BlackLegendary Creature — Mutant Ninja RatSplinter, Hamato Yoshi
Mana value2Rank#11,829
The Commander
Sneak (You may cast this spell for if you also return an unblocked attacker you control to hand during the declare blockers step. He enters tapped and attacking.)
Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
Other Ninjas you control get +1/+1.
Guide
Gameplan
Splinter is a mono-black Ninja tribal commander that wants to swing with cheap unblocked attackers, then Sneak/Ninjutsu bigger threats into play to trigger attack abilities. You assemble a wide, evasive board, buff it with Splinter's +1/+1 anthem, and grind value through repeated combat damage triggers while black's removal and recursion keep the path clear.
Strengths
- Cheap two-mana commander that comes back easily and anthems the whole Ninja team
- Sneak/Ninjutsu lets you dodge removal and reuse powerful enter-attacking triggers
- Mono-black gives best-in-color tutors, removal, and card draw to refuel
- Menace plus evasive ninjas makes it easy to connect for combat-damage payoffs
Weaknesses
- Mono-black means no access to blue's premier ninja/unblockable support
- Relies on connecting in combat, so board wipes and fogs hit hard
- Single-color fixing limits powerful multicolor staples
- Can be light on raw closing power without a dedicated finisher
Key Cards
- Ingenious Infiltrator — Draws a card whenever any ninja you control connects, snowballing your evasive attackers.
- Higure, the Still Wind — Tutors a Ninja each time it hits and protects your team, a perfect Splinter engine.
- Coat of Arms — Stacks with Splinter's anthem to make a wide Ninja board lethal in one swing.
- Throne of the God-Pharaoh — Converts your many tapped attackers into repeatable life loss for the table.
- Thousand-Faced Shadow — Cheap unblockable enabler that copies a ninja, doubling your Sneak/ninjutsu returns.
- Bitterblossom — Generates a steady stream of cheap evasive bodies to return and re-Sneak attackers.
Upgrade Path
Add the best unblockable enablers and tutors black can support, plus mana rocks like Charcoal Diamond and rituals to deploy threats faster. Lean into aristocrat finishers (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat) and reanimation/recursion so wipes don't end your game. Tighten the curve with cheap evasive one-drops and Splinter-protecting cards like Swiftfoot Boots to keep the engine online.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Wide, anthem-buffed Ninja swarm with Coat of Arms for a lethal alpha strike
- ▸Repeatable combat-damage drains via Throne of the God-Pharaoh or aristocrat payoffs
- ▸Grinding card advantage off Infiltrator/Higure until you bury the table
Archetypes
- Ninja Tribal — Splinter anthems all your ninjas and rewards the Sneak/ninjutsu plan natively.
- Aristocrats — Mono-black sacrifice payoffs turn your expendable enablers into drain and value.
- Combat Damage Value — Cheap unblockable creatures plus connect-triggers let you draw and drain each turn.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
