DJ's Game Corner

Hey, it is that guy you got like once a week in trial roulette that you just bum rushed in a minute before it got made into a solo instance! Also, technically this could also be the physical ranged hint (nothing says that tanks are the only ones that are allowed shields, hell Beastmaster is a melee dps with one! ...Limited job, but still!), but I do think it is the tank for a reason we'll get to.

So our hint is Rhitathyn sas Arvina and "Guess who's back?" That doesn't give us too much to work with, especially since Yoshi-P mentioned that the new jobs will be FF14 original like Viper, Reaper, etc. That still doesn't mean it can't be inspired by things in Final Fantasy history, but it does mean that it won't be called anything that we're aware of. That does strike of a fair number of things. But what does it mean? Well, the biggest conclusion people have drawn is that the new tank will use dual shields like Rhitathyn. This doesn't seem unlikely with the Rhitathyn being used to show it... but... is that it? We don't have a potential thematic direction to pull in? Like, I guess GNB was also just teased with a gunblade on Thancred's back in the very first Shadowbringers trailer, but... again like this? We got Yoshi-P wearing a TMNT shirt because the TMNT are named after artists, so artist = PCT. And this is just dual shields?

But what if it's not just the weapon? Or... well, weapons I guess. What if that tagline that both Yoshi-P and Koji Fox pointed out may have something? What... if this is a revenant-esque job? Someone channeling the spirits of the dead to enhance their attacks, protect their allies and themselves? That may have a bit of overlap with Reaper, but it is a little more... necromancer instead of linked to the Void. "Guess who's back?" makes me think of someone that died and got brought back in some way, especially since Rhitathyn was killed when we fought against him. Plus it would make it not the third "guy who just wants to protect people" tank alongside PLD and GNB. So yeah, what about a spooky tank? Give it spooky spectral powers! ...It could also be calling back to Eminem's "Without Me." If it is... I have no clue what it could be.

Oh, and to talk about the reason why I'm 100% certain it will at least carry one shield I'll have to cut ahead into something about the new versions of jobs we're gonna be playing (or least have the option to): they talked about bringing sub roles in for tanks properly. So proper main tank and off tank roles. And... the division is interesting:

So PLD and our new tank are Main Tanks while WAR, DRK and GNB are all Off Tanks. This is very interesting, because historically this is accurate to the developer's intentions. PLD was supposed to be the main tank, while WAR and DRK were supposed to be off tanks. The meta in HW and SB made this the exact opposite, since PLD was bad in HW and it couldn't generate aggro worth a damn in SB. GNB basically made this null and void, especially since ShB was the expansion tank stances died and the concept of tank divisions died with it, though there is still an argument that PLD was the best off tank since its abilities were better suited for off tanking. Regardless though, that is what they were trying to do with a return to this concept. Our new tank being intended to be a main tank that is similarly to PLD "skilled at taking direct damage" and has "actions to counter enemy attacks" gives me the big impression that they want this new tank to have some sort of shield. Whether that will be dual shield, just a single shield as the weapon or a weapon + shield.

Aside from that, that is basically all we have for the new tank. Probably, hopefully it is the job announced at Berlin in 3 months, but otherwise not much to say. Let's go into Evolved Mode!

EVOLVED MODE

So this is the big one. They basically announced that they are taking a wildly different direction for all 21 currently existing jobs via the form of "Evolved Mode". The person who did a lot (if not all) the PvP job reworks has worked on it and it is... interesting and potentially very good. Potentially is a big keyword, but what we've seen of PLD, I'm hyped for the tanks at the very least. Let's take a look at the PLD hotbars they showed off. Also, just immediately: I'll get to my opinions at the end of this section.

So... that is a huge different. Literally cut skills in half... and a bit even, since the PC hotbar doesn't show Iron Will and Intervene for some reason. But yeah, we'll basically be going to about 1 full hotbar of job unique skills and then a few more role skills. Some skills are further getting pruned, like Bulwark being gone again in Evolved Mode, though also things like Goring Blade, Holy Circle, Total Eclipse, Prominence and Circle of Scorn. Other things got changed around and combined into certain buttons.

For example, our basic combo is now 1 button that just goes through the attacks by using it, similar to how it works in PvP. Or how Holy Spirit is both Holy Spirit and Clemency in one button that changes whether you have an enemy or an ally targeted. Hell, Holy Spirit is also Confiteor when you get what we currently know as the Divine Might buff that seems to last forever, plus that same buff makes Clemency into High Clemency. Similarly, Intervene is now also Cover with an ally targeted gap closer. Oh, and the enemy targeted version now no longer has damage attached to it. Holy Sheltron is now both that and Intervention depending on whether you target yourself or someone else. It's a lot. For the slides to show them off:

In general, they seem to be pushing this new system, since all new jobs from Evercold onward are only gonna be in this new style. The currently available jobs will be able to swap between both Reborn Mode and Evolved Mode, with Reborn acting as the current version of the job... minus raid buffs. They have said that they are removing the two minute meta, so no more offensive raid buffs! Also, we will still get new stuff in Reborn Mode from the expansion, it isn't just the exact same without changes from here on out.

They also showed off PLD's Evolved Mode a bunch. Let's go over it bullet point style:

Firstly, they showed off the basic combo being on 1 button, including a new finisher named "Divine Authority" instead of the regular Royal Authority. This proc'd something called Expiacion Avowed, which made a button glow up for 30 seconds that allowed Expiacion to be used.

Then they showed off that "Divine Justice" is Holy Spirit and Clemency combined into one button that depends on the context of whether it targets an enemy or an ally/yourself. Holy Spirit still heals yourself.

Right after they showed the Requiescat/Request cat/Confiteor/Confetti/Imperator/Blade Combo. Requiescat/Imperator will now give us a buff of Divine Might, which is an infinitely lasting buff that gives us an empowered Divine Justice. On the beta UI of our job guage we saw that a stack of Honor was taken for it, that it had a recharge of 40 seconds and that you could have 2 stacks of Honor in total. All of the Blade Combo still heals yourself, though damage might be distributed slightly differently, seeing as Blade of Honor did a lot less than Blade of Valor.

Up next, they showed off Holy Sheltron applying a buff called Surcoat of Satisfaction that wore off and got replaced by Surcoat of Answer. When the PLD got hit by the enemy with Surcoat of Answer, a button lit up (that looks like GNB's Continuation, but that's work in progress for you) that made them do the skill Answering Strike, our "counter" skill, and gave them a buff of the same name. Interestingly, Answering Strike's buff icon looks like Knight's Benediction, the regen from the current version of Holy Sheltron, but this is notably NOT a regen effect, as we don't see the numbers pop up that a regen will always do. So that's already a notable nerf to our healing.

Right after they showed what happens if the PLD gets hit during Surcoat of Satisfaction, where they get to do Satisfaction instead, which is a stronger version of Answering Strike. Similarly, it also applied a buff called Satisfaction that also similarly uses the icon of Knight's Benediction and isn't a regen.

Holy Sheltron also eats up a bar on our job gauge. This one is the Defence gauge and regens for 1 stack every 20 seconds and similarly can hold 2 of them. Also, we have a Crest on our job gauge. This is just to show which counter you have access to, Satisfaction or Answering Strike

Then, in a flurry of things they showed off, they showed that the empowered Divine Justice version of Holy Spirit is actually Confiteor, which also still heals us.

Next, they showed Passage of Arms, which gives us a buff called Gathering Round, which grants us access to the follow up of Passage of Arms: Round Table. This is an AoE heal.

Then they showed Divine Veil, which is the same except it doesn't heal anymore.

They showed Hallowed Ground and Provoke, both of which look about the same.

Then they showed Intervene (or as it seems to be renamed to for the enemy targeted version, Intercession). This no longer deals damage and instead just has text flying up from the enemy called Intercession, meaning that it most likely works like DRK and GNB's current gap closers of no damage, but increased enmity.

Then they showed Shield Lob, which seems to be AoE by the look of the circle that spawned because of it. They also, right after, showed that Shield Bash is on the same button as Shield Lob, just being distance based instead. This is also an AoE, one that at least stuns the creature targeted by the PLD. Might make it interesting to swap targets between each use of Shield Bash if it doesn't stun everything the AoE hits and just the target of your attack.

Next up they showed that empowered Divine Justice targeting yourself or an ally gives you Full Clemency, a stronger version of Clemency.

Up next, they showed that Intervene now works on party members. You jump to an ally and then put Covered on them for 4 seconds and get Cover yourself.

Afterwards they showed that Holy Sheltron can now also target party members, giving them the buffs of Shield of Satisfaction, which falls off and gives Shield of Answer. It is unsure if this also triggers the counter.

Then they show off Guardian. Nothing has visibly changed about Guardian.

Lastly, they showed off that Provoke and Shirk now share the same button. Provoke when you target an enemy, Shirk when you target a party member.

So that's a whole lot of PLD info. We're still missing a few pieces, like "what are we getting in levels 101 - 110" and whether Shield of Satisfaction/Answer will also proc the counter, but we already have a good grasp on PLD.

Now, the opinion corner and I have to say: ...this is looking kind of fire. I do have some gripes and let's start with those first

One button combos make me actively sad. I don't think it is an immediate deal breaker, but unless PvE content ends up being way more engaging and active the whole way through, I think that part will get very boring, very quick for me personally. I really hope that they will add the Action Change System to allow us to split them up in separate buttons. If that's the case, I think I'm very down for this system, even if I make it technically harder for myself. Though, I also have to admit, it also depends on how much down time of just the filler combo there is whether the one button basic combo will feel worse. Plus, maybe Expiacion will already break it up, so I'm going in with a positive mind.

The tank split is incredibly interesting and I potentially think it could work great, but there are obvious concerns whether WAR, DRK and GNB will be good enough to main tank still and whether PLD and our new tank aren't active hindrances as off tanks. PLD at least does seem to have a bunch of tools to mitigate damage to other people between Clemency, Divine Veil, Passage of Arms, Round Table, Cover and placed Holy Sheltrons/Intervention, which isn't unlike the current kit, but I think that is interesting since mitigating party damage is the off tank role's thing. So unless WAR, DRK and GNB are just absolutely cracked at mitigating damage and/or the numbers on PLD's mitigations are down in the gutter when used on other targets, I wonder if this distinction will even matter and if not, why they bothered.

AoE potentially looks dreadfully boring, on PLD at least. It currently is looking like it is just spamming Shield Lob/Shield Bash, your counter whenever you get it proc'd and the Imperator Combo. That is harsh from Total Eclipse Combo, Holy Circle, Circle of Scorn, Expiacion (only way we saw it being used was after a regular combo from a proc) and Imperator Combo from the current version of PLD. That is definitely one angle I hope they improve in, even if it does seem fun to potentially have to switch targets for Shield Bashes again if you don't have a WHM in the party (or assuming Holy lost its stun).

Now for the positives:

OH MY GOOD GOLLY GOSH, PLD HAS AN ALLY TARGETED DASH. I WANTED THAT SINCE STORMBLOOD BASICALLY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PLD SHOULD'VE ALWAYS HAD. REST IN PEPPERONI INTERVENE, NO MORE DAMAGE FOR YOU

PLD's new rotation looks cool. I'm still a little concerned it is a bit burst heavy and would like it to be more about sustained damage, like it used to be, but at least going through the motions of this rotation looks infinitely more interesting than the current rotation, especially since there are decisions to be made! You can save up your Imperator Combos for times when the boss is out of melee range, only using them to keep them off cooldown so you're not losing damage, or you can just spend both of them right away for damage phases. It's so cool to have that flexibility, even in a bigger way than before

The new animations look so GOOD. Divine Authority is so sick, even if it does remind me of a Ninja animation. Answering Strike is great looking and then Satisfaction truly brings the satisfaction to a new level for that counter. Full Clemency and Round Table look cool too. The big jump to someone to cover them is a little funny, but still great

I freaking love counters and I'm glad we're back to them, even if I will miss Shield Swipe just a little bit, assuming we can't unlock it as an action skin. It was a goofy animation, but I liked it damn it

THE JOB GAUGE FINALLY LOOKS POTENTIALLY USEFUL AND NOT LIKE A WASTE OF SPACE ON MY HUD, EVEN IF IT IS JUST A GLORIFIED TIMER

I really do like the potential of splitting the tanks into main tank and off tank to give them more defined roles and/or abilities

THE COVER ALLY TARGETED DASH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

So yeah, you can say I'm a fan. Even with my small concerns/annoyances, this is an incredibly strong showing right off the bat for tanks imho, but we'll see when we get to see one of the off tanks and especially when we get to the live letter with the job action trailer and that will show things off more thoroughly.

CONCLUSION

OH MY FREAKING GOD, IT'S THE NEW TURTLES FROM THE LAST RONIN UNIVERSE????? I was genuinely thinking they might've been too new to get anything in the set, but hey, at least they got represented on an uncommon card! They probably would not all be Green, but need to finish the uncommon technique cycle with one.

4 mana for a sorcery that lets you search your library for up to two basic land cards, put them on the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. You can also sneak it in for 3 mana. Explosive Vegetation that is potentially a bit cheaper at the cost of bouncing a creature. That's always pretty good.

In 60 card formats, this might be too slow, but landfall decks might make use of this. In commander, landfall decks with a slightly aggro slant should probably consider this, it's pretty good. Very nice uncommon to have.

Next up: Rocksteady, Crash Courser!

There he is! Definitely a Green creature, though Black as secondary color, but Bebop got that covered.

6 mana for a 7/7 is above rate, very nice! His abilities are:

Rocksteady can't be blocked by more than one creature. Very nice. Not quite evasion, but you will basically always come out ahead unless they have a deathtouch creature.

Boars you control can't be blocked by more than one creature. Hey wait a minute, he buffs Bebop! ...WAIT.

Forestcycling for 2, so like Jennika, Stockman, Bebop and Zog before him, except for Forests instead of the other basic land types.

I just realized that if you have both Rocksteady and Bebop on the battlefield, they are effectively unblockable. Rocksteady can't be blocked by more than one creature and gives that ability to Bebop, while Bebop has menace so he has to be blocked by more than one creature and he gives that ability to Rocksteady. So can't be blocked by more than 1 creature, but also has to be blocked by 2 or more creatures... unblockable. Very nice Limited combo.

Now to evaluate this card on its own: much better than Bebop in a vacuum. Again, this will usually out muscle the thing that tries to block this and it is above rate for the mana. For 60 card formats, this is still way too slow. For commander... Boar kindred? Maybe. Boars are definitely in Green, but they aren't great. Still, it would work.

Up next: Saced by the Shell!

2 mana for a instant that puts a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. It gains trample, hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. Also, this spell costs 1 less to cast if you control a Turtle. That's... pretty solid protection, honestly. Even gain a small stat buff from it and temporary trample, so it is also a combat trick. One that can cost 1 mana if you have a turtle in play. Keep in mind that this mana reduction is always active if you control a turtle, not just when you target a turtle with this. So very nice. Use this as protection in both 60 card formats and commander decks. Slightly better in +1/+1 counters.

Up next, another mutant turtle: Venus, Torn Between Worlds!

I love how properly messed up she looked in the art if you look close. Credit to April Prime for her art on this piece! Also, yeah, Green/Blue makes sense. Blue because of her spiritual side and her being a stitched together experiment and Green because she is a bit more about growth and stuff. I will admit, I haven't gotten to her in the comics yet, so that Green justification does feel weak.

5 mana for a 5/5 is perfectly on rate. Her abilities are:

Whenever Venus is dealt damage, put that many +1/+1 counters on her (if she survives). So, theoretically, she could block a 20/20 guy, get saved by Saved by the Shell and then be a 25/25 on when she can attack the next turn. That's... pretty good.

Whenever a creature you control with a counter on it deals combat damage to a player, you may play {B}. If you do, draw a card. Nice, so she can start refilling your hand. Keep in mind that for every creature with a counter on it, you will have to keep paying Blue mana specifically. Still, very nice effect to even just get 2-3 times a turn and draw 2-3 cards with.

Very very solid uncommon. In 60 card formats, probably too slow and she doesn't do much unless you have 6 mana open on the turn you cast her. In commander, she becomes a draw engine for +1/+1 counter decks. Yeah, absolutely slam her in to those or make her the commander of one.

Last up for Green: West Wind Avatar!

Yaguaro! There is the last of the Four Winds. Green does make sense from what I know about them, which admittedly isn't much.

7 mana for a 7/7 is perfectly on rate. His abilities are:

Trample, so he bulldozes over creatures if he has more power than their toughness. Neat.

When he enters or attacks, you may sacrifice a token or a land. If you do, you gain 3 life. So... all tokens (and lands) become foods for "free." That's pretty solid.

At the beginning of your end step, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, draw a card. So he slowly starts refilling your hand. Neat.

Very neat uncommon. No chance in 60 card formats, 7 mana is too much for what is at most 3 life and a card draw on the turn he comes down, assuming he doesn't get shot before he gets the chance to enter. For commander... again, if disappear decks become a thing. Though, I suppose, this can work with Black/Green sacrifice decks. Just have to be more aggressive with it, since this isn't a free sacrifice outlet. Also, keep yourself loaded up on tokens to sacrifice.

Let's get to multicolor and... man, Mousers are Red and buzz bots are Blue... that still both- we're talking about Baxter Stockman, huh?

We sure are. Yeah, this man would be Blue/Red. Blue because of his intellect and scientific prowess. Red because he's also the most random man alive sometimes and is genuinely passionate about what he does, even though money is quite important to him.

5 mana for 3/3 is quite below rate and in that awkward break point. His abilities are:

When he enters, create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token. So he's 5 mana for 4/4 stats instead, which is already a lot better.

At the beginning of combat on your turn, target artifact creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike and vigilance until end of turn. Wait, so he's actually 5 mana for 7/4 stats. That's... really good, especially since the artifact creature he buffs attacks first and doesn't tap because it attacked. That's actually crazy good.

Incredibly good uncommon. Might even see 60 card format play in more artifact creature heavy decks, since this does a lot if it doesn't get removed before you can go to combat (or counterspelled outright). In commander... yeah, absolutely for artifact creature heavy decks. Use him either in the 99 or as the commander for such a deck.

Next up: Brilliance Unleashed! ...Oh god, we're stroking Baxter's ego some more.

6 mana for a sorcery that lets you choose one or both:

Brilliance Unleashed deals 5 damage to target creature. So above breakpoint damage based removal. Nice.

Choose artifact card in your graveyard. Return it to the battlefield if it's an artifact creature card. Otherwise, return it to the battlefield and it's a 3/3 Robot artifact creature with flying. So you get to recur an artifact and potentially make it a creature if it wasn't one already. Nice.

Never ever cast this for just one of the modes. Even together you are probably overpaying for this effect, but at least there is an argument to be made then, since this doesn't care about mana value for whatever you bring back. If you only use one of the modes, this is extremely inefficient at both jobs. This will not see play in 60 card formats due to how expensive it is and in commander, it has to strike that niche of being removal and recursion. Maybe in artifact heavy decks, but I think you have better cards. The fact that this isn't an instant is also way worse.

Go ninja, Go Ninja Go!

Yes, this card is genuinely called Go Ninja Go. It's amazing.

2 mana for a sorcery that lets you choose one or both:

Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control. Red/White blink is becoming a thing? That's cool. Good ability with ETB effects on creatures.

Go Ninja Go deals damage equal to the greatest power among creatures you control to target creature an opponent controls. Less handy, I would've ideally had this be equal to the amount of creatures you control, since this weirdly wants you to go tall instead of wide like the Red/White Limited archetype wants you to go.

Still, for 2 mana, neither mode is bad. 2 mana removal is not bad and 2 mana blink is not bad. Put together, you get quite efficient blink and removal. 60 card formats might actually use this for both the blink and the removal stapled together. For commander, similar story for Red/White blink decks... of which there aren't many.

Up next: Ice Cream Kitty!

Another 2012 pull. Great!

2 mana for a 1/3 is perfectly on rate. Its abilities are:

2 mana and sacrifice another creature or token: draw a card. Activate only as a sorcery. A draw engine as long as you can feed the kitty creatures and/or tokens. Not a super efficient draw engine, but that's a common for ya.

2 mana, tap this creature and sacrifice this creature: you gain 3 life. Standard food effect.

Not a terrible common. The draw is inefficient enough, but still, can come in clutch and even be handy if you need a mana sink. Sucks that it is only at sorcery speed though, but it probably would've been too good at instant speed on a common. 60 card formats don't care about this thing, it is a big mana sink for mediocre gain. In commander, maybe in your Food decks, but even then, you probably have better ways to draw cards.

Up next, Karai's Technique!

So this isn't part of the uncommon technique cycle, but rather is part of the uncommon 2 color spells. Most of them say "choose one or both," but Lessons from Life is also part of that cycle for example. Just to make that clear.

3 mana for a sorcery that lets you choose one or both. Also, this can be snuck in for 2 mana:

Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. So a combat trick or a way to push damage. Nice.

Target creature gets -3/03 until end of turn. So another combat trick or removal. Nice.

For 2 mana, this is kind of crazy. Even for 3 mana, it is not bad, but a lot more telegraphed by nature of being a sorcery speed spell. For 2 mana though, very good. Again, this might see 60 card format play to push damage and/or remove something. Very flexible spell. For commander, might see play in some Ninja decks that pop up because of this deck. Otherwise, maybe in aggressive White/Black decks that have a good amount of ETBs to work with so they don't mind bouncing something back in hand for this.

Up next: The Neutrinos!

Sweet, space elves. Yeah, they would absolutely be Red/White. They are loyal and orderly, but also chaotic and in need for freedom with them rebelling against Krang and the utroms in comic book.

4 mana for a 2/4 is slightly behind rate, but not terribly so. Their abilities are:

Flying, so harder to block. Nice.

Whenever another creature you control enters, they get +1/+0 until end of turn. Okay, so they will get a little (or a lot) bigger to hit for more damage. Nice.

Whenever they attack, exile up to one target creature you own, then return it to the battlefield under your control tapped and attacking. Aggressive blink? That's... new. Also gives any creature you might cast psuedo haste and allows their ETB to trigger twice and have The Neutrinos gain from it themselves twice as well. Very cool!

A completely unique card to MTG... on an uncommon. That's so sick. 60 card formats probably won't use this, since this archetype doesn't exist yet. Aggro could maybe use this, but it doesn't do anything on the turn it comes down. For commander... we're talking about unexplored territory. Use this with creatures that have good ETB effects and also don't mind getting in for damage, like April O'Neil, Kunoichi Trainnee or Sally Pride, Lioness Leader. Keep ind mind with Sally, if you attack with her together with The Neutrinos and blink her with the ability, she will lose her counters. However, she will make more tokens. Also, even wilder: this can bring back stolen creatures of yours, since it asks for creatures you own, not control. Absolutely wild card.

Next up: Nobody!

Angel made it to the set! And as the only creature in the set with the hero subtype :P Blue I don't see as much in her, but Red is a perfect fit.

3 mana for a 3/2 is a bit behind rate. Her ability is that when she enters, return up to one target artifact you control to its owner's hand. Scry 1. So you bounce an artifact back to hand, presumably to recast it and get the enters effect again and then have a bit of card selection. Neat? Oh, and this could potentially save you from bad artifacts your opponents have gifted you. That's not in the set, but it is possible.

I don't see any place for this card. 60 card formats do not care unless the bouncing ends up bouncing something very powerful back to hand to retrigger it. Commander... similar story, but artifacts are at least more doable in there.

Let's get to Pizza Face, Gastromancer!

Pizza Face is a wild pull, especially since this appearance is at least partially based on the original toy in 1990... but that version of Pizza Face never appeared in a show and his first show appearance was in 2012 where he looks significantly different. Regardless, I guess Black/Green makes sense.

5 mana for a 2/4 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

When he enters, create a Food token. Okay, he makes another food. Neat.

At the beginning of your end step, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, put three +1/+1 counters on up to one other target artifact or creature. If it isn't a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Mutant creature in addition to its other types. So he can buff up your creatures or make your artifacts into creatures. This does actually make him a 5/7 of stats if a permanent left the battlefield the turn you cast him, which is above rate!

10 mana, tapping him and sacrificing him: You gain 15 life. I wish the rate on this was better, but for the equivalent of 5 food tokens worth of mana, you also get 5 food tokens worth of life by sacrificing him. It's not bad, but a huge mana sink nonetheless.

Overall, pretty good. That last ability is a little troll if you have no way to reduce it, but the rest is solid. You won't see this show up in 60 card formats though. Too many hoops to jump through to be a bit above rate and have 5/7 stats spread across 2 things and a Food token. For commander, he can fit in Black/Green food decks or as the chef (commander) of his own food deck. Animate your Foods to become creatures, while keeping yourself topped off with life from sacrificing the Foods.

Up next: Punk Frogs!

Yeah, Green/Blue makes sense if Genghis Frog is also that.

5 mana for a 4/5 is slightly behind rate and their ability is ward 3, so your opponents have to pay 3 mana to target them with a spell or ability. Okay.

I don't have much to say about this, this is basically a vanilla creature. You won't see this anywhere unless mutant kindred decks in commander are insanely starving for something to fill in a slot with, which... they shouldn't after this set.

Let's see some Putrid Pals!

Muckman and Joe Eyeball! Let's gooooooooo!

4 mana for a 3/3 is a bit behind rate. Their abilities are:

Deathtouch, so this will take something with it. Together with the decent stats, this is an annoying thing to attack or block into.

This creature enters with two +1/+1 counters on it if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn. So, if something died under your control, they are actually a 5/5. That's already a lot better and makes them even worse to attack or block into.

Actually a solid common for Limited. 60 card format play would have to be desperate for a 3/3 deathtoucher for this to ever be relevant, so no. For commander... also still no. This isn't doing much aside from be a little annoying early game.

Last up for Multicolor: Tainted Treats!

3 mana for an instant that destroys target artifact or creature. If its mana value was 4 or less, create a Food token. Straight up better Putrefy. Sure, Putrefy disallowed regeneration, but there hasn't been any relevant regenerating creature in years.

This is pretty good. 3 mana for flexible removal and potentially getting an extra token out of it. Might see some 60 card format play, but not hugely. For commander, straight up replaces Putrefy as a removal spell or at least compliments it. Yeah, really good.

Up next, 2 artifacts to go: Omni-Cheese Pizza!

That's a lot of cheese for a single pizza!

2 mana for an artifact that reads:

When this artifact enters, draw a card. So it cantrips itself, neato.

1 mana, tap this artifact and sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color. Not bad if you need to filter mana for something specific, but not good either.

2 mana, tap this artifact and sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life. Standard food effect.

This is only really useful for artifact decks that need artifacts on the field. Otherwise, potentially blinking this with Don & Leo, Problem Solvers together with another thing that draws you cards isn't irrelevant. But aside from that, this won't see play anywhere.

Last artifact for the post: Turtle Blimp!

5 mana for a 3/4 vehicle is definitely quite behind rate. Its abilities are:

Flying, so harder to block. Nice.

When this Vehicle enters, create a 2/2 red Mutant creature token. That... makes this barely on rate, but even still behind rate for vehicles (they tend to be above rate, since you are giving up a 1 or more creatures to crew it and attack with it.)

Crew 2. So the mutant you create with this can crew it. Neat.

This... kind of sucks, not gonna lie. I don't think any deck runs this outside of Limited. Maybe you might see this show up in commander, but there are better flying Vehicles out there.

Last for this post, something a little different: all 5 of the common dual colored lands (Dimension X, Foot Headquarters, Illegitimate Business, Mutant Town, TCRI Building)!

The reason I just stick them together is that they are the exact same card 5 times, just producing different mana colors. Also, this is a dual land we've seen in the past: gain lands. These gain you 1 life when they come into play. They enter tapped.

You will mainly use this in Limited for color fixing. You might also use these in your first commander deck for the same thing if you don't have better lands. Aside from that, not much else to use these for. 60 card formats have way stronger lands to use over these. I will say that the White/Black one might be useful in lifegain strategies for commander. That might be a genuine reason to use that one in particular.

White is interesting for April. Not necessarily wrong, but it does feel a little off compared to Red... hmmm... oh well, it's alright. Also, heck yeah, common April!

2 mana for a 2/2 is perfectly on rate. Her abilities are:

When April enters, scry 2. So a... very much not insignificant amount of card selection. That's quite good.

April O'Neil can't be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater. So she is actually quite evasive and keep in mind that if you grow her, she still skips past big creatures. Very handy.

I don't know why WotC did this for 2 out of the 3 White common legendary creatures, but this is really solid for a common. Aside from being legendary being a bad thing for Limited and 60 card formats, this is something quite good. 2 mana to scry 2 is on its own already decent, but this comes with a body that can be potentially very scary to block. This might genuinely see 60 card format play. For commander... this gets weird. For your commander, god no. This is not good enough, though might be funny as a Voltron commander with the evasion. In the 99 though... blink decks? 👀 2 mana to enter and then get consistent card selection until you have something nice on the top of your library? That's actually pretty good and again, she can be a not irrelevant threat to the board.

Let's next talk about Koya, Death from Above!

Glad to see Koya represented! Unfortunately, spoiler alert: she is the only one of Karai's mutants in the comics to get anything in the set. Also, White makes sense and because of the cost in her ability making her Black as well... yeah. White/Black, typical Foot Clan colors, make sense.

3 mana for a 2/1 is quite below rate. Her abilities are:

Flying, so she is harder to block. Also, bird. Yeah.

When Koya enters, exile up to one target creature. At the beginning of the next end step, you may pay 4 mana. If you don't, return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control. The temporary removal is not bad since it can be enough to get you the win, but 4 mana to permanently remove something on top of the 3 mana paid to cast her... that's... rough. Especially since you can't wait to buy that 4 mana for a later turn, you have to do it on the end step of the turn she came down.

This is definitely an iffy one. For 60 card formats, you will probably not see this unless you need temporary removal on a creature specifically. For commander... similar story, honestly. 3 mana is not an insignificant amount and 7 mana is... way more and very much insanely inefficient for removal. As your commander, similar story of not doing enough. You can use her for personal blink, though, so if you're in White/Blue/Black blink, maybe you will use her as a weird blink thing.

Last for White: Uneasy Alliance!

2 mana for an Aura that reads:

Enchanted creature can't attack or block, so it is a removal spell. Use this on a creature that wants to attack or block for triggers.

5 mana and sacrificing this Aura to exile enchanted creature. You create a 1/1 Black Ninja creature token. Activate only as a sorcery. That last point makes this significantly less good, but 5 mana the thing you enchanted and create a small creature is not terrible.

It is funny, since this is another 7 mana to exile a creature, but this allows you to wait until your next turn, so it is infinitely better than Koya above. If this was allowed to be at instant speed, this would've been really good. At sorcery, you can't react to someone destroying the enchantment, which to be fair... isn't super often that it will happen, but still. Mainly good for Limited, but might see some play in commander enchantress/Aura decks. 60 card formats might also use this, but there are a bunch of cards that are similar, if not straight up the same rate.

Let's now go to Blue with Bespoke Bō!

3 mana for an Equipment that reads:

When this Equipment enters, return up to one other target nonland permantent to its owner's hand. So it has a bounce effect on it and is quite flexible, since you can target any nonland permanent, either from your opponents' or yourself. That's not... bad, admittedly.

Equipped creature gets +2/+1 and has vigilance. So bit more powerful, bit tougher and won't get tapped when attacking. Neat.

Equip for 3, which isn't great.

This isn't awful. It is removal and a stat buff, which is good. Mainly goes well with Don & Leo, Problem Solvers where you can repeatedly blink it in. Otherwise, this is alright. Won't see play in 60 card formats. In commander, blink it is or mono Blue equipment... I guess if you're sticking to actual Blue equipment.

Up next, Donatello's Technique!

No, I don't know why Donatello's Technique is an uncommon while all of his brothers got rares for their techniques. It's very weird.

3 mana to draw two cards, but you can sneak it in for 1. Neat. 60 card formats might use this for the sneak cost, since 1 mana for drawing 2 is never a bad thing. For commander... maybe if you have an aggressive deck that has draw triggers. Or ETB effects, since you bounce your creature and then get to replay it.

Up next: Fugitive Droid!

Aaaaah, Professor Honeycutt/The Fugitoid. Hell yeah. Blue absolutely makes sense for him.

1 mana for a 1/1 is exactly what you'd expect. His abilities are:

This creature can't be blocked if an artifact entered the battlefield under your control this turn. Kappa Cannoneer flashbacks, though not with the growth on it. Still, quite a nice ability if you need to chip in with damage.

1 mana and sacrificing this creature: counter target spell that target an artifact or creature you control. Oh, so he's a protection piece. Yeah, this is quite good, but very specific to spells that target artifacts or creatures. So no getting to board wipe.

Solid! Cheap creature that is a protection piece and get very evasive. Yeah, this will absolutely see play in 60 card formats and commander alike. In commander, use this in any deck with artifacts even slightly as their focus aside from like Treasures or Food.

We get to one of my favorite characters now: Metalhead!

HELL. YES! THERE IS MY BOY AND HE LOOKS DOPE AS FUCK! Big big big kudos to Daniel Romanovsky for this art! Blue (and a smidge of Red) makes perfect sense for him. He's weirdly passionate in the appearances he does make, so Red yeah. Also, he's a Robot... Blue. Yup!

5 mana for a 4/4 is below rate, but not terrible so. His abilities are:

When Metalhead enters, return up to one target artifact or creature to its owner's hand. So bounce effect on a creature. Neat.

1 mana and sacrifice another artifact: Put a +1/+1 counter on Metalhead. He gains menace and haste until end of turn. So... make him bigger, make him able to attack immediately on the turn he comes down if you also have a Red to pump into him and become harder to block all at the cost of another artifact to sacrifice. Keep in mind that artifact tokens absolutely also do count if you don't have a normal artifact on the board.

He's pretty sweet! For 60 card formats, he's probably too slow, though a bounce effect is not irrelevant removal and getting a not irrelevant body with it might make it show up. For commander, removal on a body that is also an artifact might actually be good enough to see some play in artifact decks. As your commander, he can get quite aggro with like treasure decks as the shell (heh), while also not being so crucial to the strategy that the deck doesn't work when removed. Hell yeah!

Up next, Ooze Spill!

3 mana for an instant that is a counter spell that also makes a Mutagen token. Just a solid counter spell. Not much else to say. This might see play in 60 card formats and will definitely see play in commander for every deck that wants a cheap enough counterspell that also creates an artifact token.

Next up, Retro-Mutation!

3 mana for an Aura that reads:

Flash, so you can cast this at instant speed. Cool!

Enchanted creature is a Turtle with base power and toughness 0/1. It can't attack and loses all abilities. So this is effectively complete removal until they block with this now useless turtle and are able to recur the creature this was put on. Very good.

This is just pretty solid. Being able to completely shut down a creature (NO I'M NOT GETTING INTO LAYERS) is very good. This might see play in 60 card formats. In commander... better removal exists, so you'd either want it because of the turtles or because you have an enchantment thing going on, likely with Green/White as the other colors.

Last up for Blue: Return to the Sewers!

4 mana for an instant that reads: Target creature's owner puts it on their choice of the top or bottom of their library. You create a Mutagen token.

This is a hard one to evaluate. Since this is your opponent's choice where they put the creature, they will almost always choose for the top of their library. You can use this after they have drawn their card for their turn, so that they need to be able to draw their second card for the turn to get whatever creature you targeted with this back. Even then though, you need to keep 4 mana up for that. Otherwise it is a bog standard removal spell. I don't think this will see play anywhere. In 60 card formats, it's expensive for not great removal and the Mutagen token is just alright. In commander, same thing. Maybe if you're into Miracle cards and can put your own creature on top of your library to recast it for the Miracle cost. MAYBE.

First up for Black (by far the longest section in this post): Anchovy & Banana Pizza!

Truly a rancid combination, but that's TMNT for ya.

4 mana for a Food that reads:

When this artifact enters, destroy target creature. Removal, cool.

2 mana, tap this artifact and sacrifice this artifact: you gain 3 life. Standard food stuff.

This isn't good enough to use outside of Limited. For commander, maybe in your Black(/+, likely Green) Food decks, but otherwise... nah. Removal on an artifact is nice, but it's not that good to want to use 4 mana on it. You have better ways to remove creatures, especially in Black.

Up next, let's talk about Bebop, Warthog Warrior!

Black for Bebop makes perfect sense, he is generally the more brutal/pragmatic for the two. Still, Green would be the secondary color and we'll get to that with Rocksteady.

5 mana for a 5/4 is a little behind rate, but not terribly so. His abilities are:

Menace, so he's harder to block because he's scary. Yeah, that tracks.

Rhinos you control have menace. Ooooooh, he buffs Rocksteady! Hell yeah!

Swampcycling for 2, so like Jennika, Stockman and Zog before him, you can search for a Swamp instead of cast him.

Limited card exclusively, unless mono Black Rhinos become a thing I guess. For 60 card formats, you'd exclusively use this for the cycling. For commander, similar story and mono Black Rhinos are not gonna become a thing.

Next up: Death in the Family!

Oh no, not this point in the stories... :(

2 mana for an instant that exiles target creature with mana value 3 or less. Solid removal, though only from small-ish creatures. Still, you will absolutely see this in places. 60 card formats like cheap removal and commander will also absolutely run this, though not in every deck since there are even cheaper removal spells in other colors (mainly White).

Up next... Dream Beavers?!

Wild pull from the 2012 show. Cool to see them, though!

1 mana for a 1/1 is as good as it gets basically. Their abilities are:

Flying, so they are hard to block. Cool.

When this creature enters, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. Scry 1. That's quite good. 2 life shift is not irrelevant and the card selection is sweet.

This is a great uncommon! For 1 mana, getting a flying blocker that also drains your opponents, gains you life and scrys is NUTS. This will absolutely see play in 60 card formats. In commander, less good, but... why not for aristocrat strategies, honestly? It's still good in those decks, so go for it.

Next up, Foot Mystic!

Oh hey, it's the person that made Shark Shredder happen with his worms!

4 mana for a 2/4 is slightly behind rate, but in the good way of how the stats got shifted. Their abilities are:

Lifelink, so they gains you life when you deal combat damage with them. Neat.

When this creature enters, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, create a 1/1 black Ninja creature token. So this can actually be on rate if you cast this after something from you left the battlefield. Do this in your second main phase after combat. Neat.

Very neat common. I don't think it's good enough for 60 card formats, since it is a 4 mana do nothing. For commander, also still not great, but aristocrat decks might use this for the extra token it generates when it enters. So maybe in those.

Next up, Insectoid Exterminator!

3 mana for a 2/2 is behind rate. Its abilities are:

Flying, so it is harder to block. Neat.

At the beginning of your end step, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, scry 1. Little bit of a card selection once per turn if something left. Neat.

Neat common. 3 mana is too much for 60 card formats for something that doesn't do anything on its own right away. For commander, though... it is a pay off for sacrifice decks, but only once a turn. Maybe you can make it work, but it is certainly not super good.

Time for the insects to take over with Lord Dregg, Insect Invader!

Yeah, Black and Green for him makes sense. Pragmatic, but still an insect. Also, great pull from the 2012 show. Technically, he is from the 1987 show, but let's be real... this is the dude from the 2012 show.

4 mana for a 3/2 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

Flying, so he's harder to block. Neat.

At the beginning of your end step, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, create a 1/1 black Insect Warrior creature token with flying. So he makes consistent flying pests as long as you have things leave the battlefield. Potentially keeps replacing the own tokens it creates, so that's pretty good.

4 mana and sacrificing a token: draw a card. Cool! So you have a way to sacrifice the tokens you create while gaining value from them.

Very cool uncommon! Not super strong, but definitely does some work. For 60 card formats, this is probably too slow at 4 mana and without an immediate reward. For commander, this works either in aristocrats decks in the 99 or as the commander of such a deck. Very nice!

Next up: Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising!

Young Shredder! Cool :>

3 mana for a 3/1 is definitely behind rate, though if you sneak it in for 2 mana, it is exactly on rate. His ability is that whenever Oroku Saki deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card and lose 1 life. Kind of like a Phyrexian Arena, just... not consistent. However, that does also make it less likely to kill you, so benefits and disadvantages.

Solid common. Might see play in 60 card formats for more aggressive Black decks, since you absolutely get the card draw when it gets snuck in and deals damage. In commander, similar story, but I think it ends up being a lot worse, since this isn't really a draw engine unless you give it evasion and that's a lot of investment over just putting in Phyrexian Arena. Still, could be nice. Not as your commander though, it's not nearly good enough.

Let's take a lesson in Pain 101!

2 mana for an instant that says: Until end of turn, target creature gains deathtouch and "When this creature dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control." So an offensive version of a relatively common Black effect that allows you to trade with something, but get your thing back. Tapped, but still, protected from dying... once at least. 60 card formats... this is probably too safe for a very feast or famine format. For commander, you will use this in protection in colors that don't get great protection, like Black... and you're not willing to run protection artifacts.

Next up, Paramecia Coloniex!

Oh cool, the worms that made Shark Shredder a thing!

2 mana for a 2/2 is exactly on rate. Its abilities are:

When this creature enters, mill three cards. So you put three cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. Pretty good, your graveyard is open information you can do a lot with. Like:

When this creature dies, you may exile it. When you do, put target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library. You get recursion! Very very nice.

2 mana for a good enters ability and a good dies ability? This genuinely will 60 card format play. Maybe not a lot, since its recursion is kind of the worst way to recur (argument whether into hand is worse than top of library), but recursion is recursion man. And it's a body! And it's on rate!!! For commander, significantly worse, but still probably not bad. Milling and recursion is always good to have in reanimator strategies and having that in one card is nice. Also not really an exile target unless someone is really scared for something in your graveyard... at which point you can exile the graveyard, but whatever :V

Next up, we don Shredder's Armor!

2 mana for an equipment that reads:

Equipped creature gets +2/+1. Little bit of buffs, neat.

When this Equipment enters, attach it to target creature you control. Good, so you don't have to pay the equip cost for the very first one.

Equip for sacrificing another nonland permanent. Activate only once each turn. Kind of a sacrifice outlet for your disappear triggers. Very good, honestly. This is the type of equip cost you are more than happy to pay.

Not super high in terms of stats, but a (limited) sacrifice outlet. In 60 card formats, this would have to be in decks that want consistent sacrifices, but even then the stat buff isn't big enough to really warrant using this most likely. For commander... sacrifice outlets are almost always good for reanimator or aristocrats strategies. For reanimator, you might use the stats. Less so for aristocrats.

Next up: Splinter, Hamato Yoshi!

2 mana for a 1/3 is perfectly on rate. You can also sneak it in for 1, which is way nicer. His abilities are:

Menace, so he's harder to block since he can take on two creatures. Makes sense, Splinter is never outnumbered until you throw a lot at them.

Other Ninjas you control get +1/+1. A Ninja lord! This will kill people in Limited because of this, since it entirely changes the math on attackers and blockers in the archetype that most cares about Ninjas (White/Black).

Solid uncommon. In 60 card formats, if Ninja kindred becomes a thing, you will probably run at least 1 or 2 of this to make that math harder. In commander, in the 99 of a Ninja kindred deck, sure. Again, it messes up the calculation for damage by a decent amount, depending on how wide your board is. I wouldn't ever run this as your commander though, mono Black Ninjas isn't really a thing.

Next up, Squirrelanoids!

Another pull from the 2012 show. The 2012 show got some good love in the commons and uncommons, hell yeah. Also, Black for these things make sense. Potentially Black/Green, but we're talking about a common so... I don't care, really, haha!

1 mana for a 1/1, which is as good as it gets, with Deathtouch, so it will absolutely take something with it. Very good common, will be a pain in the butt to either block (which enables sneak) or to attack into. Very nice. Might see 60 card format play and commander play. 60 card formats would appreciate the cheap blocker that can trade up, while commander would want this in their Ninja decks to be something people really don't want to block and trade down for.

Up next: Stomped by the Foot!

2 mana for an instant that reads:

Kicker - Sacrifice an artifact or creature. Kicker is an additional cost you can pay that makes the spell better. The sacrifice does enable disappear abilities or other "if this dies, get a thing" triggers.

Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. If this spell was kicked, that creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn instead. Removal that goes through indestructible. Nice. Not a bad amount of stats to remove either, can make scary tramplers hit for a lot less if they would survive this spell on its own but potentially die from the blockers doing damage.

This is a strictly worse option compared to Vayne's Treachery from Final Fantasy. Vayne's Treachery is completely the same, except it gives -6/-6 until end of turn if it was kicked. Luckily, that still makes this pretty good. Mostly great in Limited, where you can use this on your Paramecia Coloniex, get that thing's benefits and remove (or heavily debuff it) while also priming your disappear triggers. In 60 card formats, you might see this in decks that can generate either creature tokens or artifact tokens to feed this for removal (though, again, it is strictly worse than Vayne's Treachery). Similar story for commander, but at least that is a singleton format so you can use it alongside Vayne's Treachery.

Last up for Black: Tunnel Rats!

2 mana for a 2/2 is perfectly on rate. Its ability is that for 5 mana, you can return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. This is a Limited mana sink to get something on to the battlefield so you can either survive another turn or go for something devious the next time turn. Aside from that, this won't see play anywhere since you have better options. Still though, rat!

Let's get to the final section of the post with Red. First up, Bot Bashing Time!

4 mana for a sorcery to deal 6 damage to target creature. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead. Mostly Limited removal. 4 mana to remove something is too much in essentially every format, especially since it is only at sorcery speed. Still, exiling the thing you remove with it is nice.

Up next: Old Hob, Alleycat Blues!

Red feels pretty fitting. While he definitely has a pragmatic streak that would fit him more in Black, he's chaotic enough and does actually care for his crew. He just is speciesist to humans. White is probably where I have issues, but that's the Limited environment getting in the way.

5 mana for a 4/4 is behind rate, but not terribly so. Especially since his abilities are:

At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 2/2 red Mutant creature token. It gains hate until end of turn. Destroy it at the beginning of the next end step. So, couple things. 1) He's technically a 6/6 for 5 mana, since this does happen the turn you cast him unless that is in your second main phase. However, 2/2 of that is temporary. 2) It means this creature can in fact start dishing out damage on his first turn, which is great. 3) Notice how it says destroy and not sacrifice. That's... unusual and combos well with his next ability.

2 mana: target attacking creature token gains indestructible until end of turn. So you do pay the mana for the creature's stats, but you can actually completely save the creature tokens Old Hob keeps creating by paying for them. Very cool. Also works as a bit of a combat trick, since you can do this before damage goes out and such. It doesn't change the math of combat, though.

Honestly, really good uncommon. For 60 card formats, he's probably a bit too slow. He isn't a do nothing, but 5 mana is a lot and if he gets shot, you will feel that. For commander, he works great as either your commander for tokens or something in the 99 of a tokens deck. So that's very cool.

Up next, we got some Purple Dragon Punks!

The Purple Dragons are definitely Red. I'd argue they would make sense for either Black/Red or Red/White, depends a bit on the point of the story and the incarnation.

2 mana for a 2/2 is perfectly on rate. Its ability is to tap and add {R}. Spend this mana only to cast an artifact spell or to activate an abiliity. So Red mana dork for artifacts or activated abilities. Very strange, but not bad. Probably not good enough to see play outside of Limited. Maybe in commander for artifact decks with Red in them.

Last for the post: Rock Soldiers!

Like General Traag in the previous post, these guys feel more White than Red, but oh well.

4 mana for 4/3 is slightly behind rate. Also the same stats as General Traag. Huh. Their ability is that when they enter, destroy up to one target noncreature artifact. Mostly just Limited removal for important artifacts. Not bad removal, though. 4 mana for a removal spell that is also a not unreasonable body your opponent will have to deal with. In commander, you might see this as a body + removal for artifact decks with Red in them, but the removal is narrow. For 60 card formats... 4 mana is a lot and this is still very narrow, so i don't think so.

Honestly, he feels like he should be White... the rock soldiers in general are orderly and subservient to power. Red isn't unreasonable, though.

5 mana for a 4/3 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

Trample, so he bulldozes over other creatures unless they have higher toughness than his power. Neat.

When General Traag enters, you may sacrifice another artifact. When you do, General Traag deals 4 damage to target creature. That's... just okay. Removal, but only if you have another artifact to sacrifice. Use this in combination with artifacts with "leaves the battlefield" or "dies" triggers.

Just very okay. Nothing really mind blowing, though. For 60 card formats, this would neat to destroy a high priority target, otherwise this is way too slow. For commander, in artifact heavy decks... maybe, sure. Probably not, but maybe. Either as the commander of such a deck, though mono Red artifact is rough, or in the 99 of such a deck. Definitely wants to be more aggressive, though.

Next we have... Jennika's Technique? In Red? Not White? okay.

...There better be a Red or Red/White Jennika somewhere, because not being able to use this with Jennika is a crime. Doesn't help that the one Jennika we have confirmed is not good outside of Limited.

3 mana for an instant speed that deals 2 damage to each creature. However, you can also sneak it in for 1 mana. This also protects the thing you just bounced to your hand from the damage, potentially saving it from being destroyed by the damage. This is actually really clever design space for sneak. Love that.

Pretty good card, a sweeper is never a bad thing. Weirdly, mainly good in 60 card formats, since lower toughness creatures are way more relevant for 60 card formats. In commander, this still isn't bad, but does lose usage because you can generally get away at more irresponsible creatures with 3 or more toughness. However, could still be nice as a potential one sided sweeper if you only have 3+ toughness creatures.

Next up, Manhole Missile!

I can hear that flavor text. Amazing.

2 mana for a instant that does 3 damage to target creature and you may put a card from your hand on the bottom of your library. If you do, draw a card. So removal and card selection, however it does put it back in your library, making it worse if you are at some point shuffling compared to putting it in your graveyard. Still, cheap removal is always good.

For 60 card formats, this might genuinely see some use. 2 mana for 3 damage is not irrelevant and getting that bit of card selection is a very nice bonus over not being to able to cast this for 3 or being able to target people's faces with this.

Oh no, we got a Mouser Attack!

See what I did there? :)

2 mana for an instant that lets you choose one of these effects:

Create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token. Alright. Behind rate, but at instant speed this is not bad.

Target creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. That's way better, actually on rate for such effects.

Ideally, you almost always use this for the second effect, but the first might be handy early on to create pressure and later to be able to get a blocker in the field during combat. So having the option to choose either is good. Use this in artifact/token heavy strategies mainly. Definitely more of a 60 card format card, though. In commander... maybe for a Voltron deck? Think about it, either you push through a little more damage or you are able to bail yourself out when you are relatively wide open.

Let's talk more about Mousers with Mouser Foundry!

HMMMMM... Buzz bots are Blue and mousers are Red. I do wonder what that could mean...

2 mana for an artifact that reads:

When this artifact enters or leaves the battlefield, create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token. Good if you are able to blink it, otherwise just okay.

5 mana and sacrificing this artifact gets you 3 damage to target creature. That's 7 mana to remove one thing. That's... not good.

This really wants to be blinked for value, ideally with something else alongside it that triggers from artifacts, creatures and/or tokens entering the field. Otherwise, this is aggressively okay at 2 mana and not worth using the activated ability for. 5 mana is a LOT. 60 card formats will probably skip this unless artifacts become really strong. In commander, similar story, but at least artifact decks exists there. Use it such a deck and basically see it just as a board filler after you have cast it, since 5 mana is a ton for just a Manhole Missle like I talked about just now.

Next up, Mutant Town Musicians!

Cool to see these guys represented, hell yeah.

3 mana for an 2/4 is perfectly on rate, so let's go. Their abilities are:

Trample, so runs over things with less toughness than this card's power. Neat.

Whenever another creature you control enters, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. That actually makes the trample usable, since 2 power isn't enough. Still, not great, since you will need to have a bunch of creatures entering when you want to swing with this.

Neat enough common. Mostly for Limited play. 60 card formats won't look at this, since it is a 3 mana do nothing. Commander... maybe in decks that can dump out a ton of token creatures on some turns, but why not have a way to just pump those creatures up and overrun the board, then?

Let's get to Null Group Biological Assets!

3 mana for a 3/1 is definitely behind rate. Their abilities are:

During your turn, this creature has first strike. So that shores up the near nonexistent toughness so that you can swing in at least once or twice with this and probably not be blocked.

Whenever this creature attacks, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card. Good amount of card selection and can stack up if this is able to stick around for a while.

Again, neat common. This will see play in Limited. Similar to the musicians right above this, though, not really usable outside of Limited. Maybe if Red sneak decks become a thing in commander at some point, because this is harder to block than you'd like, so a lot of people don't want to either lose creatures, so you can sneak something in when it goes unblocked.

We got Wingnut, Bat on the Belfry up next!

Cool to see her! The design in the art seems to be more based on her Mutant Mayhem incarnation, while with the flavor text seems more based on the IDW comic. I will call her she for this section because of the design. Credit to Zoltan Boros for the art, though he doesn't seem active much on his website and apparently sells NFTs... goddammit.

2 mana for a 1/2 is a bit behind rate, but not terribly so. Her abilities are:

Whenever another creature control enters, Wingnut gains your choice of flying, menace or haste until end of turn. Not bad, though the haste is only relevant on the turn she comes down. Still, if that is later in the game, you could cast her, then another creature and be able to swing with her. Temporary flying or menace is much more relevant.

Whenever Wingnut attacks, each other attack creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. So this will absolutely end some games. Being able to be a force multiplier is very good and this is no different. That's why it actually might be handy to leave her for a later turn and be able to haste her to suddenly turn the tide.

Pretty good uncommon. For 60 card formats, she is cheap enough that you might actually see her to be a force multiplier. For commander, she can work either in the 99 or in the command zone. In the 99 it is more straight forward: use her with token strategies, make your entire board suddenly a lot bigger and swing out to do damage. As the commander, similar strategy, just leaning on Red's token generation.

Next up, Zog, Triceraton Castaway!

Let's go Zog! Red makes sense for him. Probably Red/White specifically, but mono Red is fine.

5 mana for a 5/4 is just a bit behind rate, but nothing terrible. HIs abilities are:

Reach and trample. So he can block fliers and he runs over creatures that have less toughness than his powers.

When Zog enters, target creature can't block this turn. So Zog just says "let's get damage in" when he comes in. Very nice.

Mountaincycling for 2, so same as Jennika and Stockman to find your Mountain by discarding this card. Pretty cool.

Pretty solid for a common, but ultimately not super special. For 60 card formats, maybe if you really need to push damage from the ETB effect. In commander... nah. In the 99, similar to 60 card formats, but you have better ways of doing so. As your commander, this guy doesn't do anything essentially.

Let's go to Green with Frog Butler!

2 mana for a 1/1 is definitely behind rate. Its abilities are:

Deathtouch, so it can take something with it when it blocks something. Pretty good.

Tap it to add one mana of any color. Ah, this is a mana dork, very nice.

2 mana to give this creature reach until end of turn, so this can block flying creatures. Very nice.

Overall a solid mana dork. 2 is probably too much for 60 card formats, since they have 1 mana mana dorks. For commander, not bad for Frog kindred or just as a general mana dork. Being able to block anything to death is very solid. Keep in mind that you can block something and then still tap it for mana before it dies! Handy to play something at instant speed during combat!

Grab a slice of this Guac & Marshmallow Pizza!

For 1 mana you get a Food that reads:

Flash, so you can play this at instant speed. Already quite nice.

When this artifact enters, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Untap it. Very nice, a combat trick on a very cheap permanent. Turn the tide of combat and have a blocker open when they try to strike back.

2 mana, tapping and sacrifice this artifact gives you 3 life. So the standard food effect. Cool.

Very cool for a common. In 60 card formats, this might genuinely see some play due to being a 1 mana combat trick. Not a huge one, it's not ridiculous, but it is good enough to just be worth using. For commander... combat tricks are a lot worse in commander, but maybe? If you are in like Red/Blue/Green artifacts, this could be nice to have as a combat trick that is also a permanent on the field. Food decks in general might make use of this as well.

Up next: Michelangelo, Game Master!

Oh hey, common Mikey! Can't wait to see his uncommon next!

3 mana for a 3/3 is perfectly on rate, so very nice. His ability is that at the beginning of your end step, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Michelangelo. So he grows when other permanents leave your battlefield. Good with tokens like Mutagen and Food, which is to be fair what the Black/Green archetype is about, so neat.

For 60 card formats... not great. 3 mana do nothing is rough and he isn't evasive either. Growing is nice, but he needs help actually connect for damage. For commander, a lot better. However, only in the 99. Don't bother with this as your commander, it grows way too slow to even just work as a Voltron commander. In the 99 though, maybe. For Food decks or other token artifact decks where Mikey can just slowly grow and suddenly become an issue to block.

Oh boy, let's see uncommon Mikey! Michelangelo, One-of... MUTANT BFF?! WHAT THE F-

HOW THE HELL DO THEY DO THIS TWICE?! THEY SET UP A BIT AND THEN MISSED IT BOTH TIMES! ALL 3 OF HIS BROTHERS' UNCOMMONS REFERENCE THE 2012 THEME SONG, WHY IS MIKEY MUTANT BFF??????????????? JUST CALL HIM "ONE OF A KIND!" YES, IT IS SILLY, BUT IT'S THE FREAKING TEENAGE. MUTANT. NINJA. TURTLES. THEY ARE SILLY INCARNATE. LOOK AT THEM AND SEE HOW MUCH PIZZA THEY CONSUME.

*Ahem* 4 mana for a 4/4 is perfectly on rate. His abilities are:

Each creature you control with a counter on it can't be blocked by more than one creature. Very very nice, not quite evasion, but makes it so you will more than likely always be bigger than your opponent's creatures.

Whenever Michelangelo enters or attacks, create a Mutagen token. So he's actually a 5 mana for 5/5 stats and keeps spitting out tokens to grow your board with every time he attacks. Very nice.

Honestly, a very good uncommon. Despite the fact that he fails on making the reference that was set up... For 60 card formats, this might see play in counters matters decks. While he only creates a token when he enters, he also makes it so that your creatures with any counters on them can't be blocked by more than one creature, so if you already have a wide enough board state with counters on it. That's good enough on its own to be something that needs to be dealt with ASAP. For commander, very similar story. Use this as either your commander for a counters matters deck or in the 99 of such a deck. Whether that is +1/+1 counters, -1/-1 counters or even Lore counters like the Final Fantasy saga creatures, he works with all of them.

Next up, Novel Nunchaku!

Eyyy, Mikey's nunchucks!

3 mana for an equipment that reads:

When this Equipment enters, attach it to target creature you control. When you do, equipped creature fights up to one target creature an opponent controls. Fight is 2 creatures dealing damage to each other. So this is a removal spell if you use it with a creature with more power/toughness than the thing you target to fight with.

Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample. So slightly bigger and runs over creatures with less toughness than the equipped creature's power. Also, keep in mind that the creature does get buffed for the sake of the fight side of this equipment, so you are actually able to win against creatures with one higher power/toughness.

Equip for 3, which you will never want to pay since the fight only happens when the equipment enters.

Decent. Absolutely less good if you ever have to re-equip it, but not bad for the fighting together with the stat and evasion. 60 card formats really will need to want both the fighting and the stats for 3 mana, otherwise this will never get used. For commander, similar story honestly. Maybe Red/Green/White equipment decks might use this, but not... hugely so.

Up next, Primordial Pachyderm!

Manmoth! Let's freaking go! Love this guy, he's so cool and fun! Green makes perfect sense. Maybe Red/Green if he was a legendary creature, but either way.

4 mana for a 4/4 is perfectly on rate. His abilities are:

Reach and trample, so he blocks fliers and runs over creatures with lesser toughness than his power. Makes sense, Manmoth is HUGE. He can absolutely swat a few birds and run over some people.

When he enters, you gain 2 life. Simple, gives you a little bit of health when he enters.

Very simple, very straightforward and very alright for a common. This won't see any play in 60 card formats, you have better and cheaper ways to gain more life. For commander, maybe in Elephant kindred? Otherwise... nah.

Let's get to Ragamuffin Raptor!

5 mana for a 4/3 is pretty badly behind rate, especially since 3 toughness is this awkward break point. Its ability is that when this creature enters, return to one target creature or Food card from your graveyard to your hand. This can potentially give you anything from your graveyard back, though only to hand on not to the battlefield. Still, recursion is recursion and recursion is quite good.

Not a bad common, but 5 mana is too much for 60 card formats, especially since it doesn't return to the battlefield. For commander... maybe for Dinosaur kindred. That's the biggest maybe.

Let's talk about Tenderize!

+1 to the card names I figured would've already be used for MTG.

2 mana for a instant that makes target creature you control deal damage to its power to target creature an opponent controls. A standard bite spell. This will see play where bite spells see play, which isn't a lot since they are conditional based on a creature's power.

Last up for Green: Zoo Escapees!

...Huh. A rhino and a warthog escaping the zoo. A rhino and a warthog... I'm sure this doesn't have any implications to any characters we know of in the TMNT franchise. Anyway!

2 mana for a 2/2 is perfectly on rate. Their ability is that whenever this creature leaves the battlefield, create a Mutagen token. Neat, so you can trade with this or leave it up for block and gain benefit from it. Very neat. Not good enough to see play anywhere, though. If disappear decks become a thing, maybe they want this specifically, but until then... nope.

Multicolor is up next with the EPF Point Squad!

Oh crap, it's the ops! Run! For real though, Red/White seems odd. I get for the sake of the limited environment that they have to fit somewhere, but they strike me more White/Black. Oh well, Red/White can also work.

3 mana for a 2/1 is very much behind rate. They get that whenever another creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. So it can grow. Mainly good for token strategies, though does give you just a bit more benefit from playing any creatures. Neat. Not good enough to be used anywhere though. You have better cards than this to use.

Up next, Foot Ninjas!

6 mana for a 5/5 is behind rate, though not hugely so. However, you can also sneak them in for 4, which makes them above rate! Their ability is that whenever this creature enters, you gain 3 life. Neat. Not good enough for anything other than Limited, though. This would have to fit specifically in that niche of pushing through damage with sneak to be worth it anywhere other than Limited.

We're flying through these cards, but let's get to Mechanized Ninja Cavalry!

A Foot ninja riding a giant mouser is fantasically silly. Love that!

2 mana for a 1/1 is definitely behind rate, however, its ability is that whenever this enters, create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token. So it is a 2 mana for 2/2 of stats across 2 bodies, way better!

This might actually pop up in artifact focused decks, though I wouldn't expect this to be some huge player in those decks. 2 artifacts are nice, but not that nice. Still, 2 artifacts for the price of 1 might actually make this good enough to consider for 60 card formats. In commander it is harder, since you have to be in Red/White at least to make it work while a lot of artifact decks want to be in Blue, so you'd probably be in Red/White/Blue.

Up next, Mouser Mark III!

2 mana for 2/3 is above rate, cool! However, its ability is that it can't attack unless you control another artifact, so that profile is only defensive until you get more artifacts on the field. That's not a huge issue for Blue/Red, but something to keep in mind.

Very okay common that might see play in artifact decks for any format because it is cheap to cast.

Last for Multicolor, let's talk about Slithering Cryptid!

Oh hey, The Slithery from the comics! Cool pull :O

3 mana for a 2/3 is ever so slightly behind rate, but not awfully so. Its ability is that when it enters, create a Mutagen token. Okay. Limited card only, basically, since Green/Blue is Mutants and Mutagen as its archetype. For other formats... this has to hit some very specific niche I can't currently think of to be the thing you want to put in. Or you just really like The Slithery from the comic. Fair enough in that case.

Up next, we got 2 colorless cards. First up: Henchbots!

4 mana for a 2/3 is very much behind rate, though that's not uncommon for colorless. Their ability is that when this enters, exile target tapped creature an opponent controls until this creature leaves the battlefield. So this only targets tapped creatures and isn't permanent removal. This is way worse than what White usually gets, but use this as form of removal in Limited if you need it, because this will work. For non-Limited... if you need removal, on a body, that happens to be an artifact? Yeah, this card does hit that. Otherwise, nah.

Last, but not least: Skateboard!

1 mana for an equipment that reads:

When this Equipment enters, tap target permanent. Any permanent is crazy good. This can tap lands from your opponents if you really need them to be tapped (though keep in mind that they can tap them in response to still get the mana), it can tap creatures so they can't block, this can tap any permanent. Really good already.

Equipped creature has +1/+0 and has haste, so they can attack and tap themselves immediately. Also very good to get haste with. The combat buff is alright, but you're not really looking for that.

Equip for 1. You will absolutely pay this every so often to be able to make your creature immediately able to tap itself or attack.

Very good equipment. This will absolutely see some amount of play in both 60 card formats and commander. In 60 card formats, it can make your opponents have to take action or risk you just kind of winning because this comes in with the tap. In commander, it makes equipment commanders more consistent and still shut down something from your opponents. You might even just see this in artifact decks, this is good enough to just run for the sake of it.

I am glad to see that they are doing all of the Four Winds and White makes sense for Azrael, seeing as she feels very angelic and all that!

4 mana for a 2/4 is definitely behind rate, though not awfully so. Her abilities are:

Flying and vigilance, so she is hard to block and she doesn't tap to attack, so she doesn't leave your board open. Good combination of keywords.

Whenever another creature you control enters, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. So if you have consistent-ish token generations, she can get some big power. Not super great, though, since it is just temporary power, but can still be good to push through damage.

A perfectly fine common, but this won't see much play anywhere. 4 mana for to do nothing for the first turn is rough. And in commander, if you really want a flying attacker for your token decks, you have better options. Unfortunate, but that tends to be the fate of commons if they don't do anything exceptional.

Next up, Pete! Or well, Featherbrained Filcher!

Good to see Pete in the set, even if he's not a legendary. He'd definitely not be White, though, but I suppose flying isn't common in Green, which is where he mostly feels fitting. Could also be argued for Red, but he doesn't feel too... impulsive.

1 mana for a 0/2 is on rate, even though it is a funny one. His abilities are:

Flying, because pigeon. That's fair enough and allows this to be a good flying blocker.

When this creature leaves the battlefield, create a Food token. So when this dies to blocking a big flyer or gets bounced, you can get Food. Neat, especially if you also have some amount of artifact synergies.

1 mana creatures are always at least worth considering and this one... isn't too bad. For 60 card formats, you might see this pop up for artifact decks since you get a Food token artifact when it leaves the battlefield in some ways. It is much of the same story for commander, where it is also additionally really good with blink commanders to get multiple Food tokens. Pair that up with artifact synergies or synergies that care about tokens entering and that's... not too shabby. Pretty solid uncommon.

Up next, Grounded for Life!

This is an extremely common effect for sets of removal that's only great if it targets a target creature. 5 mana to destroy target creature is awful, but 2 mana to destroy one is pretty good. Not much to say here, this might will probably not see play over any other of these effects that already exist, especially since it is also not flexible.

Quickly moving on to Hamato Guardian Stance!

1 mana for an instant that gives target creature +1/+3 and flying until end of turn and allows you to scry 1. Very solid combat trick.

This will absolutely see play in 60 card formats and in commander will see play if you have a commander that cares about single target effects and can repeat this effect via copying or recycling it. Being able to combat trick and get a little bit of card selection is just very solid.

Next up, High-Flying Ace!

Hey, Ace Duck also made it! Again, doesn't feel too fitting for White, but flying is most prevalent in White and Blue, so fair enough.

3 mana for a 2/3 is a little behind rate, but nothing too terrible. His abilities are:

Flying, same as before, hard to block and blocks other flyers.

For 4 mana, target creature without flying gains flying until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery. So you can give another one of your creatures flying. It doesn't specify creature you control, but because it is only at sorcery speed, there is no point unless you want to give someone a free flying blocker. Can be relevant if other effects are in play, but that can get a bit funky.

Overall, not a bad common. The ability to give something else flying can be huge to make your big creature way harder to block. For 60 card formats though... eh... 3 mana do nothing is rough and then needing to pump another 4 into it to get the main use case is very much not worth over just running better outright spells and/or creatures. For commander, potentially better, but still not fantastic. Maybe there is a very specific niche this hits of board states that really want flyers and also have tons of mana to pump into him, but that's very specific and I'm sure there are better cards than this regardless.

Up next... PLEASE HAVE AN UNCOMMON, I SWEAR TO GOD WOTC!

There is... just no way that Jennika, who has been so promently featured on so many arts, is just a common... right? Also, yeah, White makes sense. White/Red would've made more sense. That's... what her uncommon will be... RIGHT?

5 mana for a 3/3 is not great. However, her abilities are:

When she enters, create a 2/2 red Mutant creature token. So really, it is 5 mana for 5/5 stats, so it is about on rate instead of completely just behind. Neat. Plus, being on two bodies is just better than one.

Plainscycling for 2, so you can find a Plains card from your library, reveal it and shuffle by discarding this card from your hand. Keep in mind that it doesn't specify basic Plains, so this can get your powerful lands that also have Plains as their typing. Pretty good.

5 mana is A LOT and her ETB effect isn't good enough for the fact that if she gets removed that you still got value out of her. So in 60 card formats, I don't think so, unless she is just valuable enough from her Plainscycling that casting her is just a nice treat to have. For commander... let's get her as a commander out of the way: no. It saddens me to say that, but just plainly no. She doesn't do much, is expensive and isn't even all that powerful. At best, she could work with a Blink strategy to keep getting the Mutant creature tokens. Similarly, in the 99, that Blink strategy would be the main thing if you really need more bodies to be created. Otherwise, don't bother.

Next up: Leonardo, Big Brother!

3 mana for a 1/3 is definitely behind rate, though you can sneak it in for 1. His ability is that Leo gets +1/+0 for each other creature you control. So he becomes bigger with more creatures on the board. Makes him kind of compelling to drop him later in the game when something isn't blocked but you already have a relatively wide board state.

Pretty good common. This might see play in both 60 card formats and commander. For 60 card formats, it is cheap enough when snuck in and potentially lethal enough to be relevant. I don't think you should use this as your commander, but he is honestly not terrible as one. Just go into token generation, then randomly voltron someone to death. In the 99 of a token deck, he can definitely come in and punch someone hard.

Let's g- Leonardo's the leader in blue, does anything it takes to get his ninjas through~!

Wow, I'm sure happy that they made all of the uncommon main 4 turtles reference the 2012 theme song. I'm sure there will be no crash out with one of them. This time they actually committed to the bit, instead of what they did with "Leader's Talent", right? :)

1 mana for a 2/1 is a bit above rate, very nice! You can sneak him in for... 5 MANA?! What the heck? He better have a great payoff, then! His abilities are:

When Leo enters, if his sneak cost was paid, creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn. Oh. Yeah. That's... that's pretty good. So he is at minimum a 4/1 when snuck in (he does buff himself!) and when you have 3 other creatures on the field, he's actually mana neutral compared to power on the board he generates. Fair enough.

For 2 mana, Leo gains first strike until end of turn. Makes him able to strike first so that his low toughness doesn't matter. Neato.

This is a hard one to evaluate. For 1 mana, you get a slightly above rate creature who does nothing on turn 1. For 5 mana, you potentially get a game changing swing. I think he's gonna see some use in 60 card formats, but he will be somewhat niche. For commander though... eh. In the command zone he's too telegraphed and as a one of in the 99 of a go wide strategy deck he's a good amount better, but mostly as a semi-Overrun effect that you have better alternatives to.

Let's get to Make Your Move!

This is a reprint and... yeah, still pretty decent. 3 mana to have a flexible removal spell is not bad. Use this in any deck that needs some flexible removal. Certainly not the best flexible removal, but not bad by any means.

Quickly moving on to Mighty Mutanimals!

Old Hob's crew! Hell yes! White makes some amount sense, since they are loyal to each other and have some amount order in the group. Red/White is probably more accurate though.

4 mana for a 2/1 is quite bad, however. Its abilities are:

When this creature enters, create a 2/2 red Mutant creature token. So really, it is 4 mana for 4/3 stats, which is already a lot better!

Whenever another creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. This absolutely triggers from the token this thing creates, so you're actually getting 5/4 worth of stats on the field when you cast it, which is suddenly slightly above rate. Very nice!

Unironically, pretty good uncommon. Potentially still too slow for 60 card formats, though putting that much power on the board split across potentially 3 bodies (the main card, the token and the +1/+1 counter on a creature already on the field) really isn't bad. For commander, similar use case, though mainly to use in +1/+1 counter decks. For those, this could be pretty decent, especially if you have counter increasers or doublers on the field.

Last up for White, let's take a look at Quintessential Katana!

Similar to Hard-Won Jitte, the other turtles are also getting their weapons as equipment as well.

1 mana for an Equipment that says:

Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has "Whenever this creature deals combat damage, untap it and you gain 2 life." Works well with Leonardo, Cutting Edge and other lifegain pay off stuff. You do have to specifically deal combat damage to untap your creature (and gain life), so it's not quite psuedo Vigilance since your creature won't be untapped until after you know whether it died or not, but close enough.

Whenever a Ninja you control enters, you may attach this Equipment to it. Really works well with Leonardo, Cutting Edge, since he can be snuck in for 1 mana, get this equipment attached to him right away, hit for 2 damage, get life from his lifelink, grow because of that and then this trigger goes on the stack and untaps Leo and gains you more life, making Leo bigger again. Suddenly you have a 1 (technically 2, since you did pay for this equipment) mana 4/4 on the field. Very nice, though potentially a bit narrow since Ninjas aren't super common in White, though this set is changing this slightly.

Equip for 2 mana, which you almost never want to pay. Still, not the worst equip cost, so it can be worth it to pay it some times.

Honestly, quite a great little lifegain equipment here. Might even just see play in lifegain decks period, but definitely the style of lifegain decks that want creatures like Leonardo, Cutting Edge. In 60 card formats... equipment has never been good unless it is busted and this is a very fair equipment aside from the trick with Leo specifically, but maybe if lifegain decks become real. For commander, put it into your Cutting Edge Leo decks for sure. Other lifegain decks will also definitely be able to use this unless they are the more passive versions of decks. Anything else... maybe an equipment deck still digs this. It's not bad for psuedo Vigilance.

Now with Blue, we get to April, Reporter of the Weird!

3 mana for a 2/2 is a bit behind rate. Her ability is that whenever April deals combat damage to a player, draw that many cards, then discard a card. So assuming she doesn't get debuffed, if she connects, it is draw 2, discard 1. Not terrible.

However, she's only just very okay. 3 mana in 60 card formats is a lot and she doesn't do anything the turn she comes down. For commander... she's not bad if you are able to give her some form of evasion, ideally just straight up unblockable (which Blue is good at admittedly). Otherwise, you have better draw engines that are way harder to interact with. And as your commander... you also just have better draw engines in the command zone. Use her in the 99 of an even somewhat aggressive Blue(/+) deck.

Next up, Buzz Bots!

Huh. Mousers get to be Red and buzz bots Blue... I wonder what that could mean. Probably nothing.

2 mana for a 1/1 is behind rate, for sure. Its abilities are:

Flying and vigilance, so hard to block and doesn't tap to attack, which is especially helpful for this guy.

When this creature dies, draw a card. So you ideally poke people with this for a while, before they send a big flier and then you have this block that, die and replace itself in the form of a card draw.

Not bad for a common, but it does suffer from being a common. You won't be sad using this in Limited, but this won't see play anywhere else unless you can repeatedly sacrifice and reanimated it for value.

Next up, Crustacean Commando! Also known as Herman!

Let's go Herman! You definitely should've been White, though. It even would've worked since his "shell" is a trash container! You could've absolutely snuck up on someone!

2 mana for a 0/3 is only slightly behind rate. His ability is that when he enters, create a Mutagen token. So for 3 mana you get 1/4 worth of stats basically, which is still slightly behind rate, but I guess it can be spread out over 2 bodies. Not bad.

However, also just okay for a common. Similar story to buzz bots, you will mainly use this in Limited and be fine with it. However, because this is an ETB effect, flicker/blink decks in commander can use this to gain more value out of. Maybe you don't want Mutagen tokens specifically, but you care about how many artifacts on the table... food for thought.

Up next: Donatello, Turtle Techie!

4 mana for a 3/4 is slightly behind rate, but not terribly so. His ability is that when he enters, if you control an artifact, draw a card. Just kind of bad. Compared to Leo's common, this is disappointing. Just a replacement effect with a condition.

I'd be shocked if this sees play in 60 card formats over other cantrip like effects, but maybe if the body is really needed. In commander... don't. Don't run this as your commander or in the 99. You can use blink effects on this for repeated value, but you have much easier targets for that. This is just not worth it.

Luckily, we have another Donnie: Donatello, Way with Machines!

Donatello is a fellow, has a way with machines~! ...Still confused how he's not THE fellow, but whatever. Still 2012 theme song reference, hell yeah. Now only Mikey has to follow through... please god-

3 mana for a 1/2 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

Flying, so he is hard to block. Cool.

Whenever an artifact you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on Donatello. So he works well with either mass amount of token artifact creators or steady token artifact creators, alongside just... artifacts in general. Cool!

Pretty decent. It's not terribly exciting, but it can work. For 60 card formats though, probably too slow and doesn't do anything the turn it comes down. For commander, better, but still not fantastic. I would advise against running this as your commander, unless you want to go mono Blue equipment... which does sound kind of cool. In the 99 of an artifact deck though, this can suddenly become a problem someone has to deal with because it becomes accidentally bigger.

Next up: Mind Transfer Protocol!

Ah, when Donatello's consciousness got transferred into Metalhead for a while. Neat. Also, kind of brutal art, love that.

3 mana for an instant that reads:

Until end of turn, target artifact or creature becomes an artifact creature with base power and toughness 4/5. This is better on artifacts, since that makes it so you essentially get 4/5 stats out of it, while for creatures it just replaces their currently existing stats.

Draw a card, so this replaces itself. Always good.

Decent, can definitely be used to push more damage. For 60 card formats, that is exactly what you'd want this for. For commander, you can also do that, but it is significantly less strong. Could be potentially interesting with vehicles though to animate them.

Let's go to Ray Fillet, Man Ray!

Man Ray! Blue actually makes sense for him, so fair enough!

4 mana for a 3/3 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

Flying, so hard to block. Neat.

When he enters, create a Mutagen token. So really, this is more 5 mana for a 4/4 worth of stats across potentially 2 bodies. Still behind rate, but it's not bad.

2 mana and removing a +1/+1 counter from a creature I control: draw a card. Neat, but you have better (and cheaper) ways to draw cards, especially in Blue.

Just alright. At best, this goes in somewhat aggressive artifact decks that really want both a flying body and the Mutagen token for whatever reason. In 60 card formats, that's probably too slow. In commander, that's alright. Not great as a commander, though.

Next up: Sewer-veillance Cam!

1 mana for an artifact with the following abilities:

Flash, so you cast this at instant speed. Neat.

When this artifact enters of leaves the battlefield you may tap or untap target creature. Alright, that's pretty strong.

For 4 mana and sacrificing this artifact: draw two cards. Very okay.

Hmmm... so this is a common. The first and last lines of text make this just okay. That second line of text is SUPER interesting. Because if you can blink this, you can that ability twice. I'm sure that even just goes infinite with something. That's incredibly strong for a common. However, if you are playing this "as intended," this is just okay. 5 mana for a draw 2 and tapping and/or untapping 2 creatures is just alright. Can be clutch for creating a blocker at instant speed or removing an attacker from someone else's combat phase is not irrelevant. All of that goes for both 60 card formats and commander.

Up next: Stockman, Mad Fly-entist!

Stockman is absolutely Blue, yeah. No doubt about that.

5 mana for a 3/4 is definitely behind rate. His abilities are:

Flying, so he's hard to block. Neat.

When Stockman enters, draw a card, then discard a card. So you get to see an extra card and put something in your graveyard. That is... pretty good, but still card negative for your hand.

Islandcycling for 2, so you can find your Island cards with him similar to how Jennika finds you Plains. Pretty good.

This one is a little tough to rate. On the one hand, card selection is good and being able to crunch this away if needed is not irrelevant. However, on the other hand... you are looking at 5 mana to cast this and his ETB isn't that good. It is a common, though, so it's not bad. Probably too slow in 60 card formats and not efficient enough in commander. Definitely, absolutely, don't use this as your commander. This is not good enough to be your commander.

Last for Blue, let's meet some Utrom Scientists!

Blue makes sense for smart people, so hell yeah.

3 mana for a 2/2 is behind rate. Their ability is that when they enter, tap up to one target creature and put a stun counter on it. Neat enough, essentially a removal spell on a body. For a common, this really isn't bad, but it is also just not an uncomon effect to see on creatures. It's just alright.

You might see this see some play in artifact focused decks in 60 card formats, but even then, not terribly so. For commander... no. You would have to blink it to get the most out of it and even then, at some point you gotta ask if you truly hate the people you play with. I guess this can also hang in just artifact focused decks, but this isn't doing much.

Last, but not least, Black with a singular card: Shredder, Unrelenting!

Black is absolutely Shredder's color. While he does have some sense of hierarchy within the Foot Clan, he's certainly not about order and stuff. He wants to dominate and be at the top. Ambition and pragmatism is the name of the game here. Also, drip, because holy hell is Shredder's outfit so cool. Credit to Ryan Pancoast for the art!

5 mana for a 6/4 is entirely on rate. You can also sneak him in for 4 mana and have him be above rate, so very very nice. His abilities are:

Deathtouch, so every other creature he comes into contact with dies. Give him something like trample or first strike and suddenly it becomes very hard to block him.

Whenever Shredder enters or attacks, another target creature you control gains deathtouch until end of turn. So another target creature you control (ideally one that is attack, but hey, I don't touch) also makes every creature it comes into contact with die. Very cool. Also, keep in mind that with sneak, you don't get this trigger twice. Shredder enters tapped and attacking while attack triggers specifically care about the act of being declared an attacker, not that it is attacking. I know this is very weird, but still good to know.

Quite a solid uncommon. This isn't the scariest or most impressive uncommon legendary in the set, but still not bad. For 60 card formats, he might be too slow, but he could also work as a finisher of some sort. Make your opponent have to block everything you throw at them or otherwise eat 6 damage off the bat and lose whatever blockers you put in front of another creature. For commander, similar story and I do think he works nicely in aggressive Black(/+) decks, specifically stuff like Ninjas where blocking becomes very scary when you can give things deathtouch. As your commander... meh. He's expensive and he doesn't flip tables around so bad. I think it can work, but you'd need to do the heavier lifting with the deck.

I'm so happy that she got put in the set! I was just a little scared that she would get left out! White makes... some sense, but it feels more made because she's albino. She seems more like a Green character from the little I've read of her, honestly, but I suppose it's fine either way.

2 mana for a 2/1 is a little behind rate. Her abilities is that whenever another creature you control enters, choose one that hasn't been chosen this turn:

Put a +1/+1 counter on Lita, so she can become big and strong! ...Again feels like a Green ability.

Create a Food token, so Lita has food! Because the new friend brought it!

Scry 1, so... you get more information? She is fast a nimble, so fair enough.

So if you can somehow create 3 tokens at a turn, you can trigger all 3 abilities every turn. Potentially even on your opponent's turn. For 60 card formats... MAYBE. I want it to be true, but she is a 2 mana do nothing so it is a little rough. It is however only 2 mana... I'm definitely coping on this being decent. For commander, yeah. This is good for decks that want +1/+1 counters and/or token generation, like the Turtle Power! commander deck. Put her in similar decks. As your commander, similar idea, just in mono White.

Next up, a green card: Mono Lise, Science Geek!

Let's goooo, Mona Lisa! Green makes sense, though she also kind of reads White. Funny, Lita and Mona Lisa feel like they should've swapped, but oh well.

3 mana for a 1/3 is behind rate, but... you'll see. Her abilities are:

Reach, so she can block fliers, probably because of her long tail. Neat!

Tap her to add X mana of any one color, where X is Mona Lisa's power. So as she grows bigger, she adds more mana, but already goes for 1 mana just in general unless she gets debuffed.

For 60 card formats, no. 3 mana for a mana dork that you might pump to be able to produce 2 or 3 mana... it's just not good enough and it will get absolutely murdered in a lot of different ways, so... no. For commander? Let's start in the command zone, she's... very okay. It's never bad to have mana generation available. She is also very shootable though, so bring protection. In the 99 of a counters deck though? Or in a mana dork matters deck? She's gonna go bonkers the second you are able to even just pump her to 3 or 4 power and that will happen. Plus, if nothing else, she can be a not irrelevant flying blocker.

Now we go to multicolored for a card: Lessons from Life!

Let's first talk about the art: Magic The Gathering is canon to TMNT! I love that so much! Credits to Kevin Sidharta for this amazing piece!

4 mana for a sorcery to draw 3 cards and you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped. This is quite good.

For 60 card formats... actually maybe. Drawing 3 cards and putting a land into play is very strong, even if that land comes in tapped. 4 mana is a lot, but this is the type of effect that might be good enough to see play in 60 card formats. For commander... kind of just strictly better Harmonize. Not quite, since Harmonize is mono colored. But this is quite good and flexible. Especially powerful in Landfall decks where you can draw cards and trigger your landfall an extra time.

Up next: Everything Pizza!

2 mana for Food artifact that reads:

When this artifact enters, search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. So a basic land fetcher. Already has value at 2 mana, even if it's not amazing for it.

7 total mana, tapping this artifact and sacrificing it: target player gains 3 life and draws a card. Each of your opponents discards a card. This artifact deals 3 damage to any target. Put three +1/+1 counters on up to one target creature. That's a bunch of effects and even weirdly some group hug stuff you could do with that first one. However, that is 7 mana on top of the two you already spent to cast it and it is all 5 colors, so the use case of this is narrow.

And that's just kind of my review of that card in a nutshell. For 2 mana to get a basic land, it's not awful, especially if you are doing artifact stuff anyway and just need another artifact to be on the battlefield. However, that last ability is so specific and while the pay off is big, it's not... that big. It's just moderately big. This isn't a "I win the game" button and that's just kind of the thing that kills the activated ability. For 60 card formats, you have better ways to search lands. For commander, that activated ability means it can only go in 5 color decks, so unless you're doing 5 color artifacts, I wouldn't even look at this card. Even if you are, you have better ways to do most of this stuff.

Next up another reprint with Escape Tunnel!

Very simple, you either sacrifice this land to find a basic land in your library to put into play tapped and shuffle or a target creature with power 2 or less can't be blocked this turn. This is strictly better than Evolving Wilds and even then, it's not great. The main reason to use this is to have the option to make a small creature unblockable before you buff the crap out of it, since the unblockable is already on them by the time you buff them. However, that's a niche scenario that puts you behind a land when you do it, since you will lose using this land to get a basic land and stay on mana curve. This will not see play in either 60 card formats or commander. If you really are in 4+ colors, maybe you use this in commander, but even then you can get not terribly expensive cards that are better for mana fixing like the 3 colored uncommon lands from Tarkir: Dragonstorm that are like 20 cents.

Last up, Turtle Lair!

A Land that reads:

Tap to add colorless. Neat, so it at least provides mana. Also comes in untapped, so that's pretty good.

Tap to add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a Ninja or Turtle spell. Not bad for Ninja or Turtle kindred decks, since it means you can almost always tap it for colored mana.

3 mana and tap it: Target Ninja or Turtle can't be blocked this turn. Again, nice for Ninja or Turtle kindred decks, but mainly for Ninjas with their sneak. 3 mana is also below rate for this effect on a land, but to be fair, it better be for how narrow it is in terms of creature types.

Solid land. Might see play in Ninja and/or Turtle kindred decks. If those decks pop up, you will see this. If they don't, you won't. Kind of as simple as that for this one, haha!