Ravenous RobotsRavenous Robots | Art by Kevin Sidharta

Welcome to another set review for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the upcoming Universes Beyond expansion for Magic: The Gathering. In this article we're looking at the best new nonlegendary creatures from both the main set and the precon.

This is a smaller set, and, as with most UB sets, most of the creatures are legendary. So we don't have a lot of creatures to go over here. There are only nine new nonlegendary creatures at rare in the main set and from the precon. And of the roughly 40 new nonlegendary creature cards at lower rarities, many are wholly uninteresting or reworks of cards with effects we've seen many times before. And some are just plain bad. That leaves us with considerably fewer options in this set.

So, without further ado, let's discuss the best nonlegendary creatures in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Triceraton CommanderTriceraton Commander

I am among the people who, unblinded by the active cynicism against this set, believe that Triceraton CommanderTriceraton Commander would be great in a Dinosaur-typal deck. The creature is an army-in-a-can-type card that buffs Dinosaurs of all backgrounds, not just those from Dimension X or New York City or wherever.

Arguably, beyond the triggered ability on entry, Triceraton Commander is the weakest link in its own strategy, since it doesn't buff itself.

Commanders that would behoove themselves running this creature include Pantlaza, Sun-FavoredPantlaza, Sun-Favored, Gishath, Sun's AvatarGishath, Sun's Avatar, both of which are great Dinosaur typal picks, and Morophon, the BoundlessMorophon, the Boundless, who just thrives off of typal buffs.

South Wind AvatarSouth Wind Avatar

Unlike its northern cousinnorthern cousin, South Wind AvatarSouth Wind Avatar is fully playable to the extent of all of its abilities in Commander. Sure, a mana value of four is pretty steep for what ultimately results in an Aristocrats card with a ton of different variants. And sure, Blood ArtistBlood Artist, Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat, and many others cost half of this one's cost. But as far as the underutilized four-drop slot for 'Crats creatures goes, South Wind Avatar isn't actually too shabby.

It gains you a lot more life, for one thing, and any redundancy with Dina, Soul SteeperDina, Soul Steeper (and with fewer colors!) seems great to me.

This card will go absolutely haywire within decks piloted by commanders like Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain and the aforementioned Dina, Soul SteeperDina, Soul Steeper, and even Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER can find a home for this one.

Electric SeaweedElectric Seaweed

Next is a card from Turtle Power!, the preconstructed Commander deck releasing alongside the main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set. Electric SeaweedElectric Seaweed is a strange card, to be quite frank, but it's also extremely potent.

Players of the now-retro video game for Nintendo will have traumatic flashbacks to one particular level in which this seaweed features. Wizards nailed the feeling on the head here, though, while also making something similar to Massacre GirlMassacre Girl, quite possibly the main idea behind the design.

This card slots nicely into Torbran, Thane of Red FellTorbran, Thane of Red Fell decks, as well as those led by Toralf, God of FuryToralf, God of Fury. I might even be remiss not to mention the possibility that this is good in Reanimator-style decks like Gyrus, Waker of CorpsesGyrus, Waker of Corpses.

Notably, even though Electric Seaweed has defender, it can enter the battlefield attacking, since defender just prevents declaration as an attacker. This shouldn't often make any difference in games, but if you want extra mileage from your seaweed-y board wipe, there you have it.

Ravenous RobotsRavenous Robots

The next card on the list exists in a line of many other creatures with very, very similar ability suites. As such, it's probably the first card I think of when I think about the concept of "best" not always strictly equating to "good." That said, Ravenous RobotsRavenous Robots is a fine card for artifact-based token strategies, and I am already thinking about what decks to pick it up as a single for.

And, heck, I already have one or two in mind for my own decks!

With that in mind, three examples of decks that might really like the inclusion of Ravenous Robots are Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper, Jhoira, Weatherlight CaptainJhoira, Weatherlight Captain, and Daretti, Scrap SavantDaretti, Scrap Savant (among others). There are a lot of red+ commanders in the game now, so these examples are far from exhaustive. It just so happens that these three are at or near the forefront of that commander classification.

Chrome DomeChrome Dome

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical of Chrome DomeChrome Dome, the next card on our list. Cards like Incandescent SoulstokeIncandescent Soulstoke are pretty fantastic, but they are so often downshifted in rarity before long due to power creep elsewhere. To that end, I felt at first that Chrome Dome was a card that could ostensibly suffer from similar outpacing, even if, as a Universes Beyond card, it was unlikely to see a reprint, much less one with a rarity downshift.

But then something weird happened. I reread this card and saw that, unlike the aforementioned Incandescent Soulstoke, Chrome Dome doesn't have to tap to activate its ability. This is a bona fide bonus to this card that changes things in a big way for players. Even if the ability costs a hefty to activate, the reusability in this context is massive.

Chrome Dome will go exceptionally well in various artifact-based builds, like the aforementioned ones listed for Ravenous Robots. However, the colorless identity for Chrome Dome also opens it up to a ton of other artifact decks. I could see this card working well with Brudiclad, Telchor EngineerBrudiclad, Telchor Engineer, Trazyn the InfiniteTrazyn the Infinite, or even Esix, Fractal BloomEsix, Fractal Bloom if you go with an artifact-centric build there.

There are also a ton of combos possible with Chrome Dome, including this one with the next card on our list.

Big Mother MouserBig Mother Mouser

One more card from the TMNT Commander precon, Big Mother MouserBig Mother Mouser is a big hassle for your opponents if it's allowed to live for long enough. If it attacks even once, it's already producing four 1/1 Robot token babies upon its eventual demise. Although without trample, opposing players will probably want to chump-block it for days and either a) exile it as soon as possible, or b) force you to do the work to kill Big Mother Mouser yourself.

Regardless, opponents will often want to mitigate the propagation of its counters as soon as they can, even if it means contending with just 2-4 Robots afterwards.

Big Mother Mouser will go well in a bunch of decks that employ artifact synergies, go-wide strategies, or even go-tall +1/+1 counter strategies. To this end, commanders like the ones mentioned above for both Chrome Dome and Ravenous Robots will also like Big Mother Mouser (save, perhaps, for Trazyn).

However, the card's versatility might also give it a home in Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau or other Selesnya () +1/+1 counter themed builds.

TechnodromeTechnodrome

The final card on this list is TechnodromeTechnodrome. This artifact creature is much less of a creature and more of a sacrifice outlet for artifacts... until it's not. Let me be perfectly clear: in the right artifact deck, Technodrome will be a powerhouse from the moment it enters to the moment it leaves play.

There are key differences between Technodrome and cards like Big Mother MouserBig Mother Mouser, which have the same or similar suites of versatility. For instance, the former has a built-in sacrifice outlet. This gives you some utility with Technodrome before you can start to beat face with it.

Furthermore, allowing you to have a chunky blocker for all the turns in which you want to beef up Technodrome after achieving the six-power threshold is solid design. If you need to stay in a defensive stance, this artifact creature will let you do that for as long as you want. Just make sure you've gotten it up to six power first.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, Technodrome is great in decks that want you to sacrifice artifacts, such as Trazyn the InfiniteTrazyn the Infinite or Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper. It's also great in decks that can exploit +1/+1 counter synergies, though I don't see Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau being the right one for this card.

Notably, I could see some strong synergies in play here via Urza's SagaUrza's Saga tutoring up The OzolithThe Ozolith in whatever +1/+1 counter deck you can dream up for Technodrome.

Conclusion

Ultimately, my own thoughts on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aside, these are some of the better designs Wizards of the Coast could stand to offer us in context. They're by no means stellar, but they'll do fine for players who are working with a budget or even just TMNT fans coming into Magic: The Gathering for the first time.

So with that, I'll open the floor to you, dear readers! Do you agree with my assessments on these cards? Are there other cards you'd have added to the list? And, will you be attending any of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Prerelease events near you? Sound off in the comments below!

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