#llgs

Wave 1 - Core Set to Rise of the Red Skull

Heroes

Consists of: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man from the core set and then Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Thor, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and Hulk.

Well you pretty much have to buy the core set unless you are printing the Standard and Expert cards and buying custom tokens or using dice for health and threat totals, and sure enough, I bought the core set, as I bet most players do. So I don’t want to consider the core set heroes too heavily since of course I own them. If I had to buy them as separate hero packs, I would have only purchased Spider-Man. But I play and thoroughly enjoy Black Panther, Iron Man, and She-Hulk as well. 1 point for Spider-Man then and my enjoyment of the other decks can serve as a tie breaker.

Of the rest, I recently purchased Hulk and have been playing him so often I am going to have to force myself to play some games without him so I don’t burn myself out. And I really, really wish I could have been around to pick up a copy of Captain America when it was at MSRP. So 1 point each for those two. I like Thor in the movies but am not a fan of the whole Donald Blake, Mjolnir-is-hidden-as-his-cane thing in the comics, so between that and hearing some people being disappointed with how his deck plays, I have decided to just give him half a point for at least being thought of for another mainline Avenger purchase for me. I enjoy the remaining characters, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and Ms. Marvel, in their MCU appearances, but none enough to get their hero decks, even if Doctor Strange’s reportedly overpowered deck was readily available. Okay maybe for Doctor Strange, if at least to have a better chance at some of the villains who seem very out of reach for me right now.

Hero Subtotal: 4.5 / 11 (batting average: .409)

Villains

Consists of: Rhino, Klaw, Ultron; then the Green Goblin (x2) scenario pack and Wrecking Crew scenario pack

The core set Introduxes players to the game via Rhino, Klaw, and Ultron. I’ve enjoyed both Rhino and Klaw and have bought multiple modular encounter decks to switch the villain scenarios up depending on the heroes that I am playing. I’m sad to say that I have been to nervous, for lack of a better word, and so I have delayed trying my heroes against him (it?) in favor of trying out other non-core set villains I have obtained since I first got into the game. But as Ultron is a major Avengers villain and was in one of the Avengers movies, I would still be interested in having this scenario, and in fact it was the one that I was most looking forward to before I jumped into the game.

Beyond the core set villains, this cycle also featured Green Goblin in two scenarios in one scenario pack and the Wrecking Crew. Now that the latter are also in their own modular encounter set, I had no interest in their acenario pack. But I did pick up the Green Goblin one and enjoy both scenarios, despite the talk online of Risky Business being too easy. I played it with the suggested house rule of adding a crisis icon to Norman Osborn’s Criminal Enterprise environment and I also used the Sinister Motives campaign cards Public Outcry and Smear Campaign, with the former starting in play at the beginning of the game and the latter shuffled into the encounter deck - just instead of the regular effects of Smear Campaign, it has you find Public Outcry if it is not in play and reveal it so it comes into play again. Smear Campaign itself is never removed from the game as it is in its regular rules. These two changes may have done the trick, as I enjoyed the scenario after all.

Villain Subtotal: 4 / 5 (batting average .800)

Wave 1 Total: 8.5 / 16 (batting average .531)

———

Wave 2 - Rise of the Red Skull to Galaxy’s Most Wanted

Heroes

Consists of: Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Ant-Man, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch

I don’t own this expansion or either hero deck, though I wouldn’t mind having Spider-Woman in my collection, as she breaks the usual deck-building rules by having two aspects instead of just 1 and I am intrigued by that novelty, and being a Spider-Man-adjacent character doesn't hurt.

I hear Scarlet Witch is pretty strong and Ant-Man sounds fun, but none of these heroes call for me actually.

Hero Subtotal: 1 / 6 (batting average: .167)

Villains

Consists of: Crossbones, Absorbing Man, Taskmaster, Zola, Red Skull; then the Kang scenario pack

I somewhat like the Crossbones character, as I have him in one of my Captain America collections and I really enjoyed his brief appearance in the Captain America: Civil War movie (not being a huge fan, I enjoyed that it was brief and that he didn’t need to be a Big Bad). But nonetheless I do not find myself drawn to him. Nor do I to Zola or Red Skull, despite both being big Captain America villains that are also featured in his films. I don’t know why. Evidently I love Captain America but don’t love his villains like most Cap fans do. And I really couldn’t care less about Taskmaster, though the backstory of the character for the Black Widow movie was interesting, and they surprised me with the character in Thunderbolts - I’m not sure I liked it, but they get credit for the surprise regardless.

Now Absorbing Man gets a bad reputation as being too easy. I for some reason found myself drawn to him - somehow, when I learned the villain in Ang Lee’s Hulk film was distantly inspired by Absorbing Man, I guess the character stuck with me. That he was rated as being easy by many was actually a plus, as, I admit, I’ve found some villains more difficult than the consensus seems to be on the internet, so I was looking for some lightweight contenders other than Rhino to get my feet wet with. Finding out that Wrecking Crew had a modular set and not just the poorly rated villain scenario helped, as I saw suggestions to use them instead of whatever Hydra modular is recommended for the campaign, and to also use She-Hulk’s nemesis set as if it were a modular encounter set. With Absorbing Kan backed up by Titania and the Wrecking Crew, that’s about half of the Secret Wars villain team, and it hasn’t been that long since I reread that, so I became even more interested in his scenario. And I found it quite fun actually, and not too easy.

Finally, Kang. I’ve been intrigued with him since Kang Dynasty was supposed to be the next Avengers film and then Loki Season 1 happened. The disappointment of Ant-Man 3 and, for me at least, Loki Season 2 did not temper my interest in Kang. Lacking an Avengers film with him to look forward to, I recently even watched a two-parter of somr Avengers cartoon to try to fill my desire for more Kang. I got this scenario pack and am thoroughly enjoyed it. As with the Hulk hero cards, I need to plan time for other things so I don’t accidentally burn myself out on Kang.

Villain Subtotal: 2 / 6 (batting average: .333)

Wave 2 Total: 3 / 12 (batting average: .250)

———

Wave 3 - Galaxy’s Most Wanted to Mad Titan’s Shadow

Heroes

Consists of Rocket Racoon, Groot, Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Agent Venom

As a kid, I had less than a handful of Guardians of the Galaxy comics. Though I’ve enjoyed the movies, the characters do not much interest me beyond that; I’ve yet to even watch the holiday special and couldn’t say I would be that interested in a fourth entry to the series. But my son loves Venom at least as much as I did as a kid, so Agent Venom was one of the first heroes that I ever bought - I got him rven before I got the core set, as I was worried about my second-tier hero choices going out of print like my first-tier picks, Captain America and Cyclops, have. He’s been quite fun to play, especially with some cards from Winter Soldier, so I am glad to have him, even though I’d rather he was the Venom with Eddie Brock as the host.

Hero Subtotal: 1 / 6 (batting average: .167)

Villains

Consists of Drang, Collector 1, Collector 2, Nebula, and Ronan

Even more so than with the heroes, these villains do not call to me at all.

Villain Subtotal: 0 / 5 (batting average: .000)

Wave 3 Total: 1 / 11 (batting average: .091)

———

Wave 4 - Mad Titan’s Shadow to Sinister Motives

Heroes

Consists of: Spectrum, Adam Warlock, Nebula, War Machine, Valkyrie, and Vision

I am not interested enough in any of these characters to pick up myself, but I wouldn’t mind having War Machine and Vision for the character for the former and for the form changing ability for the latter, so half a point each.

Hero Subtotal: 1 / 6 (batting average: .167)

Villains

Consists of: Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glave together, Thanos, Hela, and Loki (Infinity Gauntlet); then The Hood scenario pack

I am interested in Loki due to the original Avengers comic and the first Abemgers movie, but not this one; the release of Trickster Magic much more fulfills that desire. Thanks might be too hard for me but I am definitely interested in picking him up. Tower Defense sounds interesting but I prefer these characters as minions of Thanos than as villains in and of themselves. I didn’t really like Hela in Thor: Ragnarok and have no connection to her from the comics, so unfortunately I’m not interested in her, though I heard good things about the scenario.

Regarding The Hood, he was interesting in the Ironheart show but not enough to get me to want him for my Marvel Champions collection. I already mentioned liking the Wrecking Crew modular encounter set that comes with him though and State of Emergency looks fun, so half a point.

Villain Subtotal: 1.5 / 6 (batting average: .250)

Wave 4 Total: 2.5 / 12 (batting average: .208)

———

Wave 5 - Sinister Motives to Mutant Genesis

Heroes

Consists of: Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Ghost Spider / Spider-Gwen, Nova, Ironheart, Spider-Ham, SP//DR

I’m a Spider-Man fan, I love the Spiderverse movies, and I enjoyed the Spiderverse and Spidergeddon storylines. Outside the movies, I could be getting burned out on Spiderpeople-in-the-multiverse stuff, though - we’ll see how I feel after the Spider-Noir show comes out. Anyway, I definitely would have liked to have been able to get my hands on Miles and Gwen, and I wouldn’t have minded Spider-Ham and SP//DR. As my interest in the first two is much higher than the latter two, 1 point each for Miles and Gwen and half a point each for Peter Porker and Peni with SP//DR. Though I’m surprised that Endgame hasn’t lead to Nova being in the MCU yet, I am currently indifferent to the character. I enjoyed the Ironheart show and her hero card looks cool, but not enough to get me thrilled. 1 point each for the expansion’s heroes and half a point each for the two Spiderverse hero packs.

Hero Subtotal: 3 / 7 (batting average: .428)

Villains

Consists of: Sandman, Venom, Mysterio, Sinister Six, and Venom Goblin

Sinister Six was one of the first villain scenarios I found on its own to add to my collection when I realized how many expansions were no where to be bought or out of reach for me financially due to their scarcity and popularity. I figured that was the only one from this expansion that I really needed, getting me the infamous villain group and even my favorite Spidey villain, Scorpion. Since then, my son’s love for Venom makes me wish I had looked to obtain him as well, as he’s not available via my usual sources at this point. My son wants Sandman, and I have heard good things about the scenario, but I don’t know. I could go for Mysterio though, since he’s not even a minion in anything at this time, but he is not available either. 1 point each for Sinister Six, Venom, and Mysterio and half a point for Sandman. I have no interest in Venom Goblin. Sometimes the parts on their own are better than the sum of them together.

Villain Subtotal: 3.5 / 5 (batting average: .700)

Wave 5 Total: 6.5 / 12 (batting average: .541)

———

Wave 6 - Mutant Genesis to Next Evolution

Heroes

Consists of: Colossus, Kitty Pride / Shadowcat, Cyclops, Jean Grey (Phoenix), Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, and Rogue

I was so excited when I thought I could get the expansion box, and during that time, I was really looking forward to playing Colossus. I forget if the box has been in stock somewhere and then was out of stock when I went to purchase it or if the listing that I had seen was really out of stock to begin with, but it was a let down. I might be able to get Colossus separately though and am considering doing so. Shadowcat was cool in The Last Stand and her mutant power can be really strong. I get why she’s popular. But I don’t really have any drive to play her deck instead of getting a different X-character.

Cyclops was one of the first heroes that I had looked to obtain when I got into the game. I ended up getting Magneto instead, wanting the flavor of having an X-Men leader and preferring how his deck sounded to Storm (if she was even available), but I still somewhat wish that I had been able to pick up Cyclops too. I know my son wished we had Wolverine, and though I am not wanting him as much as I would have when I was his age (feeling some Wolvie fatigue from so much focus on him in so many X-Men movies), I am sure that I would enjoy playing his deck.

Phoenix looks pretty cool as well, with the risky option of unleashing her celestial powers; half a point seems reasonable. As for Storm, I like her character in X-Men media but I am not interested in running her deck. I already picked up Gambit since I loved him as a kid and my son loves him and Nightcrawler now. Finally, I don’t plan on getting Rogue but I would enjoy having her if that ever happened; half a point for her.

Hero Subtotal: 5 / 8 (batting average: .625)

Villains

Consists of: Sabretooth, Night of the Sentinels, Master Mold and His Sentinels, Mansion Attack (Brotherhood of Mutants), and Magneto from the expansion box and Magog, Spiral, and Mojo from the Mojo Mania scenario pack

I really wanted Sabretooth and a sentinel scenario, so I purchased him and Master Mold; my son thought it was odd that a villain card was a nameless sentinel rather than sentinels only being minions, and Master Mold solves that. I didn’t think I needed both Sentinel scenarios, but for the connection to the first episode of the animated series, half a point for Night of the Sentinels. Since the brotherhood is a modular encounter set, I did not feel the need to have a separate villain scenario too. And for Magneto, I don’t know why I didn’t feel that I needed to get him as much as Sabretooth, maybe I was intimidated by him being the final villain in the box. My son was interested in him until we heard from a few trusted reviewers that he is one of the hardest. Half a point for almost getting him for my son, I guess.

As for Mojo, I really did not like his voice on the animated series, and find his personality more annoying than fun, though the concept of the media-obsessed universe run by an evil TV executive is clever, I give the character’s creators that. I’ve always thought Spiral was cool, but not enough to want her villain scenario, and I don’t recall seeing Magog outside of this game (I’m sure he was in the animated series episodes with Mojo, but I wasn’t paying attention to those in my watchthrough with my son).

Villain Subtotal: 3 / 8 (batting average: .375)

Wave 6 Total: 8 / 16 (batting average: .500)

———

Wave 7 - Next Evolution to Age of Apocalypse

Heroes

Consists of: Cable, Domino, Psylocke, Angel, Deadpool

I liked Cable more as a kid than I do now, probably from the same aesthetics that enjoyed Hulk with a gun in the War and Pieces storyline with X-Factor. Though I enjoyed him in Deadpool 2, it wasn’t enough to get me to want his deck. Aside from that film, I have no connection to Domino. I never really cared much for Angel, though I like the Archangel look that we get in the Four Horsemen scenario in the next expansion. Now Psylocke, that’s a character that I don’t know that much about but have always been a little interested in because the psyblades look pretty cool. And Deadpool? I mostly enjoy the movies and some of the cards are funny but overall the character is not for me.

Hero Subtotal: 0.5 / 6 (batting average: .083)

Villains

Consists of: Maurauders x2 (Morlock Siege and On the Run), Juggernaut, Mr. Sinister, and Stryfe

Other than realizing one of the Marauders is on Sebastian Shaw’s team in X-Men: First Class, I just don’t have much of an interest in these scenarios. I like the idea of the Morlocks but have never been much interested in any Morlock character themselves, or a scenario with them might draw me in more. Now Juggernaut and Mr. Sinister, those were favorites growing up. Juggernaut for his obvious toughness (not the ‘In the Juggernaut bitch’ video, that was only funny the first time my friends played it and was way too long besides) and Mr Sinister because I didn’t know much about him so he was so mysterious to me. Now, Stryfe? I should like the concept of the character and his duality with Cable, but for some reason I don’t.

Villain Subtotal: 2 / 5 (batting average: .400)

Wave 7 Total: 2.5 / 11 (batting average: .227)

———

Wave 8 - Age of Apocalypse to Agents of Shield

Heroes

Consists of Bishop, Magik, Iceman, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, Magneto

I already noted above that Magneto was my Leader of the X-Men replacement for Cyclops. I am very happy with that purchase, as ai find him to be a lot of fun. I’ve purchased Nightcrawler, but as he is a future gift for my son, I haven’t gotten to play him yet. I might be getting most of the Age of Apocalypse box later this year - a friend likes Magik and Standard III but not much else from the set and I had been asking what they thought of one of the Apocalypse scenarios, so they thought I might be more interested in the parts of the expansion that were just collecting dust for them. I wasn’t sure at first about Bishop, to be honest, but the more I looked into him the more I got interested. The prospect of getting him was actually why I got Gambit, as with Nightcrawler and Magneto that will give me an even four on X-Men heroes.

Magik isn’t a favorite of mine, though I enjoyed the New Mutants flick more than most, so I don’t mind not getting her in the deal. Too bad about Standard III but oh well. Jubilee has a place in my heart thanks to the animated series, especially as the audience’s gateway to that world. But not so strong a place that I feel the urge to get her deck. Iceman on the other hand… He and Colossus are the other X-Men top favorites of mine, other than Cyclops and Wolverine, that I do not have. If I gave in and got yet another hero when I said ‘This far, no farther,’ I would likely give in and get Iceman at the same time.

Hero Subtotal: 4 / 6 (batting average: .667)

Villains

Consists of Unus, Four Horsemen, Apocalypse 1, Dark Beast, Apocalypse 2 (En Sabah Nur)

As I mentioned above, Apocalypse is what got me interested in this box, which I guess is no hot take since he’s the box’s namesake. Besides the animated series, where his deep voice and imposing presence awed in ways the take on the character for the movie never did, I also had X-Men Legends II, which features the Four Horsemen and Apocalypse as villains. Two of my friends and I would often play that game, Fastball Specialling Wolverine, annoying each other by shouting ‘pew pew’ whenever we did range attacks, especially with Cyclops, or really annoying each other by finding out how some of the larger characters could physically block doorways and prevent progression in the game. So I was definitely interested in at least one of the Apocalypse scenarios. I’ll give En Sabah Nur just half a point though, as I likely would only buy Apocalypse 1 if I don’t get the expansion in trade after all; knowing that they both get good ratings online, I still feel like I only really must have one, but feeling like I will probably be glad to have both in the end seems worth at least half a point.

For some reason I haven’t been that interested in the Four Horsemen though. We’ll see if actually playing them changes that. Skipping to Dark Beast, my feelings on him are soured by the fact that FFG didn’t release a hero pack for Beast. I’ve yet to actually read the Age of Apocalypse storyline (rectifying that as we speak actually, though it’s going to take a while as the version that I got is like 2,000 pages), so I don’t know this alternate version of the beloved X-Men character. I’m intrigued, but not so much that I would buy him separately if he wasn’t in an expansion that I might be getting in trade.

Saving the start of the box for last: Unus… Is it Oonus? You-nuss? Un-ness, which sounds the worst to me but linguistically matches with his sobriquet, ‘the Un-touchable’? I don’t know. As the only character that I did not recognize in this box, I started researching him once my friend told me that I might be getting him in a trade, and now I am finding myself liking him despite such a paucity of material. So he goes all the way back to X-Men #8?! He’s nearly as old to longtime readers as Magneto, he just never took off to be a household name for us mutant fans like Apocalypse, Juggernaut, Magneto, and Mr Sinister. Looking for other appearances is what brought me to Spider-Man and the X-Men and what might be the best comic panel of all time, but he only makes a few panels and is dispatched so quickly it’s shameful. Then I caught him in Excalibur #1 (2004), and he’s the villain of most of the story in that collection, except he ends up joining forces with Xavier to tackle some suited-up Genoshan Iron Men, and those guys taking over as the greater threat was disappointing. Unus is also embarrassed a bit in this story as well, as one of Xavier’s new mutant friends, Freak Show, transforms into essentially a Rancor and swallows Unus whole and later throws him up.

I can’t believe I’m still going on about Unus. It’s an obsession evidently. Well, most relevant to this expansion is that he evidently appears in the Age of Apocalypse storyline, which presumably is why he was chosen for this expansion. But I hear that he is barely in this story either so it’s weird they didn’t pick a different character with more presence in the AoA story or any story at all.

My draw to Unus is partially the seeming oddity of this choice that has me searching for more stories of him, convinced there’s more there there. For my odd fixation on this pretty random character, I’ll give the scenario a point. I’m looking forward to him being a new intro villain for my son and I.

Villain Subtotal: 2.5 / 5 (batting average: .500)

Wave 8 Total: 6.5 / 11 (batting average: .591)

———

Wave 9 - Agents of Shield to Civil War

Heroes

Consists of Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Black Panther (Shuri), Silk, Falcon, Winter Soldier

I am sometimes tempted to make a S.H.I.E.L.D. matters Captain Marvel deck, but then I realize that’s just the same part of me that in Magic: The Gathering likes to consider building a deck for each new obvious Build Around Me mechanic, whether that be allies or Level Up creatures or Minotaur typal or… actually Theros might be the last time I had any interest in building a whole deck from the newest sets. Anyway, that’s just what is happening here for me, nothing special about my secret love of all things S.H.I.E.L.D. or something. I like these characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Nick Fury’s hero card especially looks cool, but not enough for me to want either hero’s deck. Similarly, Black Oanther looks cool, and if I didn’t already have the T’Challa Black Panther from the Core Set, I would consider this Shuri one over getting T’Challa. But I already have T’Challa thanks to the Core Set, and though I liked Shuri in Black Panther and I guess Infinity War and I found Wakanda Forever to be somewhat fun, I don’t like the characters enough to want a second deck like it.

Silk and Winter Soldier, however: Bucky was my attempt to quell my desire for the Out of Print Captain America, and Silk was to fill my Spider-Man love since I figured that my son would nearly always play him (this was before I knew I would have more than 9 heroes and so a few additional options that he loves and before I realized how much solo play I would get in, so getting time with Spider-Man is not a problem). I’ve liked Silk since I first saw her as I think her costume is really cool, even if not quite Blue Hoodie cool. I’m glad to learn from reading a recent story with her and Spider-Man that they no longer have that weird uncontrollable attraction for one another that they started out with when her character was introduced. And maybe one day I will understand the Spider-Bride weirdness. Anyway, I own these two and enjoy them.

For Falcon, he’s probably the Avengers character that I have been most tempted to add to my collection, and nearly did before I decided to ignore the haters and just get Hulk anyway (are all the haters True Solo players? Or maybe they’re playing way harder villains and/or on expert or heroic? Because I haven’t found him to be bad at all and he’s as fun as I had hoped). So I guess 1 point for being nearly in my collection. There’s still the possibility that I cave and pick him up after all, just as my feelings of being done buying X-Men decks might give way to obtaining Colossus and Iceman now.

Hero Subtotal: 3 / 6 (batting average: .500)

Villains

Consists of Black Widow (Yelena); Batroc, M.O.D.O.K.; Citizen V (Baron Zeno, evidently?); Baron Zemo (round 2 then, technically?) from the box and Enchantress and Loki, God of Lies from the scenario pack

I like Yelena in the Black Widow and Thunderbolts movies and on Hawkeye, but don’t know the character at all from the comics. And mostly I like the writing and the actress’s delivery, which you don’t get with writing on cards. So no thank you to her as a villain here. Batroc, he’s a tough one. I kind of like the jumping guy because of his cool, if brief, spotlight in the Winter Soldier film. But he’s also an optional modular encounter set to run with Citizen V and other Thunderbolts. I think I would just prefer to do that if I was going to choose to go toe-to-toe with The Leaper.

Evidently I have complicated feelings about M.O.D.O.K. I recall not liking him as a kid. For that reason, I at first liked how they threw audience members for a loop in his backstory and characterization in Quantumania. The fan backlash online to the movie, including him and especially the ‘Don’t be a dick’ line that was supposed to be revelatory for him, has soured me on him yet again. But then my son has been getting into Marvel Villainous and I tried M.O.D.O.K. out and he was kind of fun. At this point, I would play him if he were in my collection but I’m not looking to get him, so I’ll call that worth half a point. Who knows, maybe with more Villainous plays he will keep growing on me and he’ll make the list soon enough.

Citizen V: I knew of the Thunderbolts before seeing this scenario in Marvel Champions, though I admit I get them mixed up with the Dark Avengers sometimes (who I get mixed up with Midnight Sons, as those heroes remind me of the heroes on DC’s Justice League Dark). Despite knowing of the Thunderbolts, evidently I either hadn’t heard of Citizen V or just forgot about him. Still, when I purchased both Silk and Winter Soldier, I thus got the Thunderbolts modulars for Atlas and Blizzard, which is the big thing that has me consider this scenario. Not already being familiar with Citizen V, and the fact that Atlas looks pretty tough and both Atlas and Blizzard are said to be difficult, has me hesitant, and yet the draw to get Citizen V is still pretty strong, especially because of Leaper and Taskmaster modulars (more on the latter below) that seem more interesting to me than their individual scenarios because of how they contribute to getting a scenario that can also be an outlet for Atlas and Blizzard.

What about Baron Zemo, in the flesh? I said before: Evidently I like Captain America the hero but don’t really care all that much about his villains. Sure, Zemo was cool in Civil War and Falcon & The Winter Soldier, but I don’t know the comic version much and am not interested enough to change that unfortunately.

Regarding the scenario pack, the only reason I don’t currently have it is I’m expecting to get it as a gift some time this year. I absolutely want Loki, liking the character from an Avengers History standpoint and in a He’s From The Avengers Movie standpoint but not liking him enough to want the gauntlet-wielding one from Mad Titan’s Shadow. Enchantress I am less interested in, but I don’t dislike the villain (yet another Secret Wars appearance!) and her scenario looks interesting, so half a point for her.

Villain Subtotal: 3 / 7 (batting average: .429)

Wave 9 Total: 6 / 13 (batting average: .462)

———

Wave 10 - Civil War to Fear No Evil

Heroes

Consists of Tigra, Hulkling, Wonderman, Hercules

I don’t have any interest in Tigra, I’m sorry. I’m slightly interested in Wonder Man because I loved the MCU show, but I don’t know that that rises to the level of wanting to buy or even play the deck. Half a point to be generous, I guess.

Hulkling’s forms are interesting though, and I think it’s cool that he is a Kree and Skrull hybrid (and it’s amusing that I started typing Skree just now). Mostly I think it’s funny that he shares his alias with a Grey’s Anatomy character, though looks like he predates her by about 4 years. That said, I am not interested enough to add him to my collection, though I guess I would be intrigued to play him if given a chance. Half a point, then.

Similarly, I don’t have any interest in Hercules as a character, despite growing up watching the double feature of Hercules and Zena episodes after school with my dad or loving the Disney show, things that I would think would get me more interested in Marvel’s take on the mythology. But I actually didn’t care for the Thor: Love and Thunder credits tease and don’t much care if they expand on that in the future, sorry Herc fans. Like Hulkling though, there is something about him that does intrigue me adter all: The labors being an essential part of his build up has gotten my attention. Half a point for being a deck I would try out, though not buy.

Hero Subtotal: 1.5 / 4 (batting average: .375)

“Villains”

Consists of opposing Leaders, rather than technically Villains, of the Registration or Resistance sides of the Civil War rift: Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Spider-Woman, and Captain America in the expansion box and She-Hulk and Vision in the Synthezoid Shakedown scenario pack

I enjoyed the Civil War event in the comics and the movie even more, so I am interested in both the Iron Man and Captain America scenarios, being leaders of the teams in both stories. Looking at the cards, I am not sure how much I might enjoy the scenarios, though. Each time I decide I am for sure going to get cards to have an Iron Man acenario in my collection, I end up changing my mind. The other hesitation that I have is that I honestly would like going against Iron Man much more if I had the Captain America hero deck. Liking Captain America more than Iron Man, I might have a hard time enjoying being part of Team Registration and going against Cap. Maybe just half a point for Cap then. As for Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman, I do not have any interest in going against either of them.

I love playing She-Hulk as a hero, but I do not have any interest in having her as a villain. I’d rather go against Bruce Banner Hulk as a villain if I could, I think of him much more as someone needing to be opposed at times. Im not sure why, but I have even less interest in going against Vision.

There is a caveat here though: I am interested in one of the modulars for the Synthezoid Shakedown scenario pack, and I thus far have not been able to find it in its own. There is a Taskmaster modular encounter deck that is different from the elite Thunderbolt minions that are supposed to be used for the Citizen V scenario, but similar enough that I am tempted to houserule away the differences: If I can’t get the module without getting the whole scenario pack, would I cave and get the whole scenario pack? Probably not? But I am very tempted, so I guess that is worth half a point.

Villain Subtotal: 2 / 6 (batting average: .333)

Wave 10 Total: 3.5 / 10 (batting average: .350)

———

Wave 11 - Fear No Evil

The next expansion will feature heroes Daredevil and Echo and is known to have Typhoid Mary and Kingpin as villains, though the scenarios are as yet unknown, including whether this could be like Collector or Apocalypse and see Kingpin in two different scenarios (I’ve read a few people hoping for a showdown in the courtroom, with much different gameplay than usual, as a middle-story scenario and an ultimate, bruiser-of-a-showdown with Kingpin to end the box). The wave includes a scenario pack: Shadowland will introduce The Hand to Marvel Champions, possibly featuring Daredevil as a villain; and there will be hero packs for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Elektra, and Iron Fist.

Any grading for this is TBA, since I do not yet know how much I might want any of these. I know I have liked Daredevil since at least the Rise of the Imperfects videogame, and my best friend wants Echo, so we have talked about going in together on the box. I know he will get Iron Fist, so I can see awarding half a point just for that. I really enjoyed the Netflix series and hope to see more Luke Cage in the future, but I don’t know if that interest is enough to actually buy his hero pack or the Jessica Jones one. I’m not currently interested in Shadlowland, but time will tell.

———

Conclusion

Heroes

So what faired best then? Looking over the numbers that I crunched out, only 3 of the 10 waves hit for .500 or higher, making for a nice and easy Top 3:

Wave 8 (Magneto, Nightcrawler, Bishop, & Iceman)

Wave 6 (Gambit, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Jean Grey / Phoenix, & Rogue)

Wave 9 (Silk, Falcon, & Winter Soldier)

Honorable mention: Just missing out on tying with Wave 9 was Wave 5 (Spiderverse heroes), missing the cut because Spider-Ham and SP//DR are just interesting and not must-haves for me. I was surprised to see that Wave 1 was scored even lower than that Wave 5, since I have Hulk and have really wanted a Captain America at a reasonable price. But it is also the largest wave, so the number of heroes that are misses for me particularly is what dragged the score down below my expectations.

Villains

Coincidentally, only three sets hit above .500 for me for villains:

Wave 1 (Rhino, Klaw, Ultron, & the Green Goblin scenarios)

Wave 5 (Sandman, Venom, Mysterio, & Sinister Six)

Wave 8 (Unus & the Apocalypse scenarios)

I was really surprised not to find Wave 6 in here, since Sabretooth and Master Mold were two of the three scenarios that I picked up right away. But then I remembered that Mojo Mania was part of that wave, and my disinterest/dislike of that scenario pack really dragged the numbers down. I wonder how Mutant Genesis would fair comparing just its expansion box contents to the other expansion boxes. Maybe another run if the stats is in order. Wave 9, which ranked for heroes, was notably absent, scoring though it scored just below 50% at .429.

Total

What about the waves as a whole, heroes and villains? This time, four stood above the rest with .500 or higher, though another as a distant fifth:

Wave 8 (Magneto, Nightcrawler, Bishop, & Iceman for heroes and Unus & the Apocalypse scenarios for the villains)

Wave 5 (Spiderverse for heroes and Sandman, Venom, Mysterio, & Sinister Six for the villains)

Wave 1 (Core Set heroes Spider-Man, Black Panther, Iron Man, and She-Hulk joined by Captain America, Hulk, and Doctor Strange’s for the heroes; all three core set scenarios of Rhino, Klaw, and Ultron along with Green Goblin for the villains)

Wave 6 (Gambit, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Jean Grey / Phoenix, & Rogue for heroes and Sabretooth, sentinels, and Magneto for the villains)

The honorable mention was Wave 9, which placed for the hero ratings but not the villains (Yelena Black Widow, The Leaper, M.O.D.O.K., Citizen V, and Baron Zemo). It had a total score of .462, as its midline hero score of .500 was dragged down slightly by my disinterest in three of its seven villains.

Conclusion to the Conclusion

Out of curiosity, I ran all the numbers for all of the waves combined and got an average, and it was somewhere in the .333-.375 range, indicating that about 33% of Marvel Champions products could be hits for me.

That might seem very low, but FFG has a diverse group of characters as to choose from in Marvel’s catalog, and a desire, if not need, to cater to multiple tastes within the fandom, not all of which will be for me. And FFG has also taken time to release the occasional deeper cut, ones which are statistically less likely to be hits for any single player such as myself but have their audience. Though it can be disappointing to see so-called C-Tier characters represented while the game is just getting to fan favorites like Daredevil and has us still waiting on other favorites such as the Fantastic Four and their villains, it is reasonable for FFG to print deeper cut heroes in between bigger names rather than holding them all until whatever end this game has for the company.

So to me, it’s reasonable to suspect a certain percentage of product won’t be up my alley and to accept that somr of it wasn’t even intended to be for me because I don’t represent every player or even necessarily the ‘average’ player. I think that should be a reasonable expectation for players / consumers of this product. I buy far less than a third of all Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon TCG products after all.