Hulk

I think some of the past criticisms have been mitigated with the introduction of the Pool Aspect. Having access to 3 triple resource cards goes a long way towards patching Hulk’s resource issues, Stick-To-Itivness and Healing Factor are generally good. Cut-upper is an auto-include Stun card and Tic-Tac-Toe/Black-Out further mitigate dead hands by giving those cards a function. I disagree with the idea of reprinting/redesigning a card unless they are mailing free copies of it. A more realistic solution is introducing Gamma specific support similar to “The Sorcerer Supreme”.

Sneak Attack

Understanding and judging Sneak Attack is pretty difficult for a beginner, as the precise wording is important. It certainly took me some time to understand.

The ally is discarded at the end of the PHASE, not at the end of the turn (like Nick Fury, who is discarded at the end of the turn). This will under most circumstances mean the PLAYER PHASE, so the ally is not around for the VILLAIN PHASE and cannot be used for defense then.

Also, the ally ENTERS PLAY, which is not the same as being PLAYED FROM YOUR HAND. Many allies with one time special effects (usually responses) refer to one OR the other. Compare the responses of Beast to Pixie.

Then, the Ally is DISCARDED, not DEFEATED, so effects which refer to allies being defeated won´t work (like Schnelle Reaktion).

But if the deck includes several high-price allies with powerful one-time effects, this allows for wonderful combos.

sn0wball · 49
Puncture Wound

How do we review this?

It's technically a very slow Hero Response card, since it can only be applied to an enemy that was previously attacked this turn.

For my money, I treat this card as Honey Badger Special. If it looks like the villain may be a problem this turn, have her poke the villain and attach this card.

But if there is a serious minion threat, then that is a prime target for Puncture Wound.

The beauty is in the fact that you can make your decision later. So even if you are certain about which enemy you need to debuff, you can take your time deciding, since Puncture Wound's application only specifies an enemy that was attacked 'this turn'.

In a multi-hero game, this prevents you from wasting this card on an enemy that would be defeated that round. Excellent application of situational variance.

MacGhille · 206
Pain Tolerance

Possibly the X-23 upgrade you want to get to the table soonest.

To be fair, X-23 has a significant number of ways to heal. And -at best- this card will stave off one or two flips down.

But that's still a pretty huge benefit.

This is a card that appears to live in the aggregate, with its maximum benefit being achieved by an early pay. But that's inaccurate.

This is a card that provides immediate benefit, no matter when it is played. Particularly when you are playing a Honey Badgerrecursive deck. This card will eventually pay massive dividends, so long as you recognize that and get it into play.

MacGhille · 206
Grim Resolve

The secret sauce card in X-23's hero deck.

Look, a load of Marvel Champions heroes have resource generators in their intrinsic decks. But only rarely do they also trigger the Hero's special ability.

Grim Resolve provides an X-23 player with much more than a wild resource. Timed usage can ensure a 'ready' for X-23 while also feeding an upgrade. This is a constant, significant resource with meaningful consequences.

Not your typical generic generator, but it provides an additional means of utilizing X-23's ability when properly timed.

MacGhille · 206