Marvel Super Heroes Scene Boxes: Card List & Review

Scene Boxes are a fairly popular MTG product, so it’s not a big surprise that they’re returning with the latest Marvel set. But how good is this latest iteration? Are the cards powerful and fun? Should you buy a Scene Box or two?

We’ll answer all of these questions (and more) below, so without further ado let’s start exploring Marvel Super Heroes Scene Boxes.

What is a Marvel Super Heroes Scene Box?

It’s a box that contains multiple items, with the key one being 6 foil borderless Magic cards. All of them are brand-new and exclusive to this product. All of them feature iconic Marvel characters, as legendary creatures.

If you align these cards next to one another, they form a complete image or a scene. (Hence the name.)

There are a two different Marvel Super Heroes Scene Boxes, one focused around heroes, while the other features villains:

Packaging	Scene Box
	Heroes United
	Villains Unleashed

Note that the cards aren’t randomized. Each Scene Box with a same name contains an identical set of six cards. It’s nice to know exactly what you’re buying. (As opposed to random boosters.)

Both players and collectors enjoy Scene Boxes for the most part. The cards are usually at least playable, if not straight-up powerful. Plus, they look amazing when displayed.

Marvel Scene Box Contents

As mentioned, there’s more stuff besides the six cards. Each Marvel Scene Box contains the following:

• 6 foil borderless cards (they create a scene when aligned)
• 6 art cards (not actual Magic cards, for display purposes only)
• 3 Marvel Super Heroes Play boosters
• 1 display easel

As you can see, you also get three Play boosters from the main Super Heroes set. Cracking packs and hoping for some cool pulls is always fun, so that’s a welcome addition.

Art cards depict the same scene, but there’s no text or frame obscuring the art. These aren’t actual legal Magic cards. Instead they are meant to just display the artwork.

So, now you know about the general contents, so why don’t we take a closer look at each of the two Super Heroes Scene Boxes and review the included cards.

Heroes United

The first scene depicts Avengers in action, but even though it depicts multiple heroes, only six of them are actually featured on the cards.

All cards in this Scene Box are within the Jeskai colors (white, blue, red) and feature the Hero creature type. A couple of cards also synergize with this creature type, as you’ll see below.

The six featured Heroes are:

• Iron Man, Futurist Paragon
• Hulk, Always Angry
• Thor, Guardian of Midgard
• Black Widow, Intel Expert
• Captain America, Unbound
• Hawkeye, Trick Shot

All of them are displayed below along with a quick commentary on each one.

Iron Man, Futurist Paragon

Iron Man can turn other artifacts or creatures into 5/5 flyers. Probably not the flashiest effect on a six drop, but you can still use the card just fine even as a commander in more casual play groups.

The most interesting thing about this effect is that you can also target your opponents’ stuff. This opens up some possibilities for politics shenanigans. (“I’ll improve your creature, if you don’t attack me next turn.”) Or you could also make a massive creature, such as Emrakul, the Promised End more manageable.

But for the most part, you’ll likely just make your random artifacts into 5/5s.

Hulk, Always Angry

Hulk seems quite flavorful card. It comes in play, smashes a bunch of things, then just keeps attacking as a large creature.

While it does cost seven mana, a 9/9 creature that destroyed all artifacts will typically be worth it. (Unless your opponent are playing a very small amount of artifacts.) Hulk can be a fine card in the 99, and an especially annoying commander against some specific decks.

Thor, Guardian of Midgard

Now, Thor is a fascinating commander, as it offers a real payoff, provided you put in the work and properly build around it. There are a bunch of ways to deal noncombat damage to opponent, so there are lots of ways to go about it.

The goal should also be to have ways to keep playing the exiled cards. Perhaps you could use cheap burn spells, combined with cards that generate additional mana? Or maybe you’ll play cards that damage all opponents at once (Guttersnipe)?

Anyhow, if you like a deckbuilding challenge, Thor definitely delivers on that front. Of course, he’ll also play well as a part of the 99 with commanders like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might and Imodane, the Pyrohammer.

Black Widow, Intel Expert

Black Widow is not really the most flavorful card in this bunch. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for the character to do this type of “group hug” effect.

Still, the card is an okay addition, for players who enjoy commanders such as Ms. Bumbleflower and Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, particularly if their play group is more on the casual side.

Captain America, Unbowed

This version of Steve Rogers is pretty straightforward. You’ll want to play it in a deck with a bunch of Soldiers and/or Heroes. Given how many Heroes are being released with this set, Captain America will likely found home in various Avengers-themed decks.

Outside of those, the card probably won’t see that much play, as there are plenty of other options out there. (For example Archangel Avacyn and Spectacular Spider-Man.)

Hawkeye, Trick Shot

Final card in this Scene Box is Hawkeye, which will shine in decks full of Heroes, doing his best Scourge of Valkas impression. The Dragon is a powerful and popular card, so Hawkeye might actually be among the best cards here. (Quite fitting, as MCU Avengers always lose without him.)

Sure, it’s got its own niche, and doesn’t just go into any deck, but he’ll likely end up a staple in every Hero-based deck that can play red.

Villains Unleashed

The second Marvel Scene Box kinda mirrors the first one, with a villain’s team-up. Once again, there’s a bunch of characters displayed, but not all of them get their own cards.

All cards are withing Jund colors (black, red, green), but apart from the Villain type line, they aren’t mechanically connnected.

In the Villains Unleashed box, you’ll find the following six cards:

• Ultron, Machine Overlord
• Thanos, Death’s Consort
• M.O.D.O.K., Evil Intellect
• Absorbing Man and Titania
• Abomination, Irradiated Brute
• Loki, God of Lies

Ultron, Machine Overlord

Okay, that’s pretty bland card for Ultron. Sure, there will be multiple versions of this character, (in the main set, in Marvel Commander precons) but it feels like Wizards could’ve done something a bit more juicy even for the Scene Box version.

Still, the buff is quite significant and in a deck that can spawn a bunch of Robots and Constructs, Ultron will be a strong card.

Thanos, Death’s Consort

Speaking of bland, Thanos is another disappointing card. The card is understated with a mediocre effect. There are two drops with similar effects that play out significantly better (Super Shredder, Cordial Vampire).

Yes, you can put Thanos in a sacrifice deck and it’ll do something, but overall, the card is just mediocre a major letdown.

M.O.D.O.K., Evil Intellect

While M.O.D.O.K. isn’t the strongest card out there, at least it does something kinda unique and promotes interesting deckbuilding decisions.

If you can manage to draw at least two cards on both yours on your opponent’s turns, you’ll be picking off creatures left and right. Perhaps there’s still some hope for Villains Unleashed Scene Box to contain some good stuff.

Absorbing Man and Titania

The iconic villain couple feature just a single line of text, but it’s a pretty fun one. All of your creatures deal double damage.

This can be a potentially powerful effect, depending on how you build the deck. You could do something basic and just play a ton of creatures and attack with them. That’s a perfectly fine way to go about it.

However, you could do something more exciting. Perhaps you’ll use creatures that deal damage in other ways, like with triggered or activated abilities. Or you could pair it with other damage doublers (Furnace of Rath) or even something stronger (City on Fire). Now you’re getting 4x or even 6x damage multiplier, which can obviously go out of hand pretty quickly.

All in all, this card perfectly showcases how a design can simple, yet interesting. If something similar would be done with Thanos and Ultron, this Scene Box would be even better.

Abomination, Irradiated Brute

Here’s another card that feels kinda whatever. You can put Abomination in a deck with a lot of Villains, and it’ll become larger in games which you’re probably already winning. It’s essentially a weaker Quilled Greatwurm that you can put in Command Zone.

Loki, God of Lies

We’re wrapping up with Loki, and at least its card is fun to build around.

You’ll want to play a bunch of spells that target only a single creature, which will allow you to steal them until end of turn. Most of the time you’ll use them to smash your opponent with them, or to make a surprise block, then sacrifice them with something like Goblin Bombardment, so your opponents are never getting their stuff back.

When playing with Loki as your commander, you’re going to feel like a God of Mischief yourself. (Although this version is actually God of Lies.)

Are Marvel Super Heroes Scene Boxes Worth It?

So, now that we know exactly what’s inside in these Scene Boxes, it’s time to answer the question whether they’re worth buying.

Value & MSRP

Most of the Scene Boxes’ value comes from the 6 exclusive cards, and the three included Play boosters. Sure, you also get the Art cards and display easel, but that doesn’t really pull the needle for most players.

Based on the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), A Marvel Super Heroes Scene Box should cost $41.99, while a Play booster of the same set goes for $6.99.

So, with three Play boosters in each Scene Box, you’re essentially paying twenty bucks for the six cards. So, the question becomes:

How Good are the Cards?

As you’ve seen above, these cards won’t be Commander staples or anything like that. However, they are all at least playable, albeit in a more casual setting.

The players who will like these cards, will enjoy them for both their depicted characters and mechanics alike. Furthermore, fans of Marvel might get them simply to collect and display them. After all, the art does look quite neat.

With all that in mind, here’s our opinion on this product.

Final Verdict

Marvel Scene Boxes are worth buying if:

• You want to acquire most of the six borderless cards.
• Collecting Marvel stuff is fun to you — especially if you’re also a Magic player.
• There’s a special deal and you can get them under MSRP. ($41.99)

On the other hand, you should avoid this product, if:

• You’re only interested in Play boosters. (A Booster Box or even a Bundle is a better deal in that case.)
• There’s only a single card that interests you. (Get it on a secondary marketplace, such as TCGPlayer. Usually, it’ll cost you less.)
• You don’t particularly enjoy the Marvel franchise.

Now, if your plan is long term value, this don’t seem particularly powerful, so perhaps avoid this product. On the other hand, if everybody thinks the same, and there are more Marvel Magic fans then we think, Scene Boxes could end up a pretty decent buy.

TL;DR: Get a Marvel Scene Box, if you enjoy most of the included cards. If not, you better skip this one.

Conclusion

And that’s it for Marvel Scene Boxes! What do you think about them? Should Wizards push these cards a bit more? Is there one that really stands out to you? Let us know in the comments below.

If you’re looking for more details about this release, feel free to check the following articles:

• Marvel Super Heroes Commander Precons
• The Mind Stone: Priciest Card in Marvel Set
• Marvel Super Heroes Spoilers

Until next time, have fun playing Magic, and may your next booster contain that one chase rare you’ve been looking for.