The Marvel universe has made its long-awaited crossover appearance in the world ofMagic: The Gathering, and Wizards of the Coast is giving fans a chance to play with cards featuring some of Marvel’s most notable heroes with the Marvel Superdrop Secret Lair release.
Five notable characters from the Marvel universe are highlighted in the Superdrop, with each one given a legendary creature to headline each of the five distinct releases. The characters featured are Captain America, Black Panther, Wolverine, Iron Man and Storm. While all of these cards featuring iconic Marvel characters are interesting and fun, some are better than others, so let’s rank all of them. Readers, assemble!
5Black Panther, Wakandan King
Flavorful But Finnicky
Black Panther, T’Challa himself, makes his way into the world of MTG as a 2/2 Human Noble Hero legendary creature with first strike inSelesnya(green/white) colors. While the original Black Panther is among the most successful Marvel movies of all time (critically and commercially), Black Panther’s MTG card is sadly the worst of the bunch.
While the ability to place +1/+1 counters directly on lands is indeed novel, and the “Mine Vibranium” ability is certainly flavorful, this card generally seems too finicky to make waves as a standalone commander. As part of the 99, sure, it would work, but the power level seems a bit low for this to be a strong choice. On the other hand, if your deck is built around a “creature lands” theme and features cards such as Living Terrain or Natural Affinity or actually contains lands that can be turned into lands – think Restless Prairie, Treetop Village or Cave of the Frost Dragon – then Black Panther, Wakandan King might actually be perfect.
4Wolverine, Best There Is
Sadly Underwhelming, Bub
Wolverine is a widely beloved character among Marvel fans – and fans of pop culture in general, as is evidenced by the tremendous box office success of Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine in the cameo-filledDeadpool & Wolverinein 2024 (whosegames are unplayablecurrently). While the presence of Wolverine is surely a coup for MTG, the lead card from his Secret Lair drop is, sadly, quite underwhelming. While it features an awesome name and some killer artwork, there is one notable thing missing from Wolverine, Best There Is: evasion.
When one thinks of Wolverine, sure, you think of his regenerative healing factor, which is present on the card via a regenerate activated ability. However, couldn’t they have fit menace onto this card? While doubling all damage Wolverine deals is indeed a strong ability – especially if paired with another card in Wolverine’s drop, Berserk, but this card needed trample, menace or something for it to truly stand out among the high power level of these cards.
3Captain America, First Avenger
Intriguing Equipment-Based Commander
Now we’re getting to the good stuff. For the first time in Magic’s history, the beloved color order in mana costs has been upended due to the fact that Captain America’s mana cost simply had to be red, white and blue. In terms of gameplay, Cap’s ability are immensely flavorful and are centered around his legendary shield. For three mana, you’re able to unattach any equipment from him in order to deal based on that equipment’s mana value divided among one, two or three targets.
Then, at the beginning of combat, you get to attach any equipment you have to Cap – no strings attached.
As expected, these two abilities can lead to some utterly bonkers gameplay scenarios. Think about being able to attach and unattach an ultra-strong equipment like Embercleave at will every turn, or about dealing a whopping 12 damage with the most mana-intensive equipment of all time: Excalibur, Sword of Eden. Still though, Cap’s power pales in comparison to the top two of this list.
2Iron Man, Titan Of Innovation
Artifacts Certainly Matter To Mr. Tony Stark
Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is known for his brilliant mind that is able to conjure myriad gizmos, contraptions, and technologically advanced creations that can help protect the Earth – while also furthering his own massive empire at Stark Enterprises. In terms of Iron Man’s MTG card, an ‘artifacts matter’ theme was always going to be the way to go with Mr. Stark, and Wizards doesn’t disappoint with an extremely powerful artifact tutoring ability tacked onto a hasty flying 4/4 artifact creature in Izzet (blue/red) colors.
Being able to use this attack trigger’s ability right away makes this card eminently powerful, and, of course, tutoring up an artifact with mana value +1 based on what you sacrifice is also supremely strong. Think of this as a Birthing Pod on a stick, and also ponder the wild shenanigans that this card can produce alongside a deck stacked with powerhouse artifacts.
1Storm, Force Of Nature
Supremely Powerful Triggered Ability
Ororo Munroe, aka Storm from the X-Men, delivers a knockout blow to the other heroes on this list with a truly spectacular design that will certainly become aCommander favoriteas soon as this card is released. A Temur (green/blue/red) 3/4 Mutant Hero with flying and vigilance for four mana is a passable rate, but it’s this card’s “Ceaseless Tempest” triggered ability that is truly spectacular: when you deal combat to an opponent, the next instant or sorcery spell you cast gains storm, which is one of the best-ever keywords in MTG history.
The sheer power of giving storm to any of your spells is too mouthwatering to ignore. Pairing Storm, Force of Nature with various cheap combat tricks or cantrips during your first main phase will allow you to wallop your opponent with a nasty storm-enabled burn spell or a copied Time Warp. The possibilities are endless.
