I am not the biggest fan of the Marvel Universe. But that being said, comic books were a formative part of my high school years, and I have fond memories of going to the mall, sitting down in the aisles of Waldenbooks or B. Dalton, and slurping up a gazillion trade paperbacks collecting epic storylines pitting the greatest of heroes against the most dastardly of villains. The Infinity Gauntlet Saga, Secret Wars, Frank Miller’s Daredevil - I read them all, and when I look through the spoilers for Marvel Super Heroes, I recognize several deep cuts that signify that maybe I’m a bigger fan of Marvel than I thought.
Plus, I love Magic: the Gathering, and this set looks to be a banger. Let’s see why!
Mechanics and Themes
Teamwork
Teamwork makes the dream work, or so goes the (very annoying) saying. In MSH, instants and sorceries with Teamwork X have an added optional cost. If you don’t pay that cost, you get a base effect; if you pay Teamwork X - by tapping creatures with total power of X or more - then you get an additional effect. Some Teamwork spells are modal spells that allow you to choose both options, as with Murdock’s Crusade. Others simply result in a greater version of the base effect, as with We Say Thee Nay!
Teamwork spells provide an incentive to keep your creatures untapped. But doing so can be a real cost, which makes creatures with vigilance - or creatures that untap themselves or others - extra valuable in a deck full of Teamwork spells.
Connive
Connive is a returning mechanic first introduced in Streets of New Capenna. When a creature connives, you draw a card and then discard one. If you discard a non-land card, you put a +1/+1 counter on the conniving creature. Some creatures, like Red Room Recruit, will Connive when they enter the battlefield. Trickster’s Stratagem, on the other hand, allows you to choose a creature to Connive.
Looting is always a strong effect, of course. But in MSH Connive plays into additional strategies - everything from graveyard to +1/+1 counters to “draw two” effects. Do not underestimate this mechanic!
Power-up
The best heroes - and villains! - will always strive to improve their power. Creatures with Power-up have a one-time ability: pay a cost, and make the creature stronger. This strength will always come in the form of one or more +1/+1 counters; sometimes there’ll be added effects as well, as with She-Hulk, Jade Defender.
Complicating matters, the Power-up cost is discounted if you use it the turn the creature comes into play. You could shortcut this effect by saying that you can simply cast Volcanic Villain for six mana, and have it come into play as a 5/4 with haste. However, that’s not quite right: you still have to cast Volcanic Villain for three mana, and then pay three additional mana to power it up. The subtle difference means that an opponent can respond to the Power-up activation - perhaps by casting an instant that does two damage in order to kill your creature.
Note that Power-up can be activated at instant speed!
Plan
Plan is a new enchantment subtype. These enchantments progress with plan counters whenever a certain requirement is met - Landfall with Claim the Kingdom, or a creature entering the battlefield under your control with Political Triumph - and you’ll get a minor effect each time. And after a certain number of plan counters, the plan will bear fruit: it will be sacrificed, and you’ll reap a much greater reward.
Archetypes
We’re back! After three consecutive sets with only five primary Limited archetypes, MSH returns with the whole ten. Each color pair has a signpost two-color uncommon; they also have a hybrid uncommon, but note that this hybrid uncommon does not always support its colors’ archetype.
White/Black: Attack Alone
Sometimes heroic deeds have to be performed in the shadows, a single lone wolf doing the dirty work so that everyone else can keep their hands clean. Black Widow, Double Agent exemplifies this idea with an ability that makes it very difficult for a defender to block a creature attacking by itself. If you indulge in this tactic, you’ll likely want additional ways to buff a creature - and the most reliable way to do so is through Equipment, such as the one that U.S.Agent, John Walker provides.
White/Blue: Teamwork
Teamwork is all about encouraging your compatriots to stand tall, and no one does that better than Captain America, Living Legend. Not only does he have Vigilance, allowing him to attack before paying for a Teamwork cost; his ability also allows for some additional untapping effects on your turn. Spider-Woman, Secret Agent doesn’t play directly into this space; however, this color combination is White/Blue, and a flash creature with a pseudo-removal ability fits right in.
Blue/Black: Draw Two
Drawing extra cards - even if there’s no card advantage due to something like Connive - is already a pretty powerful thing to do. Add in Kang, Temporal Tyrant’s life drain ability, and you have a real recipe for wreaking disaster upon your opponent. And if you need to win a little more quickly, Ghost, Spectral Saboteur is a great way to cut down the clock, especially if she finds a way to Connive a time or two.
Blue/Red: Artifacts
Read Iron Man, Master of Machines and you’ll know everything you need to know about this archetype: artifacts, artifacts, and more artifacts. Draft them, put them in your deck, cast them, and Iron Man will draw you cards while blasting your opponent into oblivion. Speedball, New Warrior is a strong card that… has nothing to do with this archetype whatsoever (perhaps because this archetype synergizes with all the colorless artifacts in the set).
Black/Red: Villains
Play Villains, win the game. That’s the basic concept behind the Black/Red archetype, and Madame Hydra shows how it’s done: play her, cast a bunch of Villains, and your opponent will end up swarmed by an insurmountable army. And if that doesn’t work, well, there are ways of killing an opponent more directly, as Bullseye, Death Dealer would be delighted to prove.
Black/Green: Two Creatures in your Graveyard
Getting two creatures into your graveyard doesn’t sound like a difficult task, and it often isn’t. The key is to do so while the resulting buffs are still relevant; a 5/4 Killmonger, Scourge of Wakanda is much better on turn 4 than on turn 7. Fortunately, Killmonger also lets you sacrifice one of your own creatures while also destroying one of your opponent’s non-land permanents. Titania, Rugged Rumbler is another creature that allows you to start filling your graveyard - and casting a 5/5 on turn 3 is an excellent additional benefit.
Red/White: Non-Creature Spells
It’s not often that you see the text “prowess, prowess”, but when you do it’s pretty clear that you… want to trigger prowess. Thor Odinson is a threat that will absolutely end the game if you have a couple of instants and sorceries in hand. War Machine, Legacy of Iron doesn’t seem to play into the non-creature spell theme - but it does work well with little buffs from cheap Red and White instants.
Red/Green: Power-up
If you’ve been playing Magic for a while, it should come as no surprise that Red/Green’s archetype is Power-up. Hulk, Gamma Goliath may not have a cheap Power-up ability - but his passive allows creatures like Abomination, Terrifying Titan to Power-up way ahead of schedule.
Green/White: Go Wide (Heroes)
A “go wide” strategy typically wants to build up an army of cheap creatures and tokens, and then swing in for the win with a mass buff effect. Black Panther, Vanguard is a creature that allows you to do both, as long as you keep your Heroes coming one after another. Spider-Man, To the Rescue doesn’t directly synergize with this strategy - but he is another Hero that also protects your key creatures until you’re ready to go all-in with an attack.
Green/Blue: +1/+1 Counters
These days a single +1/+1 counter doesn’t go as far as it used to; perhaps that’s why Ant-Man, Colony Commander gives you a secondary benefit in the form of a slow stream of 1/1 Ant tokens. Beast, Erudite Aerialist may require you to find other cards that give you +1/+1 counters - but it’s probably for the best, since his ability to fly if you do so (added to the increased likelihood that you’ll damage your opponent and draw a card as a result) is a very powerful one.
Key Commons and Uncommons
White
Creatures
Hero in Training: Creatures that draw cards are traditionally very good.
Quake, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Well, this’ll be annoying to play against.
Red Guardian, Super-Soldier: I initially misread his ability as destroying creatures that were dealt damage. It’s even better than that!
Non-Creatures
Super Villain Lockup: This removal spell is not as good as it might look - in some ways, it’s a worse version of Ajani’s Response from Secrets of Strixhaven - but it’s still pretty good-ish.
Take Up the Shield: A protection spell that gives a permanent +1/+1 counter and gains you a good chunk of life - well, that’s something that swings games completely.
Web Up: Unconditional removal for any non-land permanent for three mana - sounds good to me!
Blue
Creatures
Justice, Vance Astrovik: A creature that bounces other creatures is always good. This one flies as well - and gives you some incentive to do some tricky things by bouncing your own creatures.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Deployment Drone: Two bodies, some evasion, an artifact - it’s hard to believe a deck would not find some use from all of that.
Wiccan, Rising Magician: Well, this’ll be annoying to play against.
Non-Creatures
Falcon’s Wing Harness: A buff spell that gives evasion and protection - and which can be re-attached if the targeted creature ends up dead.
Frozen in Ice: It’ll do the trick.
Trickster’s Stratagem: Pseudo-removal that also triggers “draw two” and +1/+1 counter effects.
Black
Creatures
HYDRA Troopers: You won’t often make a Villain if you play this on turn 3. But after that, in a dedicated deck this provides insane value.
Klaw, Sonic Subjugator: You’ll want to fill your graveyard a bit - but if you do a mid-game thoughtseize can change the entire complexion of a game.
Madam Masque: Seems like a pretty reliable way to pump out Villains.
Non-Creatures
Dark Deed: A cheap way to get rid of most creatures in the set.
Hour of Defeat: A slightly more expensive way to get rid of most creatures in the set. The Surveil is very good too!
Robot Domination: Cast this, and either your opponent kills you quickly or you’ll drown them with overwhelming value.
Red
Creatures
Hawkeye, Young Avenger: You will need to build around her a bit. But there are a multitude of ways to inflict noncombat damage in this set, and a surprising number of them even blast your opponent’s face.
Loki Laufeyson: This trickster god may not provide any immediate advantage, but his long-term value is kinda crazy.
Red Hulk: This is a beater, and even better if you have a few ways to ping him yourself.
Non-Creatures
HULK SMASH!: An instant speed fight, and maybe you’ll take out an Equipment or Vehicle while you’re at it.
Lightning Strike: A classic for a reason.
Team Tactics: Hold up two mana when you attack, and have fun watching your opponent try to figure out how to play around this instant.
Green
Creatures
Ka-Zar of the Savage Land: A five drop that creates two bodies is okay. What makes this card so good is that both bodies are extremely threatening in very different ways.
Knight of Wundagore: It is true that this card is a build-around, but it’s also true that Green has a ton of cards that throw +1/+1 counters around. If you trigger this creature’s ability twice, then it will feel way above rate for its two mana cost.
Mister Hyde, Monster Within: A card draw engine always feels valuable in Green.
Non-Creatures
Go Nuts!: The fight effect is fine, the +1/+1 counter is very valuable in the set, and if you need both you’ll be glad that you have that option.
Punishing Punch: It sure is! The potential cost reduction is good, the fact that you’re punching above your creature’s weight is great.
Training Regimen: I mean, inevitability is good.
Other Commons and Uncommons to Know
Mana Fixing
SOS has a full cycle of ten common dual lands that come in tapped and gain you a life:
There’s also a Hero-fixing land and a Villain-fixing land, if you find your loyalties leaning heavily one way or the other:
And two more pieces of colorless fixing:
On top of that, each color has a common basic landcycler. Note that each of these can find any basic land:
You will probably not be shocked to learn that Green has additional options:
Overall? Mana fixing is very very good. Even more interestingly, some of these cards may be sought after for reasons other than mana fixing (for example, the basic landcyclers work well with cards that ask if you have two or more creatures in your graveyard).
Creatures with Reach
Reptil, Dinomorpher: Kind of. I think this creature is going to snipe a lot of unwary fliers.
Summation
So what should you keep in mind when playing Marvel Super Heroes?
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The ten archetypes are strong suggestions, but there are others - everything from self-discard to non-combat damage to “power matters”, and more.
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There are a ton of legendary creatures in this set (in fact, every creature with an uncommon or higher rarity is a legendary), and the majority of them have big text boxes and a lot of small words. Just keep in mind that only a few of them are generically powerful, while most work best in a specific archetype.
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Complicating matters, there are lots of fun little synergies that cross beyond the strict two color archetype boundary. For example, Agent 13, Sharon Carter is a White card that makes a Clue token whenever one of your creatures attacks alone - clearly a creature intended for the White/Black archetype. But might it also be worth splashing in Blue/Red artifacts? How about Blue/Black “Draw Two”?
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MSH seems like a set where it’ll be very easy to create small engines that do cool things with a reasonable amount of power. The key to a great deck will be to have enough reliability and redundancy to ensure that your engine hums along without having to rely on lucky card draws or an opponent who does nothing.
Good luck!
