Being new to the coop-side of the LCG universe, I'm not at all familiar with the range of existing scenario mechanics that have been implemented before in LOTR and Arkham.

As I've said in another thread, I'm quite pleased that the Marvel Champions designers are already going beyond the simplest version of the encounter deck framework: a main scheme and deck of cards with dual function (encounter or boost). Rhino belongs to that simplistic design space and that's fine, he is the starter scenario after all. I would add Klaw to that basic paradigm as well, because his quirk is simply to draw more boost cards. That makes him a lot harder in practice but my point is not so much the difficulty level as the fact that his scenario still plays exactly within the predictable space of the standard encounter framework.

Ultron is the first scenario we have that comes from thinking outside the box: he "steals" cards from your hero deck to create disposable minions.

Risky Business features a villain with an alter-ego. (Let's note that Mutagen Formula is indeed a "vanilla" version of the Green Goblin).

The Wrecking Crew scenario is a straight up brawl with four villains.

I really, really like that they are doing that. What kind of other tricks do you think is likely to happen, based on your experience with LOTR and Arkham?

I was myself thinking about encounter cards that when revealed go into your hand to reduce your effective hand size.

I'd like to know what you guys think is likely to happen, based on the other cooperative LCGs!

I'm hoping for rescue missions. They're going to have to tweak them from the way they work in LOTR because each player plays three heroes in that game and typically loses one at the beginning of a rescue scenario. From the little I've played of AH, and watching the Marvel movies again, I'd love to see the idea of travel involved. Not exactly like in AH, where you have a bunch of location cards set out, but maybe the environment card changes at a certain point during the scenario. I could see that working really well with campaign boxes since they cover multiple scenarios. I'd also like to see a Civil War-type campaign box, where everybody has to choose a side. Or even a scenario where, when the scheme flips to the next stage, the heroes become separated (into either groups of two or individually) and try to reunite and beat the villain before the final stage happens. That's just what I've got off the top of my head.

As I tell in another tread I wish a hero could also have encounter decks. For me Hulk is both a heroes and a menace. And he should have both possibility in the game. Someone talk about missions who will be different if your lose or win, I want to have that in the game too. And I want mission that could be for any vilain. A « Vilain on the Run » should add some campaign feeling. And bystanders or allies in dangers.

There's tons they could do.

• Civilians in the encounter deck, as ally cards, that come into play and you have to protect/rescue them somehow
• Minions could have Crisis, Hazard or Acceleration tokens
• Much greater diversity of new games text on Side Schemes, rather than them just being some combination of X starting threat and Y bad symbol -
• 'Threat X' as a new keyword on minions - they come into play with X threat and it counts towards the main scheme threshold
• An encounter with tons of side schemes
• Attachments from the encounter deck that attach to player elements - such as allies, supports, upgrades, your identity card - like cards that exhaust an ally and prevent them from readying
• Sets of cards that specifically punish allies and/or give the villain more Overkill
• Sets of cards that more actively disrupt your board, rather than simply add more threat or deal more damage
• Hulk as a Villain/Scenario
• More environment cards to add new 'global' rules to game
• 1A schemes with set up rules that create new Villain 'team ups' along with environment cards that establish rules for who is the active villain a la Wrecking Crew

Just thinking on this some more. I love the game, I'm on 80+ plays - but one criticism that's slowly crystallizing in my mind is that too much of the villain/scenario design so far is simply throwing up roadblocks (admittedly I haven't played either Goblin scenario yet).

By that, I mean that the game generally asks you to:

1) manage threat and 2) reduce the villain's HP

At the minute, the vast majority of the villain/scenario design is some variation of 'roadblock' i.e something that simply gets in the way of the above objectives, and must be dealt with before addressing the main objective once more. So it might be a minion with tough/guard. Or a big minion that's a problem like Tiger Shark or MODOK. Or a side scheme with a crisis symbol or whatever.

Even big swings from the game - such as an unanticipated Scheme or Attack from the Villain, or a 3 boost pips, acts as an effective roadblock, because you then have to lose tempo, flip back and Recover.

There's very little that actually 'attacks' you or your stuff. Your board doesn't really get disrupted.

This means that most games follow a similar arc, whereby the player(s) are trying to get to the mid/late game as soon as possible whilst not losing to threat in the meantime. You face and defeat the roadblocks along the way, build up your board with upgrades, supports and allies, and then the end game is playing your attack events. Often I win the game with a huge turn of 20+ damage, even more so in multiplayer.

I'd like to see more effects that attack you and disrupt your cards and board state.

5 minutes ago, jonboyjon1990 said:

Just thinking on this some more. I love the game, I'm on 80+ plays - but one criticism that's slowly crystallizing in my mind is that too much of the villain/scenario design so far is simply throwing up roadblocks (admittedly I haven't played either Goblin scenario yet).

By that, I mean that the game generally asks you to:

1) manage threat and 2) reduce the villain's HP

At the minute, the vast majority of the villain/scenario design is some variation of 'roadblock' i.e something that simply gets in the way of the above objectives, and must be dealt with before addressing the main objective once more. So it might be a minion with tough/guard. Or a big minion that's a problem like Tiger Shark or MODOK. Or a side scheme with a crisis symbol or whatever.

Even big swings from the game - such as an unanticipated Scheme or Attack from the Villain, or a 3 boost pips, acts as an effective roadblock, because you then have to lose tempo, flip back and Recover.

There's very little that actually 'attacks' you or your stuff. Your board doesn't really get disrupted.

This means that most games follow a similar arc, whereby the player(s) are trying to get to the mid/late game as soon as possible whilst not losing to threat in the meantime. You face and defeat the roadblocks along the way, build up your board with upgrades, supports and allies, and then the end game is playing your attack events. Often I win the game with a huge turn of 20+ damage, even more so in multiplayer.

I'd like to see more effects that attack you and disrupt your cards and board state.

If LOTR and AH are anything to go by, we're going to see a lot more variation in the future. I've been playing through the saga expansions with a group in LOTR and they've managed to do some pretty insanely innovative things with the game mechanics. I'd say that we're getting a taste of that already with the way the first GG scenario flips back and forth between Norman Osborne and GG, and Wrecking Crew looks to up the ante.

3 hours ago, jonboyjon1990 said:

Just thinking on this some more. I love the game, I'm on 80+ plays - but one criticism that's slowly crystallizing in my mind is that too much of the villain/scenario design so far is simply throwing up roadblocks (admittedly I haven't played either Goblin scenario yet).

I hear you. Your 'roadblock' analysis makes a lot of sense to me, and I don't mind that for now. But it is interesting to think of what else could happen, such as the rescue missions idea. Maybe something with locations might be feasible too.

Risky Business is quite fun and plays out a bit differently than the core villains but you remain within the 'roadblock' framework and as normal the gist of your decision-making is still tactical. You have to think a bit more with Risky Business, because of the back and forth between Osborn and the Goblin. As a matter of fact I've sat down this weekend to play Justice She-Hulk against Expert Risky Business and I lost after a mere four minutes of play, during the very first villain phase. I just played imprudently.

12 hours ago, jonboyjon1990 said:

I'd like to see more effects that attack you and disrupt your cards and board state.

When I first looked through the encounter decks I was surprised to see only one Caught Off Guard in there since it really felt like a 'basic' disruption effect for villains that could have been given a second copy like Advance and Assault. There is potential to make certain villains lean extra hard into particular kinds of board hate. If they want to make a villain who excels at getting rid of allies and persona supports, Carnage springs to mind.

Well i think one of the new encounter sets has a basic card gang up within it, so that shows other villains or encounter sets could have an extra caught of guard or masterplan or whatever.

I am very intrested in the hostage/rescue situations stated by others sounds very intresting.

Also i cant wait for just a really basic bank robbery as an encounter set, that will just make me laugh.

They have not touched the Maggia yet, that will be nice.