Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Tracking print frequency across expansions

Magic: The Gathering loves its surprises, but savvy collectors and players also love a good macro trend: how frequently a card shows up across sets, reprints, and alt-art variants. Ninja of the New Moon — a black-aligned Spirit Ninja from Modern Horizons ( MH1) — makes for a perfect microcase study. This common-era creature is not a flashy mythic splashed across the page, yet its print history, rarity, and mechanical footprint offer a tidy lens into how Wizards of the Coast handles expansion frequency for a given card. 🧙‍♂️🔥

First, the data points that matter for tracking frequency are straightforward but telling: rarity, set count, reprint status, and the practical footprints in popular formats. Ninja of the New Moon is a common, printed in MH1, with a single main printing and no known reprint as of today. That means a modern horizon-era card—despite its bold ninjutsu mechanic and a 6/3 body for five mana—tends to appear only once in the standard print stream, with foils available but not a flood of additional reprints in other large sets. The numbers tell a story: lower reprint volatility for a common card tied to a specific set, and a small but steady niche in casual and EDH play due to its raw stats and ninjutsu engine. 💎

In practice, tracking print frequency starts with a careful read of the card’s profile and then a cross-check against databases like Scryfall or Gatherer. For Ninja of the New Moon, you can summarize the card data as a practical recipe for frequency assessment: a black, mono-black identity creature with a heavy ninjutsu requirement, a 3/6 body via a 5-mana overall stat block, and a classic fatigue-to-surprise swing that fits late-game black control or tempo shells. When you see a card that’s not reprinted across other main sets, you know you’re watching a snapshot moment in MTG’s print history — useful for predicting possible future reprints or special-edition appearances in Masters sets or promo cycles. 🗂️

Card profile: Ninja of the New Moon

• Name: Ninja of the New Moon
• Mana cost: {3}{B}{B}
• Converted mana cost: 5
• Type: Creature — Spirit Ninja
• Rarity: Common
• Colors: Black
• Set: Modern Horizons (MH1)
• Power/Toughness: 6/3
• Flavor text: “The night is the greatest ally of all.”
• Abilities: Ninjutsu {3}{B} — Return an unblocked attacker you control to its owner’s hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.
• Art: Greg Opalinski

The card’s core mechanic, Ninjutsu, is a defining feature of many ninja-themed decks over the years. This ability allows you to cheat a substantial body into play behind the opponent’s defenses, which can swing tempo and pressure the board in ways standard playing out a 5-mana creature might not. In a vacuum, Ninja of the New Moon is a potent beater that comes with a built-in drawback—your unblocked attacker needs to be sent back to your hand, and the creature enters tapped and attacking. In practice, that means you’re weaving a chain of tempo plays that rewards careful sequencing, careful blocker management, and a willingness to lean into risk for a big payoff. ⚔️

From a design perspective, the card sits at a crossroads of power and timing. A 6/3 body for five with a ninjutsu re-entry cost is not fragile, but it invites thoughtful deck-building: you’ll want to pair it with ways to make unblocked attackers or to protect against a swift tempo response from your opponent. The flavor text nods to the night’s influence, and the artwork by Opalinski carries a moody, nocturnal vibe that fits the modern ninja aesthetic. It’s a small, quiet piece of a larger tapestry in MH1’s “draft innovation” spirit. 🎨

Speaking of print frequency, the market data points are instructive: the card has been observed primarily in its original MH1 print run, with nonfoil and foil options but without a broad release history across other standard-legal sets. The price remains modest — a few dimes on the open market for nonfoil, with foil versions occasionally fetching a touch more — reflecting its status as a staple for budget-conscious Commander decks and niche Modern-legal builds rather than a chase mythic. This immutability in print history makes Ninja of the New Moon an excellent, real-world sample for collectors who want to understand how common cards travel through MTG’s printing ecosystem. 🧭

For players who love to map out a deck’s lifecycle, tracking a single card’s print frequency across expansions can reveal broader patterns: common cards in evergreen archetypes often appear in multiple reprint opportunities, while some cards become one-shot curiosities tied to a single set’s theme. Ninja of the New Moon sits comfortably in the former category of “practical but not overprinted,” a sweet spot for those who enjoy both a strong board presence and a little historical trivia. 🔎

If you’re looking to deepen the analysis, you can start with a simple workflow: identify the card’s rarity and set, search for “prints” on Scryfall, check for reprint status across standard, modern, or eternal formats, and then cross-reference with EDHREC and price trackers to gauge collector interest. The more you practice this, the more you’ll spot subtle shifts — maybe a set nod to ninjas later adds a similar creature, or a reprint pops up in a Masters set, nudging the frequency up a notch. 🧠

And while you’re thinking about how historical print decisions shape the current meta, here’s a small reminder to invest in the little luxuries that fuel hobby joy—like a reliable desk pad for long drafting sessions. Our shop carries a Custom Vegan PU Leather Mouse Pad (Non-Slip Backing) that’s perfect for late-night strategy sessions, perfectly pairing with your love of data-driven deckbuilding. Custom Vegan PU Leather Mouse Pad 🧙‍♂️🎲

Methods for tracking across expansions

For fans and researchers who want to formalize this hobby, here’s a practical approach you can try:

• Start with the card’s core data (name, rarity, set) from Scryfall or Gatherer.
• Use the “prints” search to identify every printing, including promos, foils, and special editions.
• Note reprint status and whether newer sets have included the card in a draft or sealed-product reprint.
• Track price changes across print runs to gauge collector interest and supply shifts.
• Compare with similar cards (same color identity, similar mana curves) to spot broader printing trends in the same archetype or set type.

More from our network

• https://crypto-acolytes.xyz/blog/post/nft-stats-sempire-sempire-1656-from-sempiredao-collection/
• https://crypto-articles.xyz/tmplyaac7eg/5830da23.html
• https://transparent-paper.shop/blog/post/predictive-data-powers-urzas-bauble-deckbuilding-tools/
• https://blog.crypto-articles.xyz/blog/post/swellow-vs-similar-flying-pokemon-tcg-performance-analysis/
• https://crypto-acolytes.xyz/blog/post/currency-revaluation-strategies-for-long-running-mmos/