Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart | Art by Néstor Ossandón Leal | Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance | Art by Inkognit

Did you watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles growing up? Do you like turtles? Are you generally interested in seeing a five-color deck tech right here on EDHREC? If you answered yes to any number of those questions, this article is for you.

Welcome to a TMNT deck tech focused on Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart and Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance! When I saw these cards spoiled for the upcoming Universes Beyond set, I knew they'd make a perfect pairing. 

Let's jump right into it, and see what these two can do.

What Do Michelangelo and Leonardo Do?

For , Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart is a 2/1 with trample. He also makes us a FoodFood and puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature at the beginning of our second main phase if we've attacked that turn.

And for , Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance is a 3/3 with two super powerful abilities. First, whenever a token we control enters, we get to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature we control, but this only triggers once per turn. And, we can pay at any time to gives our creatures menace, trample, and lifelink until end of turn.

Thanks to the Partner - Character select ability, we can have both of these Mutant Ninja Turtles in our command zone!

Thanks to the awesome synergy between these two commanders, one makes a token every turn and one buffs our team up when we make tokens, our game plan is clear: We'll try to make a token every single turn, even on our opponents' turns, to make sure that we're triggering Leo's first ability as often as possible.

We'll fill the board with tokens, and then give them +1/+1 counters to ensure that we can punch our way to victory.

Key Cards for Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart and Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance

The best cards in this deck are the ones that can make tokens every turn. That means taxing effects like The Council of FourThe Council of Four and Charismatic ConquerorCharismatic Conqueror, alongside upkeep-based effects like Tendershoot DryadTendershoot Dryad and OphiomancerOphiomancer, are going to shine here.

I'm also a big fan of the Curses, like Curse of OpulenceCurse of Opulence and Curse of the Restless DeadCurse of the Restless Dead, that can generate more value with some help from our opponents. Notably, I didn't include Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe, even though it would make this deck even stronger. I wanted this list to sit firmly in Bracket 2, so you won't be seeing any Game Changers here.

There's even more ways to make tokens, even if they're largely limited to our own turn. Xavier Sal, Infested CaptainXavier Sal, Infested Captain is a cool include for his ability to turn counters into creatures (and vice-versa). With all the +1/+1s and creature tokens we'll be throwing around, we should be able to access both of his abilities on each of our turns.

Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor does a little bit of everything we want, letting us make tokens, draw cards, or cause massive life total swings off of a simple attack trigger. And, once we've got all these tokens at our disposal, Baylen, the HaymakerBaylen, the Haymaker will be operating at maximum power.

Because this is a five-color deck, we get access to all of the best token synergies. Each of the cards mentioned in this paragraph can lead a powerful token-centric deck of their own, so it's cool to see them all together for once!

From Xavier Sal to Nesting DovehawkNesting Dovehawk to Determined IterationDetermined Iteration, we've got quite a few ways to populate (making token copies of a pre-existing token). What are the best tokens that we can do that with? Ghalta and MavrenGhalta and Mavren can make some huge Dinosaur creature tokens as the game goes on, and copies of those big Dinos can end the game quite quickly.

And, if we manage to sacrifice Idol of OblivionIdol of Oblivion, that'll make a sweet target for our populate effects too. Failing that, we can just make copies of 1/1 Human Soliders, 1/1 Goblins, or whatever else we've got lying around for some extra value.

Notably, we'll be making at least one Food token every single turn. Michelangelo nets us one when we attack, which this deck will have no problem doing during each of its combats. This means cards like Gilded GooseGilded Goose, Peregrin TookPeregrin Took, and Savvy HunterSavvy Hunter will be great includes in our 99.

It also means cards focused on artifact synergies, like Oltec MatterweaverOltec Matterweaver, and cards focused on life gain, like Ocelot PrideOcelot Pride, get a boost in effectiveness. Ocelot Pride is one of the best cards in this deck. We've got quite a few ways to gain life, from the Ccelot itself to Food tokens to lifelink from Leonardo, meaning that we'll be making tons of tokens with everyone's favorite Cat.

How Does This Mike and Leo Commander Deck Win?

This deck's got tons of ways to close out games. We've got easy access to large power and toughness bumps through Leonardo's first ability, and can even give our whole team some very combat-relevant abilities if we manage to make .

Outside of the Command Zone, we've got anthems like Intangible VirtueIntangible Virtue, Caretaker's TalentCaretaker's Talent, and the backside of Invasion of TolvadaInvasion of Tolvada to make our small army a little bit larger.

We've also got ways to flood the board with tokens, like Rhys the RedeemedRhys the Redeemed for a game-ending mana investment, Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar for a steady stream of value, and Ainok Strike LeaderAinok Strike Leader for tokens and some on-board protection.

Ainok Strike Leader, sadly, doesn't trigger twice when we attack with both of our commanders. But, it still provides us insurance from board wipes while making tons of tokens along the way.

There's a few other assorted win-cons, like Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats. I'm consistently shocked to read that this Bat was printed as a common. It can turn a mere 20 tokens into victory in a Commander game, it's a 2/3 flying creature, and it costs just . I love this card!

I'm also a big fan of Sandstorm SalvagerSandstorm Salvager, which can act as a backup version of Leonardo if we don't have access to him. This Human Artificer can provide an insane boost to our board's power, with trample to boot, for just . It's likely not as popular as it should be because of its printing in The Big Score, but this creature has a home in any -based token deck.

Last but certainly not least, I wanted to shout out Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery This Room's two-mana half is a nice token-making engine, and its six-mana half provides a game-ending buff to our creatures. I love cards that have utility in stages other than the endgame, and this enchantment does just that.

Michelangelo and Leonardo Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This deck sits pretty firmly in Bracket 2, but I think it can hang well in most Bracket 3 games. Its two commanders are extremely strong, and come together to form a remarkable value engine in the command zone. Plus, with Michelangelo being cast on turn two and Leonardo being cast on turn four most games, we've got a strong curve-out with the ability to build a scary board as soon as turn five.

Before you go, I want to shout out two includes that I think speak well to this deck's philosophy. Instead of more generic protection spells, like Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention, I chose to include Rootborn DefensesRootborn Defenses. This instant may cost more, but it lets us create an extra creature token and trigger Leonardo's first ability.

I used similar logic to include Sundering GrowthSundering Growth in place of something like Nature's ClaimNature's Claim.

These cards are what makes casual Commander fun for me. I love finding small tweaks to a deck's 99 that make it feel like a well-oiled machine, with all game actions furthering our main plan in one way or another.

Are there any other synergistic cards that I missed? Let me know in the comments below. I'll see you all next week for another article!

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