Phantom Ninja
Creature — Illusion Ninja
This creature can't be blocked.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #10362
Phantom Ninja is an unblockable two-drop that exists almost entirely to enable ninjutsu — you play it, swing in uncontested, and bounce it back to hand to land something with a more punishing enter-the-battlefield or ninjutsu trigger. In Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow decks especially, that free attack lane on turn two is exactly the window the whole engine needs to get rolling.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow wants cheap, evasive creatures that guarantee an unblocked attack so you can ninjutsu her into play on turn two — Phantom Ninja delivers that on a 1/1 body that costs only two mana, making it one of the most reliable enablers for the entire shell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Phantom Ninja is a role-player, not a headliner — its job is to get in early and trade its attack lane for something with a higher ceiling via ninjutsu, which makes it near-mandatory in Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow builds and mostly unplayed everywhere else. In Pauper, unblockable creatures at common are genuinely scarce, so Phantom Ninja sees fringe play in blue tempo and ninja strategies where guaranteeing damage matters. Legacy and Vintage are too fast for a 1/1 with no immediate impact, and it's not legal in Pioneer or Standard, so the card's entire competitive existence is in creature-light formats where evasion is the commodity being bought.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data isn't available for Phantom Ninja at the moment, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current market values. Given that it's a common with a narrow but real role in popular Commander archetypes, it tends to stay budget-friendly — likely a bulk pickup.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.