Marvel Villainous Review: Mischief and Malice (What is up with M.O.D.O.K.?)

[@TerreDiceGames]

We were in and got exclusive coverage of the first official VILLAINOUS TOURNAMENT! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYWQXpVoibuknq8si=eqFkVtJCyCLR8AYk

[@robertdullnig3625]

Loki being Sorcerer Supreme is from the comics. It looks like they used versions of Loki still seen in the comics, but added the "multiverse" theming from the show.

[@TerreDiceGames]

That makes a lot of sense - nice context!!! Love it. Thanks for the comment!

[@speedy355]

Leah "BFF" is called that to be different from Hela's Leah. And if you consider that there's the multiverse Loki, why shouldn't there be multiverse Thor? If you combine the fate decks, there's two Hulk, two She-Hulks, three Iron Man, two Black Widow, two Hawkeye, and two Captain America. All in all, I agree that Modok is the least developed. But everyone that has played Modok has won in my group.

[@TerreDiceGames]

That’s a great point about multiverse Thor! That actually makes a lot of sense and I think you saying that changes our perspective a bit on that point. I think the comment around “BFF” is more just it seems like too casual of a subtitle compared to the overall serious nature of the game. Glad to hear you had some success with MODOK! Our poor marks come from that purely playing out the fate deck as designed, where they recommend playing cards against specific villains, results in an incredibly frustrating game of discarding through till you get to your discard pile shuffling back in to win - and it can happen multiple times. Thanks for commenting, and for watching!!

[@robertdullnig3625]

@@TerreDiceGames It fits the tone of the comics where Loki is a kid.

[@BaronGrackle]

I do believe MODOK needs some house ruling. Mainly because if Kate Bishop, Hawkeye lands on AIM Laboratory, there's nothing he can do except discard and activate Creating the Cube repeatedly.

[@TerreDiceGames]

Wow, I just looked into this as I never realized this before. That’s a rough edge case!! Thanks for pointing it out!

[@BaronGrackle]

The real edge case is if he gets targeted by Kate Bishop (no effects, so no dealing with heroes), and then by She-Hulk in the original Marvel Villainous box (cannot play or relocate Allies to Events), and then by the AIM Revolt event (Loyalty stays at 1). If those three cards happen, he cannot win. So be nice to your MODOK, and don't include the She-Hulk Fate card from the original box in a game that also has MODOK and Madame Masque!

[@TerreDiceGames]

Good tip, thanks!!

[@heathcapps8535]

Good review. I have been torn on these lately. I think in time get this one but not sure if I will get Despicable Plots. I feel like they are just trying to pump out games and are not as worried about quality, which makes me sad. I hope in future releases the community has made a big enough stink they will focus on quality as well because I do enjoy these games.

[@TerreDiceGames]

I think they definitely did a good job with some of the characters and they definitely continued with the spirit of the game - it just lacks some of the QA and testing we got with the original Prospero Hall villains. Overall we’re happy with Masque and Loki and the originals like Killmonger and Ultron and Thanos and others are great!

[@shadowfox2113]

I appreciate the honesty! I was able to pick it up just the other day, haven’t been able to play it yet though. I’m not mad that I bought it though cause you gotta keep up with the set, but I can’t wait to give it a go.

[@TerreDiceGames]

Hey Freddy, thanks for watching!! We definitely still really liked Masque and Loki and even MODOK’s theming. Just our honest thoughts on where some of the balance and thematic quality is decreasing. We hope you enjoy the game!!!

[@owenreece3554]

Modok just takes a very unorthodox approach. A lot of cards that make you lose loyalty must only be played in the first half of the game. When you are still finding ways to build it and can play such cards without anything to lose. Powerless card only destroys your Loyalty if you have the Cosmic Cube to be destroyed in play. So the strategy with him is to always play the cube when everything else is ready, and you can immediately activate, and you have at least 4 loyalty as playing it raises the tracker to 5. Also his targeted Event is a game changer for him. If it comes out, he starts playing a different game from everyone else. After playing Preparing the Cube he can choose an opportune moment to pop the event, immediately get 5 loyalty , then play the cube and activate it. It can easily happen in 2-3 turns. Very underrated character

[@TerreDiceGames]

Unorthodox for sure, but given it takes more than one turn to win most the time (might be forgetting a case where you can do it all in one turn) - luck can just mean you get fated and reset to 0. Not my favorite kind of character when that is a possibility. That said, I would definitely play him again - just expecting that's a possible outcome.

[@owenreece3554]

The real problem for this expansion is Modok and Loki both having a softlock combinations of cards that completely stop them from winning. For Loki it’s when he has only the cards that spend mischief in his hand, and both of his discards are covered with heroes, and he either has no mischief to spend or Odin/ Ragnarok in play. If he has no Allies strong enough to immediately Vanquish those heroes he can only hope to get Fated with Not Dead Just Resting with no other way to play or discard cards. For MODOK it’s Kate bishop covering his only Vanquish action and She-Hulk being in his domain while his Targeted Event is in play.

[@alsenddrake7764]

Funny to hear it's impossible to win with MODOK, as both times we played him, first never finished but he almost won (only Traitor stopped him), and the other time he won.

[@TerreDiceGames]

Glad to hear you had some success with MODOK! Definitely winnable, just with the slightest amount of bad luck it gets so much harder. I also really didn’t like how the scientist forceably came out when I had no allies. Very self-desctructive and swingy. Not the only swingy character, but that combined with the deck seemed a little underdeveloped. We’ll give him some more tries and see if it goes better! Thanks for watching!!

[@kb111698]

MODOK sounds a bit like Mother Gothel. I have never seen someone win as Mother Gothel, closest I’ve seen is 7 trust. They can’t all be great, but some are really bad, yikes.

[@TerreDiceGames]

It’s very difficult to win as mother Gothel, specifically in small player counts. You can sneak it sometimes in the big ones!! :)

[@traskth]

@@TerreDiceGames Villainous, both Marvel and Disney, are games my sister and I play regularly. In the games in with Mother Gothel was involved, she has won a little under half of the time, but every time it involved leveraging the brush to gain trust. I own only Infinate Power of the marvel line, but every Villian has won at least once, other than Thanos (the closest Ive gotten with him is 5 stones, its usually the space stone that eludes me.

[@MrGabino8000]

Strongly disagree with ya'll two. M.O.D.O.K Villanous is the best out of the 3 from the Loki pack. It's not a beginner character.