Heroes in a Half ShellHeroes in a Half Shell | Art by Victor Maury

Are you enjoying Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) ? I certainly am! It's cool to see characters from my childhood make their way into my Commander decks, and it's always interesting to see how Wizards of the Coast adapts an external property to Magic's game system.

There's a lot to love about TMNT, so why not play with a new commander that lets us include all of the coolest Mutant, Ninja, and Turtle cards from the set in our 99?

I'm here today to talk about the Turtle Power! precon face commander: Heroes in a Half ShellHeroes in a Half Shell! Yes, the precon was already pretty strong. It had a solid mana base, some really interesting alternate commanders, and great new cards like Coin of MasteryCoin of Mastery. But, I found Turtle Power! to be a bit lacking. The deckbuilders at Wizards of the Coast chose to include a ton of new cards, which benefits the Commander player base as a whole, but didn't choose to maximize the face commander's power.

In today's article, I'll walk you through a deck that aims to make nearly all of its creatures into Mutants, Ninjas, and/or Turtles before swinging in for a combat-based victory. We'll dive deeper into typal themes, include some +1/+1 counter synergies, and create a tuned 99 for Heroes in a Half ShellHeroes in a Half Shell.

Let's get brewing!

What Does Heroes in a Half ShellHeroes in a Half Shell Do?

Let's read over this commander. For , we get a 5/5 Mutant Ninja Turtle with vigilance, menace, trample, and haste. That passes the "Vanilla Test" already, but there's a lot more to this legend.

Whenever one or more Mutants, Ninjas, and/or Turtles we control connect with an opponent in combat, we get to put a +1/+1 counter on each of those creatures and draw a card. That ability provides escalating board pressure and a steady stream of card advantage, both of which will prove useful as we move to close out the game.

There are 356 creatures in Magic that will help trigger our commander's ability. This number has, of course, been bolstered heavily by Lorwyn Eclipsed's changelings and TMNT's M's, N's and T's. We'll select the best of the bunch, load them up with +1/+1 counters, and beat our opponents down in just a few combat steps.

I'll also include synergy pieces that don't have all the creature types we care about, because I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to make sure that we're triggering Heroes in a Half Shell no matter what!

Key Cards for Heroes in a Half ShellHeroes in a Half Shell

Over the course of Commander's history, we've seen some strong creatures that just so happen to have the perfect type line for this deck.

Chief among them is Evolution WitnessEvolution Witness, which can bring back almost anything from the graveyard once we start loading it up with +1/+1 counters. This creature may not seem like the most fearsome attacker available, but its adapt ability makes it tricky to block.

I'm also a big fan of Rampaging Yao GuaiRampaging Yao Guai, a pseudo-wipe for our opponents' artifacts and enchantments that just so happens to be stapled to a Bear Mutant. This creature can load itself up with +1/+1 counters, meaning it's a big threat from the moment it hits the battlefield. I've included Simic ManipulatorSimic Manipulator, a sneaky way to steal our opponents' best creatures. It may take a while for this Mutant Wizard to get going, but it demands our Commander pod's attention as soon as its got a few counters on it.

With all the counters we're putting onto our creatures, two other Fallout cards can really shine. Lumbering MegaslothLumbering Megasloth can be a hulking 8/8 for just , and it threatens to get even larger once it connects in combat. Then, Agent Frank HorriganAgent Frank Horrigan can amplify our creatures significantly, turning a mid-size board into a cadre of must-answer threats. Both of these creatures are big Mutants with trample, meaning they work extremely well with our commander's ability.

Speaking of big Mutants, I've also included Indoraptor, the Perfect HybridIndoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid. If we cast this Dinosaur after a successful combat step, we can pay for a huge, evasive creature that our opponents really don't want to block. I typically don't love giving my opponents choices in a Commander game, but here our friends face two horrible options: get smacked in the face by a big Mutant or sacrifice a creature.

The random nature of this card's ability should lead to some fun gameplay scenarios.

There's a whole bunch of cards that synergize with either Mutants, Ninjas, or Turtles (but not all three). Each of these creature types has shown up in Magic's history somewhere, so let's see what cool game pieces we can dig up.

For some extra ramp, we've got Prosperous ThiefProsperous Thief. This Human Ninja can provide a ton of TreasureTreasure tokens for the low cost of just . Given the return on investment this creature usually provides, I don't mind paying the full if I have to.

Then, for some Turtle typal tomfoolery, there's Ambling StormshellAmbling Stormshell. This creature seems awkward, but we've got enough Turtles and changelings to make this five-drop a reasonable value engine. Finally, I've got to spotlight Titan of LittjaraTitan of Littjara. This Illusion can draw us upwards of five cards per turn, even with a somewhat middling board state, making it a great curve-topper for this deck.

You may be wondering how we're knitting together all of these disparate creature types. It'd be quite difficult to maximize the value of synergy pieces for Mutants, Ninjas, and Turtles all at once, no? Well, that's where type-changing effects come in! The best version of this sort of card that we've got access to is Leyline of TransformationLeyline of Transformation (but Arcane AdaptationArcane Adaptation and Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus are great too). With a type-changing effect active, we can cast extra spells from the top of our deck with RealmwalkerRealmwalker, protect our whole board with And They Shall Know No FearAnd They Shall Know No Fear, and (most importantly) get extra triggers from Heroes in a Half Shell.

Maskwood Nexus and company let us tie together disparate creatures and themes, turning our deck from a collection of isolated value engines into a well-oiled machine. Type-changing effects that provide other benefits, like Jenova, Ancient CalamityJenova, Ancient Calamity, and other changelings, like Unsettled MarinerUnsettled Mariner, are the icing on the cake. These cards are what makes this deck hum.

How Does This Deck Win?

Once we've got a board full of Mutants, Ninjas, and Turtles, how do we actually close out games? Our commander's color identity means we've got access to all the best win conditions in the format, but I've tried to stay on theme here.

We can ensure that our creatures, which will be suited up with plenty of +1/+1 counters, deal extra damage with Uncivil UnrestUncivil Unrest or just become unreasonably large with Cursed WombatCursed Wombat. We can also give those creatures evasion, ensuring they punch through with Drix FatemakerDrix Fatemaker or Herald of Secret StreamsHerald of Secret Streams.

If we've got excess mana laying around, we can even turn that into a win with a well-timed activation of Mirror EntityMirror Entity. There's no shortage of combat-based wins in this list.

Finally, if all else fails, I've included Simic AscendancySimic Ascendancy. We just need to connect with our opponents in combat a few times for this card to hand the game to us on a silver platter! Simic Ascendancy is a neat alternative win condition, and it can turn something as simple as a Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast into a terrifying clock for our opponents.

Heroes in a Half Shell Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Now that we've gotten past all the fun stuff that this deck has to offer, I feel that it's time to consider what TMNT's design says about the current state of Magic. This is the second Universes Beyond set in a row where we've seen a five-color commander that ties together all of the set's protagonist cards. Last time, it was Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man. This time, it's Heroes in a Half Shell.

Unfortunately, both of these commanders lack substance. They don't add much of interest to the decks they helm, providing some generic combat-focused buffs. While combat is fun, and it's the way that most Commander games are won, I'd like to see a bit more innovation with these cards. Admittedly, it's difficult to create five-color commanders that have interesting build paths, but Wizards has done it before! Najeela, the Blade-BlossomNajeela, the Blade-Blossom and Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme are two great examples.

The question arises, though: Are these rainbow commanders providing value to the format as a whole? Yes, it's cool to have one commander that allows you to play every single character that you like from a given IP in one deck. But we've already got a commander that lets you do that: Morophon, the BoundlessMorophon, the Boundless. While variety is the spice of life, and I don't mind having these cards added to our format's card pool, I'm left wondering if Cosmic Spider-Man and Heroes in a Half Shell are (if you'll pardon the pun) shells of what they could have been.

I would have loved to see some more spice added to these cards.

Maybe a different five color Spider-Man commander could have referenced Giant SpiderGiant Spider by giving each of our creatures +2/+4 and reach as an anthem on a tap ability. Maybe a different five-color TMNT commander could have riffed on Tortoise FormationTortoise Formation! I'm not a Magic designer, but I would have loved to see more innovation on these cards.

Have you built either of these five-color commanders in a unique way? I'm always on the lookout for interesting builds of... not-so-interesting commanders, so please do let me know in the comments below. I'll see you all next week for another article!