The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have always had colorful villains. Sure, the turtles themselves are pizza-loving heroes, but their rogues' gallery is where the anchovies are at. Mutants. Demons. Shadowy ninjas. Shark monsters from the future.

So, it makes perfect sense that Black gets some of the most sinister pieces of cardboard in the TMNT Magic: The Gathering set.

Black in Commander has always thrived on sacrifice and ruthless efficiency. The cards in TMNT lean hard into those themes, giving us a lot of options to punish every other Commander player you come across.

Let's take a look at some of the most interesting Black Commander cards from the set.

So, no "Cowabunga!" here..., just Shredder saying: "Tonight I dine on turtle soup."

Aristocrats Counter Engine - Super Shredder

If you're looking for a card that screams aristocrats synergy, Super Shredder is ready to step into the role of battlefield tyrant.

For two mana you get a modest 1/1 with menace, but wait... there's more. Whenever another permanent leaves the battlefield, Super Shredder gets a +1/+1 counter.

So, my dear keen-eyed readers, we're not just talking about creatures dying. Tokens disappearing, artifacts being sacrificed, lands getting cracked, enchantments leaving play all counts.

In Commander, permanents leave the battlefield constantly. Fetch lands, Treasure tokens, sacrifice engines, board wipes... it adds up very quickly. And left unchecked, Super Shredder can grow into a massive threat on the quick.

And because he's only two mana, he slots easily into sacrifice-heavy decks.

Cards that Synergize with Super Shredder:

• Blood Artist - Drain opponents whenever creatures die while Shredder grows larger.
• Bitterbloom Bearer - Lorwyn Eclipsed's Bitterblossom on a stick!
• Pitiless Plunderer - Creates Treasure tokens that both ramp and grow Super Shredder.

Life for Power - Madame Null, Power Broker

Every good villain organization needs some1 managing the books and the morally questionable business deals.

Enter Madame Null, Power Broker.

At first glance she looks unassuming: a 1/3 with deathtouch for three mana. But her ability? This is where she gets very interesting.

Whenever another creature you control enters the battlefield, you may pay life equal to its power. If you do, you put that many +1/+1 counters on it and effectively doubles its power. Yep, Madame Null embodies the Black philosophy perfectly - power always comes with a cost.

Black decks are no strangers to paying life for power. In Commander, where life totals start at 40, it is more often just another resource to be spent strategically.

This means every creature entering your battlefield can potentially turn Madame Null into a growing threat. Drop a five-power creature? Pay six life, and now that creature is a 10-power behemoth.

That scales fast in decks that produce large creatures or cheat them into play.

Cards that Synergize with Madame Null, Power Broker:

• Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Gain life back after spending it on counters.
• Phyrexian Fleshgorger - A big beatstick that has lifelink and ward equal to its power. Hard to remove and gains you more life.
• Font of Agonies - An enchantment that lets you turn that life loss into potential removal.

Graveyard Sneak Enabler - Ninja Teen

The Class enchantments in the TMT set all bring unique flavor, and Ninja Teen leans heavily into graveyard and sacrifice themes.

When creatures you control leave the battlefield, each opponent loses life. That alone is already useful in many Black Commander strategies like aristocrats.

But as you level up the Class, things escalate. Level 2 grants all your creatures +1/+0 and menace, making combat significantly more dangerous as your opponents will have a more difficult time deciding blocks.

Level 3 is where the hot sauce kicks in: creature cards in your graveyard gain Sneak, allowing you to cast them using the set's Sneak mechanic. For most Black decks that already fill the graveyard, that ability opens up a whole new dimension of play.

This card does a lot and is kind of like a swiss-army knife of a Class enchantment.

Cards that Synergize with Ninja Teen Synergizes:

• Rogue's Passage - A Commander staple for when you want things unblocked.
• Throatseeker - An unassuming uncommon from Modern Horizons that gives your unblocked Ninjas lifelink.
• Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow - Ok, I had to do it. Sneak and Ninjutsu? On theme and this combo slaps for sure.

Flash Board Control - Armaggon, Future Shark

Some cards in Universes Beyond sets are pure fan service. Others are legitimately powerful Commander tools that swings games. Armaggon, Future Shark is both. Don't let that high mana cost of eight put you off, we're in Black baby.

This massive 9/6 creature comes with flash, which is already a big deal for a creature this large as it can enter by surprise and take out an attacker by blocking it. But its entrance ability is the real selling point.

When Armaggon enters the battlefield, you destroy up to three target creatures.

That's an enormous swing.

In Commander, instant-speed removal attached to a giant creature is incredibly valuable. You can hold up mana, wait for the perfect moment, and suddenly wipe out three threats while dropping a huge body onto the battlefield.

Among the splashier cards from the TMNT MTG set, Armaggon offers both removal and finishing power.

Cards that Synergize with Armaggon, Future Shark:

• Reanimate - Bring Armaggon back for repeatable creature destruction.
• Animate Dead - Another way to reuse that devastating ETB effect.
• Conjurer's Closet - Abuse the heck out of Armaggon each turn and keep your opponents' boards in check.

Combat Finisher - Shredder, Shadow Master

And of course, we have to talk about Shredder himself (well, again!)

Shredder, Shadow Master is exactly the kind of ruthless Commander card you'd expect from the turtles' greatest enemy.

Whenever Shredder attacks a player, you create a tapped and attacking token copy of Shredder for each other opponent.

In multiplayer Commander, that means Shredder can suddenly multiply into an entire army of himself like he's holding his own Blade of Selves.

Then there's the second ability.

Whenever Shredder deals combat damage to a player, that player loses half their life, rounded up. Yes, you read that right, half.

That means even a single unblocked hit can put an opponent dangerously close to defeat. As expected, the token copies sacrifice themselves at the end of combat, but by then the damage has already been done.

Among the Black cards in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, Shredder may be the most terrifying win condition and I can see it being slotted in battlecruiser type decks as well as those lists that are slightly more tuned.

If the turtles represent teamwork and friendship, then Shredder is the opposite. He only needs himself to take people out.

Cards that Synergize with Shredder, Shadow Master:

• Brotherhood Regalia - Make Shredder unblockable and start deleting life totals.
• Super Shredder - Hey, they synergize with each other!
• Wound Reflection - Your "I Win" button stapled onto an enchantment.

Villains in a Half Shell

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set for Magic: The Gathering delivers some supremely sinister Black cards that slot neatly into popular Commander strategies.

Graveyard recursion? Check. Aristocrats? Double check. Life for power? Uh-huh. Blasting life totals in half? You bet.

These are exactly the kind of effects you'd expect from the villains lurking beneath the streets of New York when they're represented in Magic: The Gathering.

Just remember one thing: the Foot Clan doesn't play fair.