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One of the five legendary creatures released inMagic: The Gathering’sMarvel Superdrop is Wolverine, Best There Is. The Marvel superdrop features five different Secret Lairs, each focused on a different Marvel hero. Each drop includes four reprints with new art and one mechanically unique card, which is the hero the drop is centered around.
Wolverine, Best There Is can be a very explosive commander, always dealing double the damage it would normally deal. Wolverine has built-in protection as well as a way to grow its own stats, making it the perfect choice for a Gruul (red/green) Voltron commander (a commander that is the primary source of offense and defense).
Halana and Alena, Partners
Concord with the Kami
x10 Forest
x8 Mountain
War Room
Witch’s Clinic
The decklistcontains 11 creatures, nine sorceries, 12 instants, 17 artifacts, 16 enchantments,and34 lands. Since the deck is a Voltron one, the creature count is low, and the amount of Equipment and Auras is high.
Key Cards
Wolverine, Best There Is
In a Voltron deck, the commander is the most important, and as such,Wolverine, Best There Isis what the deck is built around. While Wolverine’s stats start low,every time it deals damage,it gets a +1/+1 counterat the end step. Since Wolverine canregenerate,even if the opposing creature has bigger stats, Wolverine won’t die in combat, only get tapped.
The static ability to double all damage Wolverine deals includes commander damage, meaning if it deals 11 combat damage, that will be doubled into 22 and be able to take someone out fully through commander damage.
Wolverine’s regenerate ability is great defensively andhelps to protect from any non-exile based removal. Wolverine’seffect triggers at every end step, meaning if you block with Wolverine, the ability to get a +1/+1 counter goes off at the end step, giving you a potential three triggers before your turn comes back around.
Burning Anger
Burning Angeris a way to deal a ton of damage with the large stats that Wolverine can amass. It is a bit of a hefty mana investment, butbeing able to deal double the power of Wolverine to any targetis a fantastic way to either remove any creature or deal burn damage to an opponent.
Since Wolverine can get a ton of power quickly, Burning Anger isgreat for closing out a game. While thedamage isn’t considered commander damage, when you’re dealing upwards of 20 damage with one activation, you can close out games consistently by burning life totals directly.
Mage Slayer
Thanks to Wolverine’s Gruul coloration, you’re able to take advantage ofMage Slayer. Itis one of the best Equipment cardsyou can put on Wolverine, as it can lead to explosive swings in damage. SinceMage Slayer has the creature deal damage equal to its power,Wolverine will double that burn damage.
If Wolverine isn’t blocked,Mage Slayer and Wolverine combined will essentially deal damage equal to four times whatever Wolverine’s power is. If Wolverine is at ten power, one swing is enough to take someone out of the game with just one attack while equipped.
Neyith Of The Dire Hunt
Neyith of the Dire Huntis a great way tokeep your hand refreshed while also forcing Wolverine to be blockedto make sure its effect goes off. If Wolverine is made unblockable, Neyith will simply just double Wolverine’s power for no downside.
Thereare a ton of different fight spells in the deck to make sure you can trigger Wolverine every turn. With Neyith on the battlefield, they are immediately refreshed in the hand since you’ll draw a card with it.
Well Rested
Well Restedis a fantastic Aura since you are often always going to have Wolverine tapped one way or another. Well Restedgives a creature two +1/+1 counters and draws you a card when it gets untapped. Since regenerate taps the creature instead of destroying it, you’re able to practically guarantee Wolverine will be untapping.
There aremultiple ways to put extra +1/+1 counters on your creature, and when combined with Well Rested, they can lead to Wolverine gaining massive stats to becoming a giant threat in only a few turns.
How To Play The Deck
A Wolverine, Best There Is deckisall about loading Wolverine up with Equipment and Auras to make it as damaging as possible. Since Wolverine’s ability gives it +1/+1 counters when it deals damage to another creature, there’s also afight subtheme to the deck as well.
Wolverine’s effect triggers every end step. Instant speed fight spells likeAncient Animus, Mutant’s Prey, Prizefight, and Tail Swipeare great for removing a creature while growing Wolverine’s stats.
Putting +1/+1 counters on Wolverine as quickly as possible is ideal, as the bigger its stats, the more damaging it can be.Branching Evolution, Hardened Scales,andInnkeeper’s Talentall help to get extra counterson Wolverine.The Ozolithis a way to keep those counters around if Wolverine ever gets removed to not lose any progress.
There are a ton of great Equipment spells you want on Wolverine as soon as possible.Power Fistgives it more +1/+1 counters,Two-Handed Axewill double Wolverine’s power, andBrotherhood Regaliamakes Wolverine unblockable and protection with ward two.
Theprimary win condition is winning through combat.This is either achieved through commander damage (dealing 21 or more combat damage with your commander to an opponent) or by straight-up combat and burn spells. Youwant to make Wolverine difficult, if not impossible, to blockto ensure you can close out your games. There are various ways to make Wolverine do burn damage equal to its power, which helps close games out if you can’t quite reach the commander damage threshold.
Thebiggest downside of the deck is the heavy reliance on your commander. As with all Voltron decks, your commander is one of the few creatures you play in the deck, sodecks that go-wide with a ton of creatures can be a struggle to fight against. If you notice an opponent that plays a deck that generates a ton of creatures, you want to target them before they get too many creatures for you to handle.
