Marvel Champions: The Card Game
A cooperative living card game set in the Marvel Universe.
Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a cooperative living card game from Fantasy Flight Games, first released in 2019. Players each control a deck representing a Marvel hero, and they team up to stop a villain who is working toward a Scheme. Hero decks can be customized, and villain scenarios are made modular by adding different encounter sets.
The game is played in rounds. Each round, all players take turns, then the villain acts. Players cooperate toward a shared goal, with no competition between them. Each player selects one hero, represented by a 40–50 card deck. That deck includes cards unique to the hero, cards from one of four Aspects (Justice, Leadership, Aggression, or Protection), and basic cards. On a player’s turn, they can play cards, use card abilities, use basic abilities to attack the villain or their minions, remove threat tokens from schemes, or switch between hero and alter-ego forms. Some cards and abilities require a specific form. Cards let players activate superpowers, recruit allies, upgrade heroes or allies, or gain new abilities. To play a card, players discard cards from their hand to pay its resource cost.
During the villain’s turn, it activates against each player. If the player is in hero form, the villain attacks them. If in alter-ego form, the villain adds threat counters to the main scheme. Players may defend incoming attacks with their hero or allies. After the villain activates against all heroes, each player draws one card from the encounter deck. Encounter cards can cause the villain to attack again, advance its scheme, or add minions, enemy upgrades, or side-schemes to the play area.
In standard mode, the villain has two forms. Players win by reducing the second form to zero health. Each form beyond the first is harder. The game ends when players win, or when the villain wins by knocking all heroes unconscious or completing the final stage of its scheme.
Between games, players customize their hero’s deck. Each hero includes unique cards that must be included. Players then choose one of the four Aspects: Justice (focuses on stopping the villain’s scheme), Leadership (focuses on allies), Aggression (damage-based), or Protection (prevents incoming damage). Basic cards can be used in any deck.
Villain scenarios are also customizable.
Quick Facts
- Designer
- Michael Boggs, Nate French, Caleb Grace
- Date
- 2019
- Players
- 1-4
- Publisher
- Fantasy Flight Games
- Playing Time
- 45-90 minutes
- Media Type
- Card game
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Marvel Champions is played over rounds where players take turns followed by the villain. Each player chooses a hero represented by a 40–50 card deck, including hero-specific cards, cards from one of four Aspects (Justice, Leadership, Aggression, Protection), and basic cards. Players can switch between hero and alter-ego forms, use abilities, attack the villain and minions, or reduce threat tokens on schemes. The villain activates against each player, attacking heroes or adding threat counters to the main scheme if the player is in alter-ego form. Players may defend incoming attacks with their hero or allies. After the villain activates, players draw from the encounter deck, which may cause additional attacks, scheme advances, or add minions, enemy upgrades, or side-schemes.
Reader's Guide
Marvel Champions: The Card Game, released in 2019, established itself as a significant entry in the cooperative card game genre. Its living card game format, with regular expansions in the form of hero packs, scenario packs, and campaign boxes, has allowed for ongoing customization and replayability. The game's modular encounter system lets players adjust villain difficulty by choosing different encounter sets or altering villain forms. The core set includes five heroes and three villains, with expansions adding new content. Marvel Champions was recognized as Board Game Quest's 2019 Cooperative Game of the Year and received a 10/10 rating from Board Game Hits for solo play, praised for its blend of theme, mechanics, and flexibility. Its cooperative nature, where players work as a team with no competition, and the ability to customize decks between games, have contributed to its lasting appeal among both solo and group gamers.
Did You Know?
- The core set includes five heroes: Iron Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk.
- The game has four Aspects: Justice, Leadership, Aggression, and Protection.
- Players can customize villain scenarios by choosing different encounter sets or using only one of the villain's forms.
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