On this page you’ll find some of the latest FFG rulings for Marvel Champions post-RRG 1.5. All questions and responses can be found on this main page.
To create a link to a specific ruling, just use this format and note the number at the start of the question. Note that some numbers may not be accounted for as a result of being pulled for outdated/legacy rulings.
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May, 2023
1- If the kraken minion’s forced response defeats every other character, what happens? 😃 We assume the game ends in a tie but wanted to know for sure
If The Kraken defeats all remaining characters—heroes and villain included—then The Kraken wins!
Or, on a slightly more serious note, the players are considered to have lost the scenario. We agreed that there aren’t any ties in Marvel Champions between the villain and the heroes, so if the heroes don’t win, they have lost.
-Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist – May 18, 2023
2 – With the new deal/take distinction, how would cards like “power stone”, (from the single card encounter set) or the nebula treachery “Ruthless” work? Assuming you’re not planning an errata for these and similar? Because I can always deal 3 damage but the intention of power stone seems to be that the attached character needs to take 3 damage for it to be stolen. This scenario came up when nebula had the power stone and the wide stance attachment and my ATK was 3. And with Ruthless, nebula will always deal damage from her attack but the intention seems to be meant for if the character she attacks, takes damage
We appreciate the question, but we are not planning to errata cards following the “deal/take damage” distinction, unless a character or scenario would not work without an erratum. For both Power Stone (GMW #149) and Ruthless, the effects of those cards can resolve so long as the character “deals damage” to the target, and do not depend on the target “taking” the damage.
-Alex – May 18, 2023
3 – I played the event, return the favor and the treachery I revealed has the surge keyword. Do I need to reveal an additional encounter card before I deal 5 damage? Not sure of the timing here
If you played Return the Favor and revealed a treachery with Surge, then you should resolve the original treachery, deal 5 damage, and then resolve the card drawn with Surge.
-Alex – May 18, 2023
4 – If you reveal shadows of the past while playing the venom hero and you can’t put all 4 copies of his nemesis minion into play like if you had already put one into play earlier from his obligation, does shadows of the past gain Surge? Or do you simply put as many as you can that are currently set aside, even if just 1 copy is left and shadows of the past does not gain surge?
If Venom puts at least 1 of his Enraged Symbiote nemesis minions into play with Shadow of the Past, then Shadow of the Past does not gain surge.
-Alex – May 18, 2023
5 – I had a few questions I wanted to get clarified. 1.If I play Swift Retribution and the boost card from the villains attack is the Goblin Thrall minion in which the boost ability puts it into play, does its guard keyword prevent me from dealing the 4 damage? 2.If I play Swift Retribution and the boost card has a boost ability that stuns me, do I still deal the 4 damage since I’ve already played the (attack) card? 3.When a boost card is flipped with a boost ability that deals damage and I play something like Jump flip with the (defense) label, am I considered to have defended this attack at this point?
- Guard prevents you from initiating attacks, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. We rule that, if you already initiated an attack with Swift Retribution and were dealt a Goblin Thrall during the activation, you could still deal the damage from Swift Retribution.
- In a similar vein, a Stunned status card prevents you from initiating an attack, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. If you’re already resolving an attack by the time Stunned is placed on you, you can still finish resolving the attack.
- No; although you are “the defender”, you aren’t considered to have “defended” until the attack fully resolves.
- (For instance, you can’t trigger Unflappable · MarvelCDB if you play Jump Flip to interrupt damage from a boost ability. The attack would need to fully resolve before you could trigger Unflappable.)
-Alex – May 18, 2023
6 – A question to make sure I understand the current “take damage/deal damage” distinction: Hydra Bomber says: “When Revealed: Choose to either take 2 damage or place 1 threat on the main scheme.” As I understand past “choose” rulings, a player must choose an option that can most-fully resolve. Am I correct in believing that — if I have a tough status card and reveal Hydra Bomber — I MUST choose the “place 1 threat on the main scheme” option, because I CAN’T “take damage” with a tough status card? (Conversely, if the card said “Choose to either DEAL YOURSELF 2 damage” then I could choose that option with a tough status card, because I =could= DEAL that damage to my identity… with the tough would immediately absorb and get discarded.) Is my understanding correct?
Correct; if you are Tough, you cannot “take damage” as an option on Hydra Bomber, so you must place 1 threat on the main scheme.
-Alex – May 18, 2023
7 – Can I choose to select 0 where it says “up to” when playing the Adam warlock events, Karmic blast or Cosmic Awareness?
No. When playing Karmic Blast or Cosmic Awareness, you must discard at least 1 card from your deck. This is because these events have discarding as part of the cost of their abilities, and the updated rules for costs make clear that “a cost requiring ‘up to’ some number of game elements requires a minimum of one such game element.”
-Alex – May 18, 2023
8 – I’m playing as the Adam Warlock hero and he is Confused. Can I trigger the Overwatch upgrade after playing Cosmic Awareness? 2.I’m playing as the Adam Warlock hero and he is Stunned. Can I play the chase them down event after playing Karmic Blast?
- No. Even though Adam Warlock is able to remove 3 threat with Cosmic Awareness while Confused (because doing so is part of the ability’s “cost”), the rules for discarding Confused state that upon removing Confused, “the character is not considered to have thwarted or schemed.” This means that Adam could not trigger Overwatch if he plays Cosmic Awareness while Confused, as he is not considered to have “thwarted.”
- No; same line of thinking as above: Adam is not considered to have “attacked” upon playing Karmic Blast and removing Stunned, so he can’t play Chase Them Down as a response.
We the team agreed that these rulings follow both the rules of the ability costs in Adam’s events, and the rules for discarding status cards.
-Alex – May 18, 2023
9 – I have 4 questions regarding the X-Men Instruction basic event card. 1.Can I play X-Men instruction if I don’t have any allies in my discard pile while the x-mansion is in play? 2.Can I play X-Men instruction and choose 0 allies while the x-mansion is in play? 3.Can I play X-Men instruction if I don’t have any allies in my discard pile, while the x-mansion is not in play? 4.Can I play X-Men instruction and choose 0 allies while the x-mansion is not in play?
- Yes, you can play X-Men Instruction if X-Mansion is in play, even if there are no X-Men allies in your discard pile, in order to draw a card.
- Yes, you can choose 0 X-Men allies, specifically because the choice isn’t part of a cost, and you can still resolve another part of the ability.
- No, you must be able to resolve at least one of the sentences on X-Men Instruction in order to play it.
- No; same thinking as #3, you can’t play X-Men Instruction and not resolve any of it.
-Alex – May 22, 2023
10 – When an enemy attacks me, can I exhaust an ally to defend and then also play the preemptive strike (defense) event to cancel the boost icons?
Yes. We have added a ruling to the latest Rules Reference update under “Defend, Defense” specifying that Defense-labeled abilities can be played during an attack by a player whose ally is defending that attack, in which case, the player’s identity does not become the defender. (Only one character can be the defender of an attack at a time.)
-Alex – May 25, 2023
11 – If my Alter-Ego, Jennifer Walters, has a confused status card, 1. I can still (thwart) with her superhuman law division support card as normal. 2. After I do (thwart) with superhuman law division, my confused status card on Jennifer Walters remains. Am I correct? Thanks!
With the recent Marvel Champions Rules Reference update, we have issued an erratum to Superhuman Law Division and removed the “thwart” label from it. It’s been a part of our rules for some time that thwarts and other triggered abilities resolved from Support cards are not considered to be performed by the player’s identity, so it didn’t make sense to have the thwart label on Superhuman Law Division.
As a result, Jennifer Walters cannot use Superhuman Law Division to remove Confused. She could, however, use it to remove threat while Confused, since it’s not a thwart.
-Alex – May 25, 2023
12 – I’m curious about basic activations and targets. For example, at the start of the game Peter Porker has full health. Is he allowed to perform a basic recovery as he is full health, but doing so will garner him a toon counter? I’ve read the target section and the debate is that since it is not specifying game elements such as recovery, then the target validity does not apply. I disagree, but clarification would be terrific! Thank you!
We appreciate the question and we understand where there may be conflict and confusion. Our ruling is, an identity cannot initiate a basic recovery if they cannot heal at least 1 damage from themselves with that recovery. This means that Peter Porker cannot perform a basic recovery at full health, even in an attempt to get a toon counter.
-Alex – May 25, 2023
13 – Hi, about SHE-HULK “Superhuman Strength”
Forced Response: After She-Hulk attacks, discard Superhuman Strength → stun the attacked enemy.
ruling 1.5: Cost […] – An ability’s cost cannot be paid if that ability’s effect requires one or more targets and there is not at least one valid target.
If SHE-HULK with “Superhuman Strength” attacks and defeat an enemy the sentence “stun the attacked enemy” seems to have no valid target so, did the “Superhuman Strength” is discarded?
same question if SHE-HULK attacks a already stunned enemy?
To answer your question(s):
No, Superhuman Strength would not be discarded in either instance.
The main reason being, under the updated entry for “Forced” in the rules reference, we have made a ruling stating that if a forced ability requires a valid target but there is no valid target, the ability does not initiate. If an attacked enemy left play before the Forced Response on Superhuman Strength triggered, there is no valid target for the ability, so nothing happens. It’s similar if the enemy is still in play but cannot be stunned (e.g. because it’s already stunned); the Forced Response does not initiate.
-Alex – May 25, 2023
14 – I have a question about Super Human Strength from the She Hulk deck, based on the new targeting rules, I do not believe I need to trigger the forced response if I attack a stunned enemy. Is that the case? If so, if the villain is stunned can I still attack the villain if there is a non stunned enemy on the table? If I must attack a non stunned enemy, does that still apply if my attack kills the non stunned enemy and therefore they are no longer a valid target for Superhuman Strength?
- Correct; if She-Hulk cannot stun the enemy she attacks (e.g. the enemy is already stunned), then the Forced Response on Superhuman Strength does not initiate.
- Yes; She-Hulk is not required to attack a non-stunned enemy if she has Superhuman Strength in play—she could attack a stunned villain if desired.
- If She-Hulk defeats the enemy she attacks, then Superhuman Strength has no valid target for its stun, and its Forced Response does not initiate. She-Hulk would not discard Superhuman Strength.
-Alex – May 30, 2023
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