by dr00
Looking for some quick tips to help your deckbuilding for Marvel Champions? Well, this is the article for you. Whether you are new to the hobby, a veteran of game theory, or if you just absolutely hate deckbuilding, this article will (hopefully) have a little bit for everyone. This article will cover the basic tenets of deckbuilding and give tips on how to continually improve your deckbuilding game. Let’s begin.
The number one rule for deckbuilding is to have fun. I know this sounds a bit pedantic, but this is a game after all. You need to be having fun. If you hate deckbuilding, don’t do it! And that’s fine if don’t like deckbuilding, copying decks from others, using the preconstructed decks (precons), or whatever it is. It’s your game and no one can force you play it any way you don’t want to. Just try to find what works for you. I’m not here to tell you how to play, but to give you some options. So with that in mind, let’s look at some places you can begin.
For people looking for a quick and easy way to ‘solve’ deckbuilding, I have some good news and bad news. Bad news first: the bad news is there is no easy solution. Which scenario, what heroes, how many players, which aspects... so many things contribute to the efficacy of a deck and the logic of its design, and there is no one deck to rule them all. But with that out of the way, this game actually has one of the best introductions to people who are new to the genre: the precons. Every hero has a precon, and if you hate deckbuilding or don’t know where to start, just start with that. If you maybe think ‘oh, I don’t like this card, I’ll try this other card instead,’ congratulations: you’ve just built your first deck. Sure, it’s derivative of the precon, but you made that choice; you built that deck. Be proud of it, because you can only go up from here. The precons aren’t the only options, however.
There are many talented people building decks on places like MarvelCDB. I have a lot of experience playing card games. I started with Lord of the Rings back in 2014 and then Netrunner later the same year. I even won quite a few tournaments. In my five or so years of playing Netrunner competitively, I only made one deck entirely from scratch. And honestly, that’s totally ok. If you find a deck you like on MarvelCDB and build upon that, you’re just taking all of their time and experience and using that as a starting point instead of starting from scratch yourself. I love making decks for this game, but I don’t have enough time to do it all, so I will very often take what other people are doing and build from them. This is an invaluable tool, but if you’re a person who doesn’t want to ‘cheat’ by just copying decks from an online database, don’t just copy them. Make them your own! Remember to just have fun, whatever that is for you. This brings us to our final point.
Deckbuilding is a process. Remember when I said there was no easy fix? That’s because a deck could also be better. If you play enough times with any deck, you’ll start making changes, even if you don’t buy any new cards and continue to play the same scenarios. Over time, you get used to the deck more and more and make subtle little tweaks here and there. Remember that every published deck on MarvelCDB was just the best idea at that time of writing. If I waited until all my decks were absolutely perfect, I’d never have posted anything, but don’t think that this is something you must do. Don’t force it. Just play and experiment with things and try to see what works and what doesn’t. Just pick up a deck and play. You’ll learn really quickly if your deck is working or not, and when your deck is running smoothly, you’ll make fewer and fewer tweaks until you buy some new cards. And this brings us to rule number two:
Just play! Don’t get lost in your own head about making things absolutely perfect before you even sit down at the table. Just play. Then make changes. Then play again. If you lose, you’ll learn a lot; the villain will definitely let you know what cards you need to look out for. Remember that deckbuilding is a process, and it requires experience, not theories. The more you play, the naturally better you will get at most aspects of this game, including deckbuilding.
So remember: first and foremost, have fun. If you’re not having fun, nothing else matters. Secondly, if you don’t like deckbuilding, that’s fine, just start with a precon or something from one of the many talented deckbuilders on MarvelCDB. Thirdly, if you make even one change, you’re deckbuilding. It’s really that easy. And don’t feel that you have to make everything from scratch, because I promise you that few people have the time or desire to do so. And finally, deckbuilding is a process that you’ll get better at over time; and if you want to get better at it, remember rule number two: just start playing.
Huge thanks to dr00 contributing to the side scheme continuing our Honorary Avengers series highlighting guest authors. He is also author to some well-known decks on MarvelCDB, such as:
“Smells Like Teen Angst in the Mosh Pit” (Ms. Marvel Aggression), https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/280/smells-like-teen-angst-in-the-mosh-pit-2.0
“Wakanda Forever and Ever and Ever and Ever an-” (Black Panther Leadership),https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/449/wakanda-forever-and-ever-and-ever-and-ever-an-1.0
“So Easy a Hulk Can Do It” (Hulk Aggression) https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/3411/so-easy-a-hulk-can-do-it-1.0