Heroes on the Half Shell was originally designed to be famous, an MTG game designer confirms

It's not every day that we learn about how Magic: The Gathering card designs have changed over time, but Wizards of the Coast's lead game designer, Gavin Verhey, recently dropped the bombshell about how we got another legendary commander in this year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set.

The card in question would have been Heroes In A Half Shell, a WUBRG legendary creature designed as one of five options to lead the deck as a face commander. Given the restricted use of Eminence as a mechanic, it's interesting to know how we got about the sixth official commander playing the keyword.

A story of greatness so far

In a video posted on TikTok on June 2, 2026, Gavin Verhey addresses a comment asking what he thinks about Eminence and how he would change it. Verhey notes that he is an expert on the mechanic, which led to the Commander 2017 set, which includes four of the five Eminence cards:

• Edgar Markov
• Ur-Dragon
• Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
• Arahbo, the roar of the world

Verhey points out that players often criticize Edgar Markov's strength but not Arahbo's, suggesting that eminence may not be an overall issue but rather related to creature type, as vampires are generally considered stronger than cats.

However, it's then suggested that this power difference is because Markov spawns vampires when casting other vampires, while Arahbo needs another cat creature already on the battlefield to be effective.

Verhey clearly states that Eminence is something “we [WotC] few want to do,” then highlights the only other example of eminence, which appears in Jhalfir's Sidar Jabari, which works similarly to Arhabo but does not receive the same criticism.

Are the Ninja Turtles famous?

Verhey then goes on to give an example of Eminence as a mechanic that needs to be used at the right time, in the right place, “The backup commander in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles commander deck, Heroes in a Half Shell, was originally an eminent commander.”

He says that “it was that way for a while,” however, the existing support for ninjas in Magic forced them to reconsider the decision. It has since been stated that Heroes in a Half Shell being a WUBRG commander was also a factor in the decision as to how the Ur-Dragon was designed, Verhey claiming that “that's one of the things I regret most about it. [The Ur-Dragon]It's five colors.” This is because he believes that the Ur-Dragon's current power derives from the fact that it uses all five mana colors. This has a knock-on effect on all future Dragon-type commanders, as the designers feel the need to push them to be closer to the Ur-Dragon.

what could have happened

Gavin Verhey's TikTok video is a fascinating watch for anyone interested in hearing more about Magic card design, and he's one of the best at doing it, but it's eye-opening to think how close we've come to such a powerful mechanic.

That's not to say that any mechanic should be ruled out of use in a Universe Beyond set, but saved as Eminence, which has been printed on five cards since its introduction nearly ten years ago, would have caused much discussion if it had materialized on a Heroes In A Half Shell card.