MTG x TMNT - Cardboard Corner

Good Morning Gamers,

Its not morning, but we are approaching the next set of Magic: The Gathering for 2026 with alarming speed. This (turtles in) time, we're doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and while we began this year wiping the slate clean for Magic, this set reminds me and everyone else a whole lot about last years Marvel's Spider-Man set, which was small, funky, and a little bit out of place. I want to go on record that I am a TMNT fan (not encyclopedic, but I did have a crush on Casey Jones back in the 90's) and I want to like this set. I think this is something we as a community ought to reckon with before we start airing our grievances like our laundry: when a set is announced or released, are we primed to like it or to receive it negatively?

I'm predisposed to entertaining the idea that this set could have the juice, but as a seasoned Magical person, I'm walking back my glee and I'm trying to be rational about the thing, using my firsthand experience of the events leading up to this Friday's prerelease. This article began a week ago, and it looked very different than it does now. The cards I had begun to talk about, I could talk about ahead of spoiler season by a wide margin, on account of a production error where  Lorwyn Eclipsed's prerelease promos had rares and mythics from TMNT mixed in. This effectively undercut much of the hype that could have built towards its launch, by spoiling the most exciting and impactful cards of the set a month and a half before you could play with them. This misfire, I think, speaks to the way that WOTC is handled by HASBRO, where skeleton crew departments are expected to churn out an increased volume of product to support the rest of the organization, who bleeds more money than I will ever see in my lifetime. Staff shrinkage is a sanitized term for what Hasbro has forced upon WOTC, and as consumers we pay for it by accepting underrealized products from creative teams who are overworked and underpaid. Even though I have feelings about this set, I want to say I'm sorry that these are the conditions you work under, and thank you for working so hard to make this happen, even if this is small, and funky, and out of place.

Welcome to New York again, and here are some turtles I like. 

I do not have a favorite turtle, but I really like the Leonardo we have here for its recycling of the Kenku Artificer idea, because I liked the Kenku and now we have him in standard. I also like that this remix is using a modular-like ability that lets you transfer the counters from your articfacts onto other creatures and artifacts. Importantly, its not just +1/+1 counters, and the ability triggers for all artifacts, not just artifact creatures, so there are likely tons of cool interactions that put this card on footing with the likes of the Ozolith in terms of impact if someone can find cool things to break this with.

This is the card where the turtles play Magic the Gathering, the game that they now star in! Also, its Urban Evolution, but for one mana less, and with a less powerful land-drop ability, which is cool too.

deep microphone feedback because its basically in my mouth

This one goes out to all the rat boys and rat girls who joined and are playing Magic simply so they can hork out all of their Relentless Rats in one fell hork. 

Hork

Its a bird you can't bolt.

I like this guy. Essentially it's an Ultra-Buffed Birds of Paradise that can block most anything. On top of that, he's a great target for Lorwyn Eclipsed's blight mechanic because for a giant, disembodied cyborg cow head, Cudley's got butt for days.

Pauper needed another Impact Tremors on a stick. No, genuinely, I don't think they had enough, so this is great. Pair this with Keldon Marauders or Dragon Fodder, and you're smashing face for days. However, it does say target opponent, so this may not be the ideal pauper commander commander but...

... there are 16 pauper-legal boars currently with a pretty decent mana curve. Rocksteady may not be one of the 30 to 50 wild hogs, or one of the boars of all time, but I think he takes the cake as wackiest niche commander from this set's common legendaries.

Oh hey, here he is again, this time with that BBF (boar best friend) of his, Bebop!

pretend I'm doing a Mikey impression

"oh no, I have to discard a card into my graveyard so I can smash face with a 7/5? My recursion effects are gonna hate that."

This card looks like a bookkeeping nightmare only a storm player would love, but is also a great way to refuel after a bombastic turn. Probably more fun to use in digital, where the computer keeps track of your hack-count, but stronk is stronk, so who are we to complain.

Hatebears in Rakdos?

Play fair or bust... in RAKDOS?

Guys, I think I need a minute.

This is normal-ish? It kinda feels like an Eidolon of the Great Revel, but one that takes aim at convoke/affinity/improvise style effects and other cost reducers like ninjitsu or sneak. Generally its easier to turn a cost reducer on than it is to turn one off, especially since lots of them aren't may abilities. These terrible twos might just have what it takes to get a cheaty opponent over a barrel, should someone bring an alternative casting cost to what is clearly a wurtle fight (tulf didn't sound any better.)

Since there are so many gosh darn legendary creatures running around these days, its neat to see so many copy/clone effects exempt themselves from the legend rules. I appreciate that this is three turns of threats, even if it is mega expensive. I'm just shaking in my boots at what could be three heaping scoops of enters effects off of one enchantment.

Oh look, a character with an ETB that would be super handy to trigger with the previous card! IRL its a build around for sure, but its a build around for Rebels baby as a secret commander or curve topper in your favorite kitchen table casual.

Not quite as egregious as the Guy in the Chair, and with more design mining in the direction of the Food subtype, Courier of Comestibles could have some gas in the tank. As of the moment I'm typing this, there are 19 cards this could tutor for, which I like as a pool. Probably the top picks to fetch are Heaped Harvest for tempo and Tough Cookie if you want to haymaker with your tokens, but that aside, I'm just pleased that this space still has room for exploration.  

Oh, this might be a good target actually. I really like how RED this card feels, where you overextend yourself to do something strong, but can later on remedy that if it turns out to matter. Maybe living the dream with this one would be using it as a finisher after you and your opponent have both become bruised and bloodied. "Voila, sucker! Special delivery!"

What a cutie! I feel like white one drops are the stuff to watch out for these days (unless they're green two drops, or black two drops, or red one drops, or...) but this one feels like its covering a few different bases. PP (real name Pepperoni) protects your creatures from instant-speed effects, sets up ETB's/Sneak attacks, and can pepper for evasive damage?? It slices, it dices, it does your taxes and deletes your spam!!!

Oh, and she's being reskinned as Moo Deng in tomorrow's secret lair drop.

What's this? Scaled up Collected Company, Turtle style? Yeah girl, I'm down.

There is something to be said about more beginner friendly designs/designs that have simple wording/low to no caveats, and how those designs are being prioritized for Universes Beyond sets. 

Someone could say it, but not me. Instead I'm going to say that I bet that this Raph and Hobie Brown could be pals. That's my headcanon.

Oh hey, another clean design, this time for the BBEG! Add it to the pile. I would probably say this falls under the Ajani's Pridemate formula, and I have no problem with that. A good bad guy is a good bad guy and I can't wait to slot him into something with tokens and cards that go pop!

Actually on second thought, this is Ajani's Pridemate formula, which maybe illustrates my interest in both cards, since they feel like scaled-up versions of midweight cards from Magic's past. This is the pridemate, if it enabled itself and could get it's own ball rolling. Is this a fixed version, overtuned, or just a different card? We don't have a comments section, so you'll just have to think about that.

I dunno man, she's red and bald and doing a gender. She's crushing it with her two super skills: a) manipulating your life total and b) swelling your turn four drops, and combined with that deathtoucher with 3 toughness, hot dog she's a beast. Imagine popping out an Axebane Ferox with her help? An 8/8 haste trample with ward? Forget about it. I'm gonna concede while I'm ahead!

And that's how we're ending this episode of Cardboard Corner!

....

And that's how we're ending this episode of Cardboard Corner!!!

...

Ok, I'm not done.

At this point we're a year into the new age of MTG, with Universes Beyond sets being more often than Magic Storyline sets, and the awkward retooling of Epilogue/Beyond booster sets, where WOTC has tried to make these somewhat maligned products into smaller, draftable sets. While I think TMNT is a property that would be fun to have adapted into a card game, it echoes the issues of Spider-Man where there's an flavor/audience mismatch, and it smacks of old handshakes that didn't understand either property, and execs who like making money hand over fist. I hope I eat my words, and that the very clear trends of these underdeveloped, mismatched property sets don't hold true for the turtle's debut, but it's not looking good kids. Forcing these fits makes both brands look bad, and it leaves us in the audience feeling doubtful, and wondering if the pizza sauce is really worth the squeeze. 

The way they're squeezing us, who can say?

If you don't want to be a doomer, we are hosting events for the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES PRERELEASE on Friday the 27th and throughout the weekend, including a two headed giant event as the last event on Sunday the 29th. Sign Ups are online as per usual, and spaces fill up fast, so if you wanna get into the Turtle club, you know what to do. Thank you so much for reading and cowabunga my dudes. Ben out.

xxx

Ben Doane has been a member of the Pandemonium Team since 2019, and has been playing wargames, rpgs, and tcgs since 2004 and earlier. When not blogging, Ben runs the wargames and mailing departments, and also puts together the store's newsletters. Her current favorite game is Four Borg.