Modern Set Review: Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel Super Heroes has arrived, and the set has value in Modern.

Hex Magic is the highlight and one of the most important additions the format has received this year, especially in a Metagame where Ruby Storm has become more popular. Other cards like Kid Loki, Super-Soldier Serum, Namor, the Sub-Mariner and Castle Doom also deserve attention due to their synergistic potential or playability in the format.

Super-Soldier Serum will compete with Battlefield Improvisation in Hammer Time, and both have specific advantages. Improvisation is already known for attaching Colossus Hammer at instant speed and allowing you to play around removal, but the new enchantment grants additional abilities and can attach combinations like two Hammers and a Shadowspear for lethal.

It is worth testing, even though Hammer Time is not popular in the Metagame.

Potential staple.

Kid Loki interacts with Psychic Frog to give it Hexproof each turn, and Psychic Frog feeds his ability to get +1/+1 counters whenever he deals combat damage. He also synergizes with Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student or Gran-Gran to grow and/or protect himself from removal.

In a format with so much cheap interaction, Loki, God of Mischief would have room to cause mischief and generate a lot of value, but this format has Orcish Bowmasters as a staple, and Loki is a 2/1 that draws cards. I cannot imagine a bright future for him.

Between Force of Negation and Flare of Denial, there are enough cards to let Namor, the Sub-Mariner flood the board with Merfolk. Even without them, the new legend has built-in evasion and a body that grows in an Aether Vial deck.

Tony Stark offers an Impulse for artifacts each turn while enabling Mox Amber. He deserves one or two test slots in Emry/Cori‑Steel lists.

Dress Down is a better card, but there may be situations where The Wondrous Wasp serves as a complement to remove static or activated abilities from the opponent's creatures.

Honestly? No black card really seems to stand out in this set for Modern. I could see something like Baron Helmut Zemo or Construct a Cosmic Cube being funny to play with, but no cards seemed powerful enough to the current levels.

Boros Ponza has grown in the Modern Metagame recently and gains a Cleansing Wildfire that also works as a Slagstorm. Potential staple in that archetype, or a sideboard card in a Metagame where the player has access to red and wants to respect both Boros Energy and Eldrazi/Tron.

Speaking of Boros Ponza, the archetype also received one of the best payoffs for LD in recent history. The question is whether the archetype has room or need for it in the Metagame.

Invasion of Kaldheim did not see play, but the lower mana cost, being a sorcery, and especially having Arcane could make Hex Magic the best card in the set for Modern.

Hex Magic is a partial version of Memory Jar for Ruby Storm. In the worst case, the spell will guarantee three or four extra resources to close the combo next turn. In the best case, it explodes on the same turn it is cast, can have a Desperate Ritual effect attached to it via Splice to become a free spell or even an extra Ritual if cost reducers are on board, and it will dig deeper for more spells to sequence, including other Hex Magic or answers to the opponent's hate in Games 2 and 3.

Its only downside is that it requires many cards in hand to work as a resource engine, but the first copy can create explosive turns.

There may be situations where a Green Sun's Zenith target that costs less total mana than Outland Liberator or Cankerbloom makes more of a difference than Guerrilla Gorilla's restrictions.

Speaking of Green Sun's Zenith, Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu is a Thousand-Year Elixir that can be found with the card and at a low cost. It is worth considering potential interactions or combos.

Being able to choose between hand or battlefield and still have a body with Deathtouch and Lifelink makes Cloak and Dagger, Entwined decent for Orzhov Blink/Esper Blink lists, but three mana for a 2/2 is dated design.

The Ruinous Wrecking Crew is versatile in cost and abilities. It deserves some testing, but it does not seem like we are in a Metagame where it can shine.

A Construct from Urza's Saga that flies and, when it enters, grants a power increase and Flying to another creature, seems like a decent one‑of for Stoneforge Mystic in artifact‑focused decks, but far from a staple.

Honorable mention. The Ten Rings is a powerful card advantage source that we can find with Karn, the Great Creator in Tron.

Castle Doom turns the less useful zero drops into more board presence in the late game, but limiting its mana to artifacts means worsening a portion of Affinity's Sideboard and interactions in Emry/Cori‑Steel lists.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!