Hi all! It’s me Tommy of Titan again. Back to talk about my favorite cooperative card game Marvel Champions! Today I’d like to talk about something that I’ve learned over the course of playing this game that’s not quite as clear as some of the other lessons you may have learned. I’m talking about the hidden value of hero form.
What’s so hidden about the value of hero form you might ask. Well, to really see the hidden value we must break down win conditions. Obviously, the players will win if and only if they defeat the villain. This alone adds value to the hero form since most of the damage dealt comes from attacks. Either exhausting your hero or playing hero action cards are the main examples of this. Outside of that the other way decks deal lots of damage is with allies which is another value discussion entirely. So, in short, it’s always good to deal damage to the villain. However, this isn’t really the hidden value I was speaking of.
Ok so now let’s talk about the villain’s win conditions. There’s the one where the villain simply KO’s all the players. If you spend a lot of time in hero form it is certainly more likely that the villain will KO someone. I would argue however that it is far tougher for the villain to KO heroes than it is for them to accomplish their diabolical plan which is the second win condition for the baddies. For starters the characters typically always have more health cumulatively than the total amount of scheme required for the final step of the scheme to be completed. Now I know there is often multiple schemes that the villain needs to get through before completing the final stage but, flipping into the next phase of the scheme is often tied to a detrimental effect for the players. In addition to this, there is a static amount of threat that will be placed each round at the beginning of the villain phase. This number can also be increased by the villain cycling through their encounter deck, the number of players at the start of the game or enhanced by side schemes (shameless self-promotion). There is, currently, no such effect that will continually decrease the health of the players round after round.
So, we’ve talked about the continually increase of your impending doom. Now let’s talk about how when you’re in Alter-ego the villain schemes and what you can do about it. Well, basically you can’t do anything unless you’re Jennifer Walters or you’ve packed your deck with Emergency (not really recommended) Oh and let’s not forget about the chance that the villain schemes more with cards like Advance. All of this makes managing threat out of your control during portions of the game (basically the villain phase).
Now let’s compare how little control you have over threat being placed to how much control you have over how much damage you and the rest of the players in the game take. Villains tend to have a higher Attack value than Scheme, so it’s a good thing that there’s a bunch of ways to prevent damage. The obvious first option is to block using your Defense value which your hero has conveniently just reset for. Of course, there is the down side of exhaustion but reducing damage is worth it in the right spots. This is clearly not always the right thing to do though. You may be playing alongside a Protection player using cards like Indomitable allowing them to ready after defending. Plus, they typically have the higher defensive values anyway so why not let them block for you. The far more efficient way to block damage is with an ally. The ally doesn’t even have to be yours. Of course, it’s always optimal to block with an ally that has 1 life remaining or a Nick Fury who will leave play anyway, but sometimes the situation will call for you to block with an ally prematurely.
In addition to these blocking options you have a plethora of cards that’s add to defense values, heal characters, or just flat out block damage. While not all of them can trigger or be played in the villain phase you still have way more options than you do when the villain is scheming.
So, what is it I’m trying to say, if I’m saying anything at all? Welcome back! To the Stark Expo! (Sorry, Iron-man 2 joke for my brother). Basically, being in hero form will lower the amount of threat the villain places on the scheme each turn. This means you can spend more time advancing your win condition (dealing damage) and less time stifling the villains plans (removing threat). Now, I’m not saying to ignore alter-ego at all, I just think that you need multiple reasons to flip into that form for it to be effective. Ms. Marvel is a great example of this. So, in summary, just be aware of the additional dangers that come with flipping into that form and please, please, PLEASE; try not to be in Alter-ego form the same time as your teammates without considering the ramifications. If you’re like me and you find this helping you manage threat levels, you’ll start to look at cards and even characters differently. Cards that require you to be in Alter-ego lose a little something in my eyes and characters that like to flip every turn often must walk a fine line and spend more time managing threat.
I hope this wasn’t too long winded or too boring of a read. I found it to be a very important part of how I have been playing the game and it’s really helped my play group come out on top in a lot of scenarios. Until next time, I’m Tommy of Titan signing off
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