Ninja

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Ninja
"Kunoichi Ayame the Ninja Girl", "Ninja Commando Kabuki", "Ninja Soldier Katana" and "Ninja Commander Ikusa"
Japanese
  • にんじゃ
  • 忍者 (base)
  • にんじゃ (ruby)
  • Ninja (romanized)
French
  • Ninja
German
  • Ninja
Italian
  • Ninja
Korean
  • 첩자
  • 諜者 (Hanja)
  • Cheopja (romanized)
  • Spy (translated)
Portuguese
  • Ninja
Spanish
  • Ninja
Sets
TCG
OCG
Korean
Anime appearances
Lists

"Ninja" (にんじゃ Ninja) is an archetype of mostly Warrior monsters. They are primarily supported by the "Ninjitsu Art" Spell and Trap Card archetype. A handful of the "Ninja" cards existed in the TCG and OCG prior to being united by support cards in later sets. Various characters that used "Ninja" decks in the anime include Jean-Claude Magnum from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Kaze from Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, as well as Moon Shadow and Sun Shadow from Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.

"Ninja" cards used by Jean-Claude Magnum were a candidate to be released in Collection Pack 2020 and received 2.8% of votes in the poll, coming in 7th place.

Lore[edit]

Origin[edit]

"Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja", "Masked Ninja Ebisu", "Lady Ninja Yae", and "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke" are characters based on Konami's popular video game series Legend of the Mystical Ninja. Incidentally, all the Sasuke Samurai monsters are from this series, as well.

Ninja card Origin
Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja Goemon
Lady Ninja Yae Yae
Masked Ninja Ebisu Ebisumaru
Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke Sasuke

Some members of this archetype and their support are named after famous characters from Japan history:

Name Origin
Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja Ishikawa Goemon
Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo Hattori Hanzō
Ninja Grandmaster Saizo Kirigakure Saizō
Superheavy Samurai Ninja Sarutobi
Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
Sarutobi Sasuke
Fuhma Shuriken Fūma Kotarō

Playing style[edit]

The "Ninja" archetype, like their namesake, primarily focuses on a Control playstyle through the utilization of various "Ninjitsu Art" cards in order to disrupt the opponent, build up resources, and prepare for a larger assault through swarming the board. Many "Ninja" monsters often prefer being placed in face-down Defense Position to trigger their effects when flipped face-up, letting them surprise the opponent with various strong effects or, in some cases, unexpectedly high defense. Most higher-Level "Ninja" monsters, however, are not as powerful ATK-wise as those found in other themes, but make up for it with a wide variety of effects tailored to disrupt and whittle away at the opponent's Life Points.

The biggest tools of a "Ninja" deck are the "Ninjitsu Art" series of Spell and Trap Cards that serve to benefit the theme in various ways through generating sudden advantages and dishing out disadvantages for the opponent. Some examples include "Rust Mist" halving the opponent's Special Summoned monsters' ATK, "Duplication" to Tribute one "Ninja" monster and summon many lower-Level "Ninja" monsters totaling the tributed monster's Level, as well as "Dancing Leaves" and the various "Transformation" Ninjitsu Art cards (Transformation, Super-Transformation, and Mirage-Transformation) to instantly Special Summon a stronger "Ninja" monster or even stronger monsters of other types. When a "Ninjitsu Art" card is no longer effective, the archetype also provides means of removing them from the field; such as "Armor Ninjitsu Art of Alchemy" to destroy them and draw cards as well as the effects of "Beast Ninja Baku" and "Dancing Leaves" to return them to the hand and use their effect again.

Among the many different cards in the theme, "Ninjas" are often divided into a handful of sub-series that each prioritize different aspects of the theme's overall playing style:

  • FLIP Ninja - The primary playstyle of the theme, FLIP Ninjas specialize in using the effects of "Ninja" monsters when Summoned or flipped face-up to generate advantage and control the board state. Through key cards such as "Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo", "Yellow Ninja", as well as the cards introduced in "Darkwing Blast" and beyond, "Ninja" is able to go toe to toe with various decks and win through clever usage of "Ninjitsu Art" cards and amass large boards of monsters; including the Fusion Monster, "Meizen the Battle Ninja", to attack directly with your entire field of monsters and ensure quick games. This portion of the archetype also specializes in control through cards such as "Jioh the Gravity Ninja" to flip cards face-down and lock them in place for the turn as well as the effect of "Mitsu the Insect Ninja" to flip a "Ninja" monster face-up to negate activated effects by the opponent.
  • Dragon Ninja - Dragon Ninjas are a sub-series of higher-Level, non-Warrior "Ninja" monsters that typically cannot be Special Summoned except through the effect of a "Ninja" monster or a "Ninjitsu Art" card, the types of which are themed around the Monster Types summoned through "Ninjitsu Art of Transformation" (Beast, Winged Beast, and Insect) and "Super-Transformation (Dragon, Dinosaur, and Sea Serpent}. Most Dragon Ninjas have disruption effects requiring the sending of both a "Ninja" and "Ninjitsu Art" card from the hand or field that can put a halt to various plans the opponent may attempt. One particularly effective strategy of this sub-series centers on "White Dragon Ninja" and its ability to prevent Spell and Trap cards you control from being destroyed by card effects, allowing for control builds using the cards "Safe Zone" and "Anti-Spell Fragrance" to create a near permanent threat for the opponent to deal with.
  • Armor Ninja - Armor Ninjas are a more aggressive sub-series focused on Level manipulation and generating Rank 4-5 Xyz Monsters. While the majority of Armor Ninjas are less impactful to the overall strategy of the archetype, one card that sees plenty of use is the Rank 4 Xyz Monster, "Blade Armor Ninja", which has the effect to detach 1 material to allow a "Ninja" monster to attack twice for that turn. This effect, in tandem with the more aggro-focused "Ninja" boss monsters, can lead to sudden and swift victories.
  • Twilight Ninja - Twilight Ninjas are a sub-series focused more on Defenses and utilizing a pair of Pendulum Monsters to the archetype to Pendulum Summon several "Ninja" monsters from hand at once with ease. The most notable card of this sub-series is "Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun"; a Level 8 "Ninja" monster that is able to Special Summon 2 "Ninja" monsters from the GY by changing itself to Defense Position. Barring this, the Pendulum Scales also allow for simple benefits from inflicting piercing damage to gaining ATK while also having a Pendulum Scale of 1-10 to Pendulum Summon most any monster in the archetype with a few exceptions; such as the aforementioned "Dragon Ninjas".

The following archetypes also include some "Ninja" monsters, but do not conform to the main Ninja playing styles:

Recommended cards[edit]

Recommended cards

Official Decks[edit]

Trivia[edit]

References[edit]

  1. YGOrganization Sleeve Winner Deck Recipes