Top Ten Commander Cards from MTG: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Hello and welcome back. I would say that spoilers for TMNT are upon us, and they are, but due to a mistake with Lorwyn release outs most of the Mythic and Rare cards were spoiled before their time, and Wizards of the Coast released the remaining unspoiled cards soon after.

But that doesn't mean we don't have cards to discuss! This article will come with to caveats though; first I’m skipping ahead of my usual possible order of articles and am going to discuss my top ten general picks revealed so far but this time all cards are on the table, including legendary creatures.

The second is that due to my ISP being dumb I having to write this on a phone. Please bear with me.

TOP MAGIC NIFTY TEN

Ravenous Robots

Nothing says value like free, and for the low cost of casting an artifact, you get another. As a creature token it had all kinds of uses, like convoke, blocking, attacking, being sacrificed, triggering effects, and so on.

The second ability makes the card generically good, as giving haste to tokens may not seem like much but can turn the tide against an opponent, whether it's a bunch of tiny robots or a number of newly animated treasure and dragons.

Donatello, Gadget Master

Here’s another ability built for artifacts. This one though gets you a copy of any you already control as a token. You have to hit an opponent with Doni here to get it, but Sneak at least helps with that.

If you're already in the artifact plan, you might have a thopter around to help with Sneak. One early should work fine, but Doni might want to come down once you have something beefier to copy. Of course as a Commander you have access to him during the whole game, so it may not be an issue if you want a little extra Academy Manufactor on turn four.

Turncoat Kunoichi

Removal on an abusable card type? I'll take two. With this card, you can potentially get removal two times, one for Sneak, and once again if you recur or blink it.

In a vacuum, it's removal for a single creature until it leaves. Fine to have in a deck. Sneak makes things a little more interesting, as you have to have an unblocked creature to return to use the ability. This will be better in Commander, where potentially you can make a deal to remove something and the other player doesn't get hit by whatever you are attacking with, just this for 3.

Triceraton Commander

Armies in a can, ala Avenger of Zendikar, can always turn a game upsidedown, and are also great for recovery after a board wipe. This card can do the same, and it helps close a game with its ability to give evasion. Granted, it works better in a dinosaur kindred deck, but because of its stand alone nature it could work anywhere and win games.

The Last Ronin

Board wipe with built in follow up. While a bit slow, setting up for this before hand and having the follow up built in helps it make the list. If you have trouble closing a game after a wipe, this can help you get there.

Better, this card can be recovery from a lot of removal targeted at you during a game and tune the tables in your favor.

Cool but Rude

Card selection isn't as good as card draw, but only in a vacuum. This card not only provides that selection, but gives a bonus on top at level two with some burn. Level three does a good Gamble impression making it one of the very few Red tutoring affect we have in this game. Overall I like the design, and reminds me of a certain dragon from an upcoming set might like this card’s level two a lot.

Don and Leo, Problems Solvers

Cards that blink something at the end of the turn are nothing new, but doing it twice on one card is. Getting that extra value at end of turn on a legend with good stats and that a deck doesn’t have to depend on? That’s a win in design in my opinion. The card being a five mana drop also means you can prepare the shenanigans before hand to get value the turn Don and Leo come down.

Ninja Teen

Third enchant to make the list, this one allows for aristocrat and recursion gameplay while also letting us keep the heat on with attacks and Sneak, hurting opponents from multiple angles.

Renet, Temporal Apprentice

Five mana is a lot to hold up for an effect that doesn't hit everything, but hear me out. The are many decks that will vomit out a large amount of stuff, be it tokens like treasure, angels or plants, or spells from the deck or just stuff for free that can threaten a win in a turn or two, if not that turn. I've seen it happen plenty of times. While this card isn't the best removal, it definitely has a place to shine. Plus with it being a creature, you can blink or recur it to keep someone semi-offline if they get greedy.

Splinter’s Technique

A tutor for the price of four mana is fine, but for two mana is better. While it's a little situational, I don't think that will hold it back much. In fact, it might make the card better overall in the late game, giving it some discount when you could politic your way into a beneficial attack. If not, it's still a tutor for anything you need.

PIZZA DELIVERY

That's my picks for this set. Unlike most sets, this one had a larger number of cards making it closer to the list than not, and I had to lean into the generically good across decks argument more than I thought. I do like there are cards a that are more specifically good in only certain archetypes instead of things homogenizing the format.

Do you think there is a card that deserves to be on here more? Let me know below.

Until next time, enjoy a slice.