breach.

Peer Into the Abyss

How can I even begin to explain this card? It’s insane value and we can easily ramp to it T2-T4 with rituals and cantrips. It’s also 100% less risky than Ad Nauseam in the sense that you’ll be playing with almost no life after you resolve Naus because, let’s face it, you’re pretty much dead if you don’t win from there. With Peer Into the Abyss you’ll be drawing an average of 37-44 cards and halving your life safely and you’ll definitely be able to win the game from there. I have never once resolved this card and not won afterwards. The insane value is worth the painstakingly high CMC and the burn it might cause you with an Ad Nauseam draw. You HAVE to have some sort of interaction when trying to resolve this or you’ll end up giving your opponents the extra advantage if they change the target of the ability to themselves with effects like Commandeer or Misdirection. How likely is this to happen at a tournament in an LGS or a plain, old, physical cards tournament? Almost not at all, but the possibility still exists and you have to read your pod and being countered on such a good spell is painful either way.

Nashi

We love stealing stuff. We love using the top of our deck for free stuff and doming players for bunches of damage. Nashi does both paired with Yuriko. Not only that, but it reduces the cost of Otawara, Soaring City, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire. With this ninja out your Imperial Seal, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, and any other top deck tutors turn into a win condition. Keep some interaction up, and you’re well on your way to win.

Good Hands VS Bad Hands

I’ve gone through a lot of primers online and there’s one thing that keeps me dissatisfied reading most of them: You can’t explain what’s a good hand or a bad hand and why it’s good or bad? Seriously? I’ll be doing my part to break down what a good hand looks like depending on your pod, which decks you’re up against, and why. I know this part isn’t super needed for people with experience playing Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow, but I started without knowing anything about how my favorite commander works and how I can take full advantage of her abilities, so lets break it down.

Slow and Steady

Playing against stax, farm, and high power casual decks? Maybe even a Tier 2 deck, but nothing super crazy? You’re probably pretty safe with just one cheap, evasive creature to start farming with Yuriko T2 and 2 lands. High power casual decks will often rely on combat damage and will often drop down some fatties that can block your measly Memnite T2 real easy, so make sure you also have something like Ornithopter, Changeling Outcast, or any creature with evasion if against a heavy number of these decks and you’re probably at a pretty safe start. If they got something to block/kill Yuriko T3 on the ground, you can simply send her in to die and attack with your other evasive creature, Yuriko dies, but at the end of combat you can bounce that creature to your hand and put your commander back on the battlefield at the end of combat. This doesn’t net you an extra card or the burn effect that comes with it, but it’ll set you up for a painless sacrifice effect or the usual board wipes that happen already T3-T4 with high power casual.

A bad hand you’d want to mulligan on would be something with zero to no interaction and no T1 dorks to start farming. Seriously, don’t keep something because it looks shiny and nice. Even in a beginner’s hands, a casual beatdown deck can kill you easily once you resolve an Ad Nauseam and don’t win right after, so play it carefully, if you do, and don’t grab a starting hand with this card. Other shaky hands to start with against stax is having more than 1 low CMC dork in your hand. Most of the time they’re going to play Trinisphere or something very oppresive that’s going to make all your cheap drops ineffective or slow. Look for removal like Chain of Vapor against pieces like Archon of Emeria, Rule of Law, Ethersworn Canonist, and Deafening Silence. Most of the time, if they resolve, they’ll work in your favor to slow things down a bit and hopefully shoot down the other farm decks and high power casual until you can pull off your cantrips. Patience is key!

Big Boys/Girls

You’re staring down to an opponent’s Opus Thief, Sushi Hulk, Elsha Top, or just a really fast and aggresive deck and you can tell they’re about to mulligan hard and start fast. They came here with a Tier 1 deck or a proactive deck and spent their hard-earned money and time to win, but you did the same and came here to win too! Any hand with some ramp, protection, and a tutor is a good hand. At the very least, you want a hand that can tutor T1. Tutor for silver bullets like Dauthi Voidwalker, or interaction if you don’t have any and card draw doesn’t seem to great. Maybe even tutor for your fish or Rhystic Study. Play smart, keep calm. They’ll burn themselves out of resources quickly while you can out-pace them.

Chillin'

There’s no intention of winning T1-3, but you’re still playing cEDH and it’s gonna go fast. You’re playing among friends or a trusted pod. Don’t be the guy who can’t take a chill pill. Keep a hand with either a Mystic Remora/Rhystic Study and/or a cheap dork. If you’re like me, you like playing cEDH with friends but everyone likes to keep 7 cards in hand because why not. Kick your seat back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow can be the most chill commander there and can provide a lot of cool interactions to your group that they’d otherwise never know they existed. It’ll educate all of you in the pod and chilling always helps learn more.

Inclusions and Exclusions

Inclusions

1. Mist-syndicate Naga. Our 3rd favorite ninja, but we can’t run it. We don’t run enough stax pieces to slow everything down to our level and grind our way to victory through ninja combat and evasiveness for our ninjas on the ground is not guaranteed. As much as we love him, he’s a pet card in this deck and will never get us the results we want unless it’s a super grindy game with no board wipes or creatures (which is extremely rare!). In which case, our changelings can actually pull off the job by themselves.
2. Ghostly Pilferer. I often slot this card in when there’s a heavy number of graveyard-play commanders like Kess, Dissident Mage or top-of-the-library play commanders like Elsha of the Infinite. Our usual takeout card is Opposition Agent, but it can be other cards depending on our meta and situation. Most of the time, this card is still too narrow for the broad audience and will not cover our multiple needs.
3. Dispel/Miscast/Muddle the Mixture. We covered it before in the “Inclusions” section, but these cards are usually too narrow for physical tournament needs and often times don’t cover the needs of the format. We’d rather keep an extra blue mana up and be able to get rid of ANYTHING coming your way than just an instant or a sorcery. That’s the same reason we run Spell Pierce over these two as well. Often times, we can definitely still slot these in when everyone has filtered through, we’re down to the last 8 people playing and now it’s full-on, gloves-off cEDH.
4. Praetor’s Grasp. When you really look at this card, it’s something that expects you to be fighting against common cEDH decks and use their win con to your advantage. We’re fighting a broader audience, which means that we don’t fight the common cEDH decks. This card becomes dead in these situations and doesn’t benefit us, but it can be slotted in when you’re against full-on cEDH.
5. Skullsnatcher. Our 4th favorite ninja, but a pet card even in the best of hands. It can only serve as a sorcery-speed graveyard removal, which 100% of the time is bad. Big sad.

Pros & Cons

Pros

1. We’re an adaptive deck, which means that you can be just as explosive as a Sushi Hulk or Opus Thief deck and your win cons do not rely solely on your commander to win. T1-3 wins are very likely, but you’re ready for farther than that because we know that, in the real world, cEDH battles (most of the time) last longer than that. Seriously, don’t forget that you can grind your way to victory just the same way you can explode early game.
2. Our deck is extremely resilient to many stax pieces and it’s very hard to shut down because our card advantage is creature-based, commander tax is not a problem, and Ninjutsu goes above cards like Cursed Totem and Null Rod. It also goes above one-card-a-turn effects because of what Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow and Ad Nauseam read that they reveal and put into your hand rather than “draw”.

Cons

1. We’re slower than those pesky Tier 1 commanders like Thrasios, Triton Hero and Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, which is why we have to run out cards like Cursed Totem early in order to break parity. We’re only slow because we rely heavily on farming value cards and our commander doesn’t have an ability built into it that win’s us the game by default. We have to pilot our way more carefully in order to win against the top dogs, but with experience you’ll still beat them to a pulp.
2. Like all Ad Naus decks, we’re a combo/storm deck, so effects like Trinisphere, Rule of Law, and Deafening Silence hit us right in the gut and should be prevented as much as possible. these effects affect us deeply and more than commanders with built in abilities like Kenrith, the Returned King. We’ll have a super hard time against hate pieces like that and other decks will outvalue you.

Conclusion

If you’ve read through all of this, it’s a lot. That means that this deck has a lot of noteworthy interactions and a lot of value pieces. I’ve spent a lot of time making this deck the way it is now and becoming an expert pilot for my favorite commander in cEDH. This deck is a hidden powerhouse and a hell of a lot of fun to play. Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow is unique, scary and often-times overlooked. Nobody expects us to go for the throat early with Ad Naus, and they’re all expecting the classic Yuriko pivot or burn deck. I can’t even begin to explain how rewarding molding this deck has been and winning so much has meant for me. I’ve had lots of help from the attached Discord and the amazing people in there including Ondas and MadCatMax, my home pod, and my beautiful wife.