Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Halloween Theme

Just like last year, the Marvel Super Hero Squad has uploaded a Halloween theme. It changes two zones - The Daily Bugle and The Baxter Plaza. Enjoy!

The announcement

You can give your hero a Frankenstein head...

...or a pumpkin head...

...or a witch head...

... or a mummy head...

...or an alien head!

Dr. Strange's house is added including a pumpin patch...

...and a graveyard...

... and an interior featuring two staircases, a library, and a chair...

...that turns you into a ghost!

The coolest feature is probably this little cat, however.
The black cat replaces the usual robber in the Daily Bugle zone.
What's cool is that he isn't always found in the same place
like the rest of the chaseable heroes.

There are also plenty of Halloween decorations up all over!

That coffin has a mummy that springs out at you when you walk past.

I'm not sure what a wrecked truck carrying toxic waste has to do with Halloween.
Perhaps it is the cause of the zombies...?
Only problem is that the zombies never showed up in game!

In the Baxter Plaza there is a creepy fog everywhere.
Also, there appears to be some general looting
with overturned trash cans and the like.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Card Tournament

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Card Game

As great as the card game for the Marvel Super Hero Squad Online game is, it is lacking a few key components. One is a ranking system. You really don't know how you are doing compared to other players in terms of skill and ability.

That's why I've so appreciated the efforts of Astral Tornado Mariner from the Comic Book Resources forums to organize a card tournament. His creative idea is to have players collect the Infinity Gems. Each player starts out with one gem and wins additional gems as they challenge other players. The four players that get all five gems first will move on to the finals.

So far, I've played four games.

My first game was against The Punishing Lawyer. It was a good card game but I easily came out on top.

I strutted into my second contest against Smashing Clown Juggler. It was a VERY close game that came down to a single card. VTM got a lucky block (literally) and won with one card left. I don't feel that badly about that, however, because he got eliminated directly after our game.

My third card game was against Volcanic Torch Manatee. I completely whipped him, having 3/4 of my deck left in tact at the end of the match. This took me back to ownership of two gems. Manatee broke a cardinal rule of tournament play and blabbed my deck concept and composition to the other players.

So I  wasn't surprised when I lost my fourth game to Fighting Raven since she knew what colors I had. Still, it was incredibly close and I uncharacteristically blew a huge lead. It's a small comfort to me knowing that all of the other people I've played have been eliminated from the tourney. Playing me is a kiss of death even if you win!

I still have one gem and I'm waiting on Bright Breaking Ghost to respond to my challenge. We both have one gem so one of us will be eliminated when we clash! I can't wait! I'll keep you updated on the tournament progress.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Claws of the Hunters

1LR is still bringing you great new cards from the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG's new expansion, Hero's Destiny!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Claws of the Hunters

Claws of the Hunters is simple and straightforward. No special abilities except the ability to deal out a ton of damage. It's a level 13 dual power icon card that's both red and grey. It features Reptil and the Black Panther and can do up with 13 damage. It also has an orange block. It's a Super Rare.

This is the Black Panther's Avenger response to Storm's X-Men Card, Fast as Lightning. It's essentially the same card but with different colors, block, characters and team affiliation. So if you're looking for a heavy hitter to put into an Avengers deck, Storm/Black Panther deck or just a dual attack icon deck, you could do far worse than Claws of the Hunters. Essentially, if your opponent actually allows the power to get to 13 your chances of winning dramatically increase with this bad boy.

And the great thing is that Avengers cards have THREE cards that can boost your power for this card. True Power raises your power by one, period. Avengers Courage raises your power by one for all Avengers cards. Finally, Cold Fusion raises your power for all green and grey cards. So with the help of these keepers you have really great chances of playing Claws of the Hunters. Your poor opponent.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Never Give Up

The Super Hero Squad TCG's new set, Hero's Destiny, has a ton of great all-new cards and 1LR continues to examine them one at a time.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Never Give Up

Never Give Up is a red card at power level 6 that does up to 2 damage. It has a grey block. When it does at least two damage it becomes a keeper that allows you to draw a card every time your opponent blocks an X-Men attack from your hand.

This draw ability is simply fabulous. In an all-X-Men deck this could cause you to draw quite a few extra cards, giving you the hand-size advantage and tipping the scales in your favor. I mean, think about it. Every time your opponent's hand gets smaller by one card your hand gets larger by one card. It won't take long before that advantage lets you break the game wide open.

What's great about this keeper is that it will never misfire because it doesn't do any damage. Thus, if you opponent wants to get rid of it they have to specifically target it with keeper removal. Since you'll have extra cards in your hand, the chances that you'll be able to block any attempt at removing this keeper increases dramatically.

This card works brilliantly with chaining X-Men cards. Whisk on the Winds is particularly good. First, the extra draws increase the odds of giving you a good chain. Secondly, your opponent stopping the chain just feeds the fire. Thirdly, there's a chance you'll be able to get in a few good licks before your opponent blocks, thus doing damage AND drawing a second card. Astonishing!

In the endgame, this card puts your opponent in a lose-lose situation - either let massive damage through or allow your opponent to draw another critical card.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Retractable Blaster

Marvel Super Hero Squad's new Hero's Destiny has a ton of great all-new cards and 1LR continues to bring them all to you!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG:
Hero's Destiny
Retractable Blaster

Retractable Blaster is a Warmachine keeper with a power level of five that does up to two initial damage. This grey card has a orange block. Once it is a keeper, it does one damage a round, just like Iron Man's "Repulsor Rays."

The big difference between the two is that when Retractable Blaster misfires it returns to your hand. This is HUGE.

First, it means that the only ways your opponent can get rid of this card once it is in your hand is to block if from their hand when it is being played or cause you to discard it. This makes this card extremely persistent. If your opponent blocks this card from their hand when it is already in play, causing it to misfire and return to your hand, it is doubtful that they would have another grey block to prevent you from replaying it and putting it right back into play that very round.

Secondly, the "boomerang" aspect of this card acts kinda like healing, kinda like card draw, and kinda like Spider-Man's "You Can Count On Me." By coming back to your hand instead of your deck this card adds an additional card to your hand (remember, you're still going to draw a card on your turn). This gives you an additional block - one your opponent knows you have so it might act as a bit of deterrent or, the opposite, it might bait your opponent into playing an orange card hoping you'd block with Retractable Blaster.

This card is a solid lock for a grey keeper deck. While not all of the cards are realized yet in the physical game, the online version has a plethora of great grey keepers such as "Repulsor Rays," "Boomcannon," "Shoulder Cannon," "Arms Race," "Iron Gardener," "Nucleons Going Critical," "Time Bomb," "Crushbot Crew," "Fragile Boombot," and "Stolen Technology," to name some of them. With the threat of this many grey keepers crushing down round after round surely any deck's grey blocks will be quickly exhausted, leaving them vulnerable.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Roar of Triumph

1LR is still bringing you  the best of the all-new cards from Hero's Destiny, the new expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG!

Marvel Super Hero Squad
Hero's Destiny:
Roar of Triumph

Road of Triumph has a damage potential of seven, is power level seven and features the Hulk (Gladiator version). This red card has a grey block and after three damage can become a keeper. As a keeper it allows you to heal four if you do four damage with a green attack.

This card combines a good deal of up front damage potential with a kicker of healing later. To my knowledge this is the first card that ties the Hulk's red healing cards together with his brutal green attack cards.

The three damage to make this card a keeper does give me some pause since that makes it half as likely that this card will actually become a keeper. But I think that risk can be managed effectively in a red green Hulk deck like I managed. I'm sure your opponent will have used the red blocks in their hand to stop some of the other devastating red healing cards or keepers with lower power costs than this one. A relentless green power attack will likewise eventually overcome any defense to trigger the four damage requirement to activate the healing.

Playing this card followed with She-Hulk's power level seven card, "Group Hug" would have the potential to do 17 damage and heal four - that's a twenty one card differential.

One of the things I like about this card is it turns almost every green card into a must-block.

Roar of Triumph is perhaps the most aptly named card for the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG because it will certainly lead to many roars of triumph!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Intangible

1LR continues to highlight the best all-new cards from Hero's Destiny, the new expansion set for the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Intangible

Intangible is a power level six blue card featuring Kitty Pryde that can do up to four damage. This X-Men card has a red block and after two damage it becomes a keeper with the ability to reduce the damage your opponent's keepers do by one.

This is one of those cards that has a really powerful ability... sometimes. If your opponent doesn't have any keepers that do damage, this card is reduced to being either an expensive four points of blue damage or a red block in your hand.

But if  your opponent does have keepers that do damage, Intangible severely restricts them. Some, like Storm's "Electrical Storm" and Iron Man's "Repulsor Rays" would be reduced to useless lumps - keepers that don't do anything at all. Other keepers that do more than one damage would be shrunk down to the point where they're not so worrisome. If you had multiple copies of this in play then almost any keeper (except perhaps Asgard's Thunder) could be completely nullified.

While I can't see putting this card in many decks, a damage reduction deck could be a distinct possibility. Combine this with Adamantium Bones (which reduces all damage from attacks to four or less) and Body of Steel (which causes all of your opponent's attacks to be -1) and you might have the beginnings of something.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Arm Wrestling

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Arm Wrestling

1LR continues to bring you the newest and most innovative cards from Hero's Destiny, the new expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG!

Arm Wrestling is a Red Hulk card that can do up to four damage. It is a level five card with a gray block. Typically, four damage has a power level of two, meaning this card's ability costs three. That fact makes this card INCREDIBLY broken.

To be honest, this was another card that I dismissed at first glance. You pay two cards from your hand to do a maximum of eight damage? That's lousy! A power level five card is capable of doing seven damage on its own!

But then I realized that it's the discarded card's EFFECT that you'd really be playing for.

Here's the scenario: You play Arm Wrestling, do at least two damage, and discard, say, Asgard's Thunder. Asgard's Thunder hits for at least two and suddenly you've got a LEVEL 13 KEEPER THAT DOES UP TO SIX DAMAGE EVERY ROUND! And the power level is only five at this point in the game!

You can combine this with any card with an incredibly powerful ability - Arm Wrestling effectively allows you to backdoor them and play them at power level 5! The possibilities are endless - Infinity Blaster, The Critical Phase, Sweet Dreams, Eternal Rage, Slice in Half, Erase Your Destiny, Beyond Defeat... you can play them all and trigger their effects at power level five thanks to Arm Wrestling!

Now, some of them will do less damage than they normally would but you'd be really going for the massive effects.

Combo this with other cards that allow you to play cards from your discard pile, deck, or hand and you've got a dream for someone who plays combo decks.

Yet another completely off the charts card brought to you by Hero's Destiny!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Widow's Bite

Marvel's Super Hero Squad TCG's new expansion, Hero's Destiny, was chock full of brand new cards and 1LR continues to bring the best of them to you!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Widow's Bite

Widow's Bite is a level five blue card with a green block. It features Black Widow and can do up to five damage. It has a chance of being completely unblockable by guessing the factor on top of your opponent's deck. There is no team affiliation with this card.

This card is very similar to the Human Torch's "Some Like It Hot." That card has the same power level, is unblockable, but only does three damage. Does the extra two damage justify the "Choose a factor," condition?

In my opinion, yes.

If it was a pure guessing game and you had no information about your opponent's deck, it would be a one in six (17%) chance that this card is unblockable. While not a sure-thing, that's not bad. If you guess incorrectly, this card will still be able to do five damage, it will just be stoppable.

But chances are you won't be choosing a factor blindly. Many decks lean on one or two factors more heavily than the others, thus dramatically increasing your odds of choosing the correct factor.

But why guess at all? This would be a great card to hold until you have seen the top card of your opponent's deck. There are plenty of cards such as Ace of Hearts and Inferno Missile that cause your opponent to reveal the card himself.

So Widow's Bite is a great because it's cheap and unblockable. And remember, 5 damage is 1/8 of your opponent's entire deck!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Ankylosaurus Tail

1LR continues to bring you great, all-new cards from the Hero's Destiny expansion of the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG! 

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Ankylosaurus Tail

Ankylosaurus Tail, besides being hard to spell, introduces an interesting new mechanic into the game. It is a power level 3 green card that can do up to 4 damage. It features the character Reptil. If it does two damage, it becomes a keeper. The unique thing with this card is that it lacks an actual keeper effect. Meaning, as a keeper it doesn't do damage, augment other cards, or increase the power level. The card states, "When you do at least 2 damage with a red or orange attack, return this keeper to your hand." Essentially, this takes the boomerang mechanic from cards such as Spider-Man's "You Can Count On Me" and adds it to a keeper. The ultimate effect is that you get to retain a card that would have otherwise been discarded. For this privilege you lose a single point of damage potential (a level 3 card would normally do five damage). When you look at it that way, it's not terrible. Cards that benefit from having multiple keepers in play would, of course, benefit from this card. I find it unlikely that many opponents would block this innocuous keeper, nor will it provoke your opponent to destroy it. The down side is that it will leave play when you do two red or orange damage. If you're merely looking for a keeper to take up space to boost other cards, you could do worse than this card. After all, it won't misfire on you and go away. It might be worth considering using this card in a deck with no red or orange attacks, thus removing the condition that causes it to leave play. I could see this card being using in a boomerang deck with cards such as the previously mentioned, "You Can Count On Me." As an orange card, "You Can Count On Me" would trigger Ankylosaurus Tail, thus returning two cards to your hand. This discard-pile starvation strategy would leave you plenty of cards in your hand to block with. This new mechanic is an interesting one. At first, it seems almost worthless but it may be worth a second look.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Right X-Man for the Job

1LR continues to bring you the best new cards from the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Right X-Man for the Job

Right X-Man for the Job is a green X-Men card featuring Cyclops. It has a purple block, is level six and does up to four damage. If you do three damage, it allows you to reveal the top three cards of your deck, put an X-Men card into your hand and then put the rest on the bottom of your deck in random order.

This is an interesting card and the primary draw is the card's special effect. By revealing the top three cards and drawing one, it allows you to effectively sift through your deck looking for the cards you need. It could be a certain block to stop your opponent, a essential keeper, or a certain attack. This mining is a powerful ability.

I would certainly only use this card in an all-X-Men deck to maximize my chances of getting cards I can put in my hand.

The language on the card is interesting. It says to "Put an X card from among them inot your hand." It DOESN'T say the word DRAW. To keen players of TCGs this distinction is a huge one. Would this card trigger the effect of E=Mr. Fantastic Squared (which is a keeper that hits for damage every time you draw a card). I would say in the strictest sense the answer is "NO," because you don't "draw" a card you "put" a card. Drawing is an action from the top of the deck, not from revealed cards.

For comparison, Rogue's Gallery is a very similar card. It has you draw two cards and then discard a card. This is a drawing action (actually, two drawing actions). It's a small difference but crucial for players to understand.

At the end of the day, I'm not sure that Right X-Man for the Job is a great card. It only does four damage, which a straight damage level two card can do so that means the card's ability costs four power. You also have to do three damage to trigger the ability - a feat that's twice as hard as only having to do two damage. And then you have to put the cards on the bottom of the deck in "random order." The card doesn't even let you decide what order to put the cards in! For just one more power you can draw two cards and keep them both with Mr. Fantastic's "Fantastic Idea" and that card triggers after two damage.

So while Right X-Man for the Job might find its place in some decks and could come in very handy at times, ultimately I think it might be just a little too costly for the benefits you get from it.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Back Off!

1LR continues to bring you a plethora of the great new cards in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny
Back Off!

Back Off! is a green Colossus X-Men team card with a blue block. It's level four and does up to four damage. If it does two damage, your opponent's cards are attack -2 damage their next turn.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it is HUGE. -2 damage effectively will reduce many of your opponent's card to the point they are unplayable, nearly worthless. Why? Well, many effects trigger within two points of the maximum damage of the card. Other cards will simply have their damage reduced to the point that they're ineffectual. Why would I play a power level 7 double icon card if I'm only going to deal  a maximum of 2 points of damage?

This is one of those cards that, on its own, would be very tempting to block even though it doesn't do massive damage. In a heavy green deck, this leaves your opponent open for more powerful green attacks later.

If this card's effect triggers, the end result is that it will likely force your opponent to pass their turn. This is where this card combines perfectly with a couple of the other Hero's Destiny cards - specifically, Spider-Woman's Come And Get Me and Arachnid Ambush. Both of these cards do damage to your opponent when they pass their attack, a condition that Back Off! is sure to bring about.

If you combined this card with Colossus's keeper, Body of Steel, that causes all of your opponent's cards to be -1 attack you can effectively shut your opponent's deck down, especially if they're relying on getting keepers into play.

A Colossus damage-control deck just got another great tool in its arsenal... and it's a COMMON!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Arachnid Ambush

1LR continues to bring you all-new cars from the just-released Hero's Destiny expansion set to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad
Hero's Destiny
Arachnid Ambush

This card would be great if it was simply a level 5 double-icon attack for three damage. That alone is amazing, considering the "typical" double icon attack for 4 damage is a level 7 card. So right off the bat, Arachnid Ambush is a bargain. But then you add the ability to get a +2 if your opponent didn't attack you the last turn and this card turns into a downright steal. Arachnid Ambush is a Spider-Woman card on the Spider-Man "team" and it has a grey block.

As we mentioned yesterday, this card just has a natural synergy with another new Spider-Woman card, Come And Get Me. They both have the same game mechanic - a ability triggered by your opponent not attacking.

A lot of what I said about Come And Get Me applies to this card as well. It's a natural fit for some of the other Spider-Man team power control cards.

While Come and Get Me just sits there, hanging over your opponent's head, you're able to be a little sneakier with Arachnid Ambush. You can just hold this thing in your hand and wait for your opponent to skip a turn. It's nearly impossible to attack on EVERY turn (and sometimes it's just plain unwise to do so) so you're guaranteed to have an opening to use this card to its fullest potential even if you don't go the power-control route.

I could see this card working beautifully in a mono-green deck. Five damage with the ability to burn a few extra green blocks is hard to ignore.

I wonder how this mechanic would work with cards that allow you to take additional turns such as Deadpool's Strange Teleportation. The card's wording doesn't specifically state your OPPONENT'S last turn, it just says, "...didn't attack you last turn." With cards such as Strange Teleportation, you can take an entire extra turn - draw a card, flip the coin, keepers activate, the whole nine yards. So I would rule, if it was up to me, that Come And Get Me and Arachnid Ambush would both be triggered in this event.

Any way you cut it, Arachnid Ambush deserves serious consideration.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Come And Get Me

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available through the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny
Come And Get Me

Come And Get Me is a green Spider-Woman card in the Spider-Man "team." It has a level of 2 and can do up to 2 damage. At 2 damage, it becomes a keeper that strikes for 2 when your opponent doesn't attack on his turn. It has an orange blocking icon.

This card could have an important role to play in some concept decks. There are a number of cards and effects that are designed to prevent your opponent from attacking. Power-control decks use card abilities and keepers to keep the power artificially low in the game. Since you've build your deck knowing the power is going to be low and your opponent did not, he is often unable to play an attack on his turn because all of the cards in his hand are of higher level than the current power.

Often, a player will pass not because they can attack but because they want to build their hand size and save blocks. This card makes that option much less attractive, forcing your opponent to play cards with blocks they want to keep or to play cards when they're booster condition isn't met.

The fact that this card is a level 2 is amazing. To be able to do 2 damage means that it harder to misfire than a keeper that does one damage. Keeper cards that do 2 damage every turn are typically level 7.

As with most keepers, this effect is magnified when multiple keepers are in play simultaneously. So if you had two of these in play, your opponent would be looking at 4 damage just for not attacking!

So is this card a game breaker? No. I wouldn't look for this card to do massive damage to your opponent. But I would play it to control my opponent's behavior.

Combined with Arachnid Ambush (which we'll discuss tomorrow), Come And Get Me starts to take its place in a larger, power control Spider-Man team deck.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Right Back at Ya!

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny:
Right Back at Ya!

We'll continue highlighting some of the excellent purple cards in this set. Right Back at Ya! is a Ms. Marvel Avengers can with a level of two. The damage potential is variable - double the amount of damage you took last turn. This card has a red block.

This card has amazing potential. This card's best may be as cheap retaliation. Power level four cards do a straight six damage so this card easily has the potential of a level eight card that would do twelve damage.

This is the type of card that, once your opponent learns you have it, it will force them to hold a purple block as a deterrent.

Under normal circumstances I wouldn't say that this card is a game-breaker. It is only a single color so it is quite easily blocked both by cards in the hand and in the deck.

I could see this card being another one that has great synergy with The Critical Phase. It has potential to be a have-to-block card which would clear purple blocks out of your opponent's hand, paving the way for The Critical Phase. Or, it could be played as the follow-up to The Critical Phase. Since both cards are purple, you'd know that your opponent would have already used his purple block on The Critical Phase, leaving him wide open for this card (which would then be unblockable).

On the completely unrealistic side, the card actually has the potential to do more damage than you're allowed to have cards in a deck. A deck is 40 cards. If your opponent played Eternal Might and did the maximum damage of 22, your retaliation the next round with Right Back at Ya! would have a damage potential of 44! Now, I can't possibly imagine a scenario in which this would actually occur, but I can routinely see players following up the round after they take 6 to 12 damage with this card, sending a threat of 12 to 24 damage back at their opponent!

And the really sick part is that it would only be a level 4 card!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Nailed It

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

I'm on a roll with purple cards so I think I'll continue with Nailed It, a purple Avengers card featuring Ms. Marvel. It's a level 3 card that does up to 3 damage. It becomes a keeper after 2 damage with the effect of healing you one at the beginning of your turn when you take at least 4 damage.

Some players might look at this card and dismiss it but I think it's one of the most powerful cards in the game.

First, the cost is ridiculously low. You could get this card out really early on in most games. As a keeper, it does no damage to your opponent so it can't be misfired. This greatly increases the chances of it staying around for the rest of the game.

Next, the synergy between this card and two other purple Avengers healing keepers is out of this world. Specifically, I'm referencing Reality Shift and Supernatural Soda. Throw in the purple healing Avengers card Go Team! and I predict you could end games having no cards in your discard pile. I can't stress enough how insane this card is.

It forces your opponent to play small-ball. Since you're getting a rebate every time they do four damage or more, it essentially erases that first point of damage. If you had more than one copy of this card in play, I predict that the game would be a virtual lock for you if your opponent couldn't get rid of them. And this is when the power is at level 3!

Seriously, did Upper Deck play test this card? I'm going to go with, "No." This card should be at least a level 6 and probably higher than that. The threat of this card makes keeper elimination even more important than it was previously.

Yet another broken card from Hero's Destiny!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Sweet Dreams

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny
Sweet Dreams

Once again, I'm bringing to you a purple card. This is one I mentioned yesterday, Sweet Dreams. It's a level 9 Psylocke X-Men card that does 3 damage. If you do two damage, you opponent discards three cards from their hand. THREE! It is an uncommon card.

This is another great entry for fans of discard decks. Eliminating your opponent's hand is a great strategy in the MSHS TCG and this card is a must-block if your opponent plays it against you.

Now, some might look at this card and wonder why they'd use it when the seemingly more powerful Erase Your Destiny is only one level higher, causes your opponent to discard ALL of the cards in their hand, and does three more damage. Well, I like this card and here's why:

First, at this stage in the game, most of the time your opponent will have a hand of three cards or less so the effect is remarkably similar to Erase Your Destiny.

Next, Erase Your Destiny's effect triggers when three damage has been done, but Sweet Dreams only needs to do two damage. This is a HUGE difference - When you have to do three damage you're literally doubling the chances your card will be blocked before the effect is triggered.

Additionally, Sweet Dreams is a purple X-Men card, making it combo well with Brain Drain and Sudden Amnesia, two more purple X-Men cards with a discard effect. Combo that with The Critical Phase, another purple X-Men card that I discussed yesterday and you're almost certain to win the game.

Finally, as I mentioned, Sweet Dreams is a must-block card, meaning even if it is blocked that just means you'll be clear to follow up with Erase Your Destiny when the power reaches 10.

I wouldn't be concerned with the low damage. I would follow up with big damage and/or big effect cards once my opponent has no cards in their hand and can no longer defend themselves by blocking from the hand.

Another great card from Hero's Destiny!

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: The Critical Phase

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad
Hero's Destiny:
The Critical Phase

Today, I bring you The Critical Phase. It's a purple super-rare card. The featured hero is Shadowcat (who gets a lot of attention in this expansion) and it is an X-Men card. As you can see, the card is a level 13 card so it should be very powerful. It can do 6 damage and blocks blue. The card's ability is, indeed, very potent. If you do two damage you can play another playable card without restrictions and you will ignore blocking icons from your opponent's deck for the rest of the turn.

I'm blown away by this card. This is the type of deck you engineer an entire deck around. This is a kill-switch.  

Let's look at the wording carefully. The card doesn't say to ignore all blocking icons, just those from your opponent's deck. So cards can still be blocked from your opponent's hand. So this card essentially adds the wording, "This attack cannot be blocked from the deck," to all future attacks played for the rest of your turn. 

To me, this would make managing your opponent's hand a top priority. I would either want my reduce and/or eliminate altogether my opponent's hand or simply make sure he didn't have any relevant blocks. 

The best way to achieve the first goal is with cards that cause your opponent to discard cards or, quite simply, are just too good to not block. 

The best way to achieve the second goal is to build a mostly-mono purple deck. After all, if you had a purple block in your hand wouldn't you block this sucker to begin with? 

Fortunately, this isn't an either-or proposition - you can do both at once! Cards such as Sudden Amnesia and Brain Drain are purple X-Men cards AND cause your opponent to discard! Sweet Dreams, another new card, is also a purple X-Men card but this one causes your opponent to discard THREE cards! Throw in Doctor Strange's Erase Your Destiny, which discards your opponent's entire hand, and you would be almost assured that your opponent would have no cards in his hand when Critical Phase was played or would, at the very least, not have any purple blocks in his hand. 

Once you've successfully played The Critical Phase (and the only thing that could top you at that point would be a lucky block) you could literally play any card you wanted unrestricted. I would, once again, see two options at this point. 

The first would be just to play a huge damage card. Since you know the power is at least 13 to be able to play the Critical Phase you could play almost any card. Eternal Might does 22 damage and has a power level of 11. A 24-28 damage round would certainly be enough to end almost any game. Thunderbolt might be another great choice - you know it would do at least 13 damage! If you wanted to stick to the X-Men, Fast as Lightning would be a great choice for 13 damage. 

The other option would be to chain. If you've completely eliminated your opponent's hand, you could chain your entire hand (up to 8 other cards) for an absolutely astronomical amount of damage, theoretically ending any game instantly. Eternal Sorcery does 11 damage and allows you to play another card (ANY card). The possibilities are endless!

Sure, there are some powerful level 13 cards in the game but The Critical Phase is truly a game breaker. 

My strategy with the card would be to wait patiently and play no cards except those that cause my opponent to discard cards, focused primarily on the purple cards mentioned above. Block as necessary to let the power level escalate.  Then I'd whack them with The Critical Phase, followed up with either Fast as Lightning or the purple card Grand Slam that does 12 damage.

Marvel Super Hero Squad: Hidden Power Source Loot Card

1LR is introducing some of the all-new cards now available in the Hero's Destiny expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG
Hero's Destiny Loot Card:
Black Panther's Hidden Power Source

Let's start with the biggest daddy of them all: The loot card. There's only one in a box. The one I got in my box is Black Panther's Hidden Power Source. I found it on the left hand size of the box, five packs from the bottom. I wonder where other loot cards have been found?

As you can see, this card is a super rare purple card with a red block. It's level 5 and can do up to 7 damage. It's an Avengers card. There is only one other card in the game that is a level 5 purple card that does 7 damage - Psyloche's X-Men card, Focused Totality, but that card is a tech block so Hidden Power Source is unique unto itself.

As a straight damage card, this card is certainly versatile. I could see it working very well in Avengers decks. As a Black Panther card I could certainly see it filling a void but perhaps with limited usability. Sure, Black Panther picked up another purple-grey card with Lay Down the Law in this set but generally Black Panther cards are red or grey and frequently combined with Storm's blue or orange cards. So being purple would make it stand out a bit.

Having a red block is its more valuable asset and I could see it being included in a Storm/Black Panther deck for that reason alone. The only other Black Panther cards with a red blocking icon are Ta Da! and Lay Down the Law.

A Power Surge in action.

As far as the "loot," you get a pack of 50 Power Surges (not sure why "power" isn't capitalized in the name on the card - probably an error). This is a unique item, like the Winter Globe from the Foundation set. It's effect is quite large and impressive. It expresses differently than what is pictured on the card but that's fine (the card actually looks more like a Plasma Orb).

While this card won't revolutionize anyone's deck, it could fill in a blocking gap for some decks. It's a shame they'll be so hard to come by.

Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG: Hero's Destiny Has Arrived!

Marvel SHS: Hero's Destiny Box!

Foundation
(Set One)

The hotly anticipated first expansion to the Marvel Super Hero Squad Trading Card Game, Hero's Destiny, has arrived!

Hero's Destiny
(Set Two)

I eagerly unwrapped the cellophane off of the box. Right away, you'll notice that the logo for the Super Hero Squad has changed on the box, the booster packs and (most worrysome) the cards themselves. Where it once said "Online" it now says "TCB." "What's the big deal?" you might ask. Well, examine the two card backs at the right. Very similar, but that minor difference would clearly give both you and your opponent some information about each card. Your opponent not only sees the back of the card on top of your deck but also that of the cards in your hand. To very skilled players, this would be a huge advantage in-game. So this fact now forces you to use card covers if you wish to use cards from both sets. Upper Deck isn't off to a good start with me already.

The booster packs themselves bear the colorful images of Daredevil and Warmachine. The heroes seem to have been chosen at random (except the art for both heroes comes from cards in this set), unlike Foundation, which used the Avengers VS X-Men theme. There are no starter decks available for this expansion.

I carefully started opening packs. Right away, I noticed a few things.

A super rare card
with the new formatting

First, the super-rare cards have really changed their look. They really stand out from the other cards now. They have a white border and a uniquely stylized blocking symbol. The blocking symbol has the black background replaced with a shiny foil (silver) one. The white border may make it seem as if the blocking symbol is larger and tilted at a different angle but it isn't - it has the same size, shape, and orientation as a common card. These changes, while they appear to be minor and superficial, make a huge difference aesthetically. In a large stack of cards you can pick out the super rares almost instantly just by thumbing through quickly. The white border really makes use of the rainbow foil effect and the blocking symbol jumps out when set on the foil background.

Secondly, the rare cards are packaged facing the opposite way of the rest of the cards in a booster pack. Super rare cards are not packaged this way - they're facing forward. I have no idea why it would be this way but that's the way it is. These two pictures were taken of the cards fresh out of two booster packs:

See the super rare card (forth in from the right)? It's facing the same way as the other cards.

See the rare card (forth in from the right)? It's the card that's upside-down - you can see the back of the card.
This is the way they all come in the packs!

Finally, while a large number of the cards you love from the online game have made their way into this expansion, there are a large number of cards that do not yet have a counterpart in the online game. Some of these cards are from the upcoming "Dark Justice" online expansion that hasn't been released yet, some are from soon-to-be available card quests, but others have no revealed plans for online introduction.

These new cards are the most exciting thing about this game and I can't wait to try them out. Over the upcoming days, 1LR will be highlighting these new cards so keep checking back!!