Rogue Champions - Protection Allies

Marvel’s Champions has grown over the years since its initial release. Each aspect now has a large pool of upgrades to choose from when building your deck. Previously, we’ve reviewed Aggression cards and Justice cards. This week we’ll continue our dive into Protection.

We’ll rate the cards on the following scale.

Rating Scale

Excellent (Good in any deck)
Situationally Great (Good in most decks but very good in certain decks)
Okay (Not a bad choice but not necessarily the best choice either)
Situationally Good (Except in certain deck builds not a great card choice)
Bad (Generally just a bad card choice)

Allies

Black Widow
- Rating: 4. Situationally Good
- I want to like Black Widow but the resource requirement, and her three cost make it hard.
- Can be very handy against certain villains with a few particularly nasty encounter cards.
- She is the first of a group of Protection allies I’m labeling “Perpetual Protectors” since she can come into play and not leave.
Luke Cage
- Rating: 3. Okay
- Toughness on an Ally is handy. Play them and defend while keeping them at full health.
- Luke’s five health is quite solid for a four cost ally. In the end, he could potentially defend your hero three times as is, or defend once and then do eight damage before his final sacrifice. He’ll be around awhile.
- Four cost is still a high price to pay for an ally. His is the start of a trend of Protection of four cost allies that have the potential to stop multiple villain attacks, that I’ve cheekily dubbed the “Fantastic Fours.” Of those, he is the second worst.
Nova
- Rating: 4. Situationally Good
- Four cost allies are tough to recommend. But Nova does have an ability that doesn’t kill himself to use.
- If you’re facing a villain with a lot of 2 health minions, and have a deck with lots of energy resources (Captain Marvel), he can handy for clearing them away. Or just punching the villain every round.
- He is the second “Perpetual Protector.”
Brother Voodoo
- Rating: 4. Situationally Good
- Three cost for three health ally with a double consequential damage isn’t great.
- Being able to search part of your deck for an event card helps bring down his effective cost some. But by the time you’ve paid for him, under most circumstances you’ve spent four cards out of five. That leaves you with one, plus the event you add.
- In decks like Gamora, who thrive on events, he might be handy for those turns you just get an unlucky draw.
Clea
- Rating: 1. Excellent
- Two cost allies are the best. Play, get one use, defend.
- Clea is a step up with her ability, shuffling her back into your deck for another use.
- If you are building a deck that’s striving to get hero only cards out as often as possible, she might interfere being drawn multiple times.
- She falls in with the “Perpetual Protectors” because she can come back frequently.
Iron Fist
- Rating: 2. Situationally Great
- He is the second of the “Fantastic Fours.” Unlike Luke Cage, Iron Fist earns his cost much better.
- For that four cost, you effectively get six damage and block three attacks from the villain.
Multiple Man
- Rating: 3. Okay
- Yet another four cost ally.
- The first time you play him, for four cost, you get three allies in play.
- You have some flexibility with how you use their first activation, thwarting or attacking. The same with defending, you can defend yourself over three rounds or several other heroes on your team.
- Does not work well in an ally heavy deck, as he’ll take up all your ally slots when he comes into play.
Warlock
- Rating: 2. Situationally Great
- Three cost for his stat line isn’t great, but he is a rare example of an ally that can heal and potentially remain in play indefinitely. This fits him in with the “Perpetual Protectors”
- This makes him a great Voltron candidate if you have a Leadership teammate.
- He is neither a Guardian nor an Avenger, limiting his upgrade potential unless you have the Honorary titles.
- He is an excellent candidate for Enraged from an Aggression teammate.
Starhawk
- Rating: 3. Okay
- Two cost allies always have some potential.
- His ability feels like a trap. He is unlikely to ever take exactly his health when defending, which is one of the prime function of allies. But it does qualify him for the “Perpetual Protectors.”
- If you strive to trigger his ability, he is effectively two cost for two damage and one thwart. Not bad but nothing special.
- Has some value against opponents that do indirect damage frequently, as you can give him the precise amount to return him to your hand.
Martyr
- Rating: 2. Situationally Great
- In some ways, she’s a more complicated Tigra.
- She’s another of the “Fantastic Fours.”
- If you maximize her use:
  - Round 1) attack, get tough, defend hero
  - Round 2) do nothing because she’s exhausted
  - Round 3) attack, get tough, defend hero
  - Round 4) defend hero and die
- It takes a long time to get maximum use from her and she’ll do less damage than Iron Fist. But, because her ability is tied to health, if she can be healed or get extra health, she can continue to function, unlike Iron Fist who runs out of counters. This means she could show up in a crossover event with the “Perpetual Protectors.”
Moondragon
- Rating: 4. Situationally Good
- Her ability’s value is directly tied to the villain you’re facing.
- A villain, like Zola, who buffs up his minions and she’ll be fun. Especially if she can have a minion attack another enemy who has retaliate.
- In most cases, she won’t be worth the three cost.
Charlie-27
- Rating: 4. Situationally Good
- Another of the “Fantastic Fours.”
- Retaliate is nice, especially in combination with his Toughness. He can defend, dish out a damage, and take nothing in return.
- Because retaliate does not trigger if you’re killed by the attack, it’s iffy whether he gets to do it again.
- Could work with Dr. Strange or someone else that can hand out Tough status again.
- But he’s still pricey.