Ninjas

[Maraxus of Keld]

When Betrayers of Kamigawa previews began to appear, I knew instantly that I had to build a ninja deck. The gears really got turning in my head after I read this article by Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar on www.magicthegathering.com. And this is what I now have:

Ninjas:

3x Mistblade Shinobi
4x Ninja of the Deep Hours
2x Walker of Secret Ways
4x Throat Slitter
2x Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
2x Higure, the Still Wind

Distractions:

4x Ravenous Rats
3x Chittering Rats
3x Trinket Mage
4x Escape Artist
1x Sengir Autocrat

Tricks:

3x Shuriken
1x Ronin Warclub
1x Sword of Light and Shadow

Mana Acceleration:

4x Wayfarer's Bauble
3x Talisman of Dominance
1x Extraplanar Lens

Land:

9x Island
9x Swamp

[Maraxus of Keld]

Now for a little Magic theory and explanations:

The biggest inspiration I drew from the article was to use creatures that do something when they come into play. Both Ravenous Rats and Chittering Rats fit the bill, plus they help with card advantage, and the Chittering Rats with tempo also once I can start dropping them into play repeatedly.
Trinket Mage lets me fish out either the Shurikens to wipe out potential blockers, or thin my deck via Wayfarer's Bauble. I'm not so sure I really need them, though, and even if I do, I may drop them down to two.

Next, I need a way for creatures to get through without being blocked. Escape Artist seemed a logical choice. If I was concerned with making this deck Standard-legal, I would use Phantom Warrior instead, but the lower mana cost is more important to me than the extra power and toughness, so I chose the Artist for this deck instead.

Now, for the other two equipments in the deck. Ronin Warclub is nice, because it automatically latches on whenever I Ninjutsu a creature into play. I need to playtest this card more, but if it goes well I may add another one to the deck in place of a Trinket Mage.

Sword of Light and Shadow is the only way for me to bring back creatures that get killed in this deck, and it also can help deal with black creatures (since Throat Slitter can't take them out) and even gain me life. I think it's a pretty solid choice for the deck.

[Maraxus of Keld]

The ninjas are pretty self-explanatory. I decided not to bother with Okiba-Gang Shinobi because I felt that the ninjutsu cost was rather high, and I can do an adequate job emptying an opponent's hand with the rats. And I'm not running Skullsnatcher because I think its ability isn't useful enough to justify a place in the deck.

The damage ability of Walker of Secret Ways isn't that important, especially since there are no counterspells in the deck. But his other ability, that of bouncing my ninjas back to my hand, is incredibly useful. Not only can I use it to bounce a blocked ninja back to my hand to keep it alive, I can then Ninjutsu that ninja back into combat by switching it out with an unblocked creature. And Throat Slitter, possibly the handiest ninja in the game, needs no explanation.

The two legendary ninjas are obvious choices, due to their abilities. I haven't actually gotten Ink-Eyes into play yet, so I don't know how well she works, but Higure is definitely solid.

So anyway, constructive criticism or mindless adoration are welcome. Please let me know if you think there's something I should change about the deck, or if you think it's the greatest thing since Ravager Affinity (you'd be wrong, but I still appreciate the sentiment).