Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes will soon arrive at local game stores, with Prerelease events kicking off on June 19. The competitive community is buzzing about all the exciting new cards. In this article, I'll shine a spotlight on the ones that have stood out to me so far.
Evaluating cards in a vacuum before getting the chance to play with them is always difficult. I'm not part of the Play Design team, but I do bring the perspective of someone who has built Pro Tour-winning decks. When assessing newly previewed cards, I like to focus on ones that do something unique, enable potent interactions, and/or offer strong stats for their mana cost. As a general rule, cards that cost five or more mana need to do something truly exceptional before they catch my attention.
This article focuses primarily on Standard and Modern, as those are the competitive Constructed formats featured in upcoming Standard Showdown events and the current Regional Championship Qualifiers at local game stores. That said, many of my evaluations may extend to other Constructed formats as well. In alphabetical order, here are my fifteen standout selections from the newest set!
1. Avengers Tower Could Hold a Five-Color Heroes Deck Together
Avengers Tower
Avengers Assemble!
Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes introduces a wide range of Heroes, enough to support a dedicated Hero deck in Standard. The foundation of any competitive deck is its mana base, and if you want to access the best Heroes from all five colors, then Avengers Tower will be an essential enabler. As an early-game mana fixer and a late-game mana sink, it's reminiscent of Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop, the card that held the Allies deck from Magic: The Gathering® | Avatar: The Last Airbender™ together. That strategy proved competitive and made several deep runs in Standard Spotlight Series events, and a Hero deck might end up in a similar spot.
Beyond Avengers Tower, there are numerous enablers and payoffs for such a strategy. Agent Phil Coulson; Origin of the Avengers; Captain America, Wings of Freedom; and/or Avengers Assemble! can all provide boosts to your board, while Heroes like Captain America, Super-Soldier and Daredevil, Man Without Fear help protect and grow your squad. There are various Heroes that disrupt your opponent, which could help make the deck competitively viable. I don't know exactly what a Five-Color Heroes deck in Standard will look like, but it promises to be an exciting puzzle to solve, and Avengers Tower will almost certainly be a central piece of it.
2. Avengers Disassembled Strengthens Boros Land Destruction
Avengers Disassembled
Fin Fang Foom
Recently, a Boros Land Destruction deck emerged in Modern, aiming to exhaust opponents' basic lands with an onslaught of Cleansing Wildfire, Price of Freedom, and similar effects. Most recently, the archetype comprised 3.5% of the winner's metagame, and Avengers Disassembled looks like a compelling addition. Since you can choose both modes, it functions as a sweeper with a free land-destruction effect attached. While it doesn't draw a card like Cleansing Wildfire or Price of Freedom, the ability to clear your opponent's board while constricting their mana resources is quite appealing.
I would be remiss not to mention the potential synergy with Fin Fang Foom. Together, the two new cards can turn the Dragon into a 5/7 that survives the double-sweeper effect while dismantling your opponent's mana base. However, Fin Fang Foom precludes the use of Kaheera, the Orphanguard as a companion, so I doubt it will find a home in Boros Land Destruction. Perhaps it could inspire a wild Standard deck that copies Jeskai Revelation when bouncing a land, though it remains difficult to advocate for a four-drop that dies to removal and provides no immediate value the turn it enters the battlefield.
3. Doctor Doom May Outclass Existing Black Finishers
Doctor Doom
Superior Spider-Man
Doctor Doom evokes memories of Grave Titan, the iconic finisher that carried Guillaume Matignon to victory at the 2010 Magic World Championship. Like Grave Titan, Doctor Doom provides an immediate board presence even if removed right away, and it generates additional value every turn it remains on the battlefield. If he has indestructible, Doctor Doom even survives sweepers like Deadly Cover-Up, making this an especially resilient threat.
While six mana is still a hefty investment, I could easily see this card finding a home in Dimir Excruciator or Dimir Deceit decks. If you discard Doctor Doom to Bitter Triumph or Winternight Stories early then reanimate it with Superior Spider-Man, you'll dominate the battlefield as early as turn four. At that point, you'll have 10 power spread across three bodies, including four power on your indestructible Doctor Doom, all while drawing a free card at the end of every turn. Alternatively, if a Villain deck based around Doom Reigns Supreme and/or Avengers: Under Siege emerges, then Doctor Doom could serve as a solid top-end enabler.
4. New Dual Lands Reward Basic-Heavy Mana Bases
Gleaming Bastion
Gathering Place
Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes introduces a cycle of five new dual lands that can tap for two colors of mana if the land entered this turn or if you control a basic land. These lands are unlikely to find a home in three-color or four-color decks with only a handful of basics, but they should prove reliable additions to two-color decks that mostly operate at sorcery speed and have a solid number of basic lands. If you have eight basic lands in your deck, then, depending on your exact mulligan strategy, Gleaming Bastion will be active around four-fifths of the time by turn four.
I expect Gleaming Bastion to replace some copies of Multiversal Passage in Azorius Momo, while Hidden Lair could fill a similar role in Dimir Excruciator. Meanwhile, Gathering Place may supplant Temple Garden in Selesnya Landfall, as that deck should almost always have a basic land on the battlefield. If you can reliably control a basic land, these new lands become reliable duals with none of the usual drawbacks of entering tapped or costing life. That should make them attractive options for many two-color mana bases.
5. Hex Magic Offers Explosive Card Draw for Ruby Storm
Hex Magic
Desperate Ritual
Hex Magic looks like a promising addition to Ruby Storm in Modern. That deck aims to build toward an explosive turn where a flurry of spells culminates with a lethal Grapeshot, and Hex Magic can serve as an exceptional card-draw spell at the start of your combo turn or as a setup piece the turn before. Drawing five or six cards for three mana is very realistic, which is an incredible rate. And every card exiled with Hex Magic remains available to cast during your combo turn.
What's more, it's one of the first new cards in years to feature the Arcane subtype. This means that you can splice Desperate Ritual onto Hex Magic, effectively generating an extra red mana while advancing your game plan. With that additional synergy and such a high ceiling, I could easily imagine Ruby Storm decks running Hex Magic over Glimpse the Impossible.
6. Loki, God of Mischief Can Become a Personal Howling Mine
Loki, God of Mischief
Relic of Progenitus
Loki, God of Mischief doesn't trigger off removal spells, but there are plenty of abilities that target. If you can target something on both your turn and your opponent's turn, then Loki may even draw two extra cards every turn cycle. The real challenge, however, is finding enough reliable enablers. In Standard, that may prove difficult. There are cards like Bristly Bill, Spine Sower that can do the job, but suitable support pieces appear relatively scarce.
Modern offers more intriguing possibilities. Here, we can take inspiration from Ketramose, the New Dawn. That God has already proven itself as a reliable card-draw engine alongside Relic of Progenitus; Solitude; and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. Loki, God of Mischief synergizes with those cards as well. This could pave the way for a synergistic Esper Blink deck.
Alternatively, Loki, God of Mischief may find a home in Izzet Metalcraft, where it enables Mox Amber and draws cards whenever you activate Mishra's Bauble or Skateboard. In the right shell, Loki has the potential to generate a remarkable stream of card advantage.
7. Photon, Living Light Offers a Rare Combination of Flying and Hexproof
Monica Rambeau
Practiced Offense
One of the hottest developments to emerge from the last weekend of Standard Regional Championships was the rise of a Selesnya Offense deck that combined Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker and Practiced Offense. Together, those cards create a massive creature with hexproof, double strike, and evasion, rendering opposing removal spells and blockers largely irrelevant. Creatures with hexproof and evasion are exceptionally rare in Standard, so whenever a new one appears, it's worth taking notice.
Monica Rambeau has respectable stats as a three-drop, but the true appeal lies on the back face. Photon, Living Light is a formidable threat with flying and hexproof. If you can grant it double strike with Practiced Offense, a single attack may be enough to end the game on the spot, no matter how much removal your opponent is holding. Photon could find a home in Mardu Discard. With some adjustments to the deck's mana base, this card could also slot naturally into Azorius Momo or Selesnya Offense.
Photon additionally pairs well with Shiko, Paragon of the Way, which can exile Monica Rambeau as a three-mana card then cast it as a copy of Photon, Living Light without paying its mana cost. There's a tremendous amount of potential packed into this card.
8. Namor the Sub-Mariner Rewards Free Counterspells
Namor the Sub-Mariner
Force of Negation
Merfolk is a fan-favorite creature type. Although a Merfolk typal deck from Lorwyn Eclipsed never broke through in Standard and Merfolk currently resides on the fringes of competitive Modern nowadays, every new addition deserves a close look. Namor the Sub-Mariner's power scales with your Merfolk army, serving as a fast, flying clock that creates tokens to further enhance with Lord of Atlantis in Modern or Attuma, Atlantean Warlord in Standard.
The card's most intriguing application, however, comes alongside free spells. Imagine you cast Namor in Modern, pass the turn, and counter your opponent's key spell with Force of Negation, Flare of Denial, or Disrupting Shoal. You immediately create two Merfolk tokens at no additional cost, each of which increases Namor's power. If you then untap, deploy Lord of Atlantis, and attack, the damage can add up quickly.
Namor may be exactly the kind of boost an interactive, spell-heavy Merfolk deck has been waiting for. This Merfolk could even serve as a backup plan in Tameshi Belcher, which already relies on many of these free blue counterspells. In either shell, Namor could prove to be an appealing addition.
9. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Gives Hero Decks a One-Drop
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
King T'Challa
If you want to build a dedicated Hero deck for Standard, you'll need meaningful plays at every point on your mana curve. While Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes offers plenty of powerful Heroes for two or more mana, the one-drop slot is comparatively shallow. As a result, any efficient one-mana Hero deserves attention. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. fills the role perfectly. This Hero has respectable 2/1 stats on turn one and a power-up ability that stays relevant deep into the game.
Reaching all five colors will require a carefully constructed mana base, perhaps even eschewing Cavern of Souls because it doesn't contribute toward activated abilities. Still, between Secluded Courtyard, Avengers Tower, and a healthy assortment of dual lands, activating Nick Fury on turn five appears entirely feasible.
If you've built your deck with several double-sided Heroes, then Nick Fury's ability can cheat out King T'Challa, Monica Rambeau, Jennifer Walters, or Bruce Banner from among your top seven cards and immediately transform them. King T'Challa, by the way, looks like a strong card that could easily have earned a place on this list. Putting him onto the battlefield already transformed via Shiko, Paragon of the Way or Nick Fury is especially appealing. In any case, if a Five-Color Heroes deck emerges as a genuine Standard contender, I expect Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be one of its foundational pieces.
10. Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu Could Revive Insidious Roots
Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu
Insidious Roots
One year ago, Insidious Roots decks were potent contenders in Standard. When you assembled Insidious Roots alongside Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler; Scavenging Ooze; and a stocked graveyard; the deck could produce astonishing turns. By exiling a creature card with the Ooze, you would create a Plant token with Insidious Roots and immediately tap it for mana thanks to Tyvar's static ability. That mana would fuel another activation of Scavenging Ooze, which generated another Plant, allowing you to build a sprawling forest of enormous tokens in the blink of an eye.
Ever since Tyvar rotated out of Standard, Insidious Roots has lost much of its luster. Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu might change that. Not only does Shang-Chi provide the same crucial static ability as Tyvar, it also supplies two mana to help kickstart activations of Scavenging Ooze or Keen-Eyed Curator. In many ways, this card offers exactly what the archetype has been missing. If Insidious Roots is poised for a resurgence, then Shang-Chi may well be the card that makes it possible.
11. Thanos, the Mad Titan Offers More than Raw Stats
Thanos, the Mad Titan
Starting Town
Thanos, the Mad Titan is an enormous three-mana lifelinker, offering excellent stats even if you never activate power-up. This alone makes Thanos an appealing option in creature matchups that devolve into damage races. As such, Thanos could be a consideration for Mardu Discard decks. You're unlikely to activate the card's power-up ability unless you draw nearly every copy of Starting Town, but the possibility is there.
Where Thanos may truly shine, however, is as a sideboard threat for Four-Color Control. After opponents board out their creature removal, you can bring in Thanos, the Mad Titan and dominate the battlefield with a gigantic lifelinker. Great Hall of the Biblioplex taps for colorless, and you already have access to four colors, so with a few mana-base adjustments, such as adding Starting Town or Multiversal Passage or even relying on the newly printed Death to Our Enemies for Treasure tokens, activating Thanos's power-up ability becomes entirely realistic. At that point, Thanos transforms into a devastating threat with a one-sided sweeper attached, capable of taking over a game all on its own.
12. The Mind Stone Ramps Early and Blinks Late
The Mind Stone
Overlord of the Mistmoors
Mana rocks are always useful in Standard, especially when they provide meaningful utility in the late game. While The Soul Stone's last ability was somewhat narrow and demanding, The Mind Stone's ability is easier to set up and generates value immediately. Since The Mind Stone is legendary, you'll probably only want to run one or two copies, but that's fine. Several decks, from Azorius Artifacts to Mono-White Tokens, already employ The Irencrag, and The Mind Stone looks like a valuable addition or outright improvement for those strategies.
Imagine ramping into Overlord of the Mistmoors on turn three, then harnessing The Mind Stone a few turns later to blink the Overlord and establish a commanding battlefield presence. In Azorius Prison or Azorius Momo, The Mind Stone could accelerate your early development before blinking Aang, Swift Savior or Quantum Riddler for additional value. Other white-based strategies could ramp into Aang, at the Crossroads; Beza, the Bounding Spring; Shiko, Paragon of the Way; or Brightglass Gearhulk and blink them to reuse their enters abilities. Overall, The Mind Stone offers an attractive combination of mana acceleration and late-game utility.
13. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Enables an Infinite Combo
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
Supportive Parents [5rCQQA9TKbu0z0Yuz9gkKC]
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl creates an army all by herself, and Squirrel Girl's activated ability has the potential to spiral out of control in a hurry. In Standard, this card could slot naturally in a green-black Squirrel deck alongside Thornvault Forager and Camellia, the Seedmiser. More intriguingly, Squirrel Girl can create infinite Squirrels in combination with Supportive Parents.
To go infinite, imagine the following sequence. On turn one, you start with Llanowar Elves. On turn two, you play Supportive Parents. On turn three, you cast The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, create a token, and then tap the token via Supportive Parents to cast a second Llanowar Elves.
Then on turn four, the fireworks begin. Play your fourth land and attack with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl to create another Squirrel token. Next, tap all four lands to activate Squirrel Girl's second ability, creating three additional Squirrels. Tap Llanowar Elves, five untapped Squirrel tokens, and Supportive Parents to add four mana, letting you activate the ability again and create six more Squirrel tokens. Then tap the newly created Squirrels in pairs alongside your second Llanowar Elves to generate six mana, which creates twelve more Squirrels. At that point, each activation leaves you with more Squirrels and more mana than before. Once you've reached that threshold, you can activate The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl an arbitrary number of times and generate infinite Squirrels.
14. The Wondrous Wasp Offers Surprising Utility
The Wondrous Wasp
Badgermole Cub
The Wondrous Wasp looks like an excellent addition to an evasive tempo deck, mimicking the role of Floodpits Drowner. A two-power flier is a respectable rate for two mana. On top of that, you get to tap a creature and strip away its abilities. This can be particularly devastating against Badgermole Cub, as you can remove all abilities from the earthbent land and effectively turn it into a vanilla creature (though it will still return to the battlefield when it dies or is exiled). That's a substantial swing, akin to a Stone Rain attached to an evasive threat. Given its combination of utility and pressure, I could easily see The Wondrous Wasp finding a home in Azorius Momo or Dimir Midrange decks in Standard.
Death's Shadow [5RmUsI1212vUFzQqbrS5ce]
The most intriguing aspect of the card, however, is that you're not limited to targeting opposing creatures. You can also target one of your own creatures and remove its abilities. In Modern, that opens up a fascinating interaction with Death's Shadow. Imagine you're at 12 life and control a 1/1 Death's Shadow. After attacking, you flash in The Wondrous Wasp, target your Death's Shadow, and strip away its ability. Suddenly, your Death's Shadow is a 13/13. That's the kind of unexpected interaction that can steal games out of nowhere, and it highlights just how much hidden potential this card may possess.
15. Wolverine, Fierce Fighter Is the New Flametongue Kavu
Wolverine, Fierce Fighter
Flametongue Kavu
Nearly 25 years ago, Flametongue Kavu dominated competitive Standard as an efficient creature that offered a reliable two-for-one the moment it entered. Its impact left a lasting mark on the game. Ever since, any four-drop capable of removing an opposing creature upon entering has warranted strong consideration. Roughly seven years ago, Wicked Wolf emerged as a spiritual successor in green, helping define Standard after its release in Throne of Eldraine.
Now, Wolverine, Fierce Fighter may be ready to inherit that mantle. When Wolverine enters, it will dispatch any opposing three-toughness creature while leaving behind a sizeable 3/5 brawler. Better yet, Wolverine has haste, allowing you to attack for three damage immediately and swing the race. The card's stats and abilities make Wolverine more appealing than Elektra, Daughter of the Hand, who boasts a similar removal ability. Although there isn't currently a top-tier Gruul deck in Standard, Wolverine, Fierce Fighter could fit naturally into a Five-Color Heroes deck. And in Modern, Wolverine warrants consideration as a silver bullet for Green Sun's Zenith or Summoner's Pact decks.
What's Next for Standard, Modern, and More?
Prerelease events begin this weekend, giving everyone their first chance to battle with the new cards. Between exciting new cards and thematic events, Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes brings an exciting array of legendary power to the game of Magic. No matter your favorite format, there will be plenty of opportunities to build your deck, test new strategies, and join the action.
To learn more about upcoming opportunities to compete with the new cards, from Regional Championship Qualifiers to Standard Showdowns and Spotlight Series events, check out this article for all the details!
