Marvel is back in Magic as Marvel Super Heroes drops as the most recent set for the game. Now, we can talk all day about Universes Beyond, how healthy it is for the game, and if we really agree with the future plans for a 50/50 beyond/within split. That’s not what I’m here for today though. What I’m here for today is to bring attention to some of the fantastic cards introduced in this set.
As a Commander player, I’m always looking for an excuse to buy some more shiny cardboard, and this latest release has been full of some particularly tasty excuses to drop the dosh and find a new legendary to helm a deck. So without further ado, here are five commanders that have me cracking open my wallet.
Actually, quick pit stop, if you don’t know what Commander is, it’s an eternal singleton format for Magic the Gathering. This means you can only have one copy of each card in your deck (other than basic lands), and (ban list excluded) you can use any card from the entire 30+ year history of the game. The format is typically played in four person matches, each player bringing a 100 card deck led by your “Commander”. A Commander is any Legendary Creature (and some Planeswalkers) that will sit outside of your deck (so technically you have a 99 card deck) in a special zone where you can cast it from at any time. This means if you find a creature with an effect you want consistent access to, you can use it as your commander and build a deck around making it work.
There’s a smidge more to it than that, but if that sounds interesting to you, then Magic produces a huge amount of starter decks that you can pick up on almost any budget that usually work as a good place to start!
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
There are two major focuses of the Marvel Super Heroes set, Hero/Villain as a creature type, and double face cards (and super powers I guess, but that’s obvious). This is a commander that’s going to let you use both to your full advantage.
For a full colour pie of lands, you can power up your commander, pull the top seven cards off your library and drop a bunch of useful cards onto the battlefield without having to pay for them. Sure, it’s on a “Power-up” ability, meaning you can only do it once per time you cast Nick, but you’re probably going to be casting your commander multiple times in a game, and there are plenty of cards that can let you “flicker” (remove and return a permanent back to the battlefield) to reset this restriction, meaning you can absolutely tear through your deck and toss hero after hero at your opponents, along with the right tools to arm them with.
Bruce Banner // The Incredible Hulk
Speaking of double-faced heroes, here we have a classic example (both mechanically and thematically). Bruce is a two-sided commander who doesn’t have a clear focus, which makes him a great utility piece to build around. His normal face lets you pay a scalable cost to draw cards, which is always handy, but it’s once you flip him over and let him hulk out that you can get a bit more interesting.
An 8/8 commander is terrifying to begin with, let alone adding reach and trample on there. Enrage is a cool little combat trick though. Especially since red has plenty of ways to deal small amounts of damage to creatures. When you only need to deal 21 damage with a commander to end an opponent, and trample causing it to bleed through any blockers (or using an ability that lets you assign trample damage as you see fit like Proud Wildboner), it’s quite easy to swing, and then during combat ping him with a small amount of damage, chaining another combat set, and then keep repeating this as much as possible until the damage rolls over.
Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan
Now this commander is a flavour win for a start, and half the reason I picked it. Mono-colour commanders have a bit of a disadvantage in the reduced number of cards you can pick from (though it’s always handy not to have to colour-fix during the game), but you don’t really have to worry about a card draw focused commander in the colour blue.
Removing a hand size restriction is always handy (Sorry), but on top of that vigilance and reach are great defensive keywords, topped off with a sudden burst of offense whenever you “target” a creature you control (incredibly common)? That sounds like a winner to me!
The Frightful Four
If there’s one thing a black commander will do, it’s make your opponents bleed. This one’s nice and simple, your opponent plays something that isn’t a creature? They take damage. I don’t know if it’s the pods I personally play with, but I know very few people that actually play creature decks, most of them use some form of spell slinging or non-creature strategies, so this is going to absolutely rinse them.
If you’re playing black you have a lot of options to drain their life regardless, so it shouldn’t take you long to make playing any cards a lethal decision for them.
The Ruinous Wrecking Crew
For my last pick, let’s look at something scaleable. I love a good X-cost spell, because they’re theoretically useful at any point in the game. Pay it low for a quick early hit, or pump it full of mana for a late game swing.
Wrecking Crew gets pumped up by whatever the X cost is upon entry, which is sweet to begin with, but then comes with a bevy of effects that you can activate X of upon entry, so you can be really versatile depending on the situation.
I’ve only picked five cards here, but I could have easily gone through twenty. From flavour wins to just plain fun gameplay, I don’t think it can be denied how fun this set is!