Black Panther

Black Panther is an ally that is either too expensive, or suffers too much consequential damage: 4 ER (5 minus 1, the Event you tutor from the discard pile) for either 2 damage and a chump block, or 4 damage, is just a horrible ratio.

The only cost-effective use I can see for this ally is to play him with Sneak Attack, use his ability to tutor either a Go Down Swinging or a Save the Day card from your discard pile, make Black Panther attack or thwart, then use the very same card you've attached to him to discard Black Panther to deal 4 damage (with Go Down Swinging) or remove 4 threat (with Save the Day), since he would've been discarded anyway with Sneak Attack. Damage-wise, such a combo would deal 6 damage (2 for Black Panther's ATK, 4 for Go Down Swinging) for 3 ER (1 ER for himself, 2 ER for Sneak Attack; we do not count Go Down Swinging since it's tutored from your discard pile, as explained above). 2 damage for 1 ER is good, but it's a very clunky combo which requires your deck to be built around it, with lots of cards required just at the right time or in the right place... and you're also wasting a block. Just not worth it.

I simply house-rule him with 1 less consequential damage for both ATK and THW. Otherwise, I don't see any reason to include Black Panther in any of your decks, especially with so many better options out there (especially in Leadership).

Michebugio · 13
Spider-Tracer

Now that so many heroes have come out, I find it even more baffling that this is the only threat removal card in Spider-Man's deck. The threat/ER ratio is 1.5, which would have been good... if only it weren't conditional. The immediate comparison is Chase Them Down, which offers a hefty threat/ER ratio of 2 basically at the same conditions (of course there are hidden factors, like the fact that Spider-Tracer is an attachment so it offers more flexibility, but still I don't think it's worth the lower ratio).

All in all, I think this card is quite mediocre and depends too much on the presence of minions. What's even worse is that this card alone makes Spider-Man almost unplayable in Solo with aspects other than Justice, unless against minion-heavy encounter decks, which is honestly quite a shame.

I tend to house-rule that this card is still an upgrade but it doesn't need to be attached to a minion. Instead, the text reads as "Action: Discard this card --> remove 2 threat from a scheme." I find it much more enjoyable and flexible, and it makes Spider-Man more playable with different aspects.

Michebugio · 13
Hulk

The more I play Drax, the more convinced I become that he is exactly as Hulk should have been.

Imagine Hulk having ATK 2, DEF 2, THW 0, 14 hit points, and no drawbacks. Every time the villain attacks him, he gains 1 Enraged counter, up to a maximum of 3 (if he can't, he draws 1 card, just like Drax). For each Enraged counter, Hulk gains +1 ATK. When he shifts to Banner form, he heals 2 hit points for each Enraged counter and then discards them. Banner has a hand size of 6 instead of 5.

Now that would sound much more like Hulk, wouldn't it?

Then it's easy. Drax's Knife Leap becomes Hulk Smash. Intimidation becomes Sub-Orbital Leap. Make Thunderclap stun and confuse enemies instead of damaging them. Give Hulk some means to draw additional cards, like DWI Theet Mastery which might as well be his new Unstoppable Force. Give him a card similar to Wolverine's Regenerative Healing (why does everyone always forget about Hulk's healing factor?). You get the picture.

Yes, that's the Hulk I would have loved to see.

Michebugio · 13
Slingshot

If you use this card together with Mulligan, as in using Jessica Drew, you can use the ability part before using Mulligan.

This card is neat because you can also use it in tandem with another Leadership player if they have a field-wide buff ready for their allies. It is cheap recurring thwart or damage because the timing of its return makes you go to hand size + 1

RubberDougie · 18
I've been thinking of this card as a leadership answer to disguise, as it is an action you do not need to flip up to play it. I really want to build a leadership black widow deck around it. — trewiltrewil · 1
Morale Boost

This is one of those cards that a bit too many players sit on.

The most obvious target to include this card in a leadership deck is Quicksilver, as he can experience turns in which he has 6 basic actions when only using his kit. Giving him more cards where he can take advantage of when he draws Always Be Running is great for him to be a highly versatile character.

But even heroes like Captain America and Cable who can give themselves multiple basic actions, this can be a great card. Wasp on giant form is always looking for stat boosts when you can combo this with Earth's Mightiest Heroes and hand ally activations over to her with her "no waste" attacks and thwarts.

At the end of the day this card does it's job for heroes with good action economy and provides a less situational way to gain the benefit over it's alternatives like Moxie (and in many of the decks I use this in, I utilize both)

Earth Dragon · 1589