NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — In recent years, Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond crossovers have been the subject of both positive and negative feedback. However, even after incredibly successful tie-ins with the Lord of the Rings and Fallout franchises, none has amassed as much interest as their upcoming collaboration with Marvel Entertainment. For many months, the multi-set partnership has been teased through suggestions, leaks, and the inclusion of Marvel artist Peach Momoko in last month's Secret Lair Showcase — and now, this has been taken to new heights with an entire series of drops bringing the two franchises together. Each of November's packs features a never-before-seen card based on a classic superhero, along with the usual series of customized reprints fans have come to expect. To help you learn about the new Marvelous sets in the next Superdrop before it releases on November 4th, KX has looked over everything they have to offer in terms of both aesthetics and market value using up-to-date pricing information from Scryfall. (DISCLAIMER: The prices and components listed below do not count any unannounced "bonus" cards that may be added to the Secret Lair Packs outside of the listed entries. All purchase suggestions and price guides are based on currently existing financial reports, and card values may rise or fall over time. The Marvel Superhero Legendary Creatures will not be included in the price guides for this month's Secret Lair Showcase, as they are all new cards with no preexisting data.) Gaming: MTG supports Extra Life with special Secret Lair Iron Man The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown to tremendous proportions over the years, but it's important to remember where it started: The release of 2008's Iron Man, which brought eccentric billionaire turned superhero Tony Stark to the big screen. The positive reception to the film, particularly Robert Downy Jr.'s portrayal of the character, was enough to spur the release of more superhero movies, and eventually culminated in the onslaught of Marvel productions we see today (for better or worse). The first Marvel Secret Lair drop pays homage to the hero who kickstarted it all, and does so in exactly the way one would expect: With plenty of high-tech offerings that would make Stark Industries proud. A character like Iron Man easily harmonizes with the vast number of Artifacts and Equipment available throughout the Magic Multiverse, and his themed drop is a perfect showcase of that — every entry in the set is either an incredible item or one that benefits from their presence. In addition to Stark himself serving as a reusable way to gain Treasure and change low-cost Artifacts into stronger ones, Galvanic Blast becomes stronger when more are present on the field, and Inventors' Fair both provides extra Life and a one-use tutor under the same circumstances. These are reinforced by a pair of immensely powerful pieces of technology: Commander's Plate provides immunity and impressive stat boosts to a deck's leader, and Sol Ring is a legendary Mana Rock that needs no introduction. Artifact-focused Secret Lair drops often tend to fetch higher-than-average prices on the secondary market, and the Iron Man bundle is poised to do the same: If not because of the theming and unique card alone, then for the extremely high value of the reprints. Galvanic Blast is nothing to write home about, but both Commander's Plate and Inventor's Fair combine to exceed the cost of the pack itself. This, combined with the promise of a special Sol Ring and a unique Commander, creates a Secret Lair that may be as popular as Tony Stark himself. Captain America As popular as Iron Man is, he is far from the only member of the Avengers to have a long and storied history — and there are few examples of this as legendary as Captain America. Since his debut in 1940, Steve Rogers and his Vibranium shield have led the charge against injustice across the globe, often while critiquing American society and government in the process. To this day, he remains a staple of Marvel media, and one of the most famous superheroes to have ever emerged from the media juggernaut — which makes him another excellent character to theme a Secret Lair around. As one might expect from someone of Captain America's nature, the cards in his accompanying drop are all focused on empowering a player's forces: Sigarda's Aid helps a player bypass Equipment cost, Flawless Maneuver is a strong protection spell, Sword of War and Peace provides both offense and defense, and In the Trenches can serve as an early power booster and a late-game removal spell in a pinch. This is all tied together by the hero himself, who can effectively throw and catch equipment every turn to cause damage while keeping his defenses intact. Strangely, though, the shield does not get to activate its second effect when thrown (as it's no longer equipped when Cap deals damage) — an unfortunate gap in what is otherwise a fairly strong set. While Cap may technically have won the infamous "Civil War" dispute in other forms of media, Iron Man is the clear victor as far as Secret Lair drops are concerned: The cards included in the Captain America bundle are not nearly as bad as those in other low-value bundles (and would be above-average in any other selection thanks to Sword of War and Peace, Sigarda's Aid, and Flawless Maneuver), but surprisingly fall on the lower end of this month's features. Gaming: Secret Lair Showcase: Camp Totally Safe Black Panther For some time, Black Panther tended to slip under the radar when compared to superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America — but his appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe resulted in a massive surge in popularity, to the point where T'Challa and the nation of Wakanda are as recognizable as the Avengers themselves. This recent fame makes him a perfect addition to the Marvel X Secret Lair crossover, where he brings a mixture of technical and traditional tactics to the play table. Black Panther himself possesses an unusual skill, but stockpiling counters on a Land and then transferring them to Creatures is a very unique play style — one which is reinforced by the multiple reprints in this drop. Secure the Wastes helps to quickly create an army of Wakandan Warriors to trigger his effect, Karn's Bastion serves as both an excellent target for the ability and a way to add extra counters, and Primal Vigor doubles the power boost a creature gains from the Vibranium Mining effect (as moving the counters onto a Creature is considered placing them on it). Heroic Intervention, meanwhile, is a well-known staple of Green decks, and can protect both boosted Creatures and Lands from mass destruction effects. Unfortunately, what the set boasts in flavor, it lacks in reprint prices: while Heroic Intervention is always a somewhat costly staple, none of the cards in the set come anywhere close to the value of something like Inventor's Fair or Commander's Plate. This leaves the Black Panther bundle in a situation much like a worse version of the Captain America drop: An interesting concept, but one that is underwhelming compared to most of the impressive Marvel drops. Wolverine The Avengers are naturally Marvel's most popular superhero team at the moment, but they are certainly not the only one. The X-Men, a group of mutants who band together to fight both evil and the forces that would oppress their kind, is another famous group of freedom fighters, and none of its members are as well-known as Wolverine. Armed with an adamantium skeleton and razor-sharp claws, this berserker from the Great White North has been featured in countless comics and pieces of merchandise, in addition to starring in two of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time (Deadpool & Wolverine and Logan). If one were to pick a hero outside of the Avengers to feature in a Secret Lair drop, Wolverine is perfect for the job: And in this case, being the best there is at what he does is displayed in a collection of powerful and pricey entries. If Iron Man served as the gold standard for Blue/Red Artifact Secret Lairs, then Wolverine is the same for aggressive Red/Green decks: The hero himself is an excellent damage dealer with built-in protection, which allows him to activate the powerful power-boosting effects of Rite of Passage and Berserk without fear of destruction. Rhythm of the Wild, meanwhile, ensures that he is both impossible to counter and has the skills he needs at any given moment. This is complemented further by the inclusion of The Ozolith, which helps to add +1/+1 Counters to Creatures and preserve those they may have had before being destroyed. Each asset works to put forward the idea of Wolverine as a constant, ever-growing threat on the battlefield, which is incredibly fitting for both the character and the Gruul playstyle itself. Fortunately for fans of the iconic hero, the similarities to Iron Man's bundle do not end at theming: The Wolverine pack also includes multiple valuable reprints that easily justify the increased price. Both Berserk and The Ozolith are impressive cards on their own, and the unexpectedly high foil cost of Rite of Passage adds even more value to the group. While not as universally useful as inclusions like Commander's Plate and Inventor's Fair, their foil cost averages out to the largest of any Marvel pack, and a worthy investment for comic fans and combat specialists alike. Gaming: The five most expensive cards from Ravnica: City of Guilds Storm Over the years, the supergroup known as the X-Men has seen multiple different incarnations, and while Wolverine is often considered the most famous and important, other heroes like Cyclops, Iceman, and Beast all have their fair share of fans. With that being said, it only makes sense that one of the most popular and versatile members of the team — Ororo Munroe, better known as the weather-controlling mutant Storm — would be a perfect candidate for a lair drop of her very own. The superhero herself boasts an impressively powerful effect for spellslinger decks, which rewards a player for casting many smaller spells by granting the Storm Keyword to their stronger assets. This is reinforced by a collection of cheap but effective spells: in addition to the tried and true Lightning Bolt, Manamorphose serves as both a free card draw and Mana fixing, Jeska's Will is a versatile Red staple, and Ice Storm can eliminate a problematic Land from anywhere on the board. Each Instant and Sorcery, while strong on its own, scales to impressive levels with a high enough Storm count, which allows them to combine well with Ororo's ability for massive damage and Mana generation. This same scaling can also be found in the financial side of this pack: Although Jeska's Will is nothing to scoff at, it is unexpectedly not the asset that contributes to the Storm pack's surprisingly high financial value. That honor would go, surprisingly, to Ice Storm, which was last printed over 30 years ago in the Unlimited edition of Magic's very first set. This inclusion more than justifies the set's reprint value, which is otherwise somewhat lower than most of the other Marvel releases thanks to the lower costs of Manamorphose and Lightning Bolt. Extra Life 2024: Pixel Perfect This month's Marvel drops on display are certainly impressive, it's important to remember that there is still one more bundle that has been available for quite some time. This year's Extra Life Bundle (a collaborative effort between the gamer-focused charity and Magic: The Gathering) is still available. KX News previously released a breakdown of the bundle's contents on the day it was announced, but the set itself is more than intriguing enough to be worth another explanation — both for the noble cause it promotes and the suprising amount of value on display. Each card in the drop is themed to old-school platforming video games like the Castlevania and Mega Man franchises, and features a bevy of notable characters from modern Magic history — including catlike Planeswalker Ajani Goldmane playing the role of advisor, Elder Dragon Nicol Bolas as a boss, and the fan favorite Creature Fblthip as the hapless main character. However, none of these characters are featured in the pack's contents. Rather, it features a selection of utility spells that fit into many different strategies: Mana Geyser and Delayed Blast Fireball become more powerful at larger tables, Fierce Guardianship is a counterspell that can bypass its own Mana cost, and Lightning Bolt speaks for itself. On top of these already impressive entries, the set also includes Solve the Equation as a bonus card (not pictured), which adds another helpful tutor to any deck in need of certain Instants or Sorceries. The charitable aspect of this lair is more than enough to encourage a purchase, but the cards it contains are also worth nothing. The obvious standout is Fierce Guardianship, each of the other entries is also fairly interesting in its own right: Lightning Bolt is nothing special but iconic nonetheless, but Mana Geyser has a fairly high foil value, and Delayed Blast Fireball has never been printed in foil before. This results in a surprising value much higher than the average Secret Lair drop, which makes the bundle worth the price of admission in both a moral and financial sense. In general, Secret Lair Superdrops tend to vary wildly in quality, and most combine a mixture of strong and weak bundles for one reason or another. In contrast to this idea, the Marvel Superdrop features one of the most promising Lair collections to date, and even the more mediocre entries make up for their lower pricing with unique cards and impressive theming. Still, even this incredible selection has its higher and lower points. Here are our columnist's personal and financial picks from this month's packs. Gaming: Secret Lair Showcase: Dungeons and Dragons 50th Anniversary Financial Pick: Wolverine & Iron Man Both the Wolverine and Iron Man packs easily surpass their competition as far as known values are concerned: Unlike the Storm pack's single enormous outlier, these sets contain an expensive selection of multiple spells that fetch very high prices on the secondary market. When combined with the as-of-yet unpriced superhero cards, it's safe to say that these two will be among the first to sell out when the drop becomes available, as even those with little interest in Marvel may be swayed by their combination of powerful and pricey Commander cards. Columnist's Schtick: Storm Ice Storm on its own is more than enough to justify selecting this pack as one worth investing in, but combining it with an interesting Commander and an impressive Red staple leads to a unique set of cards with a promising future. It may lose to Iron Man and Wolverine in terms of overall use, but there is plenty to like about the Storm bundle that lets it rest comfortably among the best Lair drops printed in some time. Set to Kick: Black Panther For every high point in a SuperDrop, there must also be a low point. Much to the dismay of Marvel fans, the Black Panther crossover bundle fits the bill when compared to most of this month's drops. While it still includes a never-before-seen card and is thus worth more than the stated price, its reprint value is being weighed against that of the other three sets — a competition Black Panther loses handily thanks to cards like Ice Storm, Commander's Plate, and The Ozolith, all of which are individually worth more than every older card Wakanda has to offer. All five entries in the Marvel SuperDrop will be released on November 4, but Pixel Perfect is currently available. Anyone who spends at least $200 in this month's Secret Lair shop (including on bundles, which have not yet been revealed) will receive an exclusive alternate art variant of Commander staple Arcane Signet. Free shipping is also available on all orders over $99. This is one of the few times when a Secret Lair version of Command Tower would be extremely appropriate — and yet, the bonus card is Arcane Signet instead. Funny how things work out, isn't it? To access the limited-time shop, sign up for the mailing list, or learn more about any of the monthly selections, visit the Secret Lair website here. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW