Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Are Getting a Nostalgic Makeover

Since 2020, which saw the release of The Walking Dead-themed cards as the official first release in Magic: The Gathering’s franchise-hopping “Universes Beyond” initiative, it seems like the trading card giant has developed an insatiable appetite for popular IP. They’ve boldly gone to new worlds with Star Trek, taken sides in the never-ending battle between Autobots and Decepticons, and even visited the Upside Down with a Stranger Things release. However, recently Wizards of the Coast announced a crossover between MtG and a beloved, perpetually entertaining pop culture mainstay: a thrill-seeking quartet of anthropomorphic, pizza-loving warriors who had their own short-lived trading card game once upon a time.

It’s indisputable that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are some of the most impactful characters to come out of the independent comic book boom of the ‘80s, and the proof of their success is in the sheer variety of media they’ve appeared in. From a multitude of live-action and animated films to crossovers with the likes of Batman, now fans have an opportunity to add the Turtles to their favorite decks.

Magic: The Gathering x TMNT Comes Later This Year

First announced back in October of 2025, the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles expansion for Magic: The Gathering is set to release on March 6th of this year, 42 years after the characters debuted in their first comic book series. New card artwork by guest artists has always been an exciting aspect of MtG expansions and this one appears to be going above and beyond, with cards designed by a collection of talented creators including Kevin Eastman himself, one-half of the duo responsible for the creation of the team.

Across four decades, the lore surrounding the Turtles has grown exponentially, and the team at Wizards of the Coast has displayed a remarkable dedication to honoring that legacy, paying homage to iconic characters like The Shredder and Casey Jones, fan-favorites like the Rat King and the Triceratons, and even new characters from the popular IDW comic book series, such as Sally Pride and Madame Null. Even the integration of Magic’s crucial color metagame has been fine-tuned to be faithful to the franchise, with Leonardo tethered to white’s healing and team support abilities while Raphael is associated with the punishing direct damage potential of red.

TMNT’s Short-Lived First TCG

A little more than 20 years before Wizards of the Coast announced their crossover with TMNT, the Turtles had their own trading card game, a result of the first TCG boom that began with the arrival of Magic in the early ‘90s. Released by Upper Deck in 2004, the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Unleashed TCG launched with over 100 cards along with plans for two more expansions that never materialized, as the game became defunct shortly after it was released.

The gameplay was surprisingly similar to MtG itself (featuring color-matched cards and multiple turn-phases) while maintaining some big differences (instead of player damage, the decks themselves were targeted, with opposing players discarding cards every time they were attacked), but ultimately it never caught on as successfully as other card games of the era like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon. Despite its flaws, the original Turtles TCG proved that the franchise was expansive enough to be adapted into a complex game experience, and with trading card games growing in popularity and intricacy over the last two decades, this upcoming Magic expansion is already shaping up to be a satisfying love-letter to the universe Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird jump-started all those years ago.

The TMNT/MtG expansion releases on March 6.