Five-ColorLegendary Creature — Mutant Ninja TurtleLeonardo, the Balance
Mana value4Rank#9,299PartnerYes
The Commander
Whenever a token you control enters, you may put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Do this only once each turn.
: Creatures you control gain menace, trample, and lifelink until end of turn.
Partner—Character select (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.)
Guide
Gameplan
Leonardo turns any single token-maker into a board-wide +1/+1 counter pump every turn, snowballing a wide army into a tall one. You ramp into a token engine, drop Leonardo, and each turn quietly grow every creature you control, then untap and swing with menace/trample/lifelink via his five-mana activated ability to push through a lethal alpha strike.
Strengths
- Five-color identity unlocks every token-maker, counter synergy, and answer in the format
- Free, repeatable board-wide pump that scales with even one token per turn
- Built-in evasion and lifelink finisher lets a wide board punch through blockers and stabilize life
- Partner—Character select gives flexible co-commanders and consistency redundancy
- Counters survive board wipes better than tokens alone, and pair with proliferate/counter payoffs
Weaknesses
- Four colors of fixing is demanding; mana base must be excellent or the deck stumbles
- Does nothing the turn he lands without a token already in play
- The 'once each turn' clause caps the engine—extra tokens give no extra counters
- Removal-heavy or fog-heavy tables blunt the go-wide plan
- The WUBRG activated ability is mana-intensive and competes with developing your board
Key Cards
- Doubling Season — Doubles every token, ensuring Leonardo always triggers and stacks counters faster on counter payoffs.
- Cathars' Crusade — Stacks with Leonardo so each token entering pumps the team twice over, snowballing out of control.
- Anointed Procession — More tokens guarantees a trigger every turn and widens the army for the alpha strike.
- Esper Sentinel — Premium card advantage that keeps your token engine fueled across all those colors.
- Smothering Tithe — Generates Treasure tokens that both trigger Leonardo and ramp toward his costly activated ability.
- Craterhoof Behemoth — Enters as a creature but caps off a wide, counter-pumped board for instant lethal.
- Inkshield — Creates a huge swarm of tokens that triggers Leonardo while punishing an attacker.
- Hardened Scales — Cheap multiplier that amplifies every +1/+1 counter Leonardo distributes.
Upgrade Path
Prioritize a flawless mana base—fetches, duals, Triomes, and rocks like Arcane Signet and Chrome Mox—so four-plus colors are never a liability. Add token and counter multipliers (Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Branching Evolution) plus proliferate engines to make every trigger overwhelming. For higher power, lean into fast mana, efficient token-storm enablers, and a compact combo finish such as a sac-outlet aristocrats loop to close before the table stabilizes.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Alpha strike with a counter-pumped board granted menace, trample, and lifelink
- ▸Craterhoof Behemoth or Overrun-style finisher on a wide field
- ▸Aristocrats drain via Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat with token fodder
- ▸Commander damage from a heavily-countered, evasive co-commander
Archetypes
- Tokens — His trigger keys off any token entering, rewarding go-wide producers across five colors.
- +1/+1 Counters — He showers the team in counters every turn, synergizing with proliferate and counter-doublers.
- Aristocrats — Token bodies plus sacrifice outlets and Blood Artist effects drain while the army grows.
- Go-Wide Aggro — The menace/trample/lifelink ability converts a counter-buffed swarm into a single lethal swing.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BGRUW), by popularity.
