Klawing a Path to Victory in the Tales of Marvel Champions
Encounter all sorts of minions and villains in the epic battles and stories that can be found in Marvel Champions: The Card Game.
I’m determined to stick with Marvel Champions: The Card Game for a bit, so it was onto the next base game villain… Klaw! There was still an overarching story that felt like it continued on from my first play with my decks for Captain Marvel and Spider-Man. Excited to work out this new puzzle, I swapped out a few encounter sets and… Zip zap! To my solo table!
Game Overview
Game Name: Marvel Champions: The Card Game
Publication Year: 2019
Designers: Michael Boggs, Nate French, and Caleb Grace
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Heroes take on a villain and have to carefully manage health and threat… But there’s so much more! Decks can be customized before play, either completely from scratch or via pre-constructed card lists. Each play feels like a puzzle that puts every hero to the test within an engaging story.
First Play
August 8, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
July 21, 2025
Expansions
53
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
31
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
N/A
Game Area
36" x 22"
Low Score
N/A
Lead from the Front!
Hold on there for a second, Carol. If you followed the first matchup with this duo, she was confused most of the time. “Threat? What threat? Rhino is just randomly attacking!”
So this matchup against Klaw began with a stern talking-to about how there was a much bigger plot in play.
Naturally, Captain Marvel decided to jump out ahead and focus on damage. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t convinced…
But eagle-eyed readers may see lurking trouble in the background. Oh, and don’t mind Spider-Man’s absence… He did a lot behind-the-scenes and let Captain Marvel shine!
Is That Enough Threat?
Klaw and the Masters of Evil changed everything up, and I had to try to adjust to their scheming! As expected, that didn’t exactly pan out… I guess I maximized the threat? Ha!
Although this was a loss after a lot of battling, it was my own fault for not keeping the side schemes under control.
There was a time when I had a chance to manage it all… Yet let’s just blame a certain nemesis set for causing trouble.
Pretty sure this convinced Captain Marvel that there was more going on here! But the appearance of The Psyche-Magnitron made me think her confusion was manipulated.
Vulture, The Criminal
I’m still enjoying the Standard III set, which creates a sort of ominous danger as nemeses get closer to entering play. Oh, hi! Vulture was one such guest. A very unwelcome one!
Spider-Man was stunned by his appearance, but the side scheme that stole cards from in-hand was the worst.
I just pictured my team on their way to Klaw’s location, only to have Vulture nonchalantly swoop in from overhead.
“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Oh, gross… It’s Vulture.” Ha ha! As frustrated as I was at a few points, there was still a natural sort of storyline that clearly made it not my fault for losing…
Improved Strategies
The situation was far too threatening during the loss, so I figured it was more of a scouting sort of experience. Spider-Man really had to convince Captain Marvel of the danger!
After being more prepared, I made better choices about building up each tableau. Spider-Man actually did help. Ha! Indeed, he was the one who handed over Heroic Intuition.
Captain Marvel called on the Sky-Destroyer and used a ton of allies, like Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, and War Machine.
And if you look really closely, the end of this Klaw matchup featured Energy Channel… And a resounding victory!
Storytelling Without Being a Narrative Game
If there’s one thing I love in a lot of my solo games, it’s telling stories! Many are designed to focus on an ongoing storyline, while others allow these tales to emerge naturally. I’m not someone who knows a lot about the Marvel universe: I have enough of an understanding of some of the more common heroes and villains, but it’s pretty limited for the most part.
So I was a little hesitant about allowing myself to tell stories because I don’t know a lot about everyone. Allies, for instance, don’t necessarily have a connection to the heroes whose decks they’re in… But they do in my mind! That’s what worked so nicely: I had little stories crop up through card play without having to know all of the lore surrounding the Marvel world.
Granted, that means I’m making up strange plots… But isn’t this a universe with multiverses? Yeah, this one is mine and it’s working out really well! I’m engaged with my plays not because this card does this and triggers that card, but because Captain Marvel is still reeling from Vulture’s robbery and needs a moment to properly prepare with this cool helmet!
Session Overview
Play Number: 29 & 30
Expansions: Many (Deck Construction & Standard III)
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Captain Marvel & Spider-Man vs. Klaw
Outcome: 1 Win & 1 Loss
Success! It was a night and day situation with the amount of threat… Didn’t even allow Klaw to advance to the next part of the main scheme. That’s because Captain Marvel was on the case! We’ll see how this pans out for Spider-Man. I feel like he’s more of a supporting cast member, even though he’s immensely useful. What will happen next with Ultron?!
%
30 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
8
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- Different encounter sets and villains drastically change the play experience, creating a new kind of puzzle to solve.
- Balancing attacking and thwarting takes careful planning and is a nice way to encourage unique strategies.
- Figuring out the best ways to use a deck takes a few plays, and even then, different interactions can be discovered.
- Heroes offer their own mechanics and strengths, which can be further improved through deck construction.
- Both true solo and multi-handed play are supported, further allowing the experience to be tailored as desired.
- Although there are tons of expansions, the base game on its own feels like a complete game with lots of variety.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There can be a lot of different cards and effects to keep track of at times, although reminder beads can be very useful.
- Maintaining a neat and organized area takes a bit of effort with the way cards are exhausted or stacked sometimes.
- Some heroes take a few plays to understand their strengths, which might involve re-constructing part of a deck.
- Keywords and terminology are not all laid out in a single spot, so referencing a glossary or printout may be required.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Villain
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Defeat each base game villain with a duo team. (3/3)
Continue the Conversation
What is the most enjoyable part of Marvel Champions: The Card Game for you? Do you enjoy using pre-constructed decks, or making up your own sets based on ideas or strategies? I didn’t think I would be having this much fun after having a few lukewarm starts to the game system in the past… It’s awesome! Looking forward to seeing where this team’s story goes!
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