Legendary Creature — Human Ninja

Shredder, Shadow Master

Mana value5EDHREC#7,081

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The Commander

Whenever Shredder attacks a player, for each other opponent, create a token that's a copy of Shredder tapped and attacking that player, except it isn't legendary. Sacrifice those tokens at end of combat.

Whenever Shredder deals combat damage to a player, that player loses half their life, rounded up.

Guide

Gameplan

Cast Shredder, swing at a player, and create attacking copies aimed at every other opponent so all three lose half their life in one combat step. Repeat each turn to chunk life totals into oblivion, then close with damage doublers, extra combats, or evasion. Protect Shredder, keep him connecting, and lean on the exponential life-loss to set up a finishing blow.

Strengths

Halves multiple opponents' life totals simultaneously every combat, accelerating any kill
Token copies trigger the damage clause independently, hitting the whole table at once
Mono-black gives deep access to tutors, removal, recursion, and reanimation
Naturally pairs with evasion, double strike, and extra-combat effects for explosive turns
Ninjutsu synergy lets you swap him in cheaply and dodge sorcery-speed removal

Weaknesses

Halving rounds up and never goes below the last point, so you still need real damage or a finisher to close
Relies on connecting in combat—blockers, fog, and damage prevention shut him down
Removal-heavy tables can repeatedly answer a 5-mana commander, taxing your resources
Mono-black struggles with enchantment/artifact removal and flying defense
Token copies are sacrificed at end of combat, so no lingering board presence

Key Cards

Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable and shroud so Shredder reliably connects and survives targeted removal.
Rogue's Passage — Makes Shredder unblockable on demand to guarantee the half-life trigger lands.
Gravitic Punch — After combat damage, deals damage equal to Shredder's power to finish a halved opponent.
Fireshrieker — Double strike means two combat-damage triggers, halving twice and rounding up for huge swings.
Sword of Feast and Famine — Protection and evasion keep Shredder alive while the untap lets you hold up interaction.
Grafted Exoskeleton — Adds infect/poison angle, turning the doubled combat triggers into a fast alternate kill.
Thousand-Year Elixir — Haste and an extra tap let Shredder attack the turn he lands, pressuring immediately.

Upgrade Path

Add reliable evasion (Whispersilk Cloak, Trailblazer's Boots, Rogue's Passage) and damage multipliers/extra combats (Fireshrieker, Grappling Hook, Aggravated Assault, Seize the Day) so a single attack ends games. Layer in fast mana and tutors (Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to assemble pieces, plus protection like Lightning Greaves and Imp's Mischief to keep Shredder safe. For the highest power, build toward an infect or double-strike one-shot kill backed by free reanimation if he dies.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Halving all opponents repeatedly, then finishing with direct damage or a big swing
▸Double strike or extra combats halving multiple times for lethal in a single turn
▸Grafted Exoskeleton/infect turning doubled triggers into poison kills
▸Whittling the table low and closing with reach burn like Gravitic Punch or Comeuppance-style effects

Archetypes

Voltron — Loading equipment, evasion, and double strike onto Shredder maximizes the half-life triggers across the table.
Ninjas — Ninjutsu and unblockable creatures let you bounce attackers and slip Shredder in for guaranteed damage.
Aggro/Tempo — Repeated halving applies relentless table-wide pressure, racing opponents down each combat.
Combo — Extra combats plus damage doublers or infect convert his triggers into a one-turn kill.