Marvel Champions' Top 10 Easiest Heroes 

Villain, any chance you could make a video based on the bruiser characters and how best to play them. (She-Hulk, Drax, Hulk, Colossus, etc.) I’ve been having a hard time playing them in multiplayer as my friends usually want a traditional Spider-Man block for the whole team deck. How would you build a team around bruisers (in protection)?

Poor Hulk. I did at least talk about him in solo still a bit here...!

Woo! Love to see our boy Hulk finally making a top 10 list 😂

One other benefit(!) of Hulk for new players is him not hanging on to cards. It helps with the 'play what you can that round' ethos of the game. Just smash and move on! He's very effective in multiplayer when supported by other players - a bit of Clarity of Purpose, Helicarrier and Avengers mansion from other players really helps him do his thing.

Nice! Symbiote Suit is always a fun (if a little scary)

I agree with Drax, he is one of my suggestions when I help new players.

Drax is fun. It's the counters that put me off recommending him - an evolving ATK stat that stops growing then starts drawing cards is a lot. Then going alter-ego is a whole weird thing with him that sets him back and is generally best-avoided, which is just an odd style to show to a new player in my opinion. But he has a lot going for him too, probably should have at least been an honourable mention.

@VillainTheory for me the counters only add to three, he has good HP, alter-ego is a good failsafe that even heals as a reward how long kept on hero side, 4 card handsize amount equals less card reading, and Drax only has one job really which is attacking. I have argued this with my pals too, and newbies like to play more iconic characters first like Peter Parker and Captain America anyways, but this at least is my logic why I have him in my top recommendations.

Yeah I think there's a lot going for Miles for a new-ish player, but Double Life was one of my concerns. I think I talk about the alter-ego thing for him a little here. Thanks for the detailed comment!

Oh nice! I hope it goes well! Anything to help new players is brilliant

Someone else played Black Panther first too? Very cool!

Thanks for the comment? I would say most heroes take some kind of strategy to get the most out of their kits. Captain Marvel really wants you to keep flipping alter-ego for best results and has a bunch or poorly-costed cards you actually don't want to play, which new players won't know. Spider-Man has a lot of weird card interactions. At least with Black Panther and Gamora, even if you get the sequencing wrong, it's probably only a couple of damage different. That is at least my thought-process! But that's totally fair

Quicksilver did make this video, he's #8! To me Cable is a little more complex, I think pacing the side schemes, the Turn 1 choice of them, and tracking the victory display all contribute to making him less new player-friendly. But after a few games I could definitely recommend him!

@@VillainTheory I need to pay more attention haha. Had you on second screen whilst getting my daily wins on MTG Arena. Yeah maybe Cable is New Player + but if I had a friend with TCG or LCG experience I'd trust them to pilot him well enough

Hope you like it!

Haha! Gamora is a solid choice for #1. I had here there for a while as I say in the video, though it's interesting how many comments have been down on her. I swear by her for new players!

Please do! I hope it helps!

Haha! Regarding your first sentence, I would simply say that Marvel Champions is full of great heroes all over. Love clever uses of Worthy. Thor even likes Upside the Head to get alter-ego more easily and do that. He's great!

Thanks for the honest feedback! To take some of your recommendations and compare them to Gamora, my recommendation you disagree with the most, I will start by talking about Ant-Man. Ant-Man also has two responses to remember, and this also includes an unusual form-change where he goes from hero form to another hero form. It's one per turn usually, which you could say is easier, but hear me out. Gamora does need to find the right events to trigger her responses but you would have to try not to trigger at least one of them and usually get both just with her precon. Contrast with Ant-Man who, outside of drawing 1 of 2 copies of Resize, is only ever triggering one. Gamora will get more responses to trigger despite having to draw into them. Of course, we can factor in the Helmet. Now Ant-Man is getting a lot more things going on. But isn't that also just more to remember every turn? Also something to note is I phrased it as "Try to play one attack + thwarting event" on purpose with emphasis on the TRY, it was never mandatory to hit both every turn for success. The bullet points were simply meant as guidance to help. To compare to other heroes, Spider-Man won't be triggering his card draw if he started the turn alter-ego or played Webbed-Up on the villain. Venom might not always have the right resources to get the full effect from his events, and so on. And I think that's okay. Those things will become more consistent with experience and/or deckbuilding later on. That aside, Gamora's events basically all read "deal x damage" or "remove y threat". That's it. Compared to Ant-Man's, which are multifaceted be it his thwarting card needing to be played in a specific form and alter its value based on having certain upgrades in play, or Giant Stomp needing to be in the right form and hitting multiple targets. And that's before factoring in his resource cards which do something else while he's trying to play a card. Not a huge deal, he was in my honorary mentions after all and I said he almost made the list, but certainly more than what Gamora asks for in my opinion. To talk more about Venom, his events require two of the same resource type which I see even experienced players forget. His ability also works in both phases, and I'm sure many players forget they could use it to pay for Grasping Tendrils in the villain phase. And good luck having a new player understand the interaction between Grasping Tendrils and his Spider-Sense upgrade, the latter of which is something he needs to try and remember every turn too. New players will certainly win more games if they just jump in with Doctor Strange or Venom etc, but I also don't think they'll learn how to win by playing that way. They'll just learn that those characters win a lot. The main idea behind my list was simplicity, and it was a response to my Most Complicated Heroes list. Take Thor and Hulk for example, some of the weaker heroes on my list, I do talk about their power level. So it's my hope that new players who use those recommendations go into playing them aware of any shortcomings there. Hope that helps make my choices less puzzling, even if they remain different!

Thanks for the comment! I do think most heroes have something to forget, and you know players will miss things in their first few games somewhere. We all still do it occasionally after years and years of playing!

Haha! Much like with Ant-Man and Wasp, it's the form changing. I think that and Metamorphosis has potential to be confusing. He has some pretty high-level sequencing sometimes. But, of course, he is incredibly strong and a new player will still do well and enjoy him a LOT! Good shout.

I definitely imagined this being used to help experienced players pick characters to introduce new players. I imagine most people on their own will just do as the box tells them and start with Spidey, then mess around with the other core set heroes!

Totally fair! I think Wolverine really does excite people, so in that regard he's especially amazing. My minor argument back for Gamora is that new players tend to have a small collection, and Gamora can only take thwarting or attack cards from other aspects, so there's not a lot of choices to confuse people and thus it's hard to go wrong.

@@VillainTheory I think you are totally spot on here, especially with your last point (it's hard go wrong). Gamora was the second hero I ever played (Spidey was the first), and I found her to be really intuitive. I mostly play Champions with friends, so removing threat from an attack, while dealing damage from thwarting made me feel like I was always able to make a meaningful contribution to the group effort. I also think she is a good character to choose if you want a new player to think about how cards can combo off each other (e.g. playing Set the Pace before playing Decisive Blow). Because of that, I think she's a really fun character for whom to build a deck--especially if one is new to building their own decks. Thanks for the reply!

Thanks!

Peter Parker Spider-Man and Captain America are my personal top 2 to teach with, as well they are iconically popular choices.

The good news at least is that Gamora's effects are optional, forgetting those responses is just like choosing not to use them. Completely legitimate, just uhhh... not ideal! And nice, glad to hear Wolverine and Captain America worked out well!

I agree on remembering to use Gamora's abilities, and remembering when you have and haven't used them! I use some simple tokens to mark when I've used her bonuses just to keep from using them twice by mistake.

I fear by that criteria we probably need to bring it a lot of the strongest heroes in the game which I'm not crazy about, but it's certainly an interesting discussion. Angel should definitely get a mention there. I don't see forgetting about Retaliate as being too bad in the same way it's fine if you miss Rechannel, but each to their own! Captain Marvel was a really close contender for my #1, solid choice.

"Unfortunately" I'm 50% of those comments, I reply to everyone 😁

@@VillainTheory ah... you shouldn't have said. I won't have noticed 😂 but 20-30 comments for a niche board games channel is still impressive 👏

Thanks! I didn't want to take power into consideration for this, this was meant to be the simplest heroes. Kind of a "easiest to understand" for new players and not "easiest to win with" if that makes sense?

Bishop is a solid contender! I thought about him but I think the way he wants to get hit, and gather up resources, is pretty unusual. Very easy once you understand the game and how it works, it pilots itself to some degree, but just a little odd compared to the average hero's playstyle.

Yeah, I think he's pretty simple in execution, but the deck building would be a little complex for a newer player, so that makes sense why he's not on the list. A lot of the included heroes are just solidly simple right out the box, with multiple builds/aspects, save for maybe Thor and Hulk. Thor especially wants to play Agg to seek minions, where Hulk could thrive more in other aspects pretty easily, like J or L.

Thank you! Ghost-Spider can be difficult, I almost put her in my Top 10 most complicated heroes video.

Thanks!

Drax is another great contender! I think the counters and his dislike of going alter-ego put me off recommending him here but he's solid. As for the villains and modulars, stay tuned for my next few videos for more detail! In general though, the simpler the better. Bomb Scare, Masters of Evil, Hydra Assault, Temporal and Armies of Titan are great for new players. With Absorbing Man, Rhino, Klaw, and Crossbones all being new-player friendly.

@@VillainTheory Thanks Villain Theory 🙂 I shall be l looking forward to your future videos, and the next episode of Shadow of the Cast too of course!

That's fair!

Oh nice! I love Arkham, wish I found the time to play more, I recently grabbed a Return To box for the first time!

@@VillainTheory AH is absolutely fantastic, but unlike Champions, it is not really solo-friendly. Can be done, but quite hard. Split roles are the best when playing with 2 players, not sure if it is the same for Champions.

So as for your picks, they are quite different in premise from my own list. They overlap some heroes, but others we approach teaching in different ways. One of my big no-nos is being sure I don't introduce a new character that is radically different from the natural order of the game. For instance, Gamora is one of my top 5 heroes I love to play, but she cheats different aspects into her build; I'd hate to introduce a new player with Gamora and now they have an expectation they can throw any splash of aspect they want into their deck building with any hero, it could be a major turn off. Also I feel there are major gimmick differences between heroes like Captain America and Quicksilver, as Captain America has a cost to ready (good) while Quicksilver cheats and just readies, and this could create a bad habit in a new player's mind they can ready once-per-phase with any hero because of the simplicity of Quicksilver's gimmick. For me, I am trying to look into the subconscious possibilities of uh-oh moments these new players might accidentally create and affects their enthusiasm to continue playing, and that is a big factor in my selection of what heroes I offer them. Before I even considered this process, one of my friends first impression with the game was Hulk, and he hated it because of the constant discard effect combined with low hand-size (game was still relatively new too, I think Star Lord was latest release at time, so no Limitless Staminas either). Thor appeared to be only hero I gave pause and considered could be more approachable than I once believed, but I think he still is too complex because his gimmick is sometimes he can aggro too many minions onto himself by accident with own event or put Mjolnir back to hand with event and new player might not juggle resources correctly to get back into play. Lastly, I'd say Obligation and Nemesis do play a factor on hero options to give a new player, as an early hit of either could affect game impressions: I remember Gamora's nemesis set is just utter punishment.

So here is priority I have for heroes to learn and enjoy the game: 1 is hurt enemies, and 2 is keep themselves alive. Any other choices made beyond those two come naturally and is explored by either their own kit cards typically or seeing the roles of how other experienced players use their heroes with their aspects. I also give little to no allies to new players, it's just extra rules they don't need to learn during first game session despite their good utility. I believe giving them the boxer job of KO-ing without getting KO-ed themselves is the most primal, efficient, and most action-oriented function a new player can latch onto and understand without being overwhelmed. After that, if they want to tackle justice, leadership, or perfect defense protection, it'll be because they witnessed another player succeed on making it look gravy and fun.

We play Rhino with Hydra Patrol module lately as a quick punching bag. Idk if this is most effective villain and module for new players but I do know Hydra Soldiers give better odds when defeated to Charge and immediately attack, or double attack, as potential risk. Otherwise you're just letting Rhino have more tough and healing opportunities to slow game session down for more teaching opportunities. Complexity 1 Heroes: Captain America, Captain Marvel, Drax, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) Complexity 2 Heroes: Ant-Man, Bishop, Black Panther, Colossus, Groot, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Venom, Wolverine So I have five complexities of heroes and I copy/pasted first two above, and Category 1 is my experience of what is most accessible while Category 2 I'd only hand off if someone had Magic the Gathering or some other complex board game experience. 13. 12. and 11. will all be Bishop, Venom, and Wolverine in no given order. You have to take damage to gain benefit, and that could be a recipe for disaster, but fortunately the three of them are all otherwise straightforward heroes. 10. Colossus. Similar to logic above, instead of managing life he is managing toughs as a resource, but the access to Limitless Stamina and has better survival makes him rank higher than the previous three. 9. Ant-Man. This is only three-side hero I allow newbs to play, as the responses are simple to understand. 8. Miles Morales, Spider-Man. The versatility and enemy control Miles offers is very good and keeps newbie alive and effective in the field. 7. Black Panther. Simple goals of more Panther upgrades, the more utility for Wakanda Forever. Vibraniums great too for extra spending power for remainder of build. 6. Groot. His tokens have dual purpose of keeping a new player alive as well as opportunity of a second currency that doesn't upset the flow of the aspect, giving two-layers of success to learn with. 5. Spider-Ham. Similar to 13-11, life as currency is dangerous, but Ham is the superior of these other heroes. 4. Drax. Has good health and hero-side exclusive goals, yet is rewarded with extra healing when flip to alter-ego is needed. Drax has one job: attack well. 3. Captain Marvel. Despite low defense, great health management and resource hero. 2. Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Focus on attack and defense is phenomenal and simple, and has good resource and alter-ego options too. 1. Captain America. Versatility is bonkers, and build-out acceleration and stuns are powerful. King of teaching players how to play the game with understandable costs for effects, such as ability to discard to ready.

Hey, thanks for the in-depth response! I've been waiting until I had the proper time to reply. Great points. I also agree that, when introducing someone new, other players shouldn't go too crazy with their decks. I have also enjoyed having new players start in Justice or Leadership, but largely only when introducing multiple players at once. It's pretty straightforward to tell someone their job is to keep the yellow tokens down, and once someone understands how one ally works then - as long as you gave them straightforward allies - a whole Leadership deck should be pretty simple to manage (though Leadership is better for people who've played other cards games before). 'Pool and Protection are generally what I avoid most for new players ha! We had Gamora in a game at our local store yesterday and the Shadow of the Past came up, and it wasn't bad at all. I would argue Captain America's, Venom's, Ant-Man's and Wolverine's are worse for example. The obligation was fine too. In fact, getting to go alter-ego with it was quite helpful as they got to use their alter-ego ability. Of all the characters you name, Colossus is the one I disagree with the most. He made my Top 10 Complicated Heroes video and I few people argued I didn't put him high enough on that list haha! But those are fun characters who I generally agree with. I'll give the idea of example builds some thought!

@VillainTheory the different teaching approaches and methods to this game is very interesting. Yeah, that would be great to see beginner-friendly example builds, when and if you get time. Thanks.

Oh no! I think the average Protection Spider-Man deck has a fairly tricky match-up with Mutagen Formula too...

She's definitely powerful to use, and very fun!

Yes and no. Not all precons are made equal, though if you wanted to dabble with decks you certainly don't need a perfect deck with every fancy card out there. Just the core set and sometimes the hero's own pack will let you build an effective deck for them in any of my recommended aspects. As it stands, including their precon and for the purpose of expansions, I'd recommend: Spider-Man Peter Parker, Wolverine, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and/or Gamora. Though a good tip for a newcomer is that you can take Spider-Man's precon from the core set (just the yellow and grey cards, not the Spider-Man cards) and put those cards on most heroes and do well. The Justice aspect (yellow cards) is generally the easiest place to start.

@@VillainTheoryThank you, super helpful!

I'm not sure if you're referring to my buyer's guide (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XMlspy5BRvo.html) but I talk about 10 or so heroes there! A quick note for Doctor Strange and Protection, it's because core set Protection doesn't come with a single defense event and it doesn't reward you for defending. Strange's pack introduces a great defense event and Unflappable which rewards you for defending, effectively introducing the true core of Protection as an aspect. And everything else is great. SP//dr is another good one. Aside from good Protection cards in general, she has Limitless Stamina and Unshakable which are cards especially for 14hp heroes to use. That is a huge boost for Thor, Hulk, etc! But I could consider doing more!

​@@VillainTheory so perhaps its more of a video of what heroes flesh out aspects the best after the core box? Like get X,Y & Z to help round out Protection/ aggression/ etc. I think your buyers vid is great if you have just the core box or nothing but it's that step after the first few expansion boxes. So I am in the middle space as an owner of this game. I have the core, I have a couple of expansions and a couple of hero packs. So some knowledge for me that would be really helpful is understanding the heroes that help expand each aspect. It helps focus my spending. I hope that explains it well enough?

@@5p3cu10 Ah, got it! Thanks for clarifying!

Ham is soooooo good

Only likes ham? Definitely not a vegan...

Unfortunately for Ms. Marvel, I actually put her in my Top 10 Complicated heroes video! Event-driven decks are good for new players in my opinion, but she is just too strange with her 1/1/1 statline, Morphogenics ability and the way her upgrades and supports are unusual. Plus response timing rules are important for her.

@@VillainTheory That's fair! Ps - I still haven't forgotten tour offer to help me build a 4-player deck, and still plan to do email you.