The Importance of Community

As I sit here on the plane home from Con of Heroes, I can’t think of a better time to wax poetic about the amazing community that has grown around this game. I am stunned at how I am itching to play more games, despite having just played a deluge of games over the weekend. But it isn’t wholly the game that is drawing me back to the table. Rather, the driving factor is the people that sit at the table with me. So, I simply ask that you excuse my ramblings as I share what I love about this community and why it is so important.

Believe it or not, Marvel Champions is not the first game that I played. Nor was it the first lifestyle game I played. Before Champions, I played Star Wars Armada. Before that I jumped from tabletop game to tabletop game, throwing myself into whatever game got slapped down on the table. Even now, I have thrown myself into the deep end of Star Wars: Unlimited. Throughout my experiences across these games, one theme reigned true: A game is sustained by the community.

At the end of 2019, I found my board game shelves becoming crammed with more and more games, so I decided to take a year off purchasing board games. I wanted to realign the hobby I desired (playing games) with the hobby I had (buying games). My first game purchase following this year off was Marvel Champions. I was visiting my local game store having just watched the final episode of WandaVision. Serendipitously, that was the day the Scarlet Witch pack was released. Champions seemed as good a game as any to end my purchasing hiatus, so I left the shop with the Core Set, Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Strange. I was hooked that night, and I was online and looking for people to chat with about the game by the next day. I stumbled my way into the Marvel Champions LCG Community discord server, and it has been my third place ever since.

There is something to be said about a game that encourages continued engagement with a community outside of gaming time. Having a space to discuss strategies and cards I enjoy, frustrations I might have, or even just finding challenges to try out has continually sustained my interest in the games I play. Knowing there is a group of people that are also hungry for discussion about the game is enough to keep me engaged with the game, even outside game time. And now, many of these people I know well enough to call friends.

I have never met a friendlier game community than that of Marvel Champions. Con of Heroes is an event that highlights how amazing the community is at being welcoming and fostering engagement. You show up, play an awesome game all weekend, and most importantly, you get to put faces to usernames. You get to know the people that you see typing away each day, and meet plenty that you have never spoken to before. It elevates the game beyond the cardboard on the table.

Gamezenter is technically where the con was held this year, but some of my favorite moments were at the hotel after Gamezenter closed. Seeing all the games in the lobby, spilling down the hallway, and fitting into every nook and cranny with a flat surface was amazing. People were literally playing on the floor before the hotel brought out tables to help us out. One of my favorite moments at the con was Friday night. A few of us joined up to tackle the Galaxy’s Most Wanted campaign. LazyTitan (from Winning Hand podcast), RelaxingGlitch, and I sat down at about 10 PM and pushed through the campaign on Standard with Venom (RelaxingGlitch), Drax (LazyTitan), and Rocket (me) all in Protection. After Brotherhood of Badoon and the Collector scenarios, it was pure momentum keeping us rushing headlong through Nebula and Ronan late into the night. I had a blast. Having one of my favorite moments be built on the campaign that provided some of my more frustrating moments in Champions highlighted how much the people at the table matter.

This is easily one of the things I look forward to most each year. The atmosphere is full of excitement, and there are so many great people in attendance. It is crazy to me that the con has grown so quickly. Not only am I not getting in games with everyone I want, I didn’t even speak to everyone this year (though not for lack of trying)! I cannot recommend the experience enough. If it is something that you can’t go to or aren’t interested in, I definitely recommend checking out some of my favorite online spaces. I hope they become a third place for you as well.

Marvel Champions Community Discord VillainTheory's Discord

Living Card Games Discord

Solo Champions League Discord (solo challenges in a seasonal format)

M.O.D.O.K. Doubles League Discord (seasonal draft and challenges for two players)

r/marvelchampionslcg