Upcoming Mono-Black Commander Creates Insane Rules Interaction

Last updated on October 17, 2025

Super Shredder | Illustration by Nestor Ossandon Leal

Cowa-freakin-bunga, my dudes. It still feels surreal that we'll be getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Magic: The Gathering.

In the past week since the announcement was made official, we've seen ninjas and mutants moving around like mad on the secondary market. We've seen insane hype for the new Wheel of Fortune style effect on Raphael's Technique, and we've seen lots of strong opinions about whether or not TMNT works in the world of MTG.

However, players have discovered that one of the cards spoiled so far is secretly much more broken than previously understood.

Shredder is More Than Super

Enter Shredder, villainous supremo of the TMNT universe. At first glance, his card appears to be fairly straightforward. As a devout Elenda, the Dusk Rose player, I immediately knew that this card would be solid. That effect on a 2-drop is quite good, especially one with Menace.

But what if I told you that the deep dark official MTG rules include a clause that makes this guy particularly powerful?

“Leaves the Battlefield” is Cracked

Splinter, the Mentor | Illus. Andrea Tentori Montalto

If you flip open the comprehensive MTG rules and take the requisite 20 years to find rule 603.6c, you'll find something insanely surprising. Something that even seasoned experts might not realize. We'll look at the first part of the rule below:

“Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to
another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the
game…”

Never in a million years would I guess that Super Shredder would be the first card to get counters whenever an opponent loses the game.

Wait, What?

Rules Lawyer Rules Lawyer | Illus. Sean Murray

Lets you swing in for lethal with Super Shredder. The opponent you've KO'd had 15 lands, 5 creatures, 1 enchantment, and 4 artifacts in play. Unless that player finds an incredibly sneaky way to phase all of their permanents out before losing the game, Super Shredder will get 25 +1/+1 counters.

Notably, this will still happen even if another player takes out another of your opponents while you have Super Shredder on the field.

Anytime an anyone sacs a treasure? Super Shredder triggers. Any time a creature token gets taken out? Trigger. Anytime a creature gets returned to their with a ninjustu ability? Trigger.

If an opponent casts Eerie Interlude on their big board, Super Shredder is going to size up.

Wrap Up

Leonardo, Sewer Samurai | illus. Ryan Pancoast

We've seen other cards that explicitly care about other players losing the game. Ramses, Assassin Lord can win you the game if you can beat an opponent on the same turn you attack them with an assassin. Rampant Frogantua gets ridiculous +10/+10 buff for each player who has lost the game.

Super Shredder is a decidedly more versatile option than the aforementioned cards. Not only does it cost less mana to cast him, he triggers off of tons of easy-to-anticipate game actions.

Now you know…Super Shredder is bound to be popular at casual Commander tables. Make sure you bring extra dice!