Magic: The Gathering is teaming up with Nickelodeon for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover set. I know, I know: everybody act surprised! While it was an open secret at this point, we did get some extra details at NYCC, including the first few spoilers from the set.
For instance, check out some of the cool villain cards. There's a Shredder who gets +1/+1 counters whenever anything leaves the battlefield, and a Krang who looks great for a blue-based artifact deck.
The Ninja Turtles arrive on March 6, 2026, as the second set on the 2026 MTG release schedule. It looks set to feature just one Commander precon deck, a five-color list with five different commander options.
This deck makes use of the partner mechanic - you can play the deck using any of the four turtles, or a mystery fifth option. Presumably that has to be Splinter? While Leonardo has a five color ability, the other three ninja turtles are all mono-color, so I'm guessing whoever the fifth creature is, they're going to be multi-colored.
As for the theme of the deck it seems to be based around counters, and a mysterious new token type, the Mutagen token.
That deck is not the only boxed product dropping with this set though, as Wizards has also come up with something pretty innovative here - a co-op game mode where, it seems, players work together to defeat AI-controlled bosses.
This 'Turtle Team-Up' box contains four 60-card player decks, themed around each of the turtle 'tagonists and one enemy deck with 39 cards that are exclusive to this product.
As you might expect, this MTG set will have multiple versions of the turtles, including one for each member of the team with artwork by original TMNT illustrator Kevin Eastman.
There's also a new mechanic, Sneak, which is a bit like Ninjutusu. But rather than returning a creature and replacing it with a new one, this ability allows you to cast a spell for cheap if you return an unblocked creature.
And finally: Pizza Lands!
Maybe it's because we've just come out of a humdrum Spiderman set, recently got the most Universes Beyond-stuffed calendar we've ever seen, and have Avatar the Last Airbender coming up next, but I just can't find it in me to get super excited about this. As many have pointed out, New York City is now going to be the most-visited MTG plane of the last two years - it's a weird feeling.
But, hey, I'm not the biggest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan in the first place. If you're hyped for this release, that's great - let us know at the Wargamer Discord. And don't miss our guide to the best MTG commanders of all time.