The 10 most nostalgic cards in Magic’s TMNT set

A lifelong TMNT superfan with no Magic experience picks the 10 most best cards from the Ninja Turtles set

Chris Hayner

Feb 28, 2026, 1:00 PM EST

Magic: The Gathering

Even if you're a Magic newbie, this is a rad set for Ninja Turtle fans

The 10 best cards from Magic’s TMNT set, according to a superfan who’s never played Magic

[The art features on Magic: The Gathering's Turtles Forever card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond set themed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn’t even out yet, but it’s already whipping up a lot of excitement among fans. The set is filled with (mostly) beautiful art depicting various iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some cards nod to the comics, while others draw inspiration from various cartoons, movies, or even just action figures.

If you are a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan who plays Magic: The Gathering, your time has finally arrived. Then there are people like me. I'm a die-hard TMNT fan that's been obsessed since I was too young to read the original comic book.I don't, however, know anything about Magic: The Gathering. I've never played a single hand. And yet, I'm stoked about this Universes Beyond set, whatever that means. I'm excited because I love these cards and the various elements of the franchise they represent. I love them so much that I picked out the 10 best cards in the entire set based entirely on the cool factor of what the card shows from Turtles canon. Are any of these any good to actually play? My editor refuses to tell me. And I'm only mildly disappointed that none of the cards make reference to the Coming Out of Their Shells album and tour, which is a big miss on the part of Wizards of the Coast.

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Path to Exile

[Magic The Gathering: Path to Exilve Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

This image is pulled from the 11th issue of the original comic, with co-creator Kevin Eastman's take on April O'Neil emblazoned across it. This image is an often-cited example of April's early character design, before she became a brunette in a yellow jumpsuit in the animated series.

Found in: Play Booster, Collector Booster, Draft Night, Bundle, Pizza Bundle, Turtle Team-Up

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Shellshock

[Magic The Gathering: Shellshock Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

Like a number of cards in this set, Shellshock is a direct reference to Ninja Turtle video games. In the original arcade game, we see the Turtles get electrocuted by a robot named Roadkill Rodney, with the result looking exactly like it does in the card: hilarious. This visual joke continued in other Ninja Turtles games and was even immortalized in an action figure back in 2020.

Found in: Collector Booster, Draft Night, Pizza Bundle, Commander Deck

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Tempestra, Dame of Games

[Magic The Gathering: Tempestra Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

We just need to take a minute to appreciate that Wizards of the Coast created a Magic: The Gathering card based on a mostly forgotten one-off villain from an episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series from 1990. And it's one of the more ridiculous episodes to boot. In it, Leonardo gets obsessed with a computer game featuring an evil sorceress named Tempestra. She is brought to life somehow during an electrical storm and begins causing the kind of ruckus you'd expect from an evil sorceress. It's not a great episode or even a good one. But the fact that Wizards of the Coast went this deep into the roster of TMNT baddies is respectable.

Found in: Collector Booster, Draft Night, Pizza Bundle, Commander Deck

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Fast Forward

[Magic The Gathering: Fast Forward Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

There's more than one card in this game paying tribute to the excellent 1991 video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. This one's special, though, because the inscription at the bottom shouts out my favorite level in the game, Neon Night-Riders. In it, perspective shifts to third-person to ride a hoverboard before pitting the player against Krang in his giant android body as a boss battle.

Found in: Play Booster, Collector Booster, Draft Night, Bundle, Pizza Bundle, Turtle Team-Up

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The Neutrinos

[Magic The Gathering: Neutrinos Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

If you grew up watching the first TMNT animated series, you definitely were a fan of the Neutrinos. This trio of greaser-inspired aliens was first introduced in the episode "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X," and they were the absolute coolest. They spoke in high-pitched squeaks, drove a flying hot rod, and always brought chaos with them (and Kala definitely had a crush on Michelangelo). This might be their only representation in the set, but this card perfectly encapsulates the Neutrinos.

Found in: Play Booster, Collector Booster, Draft Night, Bundle, Pizza Bundle, Turtle Team-Up

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Leonardo, Sewer Samurai Art Card

[Magic The Gathering: Leonardo, Sewer Samurai Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card]

Image: Paramount/Wizards of the Coast

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