Running Interference

The problems with this card are that 1) it has a trait restriction but doesn't do anything special, 2) it can only hit the main scheme. So to me, it's almost always going to lose to For Justice! from the core set (or Lay Down the Law, especially for me because I like to play heroes that change form a lot). Sure, at its ceiling it can remove 5 threat for 2 resources, but if the villain has stage 3 then that means you're playing on Expert (unless they come out with a villain with more than 3 stages), and on Expert you're going to want flexible threat removal that can hit side schemes and not just the main scheme, or something with bonus effects and not just plain threat removal. So I don't think I will ever play this card.

Venom Blast

A lot of heroes have an attack that's 4 damage for 2 resources, and any attack that gets this rate is good in my book. This does it better at 5 damage, plus it powers up Spider-Woman so it's especially good if you didn't choose Aggression for one of your two aspects.

But the reason I'm posting this review is because I just noticed that this card quotes Wolverine in its flavor text! Could it be that this and Quicksilver's Avalanche nemesis minion were the only references to the X-Men in the entire game before Mutant Genesis? (Not counting Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch themselves, or the X-Factor cards Multiple Man or Warlock.)

(Also note to the admins: as of this writing, the flavor text of this card is currently not showing on MarvelCDB.)

Negasonic Teenage Warhead

If you happen to be facing a villain with a lot of treachery cards, like Thanos—-this ally can potentially shut down a villain’s entire encounter phase for 1 turn(assuming you drew 2 treachery cards and took 2 damage to Negasonic both times). It’s not a forced interrupt so it lets you choose how much treachery you’re willing to tolerate. That extra encounter card is not worth it though if you’re not setup first, but then again at 4 cost you wouldn’t be playing her otherwise.

You can avoid chump blocking with her since playing the Pool’ aspect means you’re going to have access to health regeneration and then can ready with the upgrade Sticktoitivness. Just defend, heal the 2 damage(assuming you take any if you have a hero with a naturally high defense), ready up and then you’re good to go. It’s an interesting pseudo-protection strategy.

Side Note: In fact, I had great success implementing it with heroes who have access to the aerial keyword, like Thor. With the player side-scheme Superpower Specialization and Soaring Acrobatics you can get +2 basic defense without ever having to “go green” which is pretty amazing actually. Imagine running Limitless Stamina(x3), in a deck with +2 defense and an upgrade that also lets you ready. At that point you’ll never have to flip down and just be punishing the competition then after turn.

lightninlad · 11
Mutant Protectors

Can you resolve bamf after resolving this card? If not why not? According to 1.6 can this card even resolve itself?

From 1.6 Defense:

• • A hero can use their basic defense power to defend against an enemy attack. A hero must exhaust to use this power. The amount of damage dealt by the attack is reduced by the hero’s DEF value, and any remaining damage is dealt to that hero. While a hero is defending against an attack, other friendly characters cannot defend against that attack.

When a card ability says to “declare [a hero] the defender” of an attack, that hero is considered to be making a basic defense.

• • An ally can exhaust to defend against an enemy attack. Damage from the attack is dealt to that ally. While an ally is defending against an attack, other friendly characters cannot defend against that attack.

When a card ability says to “declare [an ally] the defender” of an attack, that ally becomes the defender of the attack.

When a player initiates a triggered ability labeled as a defense—such as “Hero Interrupt (defense)”— during an enemy attack, that player’s identity becomes the defender and is considered to have defended the attack if there is not already a defender.

The player’s identity is considered to be the defender as soon as the defense-labeled ability begins resolving. Abilities that trigger “when your hero defends against an attack” can be triggered when resolving a defense-labeled ability.


Based on the above Either declaring a defender overrides the rule that no other friendly may defend against an attack that is already defended or this card cannot resolve itself - as soon as it is played the Hero should become the defender per 1.6 then the ally cannot defend against the attack.

dcjoker · 1
If declaring overrides the rule that no other friendly character may defend against an already defended attack the. You should be able to bamf after resolving this card. — dcjoker · 1
Surprise Move

I can see this being extremely useful against villains like Thanos, who will always have the Infinity Gauntlet attached(or any villain with a permanent attachment). It might work best with the Honed Technique Upgrade since that card requires 2 intellect resources in order to even play it. The fact that Surprise Move stacks the intellect resources in your deck is good synergy.

lightninlad · 11
I could be wrong, but I don't think villain attachments count as upgrades — erikw1984 · 8