Just marvelous.
While the previews for Foundations are only a little while away, that doesn’t mean we can afford to relax and not get a bit of a sneak peek at the Marvel Secret Lair Superdrop, which is quite likely going to be the most popular one to date, and possibly the most popular one MTG ever has due to the sheer power of those superheroes and supervillains.
It means that we’ve all been graced with some official reveals of the Secret Lair Superdrop, which is available to buy on the Secret Lair homepage on November 4, 2024, at 9.00 am PDT and will be limited in supply. The reveals come via a panel at New York Comic Con as part of Marvel’s slew of reveals, including things like the new Daredevil series, but we’re not interested in that (we are, but not for this article).
We’re interested in throwing down against our friends using America’s Butt to lead our deck to glory. Speaking of which…
Captain America, First Avenger is Going To Yeet Equipment At People
Captain America, First Avenger
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
We all know that Wizards have some of the smartest designers going when it comes to integrating other characters into the world of MTG, but this take on Captain America is inspired. Good Ol’ Cap’ is a three-mana Jeskai 4/4 with a focus on Equipment cards. The Throw ability allows you to pay three mana to unattach an Equipment from the card and then deal damage equal to its mana value split between one, two, or three targets. That’s any target, which is lovely stuff.
Its other ability is Catch, which allows you to attach up to one Equipment you control to Captain America, which means you can perform some very cool little tricks if you combine this with Stoneforge Mystic’s ability to put Equipment cards into play at instant speed. It also perfectly captures the idea of bouncing a shield off of things.
The biggest limiting factor here is that there just aren’t that many high mana value equipment cards. Well, except for Excalibur, Sword of Eden, which has a mana value of twelve, making it the best weapon to bounce between opponents. It’s also worth noting that Captain America deals the damage, which means if he has lifelink, you’ll get that damage back, but perhaps more importantly, if he has deathtouch, then you can just kill three creatures as long as you’re throwing something with a mana value of three. What’s that? Basilisk Collar gives you both of those keywords. Well, what do you know?
Other cards that’ll appear in the Captain American Secret Lair Drop: Captain America’s Aid (Sigarda’s Aid), Flawless Maneuver, In the Trenches, and Shield of War and Peace (Sword of War and Peace).
Iron Man, Titan of Innovation Is Going to Pod Some Artifacts For You
Iron Man, Titan of Innovation
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Next up is the polar opposite of Captain America in terms of personality, Iron Man. This five-mana Izzet 4/4 has flying and haste but also allows you to create a Treasure token as it attacks, and then you can sacrifice a noncreature artifact to get one from your library with a mana value of one more than whatever you sacrificed and put it in tapped.
The tapped part means Artifact creatures and some activated Artifacts can feel a little bit worse, but it doesn’t affect an absurdly high number of cards, including things like Equipment cards, and powerhouse Artifacts like Ashnod’s Altar, The One Ring, Panharmonicon, and even something silly like Darksteel Forge.
Plus, even if you are going for things that you’d rather wouldn’t come in untapped, we don’t think the ability to turn that very first Treasure token into a Sol Ring will ever get old. Throw Iron Man at the helm of a deck that’s all about pulling Artifacts back from the graveyard, like one with Daretti, Scrap Savant, and you’ll be laughing maniacally. If you’d rather have something a little greener, then Black Panther has you covered.
Other cards that’ll appear in the Ironman Secret Lair Drop: Galvanic Blast, Sol Ring, Commander’s Plate, Inventor’s Fair, and a Treasure token.
You’re Going To Need A Lot of Counters For Black Panther, Wakandan King
Black Panther, Wakandan King
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Black Panther, Wakandan King is the lowest mana value of the bunch at just two mana, but this Selesnya 2/2 comes ready with first strike, and the ability to store +1/+1 counters on lands, making for some very interesting lines of play. The first of these is that you can chuck a few creature lands into the deck and then beat down with them. Inkmoth Nexus is a great choice for this, because it has infect and flying, meaning you can easily kill off someone with it. But Treetop Village has trample, and Cave of the Frost Dragon has flying, so they’re both good choices too.
Wait, we haven’t explained how Black Panther makes your lands hench. Survey the Realm allows you to put a +1/+1 counter on a land you control whenever Black Panther or another creature you control enters the battlefield. This doesn’t exclude tokens, which means a Secure the Wastes (which is also in the Black Panther Secret Lair Drop!) at the end of an opponent’s turn could lead to a very easy win for you.
It also has Mine Vibranium, which costs three-mana and lets you move all +1/+1 counters from one land you control onto one creature, and then you gain that much life and get to draw a card as well. For a two-mana creature, Black Panther has a preposterous amount of potential, and if you can play Hardened Scales on turn one into Black Panther on turn two, you’ve got a very strong game ahead of you. Is it as strong as a Wolverine though? Probably not if you ask Deadpool, but what does he know?
Other cards that’ll appear in the Black Panther Secret Lair Drop: Secure the Wastes (plus a Warrior token), Bast’s Blessing (Primal Vigor), Heroic Intervention, and Wakandan Skyscraper (Karn’s Bastion).
Wolverine, Best There Is, is an Aggro Powerhouse
Wolverine, Best There Is
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Wolverine, Best There Is is a three-mana Gruul 2/2 that also cares about +1/+1 counters, as it gets one at the beginning of each end step if Wolverine dealt damage to another creature. That’s not all though; Wolverine also has the ability to regenerate as long as you pay two mana, and has an ability called Unrivaled Lethality, which doubles all damage Wolverine would deal.
There’s not much complexity here, but there really doesn’t need to be. The most obvious way to use Wolverine is to give it first strike, or better yet, double strike, with something like Embercleave, and that one even gives the card trample too. Once you’ve got those keywords onto Wolverine, then the real violence begins, because we’re going to be building a fighting deck. Why wouldn’t we? It’s what Wolverine is all about.
You can put in cards like Neyith of the Dire Hunt to make Wolverine even stronger and draw cards, Ulvenwald Tracker to have access to easy fighting at instant speed, and Domri, Anarch of Bolas for a little more power and the ability to stop your Creatures being countered. As with Black Panther, a Hardened Scales here is going to do wonders, as will protective cards like Mithril Coat, which will let you make Wolverine indestructible at instant speed for just three mana.
Other cards that’ll appear in the Wolverine Secret Lair Drop: Berserk, Rite of Passage, Rhythm of the Wild, and Adamantium Bonding (The Ozolith).
Storm, Force of Nature is Going to… “Storm Off”?
Storm, Force of Nature
Secret Lair Drop Series, Mythic
Storm, Force of Nature is a four mana Temur 3/4 that cares about giving your next instant or sorcery spell storm if she deals combat damage to a player that turn. Storm (as in the Magic mechanic) is a keyword where whenever you cast a spell that has storm, you copy that spell for each spell cast before it this turn, where you may also choose new targets for the copy! Storm (once again, the Magic keyword) is fairly complicated but plays out easier than it reads, and is rather flavorful since it highlights one of the most iconic X-Men around.
Ensuring you can deal combat damage with Storm, Force of Nature seems best, so having cards such as Whispersilk Cloak means there’s evasion to pair with the ability to repeatedly “storm off” with those instant and sorcery cards in your hand. You’ll also want multiple ways to draw cards to make sure you have enough action to make most of Storm’s damage trigger, so cards such as Mystic Confluence and Cryptic Command seem good here. Plus, these spells have multiple options meaning you can pick a different one for each storm copy that is cast! Oh, and Storm is pretty silly with all those extra turn and extra combat spells!
Other cards that’ll appear in the Storm Secret Lair Drop: Lightning Bolt, Storm’s Will (Jeska’s Will), Ice Storm, and Ororo Borealis (Manamorphose).