As of today, Lorwyn Eclipsed is now finally playable thanks to prerelease events kicking off. While this is always an exciting time for MTG players, it seems Wizards has slipped in some extra spice this time around. Whether accidentally or on purpose, it appears we’re getting a bunch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spoilers today, too.
As MTG players crack into their Lorwyn Eclipsed products, several TMNT MTG cards have been found. Shark Shredder, Killer Clone was discovered earlier today, but it seems this isn’t the only newly discovered card. In fact, as more and more Lorwyn Eclipsed products have been opened, two new TMNT cards have popped up online.
MTG The Last Ronin
As one of the TMNT set’s mythics, The Last Ronin is very underwhelming. For six mana, this leaked Saga offers a board wipe, recursion, and then a non-insignificant buff two turns later. In theory, getting all of this for six mana isn’t a terrible deal, but it’s certainly not a constructed playable.
The major downside with The Last Ronin is that it only puts the recurred creature into your hand. While this does allow you to get back anything from the board wipe, potentially including your Commander, it’s hardly perfect. Ideally, you’ll want a cheaper board wipe that allows you to immediately rebuild, rather than waiting till your next turn.
Thankfully, if you do recur and replay your Commander, it’ll at least get a big buff on The Last Ronin’s final chapter. Trample, Lifelink, and Indestructible, not to mention three +1/+1 Counters, can turn anything into a decent threat. Sticking all this on your Commander practically guarantees Commander damage, which is always strong. In Saga and Proliferate decks that can accelerate your Lore Counters, The Last Ronin can do a lot in one turn, meriting an inclusion.
Despite this mild potential, The Last Ronin doesn’t look like a very compelling MTG card. Instead, it feels more compelling as a flavorful deep cut that puts lore, rather than power, first.
Does Machines
While it’s in the running for being one of the worst-named MTG cards ever, the leaked Does Machines is actually pretty powerful. For two mana, you essentially get to put four cards into your graveyard and draw two. At the very least, this is a decent amount of card selection for any deck, but it’s obvious a godsend in any graveyard-focused strategies.
On top of working well with graveyard-based decks, Does Machines is naturally meant to work well with artifacts. For an extra two mana, getting to recur two artifacts from the graveyard isn’t bad at all, especially due to the interal synergy. If you’re running an artifact-themed deck, the mill from Does Machines’ enters ability essentially turns into even more card selection.
Finally, Does Machines can steadily turn a board of artifacts into threats, making them 3/3s at the least. Since this final Class ability costs an extra five mana, it’ll likely only be relevant in Commander, but it’s certainly good there. In decks that can copy triggered abilities, this fully levelled Class will create a board of creatures quickly. This entire card, in fact, feels like a shoo-in for Artifact-themed decks in the format.
More Coming Soon?
Given these are the third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards we’ve seen today, there’s a chance these leaks won’t be the last. While it may only be a matter of time before more TMNT leaks happen, it’s unknown why this is happening. Realistically, it’s most likely that these leaks are just a production issue, with the wrong prerelease promos being put in some packs.
That being said, there is a non-zero chance that Wizards of the Coast is doing this on purpose. Unlike other trading card games, MTG players always know what to expect from a set when cracking packs. Having leaked future cards like this hiding away within some products definitely adds to the mystique of pack opening.
Sadly, for the moment, there’s no official word on why this is happening or how widespread the problem is. Over the next few days, there’s a chance that tons of early spoilers will hit the internet, but that’s unconfirmed. For better or worse, we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled and see what gets cracked.
Of course, even if we do get more leaks, there’s a chance that the TMNT cards could be fake. While the number of leaks we’ve seen makes this somewhat unlikely, there’s no guarantee of authenticity. If anything, the volume we’re seeing could let fake cards slip through the cracks more easily.
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