As we encroach on MTG‘s return to New York City with Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I dug up five hidden gems players can deploy in their Commander Decks as solid upgrade choices for the 99.
At the beginning of March, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bring their crime-stopping pizza-eating turtle power to the planes of Magic: The Gathering. While the previous Lorwyn: Eclipsed set featured just 16 legendary creatures in the main set (not counting the two Commander pre-cons), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brings over 100 unique legendary creatures to the tabletops of Magic: The Gathering.
While legends are powerful, they aren’t exactly hidden gems, and most of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universes Beyond set is based on the titular heroes in a half shell. While it is no doubt Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Leonardo (alongside their tagteam counterparts) will absolutely be viable in Commander Decks, we are digging further beneath the shell and dragging some potentially overlooked cards not involving legends (or hefty price tags) to the forefront of the set.
You could very well say ‘these turtles are good,’ and call it there, but MTG x TMNT offers far more than superpowers like Krang, Utrom Warlord and Super Shredder. While notable mentions can include Splinter’s Technique (a tutor card that can be cheated with Sneak), many cards lurk in the sewers of the set that can elevate a 99-card deck beyond its current state.
Even with the card price listings, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has not yet been released. The cards discussed below could emerge as hidden gems for existing Commander decks, slotted into future deck plans, or even draft and prerelease events with their built-in versatility. This versatility, combined with relatively modest projected prices, makes them worth considering ahead of the set’s arrival.
Bespoke Bō
Starting off hot with an equipment card, this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card channels Donatello’s weapon of choice into an Uncommon mono-blue card that also lifts something from the board when it enters. The versatility of this effect cannot be denied, as players can target their own creatures (like the new Armaggon, Future Shark) to replay and re-recieve ETB effects. Oh, it also buffs your creature and gives it vigilance, a multipurpose artifact.
A whole cycle of Uncommon rarity equipment was released with TMNT, and a solid argument could be made for inserting any of them here instead of the Bespoke Bō (especially Hard-won Jitte and Novel Nunchaku). But due to artifact synergy, being able to lift an expensive creature off an opponent’s board to stop their strategy for a turn, or lifting your own to combo with new Disappear keyword effects.
Another card in the set, Koya, Death from Above, operates in the same manner and gives the player another option for removal (or re-playing an ETB ability), but the removal cost is much steeper than Bespoke Bō’s equip cost, and functions better as a target for the three-cost blue equipment for triple Disappear activations.
Go Ninja Go
Some of the strongest offerings Magic: The Gathering brings to tabletops is modality, and Go Ninja Go embodies some of the best. Not only is it a very cheap two-cost card, it can re-play a card for an extra ETB effect and get rid of one of your opponent’s creatures for just two mana. Go Ninja Go doesn’t ask you to choose one; you can do two heavy-hitting effects at once. If you’re on the ropes, you can use this to replay Spirited Companion for another card draw, or you can flicker the mono-white Cloud, Midgar Mercenary from Final Fantasy Universes Beyond for an extra equipment tutor.
Further, you can use Go Ninja Go in tandem with other ‘search your library’ effects to overwhelm your opponents. Good targets include Imperial Recruiter and Recruiter of the Guard, often regarded as commander go-tos when building Boros synergy. Palace Jailer allows you to get Monarch status, while also removing a creature your opponent controls, giving a player the ability to kill a creature, exile an opponent’s creature (until they become monarch themselves), and net themselves a card draw, all with only two mana invested. Go Ninja Go goes hard.
Frog Butler/ Transdimensional Bovine
I know this slot has two creatures in it, but both represent some of the best mana dorks (a nickname for mana-producing creatures) have to offer, and they’re often overlooked. Let’s face it, Green hits hard, and it does so with a better ramp than Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2‘s famous school level. These two low-cost creatures can allow you to generate mana more quickly, giving you the tools to outpace your opponent. While standard and commander have a wealth of mana dork options (like the new Spider Manifestation), these two can deliver new faces to the tabletop and help immensely while doing so.
The Frog Butler can sneak up on an opposing disaster in flight (like the many Angels played in Commander) with its built-in reach ability and Deathtouch, giving oppositional Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice and The Ur-Dragon second thoughts before attempting to hit you. Transdimensional Bovine brings a very low-brow episode of TMNT to the forefront of magic cards, and Cudley is all too happy to give players a boost of two mana when he taps. Transdimensional Bovine can also be slotted into any toughness-heavy deck (Arcades, The Strategist and Felothar, the Steadfast come to mind) easily.
Shredder’s Technique
On the colour pie, Mono-Black has had big issues in dealing with Enchantments (red has it far worse), so Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles showed they have a potential one-cost enchantment removal packed in with their new Sneak ability. While Duskmourn’s Withering Torment (a two-cost instant mono black enchantment removal) still sees heavy use everywhere, TMNT said, “Don’t worry, we have Withering Torment at home.” In the singleton commander format, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lets you have two of these similar effects in one deck.
In decks that utilize unblockable creatures (or anything that deploys cards like Rogue’s Passage or Assassin’s Regalia), Shredder’s Technique could be considered an auto-add due to its ability to remove pesky value engines for a single black mana. Did your opponent throw down Great Auramancy? Shredder’s Technique can handle that. Is Doubling Season making your chances of winning non-existent? Shredder’s Technique can handle that too. Even Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and Esper Sentinel quiver in sight of this card. If you’re being punished by Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, Aura Shards or even Consecrated Sphinx, Shredder’s Technique can put you right back in the ‘threat’ seat.
Shredder’s Technique is also a standard format beast, getting rid of big opponent advantage cards like Seam Rip, erasing saga cards like The Legend of Roku and Summon: Bahamut (from other Universes Beyind sets), and finishing off any of Duskmourn’s Enduring enchantment cycle for good after they come back as enchantments. Shredder’s Technique can rip out a deck’s heart, setting you up for the win.
Raphael’s Technique
It’s safe to say Wheel of Fortune carries a heavy price. Being one of the best hand resets in the game, the card is highly sought by collectors and players alike, and its placement on the Reserve List (a list of cards curated by WOTC that won’t see reprints) keeps the price well over $200 for a Revised Edition version of it. Because of this scarcity, Raphael’s Technique immediately inserts itself as a dynamite replacement. For Nekusar, The Mindbreaker, this technique is a must.
Any Rakdos-leaning decks can benefit from Raphael’s Technique, especially those that use Orcish Bowmasters. If you’re in a four-player game, and Raphael’s Technique resolves with Orcish Bowmasters on the board, your opponents are in for a world of hurt, dealing 21 damage spread across the whole board and giving you a 21/21 Orc Army for the effort. Combining this with cards like All Will Be One or Kederekt Parasite (from Duskmourn) can eliminate someone with full life in a single play.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may be chock full of legendaries, but these Magic: The Gathering cards in the main set should not be overlooked. While other cards like The Last Ronin are easy mentions, that card will likely see heavy use in Enchantment/Saga-based decks and not be overlooked due to its Mythic status.
That just about wraps up the Top 5 Hidden Gems from Magic: The Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles list. Of course, this is not the entire list of viable cards from the set, just the ones I can’t wait to put in my decks when the full set launches on March 3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pre-release events are happening this week, so fans can head to the official WoTC website to check for any events near them.
