Heroes in a Half Shell costs {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} and has vigilance, menace, trample and haste. Whenever one or more Mutants, Ninjas and/or Turtles you control deal combat damage to a player, you put a +1/+1 counter on each of those creatures and draw a card. This precon is built around the other turtles and their partners, including Leonardo, the Balance and Raphael, the Muscle.
Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the Heroes in a Half Shell decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in these decks than in decks that could play it. Some cards are printed under flavor names in this deck, and this guide uses the real card names.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Turtle Power precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Creatures that are not Mutants, Ninjas or Turtles
The commander only triggers for Mutants, Ninjas and Turtles. Biogenic Ooze, Acidic Slime, Voracious Hydra, Krang and Electric Seaweed are none of those, and Rat King and Mole Module do not help the counters plan either.
The cheap Turtles are missing
Mikey & Don, Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 and Mikey & Leo are the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out. Each is a Turtle that makes counters, makes Mutagen tokens or draws cards.
Slow lands
Thriving Moor, Thriving Isle and Thriving Grove all enter tapped, in a deck with 39 lands.
The 12 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.

Biogenic Ooze is a five-mana Ooze that makes a 2/2 Ooze token and grows Oozes each end step. It is not a Mutant, Ninja or Turtle, and it is not a card this commander decks usually play.
Mikey & Don, Party Planners is a 3/3 Turtle with ward {2} for {2}{G/U}{G/U}. You may look at the top card of your library at any time and play lands and cast Mutant, Ninja or Turtle spells from the top, and a creature spell cast that way enters with an extra +1/+1 counter. It is the highest-scoring card the precon leaves out.

Electric Seaweed is a 0/4 Plant Wall with defender that pings for {T}. It is not a Turtle and it is not a card this commander decks usually play.
Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 costs {1}{G}. When he enters you create a Mutagen token, and if one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one are put on it instead. A two-drop Turtle that makes a Mutagen and improves every counter.

Rat King makes a Rat whenever a nontoken creature you control leaves, and sacrifices tokens to draw. It is a fine card, but it is not a card this commander and is not a Turtle decks usually play.
Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order is a 2/2 Turtle for two hybrid mana: whenever you put a counter on a creature you control, you draw a card, once each turn. Every combat damage trigger from the commander is a card.

Mole Module is a 6/6 Vehicle with menace and crew 2 that mills and puts a permanent onto the battlefield when it connects. It is played in about one deck in nine.
Raphael, the Nightwatcher is a 2/3 Turtle for {2}{R}{R}, or {1}{R}{R} with sneak. Attacking creatures you control have double strike, which doubles every combat damage trigger.

Acidic Slime is printed as Marauding Mutagen in this deck. It is a 2/2 deathtouch Ooze for {3}{G}{G} that destroys an artifact, enchantment or land when it enters, and it is played in about one deck in seven.
Splinter, Radical Rat is a 2/4 Mutant Ninja Rat for {1}{W/B}{W/B}. If a triggered ability of a Ninja you control triggers, it triggers an additional time, and for {1}{U} a Ninja can't be blocked this turn. It doubles Ninja triggers and makes them unblockable.

Krang is a 3/3 artifact creature for {4}{U} that doubles draw triggers and gets counters when a player draws their second card. It is played in about one deck in six, and is not a Turtle.
Raph & Leo, Sibling Rivals is a 2/4 Turtle for {1}{R/W}{R/W}. When it attacks in the first combat phase it untaps one or two attackers and gives you an additional combat phase. Two combats means two combat damage triggers for the commander.

Tempestra, Dame of Games is a 1/3 that sacrifices an artifact to copy another creature for a turn. It is played in about one deck in six.
Michelangelo, Mutant BFF is a 4/4 Turtle for {2}{G}{G}. Whenever he enters or attacks you create a Mutagen token, and each creature you control with a counter can't be blocked by more than one creature. A big Turtle that makes counters every attack and is hard to block.

Voracious Hydra is printed as Aggro Amalgam in this deck. It is an X creature with trample that doubles its counters or fights, and it is not a Mutant, Ninja or Turtle.
Hardened Scales costs {G}: if one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one are put on it instead. Every commander trigger and every Mutagen is one counter bigger.

Roadkill Rodney is a 2/1 deathtouch Robot with squad {3} that makes a Mutagen when it connects. It is played in about one deck in five and is not a Turtle.
Michelangelo, Improviser is a 4/4 Turtle for {3}{G}, or {2}{G}{G} with sneak. Whenever he deals combat damage to a player you may put a creature card and/or a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. It triggers the commander and puts a creature onto the battlefield for free.

Foot Chopper is an Equipment that makes a 1/1 Ninja token and attaches itself, and it can be sacrificed to draw cards when equipped creature connects. It is played in about one deck in five.
Dark Leo & Shredder is a 1/3 Turtle for {W}{B}, and it also has sneak {W}{B}. Attacking Ninjas you control have deathtouch, and whenever it deals combat damage to a player you create a 1/1 Ninja, and if you control five or more Ninjas that player loses half their life. A two-mana Turtle that makes a Ninja every hit.

Harmonize is a four-mana sorcery that draws three cards. It is played in about one Heroes in a Half Shell deck in four.
The Ooze is a two-mana legendary artifact. Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it leaves the battlefield you create a Mutagen for each counter, and for a tap it exiles a card from a graveyard and makes a Mutagen. Mutagens put the counters back, and the commander puts counters on every creature that connects.

Big Mother Mouser is a four-mana artifact creature that doubles its own counters when it attacks. It is played in about one Heroes in a Half Shell deck in three.
Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers is a 7/7 Mutant Ninja Turtle for {5}{R/G}{R/G} with trample and haste. Whenever it attacks you reveal cards until a creature card and put it onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It is a Turtle, so it triggers the commander when it connects.
The full swap list
Cut
- Biogenic Ooze
- Electric Seaweed
- Rat King, Pale Piper
- Mole Module
- Acidic Slime
- Krang, the All-Powerful
- Tempestra, Dame of Games
- Voracious Hydra
- Roadkill Rodney
- Foot Chopper
- Harmonize
- Big Mother Mouser
Add
- Mikey & Don, Party Planners
- Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11
- Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order
- Raphael, the Nightwatcher
- Splinter, Radical Rat
- Raph & Leo, Sibling Rivals
- Michelangelo, Mutant BFF
- Hardened Scales
- Michelangelo, Improviser
- Dark Leo & Shredder
- The Ooze
- Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Raphael, the Muscle$1.59
Played in 86% of these decks. Doubles all damage dealt by your creatures with counters on them, and creates a Mutagen token. - Leonardo, the Balance$1.62
A token entering gives each creature you control a +1/+1 counter once each turn. - Michelangelo, the Heart$3.12
A two-mana trampler that puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature at the beginning of your second main phase if you attacked. - Donatello, the Brains$1.11
If one or more tokens would be created under your control, those tokens plus a Mutagen token are created instead. - High Score$0.87
Puts one extra +1/+1 counter whenever counters would go on one of your creatures, and keeps the counters coming at your end step.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Branching Evolution$7.60
Doubles every +1/+1 counter that would be put on a creature you control. - Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow$3.02
A Ninja with commander ninjutsu that can put your commander onto the battlefield attacking.
Turtle Power already has the counter engine and the partner Turtles. The upgrade is more cheap Turtles that make counters and draw cards, fewer creatures that are not Mutants, Ninjas or Turtles, and a couple of ways to double the commander's triggers. These twelve swaps cost about $21 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around Heroes in a Half Shell from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Turtle Power precon?
Using data from 4,411 Heroes in a Half Shell decks, the highest-scoring additions are Mikey & Don, Party Planners (for Biogenic Ooze), Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 (for Electric Seaweed) and Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order (for Rat King, Pale Piper). The full list has 12 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Turtle Power?
All 12 swaps cost about $20.67 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Branching Evolution ($7.60) and Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow ($3.02).
What should I cut from Turtle Power?
The weakest cards for this commander are Biogenic Ooze, Electric Seaweed and Rat King, Pale Piper. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Turtle Power?
Keep Raphael, the Muscle, Leonardo, the Balance, Michelangelo, the Heart, Donatello, the Brains and High Score. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Heroes in a Half Shell do?
Heroes in a Half Shell costs {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} and has vigilance, menace, trample and haste. Whenever one or more Mutants, Ninjas and/or Turtles you control deal combat damage to a player, you put a +1/+1 counter on each of those creatures and draw a card. This precon is built around the other turtles and their partners, including Leonardo, the Balance and Raphael, the Muscle.
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Heroes in a Half Shell decks (4,411 of them when this was written, 2026-10-27) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as Heroes in a Half Shell decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is very high for these Turtle cards because they are new and rarely played outside this kind of deck, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. The data also has fewer decks to learn from for a new precon, so scores are softer than for older decks. A card the commander's decks do not usually play counts as 0 in the average score. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.











