Marvel Super Heroes MTG Draft & Sealed Guide

The archetypes

Gruul

castable spells 78average mana 3.03two-drops 13removal 18

signpost Hulk, Gamma Goliaththeme soft, drafted on card quality i

Power-up. Hulk, Gamma Goliath makes every Power-up three cheaper and Doc Samson, Super Psychiatrist adds a counter to every counter. HULK SMASH! is the removal. Go big or stay out.

Izzet

castable spells 82average mana 2.96two-drops 12removal 16

signpost Iron Man, Master of Machinestheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Artifacts. Iron Man, Master of Machines draws on attack when an artifact came down that turn and Shuri, Wakandan Inventor makes them cheaper. It has one of the lowest curves of the ten pairs, so it can race.

Boros

castable spells 81average mana 2.89two-drops 13removal 17

signpost Thor Odinsontheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Spells that target. Thor Odinson has prowess twice, Iron Fist, Living Weapon turns a trick into a Lightning Bolt from his power, and Colleen Wing, Street Samurai grows and scries on the same trigger. Giant Growth is a removal spell in this deck.

Orzhov

castable spells 82average mana 2.98two-drops 13removal 13

signpost Black Widow, Double Agenttheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Attack alone. Black Widow, Double Agent gives a lone attacker first strike and menace, Agent 13, Sharon Carter investigates off it, and Luke Cage, Power Man becomes indestructible doing it. One big attacker and a hand of tricks.

Simic

castable spells 83average mana 3.10two-drops 13removal 11

signpost Ant-Man, Colony Commandertheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Counters and Insects. Ant-Man, Colony Commander makes a 1/1 whenever a counter lands, and Go Nuts! puts one on for one mana. It ties for the least removal of any pair, so it needs the tricks to trade.

Selesnya

castable spells 80average mana 2.92two-drops 15removal 11

signpost Black Panther, Vanguardtheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Heroes. Black Panther, Vanguard triggers on every nontoken Hero and Agent Phil Coulson grows them all on a tap. Nearly every creature in the set is a Hero, which is why the graph cannot see the theme and why it works anyway: it is the go-wide deck with the best bodies.

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Dimir

castable spells 82average mana 3.12two-drops 11removal 12

signpost Kang, Temporal Tyranttheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Draw two. Kang, Temporal Tyrant connives on attack and punishes the second draw, Madame Masque makes a Villain off it, and Trickster's Stratagem is the common that does both. Slower than white-blue and it wants the fliers to close.

Rakdos

castable spells 80average mana 3.04two-drops 12removal 21

signpost Madame Hydratheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Villains. Madame Hydra makes a 2/1 for every Villain cast and The Masters of Evil pumps them. The most removal of any pair, but the density the payoffs ask for is not there at common. Be in it for the removal, not the theme.

Golgari

castable spells 79average mana 3.15two-drops 12removal 15

signpost Killmonger, Scourge of Wakandatheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Two in the graveyard. Killmonger, Scourge of Wakanda is the signpost and the easiest threshold in the set: HYDRA Troopers mills two on entry and Undercover Skrull becomes a 3/3 that taps for any colour once it is met. Punishing Punch costs one mana then.

Azorius

castable spells 83average mana 2.93two-drops 12removal 11

signpost Captain America, Living Legendtheme soft, drafted on card quality i

Teamwork and tempo. Captain America, Living Legend untaps the first creature you tap each turn, so a Teamwork cost is paid twice, and Agent Maria Hill draws a card every time she pays one. Justice, Vance Astrovik is the uncommon to take first in the pair.

Where the removal is

Marvel Super Heroes has 48 removal spells, and 31% of its creatures have toughness 4 or more.

The colors at common

The fixing

The most common mechanics

Power-up

cards 24at common 9mostly green and red

Teamwork

cards 12at common 9mostly red and black

Connive

cards 11at common 3mostly black and blue

How to draft it

No pair is an archetype here, and that is the read, not a gap. The graph finds no colour pair whose cards feed each other more than chance, and every guide to the set says the same thing in its own words: the archetypes are soft, card quality decides, and the ten signposts are good cards first and themes second. Draft the best card, keep the curve, and let the pair find you.

It is faster than it looks from the table. The average mana value is 3.09, the lowest of any recent set, and 21% of the creatures fly, the highest. The drafters who have played it call it midrange with ground stalls, and both are true: the ground clogs, so the games are decided by the two-drops that get in early and the fliers that get over later. White-blue is the pick for exactly that reason, and it has the best commons in the set. The trap is villains: black-red has the most removal castable of any pair, twenty-one spells, but the hero cards are simply better than the villain ones, and a deck that takes villains for the theme loses to one that took heroes for the rate.

The picks at common

Removal first: the two-mana burn, the exile that scales with Teamwork, the clean kill, the white exile enchantment, the one-mana fight, and blue's tuck.

Then the bodies that carry a deck on their own: the two-for-ones and the fixer.

Interactions worth knowing

Teamwork paid twice. Captain America untaps the first creature tapped each turn, so it can pay Helicarrier Strike and Murdock's Crusade in one turn, and Maria Hill draws on each.

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Two creatures in the graveyard. HYDRA Troopers puts them there, the Skrull and Punishing Punch turn on, and Killmonger keeps his bonus.

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Targeting your own creature. Every trick that targets a creature you control makes Iron Fist deal his power anywhere and grows Colleen Wing, so a Giant Growth is three damage to the face and a counter.

What to play around

Red holds Lightning Strike at two and HULK SMASH! at two with four power on the board. Black has Dark Deed and Widow's Bite at two and Hour of Defeat at four. White has Helicarrier Strike for one against an attacker or blocker and Red Guardian, Super-Soldier with flash at three, which kills anything that dealt damage this turn. Blue has We Say Thee Nay! at two. Green has Go Nuts! at one and Punishing Punch, which costs one with the graveyard on.

Splashing

There are 10 common dual lands, one per pair, and Undercover Skrull taps for any colour, so a splash of one or two cards on three sources is routine here and the guides agree it is worth doing. The bombs to splash are the rares that end a game on their own; the commons are not worth a third colour.

Questions about Marvel Super Heroes