MTG Duskmourn’s stealthy Planeswalker makes Ninjas even deadlier 

MTG’s Duskmourn: House of Horrors set is giving Ninja decks a brand new key card in the form of Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. This Dimir Planeswalker comes equipped with Ninjutsu and a wide range of useful, cheap loyalty abilities.

Kaito Shizuki is among the adventurers bravely exploring Duskmourn’s haunted halls in search of Nashi, and retaining his Planeswalker spark gives Kaito a big advantage. 

This Ninja hero has already starred in several sets following his debut in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Duskmourn sees Kaito continue to grow in prominence in Magic: The Gathering’s Omenpath era.

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares costs 2UB to cast. On each of your turns, so long as this Planeswalker has one or more Loyalty counters on it, it also counts as a 3/4 Ninja Creature with Hexproof.

Being able to cast a Planeswalker via the tricky Ninjutsu ability is highly useful, and it doubling as an attacker that opponents will be unable to remove right away only adds to Kaito’s utility.

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares’ loyalty abilities will quickly see this card become a centerpiece of Ninja typal decks when Duskmourn: House of Horrors launches on September 27.

Kaito’s first loyalty ability is a +1 which grants you an emblem that gives all Ninjas you control +1/+1/. Emblems can be stacked and cannot be destroyed, so keeping Kaito around and repeatedly using this ability will build your board up in a titanic threat in just a few short rounds.

The second loyalty ability of this Planeswalker is a +0 and is best used in your second main phase, replenishing your hand by allowing you to Surveil 2 and then draw a card for each opponent that lost life this turn.

As Ninjas decks thrive on unblockable Creatures, it’s very easy to swing out at multiple opponents and maximize your card draw.

Kaito’s final ability is a -2 that taps a target Creature and gives it two stun counters, taking an opponent’s biggest threat out of the fight for multiple turns or allowing your forces to bypass an otherwise impassable blocker.

MTG’s Ninjas are among the game’s hard-hitting and most difficult-to-deal-with Creature types, especially in Commander where Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow, is one of the most popular decks in the format.

While Ninjutsu might be a frustrating ability for some players to deal with, it’s good to see Duskmourn contributing new support to the Ninja archetype and ensuring it won’t be going stale any time soon.