Combo with Ninja

With the new Ninja support cards, the archetype can move into more of a combo space and really let their versatility shine. Because of the flexibility Ninja has, you can push your deck strategy into a variety of ways to fit the player playstyle and/or the current meta. You can shift into a more control style, go full on crazy and make huge boards, or anything in between. This deck is more of a middle ground, in my opinion.

Before I get into the deck strategy it must be said that Ninja still do have a very weak early state, but can still make good budget boards. If the opponent opens up with too much disruption it can be very hard to push through unless you have the right cards. But that can be said about for almost any non-meta deck. Also it is very important to know, Isolde and Saryuja are major choke points of this deck. If either gets stopped, then that's pretty much game. But if you can get past that point you're home free.

Now into the combos. I will mainly go over the big bombastic board.

For starters you want to open with anything that will let you get to Isolde. Essentially, you just need to find a way to get any 2 Warrior monsters on the field. Opening Hanzo with Tobari, Golden Ninja with a trap, Hanzo with Jogen, Tobari with Kagero and another Warrior, or any Warrior with Fire Flint. No matter how you want to structure your deck, it all comes down to getting to Isolde. Isolde will activate her first effect to search out Kai-Den.

From Isolde you want to mill 4 of your equip spells to get a Hanzo or Golden Ninja then go into Saryuja to summon out a Hanzo or a Getsuga. Link off Saryuja for Zealantis to reuse your Hanzo effect(s). From there the board you want to make is up to you. Generally I like to end on a 2400 Apollusa with a face-up Meisen, Mitsu, and Hanzo with a Ninjitsu Art of Transformation in the backrow.

Over the course of the turn you will be searching a lot with Hanzo. In the early stages you want to prioritize getting Kai-Den, Jogen, Getsuga, and Green Ninja in your hand. Then after that you can pivot into whatever you want.

In my opinion the most optimal opener is with Hanzo and Jogen in hand. While it is the riskier opener, it gives a lot of value. The play is as follows:

1. Hanzo NS to search your preferred ninjitsu art trap then SS Jogen using the searched trap


2. Link into Isolde and use effect to get Kai-Den to hand


3. Mill 4 equip spells to summon Golden Ninja, then Golden Ninja send the trap to summon Hanzo


4. Hanzo search Getsuga then Link into Saryuja. Saryuja use effect to summon Getsuga


5. Getsuga summon 2 Hanzo. Hanzo search Baku and Jogen, then summon Baku from hand and get your trap back


6. Link summon Zealantis only using Saryuja and use Zealantis effect to resummon the board and use Hanzo effects


7. Hanzo search Green Ninja and Mitsu, then link Cross-Sheep using Zealantis and a Hanzo


8. Summon Meisen using Baku and Hanzo, make sure to sit Meisen where Sheep is pointing to resummon Hanzo AND make sure to use Green Ninja effect here to flip Hanzo


9. Hanzo search Kagero. Link Getsuga and Green into Saizo, grab your preferred ninjitsu AND flip hanzo back up


10. Place your pend scales and summon Kagero and anything else you might want, be sure to leave a space if you want to use Kagero effect but its optional but do not summon Mitsu


11. Xyz Kagero and Hanzo into a Rank 4 of your choice, preferrably Number 60. If you use Number 60, use second effect to resummon Hanzo and grab Tobari


12. Link Number 60, Saizo, and Sheep into Apollo then SS Mitsu and set your backrow


13. On opponent's draw phase if you have transformation, tribute Hanzo to summon Apex Avian


14. When opponent activates a card, use Meisen to set Black Dragon Ninja face-down and flip with Mitsu

 

It's a lot, but there is a lot of flexibility in what you do and how you craft your board. You can cut it shorter to have a more full board of ninja. You can play around early hand traps by going directly into Saizo or Meisen early. I have another deck that ends on a board of Time Thief Redoer, Toadally Awesome, Bahamut Shark, 1600 Apollo, and Meisen with Mitsu. I even experimented and the deck can end with Uptoic Draco Future on board. There are a lot of strong monsters you can set up on your turn going first or second, again provided you can play through disruption.