Director Nick FuryDirector Nick Fury | Illustrated by Javier Charro

Many new set reviews dig into the minutiae of the cards and which ones in particular stand out. In this column I'm going to take a more holistic look at the Marvel Super Heroes sets overall and judge how good this is for Commander fans. Since this is a Universes Beyond product, there will be some people who will connect with this set as a Marvel fan, and some who will not appreciate an IP so incongruous with traditional Magic: The Gathering sets. I'm taking a look at the cards as game pieces for a Commander game, agnostic of the flavor implications.

I've been playing multiplayer Magic since 1994 and EDH/Commander specifically since 2007, so I'm drawing from decades of experience in my evaluation. I will emphasize that I very much favor the social aspect of Commander over the competitive end of the Commander Brackets, and my takes are coming from that perspective.

Reprint Value - Marvel Source Material

While everyone loves new cards printed in new sets, I think a big factor in how "good for Commander" a new set is are the reprints of powerful and fun cards that have gotten quite expensive to pick up on the secondary market. Even if you aren't interested in the new art for these cards, the fact that these are available should help drive down prices in older versions, and that's a great thing for Commander players looking to acquire them for their decks.

Peppered in both play and collector boosters are Marvel Source Material cards, reprints featuring new art from Marvel artists. I'm particularly excited by the reprint of five Marvel characters that had previously only been available through a Secret Lair product.

Storm, Force of NatureStorm, Force of Nature is very flavorfully a great commander to lead a storm deck, with flying and vigilance a nice combo to both attack and defend. Black Panther, Wakandan KingBlack Panther, Wakandan King has a fun ability to "store" +1/+1 counters on lands and then move those counters onto a creature, and he's gotten powered up by the earthbending cards from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Iron Man, Titan of InnovationIron Man, Titan of Innovation is an artifacts-matter commander with a powerful tutor ability tied to his attack.

Wolverine, Best There IsWolverine, Best There Is is a sweet Voltron commander where you can toss in a bunch of fight and bite spells, like BushwhackBushwhack or Ram ThroughRam Through. Captain America, First AvengerCaptain America, First Avenger is a fantastic Equipment commander that can turn unequipping into direct damage and can re-equip for free.

Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne is an incredibly good card that can go into nearly any creature deck, so it's nice to have more copies running around the reskinned Doom VariantDoom Variant. Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection is a Game Changer for a reason: it's powerful and popular and thus expensive; T'Challa's ProtectionT'Challa's Protection will hopefully bring down the price a bit. It's always awesome to get more copies of Sword of Fire and IceSword of Fire and Ice (along with the others in the cycle), so thanks for the Patriotic ShieldPatriotic Shield!

Combo players love Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune, so it's nice to get more copies with Heaven-Sent MarvelHeaven-Sent Marvel. Earlier printings of Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader are up there in price, but we have a reasonably costed one in Foundations, and now a reskin with Monica, the MarvelMonica, the Marvel.

Ravenous TyrannosaurusRavenous Tyrannosaurus and Don't MoveDon't Move are cool reprints from the hard-to-find Jurassic World Collection.

Simulacrum SynthesizerSimulacrum Synthesizer is a popular Standard and Commander card, and as a mythic rare from The Big Score we appreciate more copies. Defense of the HeartDefense of the Heart has been reprinted a few times over the years, but the new version seems to be much more affordable.

The price for all versions of Horn of GreedHorn of Greed hovers around $20, so hopefully the new version will bring down the price a bit. Opposition AgentOpposition Agent is a powerful Game Changer that's only really played at higher powered tables, but hopefully another printing will help alleviate the cost.

Parallel LivesParallel Lives, Primal VigorPrimal Vigor, and No MercyNo Mercy all can use more copies out in the world.

Fiery EmancipationFiery Emancipation, ArachnogenesisArachnogenesis, and especially Savage BeatingSavage Beating are awesome Commander cards that lead to big, swingy plays, and I'd love to see more people able to put them in their decks.

Seize the DaySeize the Day actually has two different versions in the Marvel Super Heroes sets! I love decks that appreciate extra attack steps so I'm thrilled to see more copies of this in circulation.

Reprint Value - Commander/Jump Start

Commander fans are thrilled to see reprints of some of these awesome lands originally printed in Battlebond: Bountiful PromenadeBountiful Promenade, Luxury SuiteLuxury Suite, Spectator SeatingSpectator Seating, Rejuvenating SpringsRejuvenating Springs are hopefully a sign that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) will keep putting these vital mana-fixing lands in Commander decks.

It was awesome to see the classic Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise get a new printing with cool new art! Folk HeroFolk Hero had only been printed once previously, so it's awesome to see it ran back. And Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge is a premier Commander creature sweeper!

Raise Repulsor ShieldsRaise Repulsor Shields, Lady Loki's ManifestationLady Loki's Manifestation, and Loki's DoubleLoki's Double are fun reskins of great Commander cards that have gotten up there in price.

Black Panther's ClawsBlack Panther's Claws, Vibranium DynamoVibranium Dynamo, and Panther IdolPanther Idol are more reskins of cards that I had no idea had gotten so expensive, so thanks for the extra copies!

Kindred DominanceKindred Dominance and Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery are superb cards in typal decks that could (and should) run them.

Quantum MisalignmentQuantum Misalignment is a super fun card from the Doctor Who set you might have overlooked, and it's been incredibly expensive, but this version looks very affordable. Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections has been reprinted a few times but this new version is much cheaper (so far). This version of Helm of the HostHelm of the Host is a bit cheaper than earlier versions, and that art is very cool.

Is Marvel Super Heroes Fun?

If you're a fan of Marvel comics or the Marvel movies, this set has a ton to be excited about. If you don't like Universes Beyond and/or Marvel, you likely won't find much to get excited about. But from a pure game piece perspective, there are a loads of fun cards no matter what strategies you prefer. There are cards for beatdown, aggressive strategies, there are spellslinger supporting cards, and there are loads of combo cards if that's what makes you smile. And for folks like me, there are a nummber of weird cards that do new and unique things that are going to be fun to brew decks around. So yeah, Marvel Super Heroes is fun for Commander!

How Many Legends Are in Marvel Super Heroes?

There are a whopping 362 brand new legends in this set. Notably almost half are uncommon or common cards, and look to mostly be balanced for Limited play and don't really make the grade for most Commander power levels. That still leaves 199 rare and mythic rare legends to build decks around or to stick in the 99 of your existing decks.

Color Combos Among the Legends

271 of the new legends are mono-colored, but many of those are uncommon and common and pointed for Limited. That still leaves a whopping 141 mono-colored rare and mythic rare commanders you can build around, which is much easier to work with for newer or budget-minded players who don't have a wide variety of color-fixing lands that tend to be rather expensive. It's interesting that red and white are in the lead for new mono-color legends!

For two-color commanders, Selesnya leads the pack, with Azorius and Izzet close behind. It's refreshing to see Boros and Dimir in the top half of new commanders.

For three-color commanders, there are two Grixis commanders and one Jeskai commander. There are actually six four-color commanders, and all of them are and are part of or otherwise related to The Fantastic Four team. There are also three new five-color commanders, so we've got a lot to choose from if you're a fan of multi-color Commander decks.

Cards for Underexplored Themes

Outside of the major mechanical themes of new sets, it's always nice when underexplored themes get a few new toys to play with.

If you're a fan of the connive mechanic, there are a ton of cards, like Leader, Super-GeniusLeader, Super-Genius, to add to your decks. And if you're a fan of Squirrels, the appropriately named The Unbeatable Squirrel GirlThe Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is here to make your day. I've been seeing some wild combo decks popping up in the Early Access Arena event videos, so we might even see her in Standard!

Lorehold, the HistorianLorehold, the Historian brought miracle back for another go, and now we have Molecule ManMolecule Man to add to that deck, or really since it's colorless you can put it in any deck that has library manipulation available. I'm a huge fan of the monarch mechanic, and there are a good number of cards, like Okoye, Mighty and AdoredOkoye, Mighty and Adored, to further support that.

If you like Vehicles, there are a whopping 13 brand new Vehicles you can buff up your strategy with. Three of them are even legendary, like The Thanos-CopterThe Thanos-Copter, and could be your commander. Titania, Proud PummelerTitania, Proud Pummeler adds another card with melee (a pretty rare ability) into the universe.

And if you've got an Illusion deck there's Living Lies of LokiLiving Lies of Loki, which gets quite scary the more other Illusions you control.

If you were a fan of Marvel's Spider-Man, or Spiders in general, they added a few more Spider cards here too like Spider-Woman, Secret AgentSpider-Woman, Secret Agent.

Overall Set Complexity and Strength

I feel many of these new cards are quite complex, which seems a little off for a player acquisition product, but veteran Magic players will love digging in and exploring all the new abilities and effects. And the set feels quite a bit stronger than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel's Spider-Man and much more on par with stronger in-universe Magic sets.

Conclusion: Grade B+

The Marvel Super Heroes set has incredible reprints, a wide variety of new commanders, and a lot of really cool and powerful game pieces. It has many of the hallmarks of a really excellent set... but unfortunately I have to ding it for being a Universes Beyond set, and a lot of people are turned off by a "modern day" non-Magic setting getting pushed into the fantastical worlds of the Magic universe. I think sets like this would be a much better fit for a Commander-only product, like Warhammer 40,000 Commander and Doctor Who, rather than a huge Standard set. If you're a fan you can dive in, if you're not you can more or less ignore it. Commander players can ignore it of course, but if you typically enjoy Standard tournaments you'll likely have to buy some of these cards for your decks.

How do you think Marvel Super Heroes is for Commander fans? What new cards are you excited about trying in your existing Commander decks? Are there any brand new decks you're eager to build?

Read more:

Best Commanders from Marvel Super Heroes!

Best Commanders from Marvel Super Heroes Eternal