General #
Can you play Marvel Champions: The Card Game solo? #
Yes, Marvel Champions is playable solo. The game includes instructions for playing by yourself as a single hero, but many players like to control two heroes. You might be interested in reading more in our comparison of the two solo play styles.
Is Marvel Champions good solo? #
Yes, Marvel Champions: The Card Game can be played solo and it is excellent for solo play! Its design as a Living Card Game® (LCG®) makes it adaptable, replayable, and perfect for solo players who enjoy deck-building and tackling challenges on their own terms. It is a favorite game among solo board gamers and consistently earns a spot on Top 10 solo board game lists. Read our Marvel Champions: The Card Game solo review to learn more.
Why is solo so hard? #
New players may have a hard time winning at first when playing solo. If you are struggling to win, here are a few things to try:
- Are you certain you haven’t missed any key rules? Sometimes, a rules misunderstanding can make the game harder. Look up common rules mistakes that beginners make to be sure you haven’t missed any details.
- Have you tried deck-building? Pre-constructed heroes can sometimes be weak or not suitable for true solo mode. When you’re playing with a single hero, that hero’s deck needs to be well-rounded to deal damage, thwart, and defend. Most hero pre-constructed decks are proficient in one or two of those aspects.
- If you’re playing with one hero, true solo, games can be kind of swingy. A bad draw from the villain deck can be crippling or could outright end the game quickly. If that happens just try again or try playing two-handed which can avoid a lot of the swingy-ness.
Is Marvel Champions: The Card Game a TCG? #
No, Marvel Champions is not a trading card game (TCG) nor a collectable card game (CCG). It is what Fantasy Flight Games refers to as a Living Card Game® (LCG®). It offers a dynamic, evolving, and expanding game system, but it does not involve blind-buy purchases and customers customers can pick and choose to buy the content they’re interested in.
How long does a game of Marvel Champions take? #
A game of Marvel Champions can take between 30 minutes to 90 minutes. If you are playing solo and with one hero, you can often complete a game in under 30 minutes. The game can take longer as you add more players.
Gameplay #
Is recovery a basic power? #
Yes, recovery or Recover is a basic power that can be used in alter-ego form by exhausting the alter-ego character.
What is surge? #
What is Standard 2, Standard 3, Expert 2, etc? #
In Marvel Champions, you must include a Standard or Expert encounter set as a part of a villains deck when you play. The Marvel Champions core set came with the original Standard and Expert encounter sets with the expert being recommended to add more difficulty to your games. New Marvel Champions content has added additional Standard and Expert sets making the original sets Standard 1 and Expert 1. There now exist three Standard sets and two Expert sets. Non-intuitively, the difficulty order for these sets from easiest to hardest is: Standard 1 < Standard 3 < Expert 1 < Standard 2 < Expert 2.
Can you defend or block indirect damage? #
No, you cannot defend against indirect damage. You can only defend against attacks. Indirect damage is not usually the result of an attack.
Can allies defend? #
Yes, you can exhaust an ally you control to defend against an attack targeting your hero or the hero of another player.
What is steady? #
A character with the steady keyword can be given one additional stunned status card and one additional confused status card. The character must have two stunned status cards to be considered stunned and they must have two confused status cards to be considered confused.
What is piercing? #
An attack that includes the piercing keyword removes any tough status cards from the target before applying damage.
What is stalwart? #
A character with the stalwart keyword is immune to stunned and confused statuses.
Expansions #
Does Marvel Champions have a campaign? #
While the Marvel Champions Core Set box does not come with a campaign, you can buy campaign expansions. As of January 2025, there are seven campaigns available for Marvel Champions. These are the campaign expansions in release order:
- The Rise of Red Skull
- The Galaxy’s Most Wanted
- The Mad Titan’s Shadow
- Sinister Motives
- Mutant Genesis
- NeXt Evolution
- Age of Apocalypse
The campaigns consist of fives scenarios that are meant to be played in succession with the same heroes. There are stats and effects that carry over into successive scenarios. The scenarios are connected together with a very light narrative.
Which Marvel Champions expansion should I get? #
There are three types of expansions for Marvel Champions:
- Campaign expansions: These consist of 5 scenarios that are connected with a light narrative. You will generally get 5 new villains to play against from those scenarios and modular encounter sets that can be mixed and match to create unique one-off scenarios. You also get two new heroes. This is the most cost-effective type of expansion.
- Scenario pack: These can contain a couple of pre-built scenarios using generally one villain. You also get a few modular encounter sets to build your own custom scenarios.
- Hero packs: A hero pack contains a pre-built hero deck with some additional aspect cards for deck construction or a modular encounter set.
While a campaign expansion is most cost effective, I find that I get the most fun and replayability from new heroes. I would recommend buying individual heroes that really resonate with you. If the villains start to feel stale, a campaign box or a scenario pack with villains that sound interesting to you would be the next recommendation.
How many heroes are there in Marvel Champions? #
As of January 2025, there are 55 playable heroes in Marvel Champions: The Card Game. According to Fantasy Flight Games, the are still more heroes that will be released in the future. Here is the current list of heroes:
- Adam Warlock
- Angel (Warren Worthington III)
- Ant-Man (Scott Lang)
- Bishop (Lucas Bishop)
- Black Panther (T’Challa)
- Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
- Cable (Nathan Summers)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers)
- Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
- Colossus (Piotr Rasputin)
- Cyclops (Scott Summers)
- Deadpool (Wade Wilson)
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- Domino (Neena Thurman)
- Drax
- Gambit (Remy LeBeau)
- Gamora
- Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy)
- Groot
- Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
- Hulk (Bruce Banner)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake)
- Ironheart (Riri Williams)
- Iron Man (Tony Stark)
- Jubilee (Jubilation Lee)
- Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde)
- Magik (Illyana Rasputin)
- Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr)
- Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
- Nebula
- Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)
- Nova (Sam Alexander)
- Phoenix (Jean Grey)
- Psylocke (Betsy Braddock)
- Rocket Raccoon
- Rogue (Anna Marie)
- Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)
- Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)
- She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters)
- Spectrum (Monica Rambeau)
- SP//dr (Peni Parker)
- Spider-Ham (Peter Porker)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
- Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
- Star-Lord (Peter Quill)
- Storm (Ororo Munroe)
- Thor (Thor Odinson)
- Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)
- Venom (Flash Thompson)
- Vision
- War Machine (James Rhodes)
- Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne)
- Wolverine (Logan)
- X-23 (Laura Kinney)
Organization #
Are there supposed to be dividers included in the Marvel Champions Core Set? #
You may have noticed indentations in the Marvel Champions Core Set box insert. No, card dividers are not supposed to be included in the Core Set box. Those indentations aren’t really suitable for dividers based on the distribution of card types. Instead, you may want to buy your own dividers or you can even print your own dividers specific for this game.
How to store Marvel Champions? #
My recommendation is the BCW Shoe Storage Box or a similar construction of a different brand. I find that this size and type of storage is durable, easy to handle, and cost effective. As your collection grows you can add additional boxes or upgrade to a larger box size if you prefer. I use these plastic dividers that I’ve labeled with stickers so I can reuse the dividers if I choose. I find the divider categories from Dividers Central to be sufficient for my organization needs.
What is the best way to logging plays of Marvel Champions? #
If you are interested in logging your Marvel Champions play sessions to keep track of you win and loss rates, favorite heroes, or other interesting stats, there are a few tools out there that can help. There are general tools for recording board game play sessions like Log Play feature on BoardGameGeek or the Board Game Stats app. The Marvel Champions Tracker is even better though if you want a UI and stats that are tailored specifically for Marvel Champions.
Comparisons #
Marvel Champions vs Marvel Legendary #
Marvel Champions offers a deeper, more thematic experience for players who want to step into the shoes of their favorite Marvel heroes. Each hero has their own unique deck, allowing you to feel their personality and abilities through gameplay. You’ll face off against iconic villains, managing their schemes while customizing your strategies. The game shines in its ability to make each turn feel like a meaningful battle between hero and villain.
Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, on the other hand, is more about assembling a dream team of Marvel heroes. Instead of playing as a specific character, you build a deck filled with heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine, or Captain Marvel, and work to stop a mastermind’s villainous plans. It makes you feel more like Nick Fury assembling your team of heroes to face the crisis at hand. The game’s deck-building mechanics are straightforward and accessible, making it easier to learn and play. However, this approach sacrifices some of the individual thematic depth found in Marvel Champions, as the focus is more on combos and strategy than on embodying a single hero.
Both games offer a variety of villains and scenarios, and they approach replayability in similar ways. In Marvel Champions, you choose a villain and pair them with modular encounter sets. In Marvel Legendary, you select a Mastermind, a scheme, and a henchmen group. In both cases, you’re essentially deciding on the “who” and “what” behind the crisis you’ll face, creating a unique challenge each time you play.
| Marvel Champions | Marvel Legendary |
|---|---|
| Cooperative living card game with deck construction | Semi-cooperative deck-building game |
| Play as a specific hero with a unique deck | Assemble a team of heroes; you don’t embody one hero |
| Strong individual hero identity and narrative | Broad thematic feel but less personal connection to heroes |
| Medium complexity; requires learning hero-specific decks | Easier to learn. Traditional deck-building mechanics |
| High replayability with modular villains, encounter sets, and hero decks | High replayability with numerous expansions offering endless combinations |
Marvel Champions vs Marvel United #
Marvel United is easier to learn and play, making it a great choice for those seeking a more casual or gateway board game. It offers a touch of crunchy gameplay while remaining approachable. However, for players who don’t mind a bit more complexity, Marvel Champions provides a richer thematic experience and more satisfying gameplay.
While the Marvel United system is well-designed, it offers fewer opportunities for heroes to feel truly unique–each hero’s deck includes only a handful of thematic cards. In contrast, Marvel Champions excels at creating a strong sense of individuality for its heroes and allows for highly customizable gameplay. Marvel United villain scenarios are interesting and thematic too, but they are fixed designs. In Marvel Champions, you can mix villains with modular encounter sets to create many unique scenarios for your favorite villain.
Both games feature thematic and engaging villain scenarios, but Marvel Champions stands out for those who want deeper gameplay and more creative control.
| Marvel Champions | Marvel United |
|---|---|
| Complex turns | Simple turns |
| More complex to learn | Easier for new and casual gamers to learn |
| More thematic | Light, but good use of theme |
| Card game | Card and miniatures game |
| Comic book art style | Chibi art style |
| Deck construction | Pick a hero and play |
| Customizable scenarios | Fixed villain scenario designs |
