NeXt Evolution + Wave 7 Retrospective Review - Marvel Champions
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- How does NeXt Evolution and its hero packs stack up after playing them for a while? Was it a good wave of products? How do the X-Force heroes hold up?
Discord: / discord
00:00 Intro
00:37 Scenarios 1-3
08:04 Hope Summers Rant
12:49 Scenarios 4-5
17:50 Campaign Mode
20:25 Modular Sets
25:20 Player Side Schemes
28:00 Deadpool and 'Pool
33:33 The Other Heroes
47:10 Conclusion + Outro
(All card images in the video are courtesy of Cerebro developer UnicornSnuggler. Huge thanks!) 
Игры
UGH, there's always one card I forget. MISSION LEADER! So Mission Leader is a fantastic new card that comes with Cable as part of the NeXt Evolution box.
While it's somewhat "generic" in its effect, akin to Skilled Investigator for the whole table, it's very strong and definitely worth having. An auto-include in 3-4 player, very good still in 2-player, and situationally good solo. Its "auto-include" nature in multiplayer is perhaps a detriment - but if you like powerful decks you will want this card.
I think you covered Hope Summers perfectly. Great modular, glad it’s in the game, makes sense for campaign, but wish she wasn’t required for Juggernaut.
It really bugs me too. Thankfully, even though it says Hope is mandatory, she’s not actually mandatory for Juggernaut. He doesn’t have any card effects that require her presence, so she can be left out.
Unlike Sinister, whose mechanisms demand her. I hope they’ve finally learned that we don’t like mandatory allies, and never give us one again.
To my knowledge, at least from what's been previewed, there aren't any mandatory allies in Age of Apocalypse at all. So that's good!
@@mitchschroeder1151 true, it wouldn’t be a huge change. Juggernaut has a couple cards that damage allies or cause indirect damage, but I don’t feel like they create a huge threat to Hope.
I'm sure I'm in the minority but I actually enjoyed having Hope Summer's defeat as a potential loss condition since Juggernaut won't threat out. It added an extra layer of uncertainty to the fight. However, I don't think there's any harm in just not including her. It's kind of a weird requirement.
@@dontberash I actually do agree with you, kinda? I believe the scenarios are all designed with Hope in mind and so, while you can remove her, I'd prefer not to as I feel it does hurt the scenarios overall. Even though I don't like that she is mandatory in the first place.
Ultimately I wish she wasn't designed into them in this way. I wish they were designed a little differently from the beginning as opposed to just removing her but leaving the scenarios untouched.
Definitely worth the mention regarding "Scenario Specific Allies". Played a few games across my time where the "free" ally stuffed things up and was actually a negative.
IMO, they (design) need to be more inclusive of how these allies interact with "Teams". They have dropped the ball repeatedly by only using "doesn't count against ally limit", as that is only PART of the issue & this is after the release of "Teams" & the regular 'Hope Summers'. They can still 'cause a player ally to be discarded! EG: "Avengers Tower" with 4 'Avenger' allies and then you gain Magneto...
It drives me crazy haha, hopefully the feedback has gotten through
I suspect that over time we will see the pool get better in the same way that protection is light years better now than at the start. I don’t personally like it now but they’ll tweak it and make it better.
Great list by the way. Everyone has they’re favorites but you nailed it with Cable. He’s just fun in any game play style. There’s not much better than telling your friends, “go ahead and bring out an out a support of your choice…”
Thank you!! 😊❤
Mentioning stories in the campaigns. Oddly enough the best written stories tend to be from the fan created campaigns for the competition. The creators there really worked to explain why each scenario was involved and just brought everything to life so well. The official campaigns like this cycle could really learn from that.
Also, I got sent an early copy of Age of Apoc by mistake and I think the campaign there is the best one they've done to date.
Rumour has it that there's a campaign I created somewhere out there on the internet...
Very cool to hear about Age of Apocalypse, hope we like it here just as much!
The NeXt Generation box is one of my favorite expansions simply because of the modulars Hope, Flight, Superstrength, and Telepathy(?). It is so nice to have a modular that can tone down the crazy strong villains with Hope, but it's also great to beef up the weaker villains with one of the other modulars.
The heroes are also a lot of fun to play, but I'd put Deadpool at the bottom of the list for this group. I think his hero set fits his character, but I don't feel like he has a very interesting decision space. I have less of an issue with the 'Pool aspect, because it's a goofy risk-based set. However, the lack of attack and thwart events really limits it.
I mostly play 2-player, and don't have a problem with Domino as one of the heroes. She doesn't seem to take more time to play than X-23 or Angel. But, maybe we're just not playing Domino optimally.
I will say with X23 true solo I defeated Ronan Expert by adding in Hope Summers and focused on an aggression stat boost build. Was fun.
Appreciate the video! As a new player, it would be cool (though probably a lot of work) if you could do this for other waves.
Maybe one day! If not exactly like this, perhaps in a slightly quicker format!
What I like in that wave is that there is no single character I don't want to touch ever again, in the last wave after playing a bit of Colossus and Cyclops I decided they are not for me, in this one I prefer some over the others but everyone is at the very least ok
That's great to hear!
So far I've played Pool aspect only on Spider-woman, recently adding sidekick cards to the deck, very entertaining and quite powerful. I'm not sure how often I will play this aspect on other heroes but I definitely want to test it more (e.g. your Pantherpool deck and I want to try it on Venom). Some folks have quite harsh opinions on this aspect but for me it's a fun way to experience something different and have some fun with Deadpool's craziness.
Nice! Sidekick has been really fun for me to try now it's finally here in the UK!
Could we get a video with cards you never use anymore - it'd be cool for multiple reasons:
1. Upgrading old mcdb decks with new cards
2. Saying which cards don't need to be sleeved
3. General talk about power creep or how a stat wasn't correctly evaluated (e.g. tough not worth 4ER)
That's a fun idea! I especially like the third point. We'll see if I get time but I'd like to do it or something in that area.
Take my comment as a connoisseur debating their favourite Bordeaux wine more than a critique. I enjoy your content and want to open a few doors in your appreciation that I opened in mine. I love the mutant slayers modular because they are all unique, with a choice to be made on each attack. For a probably similar reason, I love the scenario on the run so much, it’s never dull and I’m actively making choices all the time. Chump block and status locking is attenuated in a nuanced and tasteful way, which I find is beneficial to the game and my enjoyment of the game.
This is the fanciest comment I've ever received, haha! And I largely agree about the Mutant Slayers, the choice on each attack is fantastic. Unfortunately, due to their relatively low hit points and lack of Toughs, I've found that they don't tend to survive long enough to attack in the first place. Agreed on On the Run entirely, though - always fun choices to make, and while I do think some of the Marauder villains are easily shut down by chumping, it's not something you can guarantee going into the scenario. Especially in multiplayer, where someone before you gives Blockbuster a Tough and thus forces you into his Overkill option, and so on...
And no worries about comments like that. Constructive criticism is fine anyway, but this simply seemed like sharing an opinion as part of a discussion! Which is what I like to think the comment section is in some way.
I feel the villains in this wave are a bit lacking. It is mostly too easy, and the marauders have low health and are reused for on the run. Juggernaut and Mister Sinister are fun the the capstone is pretty forgettable. On the other hand I think this may be my favourite wave when it comes to hero's and player cards. I think this wave overall, no disappointing heroes, and all feel perfectly balanced while being strong and on theme.
Solid review, sir. I JUST finished the MG wave and was kind of meh on this one, and I was considering skipping it and going straight to AoA. Now I have to reconsider, so thanks for that. 🙏🏾
Thanks! Age of Apocalypse is looking excellent so I don't strictly think that's a bad call - but I swear by player side schemes and as you heard I'm a big fan of the heroes and scenarios here.
We never actually had any issues with Hope. Since I rarely play solo these days, I always play with at least one other person. The first player will be always the one who's gameplan Hope won't disrupt and benefits the most. We also never specifically build decks for Hope either, we just do our own thing and let Hope do Hope things. Then again, when I first played Cable with 3 base stats and used 3 Psychic Kickers, it was very powerful on her.
Another great card I almost always use in leadership is Mission Leader. Even solo I think it's worth it, 2 players it's almost auto-include, unless the villain doesn't have many side schemes. We very recently played a 3 player game where one of my friends played Captain America and played Mission Leader early. He also had Maria Hill. It was a game changer.
A fantastic box with a fantastic wave. Juggernaut became my third favorite villain and a friend of mine really likes Mister Sinister and Stryfe, who apparently not a whole lot of people like. Admittedly, he very much disliked him at first too.
The only hero I'm a bit mixed on is Deadpool, but a friend of mine has him in his top 3. The other 5 heroes are insanely fun. Cable is my 2nd favorite hero and X-23 is my 3rd. They're all very fun, pretty powerful, but all with obvious weaknesses.
I'm very much hyped for the new expansion, not only because of the villains (they seem pretty challenging so far), but because I'm a huge X-Men fan and the two heroes in the box both feel like they could end up in my top 5 favorites. Marvel Champions fans are definitely fed well.
OOF. I forgot Mission Leader. There's always one card that eludes me. It's so good and I'll throw up a pinned comment about i! Thank you.
It's fun how different people enjoy different heroes, that's great to hear. And I'm really looking forward to Magik and Bishop as well! And Iceman. And lowkey Jubilee now. I wasn't much looking forward to Colossus or Shadowcat, or Cable, in the previous boxes, and ended up loving them all. So I have high hopes here.
@@VillainTheory It's hard to remember all the cards in the game, there's just so many of them now.
I'm pretty excited too! I just got notified that my copy of the new expansion is on it's way, but I have to wait until next tuesday, because of our stupid holidays. I won't watch any gameplay videos until I beat every villain at least on standard, but I'm excited to see how my first impressions will be compared to you and the others!
All 4 new heroes excite me too, especially Magik and Bishop. We'll see how much we actually end up liking them.
Did you explain the Leadership/Uncanny X-Force archetype in one of your previous video ? I'm curious. I play Leadership Cable but without UXF because I put the best basic/leadership allies... Is a UXF deck with XF allies better ?
I don't think I've gone into detail, no! To be honest, not much anywhere ever beats putting all the best allies in a deck - especially with tools like Make the Call and Rapid Response to bring them back. But I would say UXF is more fun and still very strong, definitely worth a try.
It is a good wave. I've only played the scenarios a little. I think you could drop Hope from Juggernaut or Strife with no issues. She feels more integral to Mr Sinister. You lose a loss condition but 2 free threat/damage per turn. She should have been campaign specific though.
Player side schemes are such a huge power increase. They seem to scale to be better with more players and they're great solo. At worst you can thwart them when you have a spare activation instead of nibbling the villain.
I like X23 best then Domino. X23 for her whirling destruction and the ability to play really low to the ground. Domino for the puzzles and huge bursty turns - spending Jackpot 3 times etc. I would not play her MP though.
Psylock and Angel are ok. I've not been interested in playing Cable or buying Deadpool. I may be wrong about either as I'm only about 2/3 accurate in how much I expect to like heroes. I do find the humour in the Deadpool stuff very forced and tired. I much prefer the whimsy of Porker. (I've blanked all the extra actions on his cards)
Edit: I'm also a difficulty 6-9 player, maybe even 4-8.
Spending Jackpot multiple times really feels fantastic. And for what it's worth, I wasn't interested in Cable at all when the expansion was being released - but he really surprised me and unexpectedly ended up as my favourite. Might not happen to you but, hey, I'd say he's worth a shot if you're ever setting up to play and fancy something different!
Cable is great!
You mentioned X-23 is better in Protection, Leadership and Justice than she is in Aggression. I get the first 2, but what makes her better in Justice? I usually play her in Protection and never feel like she lacks thwarting, and can't think of a particular Justice card that synergises with her.
It is in part due to the fact she doesn't lack thwarting, and instead has very strong threat removal, she does so well in Justice, I'd say. Boosting her basic THW with all the readying is great in multiplayer and she can run Even the Odds alongside it very well due to lots of energy resources. In solo play, for me the main draw is running Chance Encounter (alongside One Way or Another usually) since it's the fastest/most reliable way to get Honey Badger most of the time - but combos like Upside the Head + Float Like a Butterfly are also very strong.
When released I was worried that Cable would be exciting at first, introducing player side schemes in a big way, and then would get stale and feel samey. But that is just not the case. The decision-making involved with the side schemes doesn't get old, and he's now one of my favorite heroes in the game.
Nice! Kind of how I felt, except I wasn't even convinced Cable would be that exciting to begin with. But then, as we neared launch week, I started to grow intrigued... And the rest is history.
X-23 in first place and Psylocke in 5th for me. I was so psyched for Betsy but she's too busy for little reward. I think Domino got complexity just right, tactical AND rewarding. And I tried X-23 with low expectation and she won me over.
Nice! Interesting for me how we had opposite experiences with Psylocke. Do you have a favourite aspect/deck for X-23?
@@VillainTheory Aggression has been my favorite for Laura, with Protection as the runner up. I want to try Honey Badger Voltron with Leadership, but the few times I tried, the draws never worked out before I was able to beat the villain, but I see the vision.
@@Geallach83 that expresses my opinion of Psylock and Domino very well too.
I like X23 protection keeping Honey Badger alive all the time. In Leadership I play her far more bursty since I've multiple ways of recurring her and more readies.
The way I've "solved" the Hope problem for me is I take her out of Juggernaut just don't see why she's gotta be there and for Sinister I add her in during the final stage of the main scheme if you need a head cannon for it he kidnapped her and you're fighting through his lab to get her back but after you save her Sinister throws a fit and says " if I can't have her no one can" and tries to kill her lol
Although i totally agree playing domino is more planning than luck, I do feel like it is great at emulating the confidence of playing and discarding cards of someone who knows they are supernaturally lucky.
That's very true! Great point.
Milano is still a better "easier mode" modular than Hope Summers imo. It's always good to have more options, though.
The Milano is great, definitely!
I bough Next Evolution, Deadpool and planning to buy Psylocke, Age of Apocalypse, and probably all X Force while skipping all Xmen.
Im not sure, care to share your thoughts? Would it be better than any Xmen?
Hm! It's difficult to say since Age of Apocalypse isn't out yet. The X-Men stuff is good, and in particular I really like the heroes. But ultimately I don't think you can go wrong. Age of Apocalypse looks to be great, and the X-Force and X-Men stuff is really good as well.
@@VillainTheorydo u have a vid where you ranked all xmen and xforce? maybe i can use that as guide
@@jfducusin7186 Afraid not! Do you mean ranked as in power of the heroes?
@@VillainTheory in terms of fun i guess or how much u like them.
Deadpool wolverine and domino so far is through the roof fun. i wonder who else are up there, and worth buying
@@jfducusin7186 Based on that, I think you'll really like Storm, Angel, Psylocke, X-23 and Magik (from Age of Apocalypse) especially!
To be honest, it may not be what I'm supposed to do, but I will ignore the traits of Morlocks and Hope when it comes to considering allies for Team cards like Uncanny X-Men.
The allies are compulsory for the scenario and they don't count toward Ally limits, so in my head why should they count toward team cards?
I just feel it's anti-fun if the scenario design has effects that limit the kind of decks you can play against it too much.
It's already annoying for characters like Colossus when you have to exhaust to defend a character each round in order to make use of your toughs, instead of the villain just attacking directly
No harm in that, I won't tell the Marvel Champions police! If it's not counting toward the ally limit, why should it be limiting you - makes sense to me.
Worst villains, best heros in a campaign box yet. The other 4 heroes are all amazing with great cards for expanding a collection
X-23 is best in leadership, only getting better after AoA!
Siiiiidekiiiick! That's going to be devastating
the heroes are amazing, but the underwhelming aspect/basic cards (aside from side schemes) and the lack of a difficult villain are big downsides for someone who doesn't already have a decent collection
IMO the solution to difficulty spikes at the end of the campaing is to simply give powerful campaign upgrades (kinda like they did in RORS)
that way people who like the very hard scnearios can play them standalone
😢 'promosm'