New Marvel Saga Cheats an “Invincible” 10/10 Into Play on Turn 3

Last updated on December 12, 2025

Progenitus | Illustration by Mike Bierek

WeeklyMTG’s early previews for Marvel Super Heroes included World War Hulk, a mono-green saga that enables a “TurboGenitus” strategy in Standard by putting Progenitus in play turn 3 with a perfect draw, and by turn 5 without it.

The combo is simple: Cast World War Hulk, which lets the next red or green creature spell cast be cast for free. If that creature is Progenitus, one of the Timmiest creatures to ever Timmy, players can cast it for a mere 5 mana rather than a daunting 10, and ride Alara’s soul to victory—assuming this deck is more than a casual dream.

World War Progenitus

Progenitus | Illustration by Mike Bierek

Cheap mana accelerators will be key to the TurboGenitus strategy if it wants to be a serious meta contender. Turn 1 Llanowar Elf into another ramp spell on turn 2—ideally Badgermole Cub, though a second Elf works—lets players cast World War Hulk, and Progenitus, on turn 3. Having plenty of cheap ramp cards gives the deck a robust ramp package that can support other big threats like Vaultborn Tyrant and Overlord of the Hauntwoods for a game plan beyond the cheese.

World War Hulk won’t be the first card in Standard capable of cheating Progenitus out, but it will be the best. Similar cheat spells like Smuggler's Surprise, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, and Fetch Quest (the adventure on Bramble Familiar) are just too expensive. Kona, Rescue Beastie only costs 4 mana, but requires a way to tap it. WWH nets immediate value.

The strategy isn’t all roses, however. Any deck that relies on a tight two card combo falters when they draw only half the combo. While a good list might use World War Hulk for more than Progenitus, the hydra avatar itself is neigh-uncastable.; drawing Progenitus without WWH amounts to skipping a draw step. Additionally, “protection from everything” isn’t the trump card it sounds like, as Progenitus can’t survive countermagic and board wipes. If the opponent is Three Steps Ahead or brings about a Day of Judgment, the hydra doesn’t cut it.

It’s also unclear that Progenitus is the ideal monster to cheat into play with World War Hulk. What about Vaultborn Tyrant, which cantrips and is devilishly hard to remove profitably? Or Sin, Spira's Punishment and Ureni, the Song Unending, both of which boast impactful enters abilities? These cards also have mana costs that can be reasonably paid for, unlike Progenitus, removing the reliance on World War Hulk.

TurboGenitus also relies on luck to be fast enough; while the perfect draw with a turn 3 Progenitus sounds threatening, each turn after that becomes sketchier. After casting Progenitus, the deck needs two more turns to win. A tight five sounds nice, but what about casting World War Hulk on turn five? By turn seven, opposing decks can either win or find an appropriate answer. And should this deck become prominent, players can easily sideboard to exploit its prominent weak points or simply sleeve up a control deck. TurboGenitus’s best home is Standard Bo1 on Arena, where cheesy decks naturally perform well due to the lack of sideboarding. But World War Hulk won’t be constrained to Standard alone.

Conquering Formats Beyond Standard

Etali, Primal Conqueror | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

The first and most obvious use for World War Hulk outside of Standard is Commander. Your next free spell can be your commander, which is a major win for expensive generals like Etali, Primal Conqueror, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, and Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Note that you still need to pay additional costs, like the command tax. That’s still a fine discount, however—especially in cEDH, with enough fast mana to play this by turn 2 with the right draw.

Outside the command zone, it has great potential to cheat devastating finishers like Apex Devastator and Craterhoof Behemoth into play for a fraction of what they should cost. It also provides a potential avenue for combo decks to go off faster; for example, Abundance plus Cultivator Colossus puts all your lands into play, but the combo pieces have a 3 mana difference. WWH, however, can cast the Colossus the turn after you play Abundance, letting players combo two turns faster.

World War Hulk’s TurboGenitus combo might not reshape Standard due to the strategy’s flaws, but a card that blatantly disregards mana costs is sure to make a splash somewhere.