Strap in folks this is going to be a long one.
How to start the affiliation
Getting either core set is the way to go here. I personally prefer the old one for Avengers but the new one is fine too. Both give you the card Avengers Assemble which you’ll play in 100% of your games. Both Steve’s are good leaders and all other characters are useful for the team though the newer set is a bit loaded up on 4 threats. The next purchase should always be Captain America (Sam) and War Machine followed by Hulk. Afterwards Luke Cage and Iron Fist are an ever useful pack. From there you have almost infinite routes you can take. It will also depend on which main leader you choose. Shang-Chi and Silver Sable is probably also always worth grabbing.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical archetype of the affiliation
A day unlike any other is one of the two oldest leaderships in the game but still one of the very best. It just makes everyone in your squad better at what they do. Ideally you want characters with active and reactive superpowers (that cost 2 or more power) in your Steve 1 lists.
If you can stomach his terrible model (no I will never let this die 😅) Steve 3, or Mighty Steve as he’s most commonly referred to, offers a very different style of leadership in Earths Mightiest Heroes where you use it to hit specific attack triggers for either additional damage, control or in the best case, both (like the Throw trigger on Thor, Prince of Asgard).
All new All different is such a strong leadership that it required multiple erratas to be at the state it is now (which is still excellent). It leadership that punishes your opponent for dazing or KOing your models so basically for playing the game because gives a huge benefit to you when it happens.
The forgotten leader. Hulkbusters is an extremely niche leadership that can be decent in the right match up. Asgard and Magneto led Brotherhood who both create a lot of damage through throws will not like it but overall it’s just a minor defensive buff in an affiliation with three strong build around leaderships so it rarely gets ever taken.
With the four available leaders Avengers can be tuned from a Type 1 to a Type 4 but probably feel strongest at 2 especially under Steve 1 and/or Sam. But Pat Dunford (who I sadly didn’t really have a chance to talk to at the event) proved at WTC that Avengers can play a Type 4 pure attrition plan well with his 19 threat Deathball of Steve 1, Cable, Hulk and Shang-Chi. He played the same exact Squad all 6 games and went 5:1 with it. Granted Pat is, at the very least among, the best player(s) in the world but having such a strong squad obviously helps.
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
Team Tactics (4)
Anger Management
D. Damaging your own Hulk is… Not great in the first place but also paying the tax of a TTC for it makes this card pure trash in my opinion.
Avengers Assemble
A++. You’ll never play an Avengers game without this card.
Reserve Members
B. Nice if you have a specific 3 threat splash in mind for it, but not core to the affiliations strength.
Second Wind
B. A decent enough effect that it can usually find a spot in your 10 though not always in your 5.
Characters (38)
Ant-Man (3)
B- (D under Steve 1). Ant-Man is an extremely fast secure specialist that’s a tonne of fun to play. He gains nothing from Steve 1 leadership which is a shame but under Sam specifically he can be a really cool addition to the list. Just be prepared to lose your mind while building him…
Beast (3)
B. Henry is fast, has good control and brings his own rerolls. He can be a bit easy to take down but luckily there’s a leadership available where that isn’t that big of a problem.
Black Panther (4)
A. Original T’Challa still holds up as one of the best overall 4 threats in the game.
Black Panther, Chosen of Bast (3)
C+. While I love his mini I personally haven’t seen Bast Panthers kit come together in any meaningful way. In terms of raw stats he is fine though.
Black Widow (2)
A-. An affiliated 2 threat is always worth considering and Natasha here is a great objective tool.
Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (3)
C+. In Avengers Agent Widow sadly struggles even more for a role than she did in A-Force.
Blade (4)
C-. Blade is a great leader but you can do much better in the affiliated 4 threat slot here.
Cable (5)
A. Good under any leader; an absolute powerhouse under Steve 1.
Captain America (Sam Wilson) (3)
A. Regardless of if he’s leading your squad or not you’d have to have a specific reason to ever not consider running Sam. He’s just a tiny notch behind Zemo, Miles and Black Cat in the run for best overall 3 threats and being affiliated here gives him the edge over all of the three.
Captain America (Steve Rogers) (4)
C+. Classic Steve is kind of a leadership bot. He brings a Bodyguard, an excellent leadership and not that much else to the table. He is quite hard to permanently get off the board so there’s that at least.
Captain America, First Avenger (4)
B-. While you probably wouldn’t run Mighty Steve outside of his own leadership either he is a much more potent damage dealer than his older version. He lacks the Bodyguard though.
Captain Marvel (4)
C. Classic Carol can work out OK in Steve 1 but can’t really fund her kit outside of that leadership.
Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger (5)
C-. I love Cosmic Carol but Steve 1 can’t help her and the other leaderships also don’t give her what she needs (6 power as soon as possible) so she doesn’t feel worth her threat in here. You’re better of playing her in any power generating leadership.
Deadpool (3)
B+. While I absolutely despise Deadpool as a character, in MCP he is very good after his update.
Doctor Voodoo (4)
A-. He’s gotten a heavy (necessary) nerf in the 2023 updates which has had many players removing him from their lists but he’s still a very strong control piece and has to always be in consideration for any Avengers list in my opinion.
Gwenpool (4)
B+. The only character I like less in the comics than Deadpool… But a personal favourite of mine on the tabletop. She is a raw ball of good stats.
Hawkeye (3)
B. Hawkeye has one specific job which is shooting people from range 5. He’s a good back point holder though he won’t survive someone hunting him. He has specifically good synergy with Mighty Steve leadership as he often swims in power without much to spend it on while his builder has a wide range of great conditions it can apply through the Wild trigger.
Hulk (6)
A++. While there might be some arguments about it Hulk is still the best threat for threat character in the game. Having him affiliated means you should take a good look at him at the very least.
Hulkbuster (6)
B-. Hulkbuster is often maligned as a bad character which is not really true. His biggest issue is his weird version of damage reduction and of course not being Hulk. You’ll seldom bring two 6 threats in a list and Hulk is often just better sadly. Like every Tony Stark he brings access to the both excellent TTCs Helios Laser Bombardment and Stark Armory (for which he is the best user)
Invincible Iron Man (4)
B-. While iTony’s kit is decent enough paying 4 threat for a ranged support character isn’t always the best investment.
Iron Fist (3)
B. (D under Steve 1) Danny is a good fighter who brings a unique threat with his Spender that puts an activated token on the target character and access to the excellent Heroes for Hire TTC.
Iron Man (3)
A-. Classic Iron Man is a superb back point sitter with control and very good defenses to live through some chasing against him.
King T‘Challa (5)
A-. King T is an absolute killing machine. Interesting if you want to go down that route.
Luke Cage (3)
A. Luke is a universal splash for his Taunt + Heroes for Hire combined with his very good defensive stats for a 3 threat. In Mighty Steve his offensive output becomes more threatening as his double wild Stagger trigger on the builder becomes much for realistic. He is good under every leader though.
Ms. Marvel (3)
B. Kamala can be a real damage dealer with good control.
Quicksilver (3)
B. A fast objective runner that comes with an (assets only) steal TTC in can I borrow that.
Scarlet Witch (5)
C. Wanda might be fine under Sam who can Airlift her and she can use the leadership to get into better position. Sadly Sam doesn’t usually want to play higher threat models or a fighting game so the synergy isn’t really there.
Shang-Chi (4)
A. Shang is a fantastic overall 4 threat and should always be in consideration when he’s affiliated.
She-Hulk (6)
C-. Jen offers easy dual affiliation potential but otherwise is extremely overshadowed by both Hulkbuster and especially Hulk.
Spider-Woman (4)
B+. Jessica Drew has a lot of home and always offers a lot for them.
Squirrel Girl (4)
B. Squirrel Girl is a good damage dealer that can also neuter an opponent.
The Black Widow (4)
B-. Natasha 3 is a fast objective runner with decent attacks in her own right. Probably mostly loses the fight against core 1 Widow because the 4 threat slot is very stacked while theres only one 2.
Thor, Prince of Asgard (5)
B. A in Mighty Steve. Thor is an underappreciated 5 threat who gets a lot out of either Steve’s leadership but particularly likes Mighty Steve to consistently hit his Throw trigger.
Vision (4)
A. I love Vision and think he should be splashed a lot more than he is.
War Machine (3)
C. If you want to play him take a deep look at OG Iron Man and see if Rhodey offers something Tony doesn’t (aside from a way cooler model).
Wasp (3)
B-. Fast and surprisingly hard hitting.
Winter Soldier, Operative (4)
B-. Bucky 2 is fine but he’s much better in affiliations where he can play Soldat Activated.
Wolverine (4)
B. Wolverine can absolutely shredd your opponent to pieces in some games or daze quickly and not play the objectives right anymore. He likes Mighty Steve leadership the most out of the four on offer though reducing his first superpowers costs the first time each turn is certainly not a bad thing for either.
potential future characters, especially leaders
In terms of leaders Carol Danvers and T’Challa who both led Avengers teams for longer times would be the most likely candidates but AMG promised us no more duplicates in the near future so I don’t think we can expect a new leader for the Avengers soon. As for characters in general we know that Tigra, Ronin and Echo are coming out next year and that at least some of them will be Avengers. I think Tigra ist the safest bet of the bunch. We have also seen Wonder-Man on a TTC so he might be up in the development circles somehow.
Example Roster
Characters (10)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) (4)
- Captain America (Sam Wilson) (3)
Black Widow (2) - Cable (5)
Hulk (6)
Doctor Voodoo (4)
Vision (4)
Shang-Chi (4)
Iron Man (3)
Luke Cage (3)
Team Tactics (10)
Avengers Assemble
Recalibration Matrix
Second Wind
Battle Plan
Bird of Prey
Chi Mastery
Helios Laser Bombardment
Heroes for Hire
Brace for Impact (R)
Patch Up (R)
Secure Crisis
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Mutant Madman Turns City Into Lethal Amusement Park (B, 18)
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate (F, 20)
Extract Crisis
Struggle For The Cube Continues (F, 17)
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Cutting the Avengers down to just 10 is pretty hard and Crisis can change to fit to your liking of course.
Next up will be Black Order.
Cheers from Germany 🍻
