by Cameron Hawkins
This weekend begins the pre-release of the second Marvel set with Magic: The Gathering, Marvel Super Heroes, and the game is admittedly in a pretty weird place. It is more popular than ever with new players coming in droves, thanks to notable third-party releases under its “Universes Beyond” banner, like Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Airbender, two of the three best-selling sets in the game’s 33-year-old history. These were genuinely well-crafted and tasteful sets highlighting what makes these respective properties so beloved.
But there were also notable failures, including Marvel Spider-Man, that missed the mark in almost every way. After getting to check out some of the new cards that are coming to the Super Heroes set, I am optimistic that Wizards of the Coast has course-corrected on the direction of the ongoing Marvel collaboration while also highlighting the biggest issue that Universes Beyond has presented over the past few years.
Marvel Super Heroes is what Marvel Spider-Man should have been: A creative palette of cards that represent some of the most beloved characters in the comic book world. Using Magic mechanics like transform to change Bruce Banner into The Incredible Hulk or Tony Stark to Iron Man, and pushing unused creature types like Hero and Villain to the forefront, feels exciting, similar to Elementals in Lorwyn Eclipsed earlier this year. This excitement, however, wanes due to the major issue that Marvel Super Heroes brings.
Whether you like it or not, Universes Beyond has been a major success, but that doesn’t come without its own set of problems. With its ongoing releases, players have seen a significant rise in new legendary creature cards. In general ruling, there can only be one of a specific legendary creature card on the field at a time. In Marvel Super Heroes, there are well over 500 original new cards, and 75 percent of the set is legendary creatures, according to Cardboard By The Numbers. This is the highest amount in the history of the game, and there are many other Universes Beyond sets that are just as guilty. Spider-Man had 70, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had 64, and even Final Fantasy had 60.
To put this even more into perspective, the average number of legendary creatures in in-universe sets ranges between 10 and 20 percent. The philosophy behind these choices is that if they’re named creatures, they are deemed legendary. That would be fine if there weren’t so many cards of the same character. Captain America (specifically Steve Rogers) has six unique cards across all the Marvel Super Heroes products. That simply isn’t necessary. Having a couple, maybe three at the absolute most, would not only lessen the bloat but also make the cards feel more special. The big reason this is a problem is the standard format. When the vast majority of a set’s creatures are legendary, it is harder to justify having multiple copies of that card in a deck. If you draw a second copy while your original is on the field, you’re probably going to wish that you drew a different card. So what is the answer? Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear one.
It’s easy to make less of the same character by cutting down the card count of a set, but that doesn’t solve the issue entirely. As a Commander exclusive player, it feels like Wizards of the Coast has been designing primarily with that format in mind over the past 12 or so months, since it is notably the most popular. It is where most people play and where most new players flock because it is casual, social, and approachable once you understand the game’s fundamentals, but Commander is a simple format. When you can only have one copy of a card in a deck, let alone a 100-card deck, this kind of issue doesn’t affect the format remotely as much as something like standard, where you can have multiple copies in a much smaller deck.
I like Universes Beyond. I like seeing the things that I love outside of the game enter the world of MTG and despite it all, I think Marvel Super Heroes is a really cool set that has made up for the disappointing Marvel Spider-Man. However, there is a bad trend that has only gotten worse over time and there needs to be changes made from what is already a controversial part of Magic in Universes Beyond. The world of MTG is changing. Maybe the philosophies behind some of the design choices need to change too.
Magic: The Gathering - Marvel Super Heroes
