Marvel: Darkhold Destiny is Magic’s next Marvel set. It comes out April 9, 2027, with four Commander decks: Hela’s Lords of Hel, Blade’s Midnight Sons, Thor’s Gods of Asgard and Doctor Strange’s Strange Academy. Wizards hasn’t shown the decklists yet, but it has described each deck’s game plan. These 16 cards, four per deck, fit those plans, and 12 of them cost under $6.
My verdict: buy picks for the deck you’ll actually build, and start with the cheap ones. Each deck has 30 new cards, and the rest of its 100 cards are reprints and lands, so staples like these are exactly what Wizards could put inside. If you’re buying a precon anyway, wait for its decklist before you buy Exquisite Blood ($38.85) or Ashnod’s Altar ($13.15).
Prices are TCGplayer market prices for each card’s cheapest regular printing on November 12, 2026.
Table of Contents
Cards to buy before Darkhold Destiny at a glance
| Card and deck | Why it matters | Price and reprint risk |
|---|---|---|
| Exquisite Blood Blade | Gain life whenever an opponent loses life; combos with Vito | $38.85 High risk |
| Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose Blade | Your life gain makes an opponent lose that much | $10.50 High risk |
| Captivating Vampire Blade | Vampire lord that steals creatures | $1.98 Medium risk |
| Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord Blade | Gives your creatures lifelink on your turn | $1.70 Medium risk |
| Ashnod’s Altar Hela | Sacrifice a creature for two mana | $13.15 Medium risk |
| Pitiless Plunderer Hela | A Treasure each time another creature of yours dies | $3.36 High risk |
| Goblin Bombardment Hela | Sacrifice a creature to deal 1 damage to any target | $2.44 High risk |
| Mayhem Devil Hela | 1 damage whenever any player sacrifices a permanent | $0.34 High risk |
| Embercleave Thor | Flash equipment: double strike and trample | $9.49 Low risk |
| Sword of the Animist Thor | Fetches a land every time the equipped creature attacks | $2.60 Medium risk |
| Garruk’s Uprising Thor | Trample for your team, a card for each power 4+ creature that enters | $0.48 High risk |
| Puresteel Paladin Thor | Draws on equipment; equip for free with three artifacts | $0.48 Medium risk |
| Teleportation Circle Doctor Strange | Blinks an artifact or creature at each of your end steps | $5.49 High risk |
| Ephemerate Doctor Strange | One-mana blink that rebounds for a second use | $4.90 Medium risk |
| Conjurer’s Closet Doctor Strange | Colorless blink at each of your end steps | $3.08 High risk |
| Restoration Angel Doctor Strange | Flash flyer that blinks a creature | $0.32 High risk |
Prices move fast. Follow @HelloNerdsnack on X for price drops and new chase cards.
Reprint risk is my read, based on how often each card has been reprinted and how well it fits its deck’s plan. It isn’t a prediction.
The four Darkhold Destiny decks and their likely colors
| Deck | Game plan | Likely colors |
|---|---|---|
| Lords of Hel Hela | Sacrifice effects and waves of undead tokens | Black-red |
| Midnight Sons Blade | Vampires that gain life, then spend it on big effects | White-black |
| Gods of Asgard Thor | Creatures with power 4 or more | Red-green-white |
| Strange Academy Doctor Strange | Blinking spellcasters for repeat enter-the-battlefield effects | White-blue-black |
Wizards hasn’t confirmed the colors. They’re Wargamer’s reading of the product descriptions (October 10), and every pick here fits them or is colorless.
Why buy before the decklists?
When a precon gives a strategy a new commander, players build their own versions, and the staples for that plan get more demand. That’s the case for buying the cheap picks now.
The case against: Commander precons are full of reprints, and a reprint usually drops a card’s price. Blink engines in a blink deck, or Exquisite Blood in a vampire deck, are the kind of cards Wizards reprints. That’s why the table rates each card’s reprint risk. Wizards usually shows Commander decklists a few weeks before release, so expect them around March 2027. Don’t buy anything here to flip; buy what you’ll play.
Blade’s Midnight Sons: vampire and life-gain picks
Wizards describes Midnight Sons as vampires that gain life, then spend it on big effects. Vito and Exquisite Blood are the classic pair: together they drain your opponents in a loop the moment you gain any life. Exquisite Blood is the priciest card on this list at $38.85, and it was reprinted in a 2023 vampire precon, so it’s the one to hold off on if you’re buying the Blade deck anyway. Captivating Vampire and Sorin are cheap vampire support at under $2 each.
$10.50
$38.85
$1.98
$1.70
Load all four Blade picks into one TCGplayer cart (about $53 at Nov 12 prices)
Hela’s Lords of Hel: sacrifice picks
Lords of Hel is about sacrifice effects and waves of undead tokens, and these four cards reward both. Ashnod’s Altar turns each token into two mana, Goblin Bombardment turns it into damage, and Pitiless Plunderer gives you a Treasure when it dies. Mayhem Devil deals damage every time any player sacrifices anything, Treasures included, and at 34 cents it’s already black and red.
$13.15
$3.36
$2.44
$0.34
Load all four Hela picks into one TCGplayer cart (about $19 at Nov 12 prices)
Thor’s Gods of Asgard: power and equipment picks
Wizards’ pitch for Gods of Asgard is to build up forces of power 4 or more, and Wargamer expects equipment too. Garruk’s Uprising is made for that plan: it gives your team trample and draws a card whenever a creature with power 4 or more enters under your control. Embercleave and Sword of the Animist cover the equipment side, and Puresteel Paladin draws a card whenever an Equipment enters. Embercleave is the splurge at $9.49; the other three cost $2.60 or less.
$9.49
$2.60
$0.48
$0.48
Load all four Thor picks into one TCGplayer cart (about $13 at Nov 12 prices)
Doctor Strange’s Strange Academy: blink picks
Strange Academy blinks spellcasters to reuse their enter-the-battlefield effects, so all four picks are blink engines. Teleportation Circle and Conjurer’s Closet blink something at each of your end steps, Ephemerate does it twice for one mana, and Restoration Angel does it at instant speed. Conjurer’s Closet is colorless, so it fits any deck you build.
$5.49
$4.90
$3.08
$0.32
Load all four Doctor Strange picks into one TCGplayer cart (about $14 at Nov 12 prices)
What to skip
- Expensive staples if you’re buying the precon. Wait for its decklist first. It may already include them.
- Foils and special printings. Buy the cheapest regular printing you’re happy with. Premium versions don’t gain more when a deck adds support.
- Buying extra copies to resell. Commander precons are one of the most common places for reprints.
Next step
Bookmark our Darkhold Destiny guide for the reveals, and see all four Marvel Super Heroes precons ranked for how the last Marvel decks turned out. Getting ready for Magic’s merfolk set too? See our cards to buy before Nauctis.
Want them all at once? The buttons below load all 16 picks, or just the 12 under $6, into one TCGplayer cart. TCGplayer finds the best prices across its sellers, and you see the full cart before you pay.
Want every pick? Load them into one cart
Sources: Wizards of the Coast’s Darkhold Destiny announcement and deck descriptions (October 2026); deck colors from Wargamer (October 10, 2026); TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, November 12, 2026. Card images: Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall.
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