While I'm not super excited about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMT), I do love brewing up interesting new decks, and I decided it was time to pivot from Lorwyn Eclipsed to the next set that is headed our way.

I read some of the old TMNT comics back in the day, but I'm not a huge comic book fan. That's a bit ironic, as I've played Magic at a comic book shop once or twice a week for nearly a decade.

I decided to leave some of the more popular TMNT legends to other writers who might be more excited about this set. I'm not saying I won't eventually brew up something around Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, or Donatello, but I want the real fans to get the chance to dive into those cards.

For my first trip into this new set, I decided to write about April O'Neil, one of the Ninja Turtles' closest friends.

Meet April O'Neil

As someone who spends nearly every day at a computer and most days coding, I have a soft spot for anyone interested in combining activism and computer hacking. I may not be a hacker, but April O'Neil, Hacktivist is my subject today and I think she's going to make for an interesting build.

April is a four-mana Legendary Human Scientist in Blue; she's a 1/5 and comes with an intriguing ability. At the beginning of my end step, April has me draw a card for each card type among spells I've cast this turn.

The reason April is so intriguing is that she doesn't point me in any particular direction, other than having a healthy variety of card types in the spells I'm casting. She's a card draw enabler, but I don't have to go crazy and spread my list out too much.

Truthfully, I'm somewhat limited in terms of her power ceiling but, she could lead a Bracket 3 or 4 combo list, an infect deck, or even something a little weirder and a little less powerful.

My build started out with a plan to try to run at least a handful of creatures, instants, sorceries, enchantments, and planeswalkers. I didn't include any Battles as there were only five I could've run and I wanted to focus on lower mana spells. I also wanted to prioritize cards with multiple card types.

As I cobbled together my first draft, the deck's main theme only became clear when I got to the Planeswalker section.

A Jace Party

There are a few Planeswalkers that aren't named Jace, but if you could run Jace, why would you run anyone else? I'm not suggesting that April O'Neil is the biggest Jace fangirl in the multiverse, but for the purposes of this brew she's going to be a little obsessed.

My plan had been to run at least seven Jace Planeswalkers, but I ended up including nine of them. They aren't all great, but they do all contribute equally to the game plan, which ended up being to play as many Jaces as possible.

I'm running Jace, the Mind Sculptor (JTMS), as he's probably the best Jace ever, and I could even play that adorable Bloomburrow Fox alternate art version. I'm also adding in Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, though I haven't really built around a "draw from an empty library" wincon. I'd normally lean on combo for that and this is looking like a Bracket 1 or 2 deck.

In the imagination of this deck, April loves Jace, and it made a lot of sense to try to get everyone else to love Jace just as much.

To that end I'm running Jace Beleren, otherwise known as "Party Jace." This Planeswalker has a +2 where each player draws a card. What's not to love about that?

I'll probably never use the -10 to have a player mill 20 cards, but I might use the -1 to have target player draw a card. That "ult" would go well in a dedicated self-mill deck, but this first draft isn't that.

This first draft may not be a self-mill deck, but it is meant to be a ridiculous Jace party. That means Jace, Mirror Mage (JMM) and Jace, Cunning Castaway (JCC) fit in perfectly.

The former has a kicker cost and if I pay that extra two, I can make a token copy of JMM that isn't legendary and has a starting loyalty of 1 instead of 4. The latter has a -5 "ult" that will let me create two tokens that are copies of JCC, except that they aren't legendary.

Playing all (or nearly all) of the Jaces may be hilarious, but they do have some additional benefits over and above just the awesomeness of being Jace. Having extra Planeswalkers can sometimes act as something of a buffer to your life total. Players may become invested in knocking them down and getting them off the field.

Every attacker they send at one of your Jaces is one less attacker coming at you. They also provide decent value in the form of their abilities, which often involve scrying and drawing cards.

Most importantly, playing all these Jaces gave me something to wrap my build around. I like to have a theme, and I'm okay with a silly theme like April O'Neil as President of her local Jace fan club. Picking this theme led me to throw in a few other cards.

Deepglow Skate is a 3/3 Fish that has a Doubling Season effect when it enters play. I'll double the number of each kind of counter on any number of target permanents. That doesn't work with poison counters, as players aren't considered permanents, but it works great with Planeswalkers.

Not playing with poison counters means I'm not running Viral Drake, but I decided to throw in Thrummingbird. Flying blockers can be a big deal against some decks and if Thrummingbird does combat damage to a player I'll proliferate. One more loyalty counter on each of my Planeswalkers may not be a big deal, but every little bit counts.

Displacer Kitten could be one of the best cards in any deck but, in a deck full of Planeswalkers, it gives me the chance to squeeze extra value out of them. Both Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and Jace, the Living Guildpact have abilities that let me bounce something to its owner's hand. The former can return target creature to its owner's hand, and the latter can bounce target nonland permanent.

Kitten lets me flicker a nonland permanent, so if I started a turn with either of them in play, I could theoretically bounce something, cast a Ponder, bounce something else, cast a Sol Ring, bounce a third thing, cast an Opt, bounce a fourth thing, and then draw three cards at end of turn for having cast three types of spells.

I've got a few other cards with Proliferate on this list. Inexorable Tide is probably the best of the lot, letting me proliferate whenever I cast a spell. Contentious Plan and Experimental Augury also give me ways to proliferate, along with Radstorm, a four-mana instant with Storm.

If I can hold up 4 mana and catch another player with a very busy turn, I could cast it and get a bunch more loyalty counters on all my Planeswalkers along with any other permanent with counters I might want to proliferate.

Shades of Rendmaw

Way back in 2024, we got a commander that cared about playing cards with more than one type. Rendmaw, Creaking Nest was a really fun commander for its time, and I was having flashbacks to that build when I threw together April O'Neil, Hacktivist.

April cares about spells only, so this list is going to lean into spells with more than one type on them.

It's worth remembering the difference between supertypes, types, and subtypes. Bident of Thassa is a Legendary Enchantment Artifact. Legendary is a supertype, but the rest are all card types so this will count as two for my end of turn card draw. It will also give me card draw if a creature I control deals combat damage to a player, and it has an activated ability that can force my opponents' creatures to attack if they're able.

The Reality Chip is a Legendary Artifact Creature - Equipment Jellyfish. Yes, you read that correctly. It's got the Legendary supertype, it's an Artifact Creature, and it has subtypes of Equipment and Jellyfish.

That means it can give me two cards at end of turn for its two card types. It will also let me look at the top of my library at any time, and if it's equipped to a creature, I can play lands and cast spells from the top of my library.

I've got an Enchantment Creature in Flitterstep Eidolon. It can count as two creature types unless I cast it for its Bestow cost. Then it will only count as an Enchantment since it was an Aura spell when it was cast, not an Enchantment Creature.

I'm also running Archetype of Imagination, an Enchantment Creature that will give all my creatures Flying and prevent my opponents' creatures from flying at all.

It struck me as I was working up this list that I could have kept things simple and made sure all my creatures were Artifact Creatures. Canoptek Spyder would have fit in beautifully, and an April O'Neil list built around a Robots theme would probably play at a Bracket 2 or even 3 power level depending upon how it was built.

How We Win

As a Bracket 1 or 2 list, winning is far from the main focus of this deck. I don't mind sharing a silly list every now and then, and this definitely fits that description.

This deck might win by drawing from an empty library with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries on the field, but that's a long shot at best. My best chance probably revolves around my focus on casting noncreature spells, of which there are a whopping 43 in today's list.

I didn't include any cards with Magecraft, as that keyword only cares about Instants and Sorceries, but Hermes, Overseer of Elpis will give me a 1/1 Blue Bird creature token with Flying and Vigilance whenever I cast a noncreature spell.

I'll also scry two whenever I attack with one or more Birds. Skywise Teachings also made the cut, to give me flyers. It'll cost me though. Every time I cast a noncreature spell with this Enchantment in play I can pay to get a 2/2 Blue Djinn Monk creature token with Flying.

Shark Typhoon comes with a hefty cost of , but whenever I cast a noncreature spell I'll create an X/X Blue Shark creature token with Flying where X is that spell's mana value. I don't love having to pay extra, but it brings a lot of value.

Scroll of the Masters is a two-mana Artifact that does nothing when it enters, but whenever I cast a noncreature spell I'll put a lore counter on it. Those counters should pile up if I get this down early, and for 3 mana I can tap it and give any creature I control +1/+1 until end of turn for each lore counter it has.

I'm running one token generator that only triggers once each turn. Whispering Wizard is a 3/2 Human Wizard that will give me a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with Flying whenever I cast a noncreature spell. If I were able to flicker it with Displacer Kitten I might be able to squeeze extra triggers out of my Wizard, but I'm more likely to just get one per turn with this deck.

Hacktivist... or Jacectivist?

I do like the idea of building April with a robot army at her command. I also like surprises and outside-the-box thinking, and this deranged Jace party was a surprise even to me.

To be honest, I think this deck, maybe with a little tweaking, could actually win games in low-powered play. In recent years, I've discovered that playing underpowered decks and finding ways to win can be incredibly challenging and fulfilling.

If you're not a regular reader, you might not realize how much this list is out of my comfort zone. I don't play a lot of Planeswalkers, but I do know my way around building a Commander deck. Ichormoon Gauntlet might be a hidden gem in my Jaceapocalpyse. It's an Artifact that gives my Planeswalkers a 0 loyalty ability to proliferate, and a -12 loyalty ability that will give me an extra turn.

It also has a trigger when I cast a noncreature spell. I get to choose a counter on target permanent and then put another of that kind of counter on that permanent. If my opponents underestimate the power of Jace and let them stick around, Ichormoon could be a real late game problem for them.

April O'Neil, Jacectivivist | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 April O'Neil, Hacktivist

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Archetype of Imagination
• 1 Deepglow Skate
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Elusive Spellfist
• 1 Faerie Mastermind
• 1 Flitterstep Eidolon
• 1 Flux Channeler
• 1 Hermes, Overseer of Elpis
• 1 Hraesvelgr of the First Brood
• 1 Ledger Shredder
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Skittering Surveyor
• 1 Skyscanner
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Soulblade Djinn
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1 The Reality Chip
• 1 Thrummingbird
• 1 Whispering Wizard

• Planeswalkers (9)
• 1 Jace Beleren
• 1 Jace Reawakened
• 1 Jace, Arcane Strategist
• 1 Jace, Cunning Castaway
• 1 Jace, Mirror Mage
• 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1 Jace, the Living Guildpact
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Instants (9)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Consider
• 1 Experimental Augury
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Radstorm
• 1 Rapid Hybridization

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Contentious Plan
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Rite of Replication
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Solve the Equation
• 1 Stolen by the Fae
• 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1 Windfall

• Enchantments (7)
• 1 Aqueous Form
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Quiet Contemplation
• 1 Shark Typhoon
• 1 Skywise Teachings
• 1 Vow of Flight

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bident of Thassa
• 1 Ichormoon Gauntlet
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Scroll of the Masters
• 1 Sol Ringfoil
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (37)
• 33 Island
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 High Market
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Reliquary Tower

Buy This Deck Export text

This list has lots of glaring omissions. I'm running Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves, but I didn't end up running any counterspells at all. I think all my Jaces took up those slots, but when you're building a low powered deck you have the freedom to make those kinds of "bad choices."

If this were aiming for Bracket 3 or even hoping to be a more serious Bracket 2 deck, I'd definitely throw a few counterspells and maybe a Blackblade Reforged and Strata Scythe into the mix.

If you wanted to power this list up as much as possible, I think you'd run it with a few combos and a more serious push towards hitting that Laboratory Maniac + Jace, Wielder of Mysteries wincon.

You'd still do your best to draw cards by playing multiple card types, but your focus would be to dig for tutors, mill your entire library, and win - possibly with Thassa's Oracle. You'd run a very healthy counterspell suite with a lot of interaction, but you'd also find yourself asking why you aren't running a more effective blue Legendary Creature as your commander.

Final Thoughts

I wasn't able to get this list into a game, but that's probably for the best. My Thursday night group does embrace low-powered EDH, but it's possible that even if my milkshake does bring all the Jaces to the yard, they won't really put up that much of a fight.

On the other hand, with the right combination of Planeswalker support and the right Jace, maybe this deck could get the job done.

The bottom line is that EDH has a very wide range of power levels and playstyles. Any list I share with you should be looked at as a starting point. If you're already itching to build around April O'Neil, Hacktivist, she offers a solid source for card draw and an incredible range of options for your build path.

My first, and possibly my silliest thought, was to build this Jace deck, but an Artifact Creatures or Thopters list would probably work well and give you lots of options. You might instead build around the nine Blue creatures with the subtype of Scientist, or even the 36 cards in Blue with the subtype of Robot.

It's worth noting that hackers really have little to do with Artifact Creatures, Thopters, Scientists or Robots. They also don't have much to do with Jaces, but as far as I'm concerned if you are having fun building and playing your deck, that's what really matters.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!