My Response to the Controversy | Dr. Strange Most Overrated Hero Discussion Marvel Champions 

I’m surprised people pushed back against the idea that the 25 blank card myth exists. It’s been pretty common in the community for years. I’m guessing the haters are pretty new to the community. Not that being new invalidates their opinion, but they certainly need to do their homework before arguing. But, of course, that’s not how the internet works 😅

In a game with zero competition, endless replays and a difficulty curve that can serve the needs of an abject beginner and a seasoned all-in collector, people still find excuses to fight over the most trivial of things. I think it’s an example of a lack of self-awareness. Opinions are like ars…. !?!… oh great, now you got me doing it. The community is, for the most part, one of the best in all of gaming save for a few bloodthirsty shut-ins motivated to spread discord for a variety of reasons. Have a great holiday, y’all. If you need me I’ll be in my gaming grotto swinging in the hammock. ✌️

One of the only issues I have with the MC community at large is that once a hero is declared "bad" for whatever reason (it's "OP", it's not powerful enough, it's boring, it wasn't designed right, etc.), it takes a really long time for the overall opinion to change, and that's *if* it ever does change. Case in point, Thor. Thor took a couple of years before people would - grudgingly - admit that Thor is not the unplayable mess he was originally cast as by the community, and is actually quite good when he is played correctly (my general sense about the original Thor hate is that everybody looked at his kit, saw that it was really similar to Captain America, and then tried to play him like Cap, which doesn't work at all). Now it's finally gotten to the point where you don't get the digital equivalent of a sneer if you say you like Thor, but that took forever to happen. Doctor Strange is the hero the community has held onto its hate for, which I find annoying. As I've said previously, I'm not denying that he's powerful, but I do think it's unfair to have a large chunk of the community telling newbies to the game to not even bother with getting Doctor Strange, because they'll just be bored with how powerful he is. I play almost monthly with a group of guys who mostly don't play the game outside of that, so me and the one of them that does play regularly are basically having to teach the game to them every time we play. They run the same heroes every time, too, so it's not like they are having to learn a new hero as they get refreshed on the game for the month. One of those guys runs Strange exclusively. I don't keep track of our win/loss ratio, but if I had to estimate, I'd say it's about 50/50. Just because you (in a general sense) are an experienced card gamer who knows how to look at cards and get a general sense of how they will interact and which ones should be played at any given time, doesn't mean everybody is. Newbies especially aren't. Strange is really not that easy to pilot if you are new to card games and/or haven't seen him before so you don't know how he works. I can (and have) hand somebody who has never played before an Aggression Hulk deck and say "Hulk Smash" and they can pretty easily figure out what to do with him with minimal questions. That has not been my experience with Strange, where I'm constantly getting questions on how certain things work from a guy who has played the same Strange deck for the past two years. (I'd like to add that I'm not trying to put my group down, they're great guys to play with, and I'm sad that we haven't gotten a game in in the past couple of months due to conflicting schedules. I really don't want people to get the wrong idea, I'm just using them as an example of people who are, for all intents and purposes, perpetual newbies who I think illustrate that just assuming anybody can pick up a hero like Strange and immediately start winning every time is ludicrous.)

A quote someone told me after posting this video: "I am embarrassed at the fails I've had with him to the point of choosing not to post for advice here, and endure the ridicule. No specifics because it's been a while, but we're always playing three player. My warnings to the others about him being OP went laughed at, as we'd get defeated."

Thank you for putting yourself out there and being the one to (proverbially) fall on the sword for this. Strange is good, he's great, he's one of my top 5 favorite heroes to play and I hate the feeling that I get from certain players that "playing Strange is just easy mode". Like, sure, it certainly is easier because some of his invocations actually break the rules of the game(bands not being an attack, and images not being a thwart) but, the game is still the game and it can still get you. Heck, even RNG can have a thing to say about it some times and that alone can ruin Strange's gameplan.

The problem I see with all of this kind discussion is that most of these comments made about Strange are clearly from people who 'feel' that he would win, but don't really seem to state that they have done it themselves. I don't see anything concrete and rather people talking smack. I think it is very true that everyone is saying D-r Strange is OP and I think it is true. It still feels like you are cherry-picking extreme examples of a small minority, which doesn't really need all of this time proving wrong. Strange is somewhat unique in that he explodes all over the place when you pair him with another player and his power is lower when you play solo. He trivializes the game once some allies are on the board, as you can never take damage due to toughs and stun, all the while you never ever have bad turns thanks to the invocation deck. If you still want to hyperfixate on the 25 blanks thing, I would say Strange is the one hero who does best with 25 blanks and it is not even a close call. Edit: I have to say ... I didn't really watch you initial video with the playthrough. I only now checked a few minutes of the fight with Ultron and I immediately had to turn it off after seeing you keep a resource card in hand after the first round. Sigh... listen, you already went out of your way to change the rules of the game, supposedly based on the comments of a few people that provide no proof of concept that it actually works. The least you could do is do your best and try reasonably to do the challenge, which abso-fucking-lutely means you don't keep a single resource card in your hand when you have a deck with 25 blanks! That's just bad sport for what could otherwise be a decently interesting challenge. After seeing that I decided there is nothing left to see. You proved that Strange cannot beat a minion-heavy villain when you are not even trying your hardest to win.

Thanks as always for your video! Not for changing the theme of discussion but for integrate it: when Mutant Genesis was released, there was a myth that was like a new core set. Can't imagine the reaction of new players with Colossus and Shadowcat (not easy heroes, imho) with a scenario like Sabretooth (surely not an easy villain, imho). Things like this or Hulk bad or Strange op may confuse new players because not all players start to search different points of view.

It was a great video and plz never feel bad for speaking your mind/opinion, the marvel champions community is great in a lot of ways especially with helping people understand the game. But there is a certain cohort of gatekeepers that are fragile when it comes to freethinkers that produce content in their "own style." For ex) D20 was essentially excommunicated from reddit for his reddit reply videos. Keep hammering away at your content and don't listen to the noise.

For me, Dr. Strange is very complex hero. Miss the order of invocation can ruin your game hehehe I think do only auto pilot hero in the game is Cable.

This is a very important video!! I hope this helps more new player not to feel embarrassed about asking for help with Doctor Strange or any character, I hope that if they get bullied in anyway they'll understand they are not asking the right crowd and should look somewhere else for help, just scroll past the laughs, someone should be giving a helpful tip.

I've been playing this game for only a little over a year now and I have definitely seen the 'Doctor Strange can do anything even with 25 blank cards' comments numerous times (reddit being the main offender). I'm not really sure how your content can be taken as 'click baity'. Because even if you did come up with this challenge yourself (which you haven't), all you're doing is proving that Dr Strange is not some auto pilot god. I'm not really sure what is controversial or click bait about that. I think you're actually quite a genuine person and you're just giving evidence to help state your opinions. To me that should be welcomed and used to create further constructive discussions. I really hope you keep doing content like this, because its good to have peoples opinions challenged (especially one like this, as tbh it's mainly from online discourse people believe Dr Strange is this powerful). My personal experience of Doctor strange is that I have actually always struggled with him. I find Spectrum (a hero that I think is underrated) to be far more constant. I agree he is powerful once learnt how to play, however, I still think he has glearing weaknesses, such as minion heavy scenarios. To me personally I really dont think I'd have him in S tier. Oh and keep up the great content. I've dropped off with watching content in general for MC the last few months as ive been busy, but I plan to binge watch a bunch of stuff this weekend.

I feel you, I heard the same claims about Dr. Strange when I started playing. I think he and Spider-Ham have earned their place at the top, but they are by no means broken. Just better than the average hero. Tailoring Thor to go against Ultron can "break" the game, same goes for most Heros. But neither Porker or Strange are innately break the gam I'd say. Keep up the good work, your videos have been really interesting.

I think I've said this before, don't be ashamed of your opinions. And clashing opinions is inevitable in any community. That itself is not a bad thing. Having cultured discussions about the things we like is awesome and I enjoy them because I can always learn something new or shift my perspective, heck, even change it sometimes. You know my opinion on the matter, so I'm not going to repeat it. What I am going to repeat is, that have confidence in your opinion and don't let the negativity get to you. Thankfully, this community is one of the best ones out there. You, D20, Nelson, VillainTheory and a lot of others are all very nice and cool people in my eyes!

I agree, I heard the overrated claims and tried him twice and lost both times. Was a bit confused. Realizing he’s very powerful but he’s not extremely OP like you said. Great points!

Always enjoy your content including your collaborative content with Nelson and Villain Theory. Truly appreciate your objectivity, which is often hard to come by. Also, your level of play is impressive and I enjoy using your decks. Be encouraged and keep up the good work!

This video is one of the reason for why avoid social networks. "Authority argument" is full of pride/ego, and very little educationnal. I follow you since your very begining with Miles, and all your gameplay videos are interesting to watch, because like DescryGaming, you push the limit of "theory", and put everything you have in mind in practice. People might get offended by the result, but that's their ego, and universe care very little about that. You show what we can do with hulk, what we can do with spider man or bishop, like Descry for Valkyrie or Black Widow and that is just food for thought. I like theory video such as villaintheory channel, but they are still that : theory. What matters is deck building, piloting, and most importantly: play the game how you feel. Discover tricks, applying smart moves, etc. People who claims that Doctor Strange is boring, I can understand. But people who claims that Doctor Strange is easy mode for weak gamer have very little understanding of theory, or game design IMO, and very little respect for players of Marvel Champions. And that is because they don't put into application their own ideas. Sorry for long message, but I have to put out of my chest: people should stop harass good content creator, because their ego is insulted by the conclusion of a material experience.

Well said and well presented! I heard the 25 blanks years ago and that he “only needs the invocation deck.” These were needed videos for the community and Dr Strange. This has actually made me want to play him more now. Thank you!!

Love your conclusion about not discouraging new players with comments like Strange being OP, Hulk being unfun etc. By far the most important aspect of all these discussions is community building. The game has a decent sized one but not very big. What you're doing with all these videos is a huge contribution to the community, so please never feel like you're not doing good work.

You are correct. It is possible to be the best and still be overrated. People just like to complain about other peoples opinions. Keep up the great content.

the best way to enjoy any game is to take other people's opinions with a gigantic boulder of salt i kept seeing a lot of posts/videos talking about how bad hulk was, then i decided to "challenge" myself into beating some difficult villains with him, since i was having too easy of a time with my favorites managed to defeat expert magneto in 3/5 games using a leadership deck that only had cards from the 1st and 2nd cycle, when i added professor X to my deck, i won the next 4/5 (lost one because i misscounted lethal and threated out of the game with an advance :)