Pyramid Review
Marvel Superheroes TCG
Published by Upper Deck Entertainment
Designed by Mike Hummel, Matt Hyra, Danny Mandel, & Edward Fear
Art, graphics, designed by Mark Irwin, Kris Oprisko, Brian Bateman, David Lomeli, Anita Olmos, Scott Reyes, & Drew Struzan
Edited by Omeed Dariani & Kate Stavola
80 cards (two 40-card decks, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, each with a foil card), quick-start rules poster, rules booklet, $15.95; Marvel Origins boosters: 14 cards (including one foil), $3.99
There have been quite a few false starts on superhero games in the last few years, including a couple of Marvel Comics roleplaying games, some collectible card games, and a DC-based RPG from West End Games. Here's hoping the Marvel Trading Card Game doesn't fold up its tent quite as easily.
The object of the game is to eliminate all your opponents by draining their Endurance.
Each player starts with a deck, a hand of four cards, and 50 points of Endurance (which players have to keep track of themselves; theree's no mechanism for it in the box, but paper and pencil work fine). Not much keeps you from throwing whatever cool cards you like in the same mix, but the most effective decks are built around a team, the loosely defined affiliations to which characters belong. One player is given initiative.
The Vs. System (available on-line at ude.com) uses four phases: Draw, Build, Combat, and Recovery. The Marvel TCG currency is resources. Any card can . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 20, 2004
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