The Marvel Crisis Protocol Core Set and character card updates are a move to keep the characters relevant in the expanding game!
Atomic Mass Games has been doing a great job of keeping things interesting and we really like the updates. On their blog, they previewed some of the new character cards (which are printed in the new style) and why they made certain changes.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes and what to expect with the core set that are rumored to be rolling out in November.
Welcome to the first in a series of articles that will be exploring some of the character changes that will be coming to Marvel: Crisis Protocol later this year.
Marvel Crisis Protocol Core Set & Character Card Updates
When they changed the stat cards across the board to the new style, it gave them the time to look at some of the older cards and decide what needed to be changed. Since the game has been running for a while now, they have a better feel of how to make characters.
They mentioned in-stream that all the characters up to X-Men in 2020 could be getting an update. So we expect all the changes to be good. Let’s hear a little from them about the changes to Cap:
We realized that he was slightly underperforming for his 4-threat value compared to others in his weight class. While he has always boasted one of the most powerful Leadership abilities in the game, Steve Rogers was always meant to be much more than just a leadership. Moving his displacement abilities to allow him to deal with characters at Size 3 instead of Size 2 not only gives him more scenario play, it also dramatically increases the danger presented by his Shield Slam attack, especially given its low cost of 2 Power.
They also added a lot of flat power to all his abilities, to really show how good he is when it comes to his shield.
Iron Man Changes
You’ll see that in this case we only adjusted one number. Friday AI has gone from 3 Power to 2 Power. This means under Cap’s leadership he can start blasting with Friday AI on Round 1, and even outside of Steve’s leadership it doesn’t take nearly as much for Iron Man to get to the point where he can double tap with Friday AI every activation
Iron Man only received one change, but the reduction does make it much easier to spam.
Captain Marvel Changes
Once again, a simple number tweak bringing Binary Form’s cost from 5 to 4 really let Carol Danvers feel like the powerhouse she is meant to be. Under Cap’s leadership or part of She-Hulk’s A-Force, getting into Binary by Round 2 is very easy, and from there keeping it going is well within a player’s grasp depending on the tactical situation.
Again, just some small number tweaking, but it should have a big impact when it comes to her in-game efficacy.
Ultron Changes
The first thing we did was give a stronger reason for players to use Ultron’s strike. At strength 6 and granting 1 power, this attack is no longer just filler. It’s a potent attack and puts Ultron in rare company among his 4 threat “peers.” The next change was to give his Energy Blast Wild Incinerate. Easily one of the best special conditions, Incinerate not only lets Ultron be more effective, it also synergizes really well with Red Skull’s Cabal leadership and the Cabal’s Dark Reign team tactic card by making it that much easier to deal damage to those pesky opposing characters.
They actually made a decent amount of changes here. The biggest one might be a total rework Analyze and Annihilate. Instead of having to activate it, it’s just an innate ability. Re-rolling is always nice, so this adds some power. Then they also tweaked almost all his numbers.
So, you should take him out for a spin and see how the changes feel. Next, let’s look at what’s changing for the Guardians of the Galaxy!
Marvel Crisis Protocol Guardians of the Galaxy Update
Let’s start with the Star-Lord himself! Overall, however, these are all pretty small changes, but they are all good and really bring them to where the game is now.
It’s a new day for the Guardians as Winging It now no longer costs anything, other than a bit of forethought before the Activation Phase begins. Not only can the Guardians now count on benefiting from their Leadership every round, but it also still provides that classic Guardians flexibility as the other 88% of the plan comes together in the middle of the action.
This is a really great change. It improves his flexibility while making his hit and run also adds that flexibility. If Star-Lord is good at anything, it’s being flexible and it’s cool to see them taking it that way.
Gamora Updates
As with the majority of these character rebalances, it only takes a couple of small nudges to net big results. The first thing we identified when looking at Gamora was that her Stamina value of 5/5 made Dazing or KO’ing her with a single decent attack too reliable. By simply increasing her stamina on both sides by 1, the likelihood that she would require more focused effort to neutralize increased significantly.
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This is a good change, as the game has evolved, she was just getting beat on pretty hard. This is a small adjustment that feels like it will actually make her strong again. As she really should be!
Groot Changes
Groot received minor adjustments but, paired with the changes made to Rocket that we will look at next, each had a significant impact on the pair. First, we increased the range of his Strike from 2 to 3. Not only does this better represent his powers as we see them in the comics, it also lets him contribute more to the battle while still hanging a bit back with his companion Rocket. Additionally, with this change, we had to also address the fact that Groot could now much more easily access his healing from Living Plant. So, it was adjusted to be once per turn.
He’ll be hitting a little harder but it looks like they really upped his synergy with Rocket, which makes us happy! However, he’ll only be able to do Living Plant once per turn so that’s a bummer.
Rocket Changes
The first one worth covering is the fact that Personal Bodyguard has gone from a very restrictive Range 1 to a much more dynamic Range 2. Combined with Groot’s increased Strike range, this allows the pair to have much more impact on the battlefield. The second change to Rocket is a whole new superpower called Nimble.
Adding the two ranges together makes the pair much stronger. Especially with them adding Nimble, this stops your opponent from damaging him by throwing Groot into Rocket or Rocket into like… anything else. Plus, this helps his survivability in all terms of the game. Just remember, you can only use Living Tree once per turn, so be careful with Groot.
Valkyrie, Medusa, and Enchantress Updates for MCP
Let’s start with Valkyrie, she has always felt really strong for a 3 threat character. So, while most of the characters have been getting buffs, she’s actually grabbing a nerf. They increased the cost of her throw, which could really add up over the course of a game.
Not only that, but they also made her Dragon Fang harder to trigger. So overall, she’ll probably still be pretty strong, but this does bring her power to a much more balanced state as she can’t just run up and do a throw automatically turn 1 in most rosters.
Medusa is actually one of Rob’s favorite characters to play because if you know how to use her, she is insanely strong. They basically just changed all her abilities to be worse. Some of the biggest changes are making it so you can no longer Spam push with her (which was just annoying to play against) and her Flurry has been given a worse trigger.
We’ll just have to see if she keeps her character feel or if this will totally gut her.
Last but not least is Enchantress. She is getting quite the NERF-hammer here. With Amora’s Kiss turning into an action, that kinda wrecks her utility super hard right off the bat. Then making Siren’s Call once per turn really just changes what she can do overall.
She was another annoying character who could create serious problems in turn one, not so much anymore. Still, she has some strong mechanics, just not quite as OP as before.
Ghost Rider Update: Marvel Crisis Protocol
The first change is a bit of a buff to his health bringing it to 8 now. Then he gains a bunch of Immunities. Getting extra stats is never a bad thing! They said they wanted to buff him up a little so your opponent either had to decide to attack him first or go for the rest of your team.
Nothing huge, just some tweaks overall. Then, probably the biggest change, they removed the range restriction on Spirit of Vengeance which really makes him more flexible with where he can be on the map.
Again, his heath is increased by +1 and he keeps the other two changes from above. Overall some pretty decent buffs but nothing too game-breaking for him.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the change to Spirit of Vengeance really takes him over the top and worthy of the 5 Threat level.
All the Latest News & Releases for Marvel Crisis Protocol
Do you like the new style of cards? Do you like the changes?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
