Marvel Champions in November

[@VillainTheory]

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[@danthecrow1701]

I think Ice-Man is in my top 5 hero’s….. and everything you said in that review was spot on. I’m afraid I can’t help with the hardwork that it is to put those reviews together, but I just want you to know that they are so good and by far the best analysis I see out there. You should be very proud of the format and ranking system. As a numbers man myself it just works for me.

[@VillainTheory]

Thank you! I don't really think anything I said in that video is inaccurate, as such? Just presented too negatively? We'll see how I go with them going forward.

[@mikehall9240]

I agree 100%.

[@mitch-TO]

I understand not wanting to dump on a hero because designers have poured a bunch of work into them. And positivity always makes for better content. But I’d hate for reviewers to fear giving bad reviews. Games are expensive (and probably getting more expensive with American tariffs on the way), so honest reviews are incredibly important for consumers. I think it’s also important for designers to understand what players like and don’t like in a hero or villain. For example, 3x scenarios with mandatory Hope Summers ally is bad, and designers should know that so they don’t do it again 😂. I think it’s possible to give an honest negative review without being harsh or malicious.

[@j_atkinson]

This! So much this. I much prefer honest reviews instead of gushing that everything is rainbows and unicorns. Besides, be nothing but positive also comes across as dishonest as well. If you're going to say you don't like something, then just be honest as to why you don't like. Be honest about your preferences and your biases as well.

[@VillainTheory]

Just to be clear, I am totally fine with giving negative reviews. But I think they should be accurate. It's been my feeling that the unnatural conditions (forcing myself to keep playing a hero repeatedly in a very short span of time) is amplifying the negative beyond where it should actually be. I don't actually think anything is strictly inaccurate in my Iceman or Nightcrawler reviews, but for Iceman especially I think the negatives had too much emphasis.

[@sumocat2938]

You might enjoy watching the 2016 documentary “City of Gold,” about a Pulitzer Prize winning food critic who only wrote about restaurants he loved. When he would find such a restaurant, he would deep dive into it and then write an extensive review that would change the lives of that restaurant. If a place did not impress him, he simply did not write about it. His goal was to draw people to little known places with great food, not to punish and drive people away from lesser restaurants. You might find it informative as you reimagine your own approach to covering Marvel Champions.

[@VillainTheory]

That sounds great and I already like the gist of your explanation about it, thank you for sharing such an excellent comment. Ultimately I don't _want_ to skip any reviews but this would be a great philosophy to embrace if I felt that I needed to. It also reminds me of some videos I intended to make a while back about Rogue, Star-Lord and Adam Warlock - heroes who I feel need some positive light shone on them to help people find the greatness within them.

[@nlnrose]

@@VillainTheory I'd love to see a video about rogue that's positive. I love her as a character, but I've struggled to use her kit well.

[@DMTip]

​@@nlnrose I absolutely love Rogue! I usually play 2p+ and she is just so much fun. Tons of potential with her core cards. No need to get too crazy with combos either. Plenty of simple strategies with her.

[@WinningHandPodcast]

Love the videos and I appreciate the shout-out! If anyone is looking for the giveaway, it starts with episode 52, but more information will be coming out soon! But also, your reviews are great, and it's okay if you aren't as happy with some heroes as others! That's the nature of reviews and opinions. Your work is great, I always love hearing your analytical deep dives.

[@VillainTheory]

Thanks! The problem isn't so much being negative, I have to be honest, but being overly negative due to what I put myself through to make the reviews isn't right

[@LexiconLeidun]

"You Got This" is going to be amazing in Ghost-Spider with Web Warrior Allies. It triggers her Hero Response and Wrist Gauntlets and can trigger Web of Life and Destiny (not to mention those allies that want to leave play (I think all Web-Warriors will like this , of course, but Gwen most of all!).

[@adamholt5395]

Magneto is going to be a fun card for Protection. He can get double retaliate and with Energy Barrier and Forcefield Generator he can keep damage off of his Magnetic Bubble. With his cape he can ready himself.

[@VillainTheory]

Protection Magneto has suddenly become very, very interesting. Even just basic DEFending can keep the Bubble's retaliate going for a good while. Unfortunately I don't believe Energy Barrier works with the Bubble due to the timing of Bubble's *Forced* Interrupt, but Forcefield Generator definitely does since it ties and you can then choose which to take the damage.

[@marvinp90]

I love your hero reviews!! It is extremely helpful understanding how they work. Please stay analytical!!!

[@VillainTheory]

Oh absolutely staying analytical!

[@Brinn12]

Looking forward to trying out squaring off, you got this and kid omega with Thor.

[@VillainTheory]

All three look to be great there!

[@rambler209]

You've got this is going to finally make my Ghost Spider teamwork deck actualky viable. Im really looking forward to it for her.

[@urloony]

24:55 Who would ever say such a thing about our beloved game?? Anyway, I'm more curious now about Caleb's next project. It's odd they wouldn't announce his next project before leaving MC. When LOTRLCG was ending they announced MC pretty quickly and that Caleb would be leading it. That's the only reason I felt good about buying in. Would it be possible for them to bring Star Trek into the LCG arena? Hear me out. Asmodee doesn't currently have an ST license, but Embracer Group does (they publish ST: online). Could that be a in the works? What else would be in Caleb's wheelhouse?

[@joshpaul6762]

I think I value your reviews the most of any of the marvel champions content creators. I would be bummed if you skipped a review, but if the hero is not working for you, you should just talk candid about them instead of fit it into your regular review format.

[@VillainTheory]

Thanks. I don't want to skip any reviews either to be honest. I think you're right that I can do something slightly different as opposed to my normal format in the worst case

[@davew1337]

Thank you very much! - From Dave and his gaming buddy

[@VillainTheory]

You're very welcome! 😁

[@nlnrose]

Hey, thanks for being patient with me on my response.

[@VillainTheory]

No worries at all, excited for you to receive them 😁

[@PrestoGriff]

I really enjoy your hero reviews as they are. While others may not agree with your ratings and placements (cough Nightcrawler cough), sometimes being harsh is necessary for the analysis. Keep up the good work!

[@VillainTheory]

Thanks! I'm definitely going to keep being honest whatever I decide for the Agents of SHIELD hero reviews, 100%.

[@korhankaya6637]

I feel like the most potential for the future of the game is with the villains not the heroes. Marvel has so many villains to choose from which haven't been covered yet. Dr Doom, Kingpin, Dr Octupus, Annihilus, Carnage, Galactus, Dormammu, Dark Phoenix, Super Skrull, Mephisto, the Leader.

[@VillainTheory]

I'm always desperate for more villains to fight. I think it's why I like Age of Apocalypse so much, 5 villains I am excited to go up against with a wide variety of heroes and decks. And aside from Apocalypse I wasn't even that familiar with the others. All those amazing ones you've named would be fantastic.

[@korhankaya6637]

@VillainTheory I feel like there are more villains they can use but it depends on the theme they're going for and the big box expansion is necessary. For example a big box expansion of street level heroes like Daredevil and Punisher going up against Jigsaw, the Hand, Electra, Bullseye and finally Kingpin. Well maybe not those two heroes because they could probably sell themselves easily in hero packs but you know what I mean. 😀

[@VaultBoy13]

Do whatever makes you happy with the reviews. One thing I appreciated with Iceman was your take on different deck builds to make him work. It would've never occurred to me to run him in 'Pool. As an idea for future videos, I really wouldn't mind you going over some of your favorite decks for heroes. To clarify, to make the content shorter and more manageable. Just pick one hero and one deck per video.

[@VillainTheory]

Favorite decks is something I've been thinking about doing with gameplay too. We'll see how it goes! Time is always the problem. Love the idea though. Noted about the decks in reviews too!

[@Anondod]

I've played a dozen or so games using (a proxy of) Children of the Atom. It's a super fun card, but it's not quite as powerful as I first thought. You do need to get it into play, and since it only affects characters once they are in play some of the most broken stuff (like using some of the X-Men supports for X-Force allies in your hand or deck) fortunately doesn't work. But it does make Mutant Mayhem a great card, and that alone makes it worth it IMO. Being able to use that with any two X-Men, X-Force, or X-Factor allies makes it incredible, and so much fun. I think it can also make Uncanny X-Force a lot stronger since it broadens your pool of allies a lot, so if you want to go thwart-heavy in multiplayer that could be an interesting option. I'm sure there are other combos I haven't thought of, but I don't think it's too strong. I wouldn't put it in every mutant deck, but I will play it a lot.

[@VillainTheory]

It will be fun to try it. Mutant Mayhem is already so strong, I actually recorded a 15 minute segment about the alliance cards for this video but cut it as it was basically its own video then. I spent a lot of it saying that Mutant Mayhem was kinda crazy 😆

[@Anondod]

@@VillainTheory I like Mutant Mayhem even without CotA, but far too often I find it's a dead card or has marginal value. With CotA it's pretty much always a strong play outside the first few turns.

[@wkylegreen]

Great vid, really enjoyed this format of a monthly recap hitting several topics! I liked what you said about hero reviews. Ultimately feel do whatever works for you and lets you enjoy it! Always enjoy your insights. To me the heroes and game as a whole are so well designed that “bad” or “good” is so subjective now. I’m more interested in hearing a content creator’s thoughts and experience without needing any ranking or “power level”.

[@VillainTheory]

Thank you! And good to know. The power ranking is still important to a lot of people and I still take it very seriously when doing these reviews, but it definitely feels less meaningful to me nowadays. I think aspect cards are raising up heroes to the point almost every hero is strong enough that power really doesn't matter for most scenarios etc.

[@wkylegreen]

@@VillainTheory that makes sense, and well said that the aspect cards really do impact it so much. Power level almost feels like it’s becoming more of a measure of versatility… maybe I’m wrong though. Do you think there’s any correlation there?

[@VillainTheory]

@@wkylegreen Hm! I think there's some correlation, definitely. And I think being versatile is a form of power! But I still think heroes do release with very different power levels

[@robertwood6635]

17:18 unfortunately, once you've played Face the Past, you can't attack the Villain.

[@VillainTheory]

Ahhh I completely forgot and reading is hard. I'll edit it out now. Thanks for the quick heads up!

[@dhdoc_h8839]

I like your honest reviews about heroes you don’t like. If you liked them all, your gushing would just be free PR for FFG. Negative reviews are valuable for your credibility. Some heroes aren’t fun, and we shouldn’t try to hide it.

[@VillainTheory]

I don't think I made it clear enough in the video but the idea isn't to hide anything negative. It's just not to put myself through a process that's frustrating and makes me feel more negative towards something than I otherwise would - because in that regard that's less accurate. If I don't like a hero I'm still very much going to say it, 100%

[@Izathel1]

Brother, the harsh commentary could get even harsher and I'd love it. You do what works for you, but I think "negative" reviews (and you reviews aren't that negative) are extremely valuable for any hobby. Specifically, it makes the reviews more honest. That said, you shouldn't feel that you have to keep playing over and over again when you hate it. I think for the heroes that you don't like very much, just doing something short (albeit negative) would be totally fine.

[@VillainTheory]

I hear you. The idea is not to hide any negativity, I don't think there's any point in reviewing heroes if I'm not going to be honest. And I'm not going to like every hero. This is just me trying to avoid artificially inflating the negativity due to the conditions I've forced on myself. We'll see how it goes and what I do going forward. It will probably just be as you say here

[@methos-onfive]

An awesome video like always ( : A quick question. Is there a place where I can check when and where there will be a convention featuring Marvel Champions? Thank you to anyone who replies in advance ( :🙏

[@VillainTheory]

Er... I thiiink there might be Con of Heroes stuff on Hall of Heroes? But beyond that I don't know

[@Theredglovedman]

Arkham is still going with some lead changes so 3 years is a weak estimate .

[@VillainTheory]

Yeah I don't think they want Marvel Champions to go anywhere

[@IamJFD]

I dont think you are that harsh, and yes he seems weak compared to almost all other xmen. I understand some love him, but i just cant. As to NC, he is cool, take back what you said! Kidding. Its fine not every hero clicks for everyone. It would be boring if everyone have the same tierlist of fave heroes and aspects.

[@VillainTheory]

Haha! Well thank you. I'm definitely going to be honest and, if I think a hero deserves a negative review, I will give it one still.

[@LukeDawson22]

Id suggest a second read of Face the Past. That double Web Kick plan ain't gonna work so well.

[@VillainTheory]

Oof, totally forgot about that. This is the price I pay for forgoing my normal preparation. Thanks! I'll edit that part out.

[@JJEMcManus]

I’m not sure what you are apologizing for. Without your review, on my own, I found the heroes you cited (including NC) to be middling at best. “Middling” being the word I use in polite company when I mean something significantly harsher.

[@VillainTheory]

The problem isn't being negative, it's that I feel like I'm being too negative because of forced circumstances. E.g. Maybe the hero deserves a 3 or 4 out of 10, but I end up giving them a 1 or 2 out of 10. Still saying the negative, just accurately. Though you can bet if I do think a hero is 1/10 then I am still going to say it.

[@D20Woodworking]

Do I have to become even more negative to make up for your negativity. If the burden falls on me. I accept. Hahaha

[@VillainTheory]

Haha! I really thought I was going crazy when I kept seeing talk and thumbnails about how everyone loved Iceman, I felt like the only one not enamored by him, but it was great when I saw your review and you also weren't his biggest fan. Still going to say negative things when I see negative things - just not push myself into getting frustrated if I'm not loving that hero

[@fandabidozi3191]

I like my Iceman naked. Down with the black shorts!

[@VillainTheory]

Funnily enough, "down with the black shorts" is the exact instruction necessary to make him naked 🤔

[@urloony]

YES! no one ever talks about this black shorts nonsense. Iceman appeared in black shorts for a very short run of 12 issues or so back in the 90's. I think that's why Caleb gravitated toward this look since everything he's produced for X-Men is from that era. ie Bishop's haircut.