Turtle Power! Precon Upgrade Guide: Leonardo, the Balance
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Turtle Power!
- Commander
- Heroes in a Half Shell
- Colors
- White, Blue, Black, Red, Green
- Released
- 6 March
- Card value
- ≈ $83.04
- Key cards
- Irma, Part-Time Mutant, Michelangelo, the Heart, Ninja Pizza
Turtle Power! is the five-color precon from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Commander release, led by Leonardo, the Balance with partner turtles and Splinter in the box. Once each turn, when a token you control enters, Leonardo can put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, and for {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} he gives your team menace, trample and lifelink to finish games. The upgrades below add cheap token makers, counter boosters and card draw while cutting the clunky off-theme cards.
Below you’ll find the full interactive decklist, what the deck does well, where it struggles and our recommended upgrades, split into budget ($9.03), mid-range ($23.97) and premium ($83.60). Start with the cheapest swaps and work your way up.
The decklist
Commander (1)
- 1Heroes in a Half Shell$1.45
Creatures (30)
- 1Acidic Slime$0.22
- 1April O’Neil, Live on the Scene$0.25
- 1Baxter, Fly in the Ointment$0.23
- 1Bebop, Skull & Crossbones$0.28
- 1Big Mother Mouser$1.31
- 1Biogenic Ooze$0.23
- 1Casey Jones, Back Alley Brute$0.33
- 1Corpsejack Menace$0.31
- 1Dimension X Pizzasaur$0.27
- 1Donatello, the Brains$1.11
- 1Electric Seaweed$0.25
- 1Irma, Part-Time Mutant$3.87
- 1Krang, the All-Powerful$0.36
- 1Leatherhead, Iron Gator$0.26
- 1Leonardo, the Balance$1.59
- 1Lita, Little Orphan Amphibian$0.25
- 1Michelangelo, the Heart$3.00
- 1Mona Lisa, Science Geek$0.21
- 1Raphael, the Muscle$1.53
- 1Rat King, Pale Piper$0.34
- 1Ray Fillet, Wave Warrior$0.30
- 1Roadkill Rodney$0.27
- 1Rocksteady, Mutant Marauder$0.26
- 1Shredder, Shadow Master$0.81
- 1Splinter, the Mentor$2.06
- 1Steelbane Hydra$0.30
- 1Tempestra, Dame of Games$0.29
- 1Tokka & Rahzar, Unsupervised$0.29
- 1Vigor$1.95
- 1Voracious Hydra$0.31
Instants (6)
- 1Assassin’s Trophy$0.96
- 1Continue?$1.46
- 1Double Jump$0.22
- 1Shellshock$0.30
- 1Special Move$0.21
- 1Swift Demise$0.27
Sorceries (10)
- 1Blasphemous Act$0.89
- 1Cultivate$0.42
- 1Fast Forward$0.30
- 1Game Over$0.27
- 1Harmonize$0.31
- 1Here Comes a New Hero!$0.28
- 1Lessons from Life$0.26
- 1Super Combo$0.27
- 1Vanquish the Horde$0.31
- 1Wave Goodbye$1.34
Artifacts (9)
- 1Arcade Cabinet$0.33
- 1Arcane Signet$0.58
- 1Chromatic Lantern$0.80
- 1Coin of Mastery$1.63
- 1Everything Pizza$0.19
- 1Exploding Barrel$0.29
- 1Foot Chopper$0.27
- 1Mole Module$0.31
- 1Sol Ring$1.90
Enchantments (5)
- 1Endless Foot Assault$2.01
- 1High Score$1.00
- 1Level Up$1.97
- 1Ninja Pizza$2.98
- 1Together Forever$0.26
Lands (39)
- 1Ash Barrens$0.33
- 1Big Apple, 3 a.m.$0.34
- 1Cinder Glade$0.33
- 1City of Brass$11.28
- 1Command Tower$0.27
- 1Dragonskull Summit$0.48
- 1Escape Tunnel$0.23
- 1Evolving Wilds$0.32
- 1Exotic Orchard$0.27
- 1Fabled Passage$1.12
- 4Forest$0.21
- 1Grand Coliseum$0.36
- 1Hidden Hideout$2.20
- 1Hinterland Harbor$0.29
- 2Island$0.18
- 2Mountain$0.16
- 1Path of Ancestry$0.26
- 2Plains$0.18
- 1Rain-Slicked Copse$0.29
- 1Rootbound Crag$0.32
- 1Smoldering Marsh$0.28
- 1Sodden Verdure$0.36
- 1Spire Garden$6.37
- 1Sunken Hollow$0.36
- 2Swamp$0.26
- 1Thriving Grove$0.26
- 1Thriving Isle$0.27
- 1Thriving Moor$0.24
- 1Turtle Lair$0.25
- 1Undergrowth Stadium$5.81
- 1Vernal Fen$0.38
- 1Vibrant Cityscape$0.29
Hover a card to see it (tap on mobile). Prices are for the precon printing, via Scryfall.
What the deck does well
- Leonardo turns the first Food, Clue or Mutagen token each turn into a team-wide pump.
- Character-select partners let you pick a commander pair that fits your playstyle.
- A real five-color mana base with Chromatic Lantern, City of Brass and plenty of duals.
Where it struggles
- Krang, the All-Powerful and Rat King, Pale Piper are overcosted for what they do.
- Mole Module and Electric Seaweed are clunky and pull away from the token plan.
- Not enough steady card draw outside of Clues and Lessons from Life.
Recommended upgrades
Pick a budget tab. Every row tells you which card to take out and what to put in.
Cheap swaps (under $2 each): more tokens, more counters and on-theme Turtles.
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mole Module | Splinter, Radical Rat | $0.47 €0.50 | Doubles the triggers of every Ninja you control | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Rat King, Pale Piper | Genghis Frog | $0.26 €0.12 | Makes a Mutagen token whenever a Mutant enters, which also triggers Leonardo | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Electric Seaweed | Ulvenwald Mysteries | $0.07 €0.09 | Crack Clues on any turn for extra tokens and Leonardo triggers | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Acidic Slime | Chomping Changeling | $0.97 €0.61 | Cheaper artifact and enchantment removal that counts as a Mutant, Ninja and Turtle | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Biogenic Ooze | Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 | $1.98 €3.05 | More counters for less mana, plus a token | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Roadkill Rodney | Raphael, the Nightwatcher | $0.73 €0.61 | An on-theme Turtle instead of an off-type card | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Tokka & Rahzar, Unsupervised | Faeburrow Elder | $0.48 €0.58 | Reliable mana that grows with your colors | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Continue? | Evolution Witness | $0.29 €0.20 | Repeatable recursion for your best creatures | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Krang, the All-Powerful | Hardened Scales | $1.86 €1.75 | Every counter Leonardo hands out becomes two | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Voracious Hydra | Arasta of the Endless Web | $0.20 €0.21 | Makes tokens on opponents’ turns, so Leonardo triggers more often | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Harmonize | Dusk Legion Duelist | $1.72 €1.07 | Draws a card each turn Leonardo puts a counter on it | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $9.03 | |||
Stronger token and counter engines ($2–$8 each).
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tempestra, Dame of Games | Mutagen Man, Living Ooze | $2.00 €1.66 | Makes your Mutagen tokens free to use | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Here Comes a New Hero! | Mona Lisa, Ever Adaptable | $3.34 €3.22 | Triggers Leonardo on opponents’ turns | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Foot Chopper | Agent Frank Horrigan | $3.89 €6.09 | A go-wide finisher that leaves a big Mutant behind | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Steelbane Hydra | Sphere Grid | $4.91 €7.18 | Grows your attackers and gives countered creatures reach and trample | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Exploding Barrel | Adeline, Resplendent Cathar | $2.54 €2.57 | A token every attack, and each one triggers Leonardo | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Level Up | Branching Evolution | $7.29 €6.73 | Doubles every +1/+1 counter you place | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $23.97 | |||
Premium upgrades for the strongest version of the deck. None of these are on the official Game Changers list, so the deck stays friendly for most casual tables.
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Jump | Doubling Season | $29.21 €19.37 | Doubles your tokens and every counter Leonardo hands out | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Big Mother Mouser | Parallel Lives | $27.46 €19.90 | Doubles every token you make | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Coin of Mastery | Academy Manufactor | $8.04 €6.46 | Every Clue, Food or Treasure you make becomes one of each | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Super Combo | Uncivil Unrest | $18.89 €17.10 | Gives your creatures riot, and every creature with a counter deals double damage | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $83.60 | |||
Where to buy the precon
Don’t own the deck yet? Find Turtle Power! on TCGplayer or on Cardmarket.
Verdict
Turtle Power! is a flavorful, go-wide counters deck with a commander that rewards every token you make. Add a few counter doublers and cheap token engines and the whole team snowballs quickly.