City of BrassCity of Brass | Art by Kirsten Zirngibl

Welcome back everyone! I am Command Zoe, back with some thoughts on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Commander deck, Turtle Power! Before we dive in, take a second and go check out my last article on the unbanning of BiorhythmBiorhythm. Spoiler alert, everything’s fine!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s take a peak at some Turtles. Specifically we're looking at the land base in Turtle Power! and whether or not it’s worth getting the whole deck, if you would be better off buying singles, or if you should avoid it entirely.

I like turtles too.

Defining "Worth It"

Worth is very personal. It is tricky to define whether or not something is worth it objectively, so I am going to approach this from a few perspectives. I’ll be asking myself several questions here and answering them, then you can decide for yourself using the same style of reasoning I did.

First: Is this product worth it to me, Command Zoe, long time Magic enthusiast, large collection haver, and content creator that plays Magic seven days a week.

Second: Is this product worth it as a new player who doesn’t have enough of a collection to upgrade it.

Next: Does the deck work with the lands as is? Would it need upgrades?

Last: Is this product worth it from a financial perspective? Can I buy the same thing in singles for cheaper?

I hope these questions can help you find your own personal worth to the cards I am going to go over.

Turtle Power! Precon Deck List

The Deck and Its Lands by the Numbers

Before we look at the lands we need to look at the cards that aren’t lands. It’s important to know how many colors there are, how many cards have multiple pips in the mana cost, and what the average mana value is in the deck. All of this information is critical to determining how many lands we run, what mana those lands produce, and how many tapped lands we can use.

Pip count vs lands that produce that color:

The average mana value in the deck is 3.4 without lands. This is very functional. The colors are all represented correctly, there are a good number of lands to nonlands, and there are a decent number of tap lands to untapped lands. This deck will function out of the box without any upgrades, mathematically speaking. The deck will function as it should most of the time, just like most precons these days.

Are the Lands Worth It, Financially Speaking?

There are several cards in this list of lands that desperately needed reprints. If you were to go by the best prices online, there are several cards that cost over five dollars. They are:

City of BrassCity of Brass (~$20)
Fabled PassageFabled Passage (~$5)
Grand ColiseumGrand Coliseum (~$5)
Spire GardenSpire Garden (~$15)
Undergrowth StadiumUndergrowth Stadium ($10)

And the new lands that are preordering for over $5 are

Big Apple, 3 a.m.Big Apple, 3 a.m. (~$5)
Hidden HideoutHidden Hideout (~$7)

The final price of just these lands in singles as of the printing of this article is roughly $67. Lol. The deck retails for $59.99. Now these prices will not stay that way once this deck releases. Adding supply to any market will change the price, so we'll have to wait and see what the demand for these cards is like.

In a vacuum, however, this appears to be a very good deal for the money, particularly if you are new and need some of these expensive reprints.

Are the New Lands in Turtle Power! Any Good?

There are three new land cards in this deck

• Turtle LairTurtle Lair is excellent in any deck using the new sneak mechanic or the old ninjutsu mechanic, however three mana to activate it is pricey. It fits great in this deck because it makes mana of every color for your creatures, but if you want to move it to a different deck it is significantly less playable. It’s limited by its lack of versatility.
• Big Apple, 3 a.m.Big Apple, 3 a.m. is incredible. Compare it to other lands that tap to make creatures like Castle ArdenvaleCastle Ardenvale or FountainportFountainport and you can see that for just a little more colorless mana you get three times the creatures. I'm certain this is the best land of this type that has ever been printed. Even without playtesting it, I have used enough of this type of land to say that with confidence.
• Hidden HideoutHidden Hideout The final, and in my opinion best, land that’s new is a mix between Path of AncestryPath of Ancestry and Witch's ClinicWitch's Clinic. Given the potency of the latter, I think this quickly will be a pricey card if you want to get your hands on it. Many commanders enter with counters on them, and this doesn’t specify what type of counter it needs to be. Don’t sleep on this card. If you want one, trade or buy it before it spikes.

The Final Verdict

For Zoe: This product, based solely on the mana base, is not worth it for me. I have all of the high value lands already, and I can pick up the minimal new cards as singles through trades. I think all three of the new lands are very good and will try them out.

For a new player: Yes this product is worth it for a new player. The mana base is full of very good lands that can go in almost any deck. This is the best beginner-friendly mana base I have ever seen. I hope this trend continues with future precons.

For Finance: I think this is a bad buy with regards to Magic finance. The reprints will lower the price of a lot of the high value cards by both increasing supply and lowering demand. I would wait rather than getting in early to see.

In conclusion, this product is very focused and good for new players. Entrenched players will likely look to pick up a few of the lands, and can do so with singles and trades. Financially, it's good for the game, but a bad speculative purchase.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments! Be sure to toss me a follow across socials and watch my stream where you can come tell me how wrong I was about all of this!