Marvel Champions Core Set: This is Going to Be the Start of a Beautiful Friendship

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Ready to start your Marvel Champions: The Card Game adventure? There’s no better place to start than the core set, which has everything you need to get started.

This is a core set review, if you are looking for a general explanation and beginner’s guide of the game check here.

You really need this box to start, which isn’t a problem, it’s great, and a bargain for everything that’s in it. I know it’s easy to get excited about all the expansions for this game but there’s a lot in this box and plenty of replayability.

We’ll get into it all in this review. So, let’s get started!

The verdict: the Marvel Champions Core Set is worth buying, and it is the only box in this entire game that you genuinely have to own. Fantasy Flight puts it at 1–4 players, roughly 60 minutes, ages 14 and up, with over 350 cards, five heroes (Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther, She-Hulk) and three villains (Rhino, Klaw, Ultron). That is a complete, finished game — not a demo that needs expansions to work.

That last point matters more in 2026 than it did at launch. Fantasy Flight has moved most of the game’s back catalog out of print — six of the ten campaign boxes are gone, and of the 32 hero packs released across Waves 1 through 7, only four are still on shelves. If you are looking at this game now and quietly panicking about a seven-year backlog you will never catch up on, stop. The core set is in print, it is self-contained, and the correct way to buy into Marvel Champions today is to play this box until you know which specific thing you want next. Everything below is about what is actually in it.

Game Overview: A Cooperative Living Card Game

Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a cooperative living card game where you play as iconic heroes from the Marvel Universe. Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther, She-Hulk.

As a cooperative game teamwork is key. Players need to work together, combining thier unique abilities to defeat the villain. With a dynamic card pool and regular releases of new content Marvel Champions is a fun and immersive experience for Marvel fans and LCG fans.

Do I need to get the Core Box First?

Yes. You need the core box of Marvel Champions: The Card Game to play the game. At the very least you’ll need the Standard and Expert card sets which will be included with every scenario.

You can use other tokens and dials but you need them and the core box has everything you need. The core box also includes 5 hit point trackers which are necessary for tracking your heroes health during gameplay.

It’s also a great value, you get tons of aspect cards, 5 heroes and 3 scenarios. You can get a ton of replay value just from this core box before you even start adding expansions.

If you want to focus on a different group of heroes from the Avengers – say you want to focus on the X-men – you’ll still want to get this first so you can get the cards you need to run the villain decks, the basic aspect cards, tokens and dials.

It also has a great tutorial to play through that will teach you the game and since it has the fewest keywords to learn it’s the best entry point.

For more info on what to buy and in what order check out our buyers guide.

Core Box Contents and Components

The card game core has over 350 cards and 5 pre-constructed decks, each for a core hero – Iron Man, Black Panther, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man.

The box also has cards for each of the 4 aspects in the game – Leadership, Justice, Aggression, Protection. You can mix and match these aspects and the prebuilt deck lists and try them with each hero but you can only use cards from your chosen aspect in any one deck.

The box also has 3 iconic villains: Rhino, Klaw, Ultron. Each has their own scenario you can play against. No one needs to play as the villain – you run the scenario mostly by flipping cards from the encounter deck.

These scenarios can be modified by playing expert or standard or by changing the encounter cards you include. The Core box has 3 additional encounter sets you can swap in to change the difficulty or flavor of a scenario.

You also get damage and threat tokens, condition cards, hit point trackers and dials to track your and the villains health.

The Heroes

The core box has 5 iconic Marvel heroes, each with their own play style and flavor so you can play as these superheroes and battle the villains and stop their schemes.

Iron Man

Iron Man is a powerhouse once he suits up, his high tech armor gives him extra abilities, extra health and extra actions each turn. But assembling all the pieces can be tricky. Until you draw the right cards and get the right upgrades you’re limited in what you can do (and crucially your card draw).

That’s why it’s so important to get tech upgrades into play – or thematically – put on his suit. Otherwise he might find himself in alter-ego mode and can’t fully utilize his true potential.

It takes a bit of practice but with careful planning Iron Man can be unstoppable.

Black Panther

Like Iron Man Black Panther relies on the components of his suit, in this case the Vibranium suit. Once set up he can use his Wakanda Forever cards to unleash a chain of actions. To fully utilize his true potential he needs Siri to get all the pieces of his armor.

Like the king of Wakanda Black Panther decks have plenty of resources from Vibranium so he’s one of the richest characters in the game. The Golden City gives him card draw while in Alter-Ego so he’s a great option whenever you want to play big cards.

Captain Marvel

She’s still one of the most powerful heroes in the game no question. She’s great at drawing cards so any strategy will be improved by her.

She’s versatile but her main strategy is to gather energy resources in her deck which she can spend to load up her Energy Channels which she can then unleash on the villain.

Captain Marvel is a straightforward and powerful character and a great one to learn the game with.

She-Hulk

She-Hulk is good at switching between her hero and alter ego forms.

In her alter ego she uses her lawyer skills to stop the villain’s schemes. When she switches back to her hero form she gets to deal 2 damage just for flipping up.

She has a lot of health and can take a lot of damage – which helps set up her signature attack which is strongest when she’s on her last health. But this strategy relies on a single card and can be tricky to set up.

She got a bad rep early on because she’s tough in true solo and has a 4-card hand size in hero form so she’s weaker than the others – but now that I play more multiplayer I find the deck-building challenge she presents interesting so I keep coming back to her.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man was my go-to character when I first got the original box. I played him a lot because he was good at protection and loved being attacked thanks to his ability to draw a card and evade villain attacks.

Although his thwart options were limited you could wear down the villain hoping to stop their scheme before I could play my web kicks to finish them off. These games often took a long time but Spider-Man was invincible as long as I didn’t take too much threat.

Now that I’ve gotten better and we have more great protection cards Spider-Man is even more fun and powerful.

He’s still one of my favorites to play.

The Villains

In the core box you’ll find Rhino, Klaw and Ultron. Each villain has their own encounter deck which enhances their abilities and tactics. These scenarios are great for learning the game but are still fun and challenging to play against even with all the new content that’s been added to the game since.

 

Rhino

Rhino is all about brute strength and hits hard when he charges. His attacks can catch you off guard and end the game fast.

Some people in the community complain about Rhino but the truth is they just tired of the old guy. I personally fought against Rhino many times as he was my go-to character for testing decks for a long time.

Contrary to popular opinion I don’t think he’s that easy especially when solo. He has cards that set him up to deal big damage in one turn that can’t really be blocked.

Also his threat level is low for solo play. He’s a brute with low scheme stats but I’ve lost to Rhino many times completing his scheme. Rhino’s scheme can scheme advance fast and is a threat to players.

But Rhino is an excellent introductory scenario to show off different gameplay elements. It’s a great chance to learn keywords and icons.

Klaw

I use Klaw to test all my new decks because he’s the most well rounded scenario to test everything a hero needs to do.

Can you take damage? I hope so; Klaw swings hard because he gets an extra boost card.

Can you remove threat? I hope so because Klaw starts with extra side schemes and has a low threshold on the main scheme.

Can you handle minions? I hope so because Klaw puts out a lot and has some nasty ones too with tough.

Basically he throws everything at you amplified so he’ll find the weakness of any deck you throw against him. Players have to overcome impossible odds to beat Klaw because of his mechanics. It’s a good fair fight with a little bit of everything.

Ultron

Ultron has a cool mechanic where he turns cards from your deck into his drones who then attack you. This messes with your deck by sometimes taking the cards you need and turning them into enemies.

Basically fighting Ultron can go one of two ways – either you spend all your time keeping the number of drones out to a manageable level or you lose. He’s the hardest in the box I think but over time the game has introduced more ways to benefit from killing minions which has made him a little less formidable than he used to be.

When I just had the core though he was the villain where I felt pressure to build my deck specifically to beat that scenario rather than just building a good deck. Ultron’s challenge is similar to those found in other living card games like Arkham Horror LCG where regular updates and expansions keep the game fresh and challenging.

Gameplay and Mechanics

In Marvel Champions players take on the roles of iconic heroes like Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Black Panther and She-Hulk each with their own abilities and powers. The game is played over a series of rounds divided into two main phases: player phase and villain phase.

During the player phase heroes can thwart the villain’s schemes, attack, defend and use their special abilities. Players can also play cards from their hand to get supports and upgrades to their hero. The co-op nature of the game is evident here as players need to coordinate their actions to be effective.

In the villain phase the villain advances their scheme, draws cards from their encounter deck to add to their attacks and introduce new challenges. The encounter deck is a big part of the game, it adds the randomness and tension. Players need to work together to manage the threat level and stop the villain from achieving their goals.

The depth of Marvel Champions is in the interaction between the heroes’ abilities and the changing threats of the villain. Every game is a different battle of wits and strength, players need to adapt and overcome.

Replayability and Expansions

Marvel Champions is a living card game which means it gets new content regularly, new heroes, scenarios and other game elements. This dynamic card pool means every playthrough is different, new challenges and opportunities arise from the combination of heroes, villains and scenarios.

The expansions add to that, but the honest 2026 picture is more nuanced than “new content forever.” Fantasy Flight is still releasing — the Fear No Evil campaign box put Daredevil and Echo against Kingpin, and the Shadowland scenario pack followed it — but the company has also retired most of the older catalog. Six of the ten campaign boxes and four of the eight scenario packs are now marked out of print, and among hero packs only Ms. Marvel, Ant-Man, Venom, and Angel survive from the game’s first seven waves.

What that means for someone opening the core set: buy in on what is in front of you, not on a catalog. Everything from Wave 8 onward — plus the Age of Apocalypse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Civil War, and Fear No Evil campaign boxes — is still in print and will still be there in six months. The out-of-print material is a resale-market decision you can make later, once you actually know whether you want more Justice cards or another villain to fight. This is a cooperative game with no competitive metagame; nobody is out-collecting you.

Check out our full list of expansions here.

Conclusion: Get Started; There’s a Lot to Explore

With engaging gameplay, stunning artwork, and an expanding universe, the Marvel Champions core set offers a thrilling introduction that will keep you hooked. There is so much content in this game, and more coming all the time, but don’t let that intimidate you. All you need is this core box to get going. Assemble your team and dive into a cooperative card game like no other. Maybe you’re looking for one of the best solo experiences in board gaming. Well that’s right here in this box too. 

So, fellow champions, what are you waiting for? The Marvel Universe is calling, and it’s time for you to answer. Unbox the core set, build your decks, and get started; there’s a lot to explore. 

When you are ready to dive ALL the way in, check out our comprehensive buyer’s guide to help you decide how best to expand your collection. 

For more Marvel Champions content check out our comprehensive list of expansions with links to all our reviews.

Is the core set still in print? Yes — and as of August 2026 it is one of only 25 Marvel Champions products that still is. Our publisher-verified list of what is still in print covers which expansions, scenario packs and hero packs you can actually buy today, and the purchase order to follow now that most of the older buying advice points at retired boxes.

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