also:

https://hallofheroeslcg.com/ant-man/

https://hallofheroeslcg.com/wasp/

Ant-Man has a lot of nice stuff. Looks like he will be mechanically interesting with his switching forms, and gives Leadership a lot of nice new options. Thoughts on the new(?) cards:

Hank seems like he'd probably be bad, but being an Avenger in Leadership is pretty much exactly where he needs to be. Except for not working with Rapid Response. I do wonder if we'll ever get anything that benefits from allies dying, would make him and Janet interesting.

Ronin is a fun reference to the identity, but a little too 'gamey'. Uh, except we'd actually need another Ronin for it work. And I'm not actually sure it even does work; uniqueness requires 'different' subtitles, and Ronin doesn't have one. Wonder how many people will think it's a misprint?

Moxie seems really bad for anyone without multiple hero forms. The timing makes it a real hard sell (you essentially have to either get lucky and draw it on the right turn, or keep it between rounds. Feels like even Jessica will be taking a skip on this.

Power Gloves seems good for persistent allies. It's quite a bit better than +1 ATK.

Wasp also seems fun, though less interesting in terms of switching forms. I pretty much hate Pinpoint Strike (or more, I pretty much hate that it makes Hammer Throw look pretty pathetic).

Janet seems pretty good? At least for heroes who can consistently use 3 Energies for her (so Thor, Cap Marvel, Iron Man) for 9 damage over three turns. Though I'm not sure what the **** kind of bizarro world this was designed in where the Wasp gets a base three attack.

Boot Camp looks appealing, but I'm pretty sure it's too expensive. Maybe if we get someone who can cheat more allies with Aggression (So Jessica, for now).

The Power in All of Us. Cheesy as **** name aside, it's The Power of Basic. Could be some interesting uses? I'm sure we'll get someone who likes Basic cards at some stage.

Miles, being basic feels likely to be his saving grace. A 2 ATK/3 Health/3 Cost that brings extra damage/thwart the turn he comes in isn't terrible (he's pretty much just a scaled down version of the Thor in the pack if you go after the villain) and being able to go into anything maybe fills out a deck.

Hah, Army of Ants - I was close.

I don’t think Ronin is intended to be gamey or that there will be another Ronin. It’s just not locking down playing it with other versions of the character (so you can play Ronin with Hawkeye without it being an issue)...

I think it’s more for theme than for anything rules related.

I look forward to the inevitable Justice corollary card that gives all allies +1 THW. And yeah, those types are going to be a staple for any deck. Re: Boot Camp, I love the flavor text, and I’d play it even if it were a 4 cost. The bonus damage is too good to pass up.

Pinpoint Strike is fine, it’s sub-par in Giant form and above par in Tiny form. (I’m a bit surprised it wasn’t form restricted, like Ant-Man’s Giant Stomp, but having it follow a weak/strong format does give some neat choice-making.)

I like the dynamic of Hank and Janet, getting what you put into them. Janet essentially translates into 1 for 3 damage, 1 for 4 with boot camp in play.

Why wasn’t ‘The Power of All of Us’ in the core set? That makes no sense.

24 minutes ago, Hyperjayman said:

Why wasn’t ‘The Power of All of Us’ in the core set? That makes no sense.

Because, at that time, who would put it in there decks? Now that we have more basic cards, the more that they'll get used.

1 hour ago, Venompuppy said:

Because, at that time, who would put it in there decks? Now that we have more basic cards, the more that they'll get used.

I'd have taken it over Tenacity in the starter decks 😋 "Cheaper" Helicarrier, Avengers Mansion, Mockingbird and Nick Fury all sound good to me.

15 minutes ago, Assussanni said:

I'd have taken it over Tenacity in the starter decks 😋 "Cheaper" Helicarrier, Avengers Mansion, Mockingbird and Nick Fury all sound good to me.

Ironically, since Tenacity is both 2 cost and certain to be recurring in your draw, it’s the better target for the card.

17 hours ago, FearLord said:

I don’t think Ronin is intended to be gamey or that there will be another Ronin. It’s just not locking down playing it with other versions of the character (so you can play Ronin with Hawkeye without it being an issue)...

I think it’s more for theme than for anything rules related.

That's possible, but then why not just make it Echo (i.e. someone who's pretty unlikely to get a card otherwise). I don't know, just feels a little weird; like it's a missed opportunity if they don't do something with it.

57 minutes ago, Abyss said:

That's possible, but then why not just make it Echo (i.e. someone who's pretty unlikely to get a card otherwise). I don't know, just feels a little weird; like it's a missed opportunity if they don't do something with it.

Because the point of Ronin isn’t to be a particular character - it’s always been used in the comics specifically to hide the identity of another hero from the reader. I don’t think it needs any more meaning than that. It’s still unique, unlike the Multiple Man ally in the Quicksilver article yesterday which is specifically designed to play into his Gimmick of being 3 cards (and would be pretty overcosted if you you just played him as a one of).

55 minutes ago, FearLord said:

Because the point of Ronin isn’t to be a particular character - it’s always been used in the comics specifically to hide the identity of another hero from the reader. I don’t think it needs any more meaning than that. It’s still unique, unlike the Multiple Man ally in the Quicksilver article yesterday which is specifically designed to play into his Gimmick of being 3 cards (and would be pretty overcosted if you you just played him as a one of).

Yes, which is why mechanically it looks like a way to dodge uniqueness; it's 'someone else' as Ronin, which is fine; it's a fun idea. Except that it actually isn't a way to dodge uniqueness, because it mechanically doesn't do anything unless we've got more of the characters eligible for the identity, whether as Ronin or under another name. As I mentioned, if they had have made it Ronin - Maya Lopez, the card would function the exact same way unless they also give us an Echo - Maya Lopez card (which seems pretty unlikely, though not impossible).

I'm not saying it's a big deal, just feels like a cool idea that maybe could have been implemented slightly differently. And even then, after thinking about it a bit more I'm on board with it thematically.

The uniqueness of Ronin is so only one can be on the table at a time. I think this has even happened in the comics before where Ronin is fighting, then Hawkeye (Clint Barton) shows up and another Avenger says "I thought that was you" "Not this time" he replied. Can't cite my sources.

I think it is a thematic success, keeping the mystery alive of who is under the mask.

watching the playback it made me laugh. With his partner playing an aggression deck, it is clearly on him to handle the thwarting but he is so anxious to get off big attacks he ignores his primary role. It worked out, but he made that game much tougher than it needed to be and it was great insight into one thing I have found...in groups where people pay attention to thwart first, they very, very seldom lose....but if everyone just wants to punch the villain every game comes down to the wire and desperate "we have to finish him this turn or we lose" moments

I may have played with a player or two like that. "If you thwart we will win, if you do that 8 point attack now we will lose."

"I can't pass up an 8 point attack"

If your role is to thwart...yes you can. And should. There are times 2 thwart is better than 8 damage. or 10 damage. Let the hitters build up their 20/25 point turns, you keep threat under control so you don't lose. Just sayin'

I totally understand what you're saying, but I'm thinking they just wanted to show off what the new heroes could do. Poor Caleb was like "I've been playing all these unreleased X-Men characters so much lately I don't even remember what these characters we designed a year ago do!"

(Wishful thinking ftw!)

1 hour ago, HirumaShigure said:

I totally understand what you're saying, but I'm thinking they just wanted to show off what the new heroes could do. Poor Caleb was like "I've been playing all these unreleased X-Men characters so much lately I don't even remember what these characters we designed a year ago do!"

(Wishful thinking ftw!)

Showing off new heroes for sure. I feel it is his playstyle as well, though, I remember watchin him with same thing in the Cap America stream while back and was laughing about it. Couple times the threat would be massive and an obvious answer was Cap double thwarting and he loves throwing the shield. But that is kind of the beauty of the game...it is a fun way to play, so more power to him.

And in truth I think it is relevant. I suspect a lot of the reason people do some modifications on their own to make it more difficult (Heroic mode, anyone) is from what I have seen, the designers are much more about making a "hey, have this awesome moment" whether is is "throwing a shield to clear the board" or "Hall of Heroes, Get over Here, Hammer Throw, replay Mjolnir, Hammer Throw" or "Hey, do massive damage with a Hulk Smash" things that sometimes ignore the board state and design in a way to allow that and give the players a chance to win than they are making something with a 50/50 win rate where a poor choice dooms you to a loss. And I for one appreciate it.

I have a group of carrying numbers, we play from 3 to 6 people at a time (I know...but it works for us), that play roughly one game every other week. They are not trying to drive 45 minutes each way to get blasted off the board...and I love the game is designed in a way we can run a group with Hulk Aggression, Thor Aggression, Spiderman Protection, Hawkeye, Cap America and Spider Woman, have a great time, have a game on a razors edge that we squeak out a win...that is a very sub-optimal hero group. Move it up one level in difficulty, we get toasted and it seems not fun.

At the same time, when I play Solo, I can go Expert or go Heroic or just standard as the mood strikes me and have a game that fits my mood.

I love that they design it in the way Caleb played it where he can play sub-optimally, have a great time and close game. I will take that every time.