The road to the full reveal for Magic’s TMNT set has been a rocky one, to say the least. Between the massive leaks and the extremely divisive artwork, it’s hard to think of an MTG spoiler cycle with more controversy attached. Now that everything is out in the open, however, we can let the dust settle and evaluate the cards themselves on their own merits.
Happily, things are looking pretty sweet on this front, as there are tons of TMNT cards with multi-format potential. The following are, in our opinion, the very best TMNT MTG cards. Whether you play Standard or Commander, you can expect to see these bangers around in the very near future.
5 | Krang, Master Mind
Krang, Master Mind was one of the very first TMNT cards spoiled, way back in October last year. Turns out Wizards picked a great ambassador for the set, as Krang is also one of its very best cards. In formats like Modern and Legacy, where high artifact counts are trivial to achieve, this card is an absolute powerhouse. You only need one good Pinnacle Emissary turn to drop this as a two-mana 7/4 that draws four cards. Even in eternal formats, that’s an absurd rate.
I expect Krang will see most of its play in constructed Affinity lists, but it has real potential in Commander, too. High-tier artifact decks like Urza, Lord High Artificer and Emry, Lurker of the Loch will lap this card up. Heck, it even has a pretty good shot at becoming a staple Commander itself. It’s rare to see this kind of draw power in the command zone, after all, and the power scaling makes Voltron a viable direction.
4 | Death In The Family
Good removal spells are the unsung heroes of Magic. They rarely make favorite card lists, but they regulate format power level by their presence alone. Death in the Family looks set to do just that, providing an excellent new piece for Standard in particular.
Right now, Death in the Family hits most of the relevant creatures in the format, and hits them for good. Whether it’s Badgermole Cub or Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, this card puts a neat bow on the problem. Moving back into older formats, it has plenty of use, too. In Pioneer, it’s an excellent answer to Screaming Nemesis in Mono-Red and Greasefang, Okiba Boss in Greasefang decks. In Modern, two mana is a dicier proposition, but getting to permanently deal with a Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury or Seasoned Pyromancer is a big deal.
Death in the Family even seems fairly strong in Commander, where one-for-one removal rarely sees play. Exiling at instant speed is huge, letting you snipe recursive creatures like Gravecrawler to shut down combos. Most popular Commanders these days are fairly cheap, too, so there’s a good chance this can take out the heart of an opponent’s deck for just two mana.
3 | Cool But Rude
All of the new Class enchantments in TMNT are surprisingly strong, but Cool but Rude easily takes the top spot. Even in its base two-mana form, this is an excellent addition to a number of relevant decks. Rummaging on attack gives Izzet Lesson a big shot in the arm in Standard, not that it particularly needed one. Once you start scaling it up, things get even scarier, too.
Level two here is absolutely incredible, triggering on every card discarded regardless of type. There’s no cap on the number of triggers, either, meaning this can far outpace Monument to Endurance in terms of damage output. In formats like Modern, where Hollow One decks run the likes of Burning Inquiry and Goblin Lore, this quickly becomes the most efficient burn spell of all time.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the final level here is just straight-up Gamble, a card good enough for the Commander Game Changers list. This will be most effective in Commander, where tutors are king, and you can mitigate the downsides in decks like Green Goblin. Even in constructed, however, it’s a nice mana sink for later on in a game. Taken as a package, Cool but Rude is easily one of the best new MTG cards from TMNT.
2 | Donatello’s Technique
Ever since it was leaked, Donatello’s Technique has been in the conversation for being one of the best MTG cards in TMNT. While it’s not as obviously exciting as some of the other entries on this list, it’s impossible to deny the raw efficiency of a one-mana Divination. As you’d expect, this card will likely do the bulk of its work in constructed. Cards like Spyglass Siren in Standard Dimir Midrange decks make Sneaking it out trivial, after all. It’s a similar story with Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student in Modern and Legacy, so the card could definitely reach further back, too.
That’s not to say that Donatello’s Technique doesn’t have legs in Commander, mind you. While a one-off draw effect is definitely less relevant there, the extra value introduced by bouncing one of your own creatures balances that out. Heavy value Commanders like Kefka, Court Mage will absolutely love this card as a way to re-use their enters effects. It’s also just solid in decks with a lot of evasive creatures, like Talrand, Sky Summoner.
In Commander, Donatello’s Technique feels like a strong, specific draw piece in the vein of Village Rites. Combined with its clear constructed applications, this is a card we’ll likely be seeing a lot of in the months to come.
1 | Ravenous Robots
The tussle for the TMNT top spot was close, but in the end, Ravenous Robots just won out. There are simply a ton of different decks that will benefit hugely from this card, across all manner of formats. In Modern Affinity, for example, this is essentially copies four through eight of Pinnacle Emissary, doubling the deck’s chance at an explosive start. While it lacks the option to come down for one mana, the Haste ability makes up for that by offering burst damage potential later on. The card should make an impact in Legacy Affinity for the same reasons, and could even get a Standard version of the archetype going alongside Emissary and Krang.
In Commander, Ravenous Robots is an incredible combo enabler. Paired with the classic Myr Retriever/Junk Diver/Krark-Clan Ironworks loop, it provides infinite tokens and mana. Thanks to the Haste ability, it can even let those tokens attack right away if you don’t have a Walking Ballista to hand to close things out. Even when played fairly, this is one of the easiest slam-dunk additions to red artifact decks we’ve ever seen. Every artifact deck, from Ragost, Deft Gastronaut to Breya, Etherium Shaper, will be looking for a copy of this for their 99. With clear use cases in pretty much every area of MTG, Ravenous Robots is the very best of the best new cards in TMNT.
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