Hello and welcome to my brand new blog about the Marvel Champions Living Card Game (LCG)!
I've only started playing Marvel Champions this month but an LCG about Marvel superheroes is a venn diagram with myself right smack in the middle of it and I've been diving headfirst in. Although I've been playing the X-Wing Miniatures Game for the last five years or so I've got two decades of card game experience from games like Magic: The Gathering, World of Warcraft and Netrunner, so Champions has been right up my street.
I always wind up blogging about the games I play, just to get my ideas out and share my thoughts. I'll probably blog about all sorts of things over time but as I'm still new to the game I don't feel like I should be trying to sound any wiser than I am just yet and I just want to start by sharing some decks I made and games I played. In doing so hopefully my readers will either:
- Like my decks and be inspired to try something similar
- Point out my boneheaded mistakes so I can get better at thinking about the game
- Point out any rules I'm getting wrong
- All of the above
I've mostly been learning the game by playing solitaire, but running two heroes against the villain so I get more of the multiplayer feel. I recently switched to trying proper solo games with a single hero against the villain and it's one of those games that I want to share with you in my first ever blog because it's a deck that I think is really fun, from a hero that doesn't seem to get a lot of love... it's a Hawkeye deck featuring world's biggest nerd (biggest by size, at least)... Goliath.
I'm going to be pitching my Hawkeye deck up against Rhino (Expert) with the Legions of Hydra module added to stiffen the challenge a fair bet. But first, let's meet my Hawkeye deck, which I call Go-Go-Goliath...
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Go-Go-Goliath
Hero: Hawkeye
Aspect: Leadership
- 1x Hawkeye's Bow (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 1x Hawkeye's Quiver (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 2x Expert Marksman (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)
Events
- 3x Inspiring Presence (Hulk)
- 2x Call for Aid (Ant-man)
- 2x Get Ready (Core Set)
- 3x Make the Call (Core Set)
- 2x Sonic Arrow (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 2x Explosive Arrow (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 2x Electric Arrow (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 2x Cable Arrow (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 2x Vibranium Arrow (The Rise of Red Skull)
Supports
- 1x Team-Building Exercise (Ant-man)
- 1x Helicarrier (Core Set)
- 1x Avengers Tower (Captain America)
- 1x Quincarrier (Black Widow)
Resources
- 1x Energy (Core Set)
- 1x Genius (Core Set)
- 1x Strength (Core Set)
Allies
- 1x Ant-Man (Ant-man)
- 1x Stinger (Ant-man)
- 1x Maria Hill (Core Set)
- 1x Falcon (Captain America)
- 1x Squirrel Girl (Captain America)
- 1x Mockingbird (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 1x Hawkeye (The Rise of Red Skull)
- 1x Goliath (The Rise of Red Skull)
So there's two big parts to what this deck is trying to do. The flashy part that I'll talk about first is the big finish that you're trying to set up - you want to play Goliath and make him a 5ATK ally, then ready him for multiple attacks in one turn. Normally the 2 consequential damage that Goliath takes from attacking would put him in the ground after two hits but with the heal from Inspiring Presence you can get an extra hit out of Goliath and swing for as much as 15 damage in one turn!
Getting to the point where you can deliver those crushing blows is where the second part of the deck comes in: you want Hawkeye's unique version of Mockingbird as she can return to hand to prevent all incoming damage to Hawkeye. I've then got four different Support cards that help to reduce Mockingbird's cost so that she can come back for as little as possible, ideally free. That recursion for Mockingbird deals with one of Hawkeye's big problems, which is his low 9 Health, and gives you time to draw into Goliath.
As a really nice bit of synergy the Support cards that you're using to play Mockingbird also help pay the big cost of Goliath out of your hand so you can often play him and multi-attack immediately with Events that you drew that turn. And surrounding those two pieces are Call for Aid to show you Goliath and Mockingbird more quickly (either you draw the one you want or discard cards and get closer to them anyway) and Hawkeye's cheap and flexible quiver of multi-purpose arrows to help control the table until Goliath is ready, coming from your hand or discard pile thanks to Make The Call.
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SETUP
Hawkeye's opening hand: Avenger's Tower, Call For Aid, Vibranium Arrow, Team-Building Exercise, Inspiring Presence, Mockingbird.
Hawkeye's opening hand: Avenger's Tower, Call For Aid, Vibranium Arrow, Team-Building Exercise, Inspiring Presence, Mockingbird.
This has none of the quick economy cards I wanted to see so it's not a great start. I mulligan away Call For Aid, Vibranium Arrow and Inspiring Presence as none of them are early game cards, drawing Genius, Vibranium Arrow and Explosive Arrow. Still no economy. Great.
Rhino II sets up with his Breakin' and Takin' side scheme.
ROUND ONE
I played Avenger's Tower, then exhaust it and play Mockingbird. I really want to get Team-Building Exercise down as well but it's my last card in hand and now I have a dilemma... I can hold onto it or go and grab Hawkeye's Bow with my Alter-Ego ability. I don't have any arrows to play right now but I'll need the bow eventually, and because I'm planning to flip to Hero and thwart away Breakin' and Takin' I don't know when I'm next going to be coming back to Alter-Ego to find the bow. It hurts but I discard Team-Building Exercise to find and play Hawkeye's Bow, then flip to Hawkeye and double-team Breakin' and Takin' off the table.
Rhino advances his main scheme to /1\, attacks me for 4 (Hawkeye down to 5), then reveals Caught Off Guard as his encounter card... Hawkeye's Bow is immediately smashed to pieces!!!
ROUND TWO
I bring down Quincarrier (discarding Sonic Arrow & Helicarrier), then exhaust it and discard Expert Marksmanship to play Maria Hill. I didn't intend to be back in Alter-Ego form so quickly but I have to go get my bow back, so I flip and discard a second Expert Marksmanship to pick Hawkeye's Bow up out of the discard and replay it. Clint Barton recovers (+3 to 8), while Maria Hill thwarts and Mockingbird deals my first damage to Rhino.
Rhino advances his main scheme to /1\, Schemes for /2\ more then plays his Enhanced Ivory Horn.
ROUND THREE
Maria Hill thwarts the main scheme down to /1\. I flip back to Hero mode and play Call For Aid and find Stinger, who I play for free with Avenger's Tower. It's time to start putting some hurt into Rhino so I nail him with an Electric Arrow to Stun him and deal 3 damage, then follow up with Hawkeye's attack and a little hit from Stinger, dropping Rhino to 6 Health remaining. My final play is to add Hawkeye's Quiver, then stack a Cable Arrow into it from the top of my deck.
With Rhino on the ropes & stunned, Mockinbird shield ready and with my economy in play I'm feeling pretty much in control. Which is usually when the wheels fall off in this game...
Rhino advances his main scheme to /2\, clears his Stun, then his encounter card is... Shadow of the Past! This is bad, not only does this put the Marked For Death side scheme and my nemesis, Crossfire, into play, but it also steals my Mockingbird ally from play. Oh, and Crossfire immediately attacks me too with Quickstrike, dropping Hawkeye to (6).
The wheels started to fall off right on cue!
ROUND FOUR
Operation: Rescue Mockingbird goes into full swing, and it's time for Goliath to make his big entrance!
I exhaust Avenger's Tower to help play Goliath, then he thwarts Marked For Death before I finish the scheme off with a shot from my Cable Arrow. Mockingbird returns to my hand then my first use of Inspiring Presence readies Goliath so he can join Hawkeye in getting rid of Crossfire too. A final action sees me slot a Sonic Arrow into my quiver for later, with Mockingbird safe in my head ready to be replayed next turn.
It took my whole turn but I dealt with Shadows of the Past, and now I have Goliath in play too! For his part Rhino advances his main scheme to /3\, I fling Stinger in front of his attack, but then I dodge a bullet when his encounter card is revealed to be Advance. Rhino immediately schemes and if he hits a 3-boost card it's game over but thankfully it's only 2-boost and Rhino stops at /6\ threat... just one away from executing his main scheme!
ROUND FIVE
I need to clear that threat from the main scheme quickly so I replay Mockingbird and she joins Goliath in thwarting it back down to just /2\ threat. I also play Endurance from hand to give Hawkeye some extra health (+3 to 9).
This is a good point to say that the heal of Inspiring Presence has been important here - without it Goliath would have died making this second thwart but as it is he's still around.
With the main scheme back under control it seems a good time to press the advantage and Hawkeye takes Rhino down with an Explosive Arrow and his basic attack, dropping Rhino II from (6) to (0) and triggering the flip into Rhino III. Drawing my new hand does reshuffle Hawkeye's deck, though, so I deal an encounter card and prepare to weather the storm...
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| The situation as Rhino flips to III and prepare to take his turn. |
Rhino advances his main scheme to /3\, attacks me (Mockingbird prevents all the damage), then reveals his two encounter cards. The first one is the second Advance and he schemes once more, up to /4\ threat, then Rhino dons his armoured suit. With both the suit and a Tough status card I can't expect to take Rhino down quickly!
ROUND SIX
The perfect weapon right now would be a Vibranium Arrow to pierce that Tough status card, but using my quiver shows me no arrows at all in the top five cards of my newly-reshuffled deck. Using the quiver has shown me that Stinger is my next card, though, so I play Call For Aid to draw her, playing her for free with Avenger's Tower.
It's time to build for my big strike. Stinger attacks to clears Rhino's Tough status card then I make Goliath +4ATK and he smashes the Armoured Suit in one blow, although it does finally send Goliath to my discard pile in doing so. Mockingbird thwarts the main scheme back down to /2\ and Hawkeye clears his stun status.
Importantly, I hold Make The Call for next turn - I know I'm getting Goliath back and I've a great chance at wiping Rhino out from (16) to (0).
Rhino advances his main scheme up to /3\, though with both the Advance cards already seen I'm not too worried about him getting out of control on threat now. He attacks Hawkeye for 5+Boost and I'm about to take it on the chin - the worst he can do is 8 damage and I've got 9 health left - when I remember that I've shuffled two copies of Sniper Shot in from Crossfire's nemesis deck. Sniper Shot would deal me 3 direct damage and take me out, plus I've not seen either of them and the encounter deck is getting pretty thin so I decide it's not worth the risk and use Mockingbird to prevent all the damage from Rhino's attack (it turns out Rhino was about to hit me for all 8). Rhino then reveals his encounter card... it's a Hard to Keep Down but as Rhino is on his full 16 health in this stage it gains surge and the next card up is... Sniper Shot!
Hawkeye goes down to (6) but I'm still in the game - a bullet was literally dodged!
ROUND SEVEN
Rhino is on 16 health and I'm sure I can kill him this turn so I go deep into the tank trying multiple possible routes out. I'm holding Make The Call to bring Goliath back into play, plus both Inspiring Presence and Get Ready, and a Vibranium Arrow pops into my quiver when I search the top 5 cards of my deck.
There has to be a kill... there has to be a kill... but everything seems to be the case that I come up 1 resource short, or 2 damage short and I needed Mockinbird to still be in play.
eg. Goliath Attacks - (16) to (11)Inspiring Presence & Attack - (11) to (6)Sonic Arrow - (6) to (3)Hawkeye attack - (3) to (0)
Or I could just return him to play and swing the Vibranium Arrow too... also one resource short. If Avenger's Tower was the Quincarrier or Helicarrier I could exhaust it to pay for Inspiring Presence and get the win, but it isn't and I can't. Damnit!
But still, if I can't kill him in one massive stroke I can definitely put a hurting in and get close, while playing my Mockingbird shield to make sure I finish him off next turn. I replay Mockingbird, attack with Hawkeye (16) to (13), smash Rhino with a Vibranium Arrow (13) to (7), then send in Mockingbird (7) to (5), and Stinger (5) to (4) before using Get Ready to send Mockingbird in again (4) to (2).
I'm on 6 health with my Mockingbird shield in play, vs Rhino on just 2 health. The win is locked in for next turn.
I die.
GOD. DAMN. IT.
Such a close game though. First I nearly got threated out, then I nearly got sniped, then I nearly won, then I got flattened - it see-sawed dramatically!
RHINO WINS
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So, if your response to everything that happened in the last turn was something like this...
... then, yes, I know. I worked it out immediately after the game. I didn't have to die.
I had a Sonic Arrow in my quiver so I could have hit Rhino with that instead of the Vibranium and then ducked into Alter-Ego for the turn while he was Confused. But I'd been so focused on finding the big splashy kill, and in my Mockingbird safety net, that I'd not seen the danger coming.
Better yet... why the hell did I throw Stinger into the discard pile for the sake of dealing 1 damage to Rhino that wasn't going to win me the game that turn anyway? Hold Stinger back and she's a meat shield for that Assault attack.
I'd got the blinkers on from looking at big kill attacks, and closed off to playing it safe and steady. Valuable (and painful) lessons were learned.
But I really enjoyed the deck. Goliath was awesome, this time he proved his value with thwarting as well as damage, and Mockingbird was as awesome as always. The arrows were great, the quiver is great, everything worked together really well even after a pretty slow starting hand, and I feel like Rhino got some clutch encounter cards time and again - Shadows of the Past into Advance into a Sniper Shot/Assault combo over the last two turns. And even then I had to get reckless to lose and should have played it safe and sound to win comfortably.
Go-Go-Goliath remains a go-to deck for me. Maybe next time I'll take on Klaw, or see if my other heroes can take Rhino down much more easily and show Hawkeye up.
Thanks for reading!
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