Ser Hedginald: Weaponised Hamster

Welcome to the Champions Pet Store: 'Where Everyone Is a Champion, Including You!'

We have many wonderful selections to choose from, but might I suggest this cute little guy? He's a mean green cleaning machine! Super cuddly and adorable, he'll also clear out any pests that are trying to invade your home or engaged area.

Care Tips

First of all, remember to keep your Nova healthy. If you do, you can build for some great turns with cards like Dauntless. That's why every Nova who finds a home comes with its own special care package to do exactly that:

• Preservation
• Med Team
• Endurance

Nova Behaviour

Nova has a lot of special skills as well. "Go for Champions!" is a defensive stance for him and your other pets: Moon Girl, Ms. Marvel, Pinpoint, and Vivian. If you get particularly overwhelmed, and this is not available, Height Advantage is a decent backup.

He's really scrappy too! With cards like Preemptive Strike and Side Step, he can maneuver around any pest attacks. These, along with Dauntless, Electrostatic Armor, Energy Barrier, and Flow Like Water, he can damage them before they can damage him.

Training Tips

There are a lot of cards here with very specific interactions. Nova can shift and flow wherever he's needed, but you should take care as the owner to direct him in the most efficient way. Keep in mind the following:

• Dauntless only works if Nova has 10 or more hitpoints. Endurance gives you a buffer, and you have Preservation and Med Team to keep you topped off. If you are particularly worried, you can include a visit to the The Night Nurse as well. Also keep in mind that he does not have to be defending. It is invaluable on "Go for Champions!" turns as he's completely immune to damage and can absorb many hits with impunity. Height Advantage can help with this as well, in tandem with other cards like Energy Barrier and Side Step.
• "Go for Champions!" is an amazing card, but you have to take care when using it. Remember that all of your allies gain the benefit as well and help defend for yourself or for other players at the table. It cannot be recurred with Ms. Marvel's ability, as taking damage is part of the cost, and GFC! prevents all damage. Also keep in mind that you cannot play cards like Side Step or use Energy Barrier, since you are not actually taking damage. However, GFC! can give you a well-needed reprieve to preserve these resources for later. It's also a great way to trigger multiple defenses for cards like Dauntless, Electrostatic Armor, Flow Like Water, and Unflappable with Preemptive Strike. Since Preemptive Strike declares you as the defender, you can jump in front of any attack from the villain without having to exhaust to defend and deal damage back to the villain for each of the above cards you have in play and the number of boost icons.
• Height Advantage seems like it might make more sense as Armored Vest, but there are some key differences here. First of all, it works whether you are defending or not. In general, you don't want to necessarily defend often, unless you have multiple cards to play during the villain phase with your helmet, but you will often get much more value out of it during the hero phase. You should only really be defending on turns where you have Unleash Nova Force active. While this is active, cards like "Go for Champions!" and Height Advantage can help mitigate some damage to preserve Energy Barrier counters and trigger Dauntless and/or Electrostatic Armor and Unflappable.
• Pinpoint can shuffle some key pieces back into your deck for later. Any allies, Med Team, Energy Barrier, and Height Advantage are the best targets. He doesn't need to damage himself to use this ability. so just let him stay on the board to recur your most valuable setup pieces.
• Ms. Marvel can return your best events to your hand. Remember that she can't return "Go for Champions!", but she can return cards like Forcefield Projection, Preemptive Strike, Side Step, and of course Unleash Nova Force. Ideally, you want to recur Side Step and Unleash Nova Force often, as the former can keep you healthy and triggers Dauntless, Electrostatic Armor, and Flow Like Water. Any remaining damage can be prevented with Energy Barrier; best for turns where there aren't a lot of enemies around. Unleash Nova Force is great for big turns where you can roll around from enemy to enemy, reflecting tons of damage back at everything, and just drawing a ton of cards to really put the game in your favor.
• Unleash Nova Force is one of the best cards in any hero kit. Keep in mind that the effect lasts until the end of the round, so during the villain phase, you can keep defeating enemies with things like Side Step, Dauntless, Electrostatic Armor, Energy Barrier, and Flow Like Water, ready yourself, draw a card, draw a card from Unflappable and get another chance to defend, trigger some more things again, and ready your helmet. Repeat as needed (except Unflappable, which is once per round).

Customization Packages

We offer many personalized packages for whatever your Nova needs. If any of the above options don't fit your fancy, try:

Ironheart, Spider-Man, Snowguard, or Starhawk (remember to pick up Team-Building Exercise for a 20-33% off discount!)

If you feel you need stun, Never Back Down triggers easily for Nova, even with a native DEF of 2 and no boosting cards. It can easily replace Preemptive Strike. For some thwarting options, try Jump Flip; you can even add Hard to Ignore. These two could help you on Unleash Nova Force turns if you can remove all threat from the main scheme.