Fantasy Flight Games

It's All About the Flavor

Published 21 May 2020 | Marvel Champions: The Card Game

It's All About the Flavor

Thematic Deckbuilding in Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Whether you’re a veteran Marvel Champions deckbuilder, or you just play the pre-built decks, there’s something to be said for a truly thematic deck. With the cards already released for Marvel Champions: The Card Game, you can build some wonderfully evocative decks, calling up your favorite moments from across the Marvel universe. Today, guest writer Blake Powell shares some of his thoughts on how you can make your games of Marvel Champions even more thematic!

Blake Powell on Moving Beyond Your Pre-Built Deck

This is my first time writing about Marvel Champions: The Card Game, and I am pumped! This game has been my savior during this time of isolation, as it provides one of the few ways I can disconnect from technology and play a tabletop game solo. As much as entertainment from a screen is great, having something hands-on that doesn’t use technology is a nice change of pace.

For this article I wanted to focus on an idea that should interest seasoned players as well as casual players who just like playing the pre-built decks in Hero Packs, quite possibly because deck building just isn’t your thing. With that in mind, I thought an interesting way to go about building decks is to think about them in a thematic way according to the hero—or even the lore behind a hero, which is especially fun for those who are fans of the Marvel universe.

One thing to note, I’ve made the assumption that your card pool contains all packs that have been released up to the Thor Hero Pack. If you are missing some of the cards that are mentioned, just see if you can find a substitute that has a similar concept, i.e. doing damage or thwarting!

Building a Theme

I actually wanted to kick things off with a villain scenario idea! Anyone who has played the game long enough knows that Rhino (Core Set, 94) is the true intro villain. That being said, I think the thematic flavor possibilities with Rhino are amazing! In The Green Goblin Scenario Pack, we were graced with a card pool to create a pseudo-Sinister Six encounter deck by adding in the Electro modular set (Power Drain), the Tombstone modular set (Running Interference), and the Scorpion modular set (A Mess of Things).

These plus the Standard modular set make for some fun thematic flavor, and that goes double if you choose Spider-Man as your hero. You could also add in Goblin Gimmicks if you want to make it wacky—I think that may dilute the encounter deck a little too much, but it’s still a fun possibility. I personally really enjoy playing around with the different modular decks and trying to create a great thematic/challenging encounter deck.

Another way to add some thematic flavor to your Marvel Champions experience is to use hero combinations that tie into one another in the Marvel universe. There are loads of possibilities here depending on the number of players, but even solo, you can play two-handed and utilize two heroes thematically this way. In fact, playing a two-handed solo game is always a great option when tackling certain villains, as sometimes it really helps to have the diversity of two aspects to truly thwart and defeat that particular villain. This also lets you test two deckbuilds at the same time and shows you how a deck plays in a multi-hero environment instead of just a solo scenario. You could even go one step further and use the lore of the Marvel universe to put together matchups between heroes and villains that have a history of facing off. For example, Iron Man vs. Ultron or Black Panther vs. Klaw.

Mixing Up Your Hero Deck

Now, if you are looking to build some decks with thematic flavor, there are a few ways that you can usually go about it. The first is through the actual Marvel universe, taking characters that interact with one another and putting them together. This mainly uses a hero with various allies that have interactions within the Marvel universe and builds a deck around the connection. Another primary way to assemble a thematic deck is by combining traits on the cards, which will bring more support cards into the mix with those allies. Lastly, and this can be a really fun one, is to look at the card art, and use as many cards as possible that have art depicting your hero or allies. This is a great way to pull out cards you may not always use, but since it has that flavor of your hero or allies, you’ll include it and try to make it work in your deck. You’d be surprised at how forcing yourself to include a card may open up potential new combos you hadn’t considered before!

Now getting into the specifics of a thematic deck. The easiest one to create at this point in the game is an Avengers themed deck. The Avenger trait is almost a universal theme with pretty much all of the heroes, so you can choose which hero you wish to try for this Leadership aspect deck. The only caveat for this build is that you must have the Captain America Hero Pack, as most of the Avengers-themed cards are within this expansion. Plus, Captain America (Captain America, 1A) makes a great hero for the Avengers theme, since he’s prominently considered “the first” Avenger.

Looking at this deck for the most part, it’s pretty consistent and uses any card that has something to do with the Avengers trait or can synergize with a deck built around allies, which is what the deck is all about. Consider this build more of reference point to start from, especially if you don’t like building decks, then swap in cards that you enjoy to play or have a thematic flavor you would enjoy.

For those of you who aren’t into deckbuilding as much and have been playing Marvel Champions right out of the box with the pre-constructed decks, this next section is for you. Although this deck does still have that flavor crossover through the card art, that isn’t the main goal of these builds. The idea is to expand what you might have already been playing and take it to another level. What I’ve done is to take some of those original pre-built decks and tweak the builds—mainly by adding extra copies of a card that’s already in the deck in exchange for thinning out the basic cards, which typically only have a single card included for these Core Set pre-built decks.

First up is Captain Marvel (Core Set, 10A)! This deck has the Aggression aspect, and with these adjustments, you’re really turning the aggression up to eleven here! A big swap in this build is removing Hulk (Core Set, 50) in favor of Valkyrie (Thor, 12) Hulk may be fun as a character, but if you don’t have the right resource distribution, he can really burn you, so Hulk is out for this. Another notable exclusion is Relentless Assault (Core Set, 53). I was testing against the Rhino deck that I described above, and that encounter deck is quite light on minions, so Relentless Assault holds less value and was replaced by Melee (Ms. Marvel, 30). If you’re playing against a minion-centric encounter deck like Ultron or Green Goblin, swap Relentless Assault back in, as you will see a lot more value from that card in those situations.

There is also an upgrade here that is very specific to Captain Marvel, and that is Enhanced Reflexes (Ms. Marvel, 24). This provides a repeatable Energy resource, which is very beneficial for Captain Marvel. If you wanted to try out this Aggression aspect with another hero that utilizes a different specific resource, you can swap in one of the other Enhanced upgrades as a substitute. You would be surprised how well an aspect deck can swap into another hero with minimal changes, especially the Justice and Aggression aspects, which are both highlighted here.

Next up, we have Spider-Man (Core Set, 1A)! With the Justice aspect, this deck is very well rounded for solo play. In fact, that’s the great thing in general about the Justice aspect—it caters really well to solo play, especially if your hero has cards that can do a lot of direct damage to the villain, as the Justice aspect focuses on thwarting. This deck has quite a significant tweak from the Core Set pre-built deck, with a lot more combo potential and some amazing card art flavor! The Physical resource is a big part of some of the combos, so it’s the most printed resource in the deck. Tenacity (Core Set, 93) and Concussive Blow (Ms. Marvel, 31) use this resource, and both can be clutch in a game.

One really fun combo is using Invulnerability (Thor, 21) to give Spider-Man a Tough status card, then playing Great Responsibility (Core Set, 61) to prevent the threat from being placed on a scheme as well as the damage. Under Surveillance (Thor, 31) is also an auto-include for any Justice build! This card will always buy you some time and is a crucial card in my opinion. There is also one card that can be swapped into the deck based on the scenario you’re playing, and that is Followed (Captain America, 32). This is a situational card to me, similar to Relentless Assault in the Captain Marvel deck, so add this at your discretion, or just to experiment with how useful you find it!

Let the Building Begin

That pretty much wraps up this article. Hopefully, the thematic aspect is something you will look into and enjoy—even if you’re not a fan of deck building, this should give you some options to expand those original pre-built decks. One rule I find to be quite true with most card games, you’ll want to play a deck a few times to really get a feel for how it plays and to discover the potential card combos, so make sure you jam a few games to really get to know the deck. Until next time, EXCELSIOR!

Blake Powell, or blvdPAPERFIGHT, is an avid Marvel Champions player. He uses the game as a way to disconnect from technology, and usually is playing solo as a way to wind down and enjoy some great Marvel flavor in an LCG format. Look for more content from Blake on his YouTube channel and on social media @blvdPAPERFIGHT.

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Available Now – February 7

Published 7 February 2020 | KeyForge

Available Now – February 7

New Card Game Products Are Now Available from Fantasy Flight Games

Take a look at the latest products from Fantasy Flight Games, now available at your local retailer!

Clan War

Since the launch of Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game, the Great Clans of Rokugan have been teetering on a precarious ledge. Now, in one night, that ledge has given way. New alliances have been formed, old rivalries have been ignited, and the Great Clans of Rokugan are prepared for all-out war.

Declare your allegiance with Clan War, a new Premium Expansion for Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game!

This premium expansion, like Children of the Empire before it, that contains a total of 234 new cards. While Children of the Empire focused on an Imperial theme, Clan War instead introduces two ways to bring multiplayer to Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game.

The Enlightenment format sees three players racing to claim all five elemental rings, while Team Conquest allows players to join up into two teams to break each other’s’ strongholds. When the clans clash in open war, none can be victorious alone! Not only does the expansion include the rules for how to play these formats, but most cards in the set synergize with multiplayer play, and a treaty pad and cards included in the expansion allow you to form and break alliances.

Pick up your copy of Clan War (L5C28) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

The Wrecking Crew

Since the four members of the Wrecking Crew decided to join forces, they’ve been a thorn in the side of every great Marvel hero from Thor to the Defenders. Not just common thugs, the Wrecking Crew’s greatest asset stems from the magic imbued in team leader Wrecker’s Crowbar, granting each member immense physical strength and a mystical link between them.

Now, the four members of The Wrecking Crew are breaking out of prison, and only you can stop them with The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack for Marvel Champions: The Card Game!

With 73 brand-new cards, this single scenario puts four villains in play at once, each with their own side scheme and deck. Can your heroes withstand the pure power of Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer, and Thunderball?

Pick up your copy of The Wrecking Crew (MC03en) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Point of No Return

Descend into the dreaded Underworld of the Dreamlands in Point of No Return, the fourth Mythos Pack in The Dream-Eaters cycle for Arkham Horror: The Card Game! After forcing your way through the veil that divides the world of the waking from that of sleep, you must navigate the cavernous Underworld, encountering ghouls and gugs, in the hopes of finding your way to the world above and reuniting with the rest of your team.

Following the events of A Thousand Shapes of Horror, you have finally reached the Dreamlands, but it is not as you expected. No wondrous lands or fabulous cities greet you; merely the dark, barren realm of the Underworld. Perhaps those who brought stories of the Dreamlands to Arkham had never ventured this far underground, or perhaps this place can only be found by those who force their way in. Either way, you are now hopelessly alone in a realm you have never heard of, and the only way out is through.

Pick up your copy of Point of No Return (AHC42) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Challenge of the Wainriders

Continue your adventures across Rhûn in Challenge of the Wainriders, the third Adventure Pack in the Vengeance of Mordor cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

As your journey takes you ever closer to Mordor, you are suddenly beset by a band of Easterling Wainriders. Now at their mercy, you have no choice but to accept a challenge unlike anything you have experienced in your adventures across Middle-earth: a chariot race that will determine your fate!

Can you best the Wainrider Champion and earn your freedom? Only the greatest of Middle-earth's heroes will have a chance to achieve victory.

Within this 60-card pack, you’ll find plenty of player cards to help you rise to this challenge, including the white wizard Saruman’s first appearance as a hero in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and a new contract that completely reshapes how you build your decks.

Pick up your copy of Challenge of the Wainriders (MEC80) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Berserker Slam Playmat

Field your cosmic clashes on the Crucible in style with the Berserker Slam Playmat for KeyForge! Whether you are playing in a high-caliber tournament or around the kitchen table, this high-quality rubber-based playmat presents your cards in stunning fashion with vibrant art from the world’s first Unique Deck Game. This 24” x 14” mat provides the perfect play surface to protect your cards from stains and spills, keeping the focus on your adventures in the Crucible. Displaying a vibrant art piece that embraces the high-spirited, fiery energy of Brobnar to help you embrace your House pride, this mat keeps your battles both organized and immersive.

Pick up your copy of the Berserker Slam Playmat (KFS18) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Malison Playmat

Field your cosmic clashes on the Crucible in style with the Malison Playmat for KeyForge! Whether you are playing in a high-caliber tournament or around the kitchen table, this high-quality rubber-based playmat presents your cards in stunning fashion with vibrant art from the world’s first Unique Deck Game. This 24” x 14” mat provides the perfect play surface to protect your cards from stains and spills, keeping the focus on your adventures in the Crucible. Displaying a vibrant art piece that embraces the dark, mysterious side of Dis to help you embrace your House pride, this mat keeps your battles both organized and immersive.

Pick up your copy of the Malison Playmat (KFS19) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Titan Guardian Playmat

Field your cosmic clashes on the Crucible in style with the Titan Guardian Playmat for KeyForge! Whether you are playing in a high-caliber tournament or around the kitchen table, this high-quality rubber-based playmat presents your cards in stunning fashion with vibrant art from the world’s first Unique Deck Game. This 24” x 14” mat provides the perfect play surface to protect your cards from stains and spills, keeping the focus on your adventures in the Crucible. Displaying a vibrant art piece that shows off one of the strongest, most technologically-advanced members of Logos to help you embrace your House pride, this mat keeps your battles both organized and immersive.

Pick up your copy of the Titan Guardian Playmat (KFS20) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

Philophosaurus Playmat

Field your cosmic clashes on the Crucible in style with the Philophosaurus Playmat for KeyForge! Whether you are playing in a high-caliber tournament or around the kitchen table, this high-quality rubber-based playmat presents your cards in stunning fashion with vibrant art from the world’s first Unique Deck Game. This 24” x 14” mat provides the perfect play surface to protect your cards from stains and spills, keeping the focus on your adventures in the Crucible. Displaying a vibrant art piece that shows off one of the noble reptilian scholars of the exciting new Saurian House, this mat keeps your battles both organized and immersive.

Pick up your copy of the Philophosaurus Playmat (KFS21) at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

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The Wrecking Crew

Published 12 November 2019 | Marvel Champions: The Card Game

The Wrecking Crew

Announcing a New Scenario Pack for Marvel Champions: The Card Game

"We're the Wrecking Crew! Anyone bugs us, we trash 'em! That's the way it is."
–Wrecker, Avengers Volume 3 #16

Pre-order your own copy of The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack at your local retailer or online through our website with free shipping in the continental U.S. today!

Since the four members of the Wrecking Crew decided to join forces, they’ve been a thorn in the side of every great Marvel hero from Thor to the Defenders. Not just common thugs, the Wrecking Crew’s greatest asset stems from the magic imbued in team leader Wrecker’s Crowbar, which grants each member immense physical strength and a mystical link between them.

Now, The four members of The Wrecking Crew are breaking out of prison, and only you can stop them!

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack for Marvel Champions: The Card Game!

With 73 brand-new cards, this single scenario puts four villains in play at once, each with their own side scheme and deck. Can your heroes withstand the assault from Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer, and Thunderball?

Strength in Numbers

Hello, heroes.
There has been a riot at Ryker’s Island penitentiary. The prisoners are loose and attempting escape. Among them are the Wrecking Crew. They broke free of their power inhibitors and overpowered the guards. We need you to intervene!

The Wrecking Crew presents a whole new challenge for your crew of Marvel heroes. If your heroes hope to succeed they’ll have to work together to defeat four different villains.

Each member of the Wrecking Crew includes their own side schemes and deck of encounter cards! Keep in mind The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack will not include any additional hit point dials. If you do not have enough hit point dials, you can use dice, counters, pen and paper, or some other method to track each villain’s hit points!

Though members of the Wrecking Crew all have their own side-schemes, they are all working together to achieve a common goal: to breakout of prison (The Wrecking Crew, 1B)!

While this looks like a daunting task, fear not! Only one member of the crew gets to act during the villain phase, known as the active villain. When a member of the Wrecking Crew is the active villain, you can essentially ignore the other three during the villain phase. Boost and encounter cards are dealt from the active villain’s deck, and any card that refers to “the villain” means the active villain. Of course, during the hero phase, the Marvel champions are free to hit whoever they want!

Various card effects (like the Breakout scheme) can switch the active villain, but the active counter will always begin in the hands of Wrecker (The Wrecking Crew, 2).

The self-proclaimed leader of the crew doesn’t mind foregoing his escape to deal some damage to the heroes. Not only can Wrecker produce big damage on undefended attacks, his Day of Reckoning (The Wrecking Crew, 4) side scheme is a ticking time-bomb of pain, ready to deal damage to every puny hero on the field when 10 or more threat is placed on it! Each Wrecking Crew side scheme follows a similar pattern, triggering a nasty effect when they reach 10 or more threat and then starting the cycle over with 3 threat remaining on the scheme. Thwarting these side schemes at strategic times will be key to victory.

The Wrecking Crew's power stems from a single source: Wrecker's Magic Crowbar (The Wrecking Crew, 6). Not only does this attachment boost Wrecker’s own strength, but he can use it to quickly add threat to the other members of the crew’s side schemes! It will take a hero making a sacrifice to separate Wrecker from his Crowbar, but this could mean the difference between victory and defeat!

While the unique setup of the wrecking crew leaves little room for modular encounter sets, you can still affect the difficulty of the challenge. Every member of the Wrecking Crew has an alternate “side B” that increases the difficulty of the fight. If you’re feeling confident, you can always take on Wrecker Side B (The Wrecking Crew, 3) with increased attack and scheme values!

While Wrecker may act as the leader of the crew, Thunderball (The Wrecking Crew, 17), acts as the brains of the operation. While he doesn’t bring the pure pain that wrecker can, Thunderball can quickly advance his scheme, Thunderstruck (The Wrecking Crew, 19) to set back every single hero on the field by stunning them! With so many stun tokens permeating the field, the heroes will have to spend at least a turn clearing them before they can hit back at the crew.

Radioactive Buildup (The Wrecking Crew, 22) gives Thunderball a massive attack against one hero, and should an ally valiantly decide to take the hit, the excess damage goes to his side scheme! When Thunderball is the active villain, every single hero on the field will have to be cautious, or they may find themselves thunderstruck!

Piledriver (The Wrecking Crew, 32) invites heroes to attack him and face the wrath of his massive fists, exacting vengeance with Retaliate 1. Piledriver’s hall of fame of pain extends beyond heroes, as he’s able to target upgrades and supports with his scheme, Pile it On! (The Wrecking Crew, 34) . Like Thunderball, this gives the heroes a setback they might not be able to recover from. Without their precious toys and allies, do they really stand a chance against the might of The Wrecking Crew?

While attacking Piledriver is a surefire way to get a punch to the face, your heroes may not have a choice when he brings out the Distracting Taunts (The Wrecking Crew, 35) boosting his health and making him the only eligible target on the field! Heroes can spend two physical resources to discard Distracting Taunts, but they’ll have to indulge Piledriver at least once to have the opportunity. While attacking Piledriver is a dangerous proposition, he does have the fewest hit points among the members of the Wrecking Crew, making him a natural first target if you can withstand the brutal counter-assault.

Finally, Bulldozer (The Wrecking Crew, 46) completes the Wrecking Crew by attacking the heroes head-on! Bulldozer gains the overkill trait when he attacks, meaning any excess damage dealt to an ally after they are defeated is then transferred to a hero! No one is safe from Bulldozer, even the cards in your deck. When his Clear the Road (The Wrecking Crew, 48) scheme reaches 10 threat, every hero discards the top 10 cards of their deck!

No one is safe from Bulldozer, Ramming Speed (The Wrecking Crew, 51) is a massive attack designed to defeat your allies on the field, while sprinkling some damage on your heroes. When Bulldozer is the active hero, your allies are always in danger, and you may not have a choice in whether or not they are the target of bulldozer’s wrath.

The Day of Reckoning

Each member of the Wrecking Crew is strong on their own, but together they are unstoppable. Leaving a path of carnage behind them, do you have what it takes to clean up the Wrecking Crew and thwart their breakout attempt? Find out when The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack releases in the first quarter of 2020!

Take on four different villains in The Wrecking Crew Scenario Pack (MC03en), available now for pre-order from your local retailer or our website with free shipping in the continental United States!

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