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Set Details
This is a short analysis of the different sets, as well as a table of contents for
which Heroes came from which set. This will also act as a slight review of each
set if youre looking to buy into the game.
BASE SET
DARK CITY
The basic game introduced 15 Heroes, with cards allying with The
Avengers, The X-Men, and a few that currently had no teams.
Essentially this was exactly what a base-set should be. It
introduced the concept, was fairly easy to pick up, and has a few
neat combos in it. Theres not a lot else to say here, except you
obviously need this game to play the expansions.
HEROES: Black Widow, Captain America, Cyclops, Deadpool, Emma
Frost, Gambit, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Rogue, SpiderMan, Storm, Thor, Wolverine (X-Men)
The first Big Box expansion focusses on a darker side to the Marvel
Universe, and this expansion really brings Legendary into itself.
This expansion is the one that most players will say is The One
You Want to Buy and Im no different. It adds depth to the player
characters, with many more interactions and combos becoming
FANTASTIC
FOUR
PAINT THE
TOWN RED
GUARDIAN
S OF THE
GALAXY
SECRET
WARS VOL
1
Focus
Shards
Teleport
Versatile
Wall Crawl
Multiclass
characters.
mechanic that only works once, and saves a very small amount of
waiting to first use the card. Personally, I hate the keyword- it
pushes the cost of cards up, and for what it achieves it just isnt
worth it. The best use for this keyword is when you have a large
deck and will have to wait for the card to reach your hand, but then
youre just making it take longer for a different card to make it
through anyway. 3/10
Added: Secret Wars Vol 1. These are characters that have more
than one Colour. Not much else to say about it. It means theres
more triggering for Superpowers and characters that like multiple
colours (Cap!) are happier. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10/10 (It is barely a
thing to care about).
Angel
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
5
Effect Only
3
RED
3
Damage
5
YELLOW
5/1
Recruit/ Damage
4/7
GREEN
0
BLUE
0
BLACK
Angel is (Like most of the X-Men) much better used as a
back-up engine, rather than a mainstay idea. His theme is
discarding cards and drawing more, and his GREEN recruiter
card gives you benefits from being discarded. His rare
card, Strength of Spirit, is somewhat awful. Ultimately,
Angels Diving Catch is his best and most versatile card,
fitting in as a utility for any deck or situation that will cause a
discard. It can combo well with High-Speed Chase, but only
as draw power. Drop Off a Friend can be a great card in the
later game when you dont need to recruit anymore, but is
otherwise not going to create much of a good situation for
you.
Final Verdict: High-Speed Chase makes an excellent early
game card, but unless you can mitigate the discard in the
late game, youre better off KOing it. Diving Catch is a
decent card to keep as back-up, and becomes an amazing
card to have if your deck has cards that can cause discards.
Drop Off a Friend is an OK card, as outlined above, and
Strength of Spirit suffers from a similar situation to most of
the rare cards in that its simply too expensive to be
relevant when you can finally afford it.
GOOD COMBOS: Use Diving Catch to support Cyclops if
you have it, or keep it for villain effects and other discard
situations.
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
5/1
Damage/Recruit
4/7
0
0
0
5
Recruit
3
3(RED/B
Damage
5
LA)
Kitty, what are you? Where is your focus?
Infiltrate HQ lets you swap out a card in the HQ and then
buy the replacement for 1 less. Also it gives 2 Recruit.
Phase Out is your usual 2 Attack, Trigger on Red, KO from
hand/discards for extra 1 Attack. Disrupt Circuits starts
with 2 Attack and gains one more for each Black hero in the
HQ. Untouchable gives 5 Recruit, and can steal a Fight
effect from someone in order to draw 3 cards.
Final Verdict: No, for real Kitty. Where is your focus? All of
these cards do something entirely different. Phase Out has a
good effect, but its a generically good effect that other
Heroes can do as well. Untouchable isnt worth being a rare,
7 cost card. Disrupt Circuits can probably work really well
with certain other Characters, but frankly using Kitty Pryde
will disrupt the synergy of a Black focused Hero Deck. I liked
the concept behind Infiltrate HQ- it seems like the only thing
here that even slightly looks like Kittys phasing ability.
GOOD COMBOS: If youre using Kitty, youll want to use
things that share colours with her. Black Widow has enough
Tech that you can work combos in, and the Red that you
want for each of these ladies to trigger each other.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
Bishop
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team-Player
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
COMMENTS
5
0
0
5/3
TYPE
Damage+Recruit
COST
3
Effect
2/5
Only/Combat
1
Damage
7
BLACK
Bishop is quite cool in that you can run him as a Solo hero if
you get enough of his cards, though he really shines as a
helper to Red and Blue focussed decks. Bishop has a large
Black Bolt
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Gimmick
Illuminati
COLOUR
0
RED
0
YELLOW
3
GREEN
5/1
BLUE
0
BLACK
5(BLU/RE
MULTICL
D)
ASS
TYPE
COST
Damage
Damage/Damage
6
3/8
Recruit&Damage
Black Cat
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
RED
Damage/Recruit/Da
mage
Damage
COST
1/4/8
3
5
0
0
0
When I say Black Cat is a solo hero, I mean in the sense that
her cards really help herself and nobody else.
Pickpocket lets you reveal the top card of any players
deck, and gets damage equal to the printed value of the
revealed cards damage and recruit. Also it has Wall Crawl.
Casual Bank Robbery also has Wall Crawl and it gives 2
recruit. It gives another 1 recruit that only works on the hero
in the space under the Bank. Jinx does 3 damage, and
gives you the option to discard the top card of every deck
after revealing them. Cat Burglar hits for 5, and every
other player has to reveal a Red hero or give you a
bystander from their victory pile. If you play it after a SpiderHero you get +1 damage for each Bystander you rescue in
this turn.
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5/5/1
TYPE
Black Panther
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility/ Gimmick
Illuminati
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
RED
0
YELLOW
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
0
BLACK
5(GRE/BL Damage
4
MULTICL
A)
Recruit
3
ASS
5(RED/YE Damage
6
L)
Effect Only
7
3(GRE/RE
D)
1(YEL/BL
A)
Well as you can tell, Black Panther is about being MultiColoured. Somehow, despite all of his cards being multi, he
has no Blue. Crazy.
Multifaceted Genius starts at 2 damage, and gains another
for each Multiclass hero played this turn. Catlike Reflexes
gets 1 Recruit and draws a card. Stalk the Urban Jungle
does 4 damage, and then you can KO a card in your
hand/discards every time you defeat a villain in the streets
or rooftops. King of Wakanda gains 3 Sidekicks and on an
Black Widow
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility/Team Player
Avengers
COLOUR
RED
TYPE
Damage/Damage/Da
mage
COST
3/4/7
0
0
0
5
Effect Only
2
How Widow works depends on whether you take her Red
cards or her Black ones. Using her Black card, you create
utility and support for other Technology cards. However,
should you go with Red, Black Widow only needs one other
hero (preferably Red) to become the main theme of the
deck. Her cards work around saving Bystanders.
Her single Black card, Mission Accoplished, is cheap, and it
goes into a Technology deck as a draw utility. It can rescue a
bystander. Dangerous Rescue makes for a good card after
the first few turns of the game. It gets rid of the lesser
SHIELD agents, and powers up the Covert Operation card
while its at it. Covert Operation is another one of those
cards that really only works as part of a deck focussing on
that hero. Silent Sniper is a mostly situational, and
therefore, bad card. However, it can pull off an absolutely
beautiful combo in some situations, and against some
Schemes/Masterminds, it is absolutely deadly.
Final Verdict: Natasha can be anywhere from good to
excellent, depending on the situation. Mission
Accomplished is easily her worst card, but it gives excellent
utility to any deck that needs Technology heroes to access
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5/3/1
Blade
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5
1
5
TYPE
Damage
Damage
Damage+Recruit
COST
3
7
4
3
Damage
6
Blade works entirely around a gimmick. He can move Villains
around in the city, and he gets bonus points for killing them
in the sewers or rooftops.
His Stalk the Prey moves a villain to an adjacent spot.
Night Hunter and Nowhere to Hide both get a minor
bonus for defeating a villain in the sewers or rooftops (+2
recruit points, and Draw 2 cards, respectively). Vampiric
Surge does 1 more damage for each Villain in your victory
pile (it starts at zero).
Final Verdict: Blade sucks. His gimmick is interesting, and if
done properly, it could have been much better. As it is
though, all of his damaging cards are pretty bad. Stalk the
Prey and Night Hunter both only do 2, and cost 3&4,
respectively. Nowhere to Hide costs 6 to buy, and only
gives you 3 damage. Vampiric Purge costs 7, and starts at
ZERO. It only gets powerful if youre beating lots of things,
and Blade just cant do that on his own.
GOOD COMBOS: Ummm Well, I suppose Stalk the Prey
can work with Storm, maybe. She works with a similar
gimmick of moving things and hitting them there. The
difference is, Storm does it much, much better. Vampiric
Cable
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo
X-Force
COLOUR
COST
3
Damage
6
0
0
5/1
Damage/Damage
4/8
5
Recruit
3
Cable is a really interesting Hero here. His idea seems to
revolve around stopping the mastermind and building up a
big finish. Hes unique in that he wants to be a solo hero, but
he needs other heroes to help him achieve that goal.
Nathan Summers is a Disaster Survivalist, which here
means he has a good old time interfering with Master
Strikes. This is really his most versatile card, and any game
using Cable should see each player attempting to grab this
card. Its useful everywhere, dammit! He also likes to Strike
at the Heart of Evil, which is a pretty cool card. Normally it
gives you 2 damage, but it gives you an extra 2 for the
explicit purpose of beating up Masterminds. Rapid Response
Force is probably the best card in the Cable pile though. It
does 3 damage, plus one for every other X-Force hero that
youve played before it, meaning it goes excellently in any XForce deck, and that includes a Cable-exclusive one. It also
has Teleport, meaning it can just sit in your hand until the
opportune moment. Finally, Scott Summers magical-timetravelling-cyborg-son is an Army of One, allowing you to KO
any number of cards from your hand to deal that same
number of damage, plus 5.
Final Verdict: Cables common cards are quite versatile and
arent a bad addition to any deck, though Strike at the
Heart of Evil is much better off going into a Cable- or Bluecentric deck. Rapid Response Force is a damn beautiful
card if you have any sort of X-Force engine. Army of One is
better than most of the High-Cost, Full-Art cards, but its still
only OK in a majority of situations. It really only makes a
good way to tighten up the deck in the late game.
GOOD COMBOS: Strike at the Heart of Evil can make a nice
starting point for Iceman decks. Rapid Response Force is a
damn nice card for any and all X-Force. Otherwise, Cable is
best when he looks out for Cable. I recommend grabbing the
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
Captain America
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Solo/Utility
Avengers
COLOUR
1
RED
5
YELLOW
5
GREEN
BLUE
3
BLACK
TYPE
Damage
Recruit
Damage
COST
7
3
4
Damage
6
On the surface, Cap is a tricky one to use. Hes also quite
deceptive about how you should use him. His shtick is for the
wielder to use as many colours of the Hero Rainbow as
possible and get points for it, while his top card works when
you play more Avengers.
Avengers Assemble, Captain America cries as he recruits
one more star point for each colour hero you have. All the
pretty colours also make Steve think youve achieved
Perfect Teamwork for 1 point of damage, again for each
colour hero you have. Diving Block is a pretty decent card,
that blocks unwanted wounds and otherwise does 4 damage.
Finally, Cap will have A Day Unlike Any Other and do 3
damage, plus 3 more for every other Avenger youve played
this turn.
Final Verdict: Most people will decry Cap as inherently bad,
because on the surface he needs too many other things to
work properly- until you realise that Captain America fulfils
all of his requirements on his own. Among all of Caps cards,
the only colour you dont have is Blue. Also, this might
surprise some people, but Captain America, The First
Avenger, is an Avenger card himself. A Cap-Centric deck will
work incredibly well if its just 2 of both of his commons, 1
Diving Block, and 1 Day Unlike Any Other and the usual
12 SHIELDs. If that is prevented in the early game, Caps
commons make a quite decent utility, and Day Unlike Any
Other will do wonders for any deck with lots of Avengers.
GOOD COMBOS: Cap is meant to promote teamwork, but
honestly, he works really well on his own. The best way to
run Cap is to assist him with some Blue and Red, which he is
(somewhat ironically) low on. Either use draw power, or
things to get rid of SHIELDS. Using 2 of Black Widows
Captain Marvel
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Team Player
Avengers
COLOUR
TYPE
0
RED
0
YELLOW
3
Damage
GREEN
5/1
Recruit/Damage
BLUE
0
BLACK
5(GRE/BL Damage
MULTICL
U)
ASS
COST
5
3/7
3
Colossus
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team-Player
X-Force
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
3
0
5/5/1
TYPE
COST
Damage
Recruit/Damage/Da
1/3/8
mage
0
0
Colossus is, for lack of better term, nifty. His three Green
cards have a trick that works around pretending to take
wounds, but then going Nah, fuck that lol. He also has a
fairly easy to use set of cards.
Draw Their Fire does three damage, costs 1 to recruit, and
gives you a wound. Invulnerability mitigates this negative
effect- you discard it to stop the wound, then draw 2. Silent
Statue is one of the weird black-sheep cards in the box,
being a Red card that needs you to have played a Green
card to work. Russian Heavy Tank is one of the best damn
rare cards in the box. It costs 8, but it does 6 damage, and
works as a great teamwork card by taking teammates
wounds in order to draw cards, which you can then mitigate
with Invulnerability.
Final Verdict: Colossus is pretty dang decent. Draw Their
Fire is a deceptive card. It only costs 1 to buy, so people will
be tempted to grab it early. Its effect, however, is not good
at all in the early game. Getting wounds early game isnt
good for you. Invulnerability is a decent card that can go
into any deck, as it gives a recruit and blocks wounds.
Silent Statue is the worst of Colossuss cards, only really
comboing well with Colossus and sometimes Hulk. Russian
Heavy Tank is amazing in Colossus decks, good in Hulk/
Wolverine (X-Men) decks, and decent in most others.
GOOD COMBOS: If you can get away with it, taking all the
Colossus cards will build a fairly decent deck on its own,
which you should complement with Wolverine (X-Force)s
No Mercy, Thing and Hulk. If Hulk and Colossus are in the
same game though, the best route to go with them is an
even mix of Hulk and Colossus; you will destroy villains with
no mercy.
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Cyclops
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team-Player
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
0
0
5
5/3/1
TYPE
Recruit
Damage/Damage/Da
mage
COST
2
3/6/8
BLACK
COMMENTS
literally the only things holding him back are his discard
costs, and the fact that he is Cyclops.
Determination only costs 2, and gives you 3 points of
recruit at the cost of one discard. Optic Blast is the same
for damage, except it costs 3. Unending Energy is the
gimmick part of this set: if it would be discarded, you just
pick it right up again from the discard pile. Finally, X-Men
United is one of the better rares in the game, costing more
(8), but doing 6 damage, PLUS 2 for each other X-Man youve
played this turn. If youve built the deck right, that shit can
be doing obscene amounts of damage.
Final Verdict: Cykes commons are undeniably excellent in
the early game. They give massive commodities, and early
game you can just discard the equivalent SHIELD card,
essentially giving up a +1 for a +3. Unfortunately, as the
game progresses and you start to get rid of (hopefully) your
SHIELDs, youre not going to want to discard all your good
cards. It is slightly mitigated by Unending Energy, but that
really is all that its good for, and with the addition of Angel
cards, its outshone. X-Men United is a damn good card
when the game has lots of X-Men in it.
GOOD COMBOS: As the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops gets to
his best by acting as a team-player with other X-Men. If the
deck is Cyke-focussed, use Angels Diving Catch to
complement the discards (its better than Unending
Energy). Gambit and his many Draw cards help build power
for X-Men United AND it gives you more discardable
options. Same with Emma Frosts Mental Discipline.
X-Men United is an amazing card for any deck that has XMen in it, but particularly Rogue, who can multiply its
effects for incredible damage output, and Nightcrawler,
whose Teleport ability means that you can build up a hand of
large amounts of X-Men cards to be used to power X-Men
United.
Daredevil
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COLOUR
COST
3
Damage
6
5/1
Damage/Damage
4/8
5
Recruit
3
0
0
Daredevil is a really interesting Hero in this game, because
while he is very gimmick based, his purpose in the deck
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
Deadpool
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
5
3/1
0
0
TYPE
Damage
Damage/Damage
COST
5
3/7
5
Recruit
3
Deadpool is really weird in that he doesnt really have a
theme at all. Which I guess fits his character.
Here, Hold This For a Second is essentially Maria Hill, but
with the added bonus(?) of forcing a villain to capture a
bystander- which can be situationally good, bad, or neutral,
depending entirely on the scheme and villains. Of note: This
can NOT give a bystander to the Mastermind, according to
the rules. Oddball is 2 damage, plus 1 more for every card
youve used with an odd-numbered cost. Its the closest
Deadpool comes to having a theme, because all of his cards
have odd costs. Hey, Can I Get a Do Over? is a situational
hand-refresh that also does 2 damage. Random Acts of
Unkindness is just a huge disruption card that can hinder or
help everyone, depending on the individual players.
Final Verdict: How good Deadpool is depends entirely on the
situation. HHTfaS is probably the most versatile of his
cards, though it becomes a dangerous risk with certain
schemes and villains. Oddball tends to need a turn
specifically played to get its full potential, but its definitely
worth it since it will almost always be a +1. Do Over is
next to terrible if you have a good hand already, and since
thats your aim throughout the game it becomes a pretty
bad card after a while. RAoU is one of the more interesting
cards in the box, as it allows everyone to be benevolent or
mean to one another, but its usually too expensive to be
overly useful.
GOOD COMBOS: It has already been said that HHTfaS
combos well with Black Widow, but it also goes fairly well
with Jean Grey. RAoU can be mean, but if other people on
the team are using Hulk or Wolverine or other cards that
can use wounds to their advantage, it can make a decent
combo with them as well.
BLACK
COMMENTS
Domino
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Solo/Team Player
X-Force
COLOUR
1
RED
5
YELLOW
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
5/3
BLACK
TYPE
Versatile
Versatile
COST
7
3
Effect
1/5
Only+Versatile/EffectVersatile
Dominos cards are all versatile, with only one of them
Dr. Strange
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility
Illuminati
COLOUR
COST
1
Effect Only
7
3
Damage
0
5
Damage
0
5(YEL/BL Recruit
2
U)
Doc Strange is showing off a lot of utility here, rather than
focussing himself.
Trust Me, Im a Doctor is a recruit, and with an Illuminati
trigger it can KO from the hand or discards to be 2 recruit
instead. Cloak of Levitation is a 2 Damage card that with a
Blue trigger can manipulate the deck through Teleportation.
Fight the Future is three damage and with a Yellow trigger
can get +2 damage to use on the top card of the Villain
deck. Sorcerer Supreme gives you the opportunity to have
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
TYPE
Team-Player
Guardians of the Galaxy
COLOUR
0
RED
5/3/1
YELLOW
Recruit/Damage/Da
mage
DamageArtifact
COST
3/6/7
5
3
0
0
Drax is a fairly versatile Hero, focussing on damage while
offering a few versatile tricks along the way.
Knives of the Hunter is his Artifact card, and it gives you 1
damage once per turn, essentially giving you a permanent
SHIELD Trooper. Interstellar Tracker provides 2 Recruit, and
lets you manipulate your deck a little, providing a potential
KO option. The Destroyer gives 4 damage, and when
triggered by another GotG card makes other players discard
an Artifact they control if they dont have a Yellow Hero,
gaining a Shard for each discard. Avatar of Destruction
simply doubles the Attack you have.
Final Verdict: Drax is OK. None of his cards particularly
stand out, and aside from generating Attack he doesnt
really have a theme to him. Hes not going to be most
peoples first pick in most cases. However Avatar has loads
of potential for damage racking up and Tracker does offer
acceptable deck manipulation.
GOOD COMBOS: Fit Drax in places where you either need
consistent Attack, or where you can make loads of Attack at
once. Avatar in particular will make incredible amounts of
damage with cards that have variable damage. Things
Knuckle Sandwich and Surfers Rare can make absolutely
devastating turns with this card.
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
Elektra
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team Player
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
5
RED
YELLOW 5/3/1
TYPE
COST
Damage
Effect+Recruit/Damage/D
amage
1
2/6/7
0
0
0
Elektra really wants to be a Solo hero- all of her cards are
pretty damn selfish- but unfortunately, thats not really an
option; she definitely needs help from others.
The good thing to be said about Elektras common cards is
they are dirt-cheap. First Strike does 1 damage, +1 if it is
actually the first strike. Ninjitsu draws one card, and if
youve played a Red hero in this turn you get +2 recruit. Sai
Blades hits for 4, plus 1 for every hero that youve played
this turn that costs 1 or 2. Notice that that doesnt include
things that cost 0, so SHIELD agents and troopers dont help
at all. Silent Meditation generates recruit, and is nifty in
that it puts the recruited card right into the hand.
Final Verdict: a player lucky enough to actually collect mostly
Elektra cards will have a great deck going. Unfortunately,
their low cost and overall utility means that most players are
going to make an early-game grab for them. First Strike is
a decent card, especially for its cost, but later in the game
its just going to become another SHIELD trooper. Ninjitsu
has a very narrow use, aside from drawing cards. Sai
Blades makes a damn good trump card for any deck that
uses mostly low cost cards, but in other decks wont see so
much benefit. Silent Meditation is again too costly to be
great, but it still passes as good.
GOOD COMBOS: Elektra really wants to be played with other
cheap heroes. Spider-Man and Sai Blades is a good
combo, as the Web Head can run through a whole deck of
cheap cards in a turn. Moon Knight acts as a useful way to
join Elektra with other tech-based heroes for neater combos.
Ninjitsu works as a good utility with Wolverine (X-Men)
and any other Yellow based decks.
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Emma Frost
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
TYPE
Damage
COST
4
3
Damage
5
1
Damage
7
5
Recruit
3
0
Despite the fact that shes a total cow, Emmas pretty chill
as a utility Hero.
Apparently, having good Mental Discipline helps you to
recruit people and draw cards (and apparently its a ranged
technique). Shadowed Thoughts is a pretty dangerous card
to be using, especially in any scheme that tries to help
villains escape, but it does give you some damage power.
Psychic Link is an incredibly friendly card, especially in a
game heavy with X-Men. It lets each player reveal one to
draw a card, and gives the person using it 3 damage points.
Her Diamond Form gives you extra recruit after you beat a
villain or mastermind.
Final Verdict: Mental Discipline is a great card for most
decks, but it absolutely shines in decks that need other Blue
cards to work. Shadowed Thoughts is easily the worst of
her cards, being a bad damage output for its cost, unless
you help the villains. Diamond Form is another of those
High-Cost-doesnt-really-help-at-this-point-of-the-game
cards. Psychic Link is a nice card for you, and in an X-Men
heavy game it will make your teammates better too.
GOOD COMBOS: Mental Discipline works wonders with a
Thor deck, drawing cards AND giving recruit points for him
to work with. It also helps any other X-Men that are Blue and
need draw power. Iceman in particular benefits from her.
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Forge
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Solo/Team Player
X-Force
COLOUR
TYPE
RED
YELLO
W
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK 5/5/3/1 Recruit/Damage/Versatile/D
COST
4/3/5/7
amage
Forge is entirely made up of Technology cards, and basically
works towards making good combos.
Reboot costs 4, gives 2 recruit, and if played after another
Tech Hero, lets you draw 2 and discard 1. Dirty Work gives
you some damage, and makes the sewers a safer place to
live. Overdrive is Versatile 3, and not much else can be
Gambit
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
5
RED
3/1
YELLOW
0
GREEN
5
BLUE
0
BLACK
TYPE
COST
Effect Only
Recruit/Damage
2
3/7
Damage
are). Gambits last two cards are a bit more mediocre, with
Hypnotic Gaze being Maria Hill with an effect, and High
Stakes Jackpot working better in a deck with high costs
(meaning a not very effective deck).
GOOD COMBOS: Card Shark is a good card for any X-Man,
but Iceman can use it so much more, needing Blue to work
more efficiently. Gambits ability to check the cards in the
deck also help Daredevil and Spider-Man out with their
gimmicks.
Gamora
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility
Guardians of the Galaxy
COLOUR
RED
Recruit/Damage/Art
ifact
Effect Only
COST
2/5/8
5
3
0
0
0
Gamora has a strong focus on Shards- namely, the gaining
thereof.
Deadliest Woman in the Universe gains 2 Shards, and a
third if triggered by a Red card. Bounty Hunter gives 2
Recruit, and places a Shard onto a Villain. Galactic
Assassin gives 3 Attack, and negates the boost from Shards
on Villains. Godslayer Blade is an Artifact that gains Shards
and each turn, lets you use 5 Shards as if they were 10.
Final Verdict: Gamoras Shard game is impressive. Having
Shards is always handy for a big-turn-push, and any
opportunity to gain them is good, which is why DWitU is
entirely useful. Bounty Hunter is a risky one. It can give
you extra Shard opportunities, but without Assassin youre
probably going to be spending Shards to gain them on a 1-1
basis, which is not good play. Likewise, if it werent for
Bounty Hunter, Assassin would be entirely situational
and dependant on the enemy. Godslayer Blade is a decent
card. Not great, not bad, just decent. Its power really
depends on how much Shard opportunity is present in the
game, and I feel like Gamora on her own isnt enough to
make this card work.
GOOD COMBOS: Gamora complements and is complemented
by anyone else that creates Shards. Star-Lord particularly
makes more Shards than anyone else with his common
Artifact- take advantage of that. Groot also generates Shards
on 3 of his 4 cards, so use that as well.
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5/3/1
TYPE
Ghost Rider
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team-Player/Utility
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
0
3
Effect Only
2
5/1
Damage/Damage
5/8
5
Recruit
3
Ghost Rider is counterproductive in the way he works: He
can do loads of damage to things, but he wont win from it
because he has to KO them to activate his powers.
Hell on Wheels is 2 recruit, +another 2 if another Marvel
Knight has been played. Blazing Hell Fire does 2 damage,
+3 if you KO a villain from your Victory Pile. Infernal Chains
draws one, and can instantly kill any villain with 3 or less
power, if another Green has been used this turn. Penance
Stare gives you more power by stealing from everyone
elses Victory Pile.
Final Verdict: Johnny Blaze is listed as a Team-Player only
because he needs some help to really work efficiently.
Infernal Chains is almost entirely crap, only killing villains
with 3 or less, which is not helpful in at least 75% of
situations. Blazing Hell Fire will deal loads of damage, but
it will also deplete your own victory pile, making your
personal victory harder to achieve. Hell on Wheels is pretty
self-explanatory: recruits stuff. Yippee. Penance Stare is
OK, but the high cost is usually not worth paying unless you
absolutely MUST be the personal victor. The other players
are likely to dislike you hugely for it, and are going to throw
out their lesser villains, meaning you wont be too far ahead
after using it. Also keep in mind that the most it can do is 7
damage.
GOOD COMBOS: Hell on Wheels goes well with Punisher,
giving him some added recruit power and Technology to
combo with, and Punisher being a Marvel Knight activates
the second effect. The rest of Ghost Riders cards need you
to add draw power and a bit more killing power to truly be
effective.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Groot
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team Player
Guardians of the Galaxy
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
3
0
TYPE
Effect Only
COST
4
GREEN
5/5/1
Damage/Damage/R
ecruit
3/4/8
0
0
Groots cards are meant to evoke the idea of growth and
connectedness. Like most of the Guardians, Groot makes a
decent amount of Shards.
Surviving Sprig gives 1 damage and an extra draw at the
end of the turn. Prune the Growths gives 2 damage, and
when triggered by a Green card lets you KO a card from your
hand/discards to gain a Shard. Groot and Branches gains 2
Shards and lets you use them as Recruit in this turn. Also,
being friendly, if triggered by a Red card it lets you give
another player a Shard as well. I Am Groot gives 5 Recruit,
and your next recruitment gives you its weight in Shards
(one shard per cost).
Final Verdict: Groot is quite possibly the strongest Guardian
on his own. He gives extra draws, KOs cards to prune the
deck, and makes Shards that are versatile. I dont think I can
really fault any of his cards, especially since with the
exception of the Rare, all are priced much lower than they
would normally be for the effects that they give. Normally, a
Recruit-based Rare would be a negative but this one can get
you a very good amount of Shards, which as we know are
quite useful.
GOOD COMBOS: As we know, Groot combos quite decently
with Gamora, generating Shards for her to use. Support
Groot with a little bit of damage output, and youll be having
a grand time together.
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Hawkeye
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Team-Player/ Utility
Avengers
COLOUR
0
RED
YELLOW 5
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
5/3/1
BLACK
TYPE
Damage
COST
3
Damage/Damage/Da 4/5/7
mage
Hawkeye is very straightforward: He does damage but needs
a friend to combo with in order to work particularly well.
Quickdraw does 1 damage, and draws 1 card. Team
Player does 2 damage, and 1 more if youve played an
Avenger this turn. Covering Fire does 3 damage, and can
help or hurt other players. Impossible Trick Shot hits for 5
Hulk
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COLOUR
0
RED
5
YELLOW
5/3/1
GREEN
Damage
Damage/Damage/G
uess.
COST
4
3/5/8
0
0
HULK STRONGEST THERE IS! And thats his entire shtick in
this game: he does damage.
Growing Anger has Hulk deal 2 damage, +1 if a Green hero
was played this turn. Unstoppable Hulk does 2 damage,
and lets you KO a wound for an extra 2. Crazed Rampage
hits for 4, and forces each player to receive a wound. Hulk
Smash does 5 damage, and 5 more if another Green hero
was played this turn.
Final Verdict: Unstoppable Hulk is a great card for the sole
reason that it gets rid of wounds. Not only is it useful all
around, it becomes necessary in a game where anyone
wants to use Crazed Rampage. If youre wanting to deal
out huge damage in a turn, Hulks cards are the way to go, if
you can combo them with cards that let you draw. For any
other purpose though, they wont help much and Crazed
Rampage actually hurts everyone.
GOOD COMBOS: If you want to run Hulk solo, support him
with Green cards that draw or generate recruit points.
Wolverine (X-Force) has No Mercy, which is great for
Hulk. Colossuss Invulnerability will mitigate the wound
gained with Crazed Rampage. Thors Odinson is
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
excellent utility for Hulk. Thing will help Hulk with recruiting
things and teaming the two up can produce so much
damage it hurts.
Human Torch
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team Player
Fantastic Four
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
COMMENTS
0
5
0
5/3/1
TYPE
COST
Recruit
Damage/Damage/Dama
ge
4/6/8
0
BLACK
Torch is the most Damage-centric member of the Fantastic
Four, and his cards are very straightforward- very similar to
Johnnys depiction in most things, actually.
Call For Backup is his only recruiting card, giving 2 plus 1 if
you KO a wound from your hand or discards. Hothead does
4 damage and gives you a wound. Flame On! does 4
damage with the ability to Focus 6 for an extra 4 damage,
and Nova Flame does 6 damage, and if played after a F4
card it does an additional damage for each city space with a
villain.
Final Verdict: Torch is stupidly straightforward- He does
damage and thats about it. The highest level of strategy
that you need to play with him is trying to lose the wounds
that Hothead gives you, and Call For Backup does that.
However, keep in mind that his cards are fairly expensive for
what they do (except Hothead, which is reasonably
priced), so youll need to use some recruiting power.
GOOD COMBOS: Support Johnny with recruiting and draw
power. Iceman and Emma Frost both have Blue cards that
help with that, and Iceman actually works thematically.
Likewise, cards that can erase wounds or stop you from
gaining them work wonders with Hothead.
Iceman
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
0
0
3
5/5/1
TYPE
Damage
Effect
COST
5
2/4/8
Only/Damage/Damage
BLACK
COMMENTS
Iceman is a very easy hero to pull off good combos with, and
he focuses around using Blue heroes.
Deep Freeze draws a card, and gives +1 recruit for each
other Blue hero played that turn. Ice Slide does 2 damage
+1 for each other Blue hero played this turn. Frost Spike
Armor is 3 damage, and draws 1 card for each Blue hero
played this turn (noticing the trend?) but is the only one of
Icemans cards that is not blue itself, meaning it doesnt help
his other cards. Impenetrable Ice Wall is Icemans only
card that doesnt need you to play other Blues for it to work.
It blocks wounds and effects that make you discard, does 7
damage, and costs 8.
Final Verdict: Iceman is really cool. See what I did there?
Anyway, Blue cards are already pretty easy to combo, and
Blue X-Men are even easier. This makes Iceman one of the
best heroes in the box- his cards can end up doing loads of
things. Deep Freeze is good on its own, great in a Blue
deck, and amazing in a Blue/X-Men deck. The same can be
said of all of Icemans cards, with the exception of
Impenetrable Ice Wall, which is a decent card to have
anywhere (an odd thing for a rare card to be).
GOOD COMBOS: Support Iceman with Gambits Card
Shark, Emma Frosts Mental Discipline, or really any
Blue cards, theyre all good. Antithetically, in a deck not
dedicated to Iceman, his cards are great support for Blue
decks. Deep Freeze works pretty well as Cyclops support,
especially for that X-Men United.
Invisible Woman
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
Fantastic Four
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5/3/1
TYPE
Recruit/Damage/Damag
e
COST
4/4/7
0
0
5
Damage
4
0
Sue doesnt really have much in the way of a theme, and
instead she has varied effects that are all helped by other
cards in her deck.
Four of a Kind does 2 damage, or 4 if you played any other
cards that cost 4 on this turn. Disappearing Act gives 2
recruit which can be focused to KO a card from the hand or
Iron Fist
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
Recruit
Damage/Effect/Da
mage
COST
3
4/1/9
0
0
Iron Fists gimmick is having a diversity of costs in your deck,
and needs a deck focused on this to get its full potential.
Focus Chi gives +1 recruit for each hero with a different
cost you have. Wield the Iron Fist is the same, but for
damage. Ancient Legacy draws 1, and becomes Versatile 2
if two more Green heroes have been played this turn. Living
Weapon does 8 damage, and looks at the top cards of your
deck until youve revealed two cards with the same cost, and
draws all the revealed cards.
Final Verdict: Iron Fist is similar to Captain America in that
his cards are anywhere from Mediocre to Excellent
depending on how well you build the deck. Focus Chi and
Wield the Iron Fist are almost guaranteed to generate at
least 2 of their respective thing, and Living Weapon does
decent damage, while always drawing at least 2, and usually
more in a diverse deck. Ancient Legacy just avoids being
awful because of its low cost. Its still only mediocre at best.
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
0
5
5/3/1
TYPE
Iron Man
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility/Team Player
Avengers
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
0
0
0
5
5/3/1
TYPE
COST
Damage
3
Effect/Damage/Eff 3/5/7
ect
Iron Man is really good at drawing cards, and appropriately
really enjoys it when you have a Technology deck.
When Tony comes out fighting and smiting with Repulsor
Rays, he does 2 damage,+1 if a Blue hero has been played.
When he gets down to Endless Invention, he draws a card,
+1 if youve used a Technology hero this turn. Mr Starks real
power comes from his Arc Reactor which does 3 damage,
+1 for each other Technology hero used this turn. If he
manages to make a Quantum Breakthrough, he draws 2,
and another 2 if another Tech hero was played this turn.
Final Verdict: Iron Man is AWESOME for Technology decks. He
draws so many cards its not funny. Unfortunately, in other
situations he just doesnt have the juice needed to work on
his own. Arc Reactor cant become powerful enough unless
you have picked up all of the Iron Man cards. Repulsor
Rays is decent, but it has no synergy with other Iron Man
cards, and is better suited to supporting Blue heroes.
GOOD COMBOS: for the most part, stick with using Iron Man
as support for other heroes. HOWEVER: you can build a very
dedicated Iron Man deck if Punisher and Ghost Rider are
in the game. Punishers Boom Goes the Dynamite will
clear the deck of those silly SHIELDs, and Ghost Riders
Hell on Wheels will generate the recruit points that you
need. Grabbing just one copy of each of those will enable
you to focus hard on Iron Man, as will most of Mr Fantastics
and Forges Technology support.
Jean Grey
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team Player
X-Men
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
5/3
Recruit/Damage
5/6
0
0
5/1
Damage/Damage
3/7
0
Jean really likes it when you rescue bystanders. I imagine
this is probably because she wants to feed them to the
Phoenix Force or she wants to be a total bitch to them, or
something. Whatever the reason, it cant be good.
Read Your Thoughts gives 3 recruit, and whenever you
rescue a bystander this turn you get 1 more. Psychic
Search does 2 damage, and if played after another X-Men
hero it rescues a Bystander. Mind Over Matter does 4
damage, and you get to draw a card whenever you rescue a
bystander this turn. Telekinetic Mastery does 5 damage +1
whenever you rescue a bystander this turn, and if another XMen hero has been played this turn you may rescue a
bystander for each one.
Final Verdict: Jean Greys cards are incredibly effective- IF
you team her up with another bystander-rescuing hero.
Psychic Search isnt going to be enough on its own, and is
actually better used in an X-Men deck to get more victory
points. Read Your Thoughts and Mind Over Matter are
pretty good, but only if youre rescuing bystanders.
Telekinetic Mastery is also more useful for giving X-Men
decks more victory points, but like Psychic Search will go
well enough in a dedicated Jean Grey deck.
GOOD COMBOS: Luckily for Jean, supporting her isnt too
difficult. She makes a wonderful team with Black Widow
and Invisible Woman, especially with the easily comboed Red
cards. If there are other X-Men heroes available, Psychic
Search will be able to work more efficiently, allowing her to
be more powerful. Any other cards that allow you to rescue
bystanders are good to support or be supported by Jean
Grey.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Lady Thor
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility/Team Player
Avengers
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
0
0
TYPE
COST
5/1
Recruit/Recruit
4/8
5
Recruit
3
0
3(Gre/Bl Damage
6
u)
Know how all the Wolverines and Spider-Men are designed to
go together? Yeah, so are the Thors. By the way, I know her
card name is Lady Thor, but as Marvel made a big deal
about how shes just Thor, Im calling her that. Deal with it.
Im going to start at Heir to the Hammer for Thor, because
the rest of her cards all have the same condition on them.
HttH is 4 Damage, and on a trigger of GreenAndBlue, an
extra 2. The rest of Thors cards all say If you made at least
6 Recruit this turn so assume that as the trigger for these
effects. Mysterious Origins always gives 2 Recruit, and
when triggered Draws a card. Chosen by Asgard also starts
at 2 Recruit, and on the trigger deals 2 Damage. Living
Thunderstorm starts with 4 Recruit, and on the trigger deals
6 damage.
Final Verdict: Well, I mean, shes not bad? She has a very
specific trigger and its the same as the other Thor, so theyll
synergise nicely. I feel like HttH is the bad card here. Its
unrelated to the Thor goal, needs a double trigger, and
incorrectly spells Heiress.
GOOD COMBOS: Thor appreciates Blue cards that draw and
give recruit, so Emma Frosts Mental Discipline goes well.
Likewise, Icemans Deep Freeze. Team up the two Thors, as
mentioned throughout, and youll have a good time.
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
Magik
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Team Player
X-Men
COLOUR
TYPE
5/1
Effect Only/ Damage
RED
0
YELLOW
0
GREEN
5
Damage
BLUE
BLACK
3(RED/BL Damage
MULTICL
U)
ASS
COST
2/7
3
5
Maximus
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Solo/Team Player
Cabal
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
5
Recruit
3
RED
0
YELLOW
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
5/1
Damage/Damage
4/7
BLACK
3(RED/B
Damage
5
MULTICL
LA)
ASS
Maximus is really interesting, in that his Comics ability to
command lesser minds is represented through Sidekicks and
Henchmen.
Enslave the Will deals 2 damage and when triggered by a
Black card gains a Sidekick whenever you defeat a villain
this turn. Mental Domination gets 2 Recruit and with a Red
trigger it defeats a Henchman for free. Pieces on a
Chessboard deals 3 damage, and gives you the option to let
a Henchman enter the city from your victory pile, and then
draw a card. Inhuman Mastery starts at 4 damage. It can
force each player to put one of their defeated Henchmen
into the city- then it defeats them for free. Finally, if
triggered by a Cabal card you get +1 Attack for each
Henchman you beat this turn. Hooboy, thats a lot of things.
Final Verdict: I personally like this guy. Maximus is very
thematic, and his Henchman manipulation is really cool.
Pieces on a Chessboard automatically gives you what you
need to fight most Henchmen, so what it really does is Pick
Mister Fantastic
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility/Team Player
Fantastic Four
COLOUR
0
RED
3
YELLOW
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
5/5/1
BLACK
TYPE
Damage
COST
5
Effect
5/3/7
Only/Recruit/Damage
Reed is very much a supporting kinda guy, who likes to build
up his resources before he goes in for any sort of damage.
Unstable Molecules draws 2 cards. Twisting Equations
gives 2 recruit and can focus 2 to give you an extra draw at
the end of the turn. One Gigantic Hand does 1 damage, +1
for every card in your hand as long as you play it after a F4
character, and Ultimate Nullifier hits for 4 while cancelling
any Fight effects that occur this turn, while allowing you to
Focus 1 for 1 damage to use against the Mastermind.
Final Verdict: Oh how Reed tries to be a solo hero. The
obvious plan here is to build up a big hand before using One
Gigantic Hand for massive damage, but there are
unfortunate things preventing it. One, Gigantic Hand is not
as good as it wants to be. To use its effect, you have to have
used at least one card from your hand already, plus OGH
itself. Every subsequent OGH will be weaker than the first.
Unstable Molecules is decent, but perhaps 1 cost too high
for my liking. Ultimate Nullifier is pretty useful, and indeed
isnt bad for a late-game card. The real standout in this deck
is Twisting Equations. It delays its effect for a turn, but it
lets you start with many more resources next turn. This is
probably the best way to make use of OGH, as using them
to draw cards doesnt actually decrease the number of cards
that will be in your hand on that turn.
Moon Knight
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
0
RED
5/1
YELLOW
0
GREEN
BLUE
5/3
BLACK
TYPE
Damage/Damage
COST
3/8
Recruit/Damage
3/5
For some reason, Moon Knight was included in the SpiderMan focussed expansion and he was given the Spider-Friends
keyword. He doesnt really have much of a theme of his own,
but he can make decent utility for MK decks.
Lunar Communion does 2 damage, has Wall Crawl, and
lets you KO one of your cards when you defeat a villain on
the rooftops. Climbing Claws also has Wall Crawl, gives 2
recruit, and gets and extra recruit if played after a Yellow
hero. Crescent Moon Darts does 3 damage and reveals the
top card of the deck, drawing it if its Yellow or Black.
Golden Ankh of Khonshu gives 6 damage, whenever you
defeat a villain on the rooftops rescue bystanders equal to its
printed Points Value, and if played after a Tech hero you can
move a villain to the rooftops.
Final Verdict: I think the idea behind Moon Knight was to
improve other Instinct and Tech heroes by acting as a bridge
between the two. While he can work as his own engine, the
problem is that his other cards dont really have a powerful
theme. The defeat things on the rooftops ability is only
helped by other heroes, since the only way Moon Knight has
to move things to the rooftops is with the Golden Ankh and
even that is with a triggered ability. This isnt to say that
Moon Knight is bad. His cards are reasonably priced, and
Golden Ankh is strong enough that you dont need to use it
in a theme deck. And like Ive already said, he works greatly
Utility
Cabal
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
5
Recruit
3
5/1
Damage/Effect
4/7
0
0
3(GRE/Y Damage
6
EL)
Namor in the comics has always been a non-entity to me,
and honestly Namor in Legendary isnt that much different.
Ruler of the Seas is one of those awful You get Attack but
only against a specific place in the city cards. Lead the
Armies of Atlantis is a very handy 2 Recruit and gain a
Sidekick on Yellow Trigger card, so thats nice. Feed the
Sharks is one of the best KO a card to achieve X effects- it
draws a card. Imperius Rex defeats a villain for free, and
with two Yellow and two Green triggers it can instead defeat
a Mastermind.
Final Verdict: Like I said, hes just kind of here. Feed the
Sharks is a good effect, but the cost of 6 for it means that it
just isnt as good as it could be. Ruler of the Seas joins its
bretheren on that list of Area Specific Crap that you just
would not touch, especially not for 4 cost. Weve seen
Imperius Rex before, and those times the trigger was a lot
cheaper. Also, it definitely fits that Namor has his full title. It
seems exactly what Namor would want.
GOOD COMBOS: If there was more than one Imperius in the
deck, Id say join him up with Maximus. Honestly Maximus
might be the best combo anyway- theres a little bit of
synergy between the two.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
Nick Fury
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick
SHIELD
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
5
Effect Only
4
0
3
Damage
6
0
5/1
Damage/Effect
3/8
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, revolves around comboing
SHIELD heroes. Promoting the little ones for Maria Hill, and
then killing things because there are SHIELDs KOed.
High-Tech Weaponry is a very simple 2 damage card, +1 if
youve played a Tech hero this turn. Battlefield Promotion
KOs a SHIELD hero from the hand or discards, and turns it
into a Maria Hill. Legendary Commander does 1 damage
for each other SHIELD hero you played this turn, and Pure
Fury lets you defeat anything with less power than there are
SHIELD heroes KOed.
Final Verdict: Nick Fury has loads of potential. Unfortunately,
that potential is nearly impossible to meet with the available
heroes. Outside of the Agents, Troopers, and Maria Hills, Fury
is the only SHIELD hero that exists, and he hasnt got any
comboing power of his own. High-Tech Weaponry is
incredibly mediocre, and its not even great in Tech decks.
His other cards have the potential to work, but only if you
can support them. If you can get them working, the best way
to use Sam L Jackson Nick Fury is to focus on Battlefield
Promotion and Pure Fury, using things that draw cards
and KOing your SHIELD cards. Outside of that, Fury cant
really support anyone else, and he doesnt benefit from
things that dont draw and recruit.
GOOD COMBOS: Focus on supporting Fury with things that
draw cards and KO your lesser SHIELD cards. Punishers
Boom Goes the Dynamite can do it well.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Nightcrawler
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
COST
5/1
Damage/Damage
4/7
5/3
Recruit/Damage
3/5
0
0
0
Quite unsurprisingly, Nightcrawler exists to show off the
Teleport mechanic. All the guy does is BAMF! BAMF! ABAMFITY-BAMF!
Blend Into Shadows does 2 damage, and has Teleport.
BAMF! is the same, but for recruit. Swashbuckler does 3
Gimmick
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
TYPE
Damage/Damage/Dama
ge
COST
3/6/7
0
0
0
5(RED/Y Damage
5
EL)
Logan is very amusingly based around being the only Hero
you have.
Loner starts at 2 Attack and gains 2 if you dont recruit
anything. Last Survivor starts at 2 Attack, and with a
Yellow trigger it can KO a card from your hand or discards. If
it was a wound, draw a card. Rage Out has 3 Attack and
forces a Cross-Dimensional Wolverine Rampage, giving other
people wounds and gaining 1 Damage for each wound. No
More Heroes starts at 5 Attack, and if you have no
SHIELD/HYDRA cards at all this turn, gets another 5 Attack.
Final Verdict: Like most of the Gimmick characters from
Secret Wars, I really like OML. Last Survivor will definitely
work as a fantastic way to remove non-OML cards from your
deck. Loner encourages you not to buy things. The
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
0
5/3/1
Professor X
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility
X-Men
COLOUR
1
RED
5
YELLOW
0
GREEN
5/3
BLUE
0
BLACK
TYPE
COST
Damage
Recruit
8
3
Damage/Damage
2/5
Proxima Midnight
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick
Cabal
COLOUR
3
RED
5/1
YELLOW
TYPE
Damage
Effect Only/
COST
5
4/8
Damage&Recruit
0
0
0
5(RED/Y Damage&Recruit
2
EL)
Everything Proxima does involves making both kinds of
Resources.
Inspiration Through Power makes one of each kind.
Master Combatant gives you 2 of either Resource,
depending on what the previously played card had. THIS
MEANS ALL OF HER CARDS GIVE YOU BOTH! General of the
Black Order starts at 3 Attack, and on a Yellow trigger also
gives 3 Recruit. Supernova Spear starts with 4 of each, and
on a Red trigger gets another 4 of each.
Final Verdict: Proxima is almost exactly Domino. Domino is
pretty awesome and the fact that Domino can do almost
anything for relatively low costs is amazing. Dont forget
that all of her cards have a printed amount for each
resource, even if it is zero, so she triggers her own Master
Combatant.
GOOD COMBOS: Well obviously, Domino. Theyre almost the
same thing so obviously you cant go wrong here. Any other
Heroes that have the symbol printed on their cards will help
Proxima, even if they say 0.
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
Punisher
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
Marvel Knights
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
0
0
3
0
5/5/1
TYPE
Recruit
COST
3
Effect Only/
2/5/8
Damage/Damage
Punisher likes to interrogate things: He looks at the top of
different decks, and uses that information to work off with.
Boom Goes the Dynamite checks your deck, and KOs the
top card if it costs Zero (is a SHIELD or Wound), and if youve
used a Technology hero this turn, you draw 1. Hail of
Bullets does 2 damage, and checks the Villain deck, getting
more power according to that cards Victory points. If youve
used 2 Tech heroes, you get to defeat it for free. Hostile
Interrogation has 2 recruit, and if youve played another
Green hero this turn, it checks everyone elses deck, gaining
Rocket Raccoon
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility
Guardians of the Galaxy
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
RED
3
Artifact
4
YELLOW
0
GREEN
5
Damage
4
BLUE
5/1
Recruit/Damage
3/7
BLACK
Rocket certainly is in this game.
Trigger Happy deals 2 damage, and gains one Shard for
each other Guardian played in this turn. Gritty Scavenger
gives 2 Recruit, and has a Discard/Draw effect. Incoming
Detector is Rockets Artifact- it gains a Shard whenever an
Ambush or a Master Strike is completed. Vengeance is
Rocket starts at 5 damage, and gets +1 for each Master
Strike that has come out of the Villain deck.
Final Verdict: Unfortunately, Rocket is not good, is what I
want to say. Hes very disjointed, with no common theme to
his cards at all. Trigger Happy is passable as a scaling
damage card, but it also fails in that many of the good
Guardians cards are Artifacts and therefore cant trigger this
effect. Gritty Scavenger is not awful, per-se, but it is
Rogue
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Team Player
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
5/3
0
5/1
0
0
TYPE
COST
Recruit/Effect Only
3/5
Damage/Damage
4/8
Effect Only/
Damage/Damage
Rogue is one of the best characters in the game, being able
to do whatever the hell you want, as long as she has some
backup.
Energy Drain costs 3, gives you 3 recruit, and if you play it
after another Red card, you can KO 1 from your hand or
discard pile for another recruit. Borrowed Brawn does 1
damage, and when played after a Green card, and extra 3
damage. Copy Powers becomes a copy of any other card
that youve played this turn, for 5 cost. Steal Abilities
makes each player discard the top card of their deck, and
counts as a copy of each of those cards.
Final Verdict: Everything Rogue has, aside from Borrowed
Brawn, is a good card, and even that is decent. Energy
Drain makes for excellent deck thinning, which Red tends
not to have. Copy Powers is great, allowing for any number
of combos, or to re-use any awesome card youve already
used, or even just to get off any cards use this after youve
played X effects. Steal Abilities is definitely one of the top
cards in the game, because it is anywhere from 2 cards to 6
at once, and the unpredictability of it can be spectacular.
GOOD COMBOS: As always, X-Men works with X-men,
particularly Nightcrawler and Gambit. Energy Drain works
well with any Red decks, and Black Widow can combo with it
to thin the deck spectacularly. Copy Powers combos with
anything and everything, as does Steal Abilities.
Scarlet Spider
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
3
Damage
6
5
Damage
4
5/1
Recruit/Damage
2/7
0
0
The Scarlet Spider has the highest amount of Wall Crawl
cards of any hero, and happily revolves around making use
of that.
With the exception of Sting of the Spider all of these cards
have Wall Crawl. Flip Out gives 1 recruit and lets you draw
a card if you use it after another Spider-Friend. Perfect
Hunter gives 1 damage and draws a card. Leap From
Above gives 3 damage and an extra 2 if played after a
Yellow hero. Sting of the Spider is the only card here
without Wall Crawl, giving 5 damage and it lets you draw any
cards that are placed on top of the deck in this turn.
Final Verdict: The Scarlet Spider is a really good hero for
helping other decks. Flip Out is really useful for its cost,
and obviously is even better if there are more Spider-Friends
in the deck. Perfect Hunter wishes it had more damage
output for its cost, but drawing more cards is never a bad
thing. Leap From Above is a kinda generically good card for
its position, and is one case where Wall Crawl hasnt jacked
the price up needlessly. Sting of the Spider is quite good.
The damage output is good for the 7 cost, and it makes all of
the Scarlet Spider cards much better.
GOOD COMBOS: Scarlet Spider works very nicely with
Spider-Man-centric decks. Flip Out can draw those cards
that the other Spider-Men cant because they cost too much,
and Sting of the Spider works great for Wall Crawlers.
Daredevils Backflip can create great synergy with Scarlet
Spider and cards like Gambits Stack the Deck will create
good combos with Sting
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
Silver Surfer
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Utility/Team Player
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
5
0
5
3/1
TYPE
COST
Recruit, Focus
Recruit, Focus
Recruit, Focus/ Effect
4
6/7
Only
COMMENTS
0
BLACK
Surfer revolves around building up recruit points and then
using focus effects to bring down the damage onto the
villains.
Warp Speed gives 2 recruit, and has Focus 2- Draw a card.
Epic Destiny also has 2 recruit, and can Focus 6 to defeat a
villain of 5 or 6 power. The Power Cosmic" grants 3 recruit,
and can Focus 9 to gain 9 attack power, and Energy Surge
simply doubles the amount of recruit power you have.
Final Verdict: Surfer is decent as a supporter to certain kinds
of deck. Warp Speed is an awesome card, as its a
recruiting card that doesnt become cumbersome later in the
game, while The Power Cosmic makes every recruit only
card useful in the late game for something other than
fattening the deck. Energy Surge is a pretty good card
when youre running Focus as a main strategy- otherwise it
just gives you extra recruit at a point in the game where you
probably dont need it. Epic Destiny is the less-good card
here, being the most limited in its application. Often, you
find yourself wishing it could work on things that were less
than 5 or more than 6, which it cant.
GOOD COMBOS: Obviously, anything that uses Focus will like
to see Surfer. Any hero that has excessive amounts of
recruiting power will also like The Power Cosmic. Use it
with Nick Fury and youll be able to make some use of those
SHIELD Officers that youre getting.
Spider-Man
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick/Team Player
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
COST
1
Effect Only
2
5
Damage
2
5
Recruit
2
0
3
Effect Only
2
Spidey can be tricky to use properly, depending on which
heroes are available, though he always makes a great earlygame card.
All of Spideys cards have the ability to reveal the top card of
the deck, and then draw it if it costs 2 or less. Great
Responsibility gives 1 damage, Astonishing Strength
(ironically) gives 1 recruit. Web Shooters rescues a
Bystander, and The Amazing Spider-Man reveals the top 3
cards instead of the top 1.
Final Verdict: Each expansion it gets easier to build a SpiderMan deck, and with the release of Paint the Town Red it just
became super good. In a deck with other Spider-Friends,
Spider-Man can create incredible combos with an engine
revolving around cards costing 2 or less. Outside of this
engine, Spidey makes a good early-game hero but will start
to be less useful in the later game. I would normally go into
the strengths and weaknesses of each card, but since
theyre all really the same card I feel like this blanket
description fits the bill.
GOOD COMBOS: As stated above, using the Spider-Friends
will let you build a deck focusing on 2-or-less-cost heroes to
make really good combos, so your best combos are with
Symbiote Spider-Man (who basically only exists to flesh-out
the Spidey deck) and Scarlet Spider, who helps to draw the
high-cost cards that normal Spidey cant. The other good
way to effectively use Spidey is as a team card with anyone
who has cards cost 2 or less. Black Widows Mission
Accomplished is one of them, and it goes particularly well
with Web Shooters. Gambits Stack the Deck can be
really useful if you need more draws. Bishop has Whatever
the Cost, which also draws 1, but is otherwise mediocre.
Dominos Lucky Break can be useful if you have more than
1, because of that Versatility. Colossuss Draw Their Fire
gives the deck much needed attacking power, and the
wound gained with it counts as cost 2-or-less, so Spidey can
still draw it. Punishers Boom Goes the Dynamite is OK for
eliminating the recruiters you dont need. Peters best
combos though are with Elektras commons, and one copy of
Sai Blades.
Spider-Woman
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Utility/Solo/Team Player
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
1
RED
0
YELLOW
5
GREEN
5/3
BLUE
0
BLACK
TYPE
COST
Effect
Recruit
Damage/Damage
2
4/6
Star-Lord
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Team Player
Guardians of the Galaxy
COLOUR
5
RED
0
YELLOW
0
GREEN
5/1
BLUE
3
BLACK
TYPE
COST
Recruit
Artifact/ Artifact
Artifact
4/8
6
Who?
OK as you can tell from that breakdown up there, Mr Quill
works almost exclusively with Artifacts.
The Legendary Outlaw gets 2 Recruit and (possibly my
favourite thing in GotG) copies the power of an Artifact
currently on the table, and is itself the only non-Artifact in
Star-Lords deck. Element Guns gains a Shard once per
turn. Implanted Memory Chip Draws one card, once per
turn. Sentient Starship gets you one Shard for every
Artifact that you control- also Once Per Turn.
Storm
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick
X-Men
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
TYPE
COST
Damage
Damage/Recruit/Damag
e
4/3/7
0
Storm has a gimmick where she likes fighting things on the
rooftops or on the bridge.
Lightning Bolt hits for 2, and weakens anything on the
rooftops by 2. Gathering Stormclouds is 2 recruit, and you
can draw a card if played after another Blue card. Spinning
Cyclone hits for 4, and lets you move any villain to any
other place on the board, rescuing any bystanders that it
had. Tidal Wave hits for 5, weakens anything on the bridge
by 2, and if played after another Blue card, weakens the
Mastermind by 2.
Final Verdict: Storm is insufferably mediocre. Lightning Bolt
is OK, but only if anything is on the rooftops. Gathering
Stormclouds is outclassed by Emma Frosts Mental
Discipline, which gives 1 less recruit but doesnt need to be
part of a combo to draw cards. Spinning Cyclone is ONLY
good if you are Storm, or Blade (but you should never, ever
be Blade), though it may be slightly better when the
Burrow ability comes out in the FF expansion. Tidal Wave
is also only just OK.
BLACK
COMMENTS
3
0
0
5/5/1
Team Player
Illuminati
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
0
0
3
Recruit
3
5/1
Damage/Damage
2/8
5(BLU/Y
Damage
5
EL)
I feel like it would be more accurate to call him Iron Man +,
because hes not really superior as much as he synergises
well with the Original.
Optimised Technology is 2 Damage and draws a card.
Armour Upgrades starts with 1 Attack and on a Tech
trigger deals a further 2 damage. Superior to Others starts
with 2 Recruit, and with a Blue trigger has a nifty Deck
Manipulation. #humblebrag starts with 5 Attack, draws a
card for each player with less cards in their Vic Pile than you,
and has one of the best names in the whole game.
Final Verdict: Well like I said, this Iron Man really
complements the one from the Base Set. It draws cards and
creates triggers for the other. I would have liked Optimised
Technology to be cheaper, but oh well. Generally speaking,
this Iron Man is good if you are a player that works well with
the concept of more- drawing more, KOing more, Fighting
more. If you cant do that, or it isnt your playstyle, dont use
Superior Iron Man.
GOOD COMBOS: Iron Man, duh. Other heroes that have a
strong leaning to Blue and Black cards will work here.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
MULTICL
ASS
COMMENTS
Symbiote Spider-Man
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Gimmick/Team-Player
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
3
5
5
1
0
TYPE
Damage
Effect Only
Damage
Damage
COST
2
2
2
2
COMMENTS
Thanos
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Gimmick/Solo
Cabal
COLOUR
TYPE
0
RED
0
YELLOW
5
Damage
GREEN
3/1
Damage/Effect Only
BLUE
0
BLACK
5(GRE/BL Recruit
MULTICL
U)
ASS
COST
5
6/8
3
Bystanders from the stack, and then defeats any Villain with
less power than the number of dead Bystanders.
Final Verdict: Thanoss Gimmick is amusing and strong. His
theme is very concise and works. His Rare automatically
gives a +2 to Revel, and Overlord has Teleport so you
can save it for when you actually have Bystanders to KO.
Galactic Domination is the one to avoid here- its
expensive and situational and needs more from other
players than you can be sure of.
GOOD COMBOS: You might think that youd want some of the
characters that can gain you Bystanders- but they really only
make Revel a little bit faster. Venom from Villains also
seems like a fit, but he really needs you to have Bystanders,
rather than for them to just be dead. Know who has a decent
card for putting Bystanders on the board for you to take
advantage of? Deadpool, with Here, Hold This for a
Second. These two will work together quite nicely.
Thing
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
Fantastic Four
COLOUR
0
RED
5
YELLOW
5/6/8
GREEN
Recruit
Recruit/Damage/Damag
e
COST
3
5/6/8
0
0
Aunt Petunias favourite nephew is great for clobbering
villains, but unlike most of the primarily Green heroes Ben
Grimm is good at recruiting things too.
It Started on Yancy Street gives 2 recruit and an extra 2 if
played after another F4 card. Knuckle Sandwich gives 3
recruit and can Focus 3 to get 2 damage. Crime Stopper
gives 4 damage, and if you defeat a villain in the bank you
rescue a bystander. Even better, you can Focus 1 to move a
villain to an adjacent space, swapping them if there is
another villain there. And of course, Its Clobberin Time!
so you get 5 damage, and when played after a Green hero it
does another 3 for each Green hero played this turn.
Final Verdict: Thing is one of the most balanced heroes in the
game. IHoYS is run-of-the-mill, but that doesnt stop it from
being useful, especially in this deck with the Focus effects.
Knuckle Sandwich is a decent card at any point in the
game, and the 5 cost is certainly justified. Crime Stopper is
one of the best beat up something in a specific space
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
Thor
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
Avengers
COLOUR
COST
0
0
5
Recruit
3
5/3/1
Recruit/Damage/Recruit
0
Thor has a nifty trick where he makes damage by generating
recruit, and he needs very little to be effective.
Odinson gives 2 recruit, plus 2 if played after another
Green. Surge of Power gives 2 recruit, and if youve made
8 recruit in this turn, you get 3 damage. Call Lightning hits
for 3, and gets another 3 if played after a Blue. God of
Thunder gives 5 recruit, with the added bonus of letting you
turn recruit into damage.
Final Verdict: Thor doesnt have to try very hard to be good.
Call Lightning is Thors worst card, since the cost really
isnt worth it if you dont have lots of Blue already. Odinson
can also be pretty weak, however it works towards Thors
main ability and works as a great utility in a Green deck.
Surge of Power becomes an excellent card in games where
you have loads of recruit or if youre playing a straight Thor
deck, and God of Thunder makes an excellent late-game
kill card, taking all of your useless recruit and making it do
damage.
GOOD COMBOS: Thor appreciates Blue cards that draw and
give recruit, so Emma Frosts Mental Discipline goes well.
Likewise, Icemans Deep Freeze. Odinson goes well with
any Greens, since they tend to lack recruiters. As Thors
Surge of Power is a forerunner of the Focus effect, he also
works thematically with other Focussers. Theres also
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
BLACK
COMMENTS
TYPE
another Thor now that does almost the same thing as this
one, so obviously they work too.
Ultimate Spider-Man
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Gimmick/Team Player
Spider-Friends
COLOUR
1
RED
0
YELLOW
5
GREEN
0
BLUE
3
BLACK
5(GRE/Y
MULTICL
EL)
ASS
TYPE
COST
Damage
Damage
Damage
Effect Only
2
2
Wolverine (X-Force)
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
Solo/Team Player
X-Force
COLOUR
5/1
RED
5
YELLOW
3
GREEN
0
BLUE
TYPE
Damage/Damage
Effect Only
Effect Only
COST
4/7
2
4
0
This Wolverine is a bit better than the other Wolverine in
most regards, and both focus on drawing cards.
Sudden Ambush hits for 2, and if you drew any extra cards
this turn you do 2 extra damage. Animal Instincts draws 1,
and if played after another Yellow card, does 2 damage. No
Mercy draws 1, and then lets you KO a card in your hand or
discards. Reckless Abandon hits for 3, and then doubles
the amount of extra cards you drew this turn.
Final Verdict: with a little bit of recruiting support, this
Wolverine goes pretty damn well. Animal Instincts is a
cheap Draw card, with possible damage, which is good.
Sudden Ambush will almost always be pumping out 4
damage, which is great for its cost. No Mercy is a great
deck thinner, drawing one and getting rid of unwanted cards.
It is dangerous in the early game though, since Wolvie needs
some recruiting power to get started. Reckless Abandon is
just plain Broken. Oh hey, I see youve drawn 8 cards. Well,
now its 16. Enjoy .
GOOD COMBOS: Obviously, anything that draws cards is
great. Throw a copy of Cables Rapid Response Force in
there, and youre gonna be killing things. The other
Wolverine always draws cards and is a bit cheaper, so they
complement one-another. Silver Surfer can add some
recruiting power to the deck, and Warp Speed adds even
more draw power.
BLACK
COMMENTS
Wolverine (X-Men)
PURPOSE
FACTION
BREAKDOWN
COMMENTS
Team Player
X-Men
COLOUR
TYPE
COST
0
RED
5/5/3/1 All Damage
2/3/5/8
YELLOW
0
GREEN
0
BLUE
0
BLACK
Hes the best there is at what he does, except hes not really.
This Wolverine is decent, buy only if he has other Yellow
heroes to help him.
Keen Senses does 1 damage, and draws a card if played
after a Yellow. Healing Factor can KO a wound in your hand
or discards to draw a card, and also does 2 damage.
Frenzied Slashing is just Keen Senses with a 2 in place of
both of the 1s, and Berserker Rage draws 3, and if played
after a Yellow it does 1 damage for each extra card youve
drawn this turn.