UGH, there's always one card I forget. MISSION LEADER! So Mission Leader is a fantastic new card that comes with Cable as part of the NeXt Evolution box. While it's somewhat "generic" in its effect, akin to Skilled Investigator for the whole table, it's very strong and definitely worth having. An auto-include in 3-4 player, very good still in 2-player, and situationally good solo. Its "auto-include" nature in multiplayer is perhaps a detriment - but if you like powerful decks you will want this card.

I think you covered Hope Summers perfectly. Great modular, glad it’s in the game, makes sense for campaign, but wish she wasn’t required for Juggernaut.

Definitely worth the mention regarding "Scenario Specific Allies". Played a few games across my time where the "free" ally stuffed things up and was actually a negative. IMO, they (design) need to be more inclusive of how these allies interact with "Teams". They have dropped the ball repeatedly by only using "doesn't count against ally limit", as that is only PART of the issue & this is after the release of "Teams" & the regular 'Hope Summers'. They can still 'cause a player ally to be discarded! EG: "Avengers Tower" with 4 'Avenger' allies and then you gain Magneto...

I suspect that over time we will see the pool get better in the same way that protection is light years better now than at the start. I don’t personally like it now but they’ll tweak it and make it better. Great list by the way. Everyone has they’re favorites but you nailed it with Cable. He’s just fun in any game play style. There’s not much better than telling your friends, “go ahead and bring out an out a support of your choice…”

Mentioning stories in the campaigns. Oddly enough the best written stories tend to be from the fan created campaigns for the competition. The creators there really worked to explain why each scenario was involved and just brought everything to life so well. The official campaigns like this cycle could really learn from that. Also, I got sent an early copy of Age of Apoc by mistake and I think the campaign there is the best one they've done to date.

What I like in that wave is that there is no single character I don't want to touch ever again, in the last wave after playing a bit of Colossus and Cyclops I decided they are not for me, in this one I prefer some over the others but everyone is at the very least ok

Thank you!! 😊❤

I will say with X23 true solo I defeated Ronan Expert by adding in Hope Summers and focused on an aggression stat boost build. Was fun.

The NeXt Generation box is one of my favorite expansions simply because of the modulars Hope, Flight, Superstrength, and Telepathy(?). It is so nice to have a modular that can tone down the crazy strong villains with Hope, but it's also great to beef up the weaker villains with one of the other modulars. The heroes are also a lot of fun to play, but I'd put Deadpool at the bottom of the list for this group. I think his hero set fits his character, but I don't feel like he has a very interesting decision space. I have less of an issue with the 'Pool aspect, because it's a goofy risk-based set. However, the lack of attack and thwart events really limits it. I mostly play 2-player, and don't have a problem with Domino as one of the heroes. She doesn't seem to take more time to play than X-23 or Angel. But, maybe we're just not playing Domino optimally.

I feel the villains in this wave are a bit lacking. It is mostly too easy, and the marauders have low health and are reused for on the run. Juggernaut and Mister Sinister are fun the the capstone is pretty forgettable. On the other hand I think this may be my favourite wave when it comes to hero's and player cards. I think this wave overall, no disappointing heroes, and all feel perfectly balanced while being strong and on theme.

Could we get a video with cards you never use anymore - it'd be cool for multiple reasons: 1. Upgrading old mcdb decks with new cards 2. Saying which cards don't need to be sleeved 3. General talk about power creep or how a stat wasn't correctly evaluated (e.g. tough not worth 4ER)

Appreciate the video! As a new player, it would be cool (though probably a lot of work) if you could do this for other waves.

So far I've played Pool aspect only on Spider-woman, recently adding sidekick cards to the deck, very entertaining and quite powerful. I'm not sure how often I will play this aspect on other heroes but I definitely want to test it more (e.g. your Pantherpool deck and I want to try it on Venom). Some folks have quite harsh opinions on this aspect but for me it's a fun way to experience something different and have some fun with Deadpool's craziness.

Take my comment as a connoisseur debating their favourite Bordeaux wine more than a critique. I enjoy your content and want to open a few doors in your appreciation that I opened in mine. I love the mutant slayers modular because they are all unique, with a choice to be made on each attack. For a probably similar reason, I love the scenario on the run so much, it’s never dull and I’m actively making choices all the time. Chump block and status locking is attenuated in a nuanced and tasteful way, which I find is beneficial to the game and my enjoyment of the game.

When released I was worried that Cable would be exciting at first, introducing player side schemes in a big way, and then would get stale and feel samey. But that is just not the case. The decision-making involved with the side schemes doesn't get old, and he's now one of my favorite heroes in the game.

We never actually had any issues with Hope. Since I rarely play solo these days, I always play with at least one other person. The first player will be always the one who's gameplan Hope won't disrupt and benefits the most. We also never specifically build decks for Hope either, we just do our own thing and let Hope do Hope things. Then again, when I first played Cable with 3 base stats and used 3 Psychic Kickers, it was very powerful on her. Another great card I almost always use in leadership is Mission Leader. Even solo I think it's worth it, 2 players it's almost auto-include, unless the villain doesn't have many side schemes. We very recently played a 3 player game where one of my friends played Captain America and played Mission Leader early. He also had Maria Hill. It was a game changer. A fantastic box with a fantastic wave. Juggernaut became my third favorite villain and a friend of mine really likes Mister Sinister and Stryfe, who apparently not a whole lot of people like. Admittedly, he very much disliked him at first too. The only hero I'm a bit mixed on is Deadpool, but a friend of mine has him in his top 3. The other 5 heroes are insanely fun. Cable is my 2nd favorite hero and X-23 is my 3rd. They're all very fun, pretty powerful, but all with obvious weaknesses. I'm very much hyped for the new expansion, not only because of the villains (they seem pretty challenging so far), but because I'm a huge X-Men fan and the two heroes in the box both feel like they could end up in my top 5 favorites. Marvel Champions fans are definitely fed well.

The way I've "solved" the Hope problem for me is I take her out of Juggernaut just don't see why she's gotta be there and for Sinister I add her in during the final stage of the main scheme if you need a head cannon for it he kidnapped her and you're fighting through his lab to get her back but after you save her Sinister throws a fit and says " if I can't have her no one can" and tries to kill her lol

Solid review, sir. I JUST finished the MG wave and was kind of meh on this one, and I was considering skipping it and going straight to AoA. Now I have to reconsider, so thanks for that. 🙏🏾

It is a good wave. I've only played the scenarios a little. I think you could drop Hope from Juggernaut or Strife with no issues. She feels more integral to Mr Sinister. You lose a loss condition but 2 free threat/damage per turn. She should have been campaign specific though. Player side schemes are such a huge power increase. They seem to scale to be better with more players and they're great solo. At worst you can thwart them when you have a spare activation instead of nibbling the villain. I like X23 best then Domino. X23 for her whirling destruction and the ability to play really low to the ground. Domino for the puzzles and huge bursty turns - spending Jackpot 3 times etc. I would not play her MP though. Psylock and Angel are ok. I've not been interested in playing Cable or buying Deadpool. I may be wrong about either as I'm only about 2/3 accurate in how much I expect to like heroes. I do find the humour in the Deadpool stuff very forced and tired. I much prefer the whimsy of Porker. (I've blanked all the extra actions on his cards) Edit: I'm also a difficulty 6-9 player, maybe even 4-8.

X-23 in first place and Psylocke in 5th for me. I was so psyched for Betsy but she's too busy for little reward. I think Domino got complexity just right, tactical AND rewarding. And I tried X-23 with low expectation and she won me over.

Although i totally agree playing domino is more planning than luck, I do feel like it is great at emulating the confidence of playing and discarding cards of someone who knows they are supernaturally lucky.

Did you explain the Leadership/Uncanny X-Force archetype in one of your previous video ? I'm curious. I play Leadership Cable but without UXF because I put the best basic/leadership allies... Is a UXF deck with XF allies better ?

Milano is still a better "easier mode" modular than Hope Summers imo. It's always good to have more options, though.

You mentioned X-23 is better in Protection, Leadership and Justice than she is in Aggression. I get the first 2, but what makes her better in Justice? I usually play her in Protection and never feel like she lacks thwarting, and can't think of a particular Justice card that synergises with her.

To be honest, it may not be what I'm supposed to do, but I will ignore the traits of Morlocks and Hope when it comes to considering allies for Team cards like Uncanny X-Men. The allies are compulsory for the scenario and they don't count toward Ally limits, so in my head why should they count toward team cards? I just feel it's anti-fun if the scenario design has effects that limit the kind of decks you can play against it too much. It's already annoying for characters like Colossus when you have to exhaust to defend a character each round in order to make use of your toughs, instead of the villain just attacking directly

Worst villains, best heros in a campaign box yet. The other 4 heroes are all amazing with great cards for expanding a collection

I bough Next Evolution, Deadpool and planning to buy Psylocke, Age of Apocalypse, and probably all X Force while skipping all Xmen. Im not sure, care to share your thoughts? Would it be better than any Xmen?

the heroes are amazing, but the underwhelming aspect/basic cards (aside from side schemes) and the lack of a difficult villain are big downsides for someone who doesn't already have a decent collection

X-23 is best in leadership, only getting better after AoA!

😢 'promosm'