This Week in Legacy: Turtles in Legacy!
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of This Week in Legacy! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're going to be discussing the impact of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Legacy! In addition to that, I'm going to try one of the approaches for how to handle weekly Challenge coverage and see how I like it and how the readers like it. So be sure to give some feedback in the comments! We do have a Legacy RC Qualifier to cover as well.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Totally Tubular Turtle Impact, Man
It's our first week of a new Standard set with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and it seems like this set definitely is going to have an impact on Legacy than just what we had determined already on the obvious cards like Skateboard. I do enjoy when Standard sets have something for Legacy because in general it always feels like it's a little more natural of an effect than when we get sets like Modern Horizons based sets.
Right off the bat let's talk about the Shredder in the room, with a look at Super Shredder.
Shredder is incredibly intriguing because I did not realize initially that the card said "another permanent", and it does not care if that permanent is yours or not. It also triggers individually for each individual permanent, so for example if you use Wasteland on an opponent's nonbasic land, that's two +1/+1 counters worth of action being lumped onto the Shredder.
However, it's also just incredibly noteworthy to say that what really makes this deck work with Shredder is the fact that we have a critical mass of cards like Moonshadow and Shredder that both grow really big and also both have strong evasive keywords. Menace is insanely difficult for a lot of decks to deal with when they are used to only having one or two threats out, and you have multiple creatures with Menace in play. I've been playing a lot of this deck myself (see the "What I'm Playing This Week" section for more) and my raw experience has been that the deck is incredibly strong versus things like Dimir Tempo. The Daze package looks a little weird in paper (and I've seen people actually say "the blue splash looks unnecessary" in comments) but my direct experience is that Daze is actually sort of nuts in this deck and it does quite a lot for you. You get to really leverage those moments where Daze accelerates your tempo into closing the game out, and it actually synergizes with Super Shredder (bouncing an Island counts as a permanent leaving the battlefield).
I am a big fan of the card and of this deck, and it looks like it might be super fun and will stick around for a bit. As long as Dimir Tempo is popular, I think this deck will continue to have a good shot because the matchup seems very good in the Shredder deck's favor a lot of the time.
The other major card of the week was of course, Sewer-veillance Cam.
I think we had a good idea that this card was going to be good for decks like Painter. The way this card works is that you get this card, another artifact that does something you want it to, and Goblin Welder together. When you sacrifice this guy to return another artifact, you get to untap Goblin Welder, which means you can then do the exchange again with whatever artifact you picked and get this back to play, which then untaps Welder again. You just get to wash, rinse, repeat with whatever you want. Here's some of the goofiness you can do with this.
- Tap all of your opponent's permanents with Skateboard
- Infinitely damage your opponent with Legion Extruder to win the game
- Destroy all of your opponent's nonland permanents with Chaos Defiler
- Remove all of your opponent's cards from their graveyard with Agatha's Soul Cauldron
- Draw your entire deck with Melded Moxite so it no longer matters what you get to do at that point
- Make infinite mana with Mox Opal
This I think is just the tip of the iceberg with a card like this and a combo like this presents. What's even more amusing is that you can very often go off at instant speed with this combo by kicking things off in response to a removal spell or something like Orcish Bowmasters. It makes the entire thing overall seem very interesting and very fun.
Finally, we did expect some Skateboard as the Urza's Saga target and I think it is safe to say that this definitely replaces Lavaspur Boots in decks that played that, including both Affinity, Painter, and Lands.
Marit Lage getting to do a kickflip off your opponent's Murktide Regent does seem to be pretty hilarious, not going to lie.
In short, I think the overall impact of this set is probably not as crazy as other sets have been (Lorwyn Eclipsed giving us Hexing Squelcher and Moonshadow was pretty big), but the impact is direct in a number of non-hyper popular archetypes which helps a lot. I am more excited to play around with the Super Shredder deck and seeing how the Sewer-Cam decks evolve over time.
Weekly MTGO Recap
This was more than an average week for MTGO events, because we had the added aspect of a Legacy RC Qualifier event, which adds a lot of players typically to the overall weekly data set. As an experiment this week I am going to do the Weekly Recap of events, and then only cover those events that have something interesting going on in them. Again, this is a bit of a trial to see how well people like the shift, so let me know in the comments if this works for you or not.
You can find the weekly data sheet for this past week's events here. This week's events were also the first Challenge events that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was legal.
We had the following events this past week:
| Event Name | Top 32 Link | Data Sheet Link | Number of Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy Challenge 32 3/4/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 51 |
| Legacy Challenge 32 3/6/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 45 |
| Legacy Challenge 32 3/7/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 32 |
| Legacy Challenge 32 3/8/2026 - 1 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 32 |
| Legacy Challenge 32 3/8/2026 - 2 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 48 |
| Legacy RC Qualifier 3/7/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 165 |
Overall we had around 373 total players over the course of the past week, which is not too bad. Yes, some of these will overlap and doesn't represent unique players, but it does give us a nice amount of deck data to consider. Let's look at the graphical data for the week.
Overall the most popular decks of the entire format from a macro archetype standpoint were Spell Combo based decks, despite how popular certain decks were. Overall Spell Combo made up roughly 24% of the metagame, with Tempo being around 17-18% and below that Stompy and Fair Land Based decks.
Let's look at the individual decks that make up this past week.
The most popular deck of the past week has been of course, Dimir Tempo at around 48 copies which is close to 13% of this past week's metagame. However, it's overall win rate is just right around 50.6% non-mirror, which seems rather reasonable. I think in general Dimir is in a position where its popularity outweighs the fact that the deck is kind of just okay. I don't think it really is the best deck in the format at the moment, but it is certainly the most popular deck and that brings a lot of people to it.
Last week, Dimir was around 53.1% non-mirror so a dip with a larger event does make some sense, especially with people trying new decks that use new cards and all.
Sneak and Show was the most popular deck after Dimir Tempo at 33 copies. It also is currently in the area of 50.3% in terms of non-mirror win rate. Sneak and Show's popularity is largely because of how good Hexing Squelcher is in the deck, and how straightforward the deck's matchups are. Sneak and Show is a deck that largely needs to not care about what it's opponent is doing, it just needs to execute its game plan. And Squelcher lets it do that without having to really further care about matchups that often seem pretty difficult to win.
The win rate of Sneak this past week however does tell me that players are still well prepared to deal with the deck. The week prior it did exceedingly well, which also tells me that players came prepared to deal with it this week.
Oops was popular as well here, but overall its win rate was also around 50.7% non-mirror. I do think this still means that Oops is in a position where its popular due to its price point and perceived "good" deck that it is, that players continue to be prepared for its existence and are able to hate it out effectively. I don't fully believe that Oops is in a position week to week to need to make any changes to. Last week Oops had a much better week at a 56.8% non-mirror win rate, so a drop of this nature at more copies (last week was 20 copies, this week was 27) says a lot about how players are handling the deck.
Lands was also in line at around 18 copies (little less than 5% of the metagame), but its overall win rate was actually fairly atrocious at around 46.4% non-mirror. Lands did get a new card out of the TMNT mix in Skateboard but it seems like a lot of those decks simply couldn't convert and make it great. I suspect much of this is because of many decks that Lands has trouble dealing with like Sneak and Show. Lands has a pretty rough time versus Sneak, so it being very popular means a lot.
Still, this is an improvement from last week's performance at around 29.7% non-mirror with just 5 copies of the deck. Skateboard is good at improving the play rate, as players will naturally decide to play more of the deck because of new cards.
Finally, big on our list for this past week is the advent of Boros Energy having 16 copies. This deck is sitting at around a 59% non-mirror win rate, and I think the biggest boon to this deck has consistently been the printing of Hexing Squelcher. It is a powerful effect for a deck like this to have, and this is a deck that can easily overwhelm you if you're not ready for it. It's great to see that there's a true blue aggro deck in the format that is good. Absolutely keep this one on your radar for any event you are entering.
This is a huge improvement in both play rate and win rate from last week as then it had only 3 copies and a 44.4% non-mirror win rate.
Legacy RC Qualifier 3/72026
This past week was also a Legacy RC Qualifier event. These are Premier Play events and the Top two finalists receive invitations to an upcoming Regional Championship. This event had 165 players in it, which is a solid turnout.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Tempo was the most played deck of this event, and it had a pretty solid win rate. Boros Energy also had a strong win rate with just six pilots. Oops did rather poorly here, as did Sneak and Show and Lands.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Boros Energy | 1st | KillerWhale01 |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | Aced5 |
| Affinity Stompy | 3rd | solaec0501 |
| Dimir Tempo | 4th | Misplacedginger |
| Doomsday | 5th | wonderPreaux |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | jessy_samek |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | JakeTMS |
| Boros Energy | 8th | itstime |
Quite a lot of Dimir Tempo in this Top 8, but the event ended up being won by Boros Energy.
For a while the Mardu version of these seemed to be the default go-to position for this deck, but Boros has slowly moved back into the forefront and I think a lot of that has to do with the advent of Hexing Squelcher. Squelcher makes so many of the deck's matchups a lot easier because it suddenly becomes so much harder for decks to 1-for-1 removal the deck's creatures. Do you spend your removal spell on the Squelcher and not have it for the Ocelot Pride or do you point it at the Ocelot Pride knowing that you're paying 2 life for it and will have to do so in order to deal with future Prides. One other thing I think this card does it has an effect on the deck's sideboard slots, where Squelcher shores up a number of matchups which allows the deck to play more combo hate in the sideboard. More Leyline of the Void and Deafening Silence is good.
In Second Place we had Dimir Tempo.
One side effect of Energy being a popular deck and having a much better game against 1-for-1 removal thanks to Squelcher is decks learning how to adapt to that aspect. Dimir is one such deck and I am definitely starting to see how these decks are beginning to adapt. Toxic Deluge is one such way to interact with Energy in a positive fashion that allows you to scale your removal so it doesn't affect the creatures you already have in play. The highest toughness threat that Energy plays is a 1/3 and if you can get them early with a Deluge you can delay them hard enough to get them to a position where you can 1-for-1 them if you can keep a Squelcher off the board. It's not always foolproof, as Energy has a critical mass and can rebuild easily, but it's good adaptation.
Outside of the Top 8, we had a showing by Esper Vial.
Aang, Swift Savior is a sweet little addition to this deck. It gives the deck a way to reuse certain creatures and their ETB triggers, but also as a way to clear threats away for a turn to win the game. It's quite good with things like Quantum Riddler and Overlord of the Balemurk since you can pay 2 for them to recast them and not have to worry about Warp or Impending.
Legacy Challenge 32 3/4/2026
The first Challenge event we are going to cover is the Wednesday event. This event had 51 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lands and Sneak & Show were the most popular two decks, with Lands sitting just below 50% and Sneak sitting right above. The real winner here was below the cut-off, our first real look at how much TMNT is affecting Legacy like we discussed earlier in the article.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Shredder Midrange | 1st | sakuragi21722749 |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | Aced5 |
| Mono Black Reanimator | 3rd | SuperCow12653 |
| Sneak and Show | 4th | Ecoscuro |
| Dimir Tempo | 5th | DrPP |
| Colorless Cloudpost | 6th | _Batutinha_ |
| Red Stompy | 7th | haveaboavida |
| Oops! All Spells | 8th | Cachorrowo |
This was an interesting Top 8, but the event ended up being won by SUPER SHREDDER.
As I noted earlier, I've been playing some Leagues with this deck, and I absolutely have found it to be super fun. Moonshadow is by far one of the best cards in the deck, it just gets real big real fast. It's pretty cool to see a deck like this be good in Legacy.
In Second Place we had Dimir Tempo.
My direct experience with the Dimir Tempo matchup with the Shredder deck is that you can often just overpower their removal with multiple threats, and all your threats are evasive and get bigger when you get Wastelanded or you Wasteland your opponent. It seems like a rather good matchup for the Shredder deck overall. Barrowgoyf is pretty great in this matchup too because of how threatening it is.
Outside of the Top 8 we had Paradoxical Outcome.
Oh this is certainly neat. PO engine is cool enough but also having the Wizard setup for Flame of Anor to be good is pretty sweet. Hexing Squelcher is also just a card that makes these kinds of decks much better in the long run, giving the deck ways to protect its engine on a very low opportunity cost.
Legacy Challenge 32 3/8/2026 - 1
The second Challenge event we are going to cover is the first Sunday event. This event had 51 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Tempo was the most played deck, but its overall win rate was right on the medium line. Red Painter did very well here as did Boros Energy and even Naya Stompy.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Red Painter | 1st | sakuragi21722749 |
| Sneak and Show | 2nd | derlumberzack |
| Boros Energy | 3rd | Unlif3 |
| Shredder Midrange | 4th | Eureka2422 |
| Red Painter | 5th | kanican |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | Ryuho090 |
| Mono Green Cloudpost | 7th | Karaz4 |
| The EPIC Storm | 8th | Vash963 |
Kind of a sweet Top 8. At the end of the event it was Red Painter featuring new card Sewer-veillance Cam won.
I talked about this combo a bit more earlier in the article, but it's solid to see that this is not just a thing that seems cute for Painter, but seems like it's also really good. I also have seen some burgeoning ideas here or there for non-Painter versions of this combo, which might be interesting to explore.
In Second Place we had Sneak and Show.
It amuses me to think about how much this deck was supposed to be scary when Mistrise Village was printed, but it wasn't that card that really pushed this deck. The card that really pushed it in my opinion still remains Hexing Squelcher, even as a sideboard card it shores up so much of this deck's major weaknesses against fair decks.
At the bottom of the Top 8 we had The EPIC Storm.
Speaking of Squelcher, it definitely has looked consistently good in The EPIC Storm. One other big improvement to this deck is the advent of four copies of Boomerang Basics in the sideboard. It's a very powerful card that not only deals with opposing threats well, but there are often plenty of times where you want to reuse something like a Mox Opal for Storm count, and you can use it to bounce your Opal and draw a card off of it, which is incredibly good on rate. Having such a versatile card has the added side effect along with Squelcher for shoring up enough matchups to let this deck run some other sideboard hate that pushes on matchups the deck wasn't 50% on.
Around the Web
- BeExcellent has some SLASHER POX. Check it out here.
- Eternal Glory Podcast has a new episode on Tournaments & Turtles. Check it out here.
- DasSourKraut has a video on the Moonshadow Hogaak deck that's popped up. Check it out here.
- Sharkcaster has a video on Sewer-veillance Cam Painter. Check it out here.
- Bryant Cook wins on your turn.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
Wrapping Up
That's all the time we have this week folks! Thanks for continuing to support the column and join us next week as we continue our journey into Legacy!
As always you can reach me at all my associated links via my Link Tree! In addition I'm always around the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the MTGLegacy Discord Server.
Until next time!
