Norika Yamazaki, the Poet
Legendary Creature — Human Samurai
Vigilance
Whenever a Samurai or Warrior you control attacks alone, you may cast target enchantment card from your graveyard this turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Price
- $0.27
- EDHREC rank
- #10588
Norika Yamazaki, the Poet gives you a repeatable enchantment recursion engine every time a Samurai or Warrior you control attacks alone — the effect is real, the setup cost is just building around a creature type. The catch is that solo-attacker requirement, which narrows her home to dedicated go-tall shells like Raiyuu, Storm's Edge where Second Chance and other high-value enchantments cycle back into play automatically.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Raiyuu, Storm's Edge
Raiyuu, Storm's Edge mandates solo attacks to trigger its extra-combat step, so Norika Yamazaki, the Poet fires every single combat — you're not building around her trigger, you're getting it for free while Raiyuu does its thing.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Norika Yamazaki, the Poet is a Commander card through and through — the enchantment-recursion payoff compounds over a long game in ways that 60-card formats don't support. In Modern and Pioneer she's a four-mana 3/3 with a trigger that rarely fires more than once or twice, which isn't a competitive rate. Legacy and Vintage have access to broken enchantments that would make her dangerous in theory, but the solo-attacker clause is too easy to punish at those power levels. Commander is where the math works: multiple combats, a Samurai tribal shell, and enchantments worth recurring turn the trigger into a genuine value engine.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.27 bulk tier
At $0.27, Norika Yamazaki, the Poet is bulk, and that price is stable — she's a role-player in one specific archetype rather than a staple anyone is chasing. Pick her up without hesitation if you're building Raiyuu, Storm's Edge; there's no reason to wait.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.