Universes Beyond has become one of the most notorious crossovers in Magic: The Gathering history. From Middle-earth to Marvel’s Spider-Man, Wizards of the Coast has shown it’s not afraid to expand the Multiverse far beyond traditional planes. Now, we’re heading to the sewers beneath New York City with Universes Beyond – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Turtles bring attitude, teamwork, humor, and pure ‘90s energy into Magic’s strategic framework. Whether you grew up with the comics, cartoons, arcade cabinets, or beat-’em-up classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, this set leans hard into nostalgia while still delivering meaningful gameplay depth.
What is Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
At its core, this set celebrates four things: Teenagers. Mutants. Ninjas. Turtles.
But mechanically, it’s much more than that.
Universes Beyond: TMNT introduces a slate of brand-new cards, alternate visual treatments, crossover mechanics, and a Commander deck built from the ground up for fans of arcade-era Turtle chaos. The set blends crime-fighting swagger with clever mechanical design, emphasizing teamwork, mutation, and sneaky combat tricks.
This isn’t just flavor slapped onto existing cards — it’s a fully realized crossover that feels mechanically cohesive.
New and returning mechanics in MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
While TMNT doesn’t reinvent the wheel mechanically, it introduces two new mechanics and revives several fan-favorite systems that synergize surprisingly well.
New Mechanics
Sneak
Sneak is the set’s most exciting addition — and yes, it’s clearly inspired by Ninjutsu.
Sneak allows you to cast a spell for an alternate cost if you return an unblocked attacker you control to your hand during the declare blockers step. The spell enters tapped and attacking.
The big upgrade?
It’s not limited to creatures.
It works from the command zone.
It can appear on Instants and Sorceries.
That last point opens up some wild design space. Combat tricks that literally jump into battle? That feels very Ninja Turtles.
Mechanically, Sneak rewards aggressive play and clever sequencing. In Limited formats especially, I think this mechanic is going to create some extremely fun blowout turns.
Mutagen
If Sneak is about stealth, Mutagen is about mutation. Mutagen Tokens are Artifact tokens you can pay 1 and sacrifice to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
Yes — +1/+1 counters are already everywhere in Magic. But Mutagen gives the mechanic a flavorful wrapper that fits perfectly with radioactive ooze transformation. Is it groundbreaking? Not necessarily. Is it clean, synergistic, and on-theme? Absolutely.
Expect Mutagen to slot easily into counter-heavy strategies and artifact synergy shells.
Returning and relabeled mechanics
Supporting Sneak and Mutagen are four returning mechanics, one of which comes back under a new name:
Alliance
Disappear (functionally Revolt)
Classes
Izzet Artifacts (archetype focus)
Interestingly, several of these mechanics pair extremely well with Edge of Eternities. If you’re a Cube builder, this crossover could be a goldmine.
Alliance
Alliance triggers whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control — essentially Landfall, but for creatures. In token-heavy decks, this mechanic can get out of control fast. I actually appreciate that Wizards doesn’t print Alliance too frequently.
Thematically though, It’s perfect. The four brothers thrive on teamwork. Alliance captures that synergy beautifully — the more your squad grows, the stronger your effects become.
Disappear (Revolt)
Disappear triggers when a permanent leaves the battlefield. Unlike traditional death triggers, this mechanic works with bouncing, sacrificing, or even returning creatures via Sneak. That makes it particularly interesting here.
It also pairs nicely with Warp strategies from Edge of Eternities — another reason this set may have sneaky long-term synergy value.
Classes
Last seen prominently in Bloomburrow, Classes return as enchantments that can be leveled up over time. This mechanic fits surprisingly well with the “leveling up” arcade video game theme the TMNT set leans into.
Pay mana. Upgrade your ability. Unlock new powers. It’s basically a side-scrolling beat-’em-up in cardboard form.
Izzet Artifacts
Not technically a named mechanic, but Izzet artifact synergy is one of the core archetypes in the set. Between Mutagen tokens and gadget-themed cards, artifact interaction will matter — and Donatello players should be very happy. This archetype is almost the exactly archetype that was in Edge of Eternities.
What is available in MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Universes Beyond: TMNT includes:
Play Boosters
Collector Boosters
1 Commander Precon
Bundle
Draft Night
Turtle Team-Up (new product)
Pizza Bundle (themed bundle)
Let’s break down the highlights.
MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Precon - Turtle Power
Nostalgia hits hard here.
This deck feels built specifically for fans of the arcade games and retro TMNT media. It includes:
6 Partner Commanders
1 WUBRG Commander
43 brand-new cards
It’s packed with video game references like:
Level Up
Arcade Cabinet
High Score
And yes — villains show up too. Baxter, Fly in the Ointment is clearly inspired by boss fights from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time.
This deck isn’t subtle about its inspirations — and that’s exactly why it works..
MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtle Team-Up
This is the wildcard product. We know it’s a 2–4 player cooperative mode that includes:
Four 60-card decks
Four Play Boosters
One 38-card boss deck
28 Legacy-legal cards per deck
8 new cards per deck
My prediction? This is Wizards officially experimenting with a Horde-style experience.
MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Pizza Bundle
The Pizza Bundle includes:
9 Play Boosters
1 Collector Booster
1 Spindown die
2 of 6 exclusive pizza-themed promos
A full set of Pizza Lands
Yes. Pizza Lands. Practically tailor-made for people that like to play with their food
New card styles and visual treatments in MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
One thing I always enjoy about Universes Beyond are their fun bonus art styles. TMNT comes with plenty.
Vanish Basic Lands: the basic lands include various locations in new york where the Ninja Turtles may have just recently been
Full-Art Rooftop Lands: these alternate art basic lands feature the four brothers silhouettes leaping from rooftop to rooftop
Borderless Signature Kevin Eastman Headliners: These are black and white pencil art cards with a gold stamped signature from none other than Kevin Eastman himself. There is one for each of the four turtles and they’re only available in Collector Boosters
Borderless Pixel Cards: These cards show off your love of the video games with brand new pixelated Borders and Text. With 8 Rares and 7 Mythic Rares, each of these cards are going to be cards that are brand new in this set. Only in collector boosters.
Borderless Silhouette Cards: These cards showcase beloved TMNT characters in a silhouette form. These cards come in Non-Foil & Traditional Foil, and can be found in both boosters.
Source Material: These are the cards that aren’t received as highly, as seen in Spider-Man, I however think these card designs are pretty cool (especially the last Ronin one). They showcase art from classic TMNT media.
Japanese Showcase: A very common theme lately, the Japanese showcase art is back. These come in foil and fracture foil and can only be found in collector boosters. There are 10 Cards available in this design.
MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles MTG Arena information
Good news: TMNT is fully coming to Magic: The Gathering Arena. Every legendary creature from the Commander deck will be available digitally — which means no missing out on testing your favorite Turtle in Brawl.
Two digital bundles are available:
MTG Arena - TMNT Pack Bundle ($49.00)
Pre-Order sleeves featuring Raphael and Leonardo
45 x TMT Boosters
5 x TMT Premium Boosters
5 x Golden Boosters
1 x Raphael, Ninja Destoryer Card and Art Style
1 x Leonardo, Sewer Samurai Card and Art Style
MTG Arena - TMNT Play Bundle ($49.99)
Pre-Order sleeves featuring Mikey and Donatello
4 x Draft Tokens
2 x Sealed Tokens
20 x Play-In Points
1 x Michelangelo, Improviser Card and Art Style
1 x Donatello, Mutant Mechanic Card and Art Style
MTG Universes Beyond: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles release dates
Universes Beyond TMNT is right around the corner. The official release date is March 6th with a release on MTG Arena March 3rd. And prerelease starts the weekend prior on February 27th. The only exception in the release date is the Pizza Bundle releasing a bit later on March 27th.
Final Thoughts
Going into this, I wasn’t sure what to expect — and I’ll admit this is looking a lot better than I initially thought it would. One of my biggest concerns with crossover sets is the temptation to make it “oops, all Legendary creatures,” just cramming in as many recognizable faces as possible without a real mechanical backbone. Thankfully, TMNT doesn’t feel like that. There’s an actual theme holding this set together. Sneak, Mutagen, Alliance, and Disappear all interact in meaningful ways, and the archetypes feel intentional rather than like a checklist of characters. Even the Commander deck leans into arcade nostalgia without sacrificing gameplay cohesion. Instead of “look how many creatures we can fit,” this feels designed — structured around teamwork, momentum, and that scrappy, sewer-born synergy the Turtles are known for. It’s still early, but this is shaping up to be a far more thoughtful and mechanically unified Universes Beyond set than I expected.
If you’re already thinking about how these new cards might slot into your favorite decks, don’t stop here. Be sure to check out our 10 Best Lorwyn Eclipsed Commanders article to see which leaders are dominating the conversation right now — and which ones might pair surprisingly well with some of these new TMNT mechanics.
