With each passing year, Wizards pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable in Magic a little further. As Universes Beyond and Secret Lair continue to rise in prominence, we’re quickly reaching a point where it feels like no idea is off-limits. That said, not everyone agrees.
The MTG TMNT set, in general, has proven controversial so far, but one card in particular, Lessons from Life, really has people upset. Thanks to some risky decisions made in this card’s artwork, many players are ready to draw a line in the sand when it comes to Universes Beyond.
Lessons From Life MTG
Mechanically, Lessons from Life isn’t exactly worth writing home about. It’s essentially an Urban Evolution for one less mana, offering Simic decks a reasonable rate for ramp and draw. Like many recent designs, it’ll likely fall into the ‘good in Commander, bad in constructed’ bucket in the end. What really has players talking here, however, is the card’s artwork.
The big issue players have brought up here is that the art on Lessons from Life shows MTG being played. This is a concept generally reserved for Un-set cards, like Johnny, Combo Player. We’ve technically seen something similar before with the 2024 WPN Store Promos and Deadpool Secret Lair drop, but those were clearly outside the realm of regular releases.
Lessons from Life, by contrast, is a card in a mainline Standard set. This has players worried that Magic has dropped all pretense of taking itself seriously. Wider concerns about the overall silliness of the art in TMNT and the overabundance of disgusting-looking pizza in the set further support this argument.
Players see this decision not only as silly, but also quite pretentious. As many have pointed out, Wizards choosing to use Magic as an example of a valuable life lesson feels a bit self-aggrandizing. This is doubly strange since TMNT is full of other ways to portray lessons, perhaps through Master Splinter, for example.
On top of that, the presence of Lita and Jennika, two of the less well-known TMNT characters, in the art has caused a good bit of confusion. It’s hard to criticize an IP-specific set for deep cuts like this. At the same time, it’s understandable that many players don’t recognize the duo. As Universes Beyond expands into other niche properties, more confusion like this feels inevitable.
A Changing Tide?
While Lessons from Life is the focal point of the discourse right now, TMNT as a whole is weathering a storm of similar complaints. Social media is abuzz with players slamming the set or opting out of playing it entirely. To some, TMNT even represents the demise of what made Magic great in the first place.
There’s definitely some validity to these points. The silly, wacky trappings of TMNT are light-years away from the high fantasy standards on which Magic was built, after all. Seeing goofy imagery brush shoulders with more traditional Magic fare is undeniably strange. It’s worth noting that Wizards hasn’t dedicated the entire set to shenanigans, however. There are several cards, and a full Secret Lair drop, based on gritty TMNT reimagining The Last Ronin, for example. These feel much more in line with the usual Magic style.
Even with that in mind, TMNT does seem to continue a worrying precedent. Last year’s Spider-Man was poorly-received, in part, due to its tongue-in-cheek modern aesthetics. TMNT takes these even further, stacking more New York culture on top of outrageous artwork. While Magic’s Universes Within sets are going from strength to strength at the moment, it’s hard to ignore the growing presence of sets like TMNT in the game.
Ultimately, whether TMNT proves to be the straw that breaks the Universes Beyond camel’s back remains to be seen. Players are certainly upset, so there’s potential for this to be another Spider-Man level flop. Until Prerelease rolls around on February 27th, however, we won’t know for certain.
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