Marvel Super Heroes’ prerelease is just a few days away, but MTG players can already watch the new cards in action. Early Access on MTG Arena has begun, allowing streamers to showcase Marvel Super Heroes Limited and Standard to the world.
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, we also got to join in the fun, bringing a spicy brew for the event. Using two powerful new Marvel Super Heroes cards, this Best of One Standard deck can cheat in game-ending boards as early as turn 3.
Gruul World War Hulk
The goal of this Gruul Ramp deck is to get World War Hulk or Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into play as quickly as possible. While earlier variations of the list had some card draw in blue, or removal in the form of Mjolnir, Hammer of Thor, just ignoring what the opponent was doing worked best. With a Llanowar Elves, Badgermole Cub, and Tablet of Discovery base, you can cast your core cards on turns 3-4 pretty consistently.
Placing fifth on our best Constructed cards list, World War Hulk allows you to cast any one green or red creature in your hand for free. While any of the deck’s 13 haymakers work well here, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant and Raphael & Mikey, Troublemakers are the best cards to cheat in. In addition to World War Hulk making these lethal threats alone, both of these creatures can cheat even more beaters into play.
While the new Marvel Super Heroes cards are definitely the star of the show, there are a few older cards that really help glue the deck together. Smuggler’s Surprise gives you another avenue to cheat your creatures, which can become incredibly flexible. Between protecting your board from wipes and finding lands in a pinch, this card is extremely important.
While we ended up cutting most of the removal in this deck, Trumpeting Carnosaur was a particularly valuable flex slot here. Removing key creatures like Badgermole Cub that threaten to outspeed us, this Carnosaur can still swing for 20 off a fully resolved World War Hulk.
A Hero’s Worst Enemy
In the right matchups, facing down Gruul World War Hulk can put your opponents in a world of hurt. Going 7-2 overall in the event, this deck is very capable of taking down aggressive and midrange strategies. You easily go over the top of value decks with any of your big creatures, while Ancient Adamantoise commonly shuts the game down against small creature decks.
While this gives the deck some strong play, Gruul World War Hulk is hardly a metabreaker. The deck struggles particularly badly against slower black control decks with both hand destruction. Without Smuggler’s Surprise to back your board up, any board wipe like Deadly Cover-Up can reset your entire game plan.
On top of control issues, fast combo decks can also be a problem for Gruul World War Hulk. No matter how many beaters you get into play, facing down infinite Squirrels from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is impossible.
If you have most of the cards already, this Gruul World War Hulk list could be a fun one to try on MTG Arena. While it won’t be a meta deck, this list should have a fighting chance against most of Standard’s competitive choices.
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