To date, Wizards of the Coast has only printed 46 into MTG, but the best are surprisingly powerful. That said, things are going to get even more powerful soon thanks to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set. At New York Comic Con, Wizards revealed the first cards from this set, and they look seriously spicy and flavorful. Thanks to this, there’s never been a better time to look at one of the set’s core creature types: Turtles.
So, as we already board the hype train for 2026’s TMNT MTG set, it’s high time we take a look at the best this creature time has to offer. Here are all the best turtles in MTG.
Honorable Mention | Leonardo, Sewer Samurai
Naturally, before getting into this list, we’ve got the address the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the room. Launching next year in March of 2026, this set is going to introduce tons of new Turtles to MTG. From the early look at the set we got at New York Comic Con, many of these seem to be rather powerful.
Leonardo, Sewer Samurai, for instance, could easily contend for the upper echelons of this list. Not only does Leonardo have a solid body that could literally Sneak in commander damage, but his second ability provides tons of value. Whether you’re running a Mono-White Weenie deck or using him in the 99 of an Arisocrats list, he’ll be a real powerhouse.
While the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle MTG cards do look powerful, sadly, they’re not playable yet. Due to this, we won’t be including any of the set’s cards in this list until the set has been fully spoiled. Thankfully, until then, there are still plenty of powerful Turtles in MTG, and here are the best of the best.
5 | The Pride of Hull Clade
The Pride of Hull Clade may have a mana value of eleven, but casting it on the cheap is easy with the right support. All you need are some efficient, high-toughness creatures like Hover Barrier at your disposal, and you’ll get The Pride of Hull Clade down in no time. Once in play, Hull Clade’s second ability turns this Turtle into a card advantage machine, capable of generating 15 cards per turn.
Sadly, since you have to activate Hull Clade’s ability before combat, most MTG players will see it coming from a mile off. Still, with added protection or effects that make it unblockable, this card can be a card-drawing machine. While this can be incredibly powerful, The Pride of Hull Clade is more often found in the 99 of Toughness-Matters Commander decks, such as Arcades, the Strategist.
Ultimately, these toughness-themed decks tend to be the only place that The Pride of Hull Clade sees play. Despite this, the card’s potential more than makes it worth playing in Commander, even if it’s not a super staple across the format.
4 | Archelos, Lagoon Mystic
Archelos, Lagoon Mystic might look like a very simple Turtle, but in reality, he can be a real monster. For starters, getting to have all your tapped lands enter untapped, or any permanent for that matter, enables some really sweet synergies. Getting to play any Gates or Bounce Lands with no drawback is already great, but Archelos makes Scapeshift a game-ending threat.
As if that wasn’t good enough already, when he’s tapped, Archelos will heavily slow down your opponent’s plans. While getting Archelos tapped can be a hurdle, Station lands and cards like Loam Dryad make this trivial. This allows Archelos, Lagoon Mystic to always be putting in work, accelerating your own deck and disrupting your opponents too.
3 | Fecund Greenshell
Fecund Greenshell is an excellent card advantage machine in EDH. With access to lots of cheap, high-toughness creatures, Fecund Greenshell’s triggered ability will pull you ahead significantly in the long run. This MTG Turtle makes it one of the best inclusions in the 99 of toughness-matters shells as a result, and its applications go further than that.
There are a multitude of token-producing Commanders that do a phenomenal job maximizing Fecund Greenshell’s triggered ability. The Necrobloom threatens to flood the board with 0/1 tokens that trigger the Turtle, and any lands you put into play with Fecund Greenshell will then trigger The Necrobloom creating a chain reaction. Alternatively, curving this creature into Phylath, World Sculptor will net you a bunch of triggers and get you to 10 lands in play in short order.
Even if an opponent has sorcery speed removal at the ready to kill Fecund Greenshell, it isn’t difficult to set up a window where you cast it along with some other creatures and get a bunch of triggers in one turn. If this card sticks around long-term, it will spiral out of control.
2 | Blossoming Tortoise
Even ignoring its final two abilities, Blossoming Tortoise is a solid ramp engine that fits into a variety of EDH decks. It offers a lot of utility, and assuming you get to keep attacking with it, you’ll end up with a big mana advantage pretty quickly. Where it’s at its absolute best, though, is in self-Mill strategies.
Commanders like Lumra, Bellow of the Woods and Yuma, Proud Protector both incentivize you to fuel your graveyard and to ramp so you can cast them ahead of schedule. Blossoming Tortoise helps on both fronts as it comes down early and continues to Mill you if left unchecked. For Yuma specifically, once in play, the payoff of Milling Deserts with Blossoming Tortoise and making 4/2 tokens is quite high.
Blossoming Tortoise’s final two abilities do come up from time to time as well. Any “man lands” like Treetop Village synergize with Blossoming Tortoise, and this Turtle bolsters land creatures created by Jyoti, Moag Ancient. Thanks to this, this MTG Turtle sees play in a variety of Commander decks, making it one of the best in the format.
1 | Kappa Cannoneer
Kappa Cannoneer is a dominant force to be reckoned with. It’s at its best when you’re producing a lot of artifact tokens or playing with tons of free artifact spells. That way, you’re able to get the Turtle Warrior into play as soon as possible and start accumulating +1/+1 counters.
Admittedly, Kappa Cannoneer isn’t at its best in Commander. even if it appears in some artifact-heavy shells. The Ward 4 ability is less impactful in a format with lots of board wipes present, and the sheer damage output isn’t as backbreaking with players starting at 40 life. Due to its massive showing in Modern, though, Kappa Cannoneer deserves its recognition.
Between artifact lands, free spells like Mox Opal, and token production from Pinnacle Emissary, dropping Kappa Cannoneer on turn one or two in Modern isn’t out of the question. The Ward 4 ability, combined with the fact that it can become unblockable with ease, makes it extremely difficult to beat.
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