In a previous article, I categorized heroes according to how complex their piloting is. To help give another tool for players in helping choose which heroes they may like to play or pick up, I’m going to continue this series by categorizing heroes according to their playstyle.
So what do I mean by playstyle? My aim is to get at the essence of what these heroes feel like to play. “Feel” is an inherently subjective term, but I think we can still capture some common throughlines that players can agree on. Are they fast out the gate? Do they need time to reach their potential? These are, of course, things that can be drastically modified by aspect and deck-build, but I still think it is helpful to categorize the core of each hero. It's also worth noting that all heroes will see some build and power increase across the game, even if using a rush-style play. That all said, I have defined three categories that can capture the general feel of a hero’s playstyle:
Below you'll find what defines each category, which heroes fall into it, and a small tidbit on each hero. If you want to skip to any particular section, you can click the links above.
Zero to Hero
These heroes have a large differential between what they can accomplish on an early turn compared to a late-game turn. They tend to have a low impact on the early game.
I’m starting with Zero to Hero because it has a quintessential Marvel Champions vibe to it. With these heroes, there is a massive gap between what you can do in the early game and the late game. You have a lot of building to do, and while some heroes may build faster than others, you can certainly feel a difference in how you’re impacting the board. The poster-hero for this would be Iron Man. You can do next to nothing in hero form without some upgrades in play, but you've got a high ceiling on what you can do once built.
Adam Warlock
While Adam has a lot he can do early in the game thanks to his Battle Mage ability, he doesn’t feel nearly as strong as during the late game when his upgrades are out. Between a standard resource generator with his staff and a suite of upgrades that trigger off using his Battle Mage ability, a late game turn will feel far more powerful than his first turn. Discarding any card you don’t want to get two new cards and a ready is huge, even if you don’t get the aspect effect from Battle Mage.
Ant-Man
Ant-Man can come out the gate with at least 3 threat removal or 4 damage thanks to his hero form abilities and basic activations. This means he can actually have a pretty decent impact on the early board. However, he doesn’t feel fully unleashed until his helmet, Giant Strength, and Army of Ants are out. Wrist Gauntlets are often overlooked, but they are an incredibly powerful and flexible upgrade. They too contribute to the full power Ant-Man can have in the late game.
Black Panther
Wakanda Forever is one of the most powerful scaling cards in the game. With each Black Panther upgrade played it becomes stronger. While you don’t need to build his full suit for it to become effective, your turn one will feel much different than a late game turn with The Golden City and his suit in play.
Cable
Cable is our first hero that doesn’t rely exclusively on building out their board to increase their impact on the game. Instead he will be boosting and building the power of his events and upgrades as he puts side schemes in the Victory Display. While approaching things very differently, the flow of his game still very much fits into Zero to Hero.
Colossus
Colossus is likely the furthest away from ‘zero’ out of all the heroes in this category. His opening level is so strong, I considered creating an entirely separate category just to account for it. Right out the gate, Colossus gains a Tough with his flip to hero form. This Tough can power a number of his events, and his high health means he can use it and still not worry much about the first villain phase. However, his following turn will see him with a smaller than average hand size and potentially the need to generate additional Toughs. He has a number of upgrades that really power up his Tough usage, namely Iron Will and Titanium Muscles. Once those and at least one Organic Strength are out, Colossus feels even more powerful, generating card draw, toughs, and status effects galore.
Domino
Domino has some incredibly unique powers that are online from turn one. However, to fully utilize them, she needs to get out some subset of upgrades and supports. Once you have out some combination of her pistols, Probability Field, Pip, and/or The Painted Lady, you’ll be blowing up the board.
Drax
Another hero that has a non-traditional power ramp, Drax is powered up by taking hits from the villain. Once he has maxed out his vengeance counters, Drax has +3 ATK, card draw following a villain attack, reduced cost events, powered up thwarts, and incredibly strong defense events. In addition to his vengeance counters, Drax does have some traditional build with Dwi Theet Mastery, Mantis, and Drax’s Knife.
Ghost-Spider
While Ghost-Spider has some kick (pun intended) from the get-go, she really increases in impact and power by having her bracelets and dad on the board. She can still have a strong impact on early turns, so she steps outside the norm a bit on that front. However, with a few good events tucked away on George Stacey and rebates on response and interrupt cards, she’ll have a lot more flexibility in how she reacts and more options to impact the board. Additionally, she has Ticket to the Multiverse, which is a hefty investment for a later one-time payout. That payout is greatly improved once Ghost-Spider has been built up.
Hawkeye
While Hawkeye has access to his arrow suite from turn one, his toolkit doesn’t fully unlock until his quiver and at least one resource generator is out. Even then, it doesn’t really hit until you’ve built up some arrow options on your quiver. By late game you’ll essentially have an “arrow turn” and your normal turn using your hand.
Iron Man
Iron Man is the quintessential build hero. He can build quickly, especially with some aggressive mulligans, but a turn one Iron Man is very different from a late game Iron Man. By the late game Iron Man will feel like you play one turn using his upgrades on the board and a second using what is in your hand.
Ironheart
While not nearly as rough of an early game as Iron Man, Ironheart has a similar feel to her build. First, she has a suite of upgrades that give you a lot of board control. Second (and primarily) she will upgrade her suit throughout the game, boosting her stats, hand size, and the power of her upgrades.
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel has one of the larger build suites in the game. Once you have 2-3 upgrades and 2-3 supports out, you’ll find that you’re incredibly resource rich and have lots of options to boost damage and thwart. One thing to note about Ms. Marvel is that a lot of her build is locked to alter-ego, so in solo and some high pressure scenarios, she’ll have a lot less build she can or needs to do.
Quicksilver
As the epitome of a Keystone hero (from the previous article), Quicksilver's power feels very reliant on getting Friction Resistance into play. And, while Quicksilver’s upgrade suite looks a little bland, you shouldn’t shy away from the stat boosts. As his stats and ready sources are built up, you’ll find that you are accomplishing far more in the late game, especially with Friction Resistance readying each time Quicksilver readies.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk can have a strong opening, but ultimately lands in Zero to Hero due to her small hand size and Focused Rage upgrades. She feels much stronger with access to more cards. Additionally, since she will spend a decent amount of time in alter-ego for many builds, Superhuman Law Division is one of her better threat removal options.
SP//dr
Perhaps the fastest build hero in this list, SP//dr still has a lot of upgrades she wants to get into play. However, by late game you will essentially be taking multiple turns worth of actions as you get full use from All Systems Go. As a note of interest, there is a 90% chance of getting one or more interfaces in your opening sequence. Despite the small hand size, SP//dr and Peni can reach just as far into their deck as many other heroes, meaning they are getting to the build cards just as fast.
Star-Lord
Star-Lord is going to be generating a lot of extra encounter cards over the course of a game, and he very much wants his helmet, boots, and Leader of the Guardians in play to help counter that. Each of these help offset the extra encounter cards by preventing damage, generating card draw, and increasing threat management capabilities. Additionally Star-Lord will be playing one or both Element Guns, making his damage access quite strong in the late game.
Thor
Due to his alter-ego hand size of five, Thor has a much lower floor than many heroes during the first turn. Turn one he will for sure have access to 3 ATK, but he has to put Mjolnir into play, leaving him only four cards to build and/or impact the board. As you get out his resource generators and Asgard, he’ll feel a lot more online.
Valkyrie
With turn one access to Death Glow, Valkyrie can be targeting enemies and powering up a few of her cards. However, until she gets out some weapons and Valhalla, Death Glow has limited overall impact on her turns.
War Machine
Due to his ammo counters, War Machine could also almost go in the Ebb and Flow category. However, his early and late game are relatively independent from his ammo counters. In addition to that, you aren’t really building up the counters so much as just gaining them initially and preserving them through his gauntlets. However, with his various weapon upgrades and Upgraded Chassis out, War Machine feels completely different. His biggest building point is his Munitions Bunker. You can essentially build your end game as you load it up.
Good to Go
These heroes have a small differential between what they can accomplish on an early turn compared to a late-game turn. They tend to have a high impact on the early game.
Good to Go heroes will also have some build, but there is a much smaller difference between what you can do in the early game and what you can do on a late-game turn. These heroes come out firing, and they can really impact the board from the get-go. This is a great category to find rush heroes. Nova is my favorite hero to embody this category. On the first turn, you have your helmet and can be doing some serious work. If you have Unleash Nova Force and the targets for it, you can be wiping the early pressure the scenario sets.
Captain America
From turn one, Captain America can thwart for 4-6, attack for 4, or do some combination there-in. While this has a lower impact as player count goes up, it is nothing to be ignored. His villain phase is covered, as he will have 3 DEF and access to a ready the following turn. He also has potential for a full damage block, dependent only on how soon he draws Shield Block.
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel has essentially bought her way into this category. Her insane access to resources has limited reliance on build, so while it will be better by the late game, it’s not significantly different than the early game. This means that on turn one you can already be impacting the board or building as needed.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange’s strongest events are available on turn one. He’ll certainly see some increase with his cape and Wong, but really he has some incredible strength from the get-go.
Gamora
Gamora has some inexpensive events, and her hero ability elevates them from turn one. You’ll see a pretty standard power increase across the game for her, but she’ll have a strong board impact early on. He ping damage and thwart does lose some impact at high player counts, but it can still be valuable to do a little bit of everything.
Hulk
Hulk is one of the best rush heroes in the game, which is a strong indication that he can come hard out the gate. He certainly has some build that he can do, but his turn one and late game turns can feel relatively similar in power.
Nova
While Connection to the Worldmind won’t give you access to extra resources during setup, Nova essentially has two resource generators out the first turn thanks to his helmet. He doesn’t have a whole lot of build beyond that. Additionally, Unleash Nova Force can make for some incredibly powerful turns, so as long as there are targets, Nova’s early game Unleash can be quite similar to his late game Unleash turns.
Phoenix
Phoenix has an interesting progression depending on build. If you are focusing on her Restrained side, she is essentially fully powered on turn one. However, if you are focusing fully on Unleashed, you’ll have a brief “build” across a few turns as you work down her counters. Really I find it comes down to playstyle preference. It tends to hit somewhere in the middle where you’ll hit a turning point in the game that you’ll flip from Restrained to Unleashed. Either way, she has a lot of board impact from turn one.
Rogue
While Rogue may be looking to set up a number of combos, her events are essentially full powered on turn one. Within her kit she only has one upgrade, so you will have to look to your aspect choice for any further build. In the most basic form of play, Rogue will attach Touched to the villain the majority of the game. This means she will see little increase in power from her events over the course of a game. In more combo heavy decks, Rogue will see more build to a (hopefully) bigger payout with whatever combo you have set up.
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch has some fantastic cards that offer her some control and consistency, but realistically her Hex Bolts and attacks are fully powered turn one. She has some minimal build from her crest and Sorcerer Supreme.
Shadowcat
When you can block infinite damage turn one, it is mandatory you are in this category. Shadowcat’s greatest strength is her defending abilities. She starts the game with a resource generator and full damage prevention. She’ll definitely add some cards to the mix over the course of the game, but it’s hard to start at a higher point than this.
Spectrum
Not only can Spectrum start the game with a stat of 3, she has the choice of which stat that is. She’ll add in some resource generators and aspect upgrades along the way, but her board impact turn one is both strong and flexible.
Spider-Man (Miles)
Miles Morales is another hero that could realistically get through an entire game without playing an actual upgrade or support. He has a few that are helpful, but from the get go he has access to strong events and powerful status effects.
Spider-Man (Peter)
Peter Parker has a strong start with his Scientist resource in alter-ego. Turn one he has a defense of 3 and potentially a full damage block with Backflip. He can impact the board in a lot of ways depending on his card draw, and he really doesn’t have to prepare for that first villain activation in the way that other heroes do.
Star-Lord
Hold up! Wasn’t Star-Lord in Zero to Hero? Yes. Yes, he was. However, he offers a totally different approach to the game with his rush strategy. Star-Lord is one of the best heroes for turn one wins. He can quickly and easily power-up his events, preventing the villain from ever activating. Just make sure that you actually do win turn one, or you're likely going to be in a world of hurt.
Storm
Storm will not only power herself up right off the bat, she’ll power everyone else as well. A lot of board control can be gained from +1 ATK for the hero phase, and -1 ATK during the villain phase can be incredibly helpful for creating space to build further on turn two.
Venom
Venom will start the game with a resource generator (his hero ability) and a weapon in his hand, meaning on turn one, he has access to 8 resources. He is likely the easiest one to hinder for setup, since if you include too many weapons you have a chance to slow down access to his strong and flexible in-kit weapons.
Vision
Vision’s events are incredibly flexible, and while they can depend on what form you’re in, they have the same impact turn one as they do in the late game. He has minimal build available in his kit, but some builds will be looking to recur Vivian using 616 Hickory Branch Lane. Even with this, there is minimal setup to get it running.
Wasp
Wasp is probably the hero here that could most likely be slotted into Zero to Hero, but almost all of her build would come from aspect cards. She has some great events and board impact from turn one though, so she makes the cut.
Wolverine
Wolverine gets his claws during setup, which means he has access to strong discounts on attacks turn one. He's a great candidate for rush, especially in solo.
Ebb and Flow
These heroes will alternate between a building phase followed by a phase of spending or losing that build.
Ebb and Flow heroes have an interesting playstyle. If you’re a fan of Spirit Island, these heroes remind me of Ocean’s Hungry Grasp. There is a bit of build up, spending or losing that build up, then building up again. As the game goes on you’ll see a general incline, but your turn-to-turn will have a cycle of building and using. The epitome in this game would be Black Widow. You build up her preps, then spend them later. Your power is at its peak with a board full of preparations, and with each one used, you reduce your strength.
Black Widow
Taking advantage of Preparations, Black Widow has some really interesting play reacting to what the encounter deck is doing. You’ll build up preparations through your turns and spend them to counter the villain. While the Winter Soldier is the only card impacted directly by the preparations being in play, Black Widow certainly loses a lot of power and control when they are gone. Her suit and hero ability won’t trigger without preparations, and she can no longer respond to the encounter deck, which is her greatest strength.
Cyclops
Cyclops is an interesting ebb and flow hero, because his buffs and debuffs generally affect the entire board before being lost at the end of the round. He has relatively easy access to his temporary Tactic upgrades through his alter-ego ability and Tactical Brilliance, however the feel of the round can be very different depending on what Temporary upgrades are in play. An Exploit Weakness turn will feel very damage heavy, but following turns may feel a bit lackluster with ping damage.
Gambit
Gambit has a lot more going on in his kit than charge counters, but the counters have a lot of impact on his events and aspect cards. You’ll see this ebb and flow as you build up a charge, spend them, then build them again.
Groot
Groot’s growth counters will build up through events and his alter-ego ability. Then they will be lost through damage, an event, and Groot’s upgrades. His events are also powered up by how many growth counters are on Groot, so you’ll see periods of time in the game where they are weaker or stronger.
Nebula
Nebula’s techniques are harder to control, but you’ll see yourself play a number out, gain passive benefits, then trigger their active abilities and discard those upgrades. There are some unique play-lines that can let you keep some techniques in play or take further advantage of them while they are in play, but in the end you will likely see this ebb and flow as techniques enter and leave play.
Rocket Raccoon
Rocket has two lines of ebb and flow. His tech cards have counters that can be replenished, but he also has ways to discard tech in order to draw cards. So you will see this ebb and flow of weapons charging up, being spent down, thrown out, then played again.
Spider-Ham
Spider-Ham is the most flexible when it comes to what you can do with his ebb and flow counters. Toon counters are easy to come by and can be used to power up events, trigger upgrades, and even be spent as resources on whatever you darn well please. With how easy toon counters are to come by, there may even be times that you lose the ebb-and-flow feel.
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman’s ebb and flow is a fair bit different then the others. As the round progresses, you will play cards and boost her stats. Then at the end of the round she’ll lose the boost, and you’ll have to start again the following round. It’s a much faster cycle, but you very much still have the ebb and flow vibe.
Star-Lord
Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous. Yes. Yes, I am. However, Star-Lord will see some ebb and flow to the strength of his events, the size of his hand, and the amount of damage he can prevent with his boots. Each of these are impacted by the number of encounter cards dealt to Star-Lord. As his future problems pile up, his events and helmet power up.
Conclusion
Hopefully this resource is helpful for helping pick which heroes you may find appealing or want to play. As more heroes are released, I'll be updating this to include them. And who knows... maybe with enough outliers, I'll even add additional categories.
Thanks
Thank you to the discord brain trust for engaging in conversation about this. In particular, thanks to MegiDolaDyne, Jimmydm90, journeyman2, and thearguerandtheclueless.
Very interesting guide! Useful for new players and even for experienced players. Thanks!