Cardboard Corner: Review of "The Rise of Red Skull" deluxe expansion for Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Fantasy Flight Games have released several expandable card games, and all to date have followed a similar arc—at least those that made it out of the gate and into the stretch. First is a solid core box that introduces first principles through simple but powerful heroes fighting in simple but powerful encounters. This is followed up by a deluxe expansion that offers more of the same with slight iterations—a confident first step beyond the core box that doesn't mix things up too much but offers something new. Along with peppering in single packs to fill interstices, the first deluxe expansion is inevitably followed up by several expansions which show the depth to which the game's first principles can be expanded. Then comes the inevitable power creep—deluxe expansions featuring heroes and encounters that do everything a little bit more in order to give longer-term players a challenge. But I go too far. Let's take a look at “The Rise of Red Skull” (2020), the first deluxe expansion for Marvel Champions: The Card Game. Is it more of the same with slight iterations that doesn't mix things up too much?

The short answer is Yes. “The Rise of Red Skull” is a safe but confident first step that proves the core box has legs to walk on. It gives players two new heroes (with complete decks) and five new villain scenarios linked in a semi-coherent narrative. (More on the “semi-” in a moment.) For players who enjoyed the core box and wanted more content, this is it in a way that doesn't shake things up too much.

The two new heroes are Spider Woman and Hawkeye. Hawkeye, true to comic book form, is an arrow shooting champion. He starts with his bow in play, and a large number of his character cards are arrows that do damage, thwart, stun, confuse, and other things. His quiver a support to which players can attach arrows for play in later rounds, Hawkeye is one of the tip-top most thematic heroes released to date. Spider Woman's primary value is in how she can play cards from all aspects. And so while Spider Man in the core box feels more spidery, he does not have the versatility of Spider Woman when it comes to deck building. The amount of existing content that can be mixed and matched as of the release is small, but with time Spider Woman will likely gain value as more cards become available. One thematic and one offering players the chance to be creative when building decks, the heroes are a good mix.

The five villains are also a solid mix. Crossbones kicks off the campaign with a batch of experimental and powerful weapons. If the player doesn't pay attention, they build up quickly, giving him the chance to do serious damage in a short period of time. Absorbing Man plays with environments, something new compared to the core box. Environment cards come into play through the encounter deck, in turn providing semi-permanent upgrades to Absorbing Man's attacks and schemes. The Taskmaster is all about persistent damage. On top of his regular attacks, there are main scheme and villain conditions that mean he does a small amount of damage and scheming each round on top of his regular actions. Zola, the brain in a machine, is focused on minions. But where Ultron in the core box pinged the player with many small, annoying minions, Zola hits the player with fewer but more powerful minions—minions which the encounter deck regularly upgrades to be even more powerful or take more damage. And lastly is Red Skull himself. The schemiest schemer of the villains, it's appropriate that his specialty is side schemes. The schemes kept in a separate deck with a new one added each round, Red Skull keeps the player occupied with threat mitigation, all while his attack is based on the number of side schemes in play.

It was mentioned the villains are linked in a semi-coherent narrative. Marvel Champions being a hero vs villain encounter at its core, inherently there is minimal room for story (a shame considering comic books are the source material). FFG have nevertheless tried to find ways of building some sense of narrative between scenarios. Like Lord of the Rings: The Card Game before it, “The Rise of Red Skull” does this via carry-over effects, player cards, and villain cards. Depending how an encounter plays out, players will bring certain upgrades and encounter cards into the next scenario. This feels tacked on, but to be fair there is little else FFG can do within the limitations of the game's first principles. There is nothing inherently wrong with the lack of a true “campaign”, just a note to players who were hoping for more story in gameplay. This is not Arkham Horror: The Card Game

To repeat what was said at the beginning, “The Rise of Red Skull” is Marvel Champions first confident step into being a major expandable card games. It proves the core box is no fluke, that there is room for fresh, exciting content, and that there is more to come. It's not mentioned above, but the base qualities of the core box (artwork, card quality, rulebook, etc.) are all done impeccably here as well. FFG has become the best in brand. Of the two new heroes, players will inevitably like one more than the other, depending whether their interests are thematic or strategic (i.e. deck building). The villains all offer new types of challenges that require players to adapt their playing styles accordingly. Whether or not the overarching campaign is linked in coherent fashion is up for debate but was never likely to amount to more unless some fundamental aspect of the game's first principles are altered drastically. Thus a simple recommendation: if you liked the Marvel Champions core box, this is the natural next step. Now, the string of deluxe campaigns to come which really get into the depth.*

*Of course I write with hindsight, knowing the next four deluxe expansions do exactly that. Nevertheless, it's far from the first FFG expandable card game to follow the pattern. In fact, “Mutant Genesis”, the latest deluxe, has power creep...