Heroes United: Standard Avengers Assemble

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Introduction

With the official arrival of Magic’s latest crossover set, “Marvel Super Heroes” (MSH), the Hero theme of Standard’s Universes Beyond sets has received a large injection of new blood. The set has not only a dazzling array of superheroes but also a dedicated two-mana Saga, Origin of the Avengers, which encourages players to build a superhero theme. Today we are using this Saga as the core to build an Avengers deck and taste the unique superhero flavor of this Marvel set.

Deck Analysis

Before reading on, there is a premise I need to explain to you readers: at heart, this deck is a concerto stacked from assorted Hero creatures costing three mana or less, and most of the contents can be freely swapped to suit your taste or the meta at your local store’s tournaments. The only two cards that are truly irreplaceable, the lifeline of the deck, are these:

Origin of the Avengers: The key core of the deck. Chapter I scries 2 to smooth your draws, chapter II slips past counterspells to land a key creature (or refill a card in hand), and chapter III pumps your whole team, laying the foundation for victory.

Springleaf Drum: A one-mana artifact that both accelerates and fixes colors, helping a creature-heavy deck develop its board quickly and providing the prerequisite for web-slinging.

As long as you keep these two as full playsets, the rest of the configuration can be modded however you like! Incidentally, although the title says Avengers Assemble, the list runs only one copy. The author thinks it is a card you slam down to win when you are ahead or the game is stalled, but the card itself costs too much and drawing one card per turn is not an efficient refill, so a single copy serves as a top-deck ultimate.

Decklist

Next, the author will explain the reasoning behind the Heroes picked for this deck. Once again, the contents can absolutely be replaced and adjusted to your own taste or needs, so treat what follows as a reference for card selection.

• Legendary Avengers: Nick Fury, Captain America, and Quicksilver

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the two Captains, Captain America, Super-Soldier (Rogers) and Captain America, Wings of Freedom (Wilson), are the central figures who brought so many heroes together in the movies, and they play similar roles in this deck: Nick calls in the backup, Rogers protects everyone else, and Wilson leads the offense.

In addition, Quicksilver, Brash Blur (Pietro) is an alternative one-drop. If it is in your opening hand it comes down right away, and it has a wonderful chemistry with Springleaf Drum, letting you outpace Llanowar Elves: on turn one you can slam down a Nick as well, and on turn two you can skip ahead in mana and slam down Captain America.

• Spider-Verse: Spectacular Spider-Man, Peter, Gwen, and Miles

“Marvel’s Spider-Man”, released ahead of this set last year, naturally has room to shine in this Marvel Hero deck. Spectacular Spider-Man, which comes with flash, provides a one-shot hexproof and indestructible for your whole team to protect against sweepers; Peter Parker brings a second body with it on entering, so Springleaf Drum will not be crippled by a single removal spell, while also raising the chapter III payoff of Origin of the Avengers. The transformed Amazing Spider-Man lets you use web-slinging to swing all sorts of Heroes onto the battlefield in their transformed form.

Gwen Stacy, the Ghost-Spider, is positioned as a card-filtering impulse draw on entering, while Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man, pumps up everyone else’s size. Both have a chance to become finishers once transformed.

• Teaming Up: Shang-Chi, Jennifer, and Cloak and Dagger

The two mana that Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu generates by channeling chi can be spent on the transform costs and Power-up costs of your other transforming Heroes, letting them collect their enter abilities and then transform quickly for full output. The Sensational She-Hulk Jennifer Walters comes with a Voice of Victory effect, stopping the opponent from casting spells to interfere on your turn. Cloak and Dagger, Entwined is hand disruption and board disruption in one: it can reveal the opponent’s hand information and, as needed, temporarily remove a card from their hand or a creature on their board, throwing off their strategy.

Gameplay Demo

This deck tests very efficiently on MTG Arena. Win or lose, the game is basically decided within about 4 to 5 turns, and you can finish a game within 5 minutes, which is simple and brisk. The more problematic part is the high demand for rares and mythic rares; on MTG Arena you can work around it with lower-tier substitutes. In paper, most single cards are not expensive, and stores stock high-rarity cards for sale anyway, so assembling the deck is actually easier.

Budget Alternative

…What? You say too few people crack “Marvel’s Spider-Man”, so you cannot gather that many physical mythics? No idea how to adjust a budget version? Well, the author will tack on an unworthy sequel here and offer a substitute version for your reference:

Budget version template

As replacements for the mythic transforming Heroes and Captain Rogers, the author swapped in a modified route, built from Agent Phil Coulson, who pumps up all your Heroes, Skyward Spider, a beater that comes with ward, and Araña, Heart of the Spider, which both impulse-draws and pumps.

Besides boosting your striking power, the deck also adds Night Nurse, Healer of Heroes, a flash rescue, The Wondrous Wasp, a flying soldier that flashes in to reset abilities, and Hawkeye, Master Marksman, the professional Springleaf Drum drummer, giving players more room to respond to the opponent.

Looking at it this way, isn’t it even stronger than the mythic-packed version above? If you tune it yourself, you can surely make it even better!

Conclusion

“By the way, why doesn’t this tribal deck run Cavern of Souls?”
That is a very good question. The reason it is not included is because…

The author forgot.

I only remembered this card after finishing the video and sitting down to write this article. That said, the colors Cavern of Souls produces cannot be spent on transform and Power-up costs, which would get in your way in those situations. So if you own copies, feel free to work them in, and while you are at it, swap out any picks in this article that do not suit you. Maybe your ideas are even better than the author’s: Magic is free.