Leaked TMNT Precon Card is a Powerful Typal Commander

Last updated on February 16, 2026

April O'Neil, Live on the Scene | Illustration by ???

We’re still about two weeks away from Wizards’ official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rollout, but the leaks keep coming and they do not stop coming! Earlier last week we learned about a couple of the Pizza Bundle cards, and this we've got an (unofficial!) leak of a new ninja/investigate commander.

So, first thing first, the mandatory heads up: The card we’re talking about today comes from an unofficial leak.

/// SPOILER ALERT /// 

If you’d rather experience Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles previews at the official pace, proceed no further… and you won't have to wait too much, anyway: Wizards of the Coast will officially preview the whole set this week.

But, if you want the scoop, let's jump to it!

April O'Neil, Live on the Scene Unofficial Leak

Source: Reddit

The leak, shared on Reddit, shows April O'Neil, Live on the Scene as a 2/1 Legendary Creature — Human Detective, with the set code TMC (which very likely means it's a card from the Commander precon, Turtle Power!). Whenever a Mutant, Ninja, or Turtle you control enters, she investigates (that's to say, creates a Clue token), and she has Partner—Character select.

Character select is a new riff on the partner mechanic that will debut with TMT… and it will likely make April O'Neil, Live on the Scene a pretty sweet typal and token commander.

A Powerful Typal Commander… With Powerful Friends

Character Select is basically “Partner, but for this specific bunch.” It's pretty straightforward: Partner—Character select lets you have two commanders in the command zone, as long as both have the Character select ability. In other words, exactly like the “Partner With…” mechanic, but with a different pool of commanders 

Here are the other Character Select commanders that have been officially shown, with the quick-and-dirty version of what they’re about:

• Donatello, the Brains: If you’d make tokens, you make those tokens plus a Mutagen token.
• Leonardo, the Balance: Whenever a token enters under your control, you can put a +1/+1 counter on your whole team (once per turn). His ability is another very cool mass pump that can finish games or gain you a lot of life. And, yeah, he's a five-color commander, so anybody partnering with him has access to every color.
• Michelangelo, the Heart: A +1/+1 counter and a Food token after you attack.
• Raphael, the Muscle: Doubles damage from your creatures with counters, and he brings a Mutagen token on entry.
• Splinter, the Mentor: Whenever a nontoken creature you control (including Splinter) leaves the battlefield, you make a Mutagen token.

In case you were wondering: A Mutagen token is an artifact token you can pay , tap, and sacrifice to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature, at sorcery speed.

Donatello, the Brains, Leonardo, the Balance, and Splinter, the Mentor are all payoffs for creating tokens…

… and April O'Neil, Live on the Scene is an enabler: She cranks out Clues just for doing the thing a typal deck wants you to do (play Mutants/Ninjas/Turtles).

April Selects…

Donatello, the Brains

You don't get too many ninjas in mono-blue, but there's a good chunk of turtles and a few changelings. And both Clues and Mutagen tokens are artifacts… which happen to be a blue specialty.

Splinter, the Mentor

A Dimir commander is a lot more in character for Ninjas, and that's where a partnership between April Splinter, the Mentor lands. And their abilities reward doing something that ninjas looove doing: Leaving the battlefield (which Splinter rewards), and re-entering (triggering April O'Neil, Live on the Scene‘s ability).

Leonardo, the Balance

A five-color commander who's easy to cast is already noteworthy, and probably makes him the best Character select commander: No matter what cards your partnered commander may want, Leonardo, the Balance lets you play them… which is exactly what a typal commander wants to hear.

But Leonardo has actual synergy with April O'Neil, Live on the Scene‘s token-creation ability, and quite powerful at that: April turns your Mutant/Ninja/Turtle curve into a steady stream of Clues, and Leonardo is a machine that turns tokens into a permanent mass pump.

Wrap Up

Leonardo, Sewer Samurai – Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

April O'Neil, Live on the Scene looks like a simple, effective glue card: cheap, typal-friendly, and, thanks to Leo, she has access to any typal or token card you may need.

We'll find out this week what else TMT has in store… including the full Commander precon decklist, which should be officially previewed tomorrow!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.