Counters and Lifegain With Leonardo, Cutting Edge in Commander

Leonardo, Cutting Edge | Art by Chris Seaman

Hello, fellow Commander players and mono-white fanatics. Magic: The Gathering's latest Universes Beyond set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), introduces Magic players to beloved characters from TMNT-related comics, animated series, and other media.

If you're around my age, you may recall playing a TMNT video game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or seeing Vanilla Ice in 1991's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

As with previous Universes Beyond sets, TMNT includes multiple cards for important characters. For instance, Leonardo is depicted on Leonardo, Big Brother, Leonardo, Leader in Blue, Leonardo, Sewer Samurai, and other white cards.

The particular Leonardo card I'd like to highlight today is Leonardo, Cutting Edge. Among all of TMNT's rare and mythic rare cards possessing sneak, Leonardo, Cutting Edge is the only one with a sneak cost of one mana. Also, Leonardo, Cutting Edge's abilities synergize well with lifegain effects.

Let's further explore the potential of Leonardo, Cutting Edge leading a lifegain-themed deck in Commander.

What Does Leonardo, Cutting Edge Do?

Leonardo, Cutting Edge is essentially an upgraded Ajani's Pridemate. Two mana nets you a 1/1 Mutant Ninja Turtle with lifelink that receives a +1/+1 counter whenever you gain life.

As a bonus, you can sneak in Leonardo for from your hand or the command zone. Moreover, Lifecreed Duo is a great early-game sneak enabler. Note that sneaking Leonardo is an alternative casting cost subject to any applicable commander tax.

Leonardo, Cutting Edge has some competition as a lifegain-centric commander. One such competitor is Aerith Gainsborough. Aerith differs from Leonardo in stats, typing, casting cost, and a death-triggering ability. Placing multiple +1/+1 counters on each legendary creature you control can be a value play or finishing move. However, the upside of Aerith Gainsborough's +1/+1 counters ability is contingent on perishing and the number of legendary creatures you control.

Another possible replacement for Leonardo, Cutting Edge is MJ, Rising Star. Although MJ costs three mana, it trades lifelink for vigilance and enters as a 2/3. Vigilance is relevant as MJ, Rising Star can grow into a sizable threat for attacking and blocking in subsequent turns. She may shine bright on the battlefield, but Leonardo's lower casting cost and sneak ability are probably more appealing.

Key Cards for Leonardo, Cutting Edge

Soul Sisters

What's a lifegain-themed deck without Soul Sisters? You can give tons of +1/+1 counters to Leonardo, Ajani's Pridemate, and other creatures from the abilities of Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, and Auriok Champion.

There are also Soul Sisters creatures that do more than gain life. Guide of Souls generates energy to grant your creatures +1/+1 counters and the ability to fly. Although mana-intensive, Distinguished Conjurer's activated ability flickers a creature you control. I'm also a fan of Suture Priest's life-draining effect.

Leonardo, Sewer Samurai and Leonardo's Technique help resurrect Soul Sisters creatures that sadly enter your graveyard.

In addition to creatures, you have access to Soul Sister artifacts and enchantments. Case of the Uneaten Feast and Ajani's Welcome are probably familiar. Then there's the lifegain abilities for Authority of the Consuls, Profane Memento, and Angel's Feather, which can also be triggered by opponents' creatures.

Your plethora of Soul Sisters cards should keep Leonardo, Cutting Edge well-supplied with +1/+1 counters.

Card Draw

White isn't known as the best color for drawing cards. Nevertheless, the 99 of Leonardo, Cutting Edge contains multiple sources of recurring card draw.

Enduring Innocence and Tocasia's Welcome give you an extra card when most of your creatures enter the battlefield. On the flip side, your opponents' actions can turn Trouble in Pairs and Esper Sentinel into incredible card-drawing machines.

Several card-drawing white cards take a little more work to pay off. Haliya, Guided by Light and The Gaffer need you to gain three life in a turn, while Exemplar of Light requires a +1/+1 counter.

Your deck should trigger plenty of card-drawing abilities merely by casting spells and gaining life from Soul Sister cards.

Evasion

Even though Leonardo, Aerith Gainsborough, and Qala, Ajani's Pridemate can become gigantic threats, they are blockable in combat. Thus, you'll want a few ways to give them evasive maneuvers.

I previously mentioned Guide of Souls' ability to grant flying, though it's not consistently available. Therefore, it's important to include a few Equipment cards such as Whispersilk Cloak and Brotherhood Regalia. Also, Mother of Runes' protection can slip a creature through mono-colored blockers.

Surprisingly, three non-basic lands in the 99 make a creature unblockable. Rogue's Passage and Access Tunnel are known entities, but TMNT's Turtle Lair is a recent member of the unblockable land club. Although Turtle Lair only provides unblockability to Turtles and Ninjas, it can target Leonardo Cutting Edge and Leonardo, Sewer Samurai.

Unblockability improves Leonardo's chances of dealing commander damage to opponents, as do other abilities.

Power Matrix is an artifact that gives a creature +1/+1, flying, first strike, and trample until the end of a turn. Bennie Smith taught me the potency of Power Matrix first-hand by flying Jaws, Relentless Predator over a battlefield of opposing creatures.

Best of all, Power Matrix is a reusable source of evasive abilities. Though it doesn't provide double strike, you can solve this issue with Urdnan, Dromoka Warrior's attack trigger.

How Does Leonardo, Cutting Edge Win?

Commander Damage

I've already alluded to the deck's strategy of dealing commander damage with Leonardo, Cutting Edge. Lifegain cards increase Leonardo's power and toughness, while your evasive cards like Brotherhood Regalia and Turtle Lair send it through blockers. If your opponents try to remove Leonardo, Flawless Maneuver and Flare of Fortitude can protect it.

In case you fail to draw protection, or you can't win a game with commander damage, there are a few other paths to victory.

Finishers

You have several high-flying creatures to drop opponents' life totals to zero. Elenda's Hierophant's abilities generate +1/+1 counters and leave behind creature tokens, making it dangerous. Moreover, Voice of the Blessed and Exemplar of Light enter the battlefield as small creatures with high potential.

Notably, Recruiter of the Guard fetches Elenda's Hierophant or Voice of the Blessed from your library when you're ready to cast a finisher.

Another flying finisher worth your attention is Archangel of Thune. Instead of receiving +1/+1 counters from gaining life, it bestows +1/+1 counters to all of your creatures! Best of all, it triggers its own ability when dealing combat damage.

You can even supercharge +1/+1 counter distribution by having both Archangel of Thune and Leader's Talent under your control.

Minwu, White Mage may seem like an odd inclusion, but I assure you it's not a mistake. Similar to Archangel of Thune, gaining life triggers Minwu, White Mage's ability to dole out +1/+1 counters to Clerics you control. Indeed, Leonardo, Cutting Edge, Exemplar of Light, and Archangel of Thune aren't Clerics. However, there are 11 other Clerics in the deck list, including Elenda's Hierophant, Voice of the Blessed, and Aerith Gainsborough.

Alternative Win Conditions

When attacking with enormous creatures won't win the game, you can turn to alternative win conditions. An obvious one is Test of Endurance. Reaching 50 life is the easiest requirement to win with Test of Endurance. Rather, the real issue is keeping your opponents from destroying Test of Endurance before your next upkeep. The same problem applies to Felidar Sovereign, which has a lower life total requirement.

Last but not least is the formidable Aetherflux Reservoir. Its first ability is fantastic for triggering your creatures' lifegain abilities. In addition, Reservoir's second ability can deal lethal damage to an opponent when your life total gets above 50.

However, I'll leave you with one warning about Aetherflux Reservoir: playing it may shift your opponents' aggression solely to you.

Leonardo, Cutting Edge Commander Deck List