Modern Set Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I never imagined we'd reach a point where we're evaluating the competitive potential of a slice of pizza or a skateboard. But here we are.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the first Universes Beyond expansion for Magic: The Gathering this year—the first of four in 2026—and it brings all the story and iconic moments of Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael to the card game.

In Modern, the set shouldn't be very impactful. The power level is high enough that most cards can't break through into competitive play. In fact, there are fewer than five cards with a medium or high likelihood of showing up in tournament lists. However, other options might show up in less popular decks or even serve as sideboard support for specific strategies.

Agent Bishop, Man in Black is a target for Recruiter of the Guard and similar effects, helping to apply a bit more pressure each turn. It seems slow, and there isn't a specific Modern list today that runs Recruiter heavily, but it's worth mentioning.

There's a small but mentionable potential in the fact that Leonardo, Cutting Edge has native Lifelink, gains +1/+1 counters when you gain life, and can enter attacking. Alongside Walking Ballista and Agatha's Soul Cauldron, you can enable an infinite combo with him, not unlike the ones involving Heliod, Sun-Crowned.

Since Leonardo already enters enabled through Sneak, there might be some possibility for him.

The mythic version of Leonardo has a very high mana cost and doesn't seem like Modern material, but we can't underestimate the potential to consistently return combinations of Guide of Souls, Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, Ocelot Pride, and various other creatures with one power or toughness in Modern. However, most lists would rather just cast Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury anyway.

I'm not sure how relevant a Gifts Ungiven for Legends that can fetch cards from the sideboard will be, but there are enough possibilities in Modern to explore this category, making Turtles Forever one of the main cards with the potential to "create" new archetypes from the new set.

Krang, Master Mind will, in most cases, be a Thought Monitor with Cranial Plating for one more blue mana, with the payoff of sometimes refilling your hand if you started the game with a very explosive turn involving zero-mana artifacts and Kappa Cannoneer.

It might be worth a slot or two in Affinity, but it will hardly replace Thought Monitor due to the double blue mana cost—which hinders the possibility of more explosive plays in the early turns—and the legendary subtype.

If Mondo Gecko cost one less mana, even with a smaller body, it would be a potential staple for lists running Leyline of the Guildpact and Scion of Draco, namely the Domain Zoo lists. After all, besides protecting itself, just one attack from it refills your hand if Leyline is in play, making it a respectable threat on the board.

At and with no immediate effects, it might be too slow for Domain Zoo, and the Cascade lists with Scion of Draco have disappeared from the format to the point where Mondo Gecko might not have a specific home in Modern.

Goblin Engineer is the closest we have to Goblin Welder in Modern, and it's possible to pull off an infinite artifact ETB "combo" with Mox Opal and Sewer-veillance Cam.

We could look at other angles with Emry, Lurker of the Loch to repeatedly reuse the artifact, but that would require more steps and a sacrifice outlet to generate value from its ETBs/LTBs.

We can trigger Rat King, Verminister easily with Fetch Lands, but it's too slow as a Reanimate enabler when Priest of Fell Rites exists. After all, its play is too telegraphed, and you can't expect the opponent to have no plan against it over two full turn cycles.

It might deserve some testing in a variant of a deck that benefits from putting tokens on the board every turn and sacrificing permanents frequently, but it still seems too conditional.

We underestimated Moonshadow and shouldn't make the same mistake with Super Shredder. After all, between Fetch Lands, Baubles, blink, and creatures dying on both sides, it easily becomes a powerful threat on the board.

The downsides are obvious: Super Shredder is legendary and can't be used in direct sequences like we would with Moonshadow and other large threats. Additionally, it's also a terrible topdeck if you've exhausted your Fetch Lands early in the game. You also can't ignore that Moonshadow lists have their own range of threats, and it's not just competing with Moonshadow but with several other efficient creatures at a low cost.

A two-drop red creature with Haste that acts as card selection for artifacts for two mana and also triggers Mox Amber. Casey Jones, Jury-Rig Justiciar could be worth several tests in artifact shells that can accommodate legends for some reason, especially Emry/Cutter or Asmo Food lists.

The Boros versions of Hammer Time might also be interested in Casey Jones, since if you find a Colossus Hammer and already have a Sigarda's Aid on the board, she attacks for 12 with Haste for three mana.

A red deck aiming to attack unimpeded tends not to want this kind of effect, but Jennika's Technique is a Pyroclasm for through Sneak and has a decent three-mana cost at instant speed.

We've seen cheap red sweeper variants appearing in various lists, and Boros Energy is still one of the best decks in the format. So there might be room for this sweeper.

Weapons Manufacturing shows up with some frequency in Affinity alongside Pinnacle Emissary to add more consistency to explosive turns. Ravenous Robots offers something similar, at the same cost, and with tokens that are less reliant on Arcbound Ravager or other effects to have any practical impact on the board beyond reducing costs and paying for Improvise.

Green was the least benefited color for Modern in this set, and none of the new cards seem even remotely viable for the format. Above are some options that might very rarely be seen in some list, but none of them have the potential to change things up or have a direct home in any specific deck.

Tokka & Rahzar, Terrible Twos punish Evoke and other alternative costs in the format, including Warp, Affinity, and mana reduction from Ruby Medallion. They might deserve slots in specific sideboards.

Chrome Dome is an option if Affinity follows a line that pushes Pinnacle Emissary with Ravenous Robots. In the late game, you can use extra mana with Mox Opal and the like to copy Kappa Cannoneer or Thought Monitor, but ideally, you won't need that.

I never imagined we'd reach this point, but the best thing from this set in any format where Urza's Saga exists is a Skateboard.

Lavaspur Boots is one of the main targets for Urza's Saga. Depending on the match, turning a creature into a blocker is better than protecting it with Ward , and Skateboard offers that option while also granting Haste to the equipped creature. The cost to add it to your list, even if just complementing the Boots, is very low at just one slot, making it likely the most played card from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Modern!

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!