Marvel Champions: The Card Game
515 questions players ask about Marvel Champions: The Card Game. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-11-01.
Setup & Mulligan
- When does a card's setup search, such as T'Challa's upgrade, happen relative to the opening hand and mulligan?
- What is Vision's starting hand size when his Intangible form starts in play?
- When a hero's setup ability searches the deck for a card, does it resolve before or after the mulligan and the starting hand?
- If a villain starts at a later stage in setup, do the When Revealed effects of its cards resolve during setup?
Deck Building & Unique Cards
- Do Nemesis and Obligation cards count toward the 40-50 card deck size?
- How does Assess the Situation's hand-size bonus work, and can you play several copies in one turn?
- Does Vision's mass form upgrade count toward his deck size?
- Must Maria Hill include the full set of three off-aspect supports, or can she take fewer copies?
- How many copies of a card can you put in your deck?
- Can I play Combat Training under another player's hero of a different aspect?
- Can a Marvel Champions deck mix cards from more than one aspect?
- Can two copies of the same unique card be in play at the same time?
Resources, Costs & Hand Size
- Do you exhaust the upgrades you pay for when playing Wakanda Forever?
- Can a wild resource be discarded as a specific resource type to pay a discard-a-resource cost?
- When is hand size checked: during the turn, or only at the end?
- Does Energy Barrier prevent damage from Focused Rage when Focused Rage's cost is paid by taking the damage?
- Do a hero side and an alter-ego side of an identity card have different hand sizes, and which one applies?
- Can resources from Enhanced Awareness pay for Superhuman Law Division (She-Hulk)?
- Can you choose to pay the wild resource for a mental icon cost?
- If my hand size increases mid-draw, do I keep drawing to the new hand size?
Player Turn, Actions & Form Changes
- Can Scarlet Witch use Chaos Control on a boost card?
- Can an exhausted hero still play an event that does not require exhausting the hero?
- Can a find effect retrieve a card from the victory display?
- When a card is revealed as a villain's boost card, do you read its text or only its boost icons?
- Does Tough prevent all the excess damage of an Overkill attack that would defeat an ally?
- Can Ghost-Spider play Ghost Kick during a defense to ready herself with Dizzying Reflexes?
- Does Overkill trigger the villain's Retaliate?
- Does Wraith's interrupt cancel a boost card's icons, or only its Boost ability?
Allies, Upgrades & Supports
- If Star-Lord makes an ally a Guardian, does Knowhere trigger on that ally when it is played?
- Can you play an ally with the same title as your hero identity, such as Iron Man (Tony Stark) while Iron Man (Tony Stark) is in play?
- Does Young Love's heal also apply to the Ghost-Spider ally when she is in play?
- Can you play Inspired onto an ally controlled by another player?
- Does a card's "Uses X counters" line cap how many counters it can hold, and does Maria Hill's Special Funding add one more counter when played on it?
- Does the Iron Man ally's cost reduction apply to upgrades played on Iron Man the hero?
- Do you lose the extra hit points when an upgrade like Endurance or Rocket Boots is discarded?
- Does a revealed Concussive Blast damage other players' characters and allies?
Attacking, Thwarting & Guard
- Does Turn the Tide trigger after a hero plays a thwart event card?
- Does a Guard card stop a non-attack damage effect like Energy Daggers?
- Does Mjolnir's +1 attack bonus apply to Thor's Hammer Throw?
- Can you use basic Thwart or basic Attack during a villain's scheme or attack, not just on your turn?
- When does Spider-Man's Spider-Sense trigger during a villain attack?
- What is the order when Black Widow uses Attackrobatics against a villain attack, with Synth Suit and her ability?
- Can Shield Block or another defense event be played when damage comes from something other than an attack?
- Does a basic attack or basic thwart need a valid target to be used?
Enemy Attacks, Defending & Overkill
- Does Spider-Man's Spider-Sense trigger when a villain attacks another hero and Spider-Man defends?
- Does an 'after [enemy] attacks you' trigger fire when an ally defends the attack?
- If another player defends an attack for me, who becomes the attack's target?
- Can Iron Man use Arc Reactor to defend twice against two villain attacks in the villain phase?
- Does Armored Vest reduce damage when the hero does not defend?
- If an ally defends an attack with piercing while I have tough status, which character loses tough?
- Can a defending hero or ally defend against a minion's quickstrike attack?
- Does Unflappable trigger when an ally defends the attack instead of my hero?
Damage, Healing & Hit Points
- If Klaw I is defeated while Immortal Klaw is in play, does Klaw II start with the extra 10 hit points?
- Can you use Captain Marvel's Rechannel ability when you are at full health?
- Can Tigra heal the consequential damage she takes from attacking and defeating a minion?
- With Throw de Card, how much damage does Royal Flush deal?
- Does Vision's Intangible damage reduction apply to damage from a treachery that is not an attack?
- Does Cosmic Flight trigger after Captain Marvel's Helmet defense reduces the damage?
- Does damage dealt by an attack count before a hero's defense reduces it?
- Can you use basic Recovery (REC) when your hero is already at full health?
Status Cards: Stun, Confuse & Tough
- Does Spider-Sense trigger if the villain is stunned or Webbed Up?
- When Rogue plays a card through Superpower Adaptation, do effects that name another hero, like Swing In on Spider-Man, apply to that named hero?
- Does Klaw's Sonic Converter stun an ally that survives his attack?
- Does Thor's Lightning Strike ignoring Tough remove the Tough status card?
- Does Superhuman Strength's discard and stun still apply after Counter-Punch's damage?
- Does an ally that is stunned or confused still deal consequential damage?
- If Colossus or a Steady character loses that ability while holding two of the same status card, must you discard down to one?
- Does attacking while stunned exhaust your hero?
Timing: Interrupts, Responses & Forced Abilities
- If Chase Them Down is played as a response to a Rhino attack that defeats a stage, does the next stage's reveal happen before the response?
- Does Honey Badger's response trigger when she takes damage that defeats her?
- Which cards go to the Collection when The Collector's forced ability fires in Infiltrate the Museum?
- When another player's ally defends Ultron's attack, who gets the Drone from Ultron's Forced Response versus Forced Interrupt?
- Does Spectrum's energy form change trigger Taskmaster's response the way Ant-Man's and Wasp's size forms do?
- How do Shadowcat's Quick Shift timing and Powerful Punch interact with an attack and a defense?
- Does Spider-Ham get another toon counter from separate indirect damage on a forced response?
Villain Phase, Minions & Boost Cards
- Does damage from a boost ability count as damage from the activation, so that Sweeping Swoop stuns a friendly character?
- Does Hulk's damage to characters also hit minions and villains?
- Does Infinity Gauntlet reveal a new stone and activate it on the same villain activation?
- Does a minion that enters play during the villain's attack activate in the same villain phase?
- If Weapons Runner is revealed as a boost card, does he attack or scheme immediately?
- When a Villainous minion such as Deathunt 9000 reveals a boost card, who receives the extra boost effects, the minion or the Villain?
- Does a Thunderbolt minion on the backup card stop attacks on Citizen V?
- When a villainous minion activates and its encounter card says to give the villain an additional boost card, what happens?
Encounter Deck, Surge & Hazard
- What happens when a search ability runs through the entire encounter deck without finding its card?
- After Hawkeye's Quiver searches the top 5 cards of his deck, do you shuffle the deck?
- Does Team-Building Exercise stack, or can it be used on a card in the discard pile?
- When a side scheme with a Hazard icon is in play, does each player get an extra encounter card?
- If an encounter card is dealt while the villain phase reveal step is still underway, is it revealed in that same villain phase?
- Do villain scenario packs include the standard encounter cards, and do you need to add them to the scenario?
- Does Masters of Mayhem still require shuffling the encounter deck when the Master of Evil you want was already on top of the discard?
Schemes, Threat & Acceleration
- Does Enhanced Spider-Sense cancel a side scheme's When Revealed ability?
- Does Under Surveillance stay attached to the main scheme when that scheme advances to its next stage?
- Does Great Responsibility prevent the starting threat of a side scheme that enters play from a 'when revealed' effect?
- Can Shrink increase the threat removed by Emergency when a scheme already has threat on it?
- Can Quasar's remove-threat-from-each-scheme effect take threat off the main scheme while a Crisis side scheme is in play?
- Do acceleration tokens stay on Kang when he advances to the next stage?
- Does Bomb Scare's additional threat go on the side scheme, and how is it removed?
Obligations & Nemesis Sets
- If Black Panther cannot exhaust T'Challa to resolve the Affairs of State obligation, is the obligation discarded?
- What happens if your hero is already exhausted when their obligation is revealed?
- When Shadows of the Past reveals a Nemesis, where do the other Nemesis cards go?
- If an Obligation's second option needs an upgrade I do not have, can I still choose it just to discard the Obligation?
- Can an obligation come up during a hero's turn, or only in the villain phase?
- When an obligation is revealed at setup with no cards in play under your control, what happens with Kang's Time-Travel Hijinks?
- When a card says Gamora (or Rhino) attacks or schemes, does it use only the copy from its own nemesis or modular set?
- What brings a hero's nemesis set into play?
Reading Card Text: "You", Targets & Keywords
- How does a referential ability decide which same-named card it refers to?
- What happens if I have fewer than 3 cards left when Futurist says to look at the top 3?
- Does the word "cannot" in the status card rule override the Golden Rule?
- Does "you" on a card mean my identity or any character I control?
- Must you exhaust a character to take a villain attack meant for another player?
- What do players do when the rules reference does not settle a rules or timing conflict?
- Can I target a character that "cannot take damage" with an attack or other damage effect?
Hero & Player Card Rulings
- Does excess damage on Norman Osborn carry over to his next stage?
- If Royal Flush is played against Venom, how many boost cards does it cause?
- What does the Aerial trait do?
- Does Black Widow's Dance of Death count as a card with the Dance trait?
- Does Black Panther's upgrade that deals damage trigger Retaliate?
- Does Psychic Misdirection count as the player defeating the enemy for Change of Fortune?
- When exactly does a villain initiate an attack for Spider-Man's Spider-Sense?
- Can Jennifer Walters remove threat from a side scheme as it enters play?
- Does Jennifer Walters's ability work on threat placed during setup?
Campaign & Game Modes
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Age of ApocalypseExpansion
- For the Sugar Man overseer, do the resource symbols on discarded cards count even if they are not matched to an ally?
- Can Band Together match a mission attempt's icons?
- Which Apocalypse stage should I start with to set the difficulty in the Age of Apocalypse villain deck?
- Are discarded allies like Professor X or Nick Fury 'defeated' for Gene Pool's forced response?
- How does the Dystopian Nightmare Hunted obligation work, and when does its extra encounter card come in?
- How do you defeat the Four Horsemen when each one cannot be defeated while another has at least 1 HP?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Captain America Hero PackExpansion
- Which nemesis minion does Shadows of the Past put into play for Captain America?
- Does Living Legend's first-ally discount apply in hero form and every round?
- Does Captain America's Shield's +1 DEF require him to exhaust and defend to take effect?
- Does Captain America's Shield retaliate still trigger when he does not defend?
- Can a Captain America Hero Pack leadership card be added to the base game deck, and how many must I include?
- When Shadow of the Past puts a nemesis minion engaged with Captain America, does the hero get all three minions in its nemesis set?
- If Captain America's Shield becomes a Drone minion in Ultron's setup, can Steve Rogers's Setup retrieve it?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Doctor Strange Hero PackExpansion
- Can Master of the Mystical Arts let you see the card beneath the top Invocation card?
- Do encounter cards dealt during the encounter phase count as revealed from the encounter deck for Protective Ward?
- Can Dr. Strange use an Invocation on the villain while a Guard minion is engaged with him?
- Does the Doctor Strange pre-built deck of 51 cards break the 40-50 card deck limit?
- When does Doctor Strange's nemesis set come into play?
- Can Warning be played to reduce damage on another player's hero?
- When Doctor Strange's Images of Ikonn removes threat, must it remove exactly 4?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – MojoMania Scenario PackExpansion
- In the second MojoMania scenario, do discarded show environment cards form their own discard pile?
- Does Wild Wild Mojo increase the damage that Multi-Gun deals to Mojo?
- Does Mojo Runner's toughness apply to minions and allies that enter play later?
- Does Longshot used as a boost card have boost icons, and what happens to it after it is revealed?
- Which modular encounter sets must you use in the MojoMania scenarios?
- When Stinger Tail and Wild Wild Mojo both trigger on the same damage, who chooses the order?
- Does Wild Wild Mojo increase overkill damage twice?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Mutant GenesisExpansion
- Does Shadowcat still count as defending after flipping to Phased Form during the same activation?
- In Mutant Genesis, which main scheme count causes the players to lose: two 2B schemes or three schemes in the victory display?
- Do Magnet counters on the scheme count toward Electric Shock's damage, or are they removed first?
- In Mansion Attack, if Pyro has 1 HP left and attacks a Rogue with Retaliate, does Pyro's forced response still trigger?
- How many events and upgrades can Role-building add to a campaign deck?
- Does Boom Boom's bomb counter still detonate after Boom Boom has left play?
- After searching the encounter deck for a card, must you shuffle it when the card does not say so?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – NeXt EvolutionExpansion
- How are Black Tom Cassidy and the Creeping Willows set up and activated in the Juggernaut scenario?
- What are Hope Summers' ATK and THW while your identity is in alter-ego form?
- Does Hope Summers copy the buffs on your hero, such as Lead From the Front or Claw Mastery?
- Can you remove Cable's or Domino's obligation from the game?
- Does Hope Summers take consequential damage when she attacks or thwarts?
- Do Morlock minions count as characters for X-Force bonuses in Morlock Siege?
- Is Hope Summers available as an ally during the On the Run scenario?
- When Routed triggers after Slice and Dice defeats a minion, does its forced response resolve before the second attack?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Sinister MotivesExpansion
- Does Now We're Angry lose a rage counter for every attack on Venom, including attack upgrades?
- When defeated Sinister Six villains are removed, do they return to the set-aside pool?
- Does Venom's Vengeance trigger when an ally attacks him, or only when you attack with a card you control?
- What happens to the acceleration token on a Tracking Prey side scheme when that side scheme is defeated?
- When Sinister Six villains attack a hero with Retaliate, does Retaliate resolve before the villain's forced response?
- In Venom Goblin, do all three main schemes gain threat every round, or only the one with the Glider counter?
- Do defeated Sinister Six villains come back into play through the villain pile?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Galaxy's Most WantedExpansion
- Can you use Milano mod upgrades in The Galaxy's Most Wanted when the Milano is not in play?
- Does gaining the Stalwart keyword remove an existing Stunned or Confused status?
- Can you play the Nebula hero against a Nebula villain in the Galaxy's Most Wanted campaign?
- Does the Power Stone mod set count toward a scenario's required modular sets, like Hope Summers and Longshot?
- When Looking for Trouble finds no minion in the encounter deck, what happens to the search and the threat removal?
- Can I use Gamora's Nebula ally when Nebula is also her nemesis in The Galaxy's Most Wanted?
- Which cards go into The Collector's collection in Galaxy's Most Wanted Scenario 2?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Green Goblin Scenario PackExpansion
- When a boost card flips State of Madness and Green Goblin mid-attack, are the remaining boost cards resolved one at a time?
- If Green Goblin's boost flips him to Norman Osborn during his attack, does the attack still deal damage?
- Does Norman Osborn's stun card stop him from attacking and from his attack response?
- Do attachments on Norman Osborn stay when he changes back to Norman?
- On Mutagen Formula, does 'you' include allies when Green Goblin's attack damages you?
- For Goblin Glider's printed hit points, do they mean the villain's or a minion's printed HP, and where is the glider attached?
- Does Green Goblin's Mutagen Formula attack effect trigger when a hero defends with an ally?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Mad Titan's ShadowExpansion
- In the Mad Titan's Shadow campaign, when is the half-deck discard applied relative to the mulligan?
- When does Infinity Gauntlet trigger during villain activations?
- Can you do anything with Victory X points on side schemes in the campaign?
- Do the inactive villain's attack and scheme add to the active villain's values when Corvus or Proxima boosts?
- Does Hinder trigger for Mad Titan's Shadow campaign side schemes that are put into play rather than revealed?
- In The Mad Titan's Shadow scenario 2, can a villain at 0 HP be defeated while the other still has HP?
- When Soul Stone gives the villain a facedown boost card, when is that card's icons added?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Once and Future Kang Scenario PackExpansion
- Do Acceleration tokens from a main scheme stage carry over to later stages?
- When you defeat Kang I, what happens to the threat on the main scheme Kang Arrives?
- Do acceleration tokens on Kang Stage 2A (The Master of Time) add threat to that scheme every turn?
- When Kang's stage 3 scheme completes, what happens to side schemes and villain attachments in play?
- Can two copies of Kang's Dominion be in play at the same time?
- Should hero-specific obligation cards be added to Kang's encounter deck?
- Does a side scheme with an acceleration icon place a token on the Kang stage it is in?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Rise of Red SkullExpansion
- How does The Sleeper Awakened side scheme work with The Sleeper once the Sleeper has been defeated?
- Is Hawkeye's Explosive Arrow an attack?
- Do you need to reveal Environment cards to know the traits Absorbing Man gains from Super Absorbing Power?
- Can I swap the encounter sets for a Rise of the Red Skull villain when customizing a scenario?
- Can Absorbing Man have more than one environment in play?
- If two players each have an identical ally, does Hydra's Prison make both remove it from their decks?
- Can Red Skull's Master Strategist attachment still add boost cards when Red Skull is stunned?
Marvel Champions: The Card Game – The Wrecking Crew Scenario PackExpansion
- In Wrecking Crew, do hero obligations get used in this scenario?
- When Held Hostage is used while Thunderball is stunned, what happens to the attached cards?
- Do minions keep activating when the villain is defeated or changes?
- Does Piledriver's 'gains 3 HP' card actually give him extra HP?
- Does a Wrecking Crew side scheme get jessica jones THW bonus for each side scheme in play?
- When does Frostbite go away in the Wrecking Crew scenario?
- How are ties broken when two villains are tied for the active token?
- When Bulldozer attacks the first of two players and the active villain changes, which villain attacks the second player?