Cowabunga!

It seems just like yesterday when I was reviewing the commons of Lorwyn Eclipsed and their potential relevance, or lack thereof, for the Pauper format. Now, roughly five weeks later, it's already time to talk about the newest set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMT).

This release has proven hotly controversial among Magic: The Gathering players everywhere, but will that matter if the cards are playable from a competitive standpoint? We're going to find out today as I break down several of the brand-new commons and see if there are any gems along the way.

Mechanics

I'll be starting off with a look at the set's mechanics and cards that rely on them. For TMT, there are four mechanics relevant to Pauper, not including the set's Rare-exclusive Class Enchantments.

Naturally, the big mechanic for this set is Sneak.

Sneak

This new mechanic is a riff on an older one, cleaning up Ninjutsu from the Kamigawa sets of years past. The difference between the two is that Ninjutsu was an activated ability, making it difficult to interact with. Sneak, on the other hand, puts the spell onto the stack, allowing it to be more easily interacted with.

Only three commons feature the Sneak mechanic - a marked downgrade from the number of commons with Ninjutsu in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Foot Ninjas is the card that's most unlikely to see any play, with too high of a mana cost and facing competition from the more effective life gain Ninja: Mukotai Ambusher.

That said, I do think the other two options are quite solid.

Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising basically plays as a Ninja of the Deep Hours variant, which is rarely going to be bad. The life loss is something you will feel, and on top of that, you can only have one on the board at any given time. Still, playing it as a one-of or two-of to supplement your other Ninjas is big game.

The big one here, however, is Leonardo, Big Brother. If you can make Leo stick the landing by casting him for his Sneak cost, this can smack your opponents for massive damage. In a deck like White Weenies, this is the kind of card that can end games on the spot. It's not a stretch to say that this one will certainly become a staple of these decks going forward.

Disappear

The reworked mechanics continue...

Longtime players will likely recognize this one. As far as I can tell, Disappear is just Revolt but with a different keyword attached to it.

You'd be forgiven if you didn't notice this if you only play Pauper, as basically none of the Revolt cards from Aether Revolt were good in the format. However, Fatal Push is so iconic you likely recognize it recognize it even if you don't play formats like Modern and Pioneer.

Only four cards feature Disappear at common in this set and they're not all that great. Putrid Pals and Insectoid Exterminator are just bad rates you wouldn't want to pay in an Eternal format like Pauper.

Foot Mystic and Michelangelo, Game Master at least have the look of interesting abilities. The former is a resilient body that can generate an army of creatures while Mikey can get positively huge. A base 3/3 for 3 mana isn't a terrible rate either.

The problem, though, is the incremental value they both generate is far too slow to prove worthwhile. As you slowly generate tokens or a huge body, you're likely being overrun by the other things the format is currently capable of throwing at you.

Not to mention, you also need fodder to fuel the Disappear triggers in the first place. There's a chance there could be some fringe play between these, but I don't see them ending up as serious players.

Alliance

Unlike the prior two mechanics, Alliance is a one-to-one return from Streets of New Capenna. Only four commons from that set featured the mechanic and none of them were particularly good.

From what I can tell, Witty Roastmaster had some extremely fringe play but was very much not a major player. This would become even more true when Molten Gatekeeper came out a few years later in Modern Horizons 3. That card does effectively the same thing but has the advantage of being able to be Unearthed if you discard it, which has made it useful for a handful of fringe players.

That makes for a pretty easy comparison with Raphael, Tough Turtle. This card acts in much the same way as an Impact Tremors on a stick and will no doubt be a favorite among casual and Commander players.

For a format like Pauper, though, the lack of redundancy you get from multiple copies is real and hinders its usefulness somewhat as a result. Raphael will probably get played, but in low numbers and only in select decks.

The other cards feel underwhelming. There's possibly a way to make EPF Point Squad go really tall, and fast, but by now we've seen "go tall" strategies rarely pan out without added evasion.

This could give Mutant Town Musicians a bit of an upside thanks to the card's Trample, but we've seen some cards like this in Green do nothing. As such, I'm not exactly at the edge of my seat for any of these three cards see real play.

Mutagen

Mutagen is the one outright new mechanic that isn't a retread or a return. It plays into the space of Artifact Tokens which have been all the rage in Magic design ever since Clues first showed up in Shadows Over Innistrad.

The new Mutagen tokens continue this trend, giving you a means of providing a one-time +1/+1 counter onto creatures you control. This kind of Artifact Token is great and something that could have potential in future designs, even if it needs reskinning to work better flavor-wise.

You'll see that I specify future designs here, and there's a reason for that: the cards that make these tokens at the common level all suck.

All three of the creatures are pretty bad in terms of raw rate. Crustacean Commando has the potential as a blocker, but why would you want to play it when you can just play Augur of Bolas instead? Return to the Sewers is also a very expensive spell that just isn't worth playing at all, relegating it to Limited fodder at best.

The only card that could maybe see some play is Mutant Chain Reaction, and only because Broken Wings with set mechanic could be okay. The bar is high for a card like that to make the cut and this one isn't that - particularly when this card is a Sorcery and not an Instant.

I'd watch the mechanic for the future, but TMNT is not the place for it to make it into Pauper.

Cycles

While there are a few cycles in this set, they're a little disjointed.

For example, I've already covered three of the cycle of Legendary creatures, which includes the four Turtles and Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising. The Landcycler Legends are mediocre as a whole and the Hybrid cards are only cycles because of their Hybrid mana costs.

For most of these cards, I'll cover them along with the individual cards, if needed.

The exception is that I'm going to mention Bebop, Warthog Warrior and Rocksteady, Crash Courser here. This is mostly so I don't need to rehash the same talking points to cover them in separate spots, but as they are now, the cards aren't super strong.

If we get some good Boars and Rhinos, there could be some play for them, but I wouldn't hold your breath on it.

The Enemy Gain Lands

This was an unexpected surprise to find in this set!

You've likely noticed these are simply functional reprints of the enemy-colored "Gain Lands" from Khans of Tarkir. The nickname comes from the fact that they gain you one life when they enter, but function as simple dual lands otherwise.

There's no doubt these are playable. After all, the original ten land cycle from Khans has seen tons of play. The thing with those lands, however, is their utility has waned over the years.

Dual lands have improved substantially for Pauper as time has gone on. The Modern Horizons 2 Bridge cycle are format staples and we now have duals with basic land types on them. That makes those extra valuable to find with cards like Lorien Revealed or Generous Ent that you can't get with these.

As such, I'm sure some players will run these in place of the originals. Past that, it's highly unlikely that you see these used as copies five through eight when most of the time when they show up, they're barely even used as a full playset of four in the first place.

Individual Cards

Now we're going to look at the remaining individual cards, broken down by color. I won't be covering every card in the set, just ones worth talking about in one way or another. However, I will be including the cards from the Turtle Team-Up box set where applicable, because there may be a standout or two from that coming up.

White

Action News Crew: The Channel ability is a very nice touch for a flavorful card, but it's far too expensive to be useful. Worse, the rest of the card is just a Grizzly Bears with Vigilance which is not a playable set of stats in Pauper.

April O'Neil, Kunoichi Trainee: This card isn't much better here. Yes, she survives Cast Down. Yes, she can be hard to block and she even gives you some Scry value on entry. At the end of the day, she's still a 2/2 for 2 mana and that's not where you want to be in Pauper.

High-Flying Ace: I can't really think of another card that offers repeatable Flying like this, provided you have the mana, of course. I also can't imagine that being realistically good, either.

In multiples, I'd almost rather have one of those many creatures that grants Flying on attack as if you have two, you'll actually get multiple instances of Flying. More importantly, none of those see any kind of play, making this pretty much dead on arrival.

Jennika, Bad Apple Big Sister: Overall, I think this is a pretty underwhelming Landcycler card. However, entering with a second body is solid, provided you can flicker it. We already had this with Nurturing Bristleback, though, which did nothing.

This one is more in the flicker colors, but if you really wanted to do that, I still feel like I'd rather have something like Soul of Migration to get far more Flying value out of the deal.

Blue

Buzz Bots: If this looks familiar, it should. It's effectively a functional reprint of Malcator's Watcher from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. That card had some mild buzz (pardon the pun) when it was previewed but ultimately went nowhere despite looking like a possible Affinity contender. As such, don't expect this one to see any play in the format.

Donatello, Turtle Techie: The body just isn't where you want to be for Pauper, even if Donnie can't be killed by Cast Down. The card draw potential is nice, but not enough to save this from being poor investment mana-wise.

Sewer-veillance Cam: I've heard enough people talk about finding ways to combo off with this card in other formats that I wanted to make sure I gave it a shout out here. I'm not sure exactly how you'd combo off with it in Pauper, but if you can, this is a very rock-solid package in one simple card.

Utrom Monitor - Special Mention

This is a card that's gotten quite a few people talking.

If you've only been playing Pauper in recent years, you might not be aware that the card Somber Hoverguard has a tournament pedigree. Given that this is cheaper, has an extra point of toughness, and is an Artifact itself, many players have a natural suspicion that it will see play.

It's admittedly a bit of a strange card to compare to Somber Hoverguard in some ways, though. Here are a few comparisons for Utrom Monitor I found looking between the two:

• It's just as easy to remove in most cases as all the usual suspects kill it (Lightning Bolt, Galvanic Blast, Cast Down, Snuff Out, etc.).
• It's also now susceptible to Artifact removal.
• Funnily, it's not as good to sacrifice to Reckoner's Bargain.
• The mana reduction is negligible, but not nothing, as Affinity will usually reduce the cost to regardless.
• It blocks better against creatures with 2 power.
• It also survives most board wipe spells.

The big takeaways here are that Utrom Monitor blocks way better, which is especially notable for handling cards like Refurbished Familiar and Sneaky Snacker. Being resilient to board wipes is also quite relevant when Breath Weapon is all over the meta.

That said, the trade-offs are still real. It's not hard to pick off, and in fact is easier to do since it's an artifact. It also has foils in the form of Writhing Chrysalis and a non-lethal Nyxborn Hydra. All this to say, the card has a pretty solid amount of counterplay to it.

As such, I personally think this card is almost destined to see play, but I hesitate to call it a staple. If you're looking to play it, I'd recommend picking up copies sooner than later because it's likely going to be a tough one to come by for a bit.

At the very least, Daybreak Games have confirmed it for Magic Online, so you can indeed expect to see it there soon enough.

Black

Shredder's Revenge: This is something I never thought I'd see: two classic spells stapled onto a single card with no change in mana cost. Those are Mind Rot and Painful Lesson.

Neither of those cards are particularly good but offering modality to cast either spell on one card provides a much more interesting dynamic. I'm hardly convinced it's worth the cost in Pauper, but this is some new territory for these historically unplayable effects.

I'd say keep an eye on this card, but don't be surprised if it simply does nothing.

Tunnel Rats: I had to think about options for self-reanimation like this before remembering that Persistent Specimen has existed in the format for some time. These kinds of cards are generally little more than sacrifice fodder, and so the higher costs make this a far worse option in most cases.

This assumes, of course, that Persistent Specimen was seeing play in the first place which, by and large, it hasn't.

Red

Manhole Missile: This is just a functional reprint of Fire Prophecy and - for the considerations of the format - Volcanic Spite. These cards have both seen minor amounts of play and are quite interchangeable, meaning if you want to spice it up with some TMNT flavor, you can.

However, if you do so, you're obligated to loudly say the flavor text. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

Mouser Foundry and Mechanized Ninja Cavalry: I'm skipping ahead to cover the Ninja Cavalry a little bit, because these are both a little similar. Both cards will usually generate multiple Artifact Creatures, providing you with easy fodder for your Artifact strategies. Mouser Foundry especially can act as three Artifacts if you sacrifice it and goes even further if you bounce and replay it. I can't imagine these cards not seeing play somewhere given the popularity of these strategies.

This is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of the Pauper Format Panel but, the continued printing of cards like this probably makes it less likely Atog ever comes off the Pauper ban list.

Can you imagine how easy it would be for Atog to gain +6/+6 off a single copy of Mouser Foundry? Or the fact that you can get in for chip damage with the token(s) even if you don't get the Atog into play? It's the continued token generators that made Atog such a ban worthy card in the first place, and cards like this only serve to solidify that.

Purple Dragon Punks: We've seen a handful of low cost Red mana dorks by now. This is one of the worse options by a lot and isn't going to move the needle on making the effect viable in the format.

Rock Soldiers: That's a lot of mana to blow up an Artifact, and worse when you can't use it to take out a Myr Enforcer or Refurbished Familiar. The combination of body and effect are quite reasonable for the cost, but your options for what you can hit are so low despite the number of Artifacts in the format that I don't see this one making the cut anywhere.

Ticked Off: At , this one's a little pricey. Assault Strobe and Temur Battle Rage are already significant players for Hot Dogs (Kiln Fiend decks) specifically. Given that, I very much doubt a more costly Assault Strobe makes the cut, and if not there, then where? Likely nowhere.

Green

Cowabunga!: Adventurous Impulse effects like this are always hit or miss. This one going four cards deep isn't nothing, but your options for what you can hit are so narrow that it makes it unlikely to get a good hit from this. If you somehow have a deck full of Mutants, Turtles, or Ninjas (with Green in the list) then by all means, try this. I imagine you'll have a tough time making such a list viable though.

Guac & Marshmallow Pizza: There's a small piece of me that feels like this could see some play in Infect decks as a way to further your core game plan while also staying alive in tough Aggro matchups. The pump effect is too small, though, and given how rough Infect is in general, I doubt this moves the needle at all.

Gold

Mouser Mark III: 2 mana for a 2/3 isn't bad at all, even more so when it's an Artifact Creature. Play this in a deck with Artifact Lands and you've got a solid early beater or blocker that simultaneously fuels Affinity costs. It's pretty simple and straightforward, but this is certainly a reasonable Creature that plays well.

Nobody: There might be some play to picking up a card like Ichor Wellspring or the aforementioned Mouser Foundry. Doing it for minimal on a body that likely can't hang in Pauper makes this not super great.

More importantly, ask yourself this one simple question: what would you even consider cutting from the usual Artifact strategies?

Ice Cream Kitty: There's a decent amount to like here. It's a good sacrifice value engine, is an Artifact for the relevant decks, and it can sacrifice itself in a pinch to get you some life. That's even better if you use it to block first, which can save you even more life than it reads on the tin.

It's a touch too fragile for my liking, but there's enough happening in one card that I have to imagine this will see some play in sacrifice decks that want the effect. Those simply don't pop up too often at the moment unless you're sacrificing to Reckoner's Bargain, Fanatical Offering, Makeshift Munitions, or Krark-Clan Shaman.

Artifact/Colorless

Omni-Cheese Pizza: There's not much to say about this one besides the fact that it's a functional reprint of Golden Egg. That's been an occasional player in the format, meaning this too likely has some play, but it almost certainly is never going to be copies 5-8. Depending on the state of your board, you can pay and sacrifice this one to either gain mana, or three life points.

Conclusion

The set has yet to reach players' hands to try out, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is looking quite solid. There are a number of cards that are either very playable or provide some interesting new tools for players to engage with. Several are functional (or close to functional) reprints or retoolings, providing players with extra options to use should they desire.

All of this is to say we may get some very real players out of the set. I'm very interested to see what comes of the set once it hits Magic Online to see what players get up to, as well as the upcoming Paupergeddon in March.

Love it or hate it, TMNT is here to stay, and you'd better get ready to see some of these cards at your local events in the near future.

Paige Smith

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