First Look at the Set:
Upon first glance at this new Magic the Gathering set, it seems like Universes Beyond will do anything and everything to get people to play magic. While that is a good thing, I think they are stretching a bit too far with this set. From Spiderman to Avatar the Last Airbender to the new Lorwyn, there is a over whelming demand for anything and everything to be a magic set. Even though a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set sounds good on paper, when it is actually printed, the execution is done poorly.
Here are a few cards I think are low-graded draft picks based on my research:
I consider Tokka and Rahzar to be a low impact and restrictive card. While it has some generative value, it is securely controlled and does not give enough immediate impact for its mana cost. For instance, the +1/+1 trigger is only available once per turn and only if a creature you control on the battlefield dies or gets sacrificed. This does not leave room to create high-volume or explosive turns, which often makes it too slow for competitive environments.
Here is another card I find to be low-impact:
This card is considered weak in almost the same sense as Tokka and Rahzar. There just is no clear value in having a trigger that most likely will never be put to use. Maybe if someone happened to board wipe and you had mana left to play this card, sure the trigger is nice. But we very rarely start our turns off with a creature being sacrificed or killed. However, with the Golgari colors, this card would only hold value if you built your deck around sacrificing creatures.
Another card that seems unproductive:
This one hurts my head. A five drop for a 4/4, with a 2/2 that dies next turn. Creating two creatures sounds enticing, however, there are other cards, such as Mechanized Ninja Calvary, that cost significantly less for making an extra creature (token). This card is set a part with having a slightly bigger power and life source and added haste, but if I am paying five mana, the creature better be five or higher and I should be making at least two tokens. The second part of the card is rendered useless since either way the token will die next turn (or am I just crazy calling it useless)?
I could dive deeper into the set and nit pick at everything, but I am not here to waste anyone’s time.
While some cards seem irritating, there are commander cards that may hold some value. Donatello, Gadget Master is one of the top commander choices for this set along with the other three Ninja Turtles.
With the new ‘sneak’ ability, you can cast this commander for two mana instead of three if you return an unblocked attacker you control to your hand during the declared blockers step. This commander could be vicious if you add high powered artifacts such as a Black Lotus, which would give you three mana of any color in your commander’s pool or Grim Monolith for three colorless mana if you were looking to have a lot of mana with this commander. There are many different types of artifacts out there with many different types of abilities. It’s up to the player how the deck is built, but this commander does seem promising.
Leonardo’s ability seems like it could be a slow ramp, but also could prove itself useful if the deck is built around tokens and casting a lot of creatures. Having the ability only trigger once per turn is nice to have it controlled and not get too out of hand, however, in competitive formats, I think it’s fun to watch someone get real crazy real fast. This isn’t my absolute favorite out of the turtle commanders, but if it built correctly, I could see it going off.
Another commander with a counter ability…this would require you to build the deck around casting many creatures and gaining counters in order for the double damage to be worth it. I am unsure if I like the mana cost-five mana for a 4/4-but if you do build the deck around giving your creatures +1/+1 as they enter the battlefield, I could see Raphael being worth it.
This commander could potentially enter in with six or more counters on it, which would be ideal for a competitive format. Since the mana colors are green, you could easily ramp with several different cards such as Summer Bloom, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Exploration, Azusa Lost but Seeking, Cultivate, Loot Exuberant Explorer or Skyshroud Claim. Most of those cards let you play an additional land per turn for a low mana cost or will let you seek for extra lands and put them into play. Either way, if you do decide to build a deck around this commander, I highly suggest putting plenty of ramp specifically geared towards getting extra lands out each turn before you cast Michelangelo.
Maybe I am looking at this set all wrong, but after researching and reading the cards, I am just not enthralled for this set. Potentially, I could see myself building a deck around Michelangelo if I was looking to build a decent ramp/landfall deck, and I do like that he doesn’t go back to the command zone (I despise paying the commander tax). Otherwise, this set seems underwhelming and overhyped.
Sources: Basic Google search, Wizards of the Coast, and TCG Player