Mike: So, Kevin, is there anything you can tell me about the upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh! sets?
Kevin: Nothing at all, I’m afraid. If I were to talk, I would surely be struck down by ninjas.
Mike: I see. Well, what about you, Curtis? Surely you can give me a few hints about what’s coming up in the next year.
Curtis: You know, I’m in the same boat as Kevin. If I speak, a ninja will strike me down in a messy, yet quiet, fashion.
Mike: Argh! Everybody’s afraid of ninjas!
Tsukuyomi: That’s understandable. Ninjas are completely evil beasts that thrive on the unhappiness of others.
Mike: Wait a minute—you’re just mad because Strike Ninja can smack you around, too.
Tsukuyomi: Bingo.
As months pass, many new cards are added to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. As more cards are added to our selection, other cards may be taken out or restricted due to their sheer power. Twice a year, the Advanced format shifts and changes are made. This continuously changes the metagame’s most effective decks and combos.
Due to these changes in the Advanced format, the playability of certain cards can greatly change once the Advanced format’s Forbidden List is updated. For this reason, focusing on cards that I’ve already reviewed in the past can be very important. It’s obviously not because I’m lazy—right? You believe me, don’t you?
Today’s card may have been reviewed over a year ago, but the environment has drastically changed since then. For one, the Advanced format didn’t even exist in the United States last June! Strike Ninja definitely didn’t see much play last year. It was used mostly as a Dark monster that worked well with or against Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End, but its potential was unlocked earlier this year with the continuous expansion of the Advanced format. While today’s stealthy killer has not made a Top 8 appearance at any Shonen Jump Championship, it has placed in the Top 32 of these large events and has even taken top honors at a few Regional events.
Strike Ninja also scares all of us away from sharing secrets about the future of the game. Nobody wants to anger a vanishing ninja.
The Basic Breakdown
Strike Ninja’s ATK is slightly above that of many “staple” monsters that most duelists run*, such as Tribe-Infecting Virus. This means that Strike Ninja can survive a turn or two on its own, but has problems against larger monsters and Beastdown decks. What truly makes Strike Ninja shine is its ability to remove itself from the game for a turn at the expense of two Dark monsters from your graveyard. Strike Ninja’s ability is ludicrous to play against, as it’s a multi-trigger effect with a spell speed of 2. This means that you can trigger Strike Ninja at any time during your turn or your opponent’s turn, excluding the damage step. Control decks that tend to rely on monster removal will hardly be able to effectively destroy an opposing Strike Ninja.
When I last looked at this card, Strike Ninja had the ability to dodge the apocalyptic ability of Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End. In the current Advanced format, Strike Ninja has the ability to dodge a greater variety of mass removal, such as Mirror Force, Lightning Vortex, and Torrential Tribute. Tsukuyomi, my favorite little Spirit monster, also has a ton of troubles when it comes to dealing with Strike Ninja. Strike Ninja has 1200 DEF, which is a bit too high for Tsukuyomi to deal with on its own. Strike Ninja’s ability also makes flipping it face-down very difficult. One of the ways to deal with Strike Ninja is to flip it face-down and then follow up with Nobleman of Crossout, but removing monsters from play when facing a Strike Ninja deck usually benefits the Ninja player in the long run.
As you can see, Strike Ninja is still quite playable in today’s Advanced format.
Combos and Counters
When it comes to Strike Ninja’s best combo, things haven’t changed much over this past year. One of the reasons why Strike Ninja’s ability was tournament-competitive was because of D. D. Scout Plane. By removing D. D. Scout Plane from play with Strike Ninja’s effect, you’ll be able to gain some strong field presence and card advantage at the end of the turn. This excludes the powerful field presence you already have with Strike Ninja itself! It’s easy to put D. D. Scout Plane to use as well, since it makes great fodder for summoning high-level Dark monsters such as Dark Magician of Chaos and Invader of Darkness.
If you’re looking to turn Strike Ninja into a win condition, then try abusing all of those monsters that will be removed from play with the Ninja’s effect. Last year, the only card that could return monsters to play from the removed-from-game zone was Dimension Fusion, which could give you a massive amount of card advantage and enough field presence to ensure your victory. Of course, that was one year ago, and your best option in today’s Advanced format is Return from the Different Dimension.
In terms of overall field presence, Dimension Fusion is stronger than Return from the Different Dimension. However, its hefty life point cost (not to mention the loss of Mirage of Nightmare and the practical use of Emergency Provisions) has severely weakened this spell card as a win condition for a Strike Ninja-based deck. Return from the Different Dimension can be activated at almost any time—no matter how low your life points are, you can always use this versatile trap card. However, unlike Dimension Fusion, this card also serves as a multi-purpose utility against any of your opponent’s activated cards.
Did your opponent just activate a trap card? Activate Return from the Different Dimension in response, special summon Jinzo, and negate that trap card. Does your opponent have an annoying monster face up on his or her side of the field? Flip up Return from the Different Dimension, nab Dark Magician of Chaos, use its effect to return a spell card to your hand, and blow that monster away. Does your opponent only have a small amount of life points left after you’ve already attacked once with your Strike Ninja? Remove Strike Ninja from the game with its effect, flip up Return from the Different Dimension, special summon Strike Ninja again, and you can attack with your Ninja once more!
Your best strategy when fighting against Strike Ninja is to keep it from using its ability at all costs. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer can do this quite effectively. It also has enough ATK to destroy Strike Ninja as a result of battle. Remember to avoid removing any of your opponent’s monsters from play, though, because it will make it harder to use Return from the Different Dimension to your advantage.
Necrovalley is also an effective card that works well against Strike Ninja. This field spell will render Strike Ninja completely useless, as its effect cannot be triggered and it won’t even be able to destroy any of the Gravekeeper monsters that a Necrovalley-based deck would be running.
Also, note that The End of Anubis will do nothing to stop Strike Ninja, as Strike Ninja’s removal of two Dark monsters from the graveyard is a cost. You’ll have to look elsewhere if you wish to stop today’s featured stealthy assassin.
Final Thoughts
I truly miss playing Strike Ninja. It’s such an entertaining card to use, and it’s one of the most versatile monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. It’s one of the few monsters that can remain on your field for more than ten turns, and its effect is still abusive in today’s Advanced format as well. If you’re looking for a break from the standard Chaos decks at a local tournament or Regional event, then look no further. Strike Ninja is at your disposal.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about any of my latest articles, or if you just need help with a ruling or deck, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com. I’ll try to get back to everyone that asks me a question.
*Technically, the closest thing to a staple monster in the current Advanced format is Sinister Serpent. Cards like Tribe-Infecting Virus do not belong in every single deck, despite popular belief.