
It’s a very rare keyword as far as most non-evergreen mechanics go, and it’s actually only on 18 different creatures. Ninjutsu was first introduced in Betrayers of Kamigawa in 2005 and has typically been reserved for reprint sets or preconstructed decks since then. Ninja of the New Moon | Illustration by Greg Opalinski Activating from your hand is a very rare thing to see in Magic and it isn’t counter-able, which just adds to its effect. Ninjas are also just a very cool creature type, and this ability is unique compared to other keywords. It also greatly increases the threat level of unblockable or other small creatures because your opponent is now much more hellbent on blocking these attacks to deny you value. The whole point of ninjutsu is that it threatens extreme damage or combat effects without revealing info to your opponents. This mechanic is exceptionally powerful you can quickly run down your opponent (or even an entire table) when you have multiple ninjas that usually double or triple each other’s effectiveness.

This is a way to sneak in creatures to attack that aren’t even in play yet and take advantage of excellent abilities that only trigger when the creature deals combat damage to a player. The mechanic is exclusive to ninja creatures and it essentially allows you to swap an attacking creature with a ninja from your hand. Ninjutsu is a keyword ability in Magic that was first introduced in Betrayers of Kamigawa. Azra Smokeshaper | Illustration by Aaron Miller
