For Marvel Super Heroes, Wizards of the Coast is pulling out all of the stops. Not only do we have tons of fantastic main set cards, stellar bonus sheet reprints, and four precons, but we’re even getting Secret Lair drops. Today, Wizards has unveiled the first of these: Spinner Rack Specials, which debuts four brand-new Marvel Super Heroes cards.
Thankfully, for MTG players who hate mechanically unique Secret Lair drops, all of these cards are in the main set. While this is good news, given the problem with Secret Lair’s limited-run print model, assessing this Secret Lair is rather difficult. Since these cards are unreleased, there’s no telling how much they could be worth; however, some of the cards do look interesting, at least.
Hex Magic
For the low price of three mana, Hex Magic offers incredibly high upside. In addition to being able to recycle your hand for a new one, you get a full turn cycle to cast cards from your previous grip. With this in mind, Hex Magic shines brightest in decks with lots of cheap spells that are easy to replay.
No deck style fits better than Storm, which is an archetype that’s always in need of more elite “Wheel” effects. When combined with discounts offered by Ral, Monsoon Mage and Rituals, Hex Magic can help you set up for your big turn.
From there, this spell’s Arcane subtype makes it even more intriguing. In Storm shells, being able to Splice Desperate Ritual onto Hex Magic for extra value is pretty sweet. Additionally, Commander decks with a more dedicated Arcane theme can incorporate this as a tutor target for Eerie Procession or an additional payoff for Ore Gorger.
Tippy-Toe, Terrific Partner
As a Food-generating token payoff, Tippy-Toe, Terrific Partner offers plenty of combo potential. Landing this Squirrel Hero alongside Nuka-Cola Vending Machine and Krark-Clan Ironworks, for example, sets you up to generate infinite colorless mana and infinite tapped Treasure tokens.
On top of enabling combos, Tippy-Toe serves as a solid value engine alongside token generators like Chatterfang, Squirrel General and Baylen, the Haymaker. This legend also pairs perfectly with Food payoffs, including Academy Manufactor and Peregrin Took. With this in mind, Tippy-Toe looks poised to make a big splash in the 99 of a bunch of Commander decks moving forward.
Undead Hand Ninja
Despite being a very simple design, Undead Hand Ninja does offer some solid utility in Commander decks that can repeatedly trigger it. At a baseline, graveyard hate pieces like Relic of Progenitus can consistently drain each opponent. Where this card is at its best, however, is as a combo payoff.
Any combos centered around infinitely sacrificing and recurring a creature, such as pairing Mikaeus, the Unhallowed with a Persist creature, can abuse Undead Hand Ninja as a win condition. This creature is even a Zombie, thus enabling Gravecrawler loops.
Hammerhead, Maggia Boss
All things considered, Hammerhead isn’t a super interesting card. While being able to sacrifice creatures and artifacts is valuable, it’s essentially just a mono-black reprint of Bartolome del Presidio. As such, Hammerhead has extremely minimal appeal as a Commander option despite being legendary.
Nonetheless, sacrifice outlets of this power level are still welcome inclusions in the 99 of many Aristocrats decks. Mono-Black Sacrifice shells like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER that couldn’t utilize Bartolome now get access to an on-color option, which has value.
Baxter Building
The final card in the new Marvel Secret Lair, Baxter Building, is also nothing special. While it fixes your colors, in theory, the fact that this ability puts you down a mana is a massive detriment. As such, most multicolor archetypes likely won’t want to incorporate this land at all.
Where Baxter Building has a bit more appeal is actually as a card-drawing land in decks with minimal color requirements. Bonders’ Enclave is already a popular inclusion in Eldrazi Commander decks, and Baxter Building at least provides similar upside.
Counterspell Bonus Card
Interestingly, despite being a new Secret Lair product that hasn’t been released yet, we already know that one possible bonus card option. Revealed via a product opening on Instagram, it looks like buyers can get their hands on a sweet Counterspell.
While this common instant has been reprinted many times already, it still holds a roughly $2.50 price tag due to high demand. After all, Counterspell is a Commander and Modern staple for a wide variety of blue decks due to its sheer efficiency.
Sadly, while the Spinner Rack Specials Secret Lair drop does seem fairly compelling, there’s no word on its release date yet. Wizards has announced the drop will be available in foil at MagicCon: Amsterdam from July 17th to 19th, but a wider release hasn’t been confirmed. As such, we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled and wait to hear more as future drops get announced.
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