Mikey & Leo, Chaos & OrderMikey & Leo, Chaos & Order | Art by Jason Rainville

Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) cards are getting slotted into decks of the writers here at EDHREC? I asked them all what were some of their takeaways from the set. There was less of a consensus of card choices this time around, so we're breaking up this article by author.

Let's see if your favorite EDHREC writer is including any TMNT in their decks.

Brian Cain

Brian wants to add Ravenous RobotsRavenous Robots to his Rose, Cutthroat RaiderRose, Cutthroat Raider deck. At first, I wasn't sure why he wanted to include this card in this deck. I didn't really understand the conceit of a Rose deck in general though. He said it's a deck "focused on making artifacts tokens and pinging down the table with Reckless FireweaverReckless Fireweaver effects."

Ravenous RobotsRavenous Robots is perfect in decks wanting to slam a bunch of artifact spells. It's a shame it's cast, rather than enter, but that would go infinite with itself. A boy can dream, though.

Another card he's excited for is Groundchuck & DirtbagGroundchuck & Dirtbag. He didn't include the name of the deck he's adding it to, but he called it his 6MV deck. The conceit is that every nonland card in the deck has a mana value of six. Any way to double your mana is super important so you can cast more than one spell per turn.

I'm so curious about this 6MV deck. How do you even ramp in a deck like that? I'm so fascinated by this. I'm sure this will help considerably though.

Mike Carrozza

Mike said he's including quite a few Mutants for his Jenova, Ancient CalamityJenova, Ancient Calamity deck, "like Super ShredderSuper Shredder wasn’t already an A+ banger for the deck." That's so cracked.

I am immediately building a TMNT Jenova deck. I'm not even kidding. It's so fun and the synergy with Mutagen and making Jenova bigger and drawing cards when the Mutants die is crazy.

Ciel Collins

Ciel is excited for cards from the set that make MutagenMutagen as a weird token for their Gimbal, Gremlin ProdigyGimbal, Gremlin Prodigy deck. They suggested Donatello, the BrainsDonatello, the Brains and Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart. Donatello is awesome for Gimbal like Peregrin TookPeregrin Took has been; one token makes another named token.

Michelangelo, the HeartMichelangelo, the Heart is good too because it puts +1/+1 counters on creatures and makes more counters.

I might suggest, if they're going to put any other Mutagen making card in their deck, Mutagen Man, Living OozeMutagen Man, Living Ooze. You can make a ton of Mutagen and then use them to buff the artifact creatures for free. It makes a lot of the tokens activate for less. It's a nice little tech that would be perfect for Gimbal.

DougY

Doug has a lot of cards from TMNT he's excited about! We can get into all of them, but not in as much depth on my end. I'll let him speak for himself:

• "Chrome DomeChrome Dome: This card is doing things in my cEDH pet decks, Iron Man and Lady Octopus. Its combo list is a mile long and growing, and fits into things I'm already doing in both decks (KCI shenanigans w/ Iron Man, "making a ton of artifact mana" in Lady Octopus).
• Super ShredderSuper Shredder: My Lazav, the MultifariousLazav, the Multifarious Voltron deck is entirely based around +1/+1 counters, but often has a whole bunch of creatures get sacrificed as well, due to its black nature. Lazav-as-Super-Shredder, then, does two things I want terribly: it puts a ton of +1/+1 counters on Lazav, and it provides evasion so I can kill folks with commander damage.
• Oroku Saki, Shredder RisingOroku Saki, Shredder Rising: In my "Oops, All Creatures" Honest RutsteinHonest Rutstein/Umori, the CollectorUmori, the Collector deck, I'm trying to get as many creatures on the board as possible to do Aristocrats things without the usual focus on tokens. That means I'm looking for every Elvish VisionaryElvish Visionary I can get my hands on, and if it happens to bounce another Visionary on its way in? So much the better.

• Casey Jones, Back Alley BruteCasey Jones, Back Alley Brute: My Tajic, Legion's EdgeTajic, Legion's Edge "And Each Player" deck has Tajic make all my creatures invulnerable to non-combat damage, then splays out a bunch of EarthquakeEarthquakes to lower life totals and free up my aggro creatures to swing in. Casey Jones helps with both of those plans immensely, and also makes Tajic bigger for more mentor triggers.
• Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam: It's rare that you get even two cards for a cEDH deck in one set, but the combination of Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam and Chrome DomeChrome Dome has me making dozens of changes to my two artifact lists in Iron Man and Lady Octopus. Like Chrome DomeChrome Dome, Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam is acquiring a lengthy combo list quickly, and on top of that, is just generically good and powerful in artifact lists that have any reason to untap creatures."

Nicholas Lucchesi

Nick is interested in a handful of cards as well, and he's put them into categories. Chrome DomeChrome Dome, TechnodromeTechnodrome, and Big Mother MouserBig Mother Mouser are in one category for his Iron Spider, Stark UpgradeIron Spider, Stark Upgrade deck. Big Mother MouserBig Mother Mouser starts with two counters that can be used for card draw with Iron Spider. Additionally, when it attacks it doubles its own counters, allowing for more card draw. And when it dies it makes token Robots.

I imagine the TechnodromeTechnodrome tech is for a loop of tapping and untapping, sac'ing and recurring artifacts for value. Chrome DomeChrome Dome seems to be a standard anthem effect, and hopefully its activated ability can be reduced with another effect.

He put Improvised ArsenalImprovised Arsenal and Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam in another category as "new staples." A way to buff your creature for each artifact is huge here with Improvised ArsenalImprovised Arsenal, for a total of three mana. I just worry that it doesn't give evasion and doesn't buff toughness. It might be a sort of glass canon, at least from the perspective of Commander. It's a neat card though. Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam might be the same. It's a cool combat trick but I'm not sure it's a new staple in most decks.

Nicholas mentioned Michelangelo, ImproviserMichelangelo, Improviser. He said people are sleeping on this card. I agree. This card is so sneaky. (No pun intended, I promise. I hate puns.) It lets you get away with what Ojer Kaslem, Deepest GrowthOjer Kaslem, Deepest Growth could never. It's not better than Kaslem, but if you have a Zopandrel, Hunger DominusZopandrel, Hunger Dominus in hand and you want to slam it for free, you can. In big dumb green decks, this will be a new staple for sure.

Josh Nelson

Josh has two cards they're really excited to add to decks:

• "April O'Neil, Human ElementApril O'Neil, Human Element is probably going to have a great impact on my Jhoira, Weatherlight CaptainJhoira, Weatherlight Captain deck if only for the notion that she creates a a ton of expendable artifacts, fueling strategies like Goblin WelderGoblin Welder, Daretti, Scrap SavantDaretti, Scrap Savant, and Jaws, Relentless PredatorJaws, Relentless Predator to a high degree."

I agree completely to this conceit. They want a way to make a ton of extra artifacts. In an Izzet Artifact deck you're going to proc the thing that cares about artifacts, instants, and sorceries. Swapping artifacts that have been removed by an Austere CommandAustere Command or something with a Mutagen through Goblin WelderGoblin Welder seems like good tech.

• "Arcade CabinetArcade Cabinet is also going to be fantastic for my Trazyn the InfiniteTrazyn the Infinite Spacecraft build. I’ve been tinkering with it a bit as of recently and could see how doubling charge counters (among others) can help that deck’s goals immensely."

I love when I hear about a deck and I'm scratching my head wondering how exactly it works. I'm not familiar enough with this build to understand the synergy here, but I'd love to see if it works.

Paul Palmer

Paul wants to use Krang, Utrom WarlordKrang, Utrom Warlord in his Anrakyr the TravellerAnrakyr the Traveller deck. This is insane. Arnrakyr can cast it from the hand or graveyard. If you can manage to make Krang sac itself the commander can recast itself.

This is so cool! It's got a little bit of a side eye from me. I'm interest in building this commander too. I love seeing someone's deck and being a biter. When I'm done with this article I'm gonna scroll EDHREC about this commander. If only Krang gave lifelink. A boy can dream.

Steve Heisler

Steve has a handful of cards he's excited for too. There are quite a few so I'll let him speak for himself:

• "Going to try Leonardo, Sewer SamuraiLeonardo, Sewer Samurai in my God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra deck. The ability to recast my weenies for more Zombies, plus a double striking body for Equipment, is too good to pass up. I don't really care if a soul sister gets a finality counter, either.
• Shark Shredder, Killer CloneShark Shredder, Killer Clone should be pretty sweet in my Henzie and Umori all-creature deck. Sneak counts as casting, which means the creature can be blitzed for even more value. Similarly, also thinking Michelangelo, ImproviserMichelangelo, Improviser could slot in nicely.

• Michelangelo, Mutant BFFMichelangelo, Mutant BFF should be gas in my Kodama of the West TreeKodama of the West Tree deck. Keeps opponents from throwing too many bodies in front of my tramplers, and it makes Mutagen tokens to place counters on my unadorned creatures. Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 will also slay in this one—it's cheap and provides extra counters.
• As always, I'm on the hunt for good Doran, the Siege TowerDoran, the Siege Tower cards, and Transdimensional BovineTransdimensional Bovine qualifies. The deck has a weakness against flying creatures, and the Ox is a powerful mana dork, to boot. Too bad it doesn't really help cast Doran himself since the mana it produces has to be all one color."

Kara Blinebry

Kara is excited for Fugitive DroidFugitive Droid for her Malcolm, the EyesMalcolm, the Eyes deck, "as it's an early protection piece for Malcolm that holds Equipment like NettlecystNettlecyst and Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool very well in the late game thanks to its evasion ability."

I love this. It feels like this Malcolm deck is a little bit of a Voltron deck if it's running NettlecystNettlecyst and Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool. It wants to use artifacts as a way to suit up Malcolm, make them strong. Fugitive DroidFugitive Droid protects Malcolm or the artifact going to deal the lethal damage. Very cool. It's pretty telegraphed though so you'll get colluding, but what can we do?

Andy Zupke

Andy has a few cards he's interested in:

• "My Abzan Blink/Counters deck is getting a ton of new toys from this set, including Koya, Death from AboveKoya, Death from Above; The OozeThe Ooze; Michelangelo, On the SceneMichelangelo, On the Scene; and Super ShredderSuper Shredder

I agree completely. All of these new flicker staples and flicker targets are great, with Super ShredderSuper Shredder being a huge payoff for all of them. This set cares about cards leaving the battlefield which is way better than die triggers because that's exile, bounce, and dies. It's huge.

• April O'Neil, Human ElementApril O'Neil, Human Element will be incredible in Golbez, Crystal CollectorGolbez, Crystal Collector

This card will help you meet the the criteria of controlling four artifacts by simply casting two artifact spells. It also allows you to surveil with every token artifact that enters.

• Ninja PizzaNinja Pizza will be amazing in my Samwise GamgeeSamwise Gamgee "Hobbits in Cars" deck

Ninja PizzaNinja Pizza is just a broken card. Can I say that? I think it's a new staple in any deck that runs green and has even a minor Food synergy. So good.

Jesse Barker Plotkin

Jesse likes Cool but RudeCool but Rude from this set. I think the art is funny, but he thinks it's perfect for another reason: his Mishra, Excavation ProdigyMishra, Excavation Prodigy deck. He wants "more cheap aggressive engines, and this Class is a serious clock once it gets to Level 2." I agree. Potentially getting and dealing two damage seems like stonks. Worth playing for sure.

"[/el]Technodrome[/el] is also super good in my Felothar, Dawn of the AbzanFelothar, Dawn of the Abzan Modular deck. That deck is hungry for sacrifice outlets and card draw, and any artifact creature that says +1/+1 counter is worth a shot." I think this is really cool tech, but it might be a bit slow. It could be a good outlet for counters, but putting counters on it outside of sacrifice might be the tech here.

Jonathan Zucchetti

"Armaggon, Future SharkArmaggon, Future Shark is my pick. I built and wrote about a mono-black Blink deck with it at the helm and it honestly re-sparked my love for creative deck building. It isn't flashy by any means, and it probably is suited only for low-brackets tables, but it gave me back so much joy I had previously lost that it'll forever have a place in my heart."

Mono-black Blink is definitely interesting. I don't know if it's viable, but it's certainly interesting.

Conclusion

I'm so pleased with all the new cards that have come out of this set. Tons of new tech for Commander decks. I want to thank all of the authors who shared their thoughts with me! Anything you saw in this article that's new and cool tech for your decks? Let me know! I'm @strixhavendropout on everything!