Walker of Secret Ways
Hand-knowledge is the rarest currency in early competitive Magic, and this Ninja was built to mine it on repeat. The combat-damage trigger looks at a player's hand each time it connects, which sounds like a one-shot peek until you remember the second ability: for one and a blue, you can return any of your own Ninja to hand during your turn, this one included. That loop is the whole point. Bounce the Ninja, replay it via ninjutsu by swapping in for an unblocked attacker, connect, and look again. The card turns the ninjutsu mechanic's signature trick (returning an attacker to redeploy a hidden threat) into a renewable scouting engine rather than a one-time tempo play. The 1/2 body is deliberately fragile, because the design isn't selling a beater; it's selling information and the ability to keep its own crew bouncing out of removal range and back into the attack. The self-bounce clause being your-turn-only is the restriction that keeps it from doubling as an instant-speed defensive escape hatch: you commit to the aggressive line or you get nothing. It's an unusually cerebral take on a mechanic mostly remembered for cheating splashy threats into combat, asking the pilot to value perfect information about an opponent's plan as highly as the damage that buys it.




