Cowabunga! Magic: The Gathering Meets Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Black Swan Collectibles
- Oct 26
- 5 min read
The announcement that Magic: The Gathering will host a full Universes Beyond crossover set with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) sent waves through both fandoms. Wizards of the Coast revealed at New York Comic Con that the Turtles will headline the second Magic set of 2026, launching worldwide March 6, 2026 with pre‑release events from February 27 – March 5. The set draws from every era of TMNT media—Mirage comics, 1987 cartoons, live‑action films and modern animated series—so old and new fans alike will find references they love. It also introduces new products like a family‑friendly cooperative Turtle Team‑Up kit and a Pizza Bundle packed with pizza‑themed lands.
A radical product line‑up
Play and Collector boosters
The core sealed products are the Play Booster and Collector Booster. Play boosters replace draft boosters for this set and contain 14 cards (7 commons, 2 uncommons, 1 rare/mythic, 1 legendary Turtle slot, 1 wildcard of any rarity, 1 traditional foil, and a land). About one in every 28 play boosters will also include a Source Material bonus card—20 borderless reprints featuring art from TMNT comics and animation. Collector boosters offer a premium experience with 15 foil cards and a foil token or art card; each pack contains multiple booster fun treatments (alternative frames or foiling) and at least one Source Material card.
Turtle Power! Commander deck
The set’s single Commander product is Turtle Power!, a five‑color deck that brings all four Turtles plus Splinter to the commander table. Wizards confirmed that the legendary Turtle cards use the classic partner mechanic but are restricted to partnering with each other, creating a “character select” feel reminiscent of arcade beat‑’em‑upsdraftsim.com. The deck contains a 100‑card list with one foil face commander, five foil Turtle commanders, ten double‑sided tokens and a deck box.
Turtle Team‑Up – co‑operative Magic
One of the most intriguing products is Turtle Team‑Up. It’s a cooperative box designed for 2–4 players and functions like a board‑game experience: players get four 60‑card decks (one for each Turtle), an enemy deck, four play boosters and all the tokens and rules you need. At $50 this box offers 335 cards and plays more like a boss‑fight than a typical duel. Wizards markets it as an easy entry point for families or groups who want to fight Shredder and his goons together.
Bundles and Pizza bundles
The Bundle includes nine play boosters, a foil alternative‑art promo, 15 foil lands and 15 non‑foil lands, a Spindown die and storage box. It costs $70 and is similar to other Universes Beyond bundles. The Pizza Bundle ($100) upgrades the experience with nine play boosters plus a collector booster and replaces the land pack with pizza‑themed basic lands—twenty‑five non‑foil and five foil pizza lands. Two exclusive foil promo cards, a Spindown die and a storage box round out the bundle.
Draft Night kit
Magic brings back Draft Night for this set, offering a self‑contained draft experience. The $120 kit contains twelve play boosters, a collector booster, 90 basic lands, ten double‑sided tokens and a draft insert. Draft Night uses the “Pick‑Two Draft” format—players open two packs at once and pick two cards at a time—making for a fast, casual draft ideal for parties.
Play booster boxes and collector boosters for serious cracking
A Play Booster Box contains 30 play boosters and costs roughly $209.70. A Collector Booster Pack is sold individually at $38. Collectors who prefer to skip the randomness can focus on these premium packs to chase the borderless headliner cards drawn by TMNT co‑creator Kevin Eastman.
Summary of products and pre‑order pricing
*Prices based on Wizards of the Coast MSRP and GameSpot’s Amazon pre‑order listings. Actual retail prices may vary.
New mechanics and card previews
Sneak – a Ninjutsu variant
A major new mechanic debuting in the TMNT set is Sneak, which takes inspiration from the Ninjutsu ability but applies broadly to spells. MTG Rocks explains that cards with Sneak can be cast normally or via a Sneak cost by returning an unblocked attacker to your hand during the declare blockers stepmtgrocks.com. Unlike Ninjutsu, casting a card via its Sneak cost still counts as casting it (important for non‑creature spells)mtgrocks.com. Designer Mark Rosewater clarified that creatures cast with Sneak still enter the battlefield tapped and attackingmtgrocks.com. Sneak’s timing restriction—casting during the declare blockers step—prevents combos that exploit the combat damage stepmtgrocks.com.
Leonardo, Sewer Samurai is one of the first creatures with Sneak. The mythic‑rare 3/3 Double Strike Turtle can be cast for {3}{W} or sneaked into play for {2}{W}{W}mtgrocks.com. Its most exciting ability lets you cast creatures with power or toughness 1 or less from your graveyard during your turn; those creatures enter with a Finality counter, so they get exiled if they would diemtgrocks.com. Combined with Sneak, Leonardo fuels an aristocrats‑style strategy that recycles small creaturesmtgrocks.com.
Krang, Master Mind – affinity returns
The villainous Krang, Master Mind is a legendary artifact creature ({1/4}) that costs {6}{U}{U} but has Affinity for artifactspolygon.com. When Krang enters the battlefield, you draw cards until you have four in handpolygon.com. Krang also gets +1/+0 for each other artifact you controlpolygon.com, making it a potent finisher in artifact decks. Polygon noted that this card could push modern Affinity strategies back into the limelightpolygon.com.
April O’Neil, Hacktivist and other allies
Fellow heroes appear throughout the set. Wizards revealed April O’Neil, Hacktivist, a blue legendary creature designed by artist Xabi Gaztelua. TMNTPedia notes that April’s card draws a card at the end of your turn for each different card type among spells you cast that turnturtlepedia.fandom.com—perfect for spellslinger decks. Other revealed allies include Casey Jones, Jury‑Rig Justiciar, Splinter, the Mentor, and the multicolored Heroes in a Half‑Shell team‑up carddraftsim.com.
Villains: Super Shredder and more
Early previews also showcased antagonists. Game designers showed Super Shredder, a black menace creature that gains +1/+1 counters whenever any permanent leaves the battlefield; Bebop & Rocksteady, a wild 3‑mana 7/5 duo; and mutagen tokens, a new artifact token themedraftsim.com. These cards emphasise the set’s focus on tokens and +1/+1 counters while celebrating TMNT’s rogues’ gallery.
Events and key dates
Wizards encourages retailers to schedule events throughout March 2026 to celebrate the release:
Prerelease (Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2026) – players open prerelease kits and play sealed events.
Commander Box League (Feb 27 – Mar 5) – a league format using the Turtle Power! deck.
Launch Weekend / Two‑Headed Giant Commander Night (Mar 6 – Apr 16) – multiplayer events using the commander deck.
Commander Party (Mar 13 – 19 and Apr 3 – 9) – story‑driven events with special objectives.
Magic Presents: It’s Turtle Time! (Mar 27 – Apr 16) – a special Pick‑Two Draft event that gives Mutants, Ninjas and Turtles power‑ups, with undefeated players earning a promo card.
Why fans are hyped
The TMNT crossover is more than nostalgia—it introduces innovative mechanics and cooperative gameplay, celebrates the franchise’s wide history and returns preconstructed Commander decks to a mainline Universes Beyond setdraftsim.com. With Sneak, players get a fresh twist on ninjutsu that works on any spell typemtgrocks.com. Mutagen tokens, affinity payoffs and character‑select partner commanders add mechanical depth, while the Source Material bonus sheet lets collectors obtain borderless reprints featuring iconic comic artdraftsim.com. The combination of TMNT humor, pizza‑themed lands and cooperative play should bring both veteran planeswalkers and casual Turtle fans to the table.
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