General [TMT] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[TrainmasterGT]

I have a bad feeling we'll start to see this stupid guy everywhere. There's some hint of purported synergies (blink, sacrifice, ninjutsu) but that's like saying Ragavan is good for artifact matters and play from exile themes.

It kind of depends on your power level, right? Cards like this don't necessarily need a ton of synergy to make it into a final 40, but they benefit immensely from drafters who build around the things they're trying to do. A good recent example of something similar to this is Up the Beanstalk: beans doesn't require a lot to be worth putting into a deck, but it gets infinitely better once you start combining it with things like Delve Spells, alternate costs, and Cost Reduction Effects so you can start stacking those triggers more often.

Being a creature, guy is obviously more flexible than Beans, but I think he might still have that "unlock the fun" potential that is still missing in a lot of threats.

 

[KeithCubes]

A good recent example of something similar to this is Up the Beanstalk

Good point, the difference between this and Beans though is that Beans asks you to do something with your deck. As broken as it is already, imagine if it just said 'Whenever a spell with mana value 5 or greater is cast, draw a card.'
If your opponent doesn't have enchantment removal, they'd probably still play their 5 mana spells when they need to and draw you a card. My concern is that that's how this will play out too.
Need to get my mana online? Well I'm still going to crack my fetch and grow your shredder. Have a bigger threat or a trade I need to make? I'll still have to take it and have him grow 2x.

but I think he might still have that "unlock the fun" potential that is still missing in a lot of threats.

You're right, and really the only reason I'm upset is that this is a cool design that has that potential for fun if you're the one playing him, but I'm not sure it's going to feel that way on the other end of the table.

 

[Velrun]

@Chris Taylor
You ought to change the name of your Ioanna because of this gal

 

[ravnic]

I mean, only one of the two sets has a card portraying a totalitarian dictator publicly mutilating his teenage son as retaliation for speaking out of turn in a war council meeting, and it ain't TMNT.

EDIT: For clarity, it's not one of those things where the series just implies that that's happening, or wraps it up in a metaphor. The only part that isn't directly shown on screen is the actual part where Ozai burns half of Zuko's face off. This happens in, like, episode 3 or 4.

I think this was in like episode 11 The Storm. But yeah, Avatar loses the Nickelodeon energy it has in the very beginning in episode 3 already, when they travel to the southern air temple where they discover the traces of the literal genocide that happened by the hands of the fire nation. I just watched avatar with my wife this year for the first time and episode 3 was the first where it became clear that this is not really just a kids cartoon.

But arguments for The Storm being a crucial turning point for the series can be made:

Honestly, I think Avatar is actually a fantastic fit for Magic. It’s one of the most fully realized fantasy worlds of the 21st century — elemental 'magic' systems, distinct nations and cultures with deep lore, mythic heroes and villains, clear philosophies and aesthetics — all things Magic already thrives on. If anything, it feels like the Gen Z equivalent of The Lord of the Rings: a defining fantasy saga for its era, packed with deep themes, moral conflict, and adventure.

Given how well Magic handled The Lord of the Rings, both thematically and mechanically, Avatar feels like a natural successor. If Wizards treats it with the same care they gave Middle-earth, it could easily be another one of the Universes Beyond sets that enhances the game rather than distracting from it.

Couldn't agree more.

And I don't mind the hand drawn comic look as much as some do, that is nothing new to magic either. Even original ravnica block had a lot of comic-esque art by artists like Paolo Parente.

 

[Seeker]

There's some hint of purported synergies (blink, sacrifice, ninjutsu) but that's like saying Ragavan is good for artifact matters and play from exile themes.

Not to toot my own horn - just have to set up the payoff post - but we established the phrase for this some sets ago:

Cards I omitted from the above lists based on power level assumptions - these sure do synergize, but I assume they're, as someone here memorably once posted, "I put Fable of the Mirror-Breaker in to support the token and goblin decks " situations:

it's Proliferating the Jitte

 

[Chris Taylor]

This is like ungodly pushed, right?

You know I didn't realize at first blush this is symmetrical
Your opponents fetches give it a counter

 

[Seeker]

You know I didn't realize at first blush this is symmetrical
Your opponents fetches give it a counter

Yeah, and if your one-drop trades with their one-drop you have a 3/3 for 2. It's Goblin Grappler's time to shine!!!!!

(not really)

(but also it would be hilarious)

 

[Velrun]

Yeah that Shredder is the 2025 Tarmogoyf.

 

[LadyMapi]

I think this was in like episode 11 The Storm.

Thanks - I watched the show in 2010/2011, so when exactly stuff happens is kinda hazy.

...

Anyway, turtles!

I'm curious about how the heck the Boss thing is going to work:



I kinda hope it's a new crack at horde magic.

 

[Humpty_Dumpty]

I'm curious about how the heck the Boss thing is going to work:

I wonder if it will be similar to archenemy.

I’m looking forward to Avatar. My younger son was really into it a few years ago and I watched most of it with him. We’re already planning on going to the prerelease together. Aesthetically it is not dissimilar to Tarkir in terms of world building, though I wonder how black will fit in as a fifth element.

I’ve found Spider-Man to be a big turn-off aesthetically. I already struggle with suspending my disbelief seeing spandex-clad heroes in a familiar modern setting (there’s a reason that the movie adaptations tone down a lot of the costumes), but juxtaposing this with high fantasy themes is too much for me to suspend my disbelief.

 

[shamizy]

Super Shredder is nuts. Menace is such an underrated keyword in general and being able to grow this to a 3/3 or 4/4 consistently is going to lead to it dealing a lot of damage early and often. Sunset Saboteur has been a house in certain aggressive decks and this just seems like an even stronger iteration on a pure aggro level. Triggering off ANY permanent leaving the battlefield is massive.

Bunch of creature typing, but the most relevant to me is Human and this fully supplements any B/W Humans deck that can curve either Champion of the Parish or Bloodsoaked Champion into it. Just run your recursive bodies into blockers just to grow this guy or pull off sequences like looping a Gravecrawler through a Carrion Feeder to present a legit threat at just 2 CMC. This thing can go crazy when played on T2 with the right hand, but it's exactly the kind of card that will branch fringier archetypes in a higher powered environment.

Also a fan of the art not being so UB coded that it takes me out of it; this just looks like a weird monster from Kamigawa or Duskmourn.

 

[alvoi]

I kinda hope it's a new crack at horde magic.

Oh yes! That would be so fun! It's been a while since I played some Horde, I am hopeful for a resurgence

 

[Seeker]

Weekly MTG stream confirmed that this set is 2 cards larger than Spider-Man.

Also, in 2026 we'll get 1,200 unique cards entering Standard across 7 sets, so there's at least one more small set. I'm not a fan.

 

[ravnic]

If one of the in-universe sets is going to be the other small set, the internet will boil over

 

[LadyMapi]

The year is 2035. In-universe sets have been boiled down to Secret Lair drops. The last unique in-universe card printed was in 2031.

 

[MilesOfficial]

My bigger issue is that there will "only" be 160 additional Standard cards next year, even with this 7th set. Between that and what Blake said about "playing with set sizes", it implies that at least one more of the UB sets will be smaller as well. I get the feeling it will be Star Trek, which would literally make me want to puke.

If Star Trek is not designed for proper 8-man drafts, what's even the point?

 

[TrainmasterGT]

My bigger issue is that there will "only" be 160 additional Standard cards next year, even with this 7th set. Between that and what Blake said about "playing with set sizes", it implies that at least one more of the UB sets will be smaller as well. I get the feeling it will be Star Trek, which would literally make me want to puke.

If Star Trek is not designed for proper 8-man drafts, what's even the point?

I think The Hobbit is more likely. There's not nearly as much going on in the background of The Hobbit's story compared to The Lord of the Rings, most of the people, places, and events in the book revolve around individual named characters and locations. Outside of the Battle of the Five Armies and the stuff with the Goblins towards the beginning of the book, there just aren't a ton of background characters to fill out a set.

By contrast, Trek has a truly expansive universe to draw from. I think it might have the largest pool of lore out of any of the booster set crossovers. There are plenty of random Starfleet Engineers and Klingon Soldiers to fill out a set file. Honestly, I think Trek's biggest issue will be trying to include characters from too many eras and/or shows at the same time. I'm not really sure there is a way to do the 2150s (Enterprise), 2250s (Discovery Seasons 1 and 2, along with the first 2-3 seasons of Strange New Worlds), the 2260s (The Original Series), the 2270s and 80s (The Motion Picture and Sequels), the 2360s (The Next Generation TV Series), the 2270s (The Next Generation Movies, Deep Space 9, and Voyager), the 2280s (Lower Decks), the 2290s (Picard), and the 3180s and 90s (Discovery Seasons 3-5 along with the new Starfleet Academy series) all in the same set. Even if they just did the original series and The Next Generation, they would still probably have trouble fitting everything fans want into a single set.

 

[MilesOfficial]

That was also true of Doctor Who and Final Fantasy (and 40k from what I've heard), but I think they found a reasonable balance regardless.

That said...there are 97 creatures in Final Fantasy retail. To just do the main casts in Trek you'd need:

TOS	7
TNG	11
DS9	12 (including Rom, Garak, etc.)
Voyager	9
Enterprise	8
Disco	6 or 7 is all you really need...
Lower Decks	5 or 11
Prodigy	2 if we're lucky
Strange New Worlds	9 (sorry Hemmer my fave)
Academy	??

...and that's before villains that are necessary (like Khan and Q and Dukat and Shran) or iconic (like Apollo, Charlie X, and Lorca) or other random characters that are worth a spot (Sarek, Mudd, Gowron)

So the minimum they could do and get the main characters of Star Trek is 68/69. I think if they needed to and also could put aside many of them for commander decks only, staying at or under 97 is totally doable.

but that requires a full set!!!!!