Duel Commander: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

In this article, we'll discuss the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set. We'll call it TMNT from now on.

We'll approach it from a purely functional perspective. It's hard not to comment on how using a piece of pizza to attack Ugin is absurd, but that's not what we'll focus on.

As for how we can tell which cards are good or not, it's honestly more of a guess than an exact science. In truth, getting it right is so difficult that I'll allow myself to stick to hot takes. Being neutral is just too easy and honestly not worth it.

My methodology is discussing only the cards I believe are relevant. I'll try to compare them to already existing effects and discuss their role in already existing decks and already existing engines, even if these don't see much play. Many of the cards we'll discuss are already gaining popularity, and don't expect me to try to find problems with them if there aren't any. Exploring what I've already heard about them is much better than making up problems just to disagree with the mainstream opinion.

Top Popularity

The cards below have the potential to become staples in Duel Commander, fix existing problems, or are just too powerful. I'd recommend you get them in any circumstance, but, obviously, first you have to consider if they fit your budget.

Agatha's Soul Cauldron, But Without the Combo

This card is really similar to Agatha's Soul Cauldron. In an open format like Duel Commander, exiling cards from graveyards repeatedly is incredible. The Ooze, specifically, does that and grows your board at the same time. It is also a "mana sink" in long games. Its effect is really similar to The Ozolith as well, but it can create its own tokens.

Despite being super slow, I'm certain it would see play at least in Ketramose decks. I'd actually test it out in any midrange deck with more creatures (as long as it doesn't center around flash - I don't believe this card does anything with an Aragorn, for instance).

If The Ooze isn't mentioned as a creative solution for many decks, I'll be quite shocked.

Splinter’s Technique

The obvious comparison for this card is with Diabolic Intent. Many players have been arguing that Diabolic Intent is better. After all, you don't need to attack to use it. This argument makes sense, but I completely disagree. Splinter's Technique can come into play for 4 mana as a Diabolic Tutor. This might not be the best way to use it (Diabolic Tutor doesn't see play!), but this card is more flexible, and that makes a difference.

Splinter's Technique shouldn't change the meta, and I'm not sure it will become a staple. But Diabolic Intent is a good card, and I believe this new card should replace it in nearly all decks it sees play. I don't really believe this card is all that popular, but The Ooze was too lonely in this section.

Cards in this section are not powerful enough to become part of the meta, but they should work in some decks and might even become staples in them.

Continue?

This card has gained a lot of traction, but I believe it is, at most, an interesting filler. The main argument - and we can't really contest it - is that this card is incredibly strong in aggressive decks because it practically disables sweepers (like Supreme Verdict or Toxic Deluge). Indeed, there are situations in which this card will simply win the game.

That being said, it has a bunch of problems. Aggressive decks struggle with passing the turn with some mana left, and you'll often not have a reason to play a fourth creature. The third one is usually enough to represent lethal damage, particularly against decks that can clear your entire board.

But David Price famously said in 1998, "There are no wrong threats, just wrong answers."

To make Continue? really work, I believe the best option is to use it proactively. Something like a white Scam list could use it with Solitude or other evoke effects.

If you control the moment your creatures are sacrificed, with Accursed Marauder death triggers and ETB effects... Then this card becomes a lot more manageable. It can work as part of your engine and can be an interesting answer in case you take a sweeper (I know I just criticized an effect like this, but the fact it is an alternative and not the main option changes everything).

Leonardo’s Technique

This card could see play with Phelia. For 4 mana, reanimating two creatures with a CMC of 3 (or one with a CMC of 2 and one with a CMC of 3) will create an advantage in cards and in mana. Sneak shouldn't see a lot of play, but, in a deck that leans on ETB effects, this card makes a lot of sense.

This card is very similar to Collected Company. We can't use it early on to create an advantage (which has always been the broken way to use it), but it is probably consistent enough. The list of 3-drops with good ETBs is extensive, and this card should be a lot of help. It won't make decks a lot more powerful, but we could give it a try.

Tokka & Rahzar

Tokka and Rahzar do a lot. They can't be countered, which is good, and they are a 3/2 with menace (evasion), which is also good. Their Stax ability is not useless. Force of Will is banned, but Force of Negation, all Elementals, Tasigur, and Murktide see a reasonable amount of play. This card doesn't have the potential to be a commander (it is not that good), and it shouldn't be an extremely annoying card, but it should see play in a reasonable number of decks as an aggressive 2-drop with many upsides.

To my Bloodtithe Harvesters, it will be a pity.

Mikey & Leo, Selesnya Counters

WotC has pushed the idea of Selesnya +1/+1 counters for a while now, and now we've got two great additions to this theme.

The number of good cards in this theme that interact really well with other cards and each other is only increasing. I'm certain one day what we have will be enough, and we'll see a deck in this theme.

Until then, these cards can see play with Yoshimaru. The first one works very similarly to Merry, Esquire of Rohan. Obviously, we're still missing haste, but, in a GW/Naya/Bant version of the deck, less explosive and more focused on putting pressure constantly, this card could be playable. As for the second card, it is the worst Urdnan I've ever seen.

Game Over

A 5-mana Damnation is not impressive. There are many others just like it in the game that don't see any play. For 3 mana, however, it is great. Because of how easily you can get to 10 life, and considering that Dimir decks, for instance, would love to play this effect and still have two mana afterward (either to counter an enemy interaction or to interact with the next threat after you clear the board), I really believe this card will see play in control decks. They could be Dimir or Esper lists (I must mention Atraxa in all my articles).

Super Combo

This card didn't gain a lot of traction, but I believe it has potential. For 2 mana, a conditional removal isn't impressive - on the contrary. However, for 4~6 mana, this card can "unstall" a board really well. In decks that play lots of creatures, like Slimefoot or Grist, this card could work as a removal.

There's more! As replicate creates copies regardless of the spell you use it on, you can reuse the same targets and destroy a 5/5 enemy creature with one of your 3/3 creatures. In terms of mana management, this is terrible, but this card won't ever be dead in your hand, so I believe it is useful.

This section includes cards that could be great but don't really work. I could be very wrong...

Character Selects - As Commanders

Ezio Auditore da Firenze was banned last year, and to this day we still miss him. A 5-color commander with a CMC of 2 is simply great - but he, specifically, also dealt 10 damage for 5 mana. After him, we got many others:

TMNT has a few interesting options:

Donatello and Raphael cost a lot of mana, and April isn't good. Leonardo will hardly be an option to actually play because he works a lot better as just a way to get all 5 colors. Splinter and Michelangelo, however, are nearly acceptable 2-drops. There's also the upside that you can play your 4-drop in your command zone at times. I'm certain at least one of these cards will work.

That being said, I believe the main reason why these decks will work will be the other cards in them.

Heroes in a Half Shell

This is another version of Cosmic Spider-Man. It doesn't have lifelink, which hurts a lot, but vigilance nearly makes up for it. Drawing a card when it deals damage might not be game changing in a 5-drop, but it is a great advantage. I believe we can and should try out this card as a commander.

Level Up

We can't discuss Level Up without discussing its best friend, Wilson. The math involved in Level Up is interesting: for 2 mana, you can attack for 4-6-10, which is a big jump. But there are cards that interact with this effect, like Snakeskin Veil. +1/+1 counters are also interesting because effects like Cathar Commando exist and can remove this aura. Enchantments come and go, but counters are eternal (we must confess, Heartless Act might just destroy Wilson).

Voltron lists are always an interesting challenge. One of my colleagues, who specializes in Blue Wilson, says this card is not good enough because this deck would rather have effects that are useful in surprising attacks. In a White Wilson, however, I'm certain it would be good enough.

Lessons From Life

Wow. Concentrate is not good enough, and everybody knows. Urban Evolution isn't either. But this card is a combination of them! Can Lessons From Life see play in any way?

The answer is probably no. But Stock Up was also not considered good when it first came out.

If this card was black and blue, I dare say it would be playable with Hidetsugu. In these colors, it will probably see play in Bant lists (which don't see play in the format right now!) or Sultai lists. Atraxa? Glarb? Tasigur? I believe we should try it out, but it probably doesn't deserve all this attention.

Bebop Regisaur

A better Rotting Regisaur, or a worse one? Sacrificing a permanent could be a lot better than discarding a card, particularly if you use this a sac outlet, for instance, with Demonic Pact. Discarding a Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis will also be great. Brawn and Filth are great ways to give this card evasion, and they both work really well with Survival of the Fittest.

In truth, all of this is really interesting and could work, but I've accepted none of this will be good enough. But 12 stats for 3 mana deserves a mention.

Krang, Master Mind

Krang is cool. Artifact affinity definitely deserves a mention, even more considering it draws cards. No affinity deck sees play in Duel Commander because there aren't enough spells with this effect (some of the best commanders that interact with this, like Emry and Urza, are also banned).

I don't believe Krang has potential to be a commander, at least not with the current card pool. But, as more cards with these abilities come out, a decent board that draws cards when this commander enters for just 2 mana will definitely be noteworthy.

Rat King, Token Maker

Rat King is very similar to Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia. It might need more to work, but it grows itself and its ability is quite strong: it reanimates creatures at instant speed!

The problem is that it isn't too reliable. Activating it once? Certainly. But making sure it activates every turn is practically impossible, even in a deck built around this (for instance, a Juri list).

It's an interesting card, but it shouldn't see play.

Raphael, the Nightwatcher

This card is confusing. Sneak seems terrible in a card that gets better the more attackers you have. Blade Historian practically doesn't see play, but it needs two colors, unlike Raphael. I can think of a thousand situations in which Raphael would work well, and, the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it won't see play. It's way too slow.

In this last section, I'll just show you a few cards that should see play but that won't change the meta, not even one bit. They don't enable new strategies nor solve existing problems. They're basically more of the same, or do something in decks that aren't that relevant in DC.

Krang, Reanimate Target

Flying, trample, indestructible, and haste. That's a lot of keywords for a 9/9. It doesn't have an ETB, and many removals can exile it. It will hardly replace the good cards in Reanimator, but after you use the good targets (Archon of Cruelty, Atraxa, Summon: Bahamut), it could work.

Krang & Shredder, The Bad Hidetsugu

When I saw this card for the first time, it seemed good. 6/7 is a lot, it has an ETB, and it constantly creates an advantage when it attacks.

The problem is that there are many cards your opponents could exile, this card will only create card advantage at the end of the turn, and only conditionally. I only added this card to this section because it gained a lot of traction online. It doesn't seem good enough.

Koya, Death from Above

This is a Flickerwisp. It only hits creatures (which is bad - blinking an On Thin Ice that exiled a commander is great), it needs a second color, and it is smaller. It is worse than a Flickerwisp, actually. I don't believe its upside, that is, that it is a 7-mana removal, can make up for this.

I don't believe it will see play in any deck, now or in the future, but it was worth a mention.

Does Machines

Mill 2, draw 2, discard 2. This card makes some sense in decks that need to play things from the graveyard - particularly Reanimators. It could see play with a Terra or Aminatou, but the problem is that two of its levels don't really interact with the rest of it. Its roleplayer is mediocre, but it is not terrible.

When I started writing this article, I was sure I was going to mention these cards, but the truth is that, as I thought about what I was going to say, I realized they're terrible.

Savanti really fooled us. It is, basically, The One Ring with a body!

The truth is that The One Ring's greatest strength is how hard it is to interact with it. You can commit your mana because no one will be able to interact with it (for 1 mana, instant speed, no less...). I hope I'm very wrong about this card, but I believe it is too slow and won't see play.

Cool But Rude is a bit slower than it should be. Decks that are attacking (considering the first line in its text) can't really pay 2 mana for an enchantment that "does nothing". After it levels up, it gets quite strong, but you need to spend 4 mana for this to happen. It's easy to dream with a Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or a Tersa Lightshatter, but you can't invest 4 mana on Cool But Rude before you play these cards. If you manage to do it, then their effects will be a lot worse. It's a pity, considering this card does a lot.

As for Mutagen Man... Well, it's definitely a card. The idea that you can get Mutagens without spending mana is super interesting, but, for 4 mana, a 4/5 (or a 2/3 that put +1+1 counters on two creatures)... Well, no, it doesn't work.

Obviously, in the future we could get enough Hardened Scales that these counters become a lot better than they are today. In this case, this card could work. Until then, I'll feel ashamed I got excited about it and even wrote about it.

This set, with Duel Commander in mind, is weak. As the power level gets higher and higher, many effects are spectacular and seem to make these cards good. They even sort of are (the power creep is clear), but that doesn't mean they'll have space in a meta as rich and powerful as the Duel Commander meta. Cards need to be great to see play in this format, and this set shouldn't be too impactful as a result.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!