My First Hero in Marvel Champions: The Card Game
Zoom, thud, and whoosh into peril with classic heroes and dastardly villains in Marvel Champions: The Card Game.
Finally! I tend to steer clear of the comic book genre of heroes, partially due to the content not interesting me as much as some others. But my husband and I have picked up everything for Marvel Champions: The Card Game so far… And barely touched it. With so much praise for it and the desire to fight evil, I decided to get it all to my game table at last!
Game Overview
Game Name: Marvel Champions: The Card Game
Publication Year: 2019
Designers: Michael Boggs, Nate French, and Caleb Grace
Artist: Uncredited
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The whole idea of deck construction is an intriguing one, and I have a whole slew of other games to try out! One of the more appealing elements here is the fact that each hero has a recommended deck. It may not be the best one possible, yet it’s designed to work well. So without that step, I felt ready to swoosh into my first play!
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
Starting with T’Challa
My biggest issue with this solo board game is the subject matter… I know next to nothing about the Marvel universe. I’ve seen a handful of movies, and that’s it.
I almost wish the game included a short biography of each hero with corresponding details about nemeses and side schemes. That would help me… And maybe just me!
The typical recommendation is to begin with Spiderman or Captain Marvel. But not me. I wanted Black Panther.
Actually, it came down to alphabetizing the base set. Silly, I know, but T’Challa looked pretty amazing!
The One-Sided Rhino
Here we go with my lack of Marvel knowledge. I had no idea who Rhino was… So this just reminded me of James and the Giant Peach. Appalling, I know. Ha ha!
I’ve played a handful of times with others, so this wasn’t entirely new to me. It was still nice to start over, though.
In terms of immersion, my lack of Marvel wisdom made me feel a little alienated from the content. But go with me here for a moment, for it’s not all bad.
Some kind of narrative might have been difficult to come by, yet I was still excited to get started. Whoosh!
Black Panther Down
My opening was fantastic! As in, 10 minutes later, Black Panther was defeated by Rhino. Oh, yikes.
First thoughts? This was way too random with the way the cards were dealt out. How in the world was I going to get anywhere if I couldn’t even get past Rhino I?
Honestly, I thought about packing it all up at this point. Yet I took a step back and remembered one very important thing about me as a board game player… I lose a lot. A LOT!
Plus I had no experience with this deck, and clearly needed to work on my own strategy. Back to the drawing board.
Revenge of the Nemesis
Things started to turn around once I thought carefully through the cards. I had some definite synergies, as well as a longer-term strategy with the upgrades.
I kept the main scheme relatively clear and ensured that Black Panther didn’t suffer from too much health loss.
It was looking good! Until fantastic Killmonger showed up to try to usurp the throne. Come on! That required some immediate attention, which served as a distraction.
Excuse me, Rhino… Did you employ my nemesis? There was actually a slight storyline there. And another loss!
Hydra, Why?!
T’Challa had a little extra sass than usual as he looked out at me from his alter-ego card. I was doing his name no good as Rhino just rolled right over him. Thud!
This time, I whittled away Rhino to get to his second card. Over halfway there, things took a turn for the worse.
A side scheme popped up at the wrong time. This lovely Hydra mercenary showed up to defeat Black Panther.
Like Carol Danvers, I, too, wondered what Hydra was doing here. More importantly, I wondered who Carol and Hydra even were… But I digress. Back to the beginning!
An Evolving Opinion Over the Course of Play
It was actually really interesting to keep track of my opinions about the game. At first, I wanted to blame my losses on bad luck and too much randomization. It’s a natural instinct because I can be a sore loser, even when playing solo. Ha ha! But that wasn’t fair to the game, especially since it’s not designed to be a walk in the park.
The stories didn’t really happen, although I wasn’t expecting a change there. Instead, it felt more like a puzzle in optimization. I learned a little more about the deck with each play. Little by little, I felt myself improving and making better decisions. And it was fun! I was challenging myself and actually getting closer to victory.
This was all with just a small portion of the cards, too. Before I was into my fourth play, I knew this was going to give me almost endless challenges to work at. It was a pretty awesome turnaround in my overall thoughts!
Collecting Upgrades
The simple resource system with the cards made it easy to figure out how to afford upgrades… Almost. Giving up some of those cards was pretty difficult!
At last, I had a pretty good thing going. Black Panther was in fine fighting form, while his alter-ego side had plenty of options. I was managing it all pretty well.
My only concern was the size of my dwindling deck. Reshuffling was going to impose a bad penalty.
But still. I had Rhino up against the ropes with just a little health left to his name. Swoosh! Bang! Boom!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Black Panther (Protection) vs. Rhino I/II
Required Play Space: 22″ x 20″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 10-20 Minutes per Play
Outcome: 4 Losses
An immediate encounter came out, which just so happened to be Sandman. This nightmare of a minion sealed the fate of the main scheme just before the villain phase. Another loss. I’ll get you next time, Rhino! I hope…
%
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
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
How has your experience been with Marvel Champions: The Card Game? I feel like it would be even better if I knew where to start with getting an overview of the heroes and villains. Do you have any recommendations for relatively short reading? I fear reading all of the comic books might not be feasible for me at this point. Ha ha! Next time, Rhino…
I mentioned on BGG, that Justice is better to start with as a solo player, because you can manage the threat better while you get your feet under you. Leadership is also good, because you can get allies out easier to help handle things for your hero while you establish your base. I struggle with Protection more because you’re supposed to stay in hero mode, soak up damage, then heal or heal your allies to keep blocking more. Protection prevents threat by staying hero mode so the villain schemes less (Advanced card can still happen).
I thoroughly enjoy this game, and it has probably become my #1 solo game over Terraforming Mars. I think one of the reasons is that I like tableau builders, and this actually has that with rewarding combos and synergies. The theme helps for me as well, since I grew up on Marvel in my teens. I also really enjoy how the theme really manifests in how each hero plays differently from each other and reflect their comic persona. Designers did an excellent job with this.
Definitely some excellent advice, Jay! I guess I just made it extra difficult for myself. I’ve been going back in over the course of the last few days. Play time is very quick! But maybe that’s why I’m losing so often. Ha ha! I nearly made it with a single play when Rhino was down to 3 health. I’ll get there soon enough!
I’m interested to see how things play out with other combinations, too. I can see the many possibilities, and appreciate how much variety is present. There should be some Marvel movies, TV shows, comics, and/or cartoons in my future so I can get into the theme even more!