Preview season for the next Magic: the Gathering expansion, Marvel Super Heroes, has begun. This normal-sized set is pulling out all of the stops to showcase what makes the world of Marvel so awesome, including popular characters, settings, storylines, and more.

There are plenty of new cards to check out, so let's get right into it.

The Heroes

Naturally, one of the biggest focuses for a set like this is the Heroes. It's right in the set's name, after all.

Naturally, we kick things off with a look at two key pieces for The Avengers.

Nick Fury is a mainstay of this team and it's no surprise that he shows up here. If you just play him as is, he's little more than a Savannah Lions (a one-mana 2/1). That's nothing special, but if you can pay his Power-up ability, you're off to the races. It lets you find one of several different types of permanents and even lets you transform a Hero with ease.

You can easily work toward activating him or finding other Heroes via the Avengers Tower. This new Land is sure to be a key player if Heroes begin to play a bigger role in Magic going forward. Keep an eye on that one.

We've already seen several iterations on fan favorite Captain America by now. However, there's plenty of related cards to show for him. After all, he is only one of the Super-Soldiers in the world of Marvel, as many were given the Super-Soldier Serum that was revealed today.

We also got two new Super-Soldiers in the form of Patriot, Shield Wielder and the morally dubious U.S. Agent, John Walker. Both of these cards act as solid Limited fodder, but aren't likely to helm your Commander decks anytime soon.

We also got to see Captain America's Shield. Initially only revealed in Japanese, we've since seen the English translation.

This is a fantastically flavorful way to depict how Cap's shield is often thrown around to incapacitate villains while avoiding the use of lethal force. It is a shield, after all. You probably won't do too much damage with it if you have Captain America, First Avenger toss it, however.

While we'd previously seen the beloved X-Men hero Storm get a card in the form of Storm, Force of Nature, we now get to see her latest card here.

Storm, Windrider is a mighty threat at four mana. Not only does she hit like a truck as a 4/4 with Flying, she also stops opponents' Creatures with Flying from dealing with you. Not only that, but she can give other Creatures Flying as well, which both benefits your field as well as stops your opponents cold in their tracks.

Fan favorite character Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, makes a showing in this set as well. The character is well known for her ability to use her oversized hands. Not only does this work well by making her stronger mechanically, but allows for a very clever use of removing your maximum hand size. Get it? It's because it involves your hand getting bigger!

The last of these heroes is a fan favorite: Daredevil, Man Without Fear.

If you're unfamiliar with the character, he's Matt Murdoch - a blind lawyer who also happens to be able to use his blindness to his advantage. As his card implies, he uses a sort of radar to "see" others despite his disability, allowing him to do great feats.

The designers took this as an opportunity to do something interesting and inventive as a way to play into the way Red exiles cards off the top of the deck for its "draw" ability. It's sure to make for an exciting build-around.

Finally, what would a look at Heroes be without a little drama between them?

The Super Hero Civil War leans into an extremely popular story from the Marvel comics where different factions of Heroes end up battling one another. More casual fans may recognize this as the basis for the film Captain America: Civil War. It's a great representation of the story as well, conscripting others under your command and then fighting one another.

The Villains

Naturally, where there are Heroes, there are also Villains. The Villains definitely took a bit of a backseat to the Heroes today, but that's fine when we still got some stellar cards.

One of the most notable cards of this bunch is easily Ultron, Artificial Malevolence. While fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have been left a little underwhelmed by the character in his film outing, he's known for being a true menace in the comics.

The reason for this is simple: he just keeps making copies of himself and coming back over and over again continuously. This is reflected fantastically on his card, letting you create copies of Artifacts as you cast them. If you've ever cast a Mirrorworks in Commander, you know how silly this can get, and Ultron is substantially cheaper to get onto the battlefield as well.

Expect this one to become a stone cold staple in the future.

Select members of HYDRA also make an appearance here. Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord is known for how he runs the organization. Additionally, the Winter Solder, Icy Assassin is often used as one of their agents - a mind-controlled Super-Soldier version of Bucky Barnes, the former companion of Captain America.

Hey, wow, a Creature that cares about when you use spells to target Lands. Whatever could you possibly be trying to do with that? Surely you're not planning on slamming a number of Stone Rains upon your opponents' Lands turn after turn in a game of Commander or anything.

Ponza players are about to have a field day with Fin Fang Foom. If you really want to be the villain in any game of Magic, this is certainly a fantastic way to go about it.

There's no shortage of great board wipes out there these days. Something like Avengers Disassembled has to compete with the likes of Slagstorm, but frankly it's hard not to fall head over heels for this one.

Not only does it let you deal three damage to all Creatures, but you also get to blow up a Land as well. That's right - you get to do both modes as opposed to just one. If you're playing Red in Standard, you'll want to make sure you grab a couple copies of this card.

Finally, what good would a villain be without getting the opportunity to flaunt their superior intellect? Super Intelligence showcases this by doing what many Blue players do in order to flaunt their superiority: draw more cards. It's a neat alternate take on the classic Curiosity-style of effect and is sure to become a fan favorite in the future.

Promos

Yesterday, we got a good look at several previews of a variety of promo cards that would be released alongside Marvel Super Heroes. However, as Wizards had yet to provide good quality images yet, they weren't included in yesterday's coverage. As of today, these images have appeared on their website, so it's time to take a look at them.

First up is the pair of Bundle promos. In standard Bundle products, you'll be able to get copies of The Scarlet Witch featuring gorgeous art by Julia Vasilyeva. Meanwhile, the Gift Bundle - in addition to the usual special box and Collector Booster - will come with a special foil copy of Daredevil, Man Without Fear.

These are perhaps the easiest to acquire of all these promos. Simply check out your local game store, pick up a Bundle, and you've got it.

These next ones take a little work to acquire, however.

Dark Deed is the Standard Showdown promo from June 26 through August 6, with players being able to acquire foil copies if they win the event. This card is looking to be a powerful removal spell in the format going forward and is well worth picking up copies of, promo version or otherwise.

Various tie-in events will be happening at local game stores everywhere for players to participate in. Stores will have the chance at running a special Loki, God of Mischief Archenemy-style event in late July. Players who attend this event will be able to pick up a special promo copy of Hellcat, Undying Vigilante for their efforts.

Two-Headed Giant Commander nights are also bringing with them a double-dose of Commander-oriented promos. If you attend one of these nights at your local game store, you'll get a copy of Echo, Perceptive Prodigy and Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards. Not a bad deal, especially if you're a Blue fan.

For those looking to game at the highest level of play, there's some serious promo offerings as well.

If you're attending Magic Spotlight: Marvel Super Heroes in the coming months, you'll get a sweet alternate art treatment for Elektra, Daughter of the Hand. This event will be Team Limited and take place in Las Vegas in the US from June 26-28 and then in Brussels, Belgium on July 24-26. While all participants get a non-foil copy of the promo, the top 48 teams also get a fancy foil copy as well.

If you were lucky enough to qualify for Pro Tour Marvel Super Heroes at the upcoming MagicCon Amsterdam, you'll be swimming in value. Not only do you get a copy of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student // Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar that's the main promo for the year, but you also get access to a sweet new alternate art copy of Quicksilver, Brash Blur. These are only available to the small number of players participating in the event, so the numbers will be limited overall.

Conclusion

That wraps things up for day two of Marvel Super Heroes previews. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled right here on the CoolStuffInc Marvel Super Heroes page to check them out as new cards are unveiled. While there, you can lock in anything from the latest set that might catch your interest, from singles to sealed products.

Main set previews will continue through the rest of the week, with Commander, Source Material, and Jumpstart cards coming next week. Be sure to check back for all the coverage every day in the weeks ahead.

Prerelease kicks off on June 19, so check with your local game store and lock your place in for it now.

Paige Smith

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