Magic and Marvel have been flirting for a while now. The Spider-Man set dipped a toe in. Marvel Universe tested the waters. But Marvel Super Heroes? This is the full cannonball into the deep end — 453 cards, four commander precons, double-faced transforming heroes, and enough iconic artifacts to make Tony Stark jealous.

Prerelease starts **June 19**, with the full release on **June 26**. Whether you're cracking packs, eyeing commander upgrades, or just want to know what cards your opponents will be slamming down next month, here are the ten cards you absolutely need to know — plus some sleeper picks the rest of the internet is sleeping on.

## The Headliners

### 1. Thanos, the Mad Titan

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-233" size="lg" />
 

Let's start with the big bad. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-233" title="Thanos, the Mad Titan" /> costs just <BlogMana text="{R}{W}{B}" /> for a 4/4 with deathtouch and lifelink — already an absurd rate for three mana. But his **Power-up** ability is where things get truly ridiculous: pay <BlogMana text="{C}{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}" />, put two +1/+1 counters on him, then choose odd or even and destroy every other creature whose mana value matches the chosen parity.

That's a one-sided board wipe on a stick. In Commander, where five-color mana bases are trivial, Thanos will end games. Note the <BlogMana text="{C}" /> in the Power-up cost — that's specifically colorless mana, so you'll need a Sol Ring, pain land, or similar source. The fact that he dodges his own wipe means you're always ahead after activating. Expect this to be one of the most-built commanders from the set.

### 2. Bruce Banner // The Incredible Hulk

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-49" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-49" title="Bruce Banner" /> starts humble — a <BlogMana text="{U}" /> 1/1 that taps to draw X cards for <BlogMana text="{X}{X}" /> (sorcery speed only) and transforms for <BlogMana text="{2}{R}{R}{G}{G}" />. But once he flips into The Incredible Hulk, things get out of hand fast. An 8/8 with reach and trample is already a clock, but his **Enrage** ability — put a +1/+1 counter on him whenever he's dealt damage, and if he's attacking, untap him and get an extra combat — creates infinite combat loops with any reliable ping source.

One damage. Untap. Extra combat. One more damage from blockers. Untap again. You get the idea. Wargamer ranked him the #3 commander in the entire set, and honestly, the only reason he's not #1 is that the wins can feel repetitive. But if you like turning sideways until your opponents are paste, Banner's your guy.

### 3. Mjölnir, Hammer of Thor

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-146" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-146" title="Mjölnir, Hammer of Thor" /> might be the most versatile card in the set. At <BlogMana text="{3}{R}" />, when it enters it deals 4 damage to a creature — removal stapled to an equipment. Then it **doubles all damage** the equipped creature would deal. It even has a discard mode: <BlogMana text="{2}{R}" />, discard it to deal 2 damage to each creature, giving you a sweeper option when you don't have the mana to cast and equip. In a format where <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-156" title="Thor, God of Thunder" /> exists in the same set, this is terrifying.

The "equip worthy" cost of just <BlogMana text="{1}" /> means any legendary non-Villain that's red and/or white picks this up for cheap. In Standard, this slots into red aggro and midrange strategies. In Commander, it's an auto-include in any red equipment deck. MTG Rocks called it the best card in the entire set, and it's hard to argue.

### 4. Ultron, Artificial Malevolence

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-252" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-252" title="Ultron, Artificial Malevolence" /> is a colorless commander, which already makes him unique. Whenever another nontoken artifact enters under your control, pay <BlogMana text="{2}" /> to create a token copy — and if it's not already a creature, it becomes a 2/2 Robot Villain too.

Copy your Sol Ring. Copy your Mana Crypt. Copy your opponent's artifact that you stole. The flexibility here is staggering. Wargamer ranked Ultron the **#1 commander** in the set for good reason — the ceiling is absurdly high while the floor is still a 2/4 for three mana that generates an artifact army. Being colorless means he slots into literally any collection.

## The Must-Haves

### 5. The Mind Stone

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-21" size="lg" />
 

Not to be confused with the regular Mind Stone you already own twelve copies of. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-21" title="The Mind Stone" /> is a legendary, indestructible mana rock for <BlogMana text="{1}{W}" /> that taps for white. But once you pay <BlogMana text="{5}{W}" /> and tap it to **Harness** it, you unlock an Infinity ability that exiles and returns another target nonland permanent you control at end of turn — a repeatable flicker engine on an artifact that already pays for itself as ramp.

This is the headliner of the set for a reason. An indestructible two-mana rock that later becomes a value engine is exactly what white Commander decks have been begging for. Note that it does require <BlogMana text="{W}" /> to cast, so this is a white deck staple, not a universal rock. The premium Gauntlet version (with Thanos art) has fewer than 150 printings worldwide — chase card alert.

### 6. King T'Challa // Black Panther, Hope Enduring

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-219" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-219" title="King T'Challa" /> has flash, costs <BlogMana text="{1}{W}{U}" />, and draws you a card whenever _any_ player draws their second card each turn. In a four-player Commander pod, that's potentially three extra cards per turn cycle just for existing.

He transforms into Black Panther, Hope Enduring for late-game power, but honestly, the front face is so efficient that you might never bother flipping him. This card is generating serious buzz for competitive formats too — a flash 3/2 that draws cards in Azorius is exactly where control decks want to be.

### 7. World War Hulk

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-197" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-197" title="World War Hulk" /> is a Saga that doesn't waste your time. Chapter I lets you cast your next red or green creature spell this turn **without paying its mana cost**. That means cheating out an Etali, a Ghalta, or whatever enormous red or green threat you've been sandbagging — all for <BlogMana text="{3}{G}{G}" />.

In Commander, this offsets a huge chunk of what you'd normally pay for expensive creatures. The remaining chapters continue to provide value, but let's be honest — Chapter I is doing all the heavy lifting and it's doing it immediately.

## The Sleeper Picks

These are the cards that aren't making headlines yet but absolutely should be on your radar.

### 8. Hawkeye's Bow

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-132" size="lg" />
 

At just <BlogMana text="{R}" />, this common equipment gives +1/+0, reach, and — here's the kicker — deals 1 damage to each opponent whenever the equipped creature becomes tapped. That's every attack, every tap ability, every mana dork activation.

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-132" title="Hawkeye's Bow" /> has already caused a **massive price spike** on Seeker of Skybreak (Tempest), which jumped from $0.40 to $10 overnight. Seeker of Skybreak can tap to untap a creature — equip it with the Bow, add another untapper, and you've got an infinite damage loop pinging each opponent to death. A one-mana red common driving $10 price spikes on 30-year-old cards is the kind of chaos we love to see.

### 9. Mole Man, Moloid Master

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-177" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-177" title="Mole Man, Moloid Master" /> is Crucible of Worlds on a creature with a landfall payoff stapled on. Play lands from your graveyard, and every land entering creates a 1/1 Moloid token that mills when it attacks.

In Standard, this mono-green three-drop slots into any landfall shell immediately. In Commander, combine with fetch lands and you're creating tokens while filling your graveyard with more lands to replay. This card is quietly one of the best value engines in the set and it's only a rare.

### 10. Avengers Disassembled

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-124" size="lg" />
 

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-124" title="Avengers Disassembled" /> lets you choose one or both: deal 3 damage to each creature, **or** destroy a land (with a Path to Exile-style basic land search for the opponent). At <BlogMana text="{1}{R}{R}" />, this is an incredibly efficient sweeper that can also snipe problem lands.

The flexibility is what makes this special. Sometimes you need a board wipe. Sometimes you need to blow up Nykthos. Sometimes you need both. Keep in mind it's a sorcery, so you'll need to be proactive, but Pioneer and Modern sideboards should take note — three mana for a modal sweeper plus land destruction is a rate that doesn't come around often.

## The Commander Precons at a Glance

The set comes with four commander precons, each built around a Marvel faction:

| Precon | Commander | Colors | Strategy |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Avengers Assemble | <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSC-5" title="Captain America, Team Leader" /> | Jeskai (URW) | Hero tribal with +1/+1 counters and equipment |
| Doom Prevails | <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSC-6" title="Doctor Doom, King of Latveria" /> | Grixis (UBR) | Villain connive with land-discard synergy |
| First Family | <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSC-2" title="Mister Fantastic" /> | WURG | Noncreature spells and triggered ability copying |
| Wakanda Forever | <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSC-7" title="T'Challa, the Black Panther" /> | Selesnya (GW) | Vibranium artifact tokens and big artifact payoffs |

**Best out of the box**: Captain America. Hero tribal gets natural support from both the main set and the precon. Whenever another Hero enters under your control, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSC-5" title="Captain America, Team Leader" /> gives it haste and vigilance until end of turn, puts a +1/+1 counter on it _and_ on himself. Every Hero you play makes your whole board scarier.

**Best upgrade potential**: Doctor Doom. Connive is one of the most powerful mechanics in Commander, and a Grixis shell gives you access to the best card selection and reanimation in the game. The precon is a solid starting point that gets terrifying with a few targeted upgrades.

**Most unique**: Mister Fantastic. A four-color commander that copies triggered abilities you control _twice_ is uncharted territory. The ceiling is sky-high if you build around it, but the precon needs more work out of the box.

**Most flavorful**: Wakanda Forever. T'Challa creating Vibranium tokens and caring about artifacts in Selesnya is a fun twist on colors that don't usually go artifact-heavy.

## New Mechanics to Watch

**Power Up** is the set's signature mechanic. It gives you a powerful activated ability with a high mana cost, but that cost is reduced if the creature entered the battlefield this turn. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-233" title="Thanos" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-62" title="Kang the Conqueror" /> both use Power Up to devastating effect — Kang's gives you an extra turn for <BlogMana text="{5}{U}{U}{U}" />, with a significant discount on the turn you cast him.

**Plan** is a new enchantment subtype for Villains. Plans gain counters whenever a Villain enters the battlefield, and sacrifice themselves at five counters for a big payoff. Think of them as Sagas that your opponents can see coming but can't easily stop.

**Harness** appears on the Infinity Stones (like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-21" title="The Mind Stone" />) and permanently upgrades the artifact once you pay the harness cost. It's a clean, flavorful way to represent powering up iconic items.

## Final Thoughts

Marvel Super Heroes is shaping up to be one of the most impactful Universes Beyond sets we've seen. The commander options alone could keep deckbuilders busy for months, and cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-146" title="Mjölnir" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-21" title="The Mind Stone" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-252" title="Ultron" /> have the power level to become format staples.

If you're hitting prerelease this weekend, keep an eye out for <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-132" title="Hawkeye's Bow" /> in your commons — that unassuming little equipment is already moving markets. And if you're a Commander player, start making room in your collection. Between four precons and 128 new legendary creatures in the main set alone, you're going to need more deck boxes.

What card are you most excited to play? Let us know in the comments!

Marvel Super Heroes Set Preview: The 10 Cards You Need to Know

With the previous Spiderman set and the upcoming Marvel set, Magic the Gathering and Marvel now are one. For better or for worse, those universes are married, meaning that all characters in each of those universes may interact with one another.

This does beg the question, in the Magic the Marveling Universe, who is the strongest character? Is it <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-M19-218" title="Nicol Bolas" />? Or is it perhaps <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-HOC-36" title="Sauron" />? Could it be <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-AFR-112" title="Lolth" />? Or is <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PSPL-9" title="Super Shredder" /> just a bit stronger? Who would win in combat, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-233" title="Thanos" /> or a <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-SOS-155" title="Noxious Newt" /> that just equipped a flashed-in <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-ACR-216" title="Hidden Footblade" />?

Perhaps these questions will all be answered in the countless future magic games played utilizing these characters as pawns in metaphorical duels to the death. I tell you, all of us were deceived, for another OP card was made. In the land of WotC, in the fires of Hasbro, was forged a secret master card to conquer all others. Into this one card, the devs poured all their cruelty, malice, and will to dominate all casual commander matchups. One Squirrel to rule them all. One Squirrel to find them. One Squirrel to beat them all and in the game stores bind them.

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MSH-193" size="lg" />

## The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-193" title="The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" /> is a positively insane commander. Doubling the amount of squirrels you control at instant speed alone is incredibly strong. If that was the sole ability she had, Squirrel Girl would be a solid commander, but on top of all that she also makes squirrels when she enters or attacks.

If you put zero squirrel cards in the main deck, Squirrel Girl would still be able to function independently. In many of my play-tests, it often seemed better to cast or activate Squirrel Girl rather than cast any spells from hand. The main two goals of a Squirrel Girl deck are 1) getting ridiculous amounts of mana to create squirrels and 2) making those squirrels big enough to defeat your opponents.

## Ramping Into Squirrels

For the first goal, any cards that let you tap creatures for mana like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PDSK-176p" title="Enduring Vitality" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-INR-408" title="Cryptolith Rite" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-LTR-160" title="Elven Chorus" />, etc. will balloon the amount of mana at your disposal with each activation of Squirrel Girl.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-PDSK-176p,MTG-INR-408,MTG-LTR-160" />

At a base level, any one or two mana ramp spell can really help speed up getting to initially cast Squirrel Girl. This includes common green ramp spells like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-10E-274" title="Llanowar Elves" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PLST-DIS-99" title="Utopia Sprawl" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DSC-193" title="Rampant Growth" />, and so on.

As for mid to later game ramp, higher CMC cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WAR-169" title="Nissa, Who Shakes the World" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WOE-284" title="Virtue of Strength" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-CM2-178" title="Caged Sun" /> are fantastic for generating the amount of mana we're trying to produce with Squirrel Girl.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-WAR-169,MTG-WOE-284,MTG-CM2-178" />

## Making Squirrels Massive

For the second goal, there are many different great ways to make the squirrels massive. From a simple <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-M12-186" title="Overrun" /> to the much funnier <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FDN-109" title="Preposterous Proportions" />, green has a plethora of great options for turning each squirrel into a gigantic monster.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-M12-186,MTG-FDN-109" />

Some creatures like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-BLB-202" title="Valley Mightcaller" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-BLB-178" title="Honored Dreyleader" /> individually become massive, but I mostly prefer cards that buff the whole board. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-388" title="March of the World Ooze" /> might be my personal favorite but <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FDN-127" title="Banner of Kinship" /> is likely the most powerful game-ending card in this deck.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-BLB-202,MTG-BLB-178,MTG-DFT-388,MTG-FDN-127" />

Because so much of the value engine of the deck comes from the commander, you have a lot of open slots for Overrun and Anthem effects.

## Piloting the Deck

The first couple turns will hopefully ramp you a little so that you can cast Squirrel Girl by turn three. Hopefully by turn four you'll be able to safely attack with Squirrel Girl to create another squirrel.

On turn four you should in most cases hold up enough mana to protect your commander and/or activate her on an opponent's end step. On turn five it's nice to cast a low CMC spell and be able to activate Squirrel Girl again.

In any of the following turns you should either be doubling squirrels, drawing lots of cards, or knocking out players with some sort of Overrun effect.

## Final Thoughts

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MSH-193" title="The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" /> is a strong new commander with great potential in casual brackets. This deck is very weak to board wipes so spending a bit more money on <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-AER-109" title="Heroic Intervention" /> or <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-C15-253" title="Eldrazi Monument" /> could make the deck less likely to get crushed by a single board wipe.

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-AER-109,MTG-C15-253" />

Any deck that permanently gives creatures -1/-1 also is the bane of this sort of deck. If you're facing off against a Squirrel Girl deck, those are the best ways to combat it, besides just shooting Squirrel Girl on sight.

Is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl the new strongest Magic card? Probably not. But she is the strongest Squirrel Human Hero we've seen so far…and that's more than can be said of Nicol Bolas.

## The Full Deck List

Want to try this deck yourself? [The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl](https://manytcg.com/decks/cmq02sams0001jv04zkat93fo)

<BlogDeckList deckListIndex="0" />
 
Let us know who your favorite Squirrel Human Hero is in the comments below!

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Marvel Super Heroes Set Preview: The 10 Cards You Need to Know

The Strongest Character in the Marvel-Magic Universe!