Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart | Art by Néstor Ossandón Leal | Donatello, the BrainsDonatello, the Brains | Art by Jason Rainville

Cowabunga it is. 

Universes Beyond has been repeatedly reported as good for getting lapsed players back into the game. I’ll admit it’s been having an inverted effect on me: it keeps reigniting my childhood fondness for a lot of older properties. I revisited Final Fantasy with the Pixel Remaster, and finally read The Lord of the Rings back in 2023. 

Now I've been tearing through the IDW run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since the announcement of the set. I watched several different iterations during my childhood. Flipping through the pages really reminded me why I loved it so much. 

The upcoming preconstructed Commander deck being a single five-color deck with a new partner variant is, frankly, genius. It shows how different each member of the team is, allowing the set and presentation to highlight the dynamic nature of their interactions rather than flattening them out.

Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance is guaranteed to be a popular pick, just to be able to run the deck as-is, but I saw something charming in a two-color combo: Michelangelo and Donatello. Let’s see what’s going on with the goofball and the genius.

What Do Michelangelo and Donatello Do?

First up, Donny. He’s a three-mana, mono-blue 2/4 Mutant Ninja Turtel with “If one or more tokens would be created under your control, those tokens plus a Mutagen token are created instead.” MutagenMutagen tokens are the newest artifact tokens – if you pay one mana and sacrifice them, you can put a +1/+1 counter on a creature (at sorcery speed, to keep combat math from being mind-melting). Note: Donatello just needs to see a token get made, it doesn’t have to be a particular type.

Before we get to that, let’s check in on Mikey. He’s a two-mana, mono-green 2/1 Mutant Ninja Turtle with trample and a raid variant: “At the beginning of your second main phase, if you attacked this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and create a Food token.” 

All four of the Turtle Bros and their Rat dad have some mix of caring about tokens and counters, tied together in Mutagen. There’s a pleasant curve-out here where you play Michelangelo turn two, Donatello turn three, swing with Mikey and get a counter, Food, and a Mutagen at the end step.

No matter how you slice this pizza, there’s a lot of cardboard left on the table. Tokens are a fun archetype, and noncreature tokens are an especially quirky twist on it, so it’ll be exciting to bring that odd flavor to a +1/+1 counter deck. Let’s dig in.

Key Cards for Michelangelo and Donatello

The great thing about +1/+1 counters is that they inherently build towards ending the game. You can spin wheels with enchantresses or sorceries and never actually get anything going, but +1/+1 counters will at least get you a better attacker than you had before.

Let’s talk about getting counters onto creatures. Both of the commanders will help with that, but that’s not guaranteed to work out. A lot of our creatures, like Basking BroodscaleBasking Broodscale, will have a way to do it themselves, but the deck needs redundancies.

• Sphere GridSphere Grid
• Lonis, Genetics ExpertLonis, Genetics Expert
• Zimone, Paradox SculptorZimone, Paradox Sculptor
• Marcus, Mutant MayorMarcus, Mutant Mayor

Thankfully, some of these cards that kickstart the engine also provide some payout, like Marcus, Mutant MayorMarcus, Mutant Mayor. That being said, the deck really wants a lot of value out of those +1/+1 counters.

Building up the advantages will create a nice snowball that’ll be hard to stop. A board wipe might give it pause, but the extra cards drawn in the meantime will help make sure the deck can get right back in the action.

• TerrasymbiosisTerrasymbiosis
• Kodama of the West TreeKodama of the West Tree
• Danny PinkDanny Pink
• Bred for the HuntBred for the Hunt

It’s important to have cards like Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner to help really ratchet up the number of noncreature tokens running around. All those Mutagen and Food tokens lying around will serve a purpose beyond their activated abilities, after all. Those tokens are artifacts, which gives them a lot of different uses.

Why sacrifice a Mutagen to put a counter on one creature when sacrificing it to Throne of GethThrone of Geth will put a counter on many creatures? Academy ManufactorAcademy Manufactor goes without saying, of course, but Nyssa of TrakenNyssa of Traken is nutters in this type of deck. Letting her turn all of the Food lying around into tapped creatures for an alpha strike and a full grip for dealing with the other two opponents will feel too good for words. 

• Lonis, CryptozoologistLonis, Cryptozoologist
• Junk WinderJunk Winder
• Jaheira, Friend of the ForestJaheira, Friend of the Forest
• Inspiring StatuaryInspiring Statuary

Finally, some cards beautifully tie everything together. Tokens and counters are better together, even in a deck like this that focuses more on the noncreature tokens. (Reminder: Donatello just needs to see a token get made, which means the creature tokens will also bring a Mutagen with them. This is important.)

Basking BroodscaleBasking Broodscale is a goofy little card from Modern Horizons 3 that's ready to play havoc in this deck. While on the battlefield with Donatello, the BrainsDonatello, the Brains, if it gets a +1/+1 counter, it makes an Eldrazi Spawn token and also a Mutagen. The Spawn token can be sacrificed to add one mana to then activate the Mutagen token, putting a +1/+1 counter on the Basking Broodscale.

This can be looped for a massive vanilla beater and lots of triggers – be sure to talk to the table if they have concerns about any kind of infinite, even one as mostly harmless as this.

Check out the other cards that marry the disparate themes below:

• Animation ModuleAnimation Module
• Herd BalothHerd Baloth
• Warden of the GroveWarden of the Grove
• Ace, Fearless RebelAce, Fearless Rebel

The weapons are shined and the headbands are tied. Let’s order some pizza and slice up some goons before the driver pulls up to the sewer grate.

How Do Michelangelo and Donatello Win?

This partner pair has a few different avenues towards victory, but it mostly boils down to: swing with a big enough creature. The commanders work to put out counters throughout the game and can help build up threats, which is where various counter increasers like Hardened ScalesHardened Scales and The Earth CrystalThe Earth Crystal will come into play.

The deck really wants one of these in the early game to put the pressure on fast. I avoided most counter doublers unless they did something else, like The Earth CrystalThe Earth Crystal. Most of the counters being provided are only dished out one at a time, so an additional counter is already doubling.

I’ll note that Doubling SeasonDoubling Season would be a great addition since it also increases the tokens being generated left and right, but I didn’t put it in this initial pass due to power levels and a desire to keep the curve low.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart has trample right out of the gate, making him a solid voltron option. He can come down early and threaten a clock quickly with the counter shenanigans happening all over the place.

For the mid-to-late game, there are two categories of cards: cards that take advantage of a board state, and cards that make a board state. Herald of Secret StreamsHerald of Secret Streams and Kalonian HydraKalonian Hydra are examples of the former — cards that take the deck’s strategy and spiral it out of control immediately. Herald can make even a small board state a problem with the “can’t be blocked” rider, making it an out of nowhere insta-kill.

The classic Hydra turns a small board state into one big enough that blocking isn’t going to solve the problem. For the latter, there’s cards like Quilled GreatwurmQuilled Greatwurm or Sin, Unending CataclysmSin, Unending Cataclysm — they can present a clock no matter what else is going on. The Wurm doesn’t need counters already on creatures to make them bigger, and it can come back pretty easily in this deck.

Sin does want some counters already, but by doubling them, you only need a few to make this into a beatstick that demands an answer. 

Michelangelo, the Heart and Donatello, the Brinas Commander Deck List

Conclusion

With any given partner grouping, there's always an innate desire to reach for the options which give you the most colors. It’s a natural push, but this is a big, wide open format full of possibilities worth exploring. In the character select group alone, there are ten possible options for commanders (and that’s ignoring if you choose to play Leonardo, the BalanceLeonardo, the Balance as five-color or mono-white, a totally legal thing you can do!).

I’m interested in how things shake out. What about you? Are you looking to play the precon as-is or brew around the different pairs? And from there, one follow-up: Are you more interested in figuring out the most appealing mechanical hook or just having your two favorite characters of the bunch lead a deck together?

Whichever way you go, I expect you’ll have a shell of a time.

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