Ninja Sanctuary

My first post on TCGPlayer was a Baboon deck incorporating the neat hand killer combo involving Protector of the Sanctuary. At the time, Call of the Haunted was definitely in the Limited list still but in Spiritual Earth Art - Kurogane, I have a reliable alternative. Baboon provides field presence while Card of Safe Return allows for draw loop with Manticore of Darkness which I also played.

Now with Call of the Haunted back to 3 and a surpisingly high synergy gained off Ninja archetype, perhaps it is a good time to revisit the old strategy.

3 Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo
3 Upstart Golden Ninja
3 Hyper Hammerhead
3 Tour Guide from the Underworld
1 Sangan
1 Morphing Jar
1 Karakuri Ninja mdl 339 "Sazank"
1 Protector of the Sanctuary

3 Upstart Goblin
2 Pot of Duality
1 Card Destruction
1 Monster Reborn
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon
1 Reinforcement of the Army

3 Call of the Haunted
3 Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation
3 Dust Tornado
2 Disturbance Strategy
2 Spiritual Earth Art - Kurogane

2 Lavalval Chain
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Evolzar Laggia
1 Evolzar Dolkka
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Number 91 : Thunder Spark Dragon
1 Number 50 : Black Corn
1 Number 39 : Utopia
1 Number C39 : Utopia Ray
1 Number 17 : Leviathan Dragon
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon


When building such a combo-based strategy, it is important to note whether you are able to access said combo on a constant basis. If such deck is able to do so, the priority should be to get onto combo pieces as fast as possible. If you cannot, than it is a wise decision to make sure that the deck can still do okay without the combo (in other word, a Plan B) . This build falls into the latter category, which also helps me in deciding, for example, to have Upstart Goblin here, over One Day of Peace.


Having said that, most of the cards here have specific purpose. Some, like Tour Guide is a fairly decent card on its own but, here, it contributes to getting into combo pieces faster helps by sending Sangan to the grave early. Call of the Haunted then, can retrieve Sangan and allows me to tutor into combo pieces.

There are two ways that the combo can work. The first and the primary one is, chaining Call of the Haunted/Kurogane to the activation of Card Destruction/Disturbance Strategy. The second method is to have a Protector face-up while Morphing Jar is attacked. This occurs less frequently but when it happen, it
is game-changing, as you will at least gain a +5 cards advantage. Also note that you cannot flip Morphing Jar manually while Protector is face-up. Of course like the first method, if you have no Protector on the field, you can still flip the Jar and chain Call of the Haunted to summon Protector and proceed to PROFIT STEP.

As the game wore off to later stage, opponent will have a lesser card so the combo is best used as early a possible. Another alternative Protector combo (not possible here) is to chain either Ceasefire or The Spell Absorbing Life to the activation of Card Destruction.

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Moving on to the monster lineup, the Ninjas is the engine of the deck. Triple Hanzo is staple for Ninja engine. Upstart is golden here, more so than Hanzo. Upstart allows for instant access to any Rank 4 but the primary use is to bring Lavalval Chain out; subsequently, Lavalval Chain can dump Protector of the Sanctuary to the grave. This is on top of Upstart Golden Ninja ability to make use of any dead Trap Cards in hand and compliment the high-number but low-utility trap lineup nicely.

Going along with the Ninja engine, triple Hyper Hammerhead, a hugely underrated card, makes for a decent sole target for Super Art. Its Earth attribute makes it available as a fodder for Spiritual Earth Art - Kurogane. Also being a Dinosaur present an opportunity to bring forth Dolkka or Laggia on occassion. One copy of Sazank completes the engine, as usual.

Tour Guide inclusion is contentious, but definitely goes along well with 3 copies of Call of the Haunted. Morphing Jar is no-brainer; being a key part of the combo.

Spells and Traps

At times, I don't feel Upstart Goblin is necessary but, along with Duality, they are sort of a placeholder, which mean I am starting the duel with 35 cards each time, which is theoretically a recipe for consistency. Reinforcement can fetch for one of the Ninja. The other four spells are a definite staple in any of my deck. Dust Tornado is just plain good, getting rid of nuisances and the second effect is quiet handy. One of the advantage of the combo is that you can do it on the opponent's turn, right after Draw Phase - no Veiler to mess things up. Also, Disturbance Strategy is a troll on its own.