Another month, another Magic: The Gathering set, and March sees the card game celebrate everything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the latest Universes Beyond crossover set. The mutant turtles seem a natural fit for this forever-expanding TCG, and Wizards have sought to flesh out as many of your favourite and niche series characters as possible. For starters, having four uniquely colour-coded main characters means there’s obviously going to be an easy assignment to be made towards Magic’s five colour groups.
I’ll let you in on a secret. I was never allowed any exposure to TMNT as a kid. Transformers, yes. Kickass turtles that know Ninjutsu? Sounds too much like witchcraft, call that a ninjuts-no. So I’ve enjoyed a journey of discovery with this set of colourful characters and the cool shit they’re able to do within the format of Magic: The Gathering. And with a focus on characters, it is then unsurprising that this set is mostly crammed with Legendary Creatures. So, with a couple of TMNT favourites from the team in mind, let’s check how some of these mutants have transferred their skills to the tabletop.
WellPlayed writer and video auteur Ash Wayling would probably argue with his wallet or toy shelf that he’s our pre-eminent TMNT enjoyer. When asked who his favourite pick of the roster was, his illuminating response referenced several characters to get the cardboard treatment:
I was a TMNT kid. Some of my fondest childhood memories were of receiving those iconic action figures for my birthday or on Christmas morning, to then endlessly belt out the incredible 1987 theme song, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering parents. But one memory that is not so fond is the butting of heads when it came to Turtle villains. My stepbrothers were turtle normies, claiming that Bebop and Rocksteady were the coolest baddies. They were wrong. Baxter Stockman, the doofy scientist idiot who got turned into an even doofier human/fly hybrid (flybrid?), was easily the most entertaining loser to join the ranks of Shredder and co. He was the guy who came up with the robot Mousers (which made for awesome toys) and got to enjoy a whole-arse storyline of being locked in an asylum before he got his housefly rebirth. Have you seen his action figure? The guy came with a flyswatter weapon. Absolutely top tier.
With Baxter Stockman as Ash’s choice pick, let’s head over to WellPlayed’s turtle-in-chief, Zach Jackson, with his on-brand choice:
Raphael.
For better or worse, Raphael shares some traits with myself, both as a child and an adult. Rash decision making, cranky when things didn’t go his way, frequently sarcastic, and could be a bit of a cunt when he wanted to be. Still, despite all of that, he was loyal, passionate, and emotional. Plus, he has the coolest weapon.
With no contest given, Raphael is the de facto turtle of choice for WellPlayed. Let’s see how Baxter Stockman, Raph, and the other brothers fare in card form.
Raphael
Raphael, The Muscle is a costlier incarnation of Raphael’s Legendary Creature cards at 4 mana and 1 red, but comes in at a meaty 4/4. The bonus of creating a Mutagen token on entry is that this token can subsequently be spent as a sorcery to create a +1/+1 counter buff. While Raphael, The Muscle remains in play, all creatures with counters on them will deal double damage. Opponents will want to keep this turtle in check.
Raph’s Jitte, a reprint of Umezawa’s Jitte, is a 2 mana cost Legendary Artifact – Equipment with a 2 mana equip cost that pairs nastily with the big red one. Whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage, the card gains two charge counters. Spending a measly one charge provides a tasty choice of return: gain +2/+2 until the end of the turn, gain 2 life, or target a creature to gain -1/-1 until the end of the turn. To equip this on Raphael, The Muscle would make him a potentially resilient foe that’s likely to deal a minimum of 12 damage from one Raph’s Jitte charge.
Raphael, Most Attitude is going to be a bit of a pain in the butt. The 3 mana 1 red cost Legendary Creature with 4/3 is a poke and prodder. Encouraged to attack so you can play cards from a side hand, gathered each time you build up your ranks on the battlefield, every attack with Raph grants the player an opportunity to play a card from the side pool. Playing Raphael, Most Attitude effectively will likely require the mana pool to back up all that extra summoning potential.
Baxter Stockman (and his Mouser)
Before his mutant transformation, Baxter Stockman proves the mad artifact creature extraordinaire, marking his entrance with a robot creature companion that he subsequently fires into overdrive. The 3 mana 1 blue 1 red cost Legendary Creature makes a formidable impression if played early enough. If you can take the robot token into combat with Baxter, you can give it a turn-long buff of +3/+0 with first strike and vigilance. While Baxter is an almost-expensive 3/3, being able to leverage his robot token with his buff within the first five turns has the potential to wreak havoc on another player’s lineup.
But our Human Scientist eventually goes hard on the honey and becomes Baxter, Fly in the Ointment. This Insect Mutant Scientist is cheaper than his human counterpart, sans the 1 red cost, and comes in at a humbler 2/2 strength and toughness. However, his blue utility here is an engine supercharger. Both summoning or attacking with Baxter, Fly in the Ointment also sees every counter-modified creature you control gain flying for the turn. Strangely enough, this fly man doesn’t have the flying keyword, but will leverage his own flying trigger as a result of cards drawn. Every card drawn by the player also sees this iteration of Baxter gain a +1/+1 counter, a very easy way to quickly amp himself up.
Baxter, Fly in the Ointment’s shortfall is his lack of permanently active flying ability, only enabling flight for himself and creatures that specifically have counter tokens on them. Luckily, our scientist has a solution. The Big Mother Mouser. This 4 mana cost Artifact Creature starts at base 0/0, but comes with two +1/+1 counters. It is also eligible for flying if present when the mad fly guy enters or attacks. Even better, if we’re focusing on counters and how to synergise them, this Robot doubles its +1/+1 tokens whenever it attacks. If your opponent plans to stop this inevitable power snowballing and defeat it, they can look forward to its broken remains bringing forth a horde of 1/1 colourless Robot artifact creature tokens for every +1/+1 counter that the mummy robot lost upon death. There will be an army of little robot children seeking revenge from their mother’s metal corpse. Beautiful.
The Bros
Leonardo’s Technique is a sorcery that, like many of the turtle cards in this set, has a Sneak ability. It can be played during your attack phase’s declare blockers step for a reduced cost if an unblocked attacking creature can be sacrificed. Whether or not you opt for the Sneak at a 1 mana 1 white cost or the costlier 3 mana 1 white, the second card ability rocks. Up to two creatures in your graveyard, each costing 3 mana or less, are returned straight to the battlefield during this attack phase. These resurrected creatures might even include the one sacrificed for the Sneak. Leonardo is keeping your battlefield refreshed and aggressive.
Donatello, Mutant Mechanic sees the purple turtle donning blue for a spicy little artifact booster that would work well with Baxter Stockman’s card pool. The 3 mana 1 blue has a whopping 3/5 for the cost, but its two card abilities are something else. If tapping and using as a sorcery, Donatello, Mutant Mechanic can put a hefty three +1/+1 counters on an artifact. That artifact also transforms into a combat-ready 0/0 Robot creature, just like Big Mother Mouser. Similar to Big Mummy, Donatello, Mutant Mechanic ensures that when your artifacts are defeated, they will pop off with benefits. The counters on your Robots and artifacts that get trashed simply move to another artifact or creature you have in play, meaning your power boosts should remain in play and potentially keep growing.
Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 is a handy little 1 mana 1 green cost 1/1 Legendary Creature, and like his brothers, has ample team-boosting utility. Firstly, like Raphael, The Muscle, he enters by spawning a Mutagen token, which can be spent to create a +1/+1 counter buff. Secondly, like Baxter and Donatello, he’ll also ensure your creatures are getting extra souped-up counter boosts. While Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 is in play, every time your creatures get any amount of +1/+1 counters, add an extra counter to the proceedings. Just a handy little buff from a humble turtle that doesn’t ask too much of the player.
Let’s finish by quickly touching on the product lineup for this set. Personally, I was pleased that my millennial predilection could still grasp the heart and joy my peers find in this property despite my ignorance and lack of nostalgia. I’m not drawn to this franchise enough to want to crack through Play and Collector’s Boosters with my own coin, particularly when the card pool seems so heavily weighted towards one card type: Legendary Creatures. Despite that, the lone Commander deck offered in this set is perhaps the best investment one can make if they’ve got a passing interest in the turtles. The Turtle Power! Commander deck is not cheap, retailing around $125, but it is an impressive catch-all of some of the set’s coolest cards. A Partner-focused deck where the player will select two of the five turtle crew to occupy the Command Zone, this five-colour deck offers a lot of versatility while also being an impressive set to break up in its own right. It also features my three favourite cards from above: Raphael, The Muscle, Baxter, Fly in the Ointment, and Big Mother Mouser.
Aside from the standard array of Gift Boxes, Collectors and Play boosters, this MGT x TMNT crossover also features a unique product called Turtle Team-Up. This $89 expansion set is a two-to-four cooperative game where players unite against a boss deck driven by a simple AI ruleset. Complete with events and minions, this product set reminds me very much of the decent Marvel Champions card game. One of eleven bosses is chosen at the start of the game, and a universal enemy deck must then be fought back to effectively begin working on the boss’s health pool. The bosses, ranging from Shredder to our favourite fly scientist, all have abilities that activate under certain conditions that will muddy player strategies. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of this kind of format in Magic: The Gathering previously; it seems best experienced as a training tool for newer players. Your partner will probably take losing to an AI easier than to you, just saying.
Magic: The Gathering – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is available now in a range of products via leading retailers and local game stores.
Press kit for Magic: The Gathering – Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles supplied by the publisher for coverage purposes
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