Last week, we got a sneak peek at Secret Lair Countdown Kit: Marvel’s History of Heroes. Even with only a few cards revealed, including the Commander Super Staple Fierce Guardianship, this Secret Lair already had a monstrous $170 reprint value, and there were dozens of cards that had yet to be revealed.
Now the entire Secret Lair has hit the internet, and it’s packed with incredible reprints. Most shocking, however, is that two of these cards are entirely new to MTG, representing iconic Marvel characters.
MTG Darkhold Destiny Uncommons
While most of the Secret Lair Countdown Kit: Marvel’s History of Heroes includes reprints with fresh Marvel-inspired artwork, two MTG Marvel Darkhold Destiny uncommons also appear in this kit. Notably, these cards won’t be legal for sanctioned play until MTG Marvel Darkhold Destiny Prerelease starting April 2nd, 2027, despite this Countdown Kit’s November 2nd release date. That said, nothing is really keeping you from playing these cards in casual Commander.
Sadly, despite the incredible artwork, these uncommons aren’t very powerful. Doctor Strange, Master of Magic seems like a mediocre option for Azorius Spellslinger decks like Massimo, the Magician, but drawing a card is a pretty poor payoff for an average four-mana Prowess threat. Unless you really want to include Doctor Strange in your Commander deck, this is probably just a collectible.
Because of its once-per-turn restriction, Beta Ray Bill is only worth including in your Commander decks if you can trigger it every turn, including your opponent’s. Still, when you can do this, using cards like Optimus Prime, Hero, Beta Ray Bill can put a ton of +1/+1 counters onto your board. With synergy pieces like Hardened Scales or Evolution Witness, this Alien Warrior Hero can turn into a reliable engine. Heck, in Evolution Witness’s case, you could return cards to trigger Beta Ray Bill more on your future turns.
While the new cards in this Secret Lair are disappointing, the reprints are not. With a fair few Commander staples appearing here, the reprint value for Marvel’s History of Heroes is quite decent.
The Best
While most of the heavy-hitting reprints for Marvel’s History of Heroes were revealed last week, there are a few that we’re seeing for the first time. Game Changer Biorhythm is the most expensive of these, coming in at $34. As a nine-mana spell that’s part of tons of game-ending Commander combos, this card has desperately needed a reprint since it was unbanned. With its only current printings in Ninth Edition and Onslaught, supply is certainly a factor for this card’s price.
While not worth quite as much as Biorhythm, Tainted Pact might be the best Commander reprint in the Marvel’s History of Heroes precon, with a reprint value of $30. So long as you don’t put duplicate Basic Lands into your deck, Tainted Pact essentially becomes an instant-speed Demonic Tutor, finding any card you want. Of course, this card also creates a two-card death combo with the infamous Thassa’s Oracle
Thassa’s OracleWhen this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.), marking its rise to prominence in cEDH. The artwork is particularly flavorful here, considering that Tainted Pact also creates a two-card death combo with Doctor Doom, Unrivaled.
Throw in many of the cards we saw last week, including the $59 Fierce Guardianship, the $23 Timber Protector, Opposition Agent at $20, and Devastation
DevastationDestroy all creatures and lands. at $18, and you already have $184 of reprint value with just these cards, paying back most of Marvel’s History of Heroes on its own.
Notably, like past Secret Lair Countdown Kits, these cards will have a random chance of appearing in nonfoil, foil, and surge foil, if you’re lucky, Should you happen to hit one of these cards in surge foil, there’s a fair chance that single card will pay for your entire bundle.
Midrange Reprints
Sadly, after the 6 standout reprints, the reprint value for Marvel’s History of Heroes drops off pretty quickly. Once again, most of the midrange reprints, including Molten Duplication
Molten DuplicationCreate a token that's a copy of target artifact or creature you control, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step., Heroic Intervention, and Fighter Class were already shown to players, with reprint values of $15, $16, and $9, respectively.
Snuff Out, however, is an interesting reprint for Commander and constructed players alike that we haven’t seen yet. Showcasing some incredible Spider-Man artwork, this free piece of interaction sees tons of play in Legacy, Pauper and Commander. Considering that the card is essentially a free removal spell $5 actually feels like a generous reprint value for it.
The remaining two notable reprints, Damning Verdict and Titanic Ultimatum, are quite a step down from everything we’ve showcased so far. That said Damning Verdict is well worth its $3 reprint value, essentially acting as a one-sided boardwipe for +1/+1 counter decks. This particular card’s Final Fantasy reprint is signficantly cheaper than the rest, so this particular copy may be worth a bit more.
Titanic Ultimatum, on the other hand, offers one of the most explosive Overrun
OverrunCreatures you control get +3/+3 and gain trample until end of turn. (Each of those creatures can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.) effects in Commander, offering your board tons of keywords and a massive +5/+5 boost. With Lifelink included in the mix, even if you don’t kill your opponents outright, fighting through your padded life total will be quite difficult. That said, due to the lack of granting Haste, Titanic Ultimatum is undeniably situational, and only demand $2.50 as a result.
A TON of Chaff
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the cards in Marvel’s History of Heroes are rather poor from a reprint value perspective, not even reaching $2. Out side of some flavorful reworks, like Assassin’s Creed’s Mjolnir, Storm Hammer seeing a Marvel reprint, many of these cards aren’t particularly interesting past their artwork.
That said, while these cards don’t have a great reprint value, a lot of them see a fair bit of play across formats. For competitive players, Unholy Heat and Lightning Bolt
Lightning BoltLightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target. are interesting reprints, offering new artwork on cards that commonly appear in Modern and beyond. For Commander players, Damn, Champion’s Helm
Champion’s HelmEquipped creature gets +2/+2.
As long as equipped creature is legendary, it has hexproof. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Equip {1}, and Collective Effort are also decent additions to all kinds of decks, despite their poor reprint values.
Even if this is the case, however, Secret Lair Countdown Kit: Marvel’s History of Heroes still offers players about $248 in reprint value, surpassing its $200 price tag. Considering that surge foil copies of these cards should have quite a markup, there’s a very strong chance that this Countdown Kit is more than worth the $200 buy-in.
You can find the full list of cards that appear in Secret Lair Countdown Kit: Marvel’s History of Heroes, and their reprint values, below:
- Fierce Guardianship $59
- Molten DuplicationMolten DuplicationCreate a token that's a copy of target artifact or creature you control, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step. $15
- Unbreakable Formation $1
- Timber Protector $23
- DevastationDevastationDestroy all creatures and lands. $18
- Heroic Intervention $16
- Opposition Agent $20
- Fighter Class $9
- Vigor $2
- Biorhythm $34
- Tainted Pact $30
- With Great Power $0.70
- Mjolnir, Storm Hammer $2.80
- Champion’s HelmChampion’s HelmEquipped creature gets +2/+2.
As long as equipped creature is legendary, it has hexproof. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Equip {1} $1 - Force of Virtue $0.30
- Court of Bounty $0.81
- Unholy Heat $0.34
- Villainous Wrath $0.62
- Damning Verdict $3
- Primal Might $0.10
- Damn $1.85
- Genesis Wave $0.34
- Fiery Confluence $0.38
- Beta Ray Bill $???
- Doctor Strange, Master of Magic $???
- Rogue’s Gloves $0.32
- Snuff Out $5.29
- Titanic Ultimatum $2.62
- Collective Effort $0.20
- Lightning BoltLightning BoltLightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target. $0.87
