While there are some valid criticisms around the Magic: The Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set, it looks like a fairly exciting set for those who care about the IP, and there are some genuinely exciting cards coming to the set.
Here, we’ll be taking a look at the top five multicolor cards that we’ve found so far, and just like the main set, there are a lot of legendary creatures in our selection. However, that is, in part, due to a lack of multicolor instants, sorcery, or enchantment cards being revealed.
5
Don & Raph, Hard Science
Legendary Creature
Don & Raph, Hard Science is a 2/4 legendary creature with menace that gives the next noncreature spell you cast an affinity for artifacts when it attacks. This lowers the casting cost of a spell by one mana for each artifact you control.
A creature with menace requires at least two cards to block it, or else it cannot be blocked at all.
We can see a variation of this card where it probably required player damage to trigger the ability, and came with a sneak cost. Still, instead, menace has been chosen, which is probably for the best given the volume of sneak cards already included in the set.
This card will fit in nicely with some of the best MTG TMNT red cards and blue cards we’ve already covered, with Izzet artifact decks likely to be on the up once this set is in circulation.
Magic: The Gathering – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 5 Best Blue Cards
Early signs suggest blue may be the weakest color in the MTG TMNT set, but there are still some game changers hidden away.
4
Dark Leo & Shredder
Legendary Creature
Moving on to this Orzhov legendary creature, Dark Leo & Shredder is a two mana 1/3 legendary with sneak that gives all attacking ninjas you control deathtouch.
If Dark Leo & Shredder deals player damage, you create a 1/1 ninja creature token. Then, if you control five or more ninjas, the player loses half their life, rounded up.
This card just states you must control five ninjas, not five ninja tokens, so this can include other nontoken creatures with the ninja creature type.
This is quite a powerful creature given its cost, and while it may only be a 1/3 itself, its impact on the game is centered more around its other abilities. Playing this card for its sneak cost also gives you that first player combat damage trigger for free, provided your opponent doesn’t counter the spell.
3
Supreme Verdict
Sorcery
The only non-legendary creature on this list, Supreme Verdict, is quite a straightforward sorcery. It destroys all creatures, but cannot be countered, meaning if players want to protect against it, they need to find a way to bounce creatures back into their hand, or give them indestructible.
This card bears the shell set icon, meaning the card is only legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage, unless otherwise stated.
With a four mana casting cost, it’s quite reasonable to expect this spell to be picked up by a lot of Commander decks as a way to deal with creature threats moving forward.
2
Splinter, Radical Rat
Legendary Creature
Another Orzhov creature makes this list as Splinter, Radical Rat looks to bring a big uplift to ninjas from this set. This is because it doubles the ability trigger for all ninjas, meaning if paired with a card like Dark Leo & Shredder, it would double the number of tokens generated each time it deals player damage.
A creature ability is any rules text featured on a card, for example, “when this card attacks, discard a card.” Splinter can make this ability trigger twice.
Given that Splinter, Radical Rat only costs three mana itself, this is going to be a huge card for ninja decks, and that’s without even covering its mana ability, which can make a target ninja unblockable for one turn. This ability, however, costs two mana, but must be paid for with at least one blue mana.
1
Heroes In A Half Shell
Legendary Creature
Finally, we have Heroes in a Half Shell, one of the six possible Commanders is the TMNT Commander deck. This is a 5/5 WUBRG creature with vigilance, menace, haste, and trample.
As an added boost to an already terrifying card, any time a ninja, turtle, and/or mutant deals combat damage to a player, that creature gets a +1/+1 counter.
The “and/or” in the rules text is just to cover creatures that carry more than one creature type and ensures they are still eligible to activate this ability. For example, a Ninja Mutant type card would technically not qualify if the rules text stated the type must be ninja OR mutant. The “and” adds this eligibility and clears up any potential confusion.
Pair this up with the right mix of eligible cards, especially those with sneak, menace, or any other abilities to make them difficult to block, and you’ll be building a huge army of scary creatures in no time. There’s a good reason why this is one of the most favored Commander options from the pre-con deck, based on early reactions.
Magic: The Gathering – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 5 Best Black Cards
As we near the arrival of the MTG TMNT set, we’re taking a closer look at the best cards revealed from each mana pool.
