Marvel Champions LCG

[Cable]

Marvel Champions is an awesome cooperative LCG made by Fantasy Flight Games (if you don't know what a Living Card Game is, it is like a TCG/CCG except better imo because it eliminates the 'rarity' element by having defined card packs instead of random ones). It first came out in November 2019 and has been releasing content more or less monthly since then (with some COVID related delays), but it has taken all the way until now to finally get X-Men! It is the perfect time to jump onboard if you are an X-fan.

You have to have the original Core Set to play, but then additional content is all optional. There are hero packs that can add another hero deck to play, scenario packs that add a new villain to face, and campaign expansions that include a couple new hero decks and multiple new villain scenarios.
If you don't care for deck-building, the hero decks are completely playable out of the box. And the game does a good job of having different heroes feel unique rather than just some kind of re-skin. If you do like deck-building, hero packs have interchangeable cards and the more you get the more possibilities. The villain scenarios also have some customization in that there are modular sets that can be shuffled in or out to change the threats faced.

There is no exact release date but the X-Men expansion and hero decks are expected to roll out in Fall 2022.

Below in the spoiler tags I will put all available heroes and villains if you are curious

Spoiler: show

Already released:

Core Set -- Heroes: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Spider-Man (Parker) Villains: Rhino, Klaw, Ultron

Hero Packs
Captain America (Rogers)
Ms. Marvel
Thor
Black Widow
Dr Strange
Hulk
Ant-Man (Lang)
Wasp (Nadia)
Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch
Star Lord
Gamora
Drax
Venom (Thompson)
Nebula
War Machine
Vision
Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)
Nova (Alexander)
Ironheart

Scenario Packs
Green Goblin
Wrecking Crew
Kang the Conqueror
Hood

Campaign Boxes
Rise of Red Skull -- Heroes: Hawkeye (Clint), Spider-Woman Villains: Crossbones, Absorbing Man, Taskmaster, Arnim Zola, Red Skull
Galaxy's Most Wanted -- Heroes: Groot, Rocket Raccoon Villains: Drang, Collector, Nebula, Ronan the Accuser
Mad Titan's Shadow -- Heroes: Adam Warlock, Spectrum Villains: Loki, Hela, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Thanos
Sinister Motives -- Heroes: Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man (Morales) Villains: Sandman, Venom, Mysterio, Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Electro, Hobgoblin, Kraven, Scorpion, Vulture)

Future Releases:

Hero Packs coming Summer 2022
Spider-Ham
Sp//dr

Campaign Box coming Fall 2022
Mutant Genesis -- Heroes: Colossus, Shadowcat Villains: Sabretooth, Sentinels, Master Mold, Brotherhood of Mutants (Avalanche, Blob, Pyro, Toad), Magneto

Hero Packs coming Fall 2022
Cyclops
Phoenix
(four more X-Men hero packs not yet revealed)

[Anna Raven]

The problem with Marvel CCGs is they churn through new versions faster than you can say "Thwip". First I was really into Vs. Then I got really into Legendary. I've been hesitant to try Champions because I can just feel it in my bones that it won't be long before they replace it with something else.

[Cable]

The problem with Marvel CCGs is they churn through new versions faster than you can say "Thwip". First I was really into Vs. Then I got really into Legendary. I've been hesitant to try Champions because I can just feel it in my bones that it won't be long before they replace it with something else.

Well looking at FFG's past games it could go either way. Their original LCG was Call of Cthulu which was a CCG that they started in 2004 before changing to the LCG format in 2008, and it ran from that point for 7 years. It was replaced by Arkham Horror LCG that has been running for six years. Their Lord of the Rings LCG has been continuously releasing content since 2011. Their Star Wars one released content for six years and then ended. The Game of Thrones one ran for five years before ending. Their Legend of the Five Rings version ran for only four years.

So five years seems to be about the average, meaning Marvel Champions would be about halfway through its life. However, if it proves as popular as LOTR then it could continue on for over a decade. It is worth noting that all of the ones that have ended were competitive games, while the two that have endured are cooperative like Marvel Champions is. It may just be a more popular format (likely in part because you can play by yourself).

[Jindianajonz]

The problem with Marvel CCGs is they churn through new versions faster than you can say "Thwip". First I was really into Vs. Then I got really into Legendary. I've been hesitant to try Champions because I can just feel it in my bones that it won't be long before they replace it with something else.

Legendary is still going strong

[Anna Raven]

Is it? My local shop never gets any of the expansions anymore, but I see a lot of Champions.

[Jindianajonz]

I'm sure the popularity has died down significantly since its heyday, but they just released an expansion for Messiah Complex earlier this year, and I think there was a Dr Strange expansion released even more recently.

I haven't played in a while, but I still pick up the X-related expansions when they come out. The game still feels fresh, and the new mechanics in each expansion have been wonderful. I loved the Transform function in the World War Hulk expansion that had players swap out cards when certain things happen, and New Mutants introduced a Sunlight/Moonlight mechanic that forced you to pay much more attention to the HQ than you used to.

[Cable]

I thought I would update this as yesterday it was just announced that there is another deluxe expansion next year that will bring in Apocalpyse! A number of new heroes and villains have been added in the past year and the updated list is below for those interested:

Spoiler: show

Core Set -- Heroes: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Spider-Man (Parker) Villains: Rhino, Klaw, Ultron

Hero Packs
Captain America (Rogers)
Ms. Marvel
Thor
Black Widow
Dr Strange
Hulk
Ant-Man (Lang)
Wasp (Nadia)
Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch
Star Lord
Gamora
Drax
Venom (Thompson)
Nebula
War Machine
Vision
Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)
Nova (Alexander)
Ironheart
Spider-Ham
Sp//dr
Cyclops
Phoenix
Wolverine
Storm
Gambit
Rogue
Psylocke
Angel


Scenario Packs
Green Goblin
Wrecking Crew
Kang the Conqueror
Hood
MojoMania

Campaign Boxes
Rise of Red Skull -- Heroes: Hawkeye (Clint), Spider-Woman Villains: Crossbones, Absorbing Man, Taskmaster, Arnim Zola, Red Skull
Galaxy's Most Wanted -- Heroes: Groot, Rocket Raccoon Villains: Drang, Collector, Nebula, Ronan the Accuser
Mad Titan's Shadow -- Heroes: Adam Warlock, Spectrum Villains: Loki, Hela, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Thanos
Sinister Motives -- Heroes: Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man (Morales) Villains: Sandman, Venom, Mysterio, Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Electro, Hobgoblin, Kraven, Scorpion, Vulture)
Mutant Genesis -- Heroes: Colossus, Shadowcat Villains: Sabretooth, Sentinels, Master Mold, Brotherhood of Mutants (Avalanche, Blob, Pyro, Toad), Magneto
NeXt Evolution -- Heroes: Cable, Domino Villains: Marauders (Arclight, Blockbuster, Chimera, Greycrow, Harpoon, Riptide, Vertigo), Juggernaut, Mr Sinister, Stryfe

Future Releases:

Hero Packs coming later this month
X-23
Deadpool

Campaign Box coming March 2024
Age of Apocalypse -- Heroes: Bishop, Magik Villains: Unus, The Four Horsemen (Death, Famine, Pestilence, War), Apocalypse, possibly another was teased

Hero Packs coming next year
four more X-Men hero packs not yet revealed but these are their silhouettes if you can guess. I'm hoping one of them is Iceman.