Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming Marvel Super Heroes set is one of the most anticipated trading card game releases of the year, particularly with early card reveals confirming the debut of fan-favourite heroes and villains alike.
It should be the perfect jumping-on point for new players, particularly those who love the Marvel Universe, with the set offering strong new cards all around, and plenty with that all-important synergy for deck-building and competitive play.
Thanks to the folks at Wizards of the Coast, ScreenHub has one exclusive card from the Marvel Super Heroes set to reveal – and it’s an absolute smasher.
Please put your hands together for the MTG debut of Red Hulk, aka Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross.
MTG Marvel Super Heroes card preview – quick links
Red Hulk – MTG Marvel Super Heroes preview
Red Hulk will have two unique variants in the MTG Marvel Super Heroes set – one standard card with art by Vilhelmas Banys, and a second full art card by Adi Granov.
Now, while Red Hulk is a standalone and very powerful fighter, what’s ultra cool is that the Granov variant is actually part of an extended art scene, which you can see cached on Reddit (perhaps after a too-early reveal).
It appears Granov has created a full six-card scene for this set, with other characters including Hulk, She-Hulk, Abomination and The Leader.
In any case, I’m particularly happy to be revealing the Red Hulk portion of this scene, as he’s a very powerful attacker, with handy Enrage mechanics that should serve any Hulk deck-builders well.
To cover the basics: Red Hulk is a two-red mana, four generic mana Legendary Creature classified as a Gamma Berserker Villain, with 6/7 power and toughness. He’s got Reach, which means he can attack flying creatures, and also has Trample, which means he deals excess damage beyond what can be blocked by smaller creatures.
The most compelling part of this card is its Enrage mechanic. This is also on The Incredible Hulk, as well as many fun dinosaurs from the Ixalan sets. It essentially means that when Red Hulk takes damage, he becomes angry and activates a secondary ability – wonderfully thematic for the character, who’s strengthened by rage.
When Red Hulk takes damage, you can put a +1/+1 counter on him, strengthening his power and toughness. When this happens, you may deal damage equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on the card to any other target, including creatures or players.
ScreenHub: More Magic: The Gathering news and reviews
How to use Red Hulk in MTG decks
Red Hulk is very playable in any type of MTG deck, with particular synergy for any Pyrohemia or creature damage-focused decks. Having recently built my own Hulk-themed deck with The Incredible Hulk as Commander, I feel uniquely qualified to analyse the effects of Red Hulk.
Any time Red Hulk takes damage, you can add +1/+1 counters, and deal damage based on the number of counters. While you can get him to take damage by attacking opponents, you’ll actually want to be a bit craftier with how he’s deployed.
Cards like Pyrohemia / Kratos’ Rage, Earthquake, Rolling Earthquake, Pyroclasm and Harbinger of the Hunt can help you to damage Hulk on your own terms, thereby adding +1/+1 counters out of combat, and pinging other creatures or players for damage.
In a deck including other cards like The Incredible Hulk, and dinosaurs Apex Altisaur, Cacophodon, Ranging Raptors, Ravenous Daggerooth, Ripjaw Raptor and Silverclad Ferocidons, you can spend your turns damaging your creatures for an array of impacts, pinging other creatures and players multiple times per turn, making them sacrifice their creatures, or adding card draw.
You can also consider putting Red Hulk alongside other counter-making cards to double his impact.
Rite of Passage will let you put more +1/+1 counters on him every time he takes damage. Rhythm of the Wild can also allow him to enter with a +1/+1 counter. Cards including Fangs of Kalonia, Branching Evolution, Visions of Dominance and many other green-mana cards can also help to increase the damage Red Hulk causes.
This is a particular novel card for its brute force. You don’t really need to think too deeply about where to put Red Hulk – it fits in any red or green decks pretty well, with its Enrage mechanics likely to cause chaos for opponents.
If you’re hunting anything in the MTG Marvel Super Heroes set, this card should definitely be on your radar.
