For the past month I've been digging into some of the peripheral characters in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMT) expansion set. However, this week I'm finally breaking down and writing about some Turtles.

I've been putting together some lower-powered lists, but this time around I've got an Izzet / deck that combines two of the four Ninja Turtles into one really spicy card: Don & Raph, Hard Science.

This Commander is a Legendary 2/4 Mutant Ninja Turtle with Menace, a relatively low casting cost, and a powerful attack trigger.

Whenever Don & Raph attack, the next noncreature spell I cast this turn will have Affinity for Artifacts, so it will cost less for each Artifact I control.

This build is going to center around a mix of Artifacts and noncreature spells with a simple goal: squeezing as much value as possible out of that affinity. My goal is to save big mana on some high-impact spells, maybe even a free Fellwar Stone in my second main phase. That would feel pretty good.

Artifacts, Assemble!

I'm running a modest assortment of mana rocks, focusing on ones that can generate colored mana. I decided to be a hipster and leave out Sol Ring, but Arcane Signet, Izzet Signet, Talisman of Curiosity, Fellwar Stone, Gilded Lotus, and Thought Vessel will all help start my Artifact collection. That last one is included alongside the zero-mana Spellbook to give me no maximum hand size.

My equipment package covers a range of different needs. I can get some protection for my Commander from Swiftfoot Boots and Mask of Avacyn. I can get evasion from Silver Shroud Costume and Trailblazer's Boots. Don & Raph already have Menace so they can't be blocked except by two or more Creatures, but every little bit helps.

I've got Blackblade Reforged and Adaptive Omnitool in the list to increase my damage output. Blackblade gives +1/+1 for each Land I control, and the Omnitool gives +1/+1 for each Artifact.

The Omnitool also has an attack trigger that will have me look at the top six cards of my library and let me reveal an Artifact before putting it into my hand. Improvised Arsenal is a brand-new card from TMT that's also in the list. It will give +1/+0 for each Artifact I have and offers me the chance to pay to let me create a token copy of it.

Creating Thopter Creature tokens is another great way to add a few Artifacts to my board. They can block incoming flyers and can also be useful attackers to send at anyone without Reach or some other defense.

Both Efficient Construction and Sai, Master Thopterist will give me a 1/1 Thopter token whenever I cast an Artifact. I'm also running Mirrodin Besieged, which can produce 1/1 colorless Myr tokens, and Ravenous Robots, which can generate 1/1 colorless Robot tokens.

Treasure Artifact tokens are very easy to come by in Red, with an assortment of cards that can create them. Dockside Extortionist may be banned in Commander, but I'm running Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Professional Face-Breaker, Goldspan Dragon, Ancient Copper Dragon, and Storm the Vault to help generate Treasure.

The Storm is particularly interesting, as it's a Legendary Enchantment that transforms on my end step if I control five or more Artifacts. The back side of Storm the Vault is a Legendary Land called Vault of Catlacan, which can tap for any color, or tap to give me one Blue mana for each Artifact I control.

I was very tempted to run a lot more Artifacts but, the reality is, a deck full of zero- and one-mana Artifacts just isn't that exciting. Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain might put those trinkets to good use by drawing a ton of cards. Jhoira is in this list, but I wanted to focus on more exciting play patterns.

Big Savings, Big Spells

If all goes well, I'll be able to build up a decent number of Artifacts so that I can attack with Don & Raph, Hard Science and get a significant cost savings on a spell.

This deck is just begging for Cyclonic Rift, but I've been avoiding Game Changers lately, so I looked for other big spells to cast. Don & Raph's ability doesn't need them to be on the battlefield, but I do want them to survive combat if possible. Menace will help with that, but I've got a few extra cards to boost their chances.

Embercleave is a six-mana Legendary Artifact with Flash that costs one less mana for each attacking Creature I control. Combine that with my Commander's cost reduction and I may well be paying just mana to cast Embercleave.

When it enters, I'll attach it to target Creature I control, and get +1/+1, Double Strike and Trample. Going from 2 power to 3 power with Double Strike and Trample may not be enough to put fear in the hearts of my opponents, but if I've got Adaptive Omnitool, Blackblade Reforged, or Improvised Arsenal equipped, we'll be looking at a ton of damage.

Removing potential blockers before we get to the declare blockers step is another way to help make sure my Commander survives. Blustersquall is an Instant that can tap target Creature I don't control for , but if I overload it for , I'll tap each Creature that isn't mine.

With any luck I'll have three or more Artifacts in play by then, and pay just one either way.

Street Spasm is another spell with overload that get rid of blockers at Instant speed. It can be cast to deal X damage to target Creature without Flying.

If I have a ton of Artifacts, this is one of those spells that can really do a lot. For I can deal damage to each Creature without Flying that I don't control. I'm unlikely to have dozens of Artifacts in play, but even ten will let me pay just to do five damage.

Hitting your opponents is always nice, but when a Sorcery spell reminds me of Maelstrom Wanderer, it's going to catch my attention. Call Forth the Tempest is an eight-drop Red spell that might cost me as little as and will have me Cascade twice.

When it resolves, it will deal damage to every Creature my opponents control equal to the total mana value of other spells I've cast this turn.

Card draw is incredibly important in Magic: The Gathering, and I've got a few big spells to help refill my hand. Sea Gate Restoration will double the cards in my hand and give me no maximum hand size for the rest of the game. Pull from Tomorrow will have me draw X cards and then discard one.

Invoke the Firemind is a flexible card draw that can have me draw X cards for or deal X damage to any target. Finale of Revelation might be my favorite X spell in this list.

It will have me draw X cards, and if X is ten or more, instead I'll shuffle my graveyard into my library, draw X cards, untap up to five lands, and I'll have no maximum hand size for the rest of the game.

I could easily be running more card draw, but I decided to load in a few ways to get extra combat steps. It's not uncommon for a player to feel safe if they've done the math and they think they can survive until their next turn. They rarely take extra combat steps into account.

Full Throttle is Sorcery that costs and gives me two additional combat phases after the current main phase. I'm also running Fury of the Horde, World at War, Overpowering Attack and the Instant-speed Savage Beating.

While an extra combat step in the late game can be the difference between just hurting and outright killing an opponent, it's worth remembering that any time my Commander attacks, I'll get another attack trigger and another cost reduction on a noncreature spell.

With any luck I'll be able to push out a bunch of damage, and then after two or three combat steps I'll still have the mana available to cast a big card draw spell before I pass the turn.

On top of it all, Affinity is an ability that stacks, so if I'm somehow able to hardcast several spells that give me extra combat steps and I get three instances of Affinity for Artifacts, my next noncreature spell will cost less for each Artifact I control.

Here Be Dragons

I've already let slip that I'm running Goldspan Dragon and Ancient Copper Dragon. I ended up deciding to run a few more, as it gives me another combat threat beyond just trying to kill my opponents with smaller Token creatures or with Commander Damage.

These big boys are Creature spells, so they won't get any cost reduction from my Commander, but I am comfortable having some Creatures I'll have to cast for their full costs. Ancient Silver Dragon is an 8/8 for and will have me roll a d20 when it does combat damage and will have me draw that many cards.

My extra combat step plan will be augmented by Scourge of the Throne, a 5/5 for six that will give me an extra combat step if it's attacking for the first time this turn and it's attacking the player with the most life or tied for the most life.

Hellkite Tyrant might be the most dangerous Dragon in this list. It's a six-drop, 6/5 that has a combat damage trigger that gives control of all Artifacts a player controls if it hits them.

If I control 20 or more Artifacts at the beginning of my upkeep, I win the game. That isn't as easy as it sounds, but this is one of those rare decks that should have a decent shot at landing that alternate wincon occasionally.

The card I'm probably most excited about in this list is Dragonstorm. In this build, it won't outright win the game but it's not unrealistic to think I might be able to play two or three spells in my first main phase, attack with my Commander, play it for only a few mana, and put 15 or 20 power worth of Dragons into play.

I don't see this deck being able to easily set up a storm count higher than maybe a half dozen spells, but if you wanted to shift gears you can easily kill a table with a higher storm count, and just the right assortment of Dragons.

That might sound unrealistic, but my Vadrik, Astral Archmage deck has reliably tutored up Lathilss, Dragon Queen, Terror of the Peaks, Scourge of Valkas, and enough additional Dragons to kill the table with Enter the Battlefield (ETB) damage.

My Vadrik deck is a Bracket 4, and this deck is probably going to find itself in Bracket 2 or 3. I'll be happy to cheat a few Dragons into play, but I'm aiming for the kind of win that is a little less out of the blue than I can get when playing Vadrik.

Weird Science

I still don't know what "Hard Science" is in reference to. I did a little digging but, to no surprise, my searches largely returned pages relating to this card. I found that a little weird, but I'm far from an expert on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It's most likely this is just a reference to robotics and engineering as a "hard" science, as opposed to "soft" sciences like sociology, psychology, or anthropology.

What I really like about this card is that beyond playing Artifacts, you can go in a lot of different directions. You could drop your Creature count and play a deck with no creatures, or hardly any, with ease. You could load up on low mana spells and play Izzet storm. You could even do something truly weird like relying on Instants and Sorceries to create your Artifacts.

Don & Raph, Hard Science | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Don & Raph, Hard Science

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Ancient Copper Dragon
• 1 Ancient Silver Dragon
• 1 Goldspan Dragon
• 1 Hellkite Tyrant
• 1 Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Professional Face-Breaker
• 1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
• 1 Ravenous Robots
• 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1 Scourge of the Throne
• 1 Skittering Surveyor
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Vedalken Archmage

• Instants (14)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Blustersquall
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Pull from Tomorrow
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Savage Beating
• 1 Stoic Rebuttal
• 1 Street Spasm
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Wild Magic Surge

• Sorceries (12)
• 1 Call Forth the Tempest
• 1 Dragonstorm
• 1 Finale of Revelation
• 1 Full Throttle
• 1 Fury of the Horde
• 1 Invoke the Firemind
• 1 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Overpowering Attack
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration
• 1 Stolen by the Fae
• 1 Teleportal
• 1 World at War

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Efficient Construction
• 1 Mirrodin Besieged
• 1 Storm the Vault

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Adaptive Omnitool
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Braided Net
• 1 Coveted Jewel
• 1 Embercleave
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Improvised Arsenal
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Mask of Avacyn
• 1 Silver Shroud Costume
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Spellbook
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Curiosity
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots

• Lands (38)
• 13 Island
• 13 Mountain
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Darksteel Citadel
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Great Furnace
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Seat of the Synod
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Training Center

Buy This Deck Export text

If you wanted to drop this list in power and/or budget you'd probably drop out the pair of Ancient Dragons along with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Call Forth the Tempest and Sea Gate Restoration are also both powerful and more expensive than other cards you could run in their stead.

I think you'd want to drop out Dragonstorm if you were dropping out that many Dragons, and you would probably want to throw in a few more Artifacts. Any Commander with a cost reduction ability is going to bring decent value so you're unlikely to see this Commander in lower Bracket 2 play.

To power this list up I think you'd look at playing extra turn spells, as they are both powerful and expensive enough that Don & Raph's cost reduction will come in very handy. Commander Damage becomes a much bigger threat when you're swinging through blockers and you're chaining extra turns and combat steps.

This card isn't the next Narset, Enlightened Master, but I do think you could get up to some nonsense with the right build. I don't see it making much of an impact in cEDH as cEDH is too fast and you need time to build up your Artifact count.

Final Thoughts

I've played a bunch of lower powered decks in recent weeks, and I was very much hoping to get this deck into a game with my Tabletop Simulator playgroup. That group tends to play more towards Bracket 2 than Bracket 3, so my builds generally leave out game changers and aim for a more casual experience.

I was hopeful that this list might make a splash and maybe even get me my first Thursday night win in quite a while, but that group wasn't able to get a table together to play a game.

Even without that test game I can tell you that this list should be a pretty fun deck. You'll want to adjust the list to fit in with your own playgroup and your preferred style of play.

You may find that you need more mana rocks and you want less Dragons. You could even decide to rebuild the deck to go for that Dragonstorm table kill with a big storm count and a slightly different set of Dragons.

A direction I didn't end up going in that is probably worth considering is a deck with a much heavier focus on Artifacts. Noncreature Artifacts will qualify for the noncreature spell cost reduction, so you could easily lean into a build that was centered around big mana rocks and all the best Artifact Creatures in the game.

You could even run Steel Hellkite so you have at least one Dragon.

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