Lorwyn Eclipsed Prerelease has only just finished, and already we’re essentially into spoiler season for the next set. Thanks to an unfortunate distribution mix-up, nearly every rare and mythic from TMNT wound up in one Lorwyn Eclipsed Prerelease kit or another over the weekend. As a result, we now have a pretty good picture of what the set will look like overall. While it seems fairly middling in terms of power level, some archetypes are getting some very solid support here. Artifact decks, in particular, have been blessed with a bunch of new toys within these MTG TMNT leaks.
Ravenous Robots
– Mana Value: 1R
– Type: Artifact Creature – Robot
– Rarity: Rare
– Card Text: Whenever you cast an artifact spell, create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token.
R, Tap: Creature tokens you control gain Haste until end of turn.
– Stats: 2/1
For the more aggressive artifact decks out there, like most Affinity lists, Ravenous Robots is an incredible new addition. It essentially gives you four more copies of Pinnacle Emissary to work with, turning every artifact you cast into a token on the board. This will make Affinity’s gameplan even more consistent than it is now, patching up the final hole in the archetype.
On top of that, the card also has a ton of combo potential. Much like Pinnacle Emissary, you can loop Myr Retriever and Junk Diver in and out of play with Krark-Clan Ironworks and generate infinite tokens and colorless mana. This will end the game if you have a Reckless Fireweaver out, but even if you don’t Ravenous Robots comes with its own built-in finisher button. For a single red you can grant your infinite 1/1 tokens Haste, then swing in for the win.
As if that wasn’t enough, I also expect Ravenous Robots to see play in the vast majority of artifact-centric red Commander decks. Whether you need more sacrifice fodder in Ragost, Deft Gastronaut, or a way to speed up your token assault in Breya, Etherium Shaper, it seems like a slam-dunk.
Mutagen Man, Living Ooze
– Mana Value: XGG
– Type: Legendary Creature – Ooze Mutant
– Rarity: Rare
– Card Text: Trample.
Activated Abilities of artifact tokens you control cost 1 less to activate.
When Mutagen Man enters, create X Mutagen tokens. (They’re artifacts with “1, Tap, Sacrifice this token: Put a +1/+1 token on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery.”)
– Stats: 2/3
Mutagen Man is one of the more unique takes on the classic MTG Hydra we’ve seen in some time. Since it discounts the activation costs of all your artifact tokens, you can immediately crack the Mutagens it makes for free to buff it up. This ability also synergizes perfectly with the other utility artifact tokens we’ve seen rise in prominence recently, like Blood, Clues, and Food. This is particularly exciting for Clue decks, doubling the speed at which you can draw cards.
While this ability seems fun but niche, you can do a lot more with it if you’re able to create token copies of ‘real’ artifacts. Copy a Basalt Monolith with Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam, for example, and you can create infinite mana with ease.
It’s also worth noting that Mutagen Man’s reduction, unlike what we usually see, can actually push costs down to zero. Paired with other reduction effects like Forensic Gadgeteer, you can pull off all kinds of shenanigans. Make a token copy of Golem Artisan, for example, and you can turn every artifact creature you own into a Hasty, infinitely huge, evasive beater. While it’s early days, I fully expect Mutagen Man to be one of the best new combo enablers from TMNT once the dust settles in March.
Krang, Utrom Warlord
– Mana Value: 9
– Type: Artifact Creature – Utrom Robot
– Rarity: Mythic Rare
– Card Text: Flying, Trample, Indestructible, Haste.
Other artifact creatures you control have Flying, Trample, Indestructible, and Haste.
– Stats: 9/9
Every new MTG set needs a big, dumb beater to get the Timmy blood flowing, and Krang, Utrom Warlord fills that role perfectly for TMNT. While it’s incredibly expensive at nine mana, Krang is also incredibly hard to stop. Crucially, it makes the rest of your artifact army hard to stop, too. Indestructible is great protection, ensuring you don’t lose your position in the face of most traditional board wipes. You can even combine this card with Nevinnyral’s Disk to create repeatable one-sided board wipes, so long as you can turn the Disk into a creature.
Unfortunately, this power comes at a cost. Even in Commander, Krang is too slow to cast naturally. Thankfully, some commonly used cards in the format can help cheat Krang in ahead of time. Traditional reanimation methods, like Animate Dead and Reanimate, will do the trick. Since Krang is an artifact, you also get access to some sweet alternatives, like Goblin Welder and Trash for Treasure. There are also several viable ways to tutor Krang directly into play, like Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Kuldotha Forgemaster. Even outside of these ideal scenarios, you can power Krang out with mana from Krark-Clan Ironworks or Radiant Lotus, protecting your sacrifice outlet in the process.
If your deck can accommodate any of the above with ease, then it can probably benefit greatly from the addition of Krang. While it’s not quite Avacyn, Angel of Hope, it’s the closest thing we’ve seen to it in a while, and in colorless, no less.
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