Ultron, UnlimitedUltron, Unlimited | Art by Nathaniel Himawan

Marvel Super Heroes is here, y'all, and with it comes the single largest expansion to the list of Legendary creatures in all of Magic: The Gathering. Now while we are seeing a huge list of familiar faces, possibly more than any other set before thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, there are actually only a few brand new abilities added. This is probably because this set is going to bring in a lot of new players (hello new players!) and having mechanics that are easy to understand to ease players into Magic makes a lot of sense.

Yet in the battle between Heroes and Villains, what does Magic bring to the table to translate the fun and excitement of the comics to the chaos and action of the best TCG in the world! Heroes power-up, Villains connive, and oh yeah, Villains Plan too! Does the game bring all of this to life? Well, let's start diving into Marvel Super Heroes and see how well they did!

Power-up

Power-up is an activated ability that transcends the borders of good vs evil and Hero vs Villain and directly into just straight up good. Creatures with power-up come into play normally for their regular casting cost that you'll see in the top right of the card. Now, during the turn that creature enters, you can activate its power-up ability at a discounted rate equal to that casting cost that we mentioned earlier. Now that's some late game value!

We have access to the power-up ability at any time, but its only during any turn in which the creature enters that you get the reduced cost. So if we need to get a creature out early on for attacking and defending, that's fine to do, maybe later on we can power them up. Then late game, if we recast that card, "flicker" it (exile and return it to the battlefield) or bring it back from the graveyard, we should be able to pay that discounted cost.

Power-up can only be activated once per game, similar to exhaust, and you can remember that you've powered up by the +1/+1 counters you always add as part of the activation's effect. Also similar to exhaust and even prepare there are some cards that allow us to interact more directly with the mechanic: Advancing the SpiritAdvancing the Spirit, Hulk, Gamma GoliathHulk, Gamma Goliath, Wonder Man, Hollywood HeroWonder Man, Hollywood Hero and more. So there's a lot to build around in Limited possibly even Standard where you can ensure you have all the power-up cards and their support cards that you want.

While most of the power-up cards are just some simple stat buffs like with Aerial DoombotAerial Doombot, Brave BrawlerBrave Brawler and Serpent SpecialistSerpent Specialist, most come with what would amount to a full-on separate spell card's worth. Instead of taking up a deck slot with DivinationDivination, you can run Bold BiochemistBold Biochemist with the power-up instead.

Being able to spend on a trampling 5/5 that fights a creature is more than worth it in a draft. Shang-Chi, Martial MentorShang-Chi, Martial Mentor is a seven mana 10/10 that is also a Branching EvolutionBranching Evolution for the rest of the game. These super powered cards power-up with the force of entire noncreature spells and I think that makes sense in the best ways to bring these creatures to life.

Yet the set needs to have noncreature spells in it to be Magic: The Gathering, and this next mechanic is all about the teamwork between the various super hero team ups that's all over the Marvel comics universe.

Teamwork

Teamwork is all about, well, working together as a team. As an additional cost to cast a spell, you may tap any number of creatures you control with total power X or more for teamwork X. Each of these spells has two options, either two separate modes or maybe an amplified effect on resolution, and paying the teamwork cost gets you both.

Tapping creatures for ability costs isn't new to Magic, as it feels almost like crewing but for instants and sorceries, neat! Just like crewing, you can tap as many creatures as you want for these teamwork abilities, and you can easily exceed the required power number if you want. So if you want to trigger the tap abilities on cards like Champions of the ShoalChampions of the Shoal and Tributary VaulterTributary Vaulter from previous sets, you can tap both of these cards and more to pay the Teamwork cost of Team TacticsTeam Tactics for extra value!

There's not too much more to this mechanic in particular, it's just unlocking more options for you if you have the ability and the will to tap creatures for the teamwork cost. Most of these cards are honestly only good if you can pay that additional cost and I wouldn't really want to spend the mana cost for only half of the card text. One particular thing to note is that you can block with creatures you control and then use the instant speed teamwork cards like Helicarrier StrikeHelicarrier Strike and HULK SMASH!HULK SMASH! and pay for the teamwork costs with the blocking creatures.

Now on to something that focuses on the Villains only.

Plan

Plans are a new subtype for enchantments, much like BackgroundsBackgrounds, RunesRunes, and so on, that introduce nine new special cards to Magic. Each plan card has a triggered ability that adds plan counters to it whenever you complete the condition. From drawing your second card each turn to landfalling and more, these triggers are unique per plan, so make sure you're only using ones that you feel your deck can actually complete. Once you add enough plan counters to the Plan, it gets sacrificed and you get a supremely maniacal effect.

Crazy effects like controlling target opponent during their next turn after you get seven plan counters are absolutely worth the very small three mana cost for Construct a Cosmic CubeConstruct a Cosmic Cube. Yet these plans need help to go off, so each one also give you something in return for going out of your way. Political TriumphPolitical Triumph lets you scry on top of your plan counter, Rewrite HistoryRewrite History lets you draw and discard in addition to adding a plan counter and Robot DominationRobot Domination nets you a card draw on top of it all.

Since plan counters are counters, they are just as manipulatable as the majority of other kinds of counters in the game. Doubling SeasonDoubling Season will allow you to add twice the amount of plan counters every single time you trigger one of these plans. Deepglow SkateDeepglow Skate can double however every counters many is already on them, and of course proliferation cards of all kinds can and will be used to finish up Plans very quickly. However, you only get those extra bonuses like a 2/1 Villain with a plan counter on Construct a Cosmic CubeConstruct a Cosmic Cube when you specifically trigger adding a plan counter by drawing your second card each turn, not just by adding plan counters through other means.

Plan cards are all unique in how they gain counters, how many they need, and also what you get from getting the max amount of them too, so the name of the game is to read the card thoroughly before you decide to put it in your deck.

Connive

Now this mechanic is not new to Magic unlike the list above; Connive. In order to connive, the conniving creature's owner draws a card, then discards a card, and if you've discarded a nonland card, add a +1/+1 counter to that creature. Connive has been around since Streets of New Capenna and has been the Villain mechanic in Spider-Man. Being able to constantly draw and discard cards, leaving you with the best possible card options and getting rid of the lesser ones is always fantastic; but now you get a bigger creature out of it too? Yes please!

Connive in and of itself is pretty straightforward, draw and discard and if you discard a nonland, the many, many creatures in this set get bigger. What really matters is the cards that get discarded, or in this set specifically, cards that care about your second draw per turn. Cards like Madame MasqueMadame Masque and Daughter of the DeepDaughter of the Deep litter the set as fellow Villains who are waiting for the connive triggers to start flowing. Red Ghost, Intangible GeniusRed Ghost, Intangible Genius and Kid LokiKid Loki are the ideal cards you want to see if you happen to have connive cards in your deck thanks to their dependence on seeing additional draws.

The next aspect to a conniving deck are cards that care about the second part of the connive effect, discarding. Living LaserLiving Laser creates token copies if you've discarded this turn, Sadistic SlashSadistic Slash has mayhem, which allows you to cast it from the graveyard for cheap if you'd discarded it this turn, something easy to do when you're conniving multiple times a turn. Mysterio's MirageMysterio's Mirage, Abomination, World RavagerAbomination, World Ravager, and of course Doctor Doom, King of LatveriaDoctor Doom, King of Latveria are each looking for discarded cards as well as caring about the kind of card discarded, too.

Connive's mindset is all over Marvel Super Heroes, even without it being physically printed on cards, as any card in the set that looks for draws or discards is expecting some level of connive to be on your board. Even King T'ChallaKing T'Challa is waiting for your opponents to do some villainous deeds in the name of villainy! This will be the uniting Villain mechanic for the foreseeable future, so picking up the various cards that have it might be good now and long term.

Modal Double-Faced Cards

Lastly, Modal Double-Faced Cards are how more than a few of the major heroes are represented in the game. They function the same way as things have in the past Spider-Man set, with the fact that you can cast the cards on the back side when you get to cast spells without paying mana costs or if you're casting them off of things like airbending. Mechanically, there isn't too much to know about these cards. However, something to be remembered is that these cards can be transformed from older abilities in the game that could force cards to transform.

A quick rule to note that if your Bruce BannerBruce Banner is exiled while he's on the back side and returned to play, he will come back as Bruce BannerBruce Banner instead of the original The Incredible Hulk.

Mechanics Will Return In...

That's it for the main mechanics in the set. While there are a few one-off cards like Equip Worthy, they're on a single card that explains everything you need to know about it right there. Hopefully this helped anyone who's getting into the set for the first time, and if you know of anyone that needs a refresher on what's going on in the set mechanically, be sure to share this with your friends! Welcome to all the new Magic fans and hello to the returning ones as well! The game is even more fun than it was before!