Magic: The Gathering indulges in nostalgia in its latest set, which spotlights the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For anyone who grew up in the 1990s, there’s likely to be a personal connection here. TMNT was everywhere in this era. Saturday morning cartoons on Cheez TV, in K-Zone magazine, on skateboards… you name it.
It’s a rather clever collaboration between Wizards of the Coast and current TMNT owner Viacom, particularly given its target audience: adults who, day by day, are becoming more nostalgic for the perceived simplicity and carefree nature of the 1990s.
It also helps that the MTG x TMNT set arrives well-designed and properly powerful, with fun themes and a bounty of synergies to explore in its combinations of ooze, pizza, ninjas and mutants.
MTG x TMNT set review – quick links
MTG’s TMNT card set features ultra-fun artwork
Any adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should naturally be bright and bouncy. While some have treated the franchise with a darker tone, it’s slapstick by nature.
The franchise did, after all, begin as a parody of Daredevil and other superhero media, poking fun at how ridiculous and over-the-top the fantasy and sci-fi genre had become. (It’s implied the same radioactive ooze that gave Daredevil his superpowers leaked into a nearby sewer, creating the titular turtles – although for legal purposes, that’s always been a joke.)
The MTG adaptation of TMNT does well to represent the franchise through fun, silly cards that maintain a sense of light-heartedness. In special cartoon cards, you get a menagerie of iconic beasties, from triceratops commanders to bipedal rats and rhinos. They all have the colourful flavour of the animated series, with little easter eggs showcasing core moments from various adaptations.
Look closely, and you’ll spot niche characters in the artwork, alongside callbacks and comic book crossovers. There are even ultra-cool art treatments that spotlight classic comic book art, dating back to the original TMNT stories.
While these aren’t the heart of the new set, they’re very fun inclusions which add to the overarching flavour, calling to mind the radical vibes and ‘tude of the 1980s and 1990s.
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Layers of synergy make this a powerful new MTG set
What elevates this particular MTG set, beyond being a simple adaptation to appeal to nostalgic adults with some cash to splash, is an array of thoughtful synergies, paired with powerful and game-changing cards.
This set has wild new team-up cards, which feature multiple characters working together to devastating impact. Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order adds card draw for every counter you place. Krang & Shredder will help to literally shred your opponents’ deck, by forcing them to exile cards. Ralph & Leo, Sibling Rivals adds an additional combat phase with one or two untapped creatures.
These cards are all very powerful, and will integrate well with pretty much any MTG deck. While those who dislike the ‘reality-breaking’ of Universes Beyond sets might begrudge the power levels here, everyone else will have a blast fitting in these all-powerful turtles.
There are also boons for those running any ninja or mutant cards more generally, with lots of cards here that buff ninjas and/or mutants, allowing them to gain counters or generate mutagen tokens (which can be sacrificed for +1/+1 buffs).
An all-powerful, customisable Commander Deck is the highlight of MTG x TMNT
A major highlight of the new MTG x TMNT deck is, of course, the headlining Commander Deck. This is a five-colour deck that includes all of the turtles, with multiple options for your commander/s.
There are two ‘main’ commanders here, representing that five-colour spread – Leonardo, the Balance, and Heroes in a Half Shell.
Heroes in a Half Shell is the brute force commander, for those who want to enjoy TMNT gameplay without thinking too much about integrating synergy and combos. It requires mana of all five colours, and gives you a 5/5 combined Mutant Ninja Turtle with vigilance, menace, trample and haste. It also buffs any Mutants, Ninjas and Turtles which deal combat damage to another player in a turn.
I like this commander a lot, but I do think you’ll have a better go if you choose the intended commander, Leonardo. That’s largely down to his partner mechanic, which allows you to choose another turtle (or Splinter) to be your secondary commander.
The deck includes showcase commander cards for Leonard, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Splinter, with all having their own unique synergy. Raphael doubles damage, Splinter creates mutagen tokens for every nontoken creature that leaves the battlefield, Donatello (the best turtle) creates mutagen tokens per every token created, and Michelangelo adds +1/+1 counters on creatures, as well as generating food tokens.
For the compounding effect of Michelangelo – ‘At the beginning of your second main phase, if you attacked this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and create a food token’ – I actually think he’s the best option for a secondary commander.
He integrates very well with Leonardo’s own ability, which is to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control whenever a token you control enters. While Leonardo’s ability only activates once per turn, Michelangelo’s food token generation interacts well here.
Rocking these two together, you also get an array of benefits from many mutant and ninja cards which generate +1/+1 tokens or mutagen and food tokens.
As this is the only Commander Deck for the MTG x TMNT crossover, there’s a lot going on here. The turtles are the headlining heroes, so you get a lot of fun ninja and pizza cards to buff them. But there’s also a subsection of villains in the deck, which does throw out the theme slightly.
The villainous Shredder is here, as is Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang and Baxter Stockman. So while you’re slinging the turtles and fighting for good, there are also villains plotting and planning in the deck. I’m not so enamoured by their inclusion, as it does dilute the impact of the deck’s overarching ‘heroism’ theme – but that’s a consequences of creating a deck designed to represent the entire franchise.
Beyond the more villainous aspects, the TMNT Commander Deck is ultra-fun and ultra-powerful. You’ll spend time playing low-key creatures, then using your add-on synergy to buff your creatures. You’ll also be eating pizza and making ooze to add to this strength, which adds that all-important colour and flair to the deck.
You’ll quickly find the TMNT deck spiralling in strength. The longer you play, the more you’ll be able to buff your creatures. It’s a lot like a pizza party, with neat artwork to match. Even in non-upgraded form, this a powerful new deck to play with, and it should prove menacing in your home pod.
Overall verdict
MTG‘s new TMNT-starring Universes Beyond set is a joy. It’s a colourful and creative adaptation of the beloved franchise that pays homage to its vast history, in animation, comics, and beyond.
It engages deeply with its subject matter, in a way that other Universes Beyond sets haven’t, and arrives as a well-rounded, creatively designed expansion with lots of synergy and strength to boot. Add in the fun, customisable Commander Deck, which opens up gameplay, and you’ve got a real winner here.
A MTG x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Commander Deck, Booster Packs and Collector Booster Packs were provided for the purposes of this review.
