Hello, Marvel Champions: The Card Game players. This heroic card game has only been out for a few years, and yet players all over the world have built, rebuilt, and tweaked an ever-expanding variety of decks. Today, we’d like to showcase some of those decks for you!

We asked some wonderful members of the Marvel Champions: The Card Game community to share their favorite decks with us and tell us why they’re so great. You can find links to their full deck lists within their respective sections below, as well as their thoughts about the decks’ playstyles, strengths and weaknesses, and more.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look!

Black Cat Helps Spider-Menace Pay His Rent!

Deck List: Black Cat Helps Spider-Menace Pay His Rent!

Created By: Dan Roettgen, AKA KennedyHawk

Tell us about your deck’s general playstyle. Why is it your favorite deck? What are some of the best things you can pull off with it? Any standout combos?

Greetings! This Spider-Man deck is one of my favorites. It thrives off of extra activations from sets like Standard 2 (included in The Hood Scenario Pack) or heroic mode! If you are struggling with the villain performing double attacks, then try this out. Spider-Man’s signature ally, Black Cat, is often used because of her lack of consequential damage. This deck uses her for her Forced Response:

“After you play Black Cat, discard the top 2 cards of your deck. Add each card with a printed [mental] resource discarded this way to your hand.”

You stuff your deck with all sorts of Leadership goodies with mental printed resources, like Maria Hill, Nick Fury, and most of all Regroup (included in the Drax Hero Pack). Regroup returns any ally defeated due to an enemy attack this round to your hand. So, using slick defends with Black Cat, Nick Fury, and Maria, you can end up drawing a ton of cards every round and spamming allies for the whole table to use as blockers. You may notice in this deck that only 3 cards outside of Spider-Man’s kit do NOT have a printed mental resource. This is to optimize your chance of drawing cards with Black Cat.

What inspired the creation of this deck? What made you want to build it this way?

You can blame one of the game’s former designers, Michael Boggs. He announced in a release article about heroic mode that he wanted to see someone take down Klaw Heroic 3 with the Doomsday Chair modular set. This deck did it! If you don’t know, in heroic mode you deal each player an extra card each round. So, in Heroic 3 you deal each player 3 extra cards! This means Klaw can often overwhelm you by round 1. Well, with this deck you are spitting out so many allies you can eventually overcome Klaw (with a bit of luck).

What are some of the particular strengths of your deck? What are some of its weaknesses?

I mentioned earlier how this deck thrives off of extra activations. That is because Spider-Man’s hero ability, Spider-Sense, says:

“When the villain initiates an attack against you, draw 1 card.”

Because of this you’ll be drawing extra cards each time the villain attacks you and bouncing allies back to your hand with regroup. You often begin your turn with 10+ cards in hand if you can luck into an Assault or Stampede! That being said, this deck is weak to non-attack ally damage. Cards like Concussive Blast can send your allies to your discard pile prematurely.

What is your favorite scenario to play with this deck and why? What about your favorite campaign to use it in?

I would encourage players struggling with The Galaxy’s Most Wanted to give this deck a try. It has lots of boons to help you out. Regroup circumvents sending allies to the collection during Infiltrate the Museum, and you should have enough blockers to take down even Ronan! My favorite setup right now is to play against Klaw with Experimental Weapons and Weapon Master on Expert.

If a newer player wanted to give your deck a try, what advice or recommendations would you give them?

The deck isn’t too tricky. The one key is to not block with your allies until you have a Regroup on the board. Then block to your heart’s content. Remember, Spider-Sense only triggers when the villain initiates an attack against you, so blocking for other players won’t draw you a card. Knowing that, it still doesn’t hurt to bounce Maria or Black Cat back to your hand to replay next turn. It turns into free money! The kind Peter Parker needs…

Do you have a story or memory about this deck that you could share with us?

My most memorable moment was taking this up against Heroic 3 Klaw but I already mentioned that. So—come on Michael—give us a real challenge next time!

We also used this in our Galaxy’s Most Wanted campaign against expert Ronan. It was a blast to see my friends never have to defend (although the lack of defending sort of went over the Drax player’s head)!

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your deck?

Not about this deck but deck building in general. Each time you get a new pack, check out your favorite heroes from previous waves and see how the new aspect cards enhance them. Regroup is a strong card but it takes Spider-Man Leadership in a whole new direction, all because of the mental resource type. If something with energy perks your interest, how does it play with Captain Marvel? Or if there is a crazy new event maybe it will make Ms. Marvel even more fun! Enjoy your collection fully!

Gamora “Out of this World”

Deck List: Gamora "Out of this World

Created By: Michael the “WanderingTook”

Tell us about your deck’s general playstyle. Why is it your favorite deck? What are some of the best things you can pull off with it? Any standout combos?

I designed this deck to get as much use out of Gamora’s hero abilities (Precision and Finesse) as possible. Each strike cuts exactly where you want it, letting you and your teammates play with maximum efficiency. Pull out an Acrobatic Move to take down a minion, then follow-up with Gamora’s Sword to clear a tough status card. Then trigger Finesse to whittle down a scheme for a precisely-timed Clear the Area, letting you draw a card and trigger a Precision strike for even more damage. I love this deck because it is so precise. There is no wasted damage, and no excess thwart. It is brutally efficient and feels like I’m playing as Gamora.

The Protection aspect doubles down on her strengths. Cards like Energy Barrier and Momentum Shift help her stay in hero form for longer, which lets her trigger her innate abilities more often. First Hit and Counter-punch let her trigger Finesse in the Villain phase, and also activate her Sword for additional damage. In a pinch, you can bunker down with some Expert Defense and ready back up with Indomitable. She’s called the “Deadliest Woman in the Whole Galaxy” for a reason!

What inspired the creation of this deck? What made you want to build it this way?

I’m a Protection player at heart. When a hero is released, I immediately look for ways to exploit their “once per phase” abilities in the Villain phase. Gamora is a perfect fit for my playstyle. I was also exploring different ways to use the Protection aspect. This build emphasizes its counterattack style as well as damage mitigation capabilities.

What are some of the particular strengths of your deck? What are some of its weaknesses?

This deck’s biggest strength is its ability to do anything. It does damage, it clears threat, it keeps Gamora alive, and it does it all consistently. Gamora’s 2-2-2 statline makes her really versatile, allowing you to cover whatever you need done in a round. Naturally, the “jack of all trades” build makes her perfect for solo play. It also slots nicely into multiplayer games because you can use Finesse and Precision to set up your teammates for maximum effectiveness.

This deck has a couple of weaknesses that you need to be wary of. First, it only has two allies, which means you will be tanking a lot of hits. You’ll need to play it safe and make judicious use of your Protection cards to keep yourself in the game. Second, the only big damage cards are the two copies of Decisive Blow. This works for most games, but can be problematic when playing solo against modular sets that have a lot of beefy minions.

What is your favorite scenario to play with this deck and why? What about your favorite campaign to use it in?

I built this deck for The Galaxy’s Most Wanted, and it’s still my favorite campaign to use it in. You are pressured from all sides, which means there will always be a target for Gamora’s innate abilities. Astute readers will also notice that I added Piercing Strike, which is an efficient way to cut through a tough status card and steal the Power Stone. There are also a lot of low-health minions, and nothing makes you feel like you’re playing Gamora like cutting your way through a swath of Badoon! I highly recommend playing this deck against Drang.

If a newer player wanted to give your deck a try, what advice or recommendations would you give them?

This deck is great for new players, because it can do a little bit of everything. I recommend playing against some low-health minions in order to get a feel for how to best utilize Finesse and Precision. Drang and Mutagen Formula are good scenarios to start with. Since Gamora lives or dies by the events she can play, mulligan for Keen Instincts, and try to get her sword out as soon as possible. Once you have a feel for the deck, play with some friends and look for clever ways to maximize their strikes.

Do you have a story or memory about this deck that you could share with us?

My favorite play combined a fun bit of defense with some incredible teamwork. I played a Crosscounter to cancel the damage from a villain attack, which spread 3 damage around the board (from the card itself, Precision, and Gamora’s Sword). I then played a First Hit to tag a minion before it attacked, triggering Gamora’s Sword again and rebounding off an Energy Barrier. I could have placed the damage to kill the minion outright, but instead I spread that 7 total damage around the board to bring every minion down to 1 health. When the hero phase began, my teammate (who was playing Rocket Raccoon) cleaned up the board and triggered his overkill abilities on every single minion in play.

Ms. Marvel Draw Cards

Deck List: Ms. Marvel Draw Cards

Created By: Gonzalo “Owen” López

Tell us about your deck’s general playstyle. Why is it your favorite deck? What are some of the best things you can pull off with it? Any standout combos?

This is a deck focused on preparing and playing a lot of upgrades and supports in order to make your deck have as few cards in it as possible. Then, you draw lots of cards, which means each turn you are able to do many great things over and over. It is a slow deck that needs to be cooked over low heat to enjoy later. It is one of my favorite decks because you can easily have up to 11 cards in your hand, sometimes even more, and in games like Marvel Champions you win by drawing cards.

Combos like "One Way or Another" + "Skilled Investigator" + "For Justice" with other cards already in play like "Bruno Carrelli" + "Avengers Mansion" + "Aamir Khan" can give you some really fun hands.

What inspired the creation of this deck? What made you want to build it this way?

Ms. Marvel is a character who has a lot of supports, so, why not give her more? Everybody plays her with a lot of events, so when I thought of how to play with her, I wanted to do something fun and different. I know this is not the best way to play her and it´s not the most powerful deck, but it works really fine for me.

What are some of the particular strengths of your deck? What are some of its weaknesses?

As I said before, the strength of this deck comes from how many cards you can draw, but it is not easy; you have to control the scheme and prepare the game slowly before doing great things in the endgame, and sometimes this is not possible, especially in true solo, where you have to do everything yourself. But if you play this deck in a multiplayer game, you´ll have lots of fun for sure.

What is your favorite scenario to play with this deck and why? What about your favorite campaign to use it in?

At this moment I have to say Thanos, because it´s a tough scenario and I can beat it without suffering too much, and this makes me proud of the deck.

My favorite campaign to use it for is The Mad Titan´s Shadow, mainly because I love that campaign.

If a newer player wanted to give your deck a try, what advice or recommendations would you give them?

Do not rush, this is a deck to take time playing and preparing the game. Have you played 4 turns and still haven't attacked the villain? Don´t worry, you can probably beat it in 2 good turns once you have all the supports and upgrades in play.

Do you have a story or memory about this deck that you could share with us?

I remember using this deck in the Kang scenario while playing with a friend. As we played, my friend told me: “You´re not doing much.” But once I was prepared, we went from Kang I to winning the game in only 4 rounds, beating Kang II and III in 3 rounds and doing a ton of damage to him.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your deck?

Give it a try, play it relaxed, and enjoy. That´s all.

Onward to Victory

These three decks are only a tiny taste of the possibilities that Marvel Champions: The Card Game has to offer. Whether you try out one of the decks shared here today or take a stab at building your own, there can be no denying the endless wealth of gameplay just waiting to be discovered!