What is Marvel Champions? It’s the new cooperative living card game from Fantasy Flight Games, with the Marvel license. You take control of a hero from the Marvel universe and attempt to defeat a scenario represented by a major villain, such as Rhino in the Core Set. Every hero has its own signature cards that must be included when building a deck for that hero, while the remainder of the deck is made up of whichever aspect is chosen: Justice, Leadership, Aggression, or Protection. In this way, you can play your favorite hero in whatever role best complements the team.

How do I get started in Marvel Champions?

To start playing, you will need a single Core Set. Unlike past LCGs, one Core Set provides a full playset of cards and four fully-playable decks. This is the best starting point that we’ve seen for an LCG. If you’d like to learn more or lock in your order, we have Core Sets available at their minimum price, with an exclusive Covenant strategy guide included.

New content is added to the game through three different expansion types: Hero Packs, Scenario Packs, and Campaign Expansions. Hero Packs are the basic expansion of the game, and include a hero with a fully playable deck from one aspect – the cards of which can also be used in any other deck. Scenario Packs are the inverse of Hero Packs, in that they introduce new enemies and stories to explore. Campaign Expansions are bigger expansions that introduce more robust and potentially self-contained themes. We know very little about them, but our expectation is that something like an X-Men or Guardians of the Galaxy Campaign Expansion is the kind of thing we’ll see.

Below are the questions we’ve gathered and answered!

What is Marvel Champions LCG release date?

The Marvel Champions LCG released on November 1st, 2019.

How many Core Sets do I need to buy?

One! In a game like Arkham Horror or Legend of the Five Rings, you need three Core Sets to have a full playset of the Core cards. In Marvel Champions, one Core Set is all that you need to have every card at its max quantity.

Which heroes are in the Core Set?

The Core Set includes Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and She-Hulk.

If you are interested in knowing exactly what comes in the Core Set, check out this chapter of our Learning Series. You can watch unboxing videos for all five of the Core Set heroes, their nemesis cards, the four aspects, and all of the neutral cards!

How many cards are in a Marvel Champions deck?

You can include between 40 and 50 cards in your deck. Smaller decks will be more consistent but will cycle more often (which causes an additional encounter card!).

How does deckbuilding work?

First, you choose your preferred hero, who brings 15 signature cards that must be included in your deck. Then, you choose an aspect – Justice, Leadership, Aggression, or Protection. The remaining 25-35 cards in your deck must be of your chosen aspect. For instance, you could play Justice Spider-Man, which would be the 15 Spider-Man signature cards and 25-35 Justice cards – or you could play Protection Spider-Man, which would be the 15 Spider-Man signature cards and 25-35 Protection cards.

This is one of the best parts of the game. You can play your favorite hero in any of the four roles, so you never have to sacrifice theme for team efficacy. In the next chapter, you can watch a gameplay video where we actually build our decks at the first of the video!

Can you mix different aspects in your deck?

No. You choose one aspect and only cards from that aspect can be included.

How do resources work?

Every card has a cost in the top left, and the resources generated in the bottom left. When you’re playing a card, you must discard other cards from your hand until the total resource icons match or exceed the cost. So every card in your hand can either be played or used as a resource to pay for other cards.

Is there an Ally limit?

Yes, there is a cap of three, but certain player cards can increase it.

What has been announced for future releases?

Marvel Champions Expansions will be Hero Packs, Scenario Packs, and Campaign Expansions.

What are Hero Packs? (Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Thor, Black Widow announced)

Estimated to release monthly and be the main unit of distribution for new player cards. Each hero pack contains a new hero with a fully playable deck using a single aspect. Each hero pack also comes with a playset (typically 3 of each) of a new card for all three of the other aspects. You can buy a Hero Pack, open it, and play that deck immediately. You can also open the pack and use everything except a heroes signature cards in your other hero decks.

The first two hero packs to release will feature Captain America and Ms. Marvel, respectively. These will be the second and third releases for the game after the core set, following the Green Goblin Scenario Pack.

What are Scenario Packs? (Green Goblin and Wrecking Crew announced)

Expected to release instead of Hero Packs on some months, including new enemies and scenarios to fight against. Similar to new scenarios in Arkham Horror, for instance. You buy them to explore new stories and have new challenges.

We expect the first release after the core set to be the Green Goblin Scenario pack, which includes two fully playable scenarios in a single pack. The next scenario will release after the first two hero packs (Captain America and Ms. Marvel) and feature the Wrecking Crew.

What are Campaign Expansions?

Bigger, thematic boxes for significant story arcs. We’re guessing there might be an Avengers Campaign Expansion, X-Men Campaign Expansion, Guardians of the Galaxy Campaign Expansion, etc. Could be totally wrong, but that makes the most sense! Or they could be more like Infinity War Campaign Expansion, like the Saga Expansions from Lord of the Rings.

You can find the Marvel Champions Core Set and Subscriptions for all of these product types on our store!

Can you play two heroes with the same aspect with one Core Set?

No. While you can definitely have multiple heroes playing the same aspect, there are only enough cards in the Core Set to build one deck at a time with each aspect.

Can you play two heroes with the same aspect if we have multiple Core Sets?

Yes! The only restriction is that you cannot play heroes with the same alter-ego title. As long as you have the cards to build the decks, players can use whichever aspect they wish.

Where can I see the rules or learn how to play the game?

The easiest way to learn how to play is in our next chapter, where we have videos of our first few play sessions and our first experience with building decks.