Lorwyn Eclipsed may have only been out for about a month, but it’s already time for a new Prerelease. MTG x TMNT is here and will be available for everyone to try for the first time this Friday. With prizes on the line, players who come prepared with a gameplan can reap some extra Play Boosters to start building their TMNT collection.
Thankfully, we’re here to give you some extra tips and tricks, thanks to Wizards providing early access to the set on MTG Arena. After playing about a dozen runs of Limited, here are some things to keep in mind as you gear up for your TMNT Prerelease event.
Artifacts are Everywhere
MTG x TMNT focuses heavily on the artifact card type. While the Izzet Draft archetype specifically cares about artifacts, Simic also ends up using them a lot, thanks to Mutagen Tokens. Throw in the many Hybrid cards like Slithering Cryptid, and all the Pizza cards, and artifacts end up in almost every TMNT deck.
Because of this, cards that offer artifact-related payoffs end up being a lot better than they look. Donatello, Way with Machines, for example, fits in just about any blue deck you build in this set. Tokens trigger Donatello, too, meaning that Mutagen and Robot tokens will make this a must-remove threat almost immediately.
Because the artifact payoffs are so good, a lot of artifact cards that would otherwise look a bit weak end up performing a lot better. Sewer-veillance Cam, which is already getting a lot of attention thanks to its infinite combo with Goblin Welder, ends up triggering all kinds of abilities while slowing your opponent down. Similarly, suspect chase cards like Technodrome easily become the Mythic powerhouses they should be in TMNT Draft.
That said, not all of the artifact removal in the set is equal. While Make Your Move, for example, will generally have a relevant target, the Orzhov and Boros go-wide will routinely create boards that give this card nothing to hit, making the card surprisingly inconsistent. Mutant Chain Reaction can be similarly awkward with the lack of Flying in the set, but creating a Mutagen is a big deal. Rock Soldiers, on the other hand, end up being a pretty consistent card. The four-drop will rarely blow your opponent out, but a 4/3 that kills a card on entry is quite strong in a format with lots of targets.
This Combo is Ridiculous
Whether it’s in Limited or Commander, Wizards of the Coast made sure that Rocksteady and Bebop want to be played together. While the synergies in Commander are exceedingly obvious, it’s easy to miss that these cards are absurdly powerful when put together in Limited, especially since they’re commons.
The text on Rocksteady and Bebop seems kind of irrelevant until you play them together. If you have both commons in play, they will each essentially become unblockable. In formats where board stalls are common, like Sealed, this is extremely difficult to overcome, closing the game fast.
Even if these cards don’t have their partner-in-crimes in play, the cards are still strong individually. Swamp and Forestcycling means that these creatures will never be stranded in hand, helping you hit your land drops. They’re also just decent bodies at the top of the curve, meaning that it’s pretty difficult to go wrong with them. Just don’t splash them.
Fixing Goes a Long Way
Similar to MTG Spider-Man, there are only five supported archetypes in MTG x TMNT. While all the archetypes share a color with one of the others, many of the best uncommons in the set are locked behind two colors. It’s also rather common to open multiple rares in a pack, so you’re often able to easily splash for powerful cards.
That said, some archetypes have cards that are more splashable than others. Simic, in particular, has cards like Genghis Frog and Lessons From Life that don’t play as well outside of its core archetype. Orzhov, on the other hand, has Karai, Future of the Foot and Karai’s Technique, which are powerful regardless of your gameplan.
Sadly, as far as fixing goes, MTG x TMNT doesn’t have a ton. Outside of the utility lands offered, only a few artifacts and creatures actually get the job done. This makes the odd fixing pieces that are available that offer a bit more value then just fixing your colors, like Frog Butler and Omni-Cheese Pizza, stronger than they look.
This means that, in my opinion, you’ll want to prioritize fixing somewhat aggressively when drafting. This helps you react better to cards that get passed in later packs.
Final Notes
Despite most of the TMNT archetypes being straightforward, there are a few more cards that seemed to stand out above the rest, especially in specific archetypes. While extremely innocuous-looking, Ice Cream Kitty ended up being quite impressive due to its grinding potential. Thanks to the amount of small creatures and token-based chaff in Golgari, like Zoo Escapees and Slithering Cryptid, Ice Cream Kitty ends up drawing lots of cards. Throw in the tutor capabilities of Courier of Comestibles, and Food cards, in general, always end up being a little better than they look.
If you’re going to play Orzhov, make sure you prioritize finding your Sneak payoffs. If enabled, cards like Shredder, Unrelenting and Foot Ninjas end up putting up a ridiculous amount of pressure. Without these cards, the Orzhov archetype often ends up feeling very medium, so be sure to go out of your way to use them.
As far as the archetypes go, the only one that felt lacking compared to the rest was Boros. Outside of a few white bombs that carry the archetype, I never ran into a purely Boros deck that was doing overwhelming things. I personally had the most success with Golgari, but all of the blue-aligned archetypes also felt like they were quite playable. Regardless of where you end up, these tips should help you win some games at your Prerelease.
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