Marvel Champions: The Card Game

MARVEL CHAMPIONS: THE CARD GAME is a COOPERATIVE SUPERHERO LIVING CARD GAME (LCG) published by FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES (2019). Designed by MICHAEL BOGGS + NATE FRENCH + CALEB GRACE (Nate French previously designed Arkham Horror LCG + Star Wars LCG + LotR LCG). 1-4 players play MARVEL HEROES against VILLAIN SCHEMES. Considered THE BEST SUPERHERO CARD GAME + one of the best cooperative LCGs ever. HELD BGG TOP-30 SINCE 2020. GAMEPLAY: Each player picks a MARVEL HERO (40+ heroes released by 2026 — Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Thor, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ant-Man, Wasp, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Nick Fury, Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Drax, Nebula, Adam Warlock, Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Deadpool, Domino, Cable, Cyclops, Angel, Iceman + more). Each hero has 15-card SIGNATURE deck + chooses one of 4 ASPECTS (Aggression, Justice, Leadership, Protection) for 25-40 additional cards from that aspect's card pool. Play against VILLAIN scenario — each villain has SCHEME (progression toward victory) + MINIONS + BOOST cards + main villain stages. GAMEPLAY LOOP: (1) PLAYER PHASE — take turns; each player plays cards, attacks villain (in Hero form) OR thwarts scheme (in Alter-Ego form), can Change Form once per round; (2) VILLAIN PHASE — villain attacks + advances scheme + activates minions + reveals encounter cards. WIN CONDITION: Reduce villain to 0 HP across their stages. LOSE CONDITION: Villain's scheme reaches threat threshold OR all players defeated. UNIQUE FEATURE: HERO/ALTER-EGO FLIP — each hero has 2 sides (Hero + Alter-Ego form); Hero form attacks/thwarts; Alter-Ego form recovers + gains extra card draw. Managing form-flip = core tactical decision. RELEASE HISTORY: (a) Core Set 2019 (Iron Man, Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther); (b) SCENARIO PACKS ($15) with 1 villain; (c) HERO PACKS ($15-20) with 1 new hero + villains; (d) CAMPAIGN EXPANSION BOXES (Rise of the Red Skull, Galaxy's Most Wanted, Mad Titan's Shadow, NeXt Evolution, Age of Apocalypse, Sinister Motives, Mutant Genesis, ongoing). Roughly 100+ hero + villain + scenario packs released 2019-2026. AWARDS + RECEPTION: BGG Top-30 since 2020; Golden Geek Best Cooperative Game 2020; SXSW Gaming Award Best Tabletop Game 2021 nominee. Considered ideal COOPERATIVE game for MCU/comic fans; MORE APPROACHABLE than Arkham Horror LCG (simpler mechanics + no permanent character progression) but similar deck-building depth. Digital version in development (as of 2026).

Binary win/lose per scenario. WIN = defeat all villain stages. LOSE = scheme reaches threshold OR all heroes defeated.

Win condition · Defeat villain (0 HP across all stages). Campaign = win all scenarios in order.

Each player has hero card (double-sided Hero/Alter-Ego), deck, hand, allies, upgrades, resources area. Central villain area has villain card, main scheme, minions, encounter deck.

• Marvel Champions Core Set (2019)

  $60 USD; 5 heroes (Iron Man, Cap, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther) + Rhino/Klaw/Ultron scenarios + all 4 aspects

• Hero packs ($15-20 each)

  1 new hero + 1-2 villains + hero-specific cards

• Campaign expansion boxes ($60-70)

  Rise of Red Skull, Galaxy's Most Wanted, Mad Titan's Shadow, NeXt Evolution, Age of Apocalypse, Sinister Motives

• Custom heroes: 30-40 card signature + 25-40 aspect deck

  Deck-building constructed at start of game

• Damage + threat + resource tokens

  Included in core

• Card sleeves recommended

  $20-40 for competitive quality

• Marvel CDB (marvelcdb.com) — deck-building site

  Free community tool

• Balance attack + thwart

  Some heroes attack-focused (Iron Man, Thor); others thwart-focused (Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel). Team = mix.

• Form-flip strategic timing

  Alter-Ego form heals + draws cards; Hero form attacks/thwarts. Flip when hand empty + scheme low.

• Aspect matters

  Aggression = damage; Justice = thwart; Leadership = allies; Protection = tanking. Match hero to aspect strength.

• Multi-player scaling

  Villain scales HP + scheme with player count; 4-player games hardest.

• Campaign meta cards

  Some cards only useful in specific campaign scenarios.

• Nemesis set balance

  Each hero has personal 'nemesis' villain cards that always appear — plan for them.

Hero form / Alter-Ego form

Hero card is double-sided; flip between forms for different capabilities.

Aspect

Aggression / Justice / Leadership / Protection — deck-building card pool.

Scheme

Villain's plan; advances via threat; reaching threshold = defeat for heroes.

Threat

Currency on scheme; grows each turn; thwart to reduce.

Encounter deck

Villain's card pool of minions, boosts, treacheries.

Villain HP

Villain has HP across stages (I, II, III typical); reduce to 0 to defeat.

Ally

Cards played by hero; take actions like allies (attack, thwart).

Nemesis set

Hero-specific villain cards that always appear in that hero's encounter deck.

• Golden Geek Best Cooperative Game 2020

  annual · worldwide · since 2020

• SXSW Gaming Award 2021 Nominee

  annual · USA · since 2021

• BGG Top-30 Ranked 2020-2026

  ongoing · worldwide · since 2020

• 🇺🇸United States
• 🇬🇧United Kingdom
• 🇩🇪Germany
• 🇫🇷France
• 🇮🇹Italy
• 🇪🇸Spain
• 🇵🇱Poland
• 🇦🇺Australia
• 🇨🇦Canada
• 🇯🇵Japan
• 🇲🇽Mexico
• 🇧🇷Brazil

• Fantasy Flight Games (publisher)

  Founded 1995 · Roseville, Minnesota, USA

• Asmodee (parent)

  Founded 1995 · France

• Marvel Entertainment (IP)

  Founded 1998 · USA

• Fantasy Flight Games — Marvel Champions— FFG
• BoardGameGeek — Marvel Champions LCG— BGG
• Wikipedia — Marvel Champions: The Card Game— Wikipedia
• MarvelCDB (community deck-building)— MarvelCDB