Magic: The Gathering just got its latest Universes Beyond release, which finally introduces the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into the franchise. Even if the TMNT property isn’t as wildly popular as franchises like Final Fantasy, the recent crossover set is already hiding some incredibly expensive cards that players are scrambling to try and unpack for themselves.
All prices included in this list are based on TCGPlayer‘s average market price for each card at the time of writing this article, and are subject to change in the future.
Even if the MTG x TMNT cards have already been fluctuating drastically over the past few days, it’s already easy to tell which cards will fetch the most money from their visual style. With some unique chase cards to look for, TMNT‘s collector boosters have the chance to offer cards way higher than the value of Lorwyn Eclipsed, but that means they’ll also likely cost you more to get your hands on as a result.
10
Leonardo, Cutting Edge (Showcase) (Fracture Foil) — $215.59
Having risen to the top since MtG‘s latest crossover dropped, Leonardo, Cutting Edge, is a great example of using the ninja theme to the fullest by introducing a brand new sneak mechanic. Allowing you to swap out an attacker for Leonardo, Cutting Edge, he can enter just as you’re about to land a massive lifelink attack to get a strong creature for only a single mana.
With the mechanic inspired by Betrayers of Kamigawa’s own Ninjutsu ability, Sneak helps make the already cheap 2 mana Leonardo easily deployable on a whim, with the full art helping raise the price on top of its flexibility in white decks.
9
Raphael, the Nightwatcher (Showcase) (Fracture Foil) — $221.74
Utilizing the same sneaking ability as Leonardo, Cutting Edge, the mono-red Raphael, the Nightwatcher will cost a bit more to get on the field, but is well worth it for being able to double the massive scale of the damage to your creatures through double strike, with the imposing art being the cherry on top of the legendary card
While Raphael, the Nightwatcher is far from the first legendary to provide double-strike to all your attacking creatures, the fact that you can swap him out for another creature using Sneak makes for some incredibly deadly combo potential. While the surprise factor is a bit harder to pull off from the command field, you can easily catch opponents off guard or deal lethal damage through the double strike buff.
8
Leonardo, the Balance (0083) (Borderless) (Surge Foil) — $227.64
Taking on the art style of TMNT‘s pixelated arcade games, the 3/3 Leonardo, The Balance is a monowhite creature that offers a +1/+1 to all creatures you control each turn you play a token. While this ability has some solid potential for slowly ramping up your creature base, its secondary activation ability, which costs one of each mana type, is where the legendary card really shines.
Offering all creatures you control menace, trample, and lifelink until the end of the turn for 5 mana, Leonardo, The Balance is able to take full advantage of your empowered board state to deal a decisive blow to your opponents, especially when paired with abilities that activate each time a creature gains a +1/+1 counter.
7
Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 (Showcase) (Fracture Foil) — $241.66
Featuring all four of the TMNT in a chibi-inspired style, Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 is more than just a display piece, but also offers a surprisingly powerful ability when paired with the right cards. Even if the art is likely a contributing factor to the value, Mutagen tokens are a reliable way to provide +1/+1 tokens for a single mana, which can easily compound through creatures with similar abilities.
Even when paired with the previous Leonardo, the Balance alone, Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 can offer some significant gains for its low mana cost, although its 1/1 status will make it an easy target for enemy spells without the proper protection.
6
Krang, Utrom Warlord (Showcase) — $241.79
Even if massive creatures can be hard to justify in most decks, a familiar face like Krang, Utrom Warlord as a 9/9 creature with Flying, Trample, Indestructible, and Haste is a fantastic sight to see. While the 9 mana cost is more than a little expensive even for such an albeit fairly powerful creature, the secondary ability certainly helps push it over the edge into having excellent value.
Offering not only Krang, but all other artifact creatures the same set of abilities, you can have a massive and near undefeatable army of powerful artifact creatures at your disposal.
5
Dark Leo & Shredder (Showcase) (Fracture Foil) — $242.06
Providing another chibi-style card, but this time as alternate art for another card from the same set, Dark Leo & Shredder is a legendary creature duo that has some seriously underrated abilities at its disposal. On top of having a two-mana sneak ability that’s the same as its standard playing cost, Dark Leo & Shredder also adds deathtouch to all attacking ninjas, while creating a 1/1 black ninja each time it deals combat damage.
As with many of the other cards in this set, Dark Leo & Shredder saves the best for its final ability, which makes your opponent lose half their life rounded up if Dark Leo & Shredder damages said opponent while you control 5 or more ninjas. Even if it requires a bit of setup to successfully pull off, the sneak ability can net some astounding damage for such a low cost, especially in Commander.
4
Heroes in a Half Shell (0096) (Borderless) (Surge Foil) — $246.60
With a name that’s hard not to sing in your head when reading it, Heroes in a Half Shell brings all four of our favorite turtles together as a single 5-mana WUBRG creature, with Vigliance, Menace, Trample, and Haste in addition to its 5/5 status.
While Heroes in a Half Shell provides a powerful creature on its own, in addition to its fantastic pixelated style, the creature’s second ability pairs excellently with other TMNT-themed cards. Offering additional +1/+1 counters to Mutants, Ninjas, or Turtles that deal damage to players, you can rack up some powerful creatures while getting to draw a card once per successful combat to pull even more creatures onto the field.
3
Super Shredder (Showcase) (Fracture Foil) — $385.09
It’s not too surprising that a variation of Shredder made it to the top of the standard collector’s edition cards for TMNT, but Super Shredder earns its place with a gorgeous art display and menacing ability set. While the 2-mana 1/1 creature is a little underwhelming at first for such a sinister character, it can quickly ramp up into an incredibly powerful monster with very little effort on your part.
Getting a +1/+1 counter every time any permanent leaves the battlefield, not even just your own, any major changes to the board will leave you with a powerful creature, so long as you can keep Super Shredder alive in the process. If you do manage to keep Super Shredder safe from any potential board wipes, you’ll have a massive creature that’s a little trickier to block with Menace, but not impossible.
2
Michelangelo, Improviser (Borderless) (Gold-Stamped Signature) — $2,000.00
Jumping massively from any of the previous cards in MTG‘s TMNT crossover, the Borderless Gold-Stamped Signature variants are in a whole new league of their own, with their current prices already skyrocketing in the thousands. Starting with Michelangelo, Improviser as the second most expensive card, which offers an exclusive variant of the standard legendary creature.
Even outside the custom art and signature by Kevin Eastman himself, Michelangelo, the Imposer is still an interesting card as a 4 mana sneak card which lets you instantly play a creature or land whenever he does damage. Having a moderately interesting ability, the signature style bumps it up from being in the single digits all the way to the thousands with ease.
1
Donatello, Mutant Mechanic (Borderless) (Gold-Stamped Signature) — $3,150.00
If you thought Michelangelo’s price was absurd, Donatello, Mutant Mechanic is on a whole different planet with its price tag already having reached the $3 thousand mark. Offered in a similar style as the other three cards in this mini-collection, Donatello, Mutant Mechanic is another slightly weaker creature that is massively boosted by its incredibly rare variant.
As more cards are pulled, the Leonardo, Sewer Samurai and Raphael, Ninja Destroyer versions of the Borderless Gold-Stamped Signature cards are sure to rise to the top as well, with similar, if not even higher prices than these two variants.
Allowing you to tap and put three +1/+1 counters on an artifact you control, and turning artifacts into 0/0 robots, Donatello, Mutant Mechanic still has plenty of potential, especially when the counters from defeated artifacts can be immediately reused. While the prices aren’t hard to understand, given the rarity of these cards, only time will tell if the next few collaboration sets can top the TMNT x Magic: The Gathering set’s value.
- Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Created by
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Richard Garfield
- Video Game(s)
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Magic: The Gathering, Magic the Gathering Commander, Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, Magic: The Gathering Arena
- Character(s)
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Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess, Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa Revane, Ajani Goldmane, Nicol Bolas, Teferi, Gideon Jura, Sorin Markov, Ral Zarek