Welcome, Remedy to our Marvel Champions 20 Questions Hotseat. Thank you for taking time out of your day to answer our questions.
No worries, thanks for asking me to sit down in the hot seat.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
1. Let’s kick this off with your history with Marvel. What was your history with Marvel, if any, before you discovered Marvel Champions?
My first memory of Marvel is some old Spider-man and Wolverine comics in the late 90’s while on vacation up in North Queensland visiting a theme park called Sea World. I remember using a torch to read under my sheets at night and enjoying what the comics had to offer. I played a ton of old school GBA marvel side-scrolling games and some of the morning cartoons that were on at the time. I never got into comics beyond that for over a decade but I did spend the 2000’s watching the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films and loving 1 and 2, and then obviously began watching all the films from Iron Man in 2008 onward. As a young teenager I discovered Watchmen, and that reintroduced me to the world of comics. To be honest I felt that comic spoiled a lot of my experiences dabbling in other comics or genres. I’ve spent the past 5-7 years introducing myself to various comic series here and there and have based most of my reading off the story-lines that inspired a lot of the MCU, while having a side passion of a bunch of comics from Image (Walking Dead, Sandman, Saga, Scalped, Y The Last Man etc.). My most recent Marvel exposure was the excellent Power of X and House of M (huge fan of Hickman).
2. Moving into Marvel Champions, where and when did you learn about the game?
I think it was from the FFG announcement when they first introduced to the world their upcoming new Living Card Game. So sometime back in August 2019.
3. Before playing the game, what was your first impression?
I thought that it looked very accessible in its design and there was probably some depth to be had in the core set. What excited me more was the potential to hook in new players in the months and years to come, a problem that the other LCGs often had and continued to have throughout their life cycle.
4. When did you play the game your first time and how did it affect your first impression?
Knowing me, I think I probably tried it out on TTS prior to it being officially released in early November. I would say my first real impressions were formed after obtaining the official product. I think it reinforced the idea to me that this game was primarily focused on being accessible and playable right out of the box or each pack that came out. It was a change of pace from my experience with FFG’s other LCGs, particularly their coop line in the form of Arkham Horror: The Card Game and Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.
5. Clearly you love the game enough to do content for it, what was the final push that made you want to do content?
I had planned to start work on content from when the game officially came out, but due to my career and moving between places it all fell to the wayside until I formed a more suitable schedule to allow for content creation. Now with the current climate I am quite busy but have a routine where I can create content and share it with the community. I guess the final push was the fact that I started to enjoy talking about the game as much as I liked playing it.
6. Speaking of content, what kind of content do you do for the game and where can people find it?
A good friend and active discord member Xyceres and myself together recently formed a new podcast titled: Alter Egos: A Marvel Champion Podcast.
Currently the content is exclusively in the form of a podcast. Which can be found on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/alter-egos-a-marvel-champions-podcast/id1505750509
Podbean here: https://alteregosmarvelchampions.podbean.com/
And more platforms in the very near future.
I am currently working on establishing a YouTube channel to offer some gameplay content for those that enjoy that.
For anyone who wishes to offer suggestions, feedback or comments they can contact the team at our email: alteregosmcpodcast@gmail.com
7. Has doing content for the game taught you anything about the game or yourself that you may not have learned? If so what was it, If not why not?
Content creation has created opportunities to learn a lot of technical skills that I didn’t have before while also offering avenues to work and improve on communication skills, sound design and presentation skills. In terms of the impact it has had on my interaction with the game I suppose it has allowed me to share my opinions and thoughts on different topics in a more public way than before and hopefully that generates ongoing discussion to help further engage the broader community.
8. Diving into the game itself, who is your favorite hero to play as, what aspect is your favorite and why?
My favorite hero, as of April 5th, to play is Black Widow. I’ve been playing her non-stop since she came out here in Australia on the 3rd of the April. I really love control and board management decks in most card games I play. Black Widow offers a different approach to that in a way that fits my playstyle perfectly. Grappling Hook and Synth-Suit are really fun cards to play and then utilize, and I think she will find a really nice place in the Hall of Heroes over time.
My favorite aspect often depends on what hero I am playing, but with the current card pool I think it has to be leadership, simply because it offers a variety of approaches that can also give you room to build extremely crazy combos off of. Interactions between Strength in Numbers and heroes’ signature cards, or you can go for a Voltron approach and make Vision be a hero unto himself.
9. How about the villain side, who is your favorite villain to play against, which encounter set is your favorite so far and why?
Favorite Villain to play against depends on why I am sitting down to play. If it’s for a challenge, then it’s typically Mutagen Formula or Ultron. If it’s for deckbuilding then I primarily use Klaw to test concepts or ideas or trying to refine ideas others have shared either on MarvelCB or Discord. Finally, if I am with my friends playing, then I think there is something quite enjoyable about rolling a die on both the villain and modular set and just having a good time with friends in a chaotic 3 or 4 player game.
My favorite modular set is probably either Running Interference, which offers some really challenging and fun cards to the mix for a scenario, or Shock Therapy if you want to add a thematic villain to your encounters. However, I will state that for testing decks, I primarily use Legions of Hydra for all my games once I’ve used a hero using the recommended set up for each scenario.
10. How do you prefer to play and if it is not alone, what does your playgroup look like?
I prefer to play 2-3 players but most often I find myself playing solo due to group availability to play in person. My playgroup typically meets at a bar in the CBD of the city I live in, Fortnightly. It’s a low key setting that allows us to enjoy good food, good vibes and great drinks while jamming some cards.
11. Do you customize your gaming experience anyway that goes beyond the official rules for the game, if so how and why?
No, I am currently satisfied with official play and don’t feel the need to customize further.
12. As is, how does Marvel Champions stack up to other games you play or have played?
The game is in a very good place having only recently launched. I think it offers something that Arkham Horror and Lord of the Rings doesn’t and I think cooperative games are something I continue to enjoy more and more. I come from a competitive card game background, but I have found myself more and more enjoying the cooperative experience with friends. It is a much more engaging experience that consistently offers more enjoyment for everyone involved.
13. Is there anything you would change with how the game currently is? If so how, If not why not?
Nothing internal to the game mechanically or design-wise. I do wish the Rules Reference Guide offered timing charts to help all players clarify how different timings within the game occur. External to the game, I wish scenario packs would happen slightly more frequently in comparison to the volume of hero packs we are receiving or at the very least, the potential to introduce more modular sets at a slightly higher frequency to offer even more replay-ability to older scenarios.
14. What was the craziest game you’ve had so far or your favorite memory from playing the game to date?
I had a build using Captain Marvel and Leadership that aimed to kill a villain in solo play in one turn from full HP. I think I’ve managed to kill Rhino and Klaw using that deck which was a lot of trouble to set up but the pay off was most certainly worth it.
15. If FFG came to you and said they wanted to put you in charge of creating OP for this game, how would you do it and what would that look like?
I’d release OP each time a scenario was released that offered a bonus modular set and special environment for attending the event. I’d encourage the event to built around those additional features alongside promotional cards for the heroes that had been released in between scenario packs. I think playable content is a more enjoyable OP experience than merely game mats, tokens and alt art cards, particularly for cooperative games. I understand though, that there are players out there who really love those sort of rewards.
16. If you could bring any hero into the game, who would they be, what would they do and why?
Deadpool, his alter-ego would have the ability “Breaking the Forth Wall” – Action: Select any one card from your collection and add it to your hand. Once this card has been played, remove it from the game. His hero form would allow you to heal 1 damage each time he dealt 3 or more damage from a single attack. Try to reflect his character through his abilities, I’m sure you could flesh him out deeper through his signature set and obviously his alter ego action is a bit insane.
17. If you could bring any villain into the game, who would they be, what would they do and why?
Juggernaut – I think I’d make it so he always had overkill and players must defend with allies if able. Why? Because the man needs at least one setting where he is taken seriously after his poor showing on the silver screen.
18. If you had to turn yourself into a card for the game, what kind of card (it can be a hero, upgrade, event, hero, villain, minion, etc) would you be, what would you do and why?
An environment. I’d heal the villain in some form and generate tough tokens, conditionally, in a poor attempt to emulate my real-life profession.
19. Time to head towards the conclusion but we need to touch on the MCU. What is your favorite MCU film and why?
Captain America: Winter Soldier. Political/Spy thrillers are a rare breed of film, particularly for a blockbuster in the late 2010’s. The tension, intrigue and action over the course of the film, is highly watchable alongside incredibly competent cinematography and solid set pieces to form an entertaining film.
20. Before we get out of here, what is something you would like to share with our readers that most of them may not know about yourself?
I have a crippling addiction to collecting playmats. So if you see any new playmats for this game don’t hesitate to let me know as I’m always eager to get my hands on as many of them as possible (I’m currently waiting for the Ms. Marvel, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow ones, as well as the cheeky Green Goblin we saw a while back).
Thanks again Remedy for answering our questions. We wish you the best in your content and would like to thank you for giving back to the community.
Thank you for the opportunity. All the best to yourself and all your readers. Stay safe in these challenging times.
If people would like to find you or your content, where can they find it?
The podcast is called Alter Egos: A Marvel Champions podcast
Currently the content is exclusively in the form of a podcast. Which can be found on Apple Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/alter-egos-a-marvel-champions-podcast/id1505750509
Podbean here: https://alteregosmarvelchampions.podbean.com/
And more platforms in the very near future.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlterEgosMCPod
I am currently working on establishing a Youtube channel to offer some gameplay content for those that enjoy that.
For anyone who wishes to offer suggestions, feedback or comments they can contact the team at our email: alteregosmcpodcast@gmail.com
Otherwise you can message me directly on discord via Remedy #6926.
Thank you readers for reading this article and stay tuned for our next entry into this series, coming next Wednesday. Till then, we wish you nothing but the best and stay safe out there.
-JediGeekGirl
-JediGeekGirl
irebeldestiny.com 