Top 10 Marvel Champions Scenarios

15.04.2024 - 13:29 / boardgamequest.com

Since its release almost five years ago, Marvel Champions has put out a near-constant stream of new content. As of this list, there are a whopping forty-one different scenarios among the core set, campaign expansions, and one-off scenario packs, with another five to be released in the upcoming Age of Apocalypse box. Impressively, almost all these scenarios are good—some are better than others, but I would happily play almost all of them. With so much available content, I thought it would be fun to rank my favorite scenarios in the game, from the core set to the latest campaign release (NeXt Evolution at the time of writing this article).

This list is not only highly subjective but also reflective of how I play Marvel Champions—almost exclusively solo, with a single hero. That means some scenarios I love will be much less fun at higher player counts, whereas some well-liked villains may be missing from the list because I hate them solo. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the delightfully devilish villains on offer…

Honorable Mentions: Ultron (Core Set), Red Skull (Rise of Red Skull), Juggernaut (NeXt Evolution)

Where to Find: Mad Titan’s Shadow
Hela is one of the community’s most-loved villains, and I understand why. Few other scenarios manage to evoke the epic scale that Hela does, with your heroes trekking through Hel itself to rescue the imprisoned ruler of Asgard, and the side schemes you progress through really help sell that. The encounter cards also create some interesting wrinkles, like devastating attachments that only go away if you hit Hela hard enough, and treacheries that get worse the closer you get to winning. The only reason it’s not higher for me is a lack of variety. Using two modular sets helps keep things interesting, but you still must progress through the same sequence of minions and schemes every time, which makes the scenario a bit repetitive.

Where to Find: Galaxy’s Most Wanted
Galaxy’s Most Wanted is easily my least favorite boxed expansion, but I do have a soft spot for Escape the Museum—or as I like to think of it, “the good Collector scenario.” It’s the first scenario in Marvel Champions to have an alternate win condition, and while the balance is a bit wonky, it manages to evoke the smash-and-grab escape theme perfectly. In a way, Escape the Museum feels like the prototype for the Hela scenario; you must thwart through a series of schemes to win, and attacking the villain is only useful for secondary benefits. But, while Escape the Museum may be less well-designed, it’s also looser and wilder in a way that I enjoy more.

Where to Find: Mutant Genesis
Marvel Champions gets some flak for being less thematic than its LCG brethren, but I’ve always found it to be