Magic: The Gathering‘s Marvel Super Heroes set arrives next June, just in time for Avengers to return to theaters and Doomsday to debut at the end of the year. But the licensed Universes Beyond expansions have been at their best when they add more flavor to the trading card game rather than just lean on it for publicity. On Tuesday, Wizards of the Coast gave fans a taste of what to expect from the latest comic-book-inspired set, from Incredible Hulk card art to new Captain America card mechanics.
The company teased 38 new cards on its latest WeeklyMTG show. There’s plenty of Legendary Creatures, some neat spells, and lots of really nifty art. There’s Captain America, a 3/2 white creature with a shield counter that protects it from one instance of damage. There’s Bruce Banner, a 1/1 blue who can transform into the Hulk with an Enrage condition that gives him a +1/+1 counter when damaged and a second attack phase.
And then there’s Doctor Doom, a 3/3 black creature that enters with Doombot tokens, lets players draw a card and take damage at the end of their turn, and is indestructible while an artifact creature or Plan is on the field. Wizards also revealed a notable reprint of Heroic Intervention, with the effect of “Permanents you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.” The set has a Horn of Greed, too, with the perfect Doctor Doom “toot” art.
While the reprints each have callbacks to some classic Marvel comic book art, my favorite-looking cards so far are the full-art variants of Widow-Making Infiltrator, Dig Through Time, and Elektra, Deadly Assassin. And for all your Saga nerds out there, we have World War Hulk, which ends with doubling a creature’s power and toughness and giving it trample, and The Coming of Galactus, which culminates in a 16/16 black Elder Alien with flying, trample, and “Whenever Galactus attacks, destroy target land.”
I wasn’t too impressed with the Marvel set when it was initially revealed earlier this year. Coming right after Spider-Man and in the midst of a glut of other Universes Beyond crossovers, it seemed likely to be another property stretched thin and rushed out to keep the release calendar rolling. These initial card reveals look promising, though. I’m intrigued. Maybe I wasn’t as burnt out on Marvel as I thought. I might just have to chase Galactus after all.