Magic finally has a ninja Commander who doesn't stink thanks to Universes Beyond

Ninjas have been a part of Magic: The Gathering since 2005 as part of the Kamigawa block, a series of three sets with cards inspired by Japanese mythology. That set introduced both ninjas and the cleverly designed ninjutsu ability, which helps your creatures sneak past enemy defenses to land decisive blows by taking the spot of another unblocked attacker. In the two decades since, Magic has released plenty more ninjas, particularly in 2022 with Neon Dynasty, which returned to the world of Kamigawa while giving it a fresh cyberpunk coat of paint. And yet, in all these years, we still don't have a great creature to lead your ninja Commander deck — until now. To cut to the chase, the card I'm talking about is Splinter, Radical Rat from Magic's most recent Universes Beyond crossover set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But before I get into what makes Splinter such a great Commander, it's worth explaining why the previous options are so weak by comparison. The most popular ninja Commander is undoubtedly Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, who lets you turn attacking ninjas into both card draw and direct damage. However, the reason Yuriko is so popular is mostly because her "Commander Ninjutsu" a