Magic: The Gathering’s Best Commander for Atsu is Already Clear, and It’s Not Jin

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Magic: The Gathering is teaming up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a special set, and even more crossovers are on the way with some exciting new cards. Wizards of the Coast recently shared its plans for 2026, including all remaining releases for 2025. A large collection of new and reprinted cards became available in a Secret Lair Superdrop on October 13th, and on October 27th, Magic: The Gathering will launch a series of Secret Lair drops featuring content from PlayStation franchises.

  • The Last of Us (Part 1 & 2)
  • God of War (Greek & Norse Saga)
  • Uncharted
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Ghost of Tsushima

A new Magic: The Gathering card inspired by Ghost of Tsushima’s Ghost of Yotei was recently revealed, featuring the character Atsu. While a crossover with Ghost of Yotei seemed likely after the initial Ghost of Tsushima announcement, fans were surprised by how quickly it happened. The card’s colors align with Jin Sakai’s Commander deck, making a pairing logical, but Jin isn’t actually the ideal commander to use with Atsu.

That’s actually Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow. This is due to Atsu’s color scheme and how well it supports creatures with a power of one, making them unblockable. Jin Sakai from Magic: The Gathering has a power of two, so he’d be a better fit as a supporting card for Atsu, rather than the other way around, but unfortunately, that isn’t an option.

Atsu, Ghost of Yotei, is the special bonus card included with the Ghost of Tsushima Secret Lair drop.

October 27 is Suddenly a Big Day for MTG’s Yuriko Commander Players

Fans familiar with Magic: The Gathering Commander decks likely already know how strong Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow is – she’s consistently one of the game’s most played commanders. Yuriko is a Blue and Black creature with a unique ability: you can always cast her from your command zone for just one blue and one black mana, ignoring any extra costs that usually apply to repeatedly casting commanders.

Commander tax increases the mana cost of casting your commander each time it’s been previously removed from the battlefield and returned to the command zone. Specifically, it adds one generic mana to the casting cost for each time it has been removed this way. This effect stacks, so if your commander has been removed twice, it will cost two extra generic mana to cast it again.

Atsu’s low mana cost of 1 makes Yuriko unblockable, letting players draw a card for free and deal damage to opponents equal to the card’s mana cost. This is a strong combination because Yuriko can become unblockable even when cast using commander ninjutsu. Unlike artifacts like Brotherhood Regalia, which can’t be equipped during combat, or enchantments like Aqueous Form or Aether Tunnel, which require sorcery speed, Atsu offers an instant and reliable solution.

Smoke Shroud is a useful card because you can bring it back from the discard pile and attach it to any ninja creature as it enters the battlefield – and Yuriko is a ninja! However, instead of making the ninja unblockable, Smoke Shroud gives it the ability to fly.

3 Out of 5 Magic: The Gathering PlayStation Secret Lair Cards From Ghost of Tsushima Can’t be Played With Atsu

Besides the bonus card, Atsu, Ghost of Yotei, the Ghost of Tsushima Secret Lair features a total of five cards. They are:

  • Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima (White, Blue, Black)
  • Path to Exile (White)
  • Borne Upon a Wind (Blue)
  • Ghostly Flicker (Blue)
  • Castle Shimura/Eiganjo Castle (White)

Okay, so building a Magic: The Gathering Commander deck themed around Ghost of Tsushima gives you a couple of options. You can go all-in on cards featuring Jin Sakai as your commander, or you could focus on a strategy built around the cards Borne Upon a Wind and Ghostly Flicker, using Atsu as your commander. Honestly though, looking at how these decks have performed, Atsu just isn’t really cutting it as a top-tier commander. It’s a fun idea, but not super competitive.

Dominik Mayer, the artist behind a recent, highly sought-after Avatar card called Sozin’s Comet in Magic: The Gathering, also created the artwork for three cards inspired by Ghost of Tsushima in the PlayStation Secret Lair set.

Why Magic: The Gathering’s Ghost of Yotei Card is Already Controversial

Atsu is essentially a re-printed version of the card Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, originally from the Dominaria set. It’s become very popular in decks built around the commander Yuriko, appearing in over 80% of them (23,200 out of 28,800 on the EDHREC website). While some players will be happy to have a fresh copy of Tetsuko for their Yuriko decks, this reprint isn’t necessarily positive for a few other reasons…

  • Those who wanted a mechanically unique Atsu card or an entire Ghost of Yotei Secret Lair in MTG are not getting one. Not now, at least.
  • Atsu is mono-Blue, which doesn’t fit the character’s story and personality from Ghost of Yotei, according to fans.
  • The art for the PlayStation Secret Lair Atsu card is simply the game’s official art, rather than an MTG illustrator’s take on the character.

MTG x PlayStation Ghost of Yotei Secret Lair Controversy Explained

Many players have expressed their frustration with the announcement that Atsu, Ghost of Yotei is being reprinted, particularly because the upcoming Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima card seems so distinct and strong. Jin is a rare combat-focused Esper commander, similar to Final Fantasy’s Noctis from the core set, or a new commander coming in the December 5th Scene Boxes.

Many players who enjoyed the story of Ghost of Yotei and also play Magic: The Gathering think the character Atsu’s color scheme doesn’t quite fit. They suggest red as the primary color, with black as a secondary color to reflect his revenge-driven story. A mono-blue color scheme seems particularly out of place. The colors chosen for Jin Sakai in MTG feel more fitting, and because Atsu is a reprinted character, he could have easily been given a different color combination with a different starting point.

Some players are also disappointed that the Atsu card features artwork from Ghost of Yotei instead of a brand new illustration created specifically for it. It seems this was likely a quick decision made at the last minute, which explains it, but many still find it a bit disheartening.

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2025-10-25 23:38