Super ShredderSuper Shredder | Art by Néstor Ossandón Leal

Hello Everyone! I’m Levi from The Thought Vessel and I am so excited for the upcoming Universes Beyond set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As a kid that grew up without cable, shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic X, Digimon, and even MetaBots hold a special place in my heart.

Seeing these IPs takes me back to a time of sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal on a Saturday morning, watching cartoons and relaxing. There have been some interesting cards spoiled surprisingly early at New York Comic Con and beyond, but there is one in particular that caught my eye.

Being that I don’t currently have a mono-black deck together in paper, I'm always on the lookout for a fun commander to take that spot on the roster.

This notorious villain might be exactly what I'm looking for. Today we’re looking at Super ShredderSuper Shredder and the appropriately named deck, Shredding Cardboard.

The Commander

Before we look at the deck, we really should dive into what this beast of a card can do. Super Shredder is a 1/1 Legendary Mutant Ninja Human with menace that says, “Whenever another permanent leaves the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on Super Shredder.”

In Magic, what isn’t said can be just as important as what is said. Reading the card might explain the card, but it doesn’t always provide the full context. For example, the card doesn’t say “Whenever one or more permanents leave the battlefield” and it also doesn’t say “Whenever a permanent you control leaves the battlefield.”

In other words, this is going to count every Treasure token, creature, fetch land, or destroyed mana rock that is in play for anyone. Super ShredderSuper Shredder can get really big, really fast.

There is also a rules interaction that we should be aware of:

“CR - Rule 603.6c
603.6c Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game.

These are written as, but aren’t limited to, “When [this object] leaves the battlefield, . . .” or “Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . .” (See also rule 603.10.) An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone that it went to.

An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone “from anywhere” is never treated as a leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the battlefield.”

There's this one too:

“CR - Rule 800.4a
800.4a When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. Then, if that player controlled any objects on the stack not represented by cards, those objects cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time they left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game.”

It’s probably not viable to actively hunt down and remove one player as a default game plan, but if a player does get taken out, every single permanent they control will result in a Super Shredder trigger.

Since lands are included in this, the removal of one player will usually result in a Super Shredder that can take a player out with commander damage in one hit.

This ruling might change as we get closer to the actual release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but as it stands, this is definitely something to keep in mind. 

Comparisons

We've seen commanders similar to Super Shredder in the past. The three that jump out to me are Yahenni, Undying PartisanYahenni, Undying Partisan; Korvold, Fae-Cursed KingKorvold, Fae-Cursed King; and Kresh the BloodbraidedKresh the Bloodbraided.

On the surface, Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose looks similar as well, but the game plan is so different as the game unfolds with trying to sacrifice Elenda to get the tokens, it’s probably best to leave out that comparison here.

Yahenni is similar to Super ShredderSuper Shredder in that it's a low-cost mono-black commander in the command zone that will grow over time with +1/+1 counters as cards leave the game. Naturally, there are some differences.

Yahenni only triggers off of creatures owned by opponents instead of permanents owned by everyone, but it does get the added benefit of a sac outlet to grant itself indestructible and haste. Super Shredder would be a fantastic inclusion in a Yahenni deck, but it’s not quite as true the other way around.

Korvold, Fae-Cursed KingKorvold, Fae-Cursed King is able to take advantage of noncreature permanents leaving like Super ShredderSuper Shredder can - as long as they are sacrificed by the Korvold player.

Korvold does boast the ability to have access to two additional colors, a more reliable form of evasion compared to menace, and also provides its very own card advantage engine.

Super Shredder can be more simplified with only using one color and can come into play much easier (and be recast) since it is only two mana to start.

Kresh is a commander we really don’t see as much anymore, with only a little over 3,400 decks created within the last two years. Similar to Super ShredderSuper Shredder, Kresh gets bigger as other creatures are removed. Though it doesn’t benefit from noncreature permanents leaving play, Kresh grows based on the power of the creature that dies.

Because of this, a card like Rite of the Raging StormRite of the Raging Storm is be a lot more impactful in a Kresh deck, giving five +1/+1 counters to Kresh on each player’s turn. Similar to Korvold, Kresh also gets those extra two colors.

Kresh, however, can be slower to get going at five total mana, whereas Super Shredder can come in on turn one or two. Kresh also doesn’t have any kind of evasion out the gate, so more cards have to be allocated in the ninety-nine to actually get through blockers and put damage on players.

The Game Plan

For the deck itself, we could go with creating a bunch of tokens and then pushing them into play to sacrifice for Super Shredder growth, but what if we took the path less traveled?

Yes, we will have some token synergies that we’ll talk about later, but if we channel our true mustache-twirling supervillain, we can ask the glorious question: “Why would I remove all of my things when I can simply use my opponents’ things instead?” That’s right! We’re going full supervillain with targeted sweepers, edict effects, life drain effects, and pure mono-black beatdown.

We will be using Super ShredderSuper Shredder to pressure life totals rather than as a pure Voltron commander, though this deck will win a lot of games through commander damage. Everything in this deck should be working toward a finish of bringing everyone down to zero life. 

Notable Cards

A huge card for this deck is ShadowspearShadowspear. We want to get around hexproof and indestructible so we can continue to control the board and keep removing things from play. Shadowspear provides just that.

It can also help with giving our commander trample to get damage on opponents over the top of small blockers and also provides lifelink to fuel our advantage engines like BitterblossomBitterblossom and The One RingThe One Ring.

Liliana, Dreadhorde GeneralLiliana, Dreadhorde General is everything we want in a card for this deck. We get to create tokens, force removal, draw cards, and if we’re fortunate enough to get to the ultimate ability, we have a massive boardwipe-like effect that can put players in a very uncomfortable position.

No matter which one of each permanent opponents elect to keep, Super Shredder will likely be big enough to take them out with one hit. It's hard to come back from a near-complete, one-sided reset of the game, especially while facing down a gigantic Super Shredder.

PestilencePestilence is a card that I typically don’t play in decks, but since Super ShredderSuper Shredder can get massive, it is pretty easy to take out the whole board and leave just Super Shredder standing.

Unlike Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge and The Meathook MassacreThe Meathook Massacre, Pestilence won’t lower Super Shredder’s power temporarily, meaning that Super Shredder will be free to swing in for a lethal hit after the fact.

Though we aren’t explicitly a Voltron deck, we do have some cards that help take players out with commander damage. Both Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage and Shizo, Death's StorehouseShizo, Death's Storehouse are lands that can make our commander unblockable to get past chump blockers in our way.

Commander's PlateCommander's Plate gives a nice +3/+3 with protection from every color but black, while Sword of Hearth and HomeSword of Hearth and Home gives protection from green and white while also letting us blink a creature and put more Swamps on the field to help out cards like Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers.

Run It Back

Since we’re putting a lot of creatures in the graveyard, why not use Mimic VatMimic Vat to create a copy of a creature that leaves the battlefield at the end of the turn? If we can imprint a card like Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel, the game will close out in a hurry!

With all the dying that is going to happen in these games, it feels like a waste not to take advantage of the graveyard.

We have four cards in this deck that can bring a creature back from the graveyard on each of our turns: The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone, Portal to PhyrexiaPortal to Phyrexia, Sheoldred, Whispering OneSheoldred, Whispering One, and Virtue of PersistenceVirtue of Persistence.

Ideally, we can get one or two of these cards to stick to the battlefield so that we are constantly removing creatures and getting them back into play to keep our value train on the tracks.

Token Makers

Speaking of BitterblossomBitterblossom, Super Shredder does get +1/+1 counters when tokens leave play, so we would be foolish not to add a few cards that make tokens. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to focus on only creature tokens, so we can play any tokens for the same effect.

Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections is a great card as it can allow us to draw cards, make a 3/2 creature, and a Treasure token on each of our turns in exchange for some life.

Revel in RichesRevel in Riches serves both as a Treasure maker and a potential alternate win condition. There are games I could see casting this spell followed by a board wipe to sneak out a win from a bad position in the game.

Sword of Wealth and PowerSword of Wealth and Power is a very underrated card in Magic compared to some of the other Swords. While it doesn’t have the color protection like the other Swords, it does grant protection from instants and sorceries, which is almost like a super hexproof since it can keep our commander safe from something like Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act. 

When we connect for combat damage, we get a Treasure token, and our next instant or sorcery spell we cast this turn will be copied. Being that most of the instants and sorcery spells in this deck are either spot removal or card draw, doubling up on these spells can really help us get the most bang for our bucks (not Tyler).

Kalitas, Traitor of GhetKalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a bit of a throwback, but it's pretty nice in this deck since it can create tokens and exile creatures going to the graveyard at the same time. The lifelink is nice as well, as we're using life total as a resource, and as the creature attacks or blocks, we can replenish our life total.

I Told You We Were Going to Be Evil…

Since we are in a single color, we are absolutely going to be that person and take advantage of that fact with a pair of nasty Stax pieces. Winter MoonWinter Moon states that players can only untap one nonbasic land on their untap step.

For our deck, this is mostly inconsequential as we run only a few nonbasic utility lands. For other players at the table who might only have a handful of basic lands in their deck, if at all, this effectively becomes trying to win a race while waist-deep in quicksand. ContaminationContamination is our other hate piece of evil, as it makes every land tap for only black mana.

Yes, it would cancel out our Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers, but with a token maker in play to keep this around, it can make life for the players that aren’t in black very difficult.

Game Changers

As we're pushing the power on this one, I've included three Game Changers in this list, though they are by no means required. The most important of the three is The One RingThe One Ring.

Keeping our hand full of removal is going to be critical, as we really want to stay on top of each opponent to clear up Super ShredderSuper Shredder attacks. The One RingThe One Ring can accommodate that, and the deck has enough incidental life gain effects to offset the downsides.

Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor and Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor are here to allow for a bit of a toolbox to grab whatever piece of ramp, removal, or simply raw power might be needed in that exact moment. There isn’t a combo to go for in this particular deck, but tutoring up a Torment of HailfireTorment of Hailfire in the later parts of the game can have a very similar effect.

So… How Do We Win?

Now it might be on-theme as the super villain to draw out the game as long as possible and leave to go check on something as our opponents hang above a pool of sharks, assuming everything goes according to plan. But we’re striving to be the type of villain that prefers a hands-on approach.

Though we aren’t using combos in this deck, it could be added if we wanted to go in that direction.

Ultimately, everything in this deck is focusing on getting everyone at the table down to zero before us. This comes in the form of commander damage, life drain effects with a card like Sheoldred, the ApocalypseSheoldred, the Apocalypse, or even a grand finale spell like ExsanguinateExsanguinate or Torment of HailfireTorment of Hailfire. This deck has a lot of ramp to be able to push an X-spell into lethal territory.

Powering Down or Up

If we wanted to power down this deck, we could always start with the mana denial cards and Game Changers. Though they are all really strong in this deck, none of them are actually essential for the sake of the game plan. Adding in a few creatures can also help slow the deck down a little bit.

For increasing the power level, I'd look at improving the caliber of ramp with better mana rocks like Mana VaultMana Vault and Mox AmberMox Amber, Game Changers like NecropotenceNecropotence and Opposition AgentOpposition Agent, additional tutors for consistency, and combos for an additional avenue to win.

A combo like Mikaeus, the UnhallowedMikaeus, the Unhallowed with TriskelionTriskelion would fit into the 99 of this deck quite organically, while a combination of Sensei's Divining TopSensei's Divining Top and Bolas's CitadelBolas's Citadel would also play well here since the Top leaving play would also trigger Super ShredderSuper Shredder.

Super Shredder Commander Deck List

Wrapping Up

It's interesting building a deck like this where the conclusion of the game is probably going to be commander damage, but it isn’t built as a Voltron deck.

A fair warning: this deck will not make any friends, so this is definitely something to bring up to your playgroup, like one would with Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive or Maha, Its Feathers NightMaha, Its Feathers Night.

Make sure everyone at the table is game for the amount of devastation this deck can bring to a game. As always, this deck is my gift to you. Play the deck as it is, modify my list for your playstyle, or simply scrap the deck for parts for your own brew. At the end of the day, you are responsible for your own play experience. Until next time, happy brewing.

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