Marvel Super Heroes has four Commander decks, each with forty brand new cards in each one. Avengers Assemble, Wakanda Forever, Fantastic Four and Doom Prevails release June 26th, and are available in regular printings or a Collector’s Edition. But what about the new cards? What if you’re only interested in upgrading your existing decks? Here are our picks for the 20 best new cards in the Marvel Super Heroes Commander precons.
TOP 20 NEW CARDS IN THE MARVEL SUPERHEROES PRECONS
Just a quick note before we get stuck in: there are a bunch of new cards in these precons that are very narrow in application; they care about Hero cards, or Villain cards, or are otherwise cards you’ll rarely see outside of a precon unless they’re doing a Marvel thing. Those cards aren’t making this list, as we’re bringing you our choice picks of cards that can go in way more decks.
20. ANCESTRAL COMMUNION
Nature’s Spiral is a little worse than Regrowth, but getting two of them as long as your Commander is in play? That’s actually pretty good. Ancestral Communion is two mana to get two permanents back, which is a great deal, and there are plenty of self-milling decks out there that will like this – or just decks that play a lot of permanents and few instants and sorceries.
19. CRYSTAL, INHUMAN PRINCESS
A three mana mana dork for four and five color decks, Crystal, Inhuman Princess offers a decent amount of utility. She’s a 2/3 Flyer, giving her some survivability and the impetus to jam, should the occasion call for it. The real attraction comes in the extra burn damage, though – making her a snap pickup whether you’re Aragorn the Unifier, Ramos, Dragon Engine, or Niv-Mizzet Reborn deck.
18. ARCHNEMESIS
Archnemesis might not be the strongest card in the precons, but it is a hell of a lot of fun. It encourages that unique aspect of Commander: the political shenanigans. People will pay for swinging at you. They won’t pay a great deal, but the opportunity to ham it up when playing this card means you’ll have a lot of fun with it.
17. KANG DYNASTY
Summon: Yojimbo has become a mainstay in my more midrange Commander decks, offering some breathing space for four mana. Much like the Final Fantasy Summon, Kang Dynasty can buy you a little time, too. It’ll more than likely replace itself, and if it doesn’t, it’ll mean your opponents trading off their creatures while you prepare to buff one of yours for an alpha strike.
16. KING SOLOMON’S FROGS
While Smothering Tithe might be the ultimate way to punish opponents for receiving cards from you, there are a number of other effects which trigger off of this, too, such as Tataru Taru. When you have these effects in the same deck, cards like King Solomon’s Frogs get a lot more interesting. They’re already a decent rate, but when you can capitalize off of giving the card? You’re laughing. It’s also an artifact, which can be flickered with Teleportation Circle et al.
15. OKOYE, MIGHTY AND ADORED
Okoye reads as pretty reasonable for four mana, but I’m going to argue that she’s a lot more dangerous than she seems. Double strike and trample more or less equals the ability to knock out a player when you’re in a GW counters deck, and so she’s setting up well for the ability to assassinate whoever is greedy enough to claim the crown.
14. WILLIE LUMPKIN, POSTMAN
If you’ve ever played against The Second Doctor, you’ll know that this kind of effect is a little underrated. It’s more than capable of buying the time you need to win a game. Willie Lumpkin, Postman is a two mana creature that’ll slot into a broad swathe of UW controlling decks.
13. PANTHER ROBOT
Usually the Affinity for Artifacts creatures that can be cast for free aren’t an 8/8 reach trample threat, so expect to see this one slot into any number of artifact decks, particularly the ones that care about free casting to enable combos. Popular Commanders like Tannuk and Aloy, Savior of Meridian will love this one.
12. SCARLET WITCH, CHAOTIC AVENGER
Scarlet Witch works with Hero decks, but also works just as great in a spellslinger deck. She’s gonna be a fun option as a Commander (particularly if you keep her in play, as she can work with more and more cards in exile as she attacks). She’ll also just be decent in the 99 of a spellslinger build.
11. EVERETT K. ROSS, HAPLESS ATTACHE
Giving your Commander lifelink is great in decks where you attack with it often, which is what makes a Witch’s Clinic such a good utility land. Slapping it onto a three drop creature along with a minor buff and some card draw for when you get attacked, and you end up with a decent three-drop.
10. BLACK WIDOW, AGILE AVENGER
Boros gets a Faerie Mastermind for three mana, apparently. Black Widow, Agile Avenger also gets bigger when triggered, which, when combined with menace, provides you a useful creature to attack with, too. I expect to see a lot of this one in RW decks.
9. THE FRIGHTFUL FOUR
Punisher cards are a lot of fun, and The Frightful Four is a pretty good one. If you like The Lord of Pain or Mogis, God of Slaughter, you’re going to like this one. More effects like this lower on the curve make punisher decks a lot more frightening.
8. LIVING LASER
Living Laser is pretty exciting as it gives a potential win condition to wheel decks. You get to make so many copies of it if you’re wheeling, and that represents a hell of a lot of damage. It’s also quite attractive for the likes of Neriv, Heart of the Storm, as you’re gonna be getting eight damage off of each of these Lasers. I reckon this’ll go under the rader for a hot minute until folks figure it out.
7. SHANG-CHI AND THE TEN RINGS
Hey, remember doing weird things to keep getting Inferno of the Star Mounts to trigger? Well, now you can play that game in UW with Shang-Chi. Shang-Chi can grow into a sizeable threat quickly, and it’s in finding ways to remove the tenth counter and add it again that you’re going to experience peak gaming. Seems like a Josh-Lee Kwai card if ever I’ve seen one.
6. LOKI’S SCEPTER
Three mana rocks gotta be doing something to earn their keep, and Loki’s Scepter is fulfilling that rider. It comes bundled with a Threaten effect, letting you borrow the best creature in play for playing your Manalith. Is it better than Cursed Mirror? No. Is it still great? Yes.
5. ALICIA MASTERS, SKILLED SCULPTOR
Relic Retriever was the new hotness for creating treasures last set, and it’s been all but usurped by Alicia Masters now. It’s a lot easier to cast a noncreature spell to trigger your treasure two-drop. This’ll see widespread play in spellslinger decks, but might also be decent in Voltron decks as a mana engine that can get you back your big threats should they wander.
4. VALERIA RICHARDS, PRECOCIOUS
Cost reduction plus card draw on one card is always a winner. Valeria Richards gives you both as a 3/3 for four, which is a pretty good rate. Not the most exciting card in the world, but the kind of workhorse that makes decks shine.
3. ANT-MAN, ELUSIVE AVENGER
A three mana virtually unblockable creature for spellslinger decks that can make more mana back than what you spend to buff it? What could be wrong with that? Old Gnawbone and The Reaver Cleaver see high play for a reason. Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger seems on the surface to be a more restrained design, but I can guarantee this’ll be making four to seven treasure with minimal investment.
2. JOCASTA, AUTOMATON AVENGER
Jocasta loves to keep coming back for more. A legendary artifact with evasion that makes for great discard fuel, Jocasta is likely to show up in a lot of decks, from Greven to Teval, from Ashnod to Syrix, Carrier of the Flame. Again, not the most exciting card, but the kind of card that smooths out the operation of a bunch of decks.
1. MOLECULE MAN
People are obsessed with Molecule Man, and rightly so. It basically gives you a free spell each turn if your first card drawn isn’t a land. This is going to be a house in plenty of decks, and provides potentially huge card advantage plus mana advantage for decks that can manipulate their top deck – and especially those that can cantrip or draw in other players’ turns.
As a Commander it’s a little less broken, as you’re bound by the effects you can get in colorless. Still, it’s a pretty crazy value engine for six mana.
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And there you have it – our Top 20 Best New Cards from the Marvel Super Heroes Commander Precons. What cards are you going to pick up from the Commander products? Let us know.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.