Turtles ForeverTurtles Forever | Art by Devin Elle Kurtz

Crawling out of the sewers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) take over the streets with their shells, spells, and all manor of ninjutsu sneaky abilities that will get the drop on all of Magic's ne'er-do-wells (your opponents)!

Now, you don't need to be a fan of the TMNT in order to enjoy this set and these cards. As I am writing this article on one screen, I have arena on the other watching all of these cards meld and mesh together flawlessly. As I take cards from Edge of Eternities and Lost Caverns of Ixalan I see them work together along side Krang, Master MindKrang, Master Mind and Donatello, Mutant MechanicDonatello, Mutant Mechanic.

Not to mention all of the ninjutsu effects from Kaito, Bane of NightmaresKaito, Bane of Nightmares that just won the recent Arena Championships and how that strategy should only get better with a set full of Ninjas!

This is all just to preface that this mechanical deep dive is going to be looking at these cards from a place of appreciation for the, well, mechanical elements that are being added to the game that I am already seeing transcend the IP.

So lets take a look at exactly what's going into Magic: The Gathering from this new influx of 190 cards and some examples as to when they bring the most heat!

Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO! - Sneak

So in TMNT there are Turtles who, while only being teenagers, are definitely Ninjas and mutated to be ultra sneaky, which leads us to the main mechanic of the entire set: sneak.

You can cast a card with sneak for an alternate cost as long as you return an unblocked attacker you control to your hand during the declare blockers step. Now note what I said card there, because sneak goes beyond what previous mechanics allow and is also present on instants and sorceries. So cards like Leonardo's TechniqueLeonardo's Technique and Donatello's TechniqueDonatello's Technique can not only be cast for a lesser cost than usual, but also break their timing restrictions.

However you should know that there is a timing restriction on the sneak mechanic to begin with, as sneak cards can only be cast, (not activated like ninjutsu) at the end of the declare blockers step, which is a realm not often played with, even by ninjutsu standards. This step is after your opponent has locked in blockers, but before damage has actually been dealt.

This might seem like a limitation, but if you really look at the cards in the set, there's a ton that can be done here to trick your opponents into incredibly unfavorable positions.

With Oroku Saki, Shredder RisingOroku Saki, Shredder Rising you get your simple "I deal combat damage and draw a card for you" that black would normally stick on a two-drop anyway, but instead you get a creature that is a bit more guaranteed to do it at least once - plus he hits like a truck!

Shredder, UnrelentingShredder, Unrelenting gives another creature deathtouch as he enters or attacks, meaning if you swing with two creatures and ones goes unblocked, sneak him in for four and give the blocked creature deathtouch! He also hits like a mack truck, all for the crime of letting a 1/1 through!

Or if you really wanted that blocked creature to live, cast Shredder's TechniqueShredder's Technique, usually stuck as a sorcery, for its sneak cost to save your goober.

These sneaking creatures tend to have some incredible abilities too, since your Ninja is now exposed and will be targeted by your opponent. So the abilities are very stacked to being able to change the game if they just resolve once, like on Karai, Future of the FootKarai, Future of the Foot, Dark Leo & ShredderDark Leo & Shredder, Splinter's TechniqueSplinter's Technique, and jeez just take a look at Shark Shredder, Killer CloneShark Shredder, Killer Clone and don't tell me that wont flip every game in your flavor.

Did I say flavor? Sorry, got pizzapizza on the mind.

Each of the Ninja brothers have their suite of sneak abilities too, and we'll see , , , , and each with at least three cards and their own flavor of color interpretation on sneak. Leonardo, Big BrotherLeonardo, Big Brother gets +1/0 for each other creature you have, and Leonardo, Leader in BlueLeonardo, Leader in Blue just flat out buffs your board.

Donatello, Gadget MasterDonatello, Gadget Master clones an artifact on hit or DivinationDivinations for just a with his techniquehis technique. Combine Kitsune's TechniqueKitsune's Technique with Riverchurn MonumentRiverchurn Monument in Standard and just win the game on the spot!

Ninja TeenNinja Teen grants sneak to creatures in your graveyard, which will be incredible once this reaches Commander decks. Splinter's TechniqueSplinter's Technique is the two-mana tutor spell we were always meant to be scared of reaching Standard, but only if you bounce an unblocked creature back so it balances out.

Raphael has red's flavor of sneaky damage with Raphael, the NightwatcherRaphael, the Nightwatcher, doing the work of EmbercleaveEmbercleave but for your board. As well as redly refilling your hand with Raphael's TechniqueRaphael's Technique

The green spells are as green as you can get, like free creatures from the hand or the deck between Michelangelo, ImproviserMichelangelo, Improviser and Michelangelo's TechniqueMichelangelo's Technique.

There are even multicolored cards that fit perfectly within this new mechanical space too that each change up the match just based on one resolution.

Sneak makes a lot of sense as the lead mechanic of the set revolving around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, and it's honestly a much more universally useable version of ninjutsu that we will definitely see in future sets.

Also do please note, you can sneak from the command zone, and it will be effected by commander tax. So at least Magic has avoided the Commander Ninjutsu debacle.

I Disappear

The next mechanic in the set that takes any size is disappear.

Disappear is, yes, just what it looks like: revolt. It's just an ability that simply checks if a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn at the beginning of your end step. Just like how void went hand in hand with warp in Edge of Eternities, its there to check if you sneaked (snuck???) a permanent or if something just flat out left for other reasons.

Both void and warp will trigger on similar things actually so be sure to look for both abilities to mash together in the same deck.

There are nine cards with disappear in the set, and each of them have a decent enough trigger on something that happens rather easily in Magic. Foot MysticFoot Mystic, Lord Dregg, Insect InvaderLord Dregg, Insect Invader, and Rat King, VerministerRat King, Verminister each make a small 1/1 creature that will let you further trigger sneak abilities by overloading your opponents' blockers with sheer tides of attackers, ensuring you'll trigger disappear abilities again, one way or another.

Mutation Station - Mutagen

We also have a new, possibly evergreen, token added to the game that I believe will fit the same role as Blood tokens. MutagenMutagen tokens are created by a dozen different cards in the main TMNT set and a couple more in the precon.

What do they do? They have and sac to add a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, but only at sorcery speed. Mutagen tokens have been a long time coming, as more and more tokens get made that deal with core aspects of the game (life, drawing, draw-discard, etc). And +1/+1 counters are everywhere.

A lot of the cards are consistent Mutagen token makers that trigger on entering the battlefield, which makes sense because these tokens can kind of only be used on creatures, unlike the other tokens of its kind.

What's the coolness factor with them? Largely that they are artifacts that get constantly added to the field for you doing something else entirely.

April O'Neil, Human ElementApril O'Neil, Human Element adds artifacts to your board just because your opponents are playing the game, which can work wonders for Artifact/Affinity decks like Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper.

There's also the fact that you can just use these on your creatures too, for just a mana, bringing +1/+1 counters to an even wider range of creatures than their colors normally allow. Map tokens sometimes gave you a land when you really wanted that counter, and now you'll have the power boost that you wanted.

The real spice of this mutant life is from Mutagen Man, Living OozeMutagen Man, Living Ooze, who I have personally already seen just go crazy with the Mutagen tokens over and over again in one turn. The times where a creature with trample could just use one extra +1/+1 counter to get over your enemies are over with this guy, because you can put a huge amount of value into it and absolutely crush your opponents.

Combine Mutagen tokens with cards that really value +1/+1 counters, like the cards from Aetherdrift and The OzolithThe Ozolith seen in +1/+1 counter decks all over, and you'll find that Mutagen tokens can really add to the game. I think they'll reach farther use than Blood tokens, but certainly less than Food.

Time will tell if we end up seeing the Mutants in the Marvel sets be heavily reliant on power boosts, because if Wolverine, Best There IsWolverine, Best There Is is any indication, we could be using these new tokens for a long time!

Toon in Next Time!

That's really it for new mechanics from TMNT, but honestly that's very much okay. Not every set can, will, or should introduce four-plus game-warping mechanics. Sneak will get a very good amount of space to breathe and really immerse itself into Magic and we all get to focus on trying to break it as much as possible.

We all collectively get to try everything out together and honestly in the speed in which these set mechanic articles have to come out, we need that time. Bolas only knows how many mechanics will come with Secrets of Strixhaven!

So go forth and enjoy everything that TMNT has in store for us all. And let me know in the comments below if you've been able to figure out how to build a sneak-focused deck that WOTC says should be constructed playable!