S.H.I.E.L.D. Director

I'd argue this is the most important card in Maria's kit. I'll often run Superpower Training just to help make sure I can get this down on the board. It's mostly the fuel that keeps her Helicarrier engine running, but I'll sometimes throw an extra counter on Med Team to help keep Nick Fury topped up (which winds up being another 2 counters) or Support Staff for another wild. Plus you can use it to basically stock up on counters since Maria can move a counter from one support to another each turn. Just overall an invaluable upgrade.

Ever Vigilant

Extremely good card for Protection Thor (who becomes Aerial thanks to Mjolnir), or Spectrum in Gamma form, granting 2 threat removal plus at least 3 damage for 3 ER, an astonishingly good ratio (compare with Hit and Run which only grants 2 damage and 2 threat removal for 4 ER).

Obviously good for Angel as well, who draws a card when playing it, and for Nova, who relies on basic powers to generate resources from his Supernova Helmet, less so for Ironheart who, even if Aerial from the start, has lower basic stats and no particular need of readying herself often.

Many other characters can benefit from this card (Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Wasp, Star-Lord, Vision, War Machine, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Storm, Rogue, Magneto), although none of them is Aerial right from the start like the ones I mentioned above and thus have to rely on cards that make them become so. Personally, I wouldn't include Aerial cards in these characters' decks if I have to rely to a lucky draw, except maybe Iron Man and Magneto who have the means to tutor the cards that make them Aerial.

However, special mentions go to Doctor Strange, who gains Aerial from his Cloak of Levitation and loves to ready himself so he can cast more invocations, and Iceman who gets Aerial with his Ice Slide and loves to use his basic powers to attach more Frostbite to his enemies. If you play these characters with the Protection aspect, Ever Vigilant may be worth including.

Michebugio · 17
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 · 17
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 · 17
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 · 17