Yuriko, 90% (EDH / Commander)

We're looking to exploit Yuriko's draw-engine and win via inevitable damage.

You should play Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow IF AND ONLY IF:

• You enjoy being the Archenemy. It's really hard to be diplomatic if you burn the table for 30+ damage on T3; I'm not sure why, but people don't like that. Our adversaries know that our deck is aggressive, and they know we're resilient to removal. Expect a lot of counter-magic and hate.

• You enjoy tricky decks with a lot of agency. Yuriko's midgame/endgame gives you a lot of choices - you've got Misdirection, Force of Will/Force of Negation, tutors, and no infinite combos. You'll have to tackle each game differently; this deck never plays the same way, even though it kills in a similar way (i.e. burning people out).

• Your playgroup is okay with extra-turns decks. If they're not, you're going to ruin their fun. Before you build this deck, ask your playgroup how they feel about free spells (e.g. Snuff Out, Force of Will), extra turns (e.g. Time Warp, Temporal Trespass), and aggressive strategies (this Yuriko build doesn't kill T3/T4, but it applies a lot of pressure). If they're hesitant about any of those, I'd proceed with caution.

We have three primary routes to victory:

• Reanimate Jin-Gitaxias and protect it with countermagic.
• Burn opponents out of the game with Draco + Yuriko triggers.
• Chain together a few extra turns.

The deck is resilient to board-wipes and wins most counter-wars. If you want to make it more competitive (but much less fun/versatile), you can swap in the Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation package, or opt into more stax (removing the reanimation package). If someone in your playgroup doesn't play blockers, add in Phyrexian Walker as a third zero-mana ninjutsu enabler. Gilded Drake is a reasonable addition if someone else in your playgroup is running their own reanimator package.

Things worth noting:

• Reanimating Kederekt Leviathan with Animate Dead or Dance of the Dead is a recursive Coastal Breach for two mana.

• You can discard a reanimation target on turn two if you get the ideal opening: T1 land + 1-drop into T2 attack -> Yuriko -> Yuriko trigger. That sequence leaves you with eight cards in hand, letting you bin Jin or Consecrated Sphinx for free.

• Elder Deep Fiend can eat Yuriko on an opponent's endstep, tap down someone's blockers (and/or lands!), then ninjutsu back into your hand for a recursive tap-down effect. The Fiend is very handy for tapping down someone's countermagic or stopping their combo turn.

• Notorious Throng -> Arcane Adaptation often gets you a game-winning cascade of Yuriko triggers.

• If someone at your table plays Expropriate, they're an ideal target for Knowledge Exploitation. Failing that, you can try to find a Time Stretch or similar effect. Bonus points if you loan them a deck with Expropriate, then Exploitation it! :P

• Don't forget that your Changelings trigger Mausoleum Wanderer's pump-effect! It can sometimes let you counter something that would otherwise foil your plans.

• Similarly, don't forget that your Changelings are rogues!

• Similarly-similarly, don't forget that your Changelings are faeries for Spellstutter Sprite! :D

• Demonic Tutor usually fetches a reanimation spell, a topdeck manipulator (Scroll Rack), a turns spell (Time Warp), or a stax piece (Cursed Totem). You can get Cyclonic Rift if you need a board wipe, but this deck doesn't tend to care what other people are doing (as long as they're not winning the game!) - we protect our gameplan with countermagic, not destruction.

• Blinkmoth Nexus and Mutavault can get Yuriko into play in a pinch.

• Misdirection is usually getting you an extra turn (by targeting Time Warp, Time Stretch, etc.) or winning you a counter-fight (change their Counterspell to target itself). We don't care if they kill Yuriko. We do care if they kill Jin, so feel free to misdirect removal spells.

• Mulligan aggressively. You really want Yuriko online on turn two or three; once we start drawing two/three cards a turn, we become really hard to stop. I'd rather have a six-card hand that gets Yuriko out on T2 than a seven-card hand with no early plays. The main exception is getting an early Rhystic Study; if your hand has Rhystic Study and a T2 play, it might be worth keeping. Depends on the speed of your playgroup.

• Snapcaster Mage is looking to target Brainstorm, counter-magic, or extra turn spells. Keep in mind that you can't pay alternative costs with Flashback; Snuff Out will cost the full 4, and Force of Will will cost a full 5.

• You can Narset's Reversal your own extra-turn spells to keep the turns coming!

• Commandeer is looking to grab extra turns, big-money enchantments (Mind's Dilation, Omniscience, Zendikar Resurgent), or game-winners (e.g. taking Flash away from a Protean Hulk player). It doesn't matter if you can't get any value out of Flash; if Commandeer is your only way to stop it, stop it!