Loki at GenCon! (And Favorite Deck Contest!)

I had every intention of this being a much larger post on community and big events, but to be frank, I just want to sit and play more Champions right now. So here is a semi-quick rundown of my experience at the Loki Multiplayer Event at GenCon. If you're just here for the goodies, you can pop down to the contest info here.

The God of Lies

I played in the Friday night event. I got there a bit early, and while waiting for the Arkham players to finish succumbing to eldritch madness, I connected with another player that had come to the event on their own. We decided to hop into a game together and grabbed two more players once the tables were ready to go.

In my game we had Nightcrawler Protection, Iceman Protection, Captain America Leadership, and Captain Marvel Leadership. This is the Captain Marvel deck I ran, which is one of my personal favorites. We had an absolute blast. At least I did! And for the sake of the article, I’m going to pretend like the others confirmed they also had a blast (I really think they did). 

There were 35 players in our event, which meant Loki had 700 HP. At first that seemed like a daunting number. Each game (or group) was part of a pod consisting of themselves and two other groups. Then all the pods together consisted of the full massive multiplayer event.

They walked us through the set up, and then we were off to the races in our battle against Loki. Throughout the scenario there were a number of ways that you could interact between other groups in your pod. These interactions were fun. My personal favorite was The Mangog! This giant minion would pop out at a table, and anyone in your pod could attack it. It felt like a meaningful event, because you could call out to players in other games to have them send damage your way. Two of those times were fun moments, and one was a little stressful. When the last table in our pod got their Mangog, it was a pivotal moment in our game. Not only did I feel the stress of what was happening in our game, I felt guilty that we were leaving that group out to dry. Finally we made it through our rough turns and were able to help finish off their Mangog. 

As a whole, I feel like the bigger concept of the game was a little lost at this size event. Throughout the event there was really no danger felt from World's Collide (the overall main scheme). In fact, once one threat made its way there, the stress lessened even more. Suddenly people felt they could actually utilize the ability to be defeated or ignore your main scheme. There was no point where it felt like the event was at risk of losing. That said, it didn’t hinder the fun of the event in any way.

Since damage was dealt in packets (you defeat your Loki illusion, then send a bunch of damage to the main Loki all at once), the overall Loki felt like more of a timer than an end game goal. It was really just telling us when our game was going to end. We were mostly focused on our game, with some attention paid to those interaction points with the other games in our pod. And while those interactions helped us feel connected, we mostly had no clue how those other games were going. This wasn’t really a detriment at the time. It was just something I realized in hindsight. I am excited to try this at a smaller event where you may see the overall picture more.

My favorite part about the event were the people I was playing with. I had never met them before. They had no clue who I was (I’m a very important person, by the way. I have my own fancy blog and everything.). In fact, most of the people in my pod that I chatted with weren't really tuned into the online community in the same way that I am. I mean, I'm online waaaaay too much. And when you spend a part of each day thinking about and discussing the game online, it can feel like the online community is the community instead of a microcosm of it, full of some very passionate fans. Playing alongside players that aren’t “in tune” with how the online community plays the game was a ton of fun. There weren’t bad plays or anything. There were just different moments where the fun was highlighted.

It was a nice reminder that I have a lot more to learn and experience about the game. And it renewed my excitement for in-person multiplayer games. I had a ton of fun at Con of Heroes, and I cannot wait for the upcoming MC/DC con in October. 

Contest

With that all said, I know not everyone can make these cons. As such, MrSelfDestruct and myself set aside some Cyclops and Jubilee alt-arts from Con of Heroes to give out to a few people that didn't make the last con. These were created by the wonderful BandofSirens. To give them out, we're going to be running a contest. Submit your favorite deck with a short comment about it. You could mention memorable moments with it, why you like it, or how you came up with the idea. We have 12 copies of each, so we’ll be randomly selecting 12 people from the entries to receive a pair of these cards.

Contest Rules

There will be twelve (12) winners that are randomly selected. Each winner will be sent an unofficial alternative-art hero card for the Jubilee and Cyclops heroes. To enter, you must abide by the following:

• You must share one of your favorite decks using the form at the end of this article. You can use a picture of the cards, a written list, or a MarvelCDB.com link. 

• You must share a small comment about the deck. It could be a favorite memory, the genesis of the deck if you built it, or even just what you love about playing it.

  • I plan to share these in a later article, so you can expect anything you share to be posted later. I will have an opt out selection if you don't want your deck and comment shared.

• You must share an email so I can contact you if you win. Once the winners have been selected and contacted, all the emails will be deleted.

• If you win, you must share a mailing address. I can’t send you the cards if I don't know where to send them. I’ll have to select another winner.

• This contest is international. The cards are in English, but we're willing to send them out as best we can to anywhere. I do not promise to have tracking or insurance on them.

• Winners will be randomly chosen on September 30, 2025. If you want to participate, your form must be submitted by then! Please only one submission per person.

Favorite Deck Contest Submission Form