Five of the most popular Marvel Comics superheroes of all time are joining the ranks of Magic: The Gathering with the new Marvel X Magic: The Gathering Secret Lairs.
Marvel and Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration has been a hotly-anticipated collaboration between the mega-popular card game and the superhero media company. Fans even got to see some blurry leaks of possible cards in September, but with no official confirmation. Now, following the Magic: The Gathering New Yorick Comic-Con panel, fans finally get to see every card that will be coming in the Marvel X Magic: The Gathering Secret Lairs.
The first 5 Marvel Comics Secret Lairs coming to Magic: The Gathering
Universes Beyond, Magic: The Gathering’s cross-IP collaboration series, has been taking the popular trading card game by storm. With collaborations with Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings, Fallout, Assassin’s Creed, and more, the spinoff series has been wildly popular. Next up is Marvel Comics, the purveyors of the enormous Marvel Cinematic Universe and some of the most iconic superheroes of all time. The Marvel X Magic: The Gathering collaboration has been announced for a while, but fans are finally getting a chance to see the cards at New Yorick Comic-Con. We’ll run down every card revealed at NYCC, as well as running down how best to play these iconic superheroes as your Commander.
Black Panther Secret Lair
First up is King T’Challa, the Black Panther. This Secret Lair is Green/White, or Selesnya, and headed up by Black Panther, Wakandan King. Black Panther is a Selesnya 2/2 for two mana, who adds +1/+1 counters to lands whenever a creature you control enters, and then transfers those counters from the land to a creature with an activated ability dubbed Mine Vibranium. Along with Black Panther, fans will get reskinned copes of Secure The Wastes, Primal Vigor, Heroic Intervention, Karn’s Bastion, and a 1/1 Warrior token for Secure The Wastes, all with themed art and names to be relevant to T’Challa and Wakanda.
Black Panther will want to focus on making tons of small creatures enter the battlefield, doubling tokens and counters, and suiting up T’Challa himself or another good body to finish the game with huge damage. Doubling Season, Hardened Scales, all the things that already excel in +1/+1 counters and token decks are exactly what you should be looking for if you want to build Black Panther.
Captain America Secret Lair
Next up is Captain America, First Avenger is a Jeskai 4/4 for three mana. In a two-part ability called Throw and Catch , his controller can pay three mana to unequip Equipment attached to him, dealing damage to up to three target creatures equal to the equipment’s mana cost, divided among the targets. Then, the beginning of your combat, he automatically equips an Equipment in play for no cost. Captain America’s Secret lair includes themed versions of Sigard’as Aid, Flawless Maneuver, In the Trenches, and Sword of War and Peace. The iconic Sword has been reskinned to be Captain America’s iconic shield, even if fans think the Assassin’s Creed printing of Excalibur is likely his best option.
Captain America wants to focus on huge cost equipment that can be equipped for cheap, then throwing them at the biggest threats on the board to deal with them quickly. Excalibur, Sword of Eden, and Blackblade Reforged are the two standout equipment with huge Mana Values and cheap equip costs, but plenty more Equipment-focused cards will still be great in this deck.
Iron Man Secret Lair sparks fan excitement
Third is Iron Man, who we predict to likely be the most popular Secret Lair from among them, thanks to the cards it’s packing. Iron Man, Titan of Innovation is a five mana Izzet 4/4 with a seriously potent ability. Whenever Iron Man attacks, his owner creates a Treasure token, then sacrifices a non-creature Artifact and searches their library for another non-creature artifact with a Mana Value of one greater than the sacrificed artifact, and puts it into play. This is a wildly powerful ability, pulling any non-creature from your deck, and seems to be one of the premier unique cards announced in this drop. The Iron Man Secret Lair will also include Tony Stark-ified versions of Galvanic Blast, Commander’s Plate, Inventor’s Fair, a Treasure Token, and most temptingly, an Arc Reactor alternate art version of Sol Ring.
Iron Man, as perhaps is appropriate, seems to be perfectly equipped for an Artifact combo Commander deck. With a built-in Birthing Pod for non-creature artifacts, any Iron Man deck should be build with multiple paths of specific artifacts with Mana Value 0/1/2/3/4/5+ to
Storm Secret Lair breaks the Storm Scale
Next up is the X-Men’s Storm, a Temur 3/4 for four mana. Touting Flying and Vigilance, whenever she deals combat damage to a player, the next Instant or Sorcery you cast gains Storm. This is a hugely powerful effect, especially if combined with Double Strike or multiple combat phases, and Storm is sure to be a popular pick among Temur players. Storm’s Secret Lair comes with a reskinned Lightning Bolt, Storm’s Will, Ice Storm, and Manamorphose.
Storm is an odd Commander, but she has tons of power. Giving a mechanic as powerful as Storm to an Instant or Sorcery without it is a ludicrous level of power. Storm will want to be a pretty standard Temur Instant and Sorcery deck, but with some notable Double Strike synergy. If Storm is given Double Strike, her trigger will apply twice, giving the next Instant or Sorcery you cast that turn “Storm, Storm” Which means you would copy it twice for every other spell cast that turn. Hit an opponent with Storm, then Storm out with Instant and Sorceries that were never budgeted to have the most powerful spell-slinging mechanic in MTG.
Wolverine Secret Lair
Finally, rounding out the lineup, is the oldest X-Men member, Wolverine. Wolverine is a three-mana Gruul 2/2 that automatically doubles all of his damage. Each end step, if he’s dealt damage to a creature, he gains a +1/+1 counter. Wolverine’s Secret Lair comes with a reskinned Berserk, an exceedingly rare card to get a new printing, Rite of Passage, Rhythm of the Wild, and the Ozilith.
If you want to build around Wolverine, you’re best focusing on him as the way you’re going to kill people. It’s important to note that Wolverine doubles all damage he deals, no matter the source, so combining him with spells like Chandra’s Ignition and other ‘punch’ effects to wipe the board is a great option for synergy. At the same time, equipment, buff spells, and effects like Double Strike that increase Wolverine’s power all have twice the value when combined with Wolverine.
Those are all of the Marvel X Magic: The Gathering Secret Lairs, which will be available for sale on November 4, 2024, through Wizard of the Coast’s website.