So it's official, Magic: the Gathering will once again return to New York, in the upcoming MTG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set. After swinging across the skyline in Marvel's Spider-Man, we'll be delving down into the sewers next. And, speaking of cramped dark places, one of TMNT's new commanders was clearly dredged from a particularly sinister corner of the MTG design team's imagination. Let's break down Heroes in a Half Shell: the game's messiest new WUBRG legendary.
Heroes in a Half Shell is one of two five-color commanders in the recently revealed Ninja Turtles precon deck, alongside Leonardo, the Balance. Leonardo is basically fine. In fact, he's surprisingly versatile, working in any token deck, even those without any other ninjutsu using reptiles. Heroes in a Half Shell, meanwhile, is less elegant.
The first problem is one of flavor. Like pineapple on a pizza, something's just off with the vibes here. Each of the four Ninja Turtles is represented by a different color. No, not the color of their masks, one of the five archetypal MTG colors.
Leonardo is white, Donatello is blue, Raphael is red and Michelangelo is green. This card is five colors though, not four. So where did the black mana pip come from?
This odd little imbalance wouldn't be so bad if Black wasn't the color Magic: the Gathering uses to represent amorality and selfishness. Somehow, by combining their powers and working together as one, these four shell bound siblings become total jerks. What greater insult could there be to the primary colored morality plays of a legendary Saturday morning cartoon?
The card's second issue is more mechanical, in that it falls into the same trap many other five-color MTG commanders do: offering a powerful payoff that's too easy to access.
Heroes in a Half Shell has more keywords than it could ever possibly need: Vigilance, Menace, Trample, and Haste. On top of that, it provides card advantage, and some 1/+1 counters, whenever its controller uses a ninja, a mutant, or a turtle to deal damage to an opponent.
Even the limitation of those specific creature types can be ignored, too, in favor of running low cost evasive changelings and ninjas that'll quickly bulk up, and provide masses of card draw as they do so. It's all just a bit too much, in my opinion.
Finally, this commander just doesn't feel entirely original. It's very similar to Cosmic Spider-Man, in that its two defining characteristics are being absolutely loaded up on abilities, and rewarding typal deckbuilding. Just that similarity on its own is a long way from suggesting TMNT could be as much of a disappointment as Spidey was - but it leaves me feeling a bit let down nonetheless.
Is Heroes in a Half Shell going to be popular in Commander? Honestly, almost certainly. Its power level is high enough to sweep aside my nerdy concerns, I'm sure. But I doubt it'll truly spark much joy, or trigger shouts of "Cowabunga!" when folks see this card in the Command Zone.
Am I wrong? I could be wrong. If so, come share your own opinions in the free Wargamer Discord community (anyone's welcome as long as they bring pizza). Heck, maybe even share your own favorite (or least favorite) five color commanders - they do tend to be divisive, don't they?
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