As you activate a ninjutsu ability, you reveal the Ninja card in your hand and return the attacking creature. The Ninja isn’t put onto the battlefield until the ability resolves. If it leaves your hand before then, it won’t enter the battlefield at all.
The ninjutsu ability can be activated only after blockers have been declared. Before then, attacking creatures are neither blocked nor unblocked.
Although the Ninja is attacking, it was never declared as an attacking creature (for purposes of abilities that trigger whenever a creature attacks, for example).
This printing is one of 2 catalogued treatments from J21 — the lineup includes Nonfoil alongside the standard finish. Across our catalog the Rarix library tracks every variant in the same family so collectors can compare price, scarcity and demand inside a single lineage.
Card #220 of *Jumpstart: Historic Horizons*, the set that shipped alongside the August 2021 Jumpstart: Historic Horizons release.
Card type: Creature — Human Ninja, color identity blue, printed at common. Commons fill the bulk of a booster pack's volume. Mana cost: {3}{U} (4 converted). Keyword abilities: Ninjutsu.
Legal across the major constructed formats — Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander — plus Standard rotation play.
EDHrec ranks this card #9,144 in Commander, putting it in the niche-pick tier of the format's playable pool.
Illustrated by Taylor Ingvarsson. Rarix catalogs 12 other cards credited to this artist.
Magic: The Gathering · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast · Illus. Taylor Ingvarsson
Card data via Scryfall. Rarix is fan-made; not endorsed by the rights holders.
The creature with ninjutsu enters the battlefield attacking the same player or planeswalker that the returned creature was attacking. This is a rule specific to ninjutsu; in other cases, when a creature is put onto the battlefield attacking, that creature’s controller chooses which player or planeswalker it’s attacking.
If a creature in combat has first strike or double strike, you can activate the ninjutsu ability during the first-strike combat damage step. The Ninja will deal combat damage during the regular combat damage step, even if it has first strike.
The ninjutsu ability can be activated during the declare blockers step, combat damage step, or end of combat step. If you wait until after the declare blockers step, because all combat damage is dealt at once, the Ninja won’t normally deal combat damage.
