The tabletop world and comic book universe have long been connected. Many enthusiasts share love for both hobbies, and naturally there have been several games hoping to capitalize on that fanfare. Recently, Fantasy Flight Games have tried their hand at using their Living Card Game system and giving it a Marvel-coloured coat of paint. Is Marvel Champions: The Card Game the perfect marriage or does it fall just short?

Marvel Champions: The Card Game utilizes illustration mostly from the comics. This can lead to some inconsistency in styles, as most art is designed by several different artists. Marvel Champions does a better job than most of its contemporaries at finding a harmony among its aesthetic. The game’s insert is disappointing, but it’s become a Fantasy Flight Games staple among their card games. There are divider lines, but no dividers provided. For a game that requires meticulous organization, there really needs to be more.

Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a cooperative card game. Players construct decks themed around Marvel heroes. Each deck consists of a hero and their hero-specific cards, and supplementary attribute cards (justice, leadership, etc.) Players are up against a supervillain and its own themed deck. Each supervillain has a scheme which is an additional threat for players to manage.

The players’ cards have associated costs which can be paid for using resources. Each card has its own resource value listed on the bottom-left corner. Heroes can be switched to their alter-ego forms, allowing for faster recovery but limited in attacks. Players can bring on allies to help contribute it various ways against the villain and its scheme. The players lose if the Main Scheme reaches its limit or all heroes’ hit points have been reduced to zero. The players win if they can reduce the final phase of the supervillains’ hit points to zero.

There are a lot of mechanics and systems going on. It will likely take players twice as long to complete their first game as their second or third. The resource management system is great. Many card games dedicate cards to resource generation, which can bog down the gameplay. As a pre-constructed card game, Marvel Champions does an excellent job at creating a ramp that builds the tension as the games progress. The one negative with these types of Living Card Games are that the base game tend to really just be a teaser of the game's full potential and Marvel Champions is no different.

It wasn’t too long ago that Upper Deck released Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game to great success. I’ve played hours of Legendary and its difficult not to directly compare Champions to it. Although one is a constructed card game and the other is a deck-builder, the interactions between players and villains feel very familiar. Overall, I think Marvel Champions streamlines and fixes a lot of the issues I had with Legendary. It’s a step in the right direction and hopefully Fantasy Flight continues to support the game and grows it to see its full potential.