Marvel Champions LCG beginner’s guide

So you just picked up the core set for Marvel Champions (and maybe some more hero or villain packs): welcome! This guide will serve as a staging ground for newcomers and help direct you on where to go next.

You can find more in-depth storage solutions from the community here.

Step 1: Storage Solutions

A lot of folks refer to this as “the game away from the game.” Storage! It’s always a pain and can be very overwhelming at first. Here are a few tips from someone who has every current LCG product in various storage solutions.

Just roll with the insert in the core set

Unlike other LCGs, Marvel Champions contains an insert by default. Grab some toploaders to section each hero and villain off for the cheapest possible solution. Toploaders are long enough to serve as dividers into the grooves of the insert.

Or, use these dividers from Scott Plays found on this page. Etsy also has no shortage of cheap Marvel Champions storage products.

Inserts

We have removed links to Broken Token due to current events [content warning]. Instead, we are providing signal boosted alternatives to Broken Token. You can opt for the Go7Gaming insert. Folded Space is another alternative that might suit your needs, as is Meeple Realty, Insert Here, Laserox, and GameTrayz. Additionally, the Hall of Heroes network has donated its entire August 2021 earnings to the National Womens Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation.

Note that most of the inserts are a very tight fit, and you may need to “hammer” them into the box.

Artist’s Supply Box

One of the most popular storage solutions for any LCG is the “Artist’s Supply Box” from Hobby Lobby. The MSRP is $49.99, but it is frequently on sale for $24.99 and there are countless coupons available on the site.

Broken Token also sells an Artist’s Supply Box insert. It’s a pricey combo ($24.99 + $28.99) but one of the most “complete” ways to store a collection.

Consider binders for player cards

A 3-inch binder should fit the lifetime of Marvel Champions’ player cards.

It sounds hyperbolic, but note that a 3-inch binder comfortably fits all of Arkham Horror LCG’s player cards, and all of Lord of the Rings LCG’s player cards: and the latter game has been out for eight years.

Grab some binder card pages and these dividers. Use the red, blue, green and yellow dividers for Aggression, Leadership, Protection and Justice respectively, using white for basic cards.

Even if you’re against the idea of binders, knowing that you’ll likely be able to store every single Marvel Champions player card ever in them is comforting.

Sleeves

Sleeves are an eternal debate for any card game community, but I’ll just link a few here (no affiliation):

TitanShield (150 sleeves for $9.99)

Dragon Shield (100 sleeves for $10.99)

Ultimate Guard Katana (100 sleeves for $9.99)

Gamegenic (the new FFG standard is GGS10047ML – varying prices)

Sleeve Kings (100 sleeves for $2.50)

Step 2: Play an intro game

Marvel Champions makes things very easy for you from the start.

Grab the Rhino scenario (21 cards), as well as the Bomb Scare modular set (6 cards) and the “standard” set (7 cards). All of those cards will serve as your encounter deck. Place Rhino Stage I on the table and put Rhino Stage II under him.

If you’re playing solo, either choose Captain Marvel or Spider-Man (the latter is perfect, as Justice works great solo). If you’re playing with two people, grab the Spider-Man and Captain Marvel starter decks, which are separate from the rest of the box. You can find the full starter deck lists for Captain Marvel and Spider-Man here if you lost those inserts or accidentally broke their decks apart. Give the Learn to Play booklets and Rules Reference Guide a once-over!

If you have any rules questions, odds are you’ll find it here (this list is updated on a weekly basis). You’ll also be able to consult the current rules reference guide at that link. The “main” Discord is also happy to answer rules questions around the clock in the #rulings channel.

Step 3: Explore new builds and heroes

Here at Hall of Heroes we have listings for every hero in the game. Get a feel for how a hero works by viewing their cards before you buy them.

Out of the core set, Leadership (ally-centric) is generally considered the strongest aspect, followed by Justice (threat control), then Aggression (damage), then Protection (mitigation or control). The parenthetical approximations of each playstyle are almost a gross understatement of what they all do, especially with a growing card pool, but within the core, that’s the gist.

A perfect way to explore deckbuilding outside of the confines of the starter decks is by testing Black Panther Leadership and Iron Man Justice. Both are very flashy aspects that showcase the importance of both damage and threat mitigation: the latter of which is an unsung but very important part of the game.

You can find the Black Panther Leadership deck here and the Iron Man Justice deck here. Both only utilize the core set and have a miniature strategy guide included in their descriptions. Try to beat every core set scenario on standard first with the recommended modular sets. Then move into expert, making sure to include the three expert cards, and starting on the villain’s Stage II, moving into Stage III for the win.

Step 4: Expand your knowledge on Marvel Champions topics

The world of Marvel Champions is always moving forward, but here at Hall of Heroes we do our best to keep up with it. Here are some ways you can keep going after the core set: