It’s finally here, folks. After months of speculation, Wizards has decided to plunge us head-first into the world of Marvel’s Universes Beyond crossover with a full Secret Lair Superdrop. That’s not one, not two, but five brand-new Lairs, each dedicated to a different Marvel icon. Naturally, the First Avenger was one of the heroes chosen for this initial wave. The Captain America Secret Lair doesn’t just bring the shield-tossing savior to Magic on a brand-new card; It also includes a surprisingly solid selection of reprints, too.
The First Avenger Himself
- Mana Value: RWU
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Text: Throw… – 3, Unattach and Equipment from Captain America: He deals damage equal to that Equipment’s mana value divided as you choose among one, two, or three targets. …Catch – At the beginning of combat on your turn, attach up to one target Equipment you control to Captain America.
The most exciting part of the Captain America Secret Lair is, of course, Cap himself. He appears here as a brand-new, mechanically unique legendary creature. We’ve seen iconic characters get mediocre Magic translations before, but thankfully this isn’t one of them. Captain America is not only aggressively-statted, but he also packs two incredibly relevant abilities, especially for Voltron decks.
Equipping something for free each turn can be incredibly powerful, especially on a legend in Sunforger colors. You can use this to keep stacking buffs on Cap, building up to a big swing turn. Alternatively, you can use these free equips as fuel for his throw ability, which is a nice multi-target damage effect. Unequip a Batterskull or Kaldra Compleat with this and there’s a very real chance you can remove multiple creatures on the board. Or just dome your opponent for a big chunk of damage.
Captain America is a clear shoo-in for Commander play. He’s in three colors, has two strong abilities, and supports the popular Voltron strategy incredibly well. He’s also a very, very popular character. If we’ve learned anything from Lord of the Rings: tales of Middle-earth, it’s that players love running icons like this at the head of their decks.
It’s impossible to gauge the monetary value of Captain America right now. The big question is whether the card is exclusive to this Lair, or a preview of a card that will be printed in next year’s Marvel set. If it’s the former, this could easily go the way of Rick, Steadfast Leader, and end up a $40 card. If not, $5-10 seems more likely.
A Supporting Cast Of Goodies
The Captain America Secret Lair has plenty of delights beyond the Captain himself. Financially, this is actually a very well-rounded Lair, with nearly everything packing a solid value.
Flawless Maneuver is probably the best of the bunch. This is part of the infamous ‘Free Commander Spells’ cycle and sees a ton of play in the format as a result. The regular printing of this card goes for around $9, and this new one, which has some very nice art indeed, could easily go for double that. Past Secret Lair cards have received bigger multipliers, and this is a very strong card indeed.
Sigarda’s Aid is also a gem. This is a key piece in Hammer Time decks in Modern, and a solid $8 card. With plenty of Modern and Commander demand, this is one you’ll always be glad to have in your collection.
Rounding out the valuable cards we have Sword of War and Peace (humorously restyled as Cap’s iconic shield). The entire ‘Sword of…’ cycle is very popular in Commander, and this one is no exception. Copies go for around $8 at the moment, which makes it a solid value add for the drop.
The only real dud in the drop is In the Trenches, a mythic from The Brothers’ War. While very flavorful given Cap’s military past, it’s ultimately a $1 card from a very recent set. It’s also not particularly synergistic with the Equipment theme the rest of the drop promotes, so it feels like a mechanical misfire too.
In the Trenches aside, this drop still has a great value to it. You’re looking at a $26 minimum with the four reprints, not accounting for the Secret Lair markup. Factor in Captain America himself and this looks like a steal for just $39.99.
