Avengers Week: Two For The Show.

In case you haven’t seen it, that bruiser was previewed in the new article on the mothership to inaugurate Avengers week.  It kinda blows my mind how big the beatdown will be if Hulk gets provoked for exactly 10 damage before he swings.  17 to the face? Ouch.  Then imagine, if you will, a way to keep him from being eliminated until your next turn.  Don’t get him hungry, you won’t like him when he’s hungry.

Oh, the other guy that gets to be a Leader character on the Avengers team right off the bat?  That would be Iron Man.  And, with the other killer card just revealed, he can’t be touched.  Scary, thrilling stuff.

Alter Egos: Abomination

Abomination is preparing to bring a savage beatdown to the Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game. For players who favor raw aggression, there will be no sweeter Leader to build a deck around. When it comes to the other roles that his actor has played in cinema history, however, things get very interesting.

Tim Roth is the man inside the myth when it comes to the film version of Abomination. Since we are collecting possible nicknames for future decks based on the additional characters played, let’s roll the dice with spice.

Artists like me remember this one fondly. Abomination was originally the greatest painter of all time. Vincent Van Gogh deck? Yes please.

Reservoir Dogs anyone? Mr. Orange is ready to finish things off in style. Not neccesarily my cup of tea, although I love talking the philosophy of Madonna songs.

This ends our survey, and it will be hard to resist. Pulp Fiction FTW, Honey Bunny deck on the horizon. Thanks Tim Roth, your roles will make some hilarious deck names in our new game.

The Line-up is Set.

The waiting and wondering is over. Our eyes have seen the glory of the full line-up of Leader characters for the inaugural set of the Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game, and it is good. We have a Halle Berry.

Zap! Storm is joining Wolverine and Professor X as the first Leaders of the X-Men team affiliation.

Ouch! Ghost Rider burned a path to the final Marvel Knights spot on the Leader list. Hot times ahead.

How perfect! Mr. Fantastic will be joining his invisible mate as a Leader in the Marvel Premier set, which means that the Avengers will be left with only Hulk and Iron Man to represent.

Wow. The line-up is set, and it is simply magnificent. Here are the final 15 announced Leader characters. Get ready for a cardboard party unlike anything mankind has ever seen:

Avengers: Hulk and Iron Man

Fantastic Four: All four.

Marvel Knights: Blade, Elektra, and Ghost Rider.

X-Men: Professor Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine.

Villains: Abomination, Dr. Doom, and Magneto.

First Two Marvel Premier Leaders Announced.

The beatdown is on. When the Marvel Premier expansion set of Marvel Superstars hits the streets in February, two of its Leader characters will be smashing face big time. We already knew that Wolverine and Iron Man will be battling for control of the Starter Set. Now we are sure about an Avenger and a Villain.

Before we reveal the shocking revelation for the bad guys, let’s check out the official Upper Deck explanation of the Leader mechanic.

Your leader is the Superhero™ identity you assume during a game. Your leader belongs to a team, but that doesn’t restrict who you can challenge in a game. For example, an Avengers leader can challenge another Avengers leader or a leader from any other team.

Each leader has 50 health. If your leader accumulates damage greater than or equal to its health, it’s eliminated and you’re out of the game.

Your leader can attack and intercept enemy characters. Your leader starts with no force (the amount of damage it deals in a fight), but each city you build gives it +1 force on your turn.

Every time you play an action, charge your leader. Charges can be represented by counters or dice.

Each leader has a power that lets you remove a number of its charges for a result. The number is before the (arrow) and the result is after it. You can only use a power on your own turn, and only once per turn.

So you can see how important the Leaders are in the Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game. They will spell the difference between victory and defeat. What monstrous evil will be spearheading one strategy for the Villains team?

It’s an Abomination!

World Championship Material.

One human player will be crowned as the World Champion of the Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game. An entire team of superhuman allies will be responsible for the victory. Who will it be? One can only guess.

It might be a balanced group of abilities tuned to perfection by its cardboard pilot. The Fantastic Four should bring a varied menu of game powers and strategies to satisfy the cerebral among us.

Perhaps, on the other hand, our future Marvel Superstars World Champion might crush the field using sheer savage force with the Hulk and his rival Abomination.

A World Champion needs to keep his or her cool during a challenging gauntlet of opposing teams and strategies. With Pepper Potts by his side, Iron Man may be the perfect candidate for the job.

The Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game World Championship is very far in the future, and it will change an morph many times before it actually arrives. By the time it gets here, the many marvelous mutations of the X-Men legends may emerge as the most viable team in all the land. The years ahead will tell us which of our modern Marvel movie myths will end up on top.

Villains For The Win.

Have you ever wished that just once the bad guys would win? The Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game will make all your nefarious dreams come true.

Many of the Ally, Action, and Area cards that you can choose to build your strategy will be focused on a particular superhero team. The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Marvel Knights, and X-Men are scheduled to battle it out in cardboard combat.

Or, you might choose to be a Villain.

This makes my mind melt into a frenzy of fantastic foes who may appear in Marvel Superstars. Bullseye. Mystique. Galactus. And, maybe, just maybe…

Gamma Dogs.

It is a longshot, but the potential is there. Stranger things have happened. Pretty soon we will be turning crazy characters sideways, and the most maniacal Marvel movie myths will be in our stable. Choose your favorite Villain FTW.

This is all speculation.

In less than one week, the truth about the Marvel Superstars Trading Card Game will be revealed. Until then we wait and wonder.

Will the art include magnificent hip-hop hilarity like that of the Bryan Turner masterpieces displayed above? We do not know yet.

Will the character selection include obscure oddities such as Squirrel Girl and Alpha Flight? We do not know yet.

Will the game mechanics be anything like the games we already know and love? We do not know yet.

Soon the speculation will end. This weekend at GenCon Indianapolis will be a revelation. Marvel Superstars will finally be crystal clear.

Are you ready to “Play Marvel”?

That is the sneak preview poster of a new era in superhero gaming. Upper Deck wants you. To play Marvel. If you want to keep current on the latest, become a Facebook friend today. Slapping spandex around the kitchen table and the tournament hall will never be the same.

Marvel Superstar #3: Hulk.

Fantasy as you like it. Started gray, turned green, currently red. The Hulk is incredible. He is also the consensus third most popular character in our survey.

Everyone gets mad. Other people make us want to make a big fist and crush things to bits. Bruce Banner’s alter ego brings the savage beatdown that we secretly desire.  Hulk Smash!

Marvel Superstar #3 is Hulk.

Marvel Superstar #2: Wolverine.

The early results are in, and it seems that Wolverine has a sizable lead in the popular vote. Barring some sort of miracle comeback by the Hulk, Marvel Superstar #2 will be from Canada.

Why is Wolverine so popular? He is short, he is scruffy, and he is shameless. He does what he wants, and he is not afraid to do it often. Life in civilized society demands rules and laws and social graces. Wolverine doesn’t care about those things.

He also has a built-in lethal weapon, or six. His claws are the envy of every kid in the world. The X-Men team affiliation has been at the forefront of the modern generation of Marvel Comics since the television cartoon series hit the airwaves, and Wolverine has always been their loudest character in the public imagination.

Marvel Superstar #2 is Wolverine.