The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, those chaotic pizza-loving goofballs are the latest Universes Beyond characters to be featured under every Commander player's sights. The TMNT set has all of the turtles we love: Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey as well as their rogues gallery in all their cardboard glory.

The TMNT Magic: The Gathering set gives us cool new Commander options to helm our decks. And just because these turtles are based on a popular cartoon franchise geared toward younger audiences... It doesn't mean that it doesn't give us clear philosophies to build around. What's more, picking a legendary creature from TMNT isn't all about picking a side - it is also about choosing from the interesting blend of mechanics that each Commander possesses.

So, let's unpack this pizza box right now and discover the best commanders to build around from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Go-Wide Combat Value Engine - Heroes in a Half Shell

If there's one thing TMNT gets right, it's that the turtles are at their best when they kick butt together. Heroes in a Half Shell is the card that captures our beloved turtles in all their heroism. Five, one of each color, mana for a 5/5 Mutant Ninja Turtle (I know, the word ordering is a crime!) already unlocks all the available colors for you to build on. But, you also get four super relevant combat keywords in vigilance, trample, haste, and menace. So, these boys really mean business when they swing for combat.

What's more, whenever one or more Mutants, Ninjas, and/or Turtles deal combat damage to a player, you put a +1/+1 counter on each of those creatures and draw a card. That's both scaling pressure and card advantage tied to three cool creature types.

This pushes you toward a kindred-leaning combat deck that swarms and snowballs like the best of them. Running Heroes in a Half Shell rewards you for going wide by growing your creatures and ensuring you don't run out of cards as in your quest to protect people.

The turtles fight as a unit. And when they do, they get stronger together.

Cards that Synergize with Heroes in a Half Shell

• Leonardo, the Balance - The fearless leader grows a creature as well, but for 1 mana of each color he also grants your army menace, trample, and lifelink until end of turn.
• Reconnaissance Mission - Stack additional card draw on combat damage!
• Mirror Entity - Now everything you own is a mutant, ninja, or turtle!

Ninja Trigger Doubling Engine - Splinter, Radical Rat

Every great team needs a master and Splinter, Radical Rat is that master but instead of training your creatures, he amplifies them. If an ability of a Ninja you control triggers, it triggers an additional time. That alone is already strong. Niche, but strong.

But then he also gives you the ability to make a Ninja unblockable for only two mana. That means you're not just doubling triggers but you're ensuring they happen.

This turns a Ninja deck into a precision tool like a swiss knife because guaranteed hits means that you get to double value while applying consistent pressure.

In Commander, where combat triggers often define tempo, that's extremely powerful. As a sidenote, I'm kind of really hyped with all the combat-oriented Esper commanders we've been getting like Arna Kennerud, Skycaptain, Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir, and Jin Sakai.

Cards that Synergize with Splinter, Radical Rat

• Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow - Double the life loss and card advantage triggers.
• Silent-Blade Oni - Steal two spells instead of one.
• Dark Leo & Shredder - Gives your Ninjas deathtouch and has the potential to really diminish life totals.

Spell Theft... Villain Style - Krang & Shredder

Krang & Shredder join forces in a Dimir legendary creature that lets you hit your opponents with their own stuff. What's not to love?

Whenever they enter or attack, each opponent exiles cards from their library until they hit a nonland card.

Then, with Disappear, you get to cast one of those exiled cards for free if a permanent left the battlefield under your control that turn which is easy to trigger given the proliferation of stuff like treasure, food, and clue tokens we have in the game these days. To me, this would feel like having a sinister plot payoff big time.

This villainous pair lets us disrupt opponents' gameplans by exiling stuff from their deck while also synergizing with sacrifice and enters shenanigans.

I would definitely try these villains as the general of a control deck that slowly converts your opponents' resources into your own.

Cards that Synergize with Krang & Shredder

• Dream Harvest - A big sorcery that lets you steal stuff from your opponents that could swing the game... or not.
• Gonti, Night Minister - The first ability is the money maker here... literally. As Gonti gives you a treasure for casting stuff that ain't yours.
• Irenicus's Vile Duplication - Clone Krang & Shredder for more theft!

A Simple and Honest Growing Threat - Super Shredder

If Krang & Shredder are about control and theft, Super Shredder is about inevitability.

Whenever another permanent leaves the battlefield, he gets a +1/+1 counter. Not just creatures. Everything.

And no, not just your permanents. Everyone's.

Fetch lands. Treasure tokens. Sacrifice outlets. Board wipes. All of it feeds Shredder.

That makes him a low costed threat that can hit hard and fast with menace.

But Super Shredder isn't just made to swing in, the potential to combo with +1/+1 counters is tasty.

Cards that Synergize with Super Shredder

• Ophiomancer - Gives you a steady supply of 1/1 tokens for you to sacrifice every turn.
• Ashnod's Altar - Turn creatures into mana while growing Shredder.
• Final Strike - An old card from Portal that can deal massive damage to an opponent. This is the ultimate gotcha card for Super Shredder because you're paying twice what Rite of Consumption costs for the same effect!

Aggressive Gruul Cost Cheater - Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers

If any card captures the reckless energy of the turtles, it's this one. Of course, it features Raphael and Michelangelo so that's almost a given.

Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers come in swinging with trample and haste - both very on-brand for a big 7/7 gruul stompy creature for seven mana.

And when they attack, you reveal cards from the top of your library until you hit a creature, then put it onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. We're used to getting Green cards that cheat stuff into play like Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant and Etali, Primal Conqueror. But, Raph & Mikey put creatures into play attacking together with them.

This is pure gruul aggression.

No complex setup. No subtlety. Just attack, hit, drop something big, rinse, and repeat.

In Commander, this creates immediate pressure and forces opponents to answer you quickly.

Cards that Synergize with Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers

• Wulfgar of Icewind Dale - This is Isshin, Two Heavens as One but Gruul. And this doubles the number of things you cheat into combat.
• Raphael, Tag Team Tough - This mono-red version of Raph lets you attack for a second time around.
• Summon: Bahamut - One of the biggest and bombiest creatures you could get into play for free.

Chaotic Commander Cowabunga

What makes the TMNT Magic: The Gathering set stand out is the cool blend of theme and mechanics. The picks you've just read above are amazing examples of how these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards are great considerations for your next Commander deck.

That's the real success of this set. Oh, well along with those full-art basics that have pizzas on 'em. Yummy.