On this page you’ll find some of the latest FFG rulings for Marvel Champions post-RRG 1.7 (the week of December 17, 2025). All prior 1.0-1.4 questions and responses can be found on this main page, along with errata. All 1.5 and beyond questions can be found here. All 1.6 questions can be found here.
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 Note that some numbers may not be accounted for as a result of being pulled for outdated/legacy rulings.
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Learn to Play (L2P)
Rule changelog
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France RRG
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Legacy (outdated) rulings (1.0-1.4) | 1.5
Rulings from 2024 to 2025 can be found here
December, 2025
I have some questions to consult with you.
1.Can actions on minions be triggered by players who haven’t engaged with them?
2.Does Aerial Evacuation reduce the damage dealt or the damage taken?
3.When Beguiled is attached to an ally that I control, will there be a process where the ally leaves play and a minion with the same title enters play? Or there are no characters enters play or leaves play?
- Yes. As stated under “Ability” on page 4 of the online Rules Reference, any player can trigger an “Action” ability on an encounter card, with the exception of certain attachments and obligations.
- Aerial Evacuation reduces the damage taken, as is the case for damage prevention abilities.
- No, when Beguiled attaches to an ally, the ally does not leave play and the “minion” does not enter play; the character remains in play and retains all tokens and attachments. (The process is essentially a status change.)
-Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist – December 17, 2025
Context: I am seeking to understand how Basic Powers are used or perhaps not used when making their respective ability:
Question (1): The villain attacks me and I decide to NOT basic defend and to take the attack undefended. On step 4 of the Attack (Enemy Activation) [RRG v1.6 pg 8], I decide to use Side Step (https://marvelcdb.com/card/14015) which now makes me the defender via Labeled Ability [RRG v1.6 pg 15; Defend]. Am I allowed to play Stopping Hitting Yourself (https://marvelcdb.com/card/52016) If so what would be the value (assuming my Hero has 2 DEF)?
Question (2): Using Question 1’s scenario. Imagine I also play Not Today (https://marvelcdb.com/card/38016) on top of the Side Step. This would give me +2 DEF. Am I allowed to play Stopping Hitting Yourself? If so what is the value?
Question (3): Building upon Questions 1 and 2, if I am playing against Enemy Leader Captain America who has Cap’s Shield (https://marvelcdb.com/card/56143), if I use an attack-labeled ability. Am I considered to have “use my ATK to attack and damage”?
- Yes, you’d still be able to play “Stop Hitting Yourself” and deal damage based on your current DEF (2). Your hero still has a DEF value even if it wasn’t used to reduce damage dealt.
- Yes, similar to above, you’d still be able to deal damage based on your DEF. Not Today! gives you +2 DEF, for a total of 4.
- This depends on the attack-labeled ability being used. A lot of attack-labeled abilities do not use your ATK to deal damage, but some do.
- If the ability is phrased as a flat damage amount, e.g. “Deal # damage to an enemy”, that would not allow you to take Cap’s Shield.
- If an ability calls out your ATK in some way, e.g. “Deal to an enemy equal to your ATK”, that would allow you to take Cap’s Shield.
-Alex – December 17, 2025
Context: The following 3 questions focuses on better understanding “after the villain attacks you” and its meaning.
Question (1): What does the phrase “After the villain attacks you” refer to – the character or the player? Based on these RRG below, “after the villain attacks you” should reference the player rather than the character? Relevant Rules Referenced [RRG v1.6]: 1) Abilities that trigger “When/After [enemy] attacks you” are resolved when/after a player is attacked, regardless of which character they control was attacked… [RRG v1.6. Pg 8] 2) Abilities that resolve while/when/after the attacking enemy “attacks you” resolve against the attacked player [RRG v1.6 Pg 10] 3) Exception: For abilities that trigger “after [enemy] attacks you” “you refers to the attacked player, even if that player defended with an ally [RRG v.16 Pg 44]
Question (2): Are there differences when the text originates from a player or encounter card? For example Drax’s Payback (https://marvelcdb.com/card/19007) and Concussive Bombs (https://marvelcdb.com/card/27137) have the exact same triggering condition. Does that mean both cards can be triggered when an ally [controlled by Drax] defends? Question (3) Building upon questions 1 and 2, should we consider Nick Fury’s Stealth Suit (https://marvelcdb.com/card/50035a) and Iceman’s Flash Freeze (https://marvelcdb.com/card/36012) to be based on the player? Or the respective hero characters?
- The rules for abilities that reference “you” are that “you” refers to the player’s identity where able, and otherwise refers to that player; with the exception being “After [enemy] attacks you” abilities where “you” refers to the player, because such abilities also trigger when an ally that player controls is attacked.
- Drax’s Payback and Concussive Bombs are both phrased the same as the “you” exception in the Rules Reference, so both can be triggered when Drax’s ally is attacked.
- Nick Fury’s Stealth Suit triggers “when” an enemy would attack, and Storm’s Flash Freeze triggers “when” the villain attacks, neither of which fall into the “you” exception. Stealth Suit only triggers when Nick Fury would be attacked, and Flash Freeze is only playable when Storm is attacked.
-Alex – December 17, 2025
Context: I am seeking clarification on how cards interact with “removed from the game” and “outside the current game” states.
Question (1): If a card is removed from the game, are they now part of your collection? If a card is removed from the game, can you bring that back that same physical card back into the game via Armed to the Teeth (https://marvelcdb.com/card/44009)? Or are they prevented from coming back to the current game?
Question (2): In older rulings, Med Lab (https://marvelcdb.com/card/38028) has had the ability to “retrieve the ally from out-of-play areas (discard pile, victory display, The Collection) so long as the ally was defeated by consequential damage.” Is this still correct? If Odin (https://marvelcdb.com/card/21139a) [KING side] is defeated by consequential damage and thereby is removed from the game, can Med Lab retrieve the Odin?
Question (3): Is there a difference between cards that are “in the game, but out of play” (e.g. set-aside), compared to cards “outside the current game” (e.g. collection)? I believe the FIND is only allowed to find cards that are within the game?
- Once a card is removed from the game, it can’t be returned to the game by any means (e.g. Armed to the Teeth), and it does not become a part of the collection.
- Med Lab can target allies from out-of-play areas that are still in the game, such as a player’s discard pile. It cannot target allies that have been removed from the game.
- Because Odin is removed from the game as a Forced Interrupt, he would be removed from the game before Med Lab’s Response can trigger, making him untargetable.
- Yes, there is a difference between “in the game, out of play” and “outside the current game.” The examples above lay out some differences, and you’re right that the “Find” keyword can only search “in game” areas.
-Alex – December 17, 2025
January, 2026
When exactly is the Fearless Determination side scheme discarded after its defeated? (Amplify icon) -Does Teddy Altman’s ability prevent me from playing a second shape shift upgrade? (Or discard down to 1) -If I defeat an enemy with the first sentence of Armored Defense, does the second sentence still resolve and give hulking a tough status card? -With Caps Shield, if I attack a minion with my hero using my ATK and that attack has overkill and I damage Captain America, does that trigger the response on the Shield? (Wondering if the shield is asking if I attacked someone and damaged Captain America or specifically attacked Captain America and damaged Captain America which is the most intuitive way but I’ve heard that this might not be the case.) –
Similar question as above. With the Captain Marvel Leaders forced response, if her attack against an ally had overkill and she defeated a hero that way, would she trigger twice and get 2 energy counters? ( I would think she only attacked and defeated the ally and the hero just happened to be defeated as well but there’s some discussion from the community around this) -Can I count the number of cards left in the encounter deck to get that information? (Without looking at the faces) -Can I count the number of cards left in a player deck to get that information? (without looking at the faces) -If the answer is no for the 2 questions above, can I count them with my eyes closed? (Orange backs) (Blue backs) -Can I use mod sets from one side with a Leader from the other side in co-op mode?
- When Fearless Determination is defeated, it is considered in play until its When Defeated ability is resolved. This means that its amplify icon will be in effect when Captain America activates.
- Yes, Teddy Altman’s constant ability prevents the player from playing another Shapeshift upgrade while they already have one in play. His ability does not allow the player to play a second and discard down.
- Yes, if Armored Defense defeats the attacking minion, Hulkling still gets a Tough status card.
- Yes; if you use your ATK (e.g. basic attack) and deal damage to Captain America via overkill, you would trigger the Forced Response on Cap’s Shield.
- Yes; if Captain Marvel attacks with overkill and defeats an ally and identity, her Forced Response triggers twice to place 2 total energy counters.
- Yes, you can count the total number of cards left in a deck, as long as you do not change their order or look at their facedown sides.
- No, you cannot use Registration modular sets with a Resistance leader, nor vice versa.
-Alex – January 11, 2025
So we are hoping to get a better understanding of the triggering conditions of “attacks and damages” and “attacks and defeats” especially in combination with the overkill keyword. Recent discussion from the community is around Caps shield, the Captain Marvel Leader and the Jigsaw minion. 1.Can you steal Caps Shield from overkill damage since you only damaged him but didn’t attack him? 2.Can the Captain Marvel leader get an energy counter from defeating an identity with overkill because she defeated them but didn’t attack them? 3.If Jigsaw attacks with overkill and damages both an ally and an identity, does his ability trigger twice and place 4 threat on Criminal Underworld because two characters were damaged but only one was attacked?
- Yes, assuming the attacker used their ATK (e.g. made a basic attack) and that attack had overkill, any damage dealt to the Captain America leader this way would trigger the Forced Response on Cap’s Shield and attach it to the attacker.
- Yes; if the Captain Marvel character attacks with overkill and defeats both an ally and identity, her Forced Response triggers for both instances, placing 2 total energy counters.
- Yes; if Jigsaw attacks with overkill and damages an ally and identity, his Forced Response triggers twice and places 4 total threat.
-Alex – January 11, 2025
I had a question about printed resources. Nova’s Nemesis side scheme “Bring the War!” makes the players discard cards with a printed wild resource. Does Supernova Helmet count for that because of the printed resource in its ability? Or does it only include cards with a printed resource in the resource area?
No; for the When Revealed ability on “Bring the War!”, the discarded card must have a wild resource icon printed in its bottom left corner. The only time a “printed resource” can refer to a resource generated by an ability is when paying a cost.
-Alex – January 11, 2025
If I attack a guard minion with the aggression Bombshell ally from the Iron heart hero pack while the only other enemy in play is the villain, how would you resolve her damage dividing ability? Can any of the damage be dealt to the villain? If so, is she considered to have attacked the villain?
You’d resolve Bombshell’s ability by dividing her attack as evenly as possible among valid targets. In your example, the villain is not a valid target for her ability, so it is ignored; all of her damage is then dealt to the guard minion.
-Alex – January 11, 2025
The new Rogue (Protection ally) now copies the base ATK and THW of her ability’s target (instead of printed). Hope Summers (from the Hope Summers) encounter set has star icons as values of her ATK and THW and her textbox defines her base ATK and THW as ATK and THW of your hero. However, the Star Icon entry says that when referred to by a game step or ability, it’s supposed to be treated as 0. When Rogue ally uses her ability on Hope Summers, what bonus does she get? 0 or equal to your hero’s ATK and THW? 2. The “Leave Play” entry now has a “when a card leaves play” bullet point. Is the timing of that “when” before the card actually leaves play? Or at the same time?
The star icon entry is outdated; it should say that the value of the star icon is defined by the associated ability, except in the case of no associated ability, in which the value would be treated as 0. Hope Summers’ ability defines her star icons as matching your hero’s basic power values, so if Rogue copies Hope she will in essence add your hero’s power values to her own. 2. The updated bullet under “Leaves Play” is not intended as an interrupt ability; this bullet and all subbullets are carried out simultaneously with the card leaving play.
-Alex – January 17, 2025
Recently, I played a game with the Winter Soldier, facing off against the Black Widow villain from the Agents of SHIELD expansion, and found myself in a weird situation. It went like this: BW attacks, I play Arm Block. I resolve BW’s interrupt because Arm Block is an attack. BW flips A.I.M. Grunt. What happens here? Does A.I.M. Grunt take the damage from Arm Block, and the whole ‘cancel the damage from the enemy’s attack’ segment of the card just fails, or does the ‘defense’ part of the card still apply to BW’s attack, while the ‘attack’ part of the card damages the Grunt?
The sequence of events is this:
- Black Widow initiates her attack
- Winter Solider plays Arm Block, an attack/defense event
- Black Widow’s interrupt triggers, revealing AIM Grunt
- AIM Grunt is now being “attacked” by Arm Block, so it takes the 3 damage
- Arm Block can then prevent damage from Black Widow’s attack, because her attack triggered the “When an enemy attacks” condition on Arm Block, and “prevent all damage from that enemy’s attack” can only refer to that same attack made by Black Widow, since AIM Grunt is not making an attack.
-Alex – January 17, 2025
About the RRG1.7 Piercing rule and prevent all abilities:
1- Some card abilities can prevent all damage but do not specify whether they prevent damage dealt or damage taken.
For example: If an enemy with Piercing, attacks me playing Rogue, and using “Bulletproof Belle” to prevent all damages and give her a Tough status card. Is Piercing removing the tough status, or not ?
2- “Piercing discards any tough […] before dealing damage”, but after dealt damage is calculated (ATK – DEF) because it need to check if the attack would deal any damage. I assume the Piercing keyword timing resolution is “would deal”.
Falcon’s “Aerial Evacuation” interrupt is also triggered on: “would deal” Since a keyword has timing priority over interrupt, does piercing removes any tough just before “Aerial Evacuation” prevent all damages?
- Effects that “prevent damage” prevent damage taken, not dealt. Because of this, if Rogue plays Bulletproof Belle and gets a Tough status card, an attack with Piercing that still deals damage to her will remove that Tough status card.
- Piercing triggers when the attack would deal damage to the target, so the same timing as Aerial Evacuation; however, since Piercing is a keyword, it has timing priority over a triggered ability. So, a Piercing attack would remove the Tough status card from the attacked character before Aerial Evacuation triggers to prevent the damage taken.
-Alex – January 17, 2025
I have some questions about overpay that I would like to consult with you. 1.Can I consider using a wild resource to overpay for a cost as any type of resource? 2.When I play Repulsor Beam, can I exhaust two Gauntlet Gun to place 1 additional ammo counter on War Machine?
- Yes; when generating a wild resource, you specify which resource type it’s being used as, even if it’s overpaying for a cost.
- Yes, paying for Repulsor Beam with two Gauntlet Guns would result in an additional ammo counter being placed onto War Machine.
-Alex – January 17, 2025
I have some questions about The Wrecking Crew scenario that I would like to consult with you. 1.When I play a Cosmic Entity event, which encounter deck should I shuffle to it? 2.Can I play Face the Past event? If I can play it, which encounter discard pile should my nemesis minion discard to it?
In the Wrecking Crew scenario, only the active villain’s encounter deck can be interacted with. Playing a Cosmic Entity card will shuffle it into the active villain’s encounter deck. And you can play Face the Past to find your set-aside nemesis minion (since it will be set aside during setup), and if it’s defeated it’s placed in the active villain’s encounter discard pile.
-Alex – January 17, 2025
In the 1.7 rules, a target rule was changed from saying you cannot deal damage to a target that cannot take damage (the original 1.6 rule) instead to now say you cannot target a character that cannot take damage with an ability that ONLY deals damage to the target as its effect. Does this mean that you can use the Nova ally Ms. Marvel’s ability (deal a damage and exhaust her is the cost) when you have played Go for Champions? Because she is no longer not allowed to be targeted by that ability, as the ONLY affect is not to deal her damage as she must be exhausted as well?
A cost in an ability is still considered part of that ability, and is therefore subject to the valid target rules. Since the cost of Ms. Marvel’s ability both deals damage to and exhausts her, she would be a valid target for her ability cost even if “Go for Champions!” were played earlier to prevent her from taking damage. (Note, since “Go for Champions!” now removes itself from the game, she’d have to be returning a different event to her hand this way.)
-Alex – January 26, 2025
What if an all-purpose counter with a certain type is placed on card, does it gain the type defined on the card it occupies? Lets say, (with the help of Cameo) I use Captain Americat to place a toon counter on Drax (the hero), does it become a vengeance counter?
Correct; once an all-purpose counter is placed on a card, it gains the type of counter defined on the card it occupies. In Drax’s case, an all-purpose counter placed on him via Captain Americat’s ability would become a vengeance counter.
-Alex – January 26, 2025
Since RRG1.7, overkill definition has evolved from “dealt” to “taken” damage. it is a great clarification: it comes naturally that a tough status card on a minion prevents damage he would take, so any overkill damage.
But the RRG paragraph “EXCESS DAMAGE” has not been updated the same way: “Excess damage is any amount of damage that is dealt to a character beyond that character’s remaining hit points.”
=> so Rocket Raccoon “Murdered You!” is about excess damage dealt? even there is no excess damage taken?
Also the paragraph “OVERKILL” says: “If a card ability counts excess damage dealt, that ability counts the same value of excess damage that is calculated when resolving the overkill keyword”
=> “Into the Fray” is about excess damage taken? maybe not because it has no overkill…
=> “Into the Fray” + “Marked” is about excess damage taken?
Let’s take an exemple mixing dealt/taken excess damage: What if as the hero “Rocket Raccoon”, I play “Into the Fray” on the minion Nimrod with 4 remaining hit points ?
Is Rocket Raccoon “Murdered You!” triggered?
Does “Into the Fray” remove threat?
Having “Marked” attached on Nimrod changes anything?
Overkill was updated to count damage taken, not dealt. However, the definition of excess damage has not changed; it’s still defined as damage dealt to a character beyond its remaining hit points. Excess damage can be dealt to a target even if that target doesn’t take that damage, which is important for the cards you’ve asked about. Rocket Raccoon’s “Murdered You!” ability still triggers when he deals excess damage to an enemy, even if that enemy doesn’t take all of that damage.
Into the Fray still has its additional effect if the minion is dealt excess damage, regardless of damage taken. So, if Rocket Raccoon plays Into the Fray to attack Nimrod with 4 remaining hit points, Rocket “deals” 6, Nimrod “takes” 3, and because Nimrod had 4 hit points, the excess damage dealt by the event is 2, so 2 threat is removed and Rocket draws 1 card. If Nimrod had Marked attached at the time, nothing additional would happen, as no excess damage was “taken” by Nimrod so no damage is dealt to the villain via overkill.
-Alex – January 26, 2025
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