At this point, every Magic the Gathering Universes Beyond set will court controversy. The upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set is no exception, especially since it is another often-adapted comic book property. But a set should be judged on its own merits, and TMNT is looking much better than many players thought.
The power of vibes.
Of all things to highlight just how distinct TMNT will be, the normal Basic lands might not be many’s first pick. But, these lands that depict the Turtles just having “vanished” before civilians see them help highlight why this New York City isn’t the same as the Spider-Man set. Each of these default Basics carries a neon-drenched nightlight vibe that makes them some of the most eye-catching basics in a while.
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In contrast, the full art Basics of the main set (the divisive Pizza lands are exclusive to the ‘Pizza Bundle’) depict the Turtles leaping across the city’s rooftops in silhouette. The colors surrounding them are also vibrant and striking. This highlights how different NYC is from the Marvel sets, as Narrative Lead Crystal Frasier calls it: “the New York you visit versus the New York you live in.”
TMNT “Vanish” Basic Land
TMNT “Rooftop” full art Basic Land
TMNT “Pizza” full art Basic Land
A turtle in every pack
Each pack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles promises “a turtle in every pack,” and that’s a whole lot of Turtles. To achieve this goal, the set takes the concept of telling a character’s story through multiple Legendary creature cards and pushes it to the limit. Each core Turtle – Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello – has four cards at every rarity.
Moving from common to mythic rare doesn’t just show each Turtle growing; it also showcases the tonal shifts TMNT has experienced over the decades. It’s a clever way of threading the needle between their origins as a Daredevil parody to the absurdity of Dimension X. These higher-end cards also get a very special headliner treatment featuring new art and foil signature of co-creator Kevin Eastman to call back to the old underground comic run.
At the same time, that’s a lot of Turtles before even taking the team-up cards into account. Each brother gets a hybrid cost team-up card with another brother. That count grows exponentially before taking the Turtles’ allies and enemies into account. True to hybrid cards, these slightly different takes combine aspects of each character to create something new. Don & Leo, Problem Solvers is a great example: combining Vigilance and high stats from Leonardo with a tricky “blink” effect from Donatello.
Raphael, the Nightwatcher | 2 Colorless Mana, 2 Red Mana
Legendary Creature — Mutant Ninja Turtle
Sneak 1 Colorless Mana, 2 Red Mana (You may cast this spell for 1 Colorless Mana and 2 Red Mana if you also return an unblocked attacker you control to hand during the declare blockers step. He enters tapped and attacking.)
Attacking creatures you control have double strike.
Don & Leo, Problem Solvers | 3 Colorless Mana, 2 Hybrid White/Blue Mana
Legendary Creature — Mutant Ninja Turtle
Vigilance
At the beginning of your end step, exile up to one target artifact you control and up to one target creature you control. Then return them to the battlefield under their owners’ control.
Mechanical Symmetry
While every Universes Beyond set can innovate new mechanics to fit the flavor of the property, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may be the most Magic adjacent yet, from a mechanical perspective. TMNT borrows heavily from established and fun mechanics in Magic’s arsenal.
The enchantment subtype Class returns, tied to the iconic ’80s cartoon theme, allowing players to answer the meme question, “which Ninja Turtle are you?” Alliance returns from Streets of New Capenna, rewarding players for playing creatures – a good fit for a Turtle in every pack.
Even the newly named mechanics will play in familiar ways. Sneak is a modified version of Ninjutsu. In most cases, the mechanic is the same, but cleans up a lot of the corner cases that Ninjutsu plays into – including in the Command Zone, sorry Yuriko fans. The upside of this is Sneak can appear on Instants and Sorceries as well, adding an extra layer of unpredictability.
A new artifact token called Mutagen can be created by cards in the set, and Mutagen can be used to put +1/+1 counters on all those Turtles. Finally, Revolt returns with a rebrand: Disappear. Functionally, the effect is the same – and plays well with Sneak – but fans worried about Magic terms getting overwritten by UB can breathe easy. As design lead Eric Englehard notes, Revolt was an ability word, not a keyword mechanic. This effect can return either as Revolt or an entirely other relevant word – or with no word at all.
New or old, these mechanics have deep roots in familiar, strong Magic design. So much so that several cards of the set share a lot of identity with iconic cards of the game’s history. They also eschew some of the more complex mechanics and tracking of recent sets of the past couple of years. That’s promising for players worried about complexity and power creep, and also for the Magic curious Turtle fan.
Ninja Teen | 2 Colorless, 1 Black Mana
Enchantment — Class
(Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
Whenever a creature you control leaves the battlefield, each opponent loses 1 life.
1 Colorless Mana, 1 Black Mana: Level 2
Creatures you control get +1/+0 and have menace.
1 Black Mana: Level 3
Creature cards in your graveyard have sneak 3 Colorless Mana, 1 Black Mana.
You may cast creature spells from your graveyard using their sneak abilities.
Slash, Reptile Rampager | 3 Colorless Mana, 2 Red Mana
Legendary Creature — Mutant Berserker Turtle
Alliance — Whenever another creature you control enters, Slash deals 2 damage to each opponent.
Whenever Slash attacks, create a 2/2 red Mutant creature token.
Mutagen Token
Token Artifact –– Mutagen
1 Colorless Mana, Tap, Sacrifice this token: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
Activate only as a sorcery.
Plenty of Commander goodies
The product lineup doesn’t forget about the Commander players in the crowd, though it does take a different tack than other releases. There’s only one Commander preconstructed deck this time around, inspired by the Turtles’ various video game appearances. Thanks to the nature of video game power-ups, high scores, and the main set’s Mutagen, +1/+1 counter support is a focus. Folks who picked up last year’s Counter Blitz from Final Fantasy or a sick Pir & Toothy player like are in for a treat.
The Turtle Power Commander deck has more original designs than even other Universes Beyond precons, but that’s not the only place to find new Eternal-legal designs. In an ever-growing attempt to ask “what even is Magic,” Turtle Team-Up is a cooperative PvE mode in a box for four players. Each player picks up a 60-card Jumpstart-style deck themed after one of the four Turtles and tries their hand against a boss deck filled with foes. This product features more unique designs for Commander players, including even more Legendary Turtles.
Reprint fiends will also have some things to look forward to also. The source material bonus sheets of last year return, for better or worse. Given the vast scope of media the Turtles appear in, time will tell whether these will work. A Doubling Season reprint is always nice, though. The Pizza bundle will also include new pizza party-themed art on iconic reprints, like Dark Ritual.
High Score | 2 Colorless Mana, 1 Green Mana
Enchantment
If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on it instead.
At the beginning of your end step, draw a card if you control a creature with the greatest power among creatures on the battlefield.
Dark Ritual | 1 Black Mana
Sorcery
Add 3 Black Mana.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is shaping up to be another good entry point for new players and a bit of a complexity break for the hardened ones. Time will tell if that pays off in a gameplay success, but it’s clear this is no Spider-Man set situation. Everything shown up to this point – even against Wizards of the Coast’s own intention – shows a love and atmosphere that Universes Beyond needs to succeed. The Turtles are resilient.
The TMNT x Magic the Gathering set prerelease is February 27th. The set releases March 3rd on MTG Arena and March 6th everywhere else.
