Gorgon:
injured side art update only
Green Goblin:
8/6 for Norman now. He's now much harder to flip but sometimes that is exactly what you want for him. Likely still mostly only interessting as a leader but maybe decent under Shadowland Daredevil as well.
Groot:
Art update only.
Gwenom:
Hard to put down at 7/8. She's always been good but struggles to find a home. That likely won't change with the update but you don't have to feel bad at all for putting her in your squad if you're so inclined.
B+
Gwenpool:
Miss Pool has gained injured side Stamina and can now drop an objecitive to use her teleport. A small but helpful buff.
B
Hawkeye:
Art Update only
Heimdall, the All-Seeing:
Art Update only
Hela, Queen of Hel:
Hela goes to 7/5. it means she doesn't die as easy on her injured side anymore.
C+
Honey Badger:
The spender gained a die but more importantly Gabby can now hold Extracts making her a far more interesting choice in her affiliated spaces.
B
Hood:
Only gained a point of HP on the injured side.
C+
Hulk:
One of the biggest updates of the entire pack. And it is not good news for Bruce Banner. Hulk Smash now doesn't need a trigger for the throw which is great but also now his only character throw as per superpower he can now only throw terrain. And the biggest nerf is Gamma Leap going up to a very pricey 4 power. So he can't guarantee it anymore. I don't think Hulk is bad now but definitely worse. He also got Peerless, limiting his use cases.
B
Hulkbuster:
Maybe the one to argue with Hulk over the biggest impact of changes. First of all for the first time ever we have lost a leadership in the game (Iron Man, Avengers Chairman inbound?). I think it was a problem of not having enough space on the card and the leadership deemed the most cutable part of his kit. Built to Take It is now absolutely amazing basically giving him Indomitable on his card while Hulk-Scale Armor now gives him innate Damage Reduction. And Tiny Tony has gotten a little bit better with innate rerolls on dodge and against Physical and Energy attacks.
A
Iceman:
A character whose kit I already quite liked and he's a lot tougher now gain health on both sides of his card.
B
Invincible Iron Man:
A character I've never seen dazed and especially not KOed before and now he's 7/7. His offensive impact has always been his limiting factor and this hasn't helped him. He's seen some uptick again as SHIELD leader and that's probably still his best home and role.
B
Iron Fist:
A character with a cult following and a very unique tool in your belt. You always kind of wanted him to be flipped during the game to activate the Iron Fist (and getting dazed being the way to afford it), so it's less feels bad that he only gained a Stamina on his back.
B
Iron Lad:
No more rapid fire size 2 terrain throws. Yeah I don't think anyone has ever actually done it and it seemed clear it was a typo but now we have confirmation. Iron Lad will become interesting when we have the Young Avengers in the game. Until then he's good but not unique enough to Splash most of the time.
B
Iron Man:
A point of Stamina on the injured side. He's boring but fine still.
B
Iron Monger:
I can't detect any changes
Jean Grey:
7/8 now but her kit was too specific before and hasn't changed so I don't expect to see a lot more of her anyway.
C+
Juggernaut:
Art update and new style card
Kang, the Conquerer:
More Stamina on the front side and a cost reduction for the Throw are good news for Mister Richards. He is so much fun to play and quite good now.
A-
Karnak:
I can't detect any changes
Killmonger:
7/7 Stamina for a total of 3 more make him much better now and able to longer access his strong kit.
B+
Killmonger, Usurper:
Also 7/7 Stamina, a Range Increase for his Untamed Force and it can now be the Gainer as well, which now always allows no defensive modifications. The leadership is also made clearer and dazed models no longer remove the Herb token. Overall much improved and finally a decent 4 threat option for Wakanda.
B
King Black Bolt:
Peerless added. I'm not sure he needed that, but of course with many other 6+ threats gaining it he probably would've been the next one to facilitate the Super Tall play style.
A-
King T'Challa:
My current main leader and an absolute menace before so I was quite nervous with how hard he'd be hit. Absolutely fairly is what I can say after having just finished a game with him. It's now more often a choice to use Panthers Fury and not just always default to Bound - Vibranium Spear (but you still do that a whole lot of course). And he still swims in power even if Defender of Wakanda has been tuned down a tiny bit. Peerless makes him less splashable maybe but I don't think it will be a huge issue anyway.
A
Kingpin:
Wilson Fisk has seen a couple of minor nerfs to his leadership (Grunts no longer count for it and it's only Secure Objectives, which doesn't really make a difference in actual game play since Researcher has been out of the rotation for a long time) and a big one to his Spender where the throw is now limited to size 3 instead of unlimited. He is still great.
A-
Klaw:
Has gained a point of Stamina on the front side. What he needs is mobility that he only gains from his leadership. It's sad that he doesn't really function without it because he's such a great miniature and has a whole bunch of cool abilities but he is too easily counter played.
C+
Kraven the Hunter:
With the (justified) nerfs to Baron Zemo Kraven has become a much more interesting option for a 3 threat killer already and going to 6/6 makes that even more true. An absolute staple in Spider-Foes, Kraven should see more play as a splash now.
A-
Lady Mastermind:
A fun model with cool abilities that hasn't ever really found a home yet. I liked her in Strucker Hydra personally and going to a meaty 7/7 might make her more enticing for more people.
B-
Lady Sif:
She has always been excellent: mobile, strong attacks with displacement and very tanky. She only gained a point of Stamina on the injured side but that keeps her on the table a little bit longer.
A-
Lizard:
Art update only
Lockjaw:
Increased to 6/6. Lockjaw is there for a single job of teleporting someone up early and then stay back. He's barely ever flipped but when he is he lives a little longer now.
C+
Logan, the Wolverine:
Logan goes to 6/7. With the big resurgence of Storm X-Men he's already seen a Renaissance as well and this makes him a little bit better than he was.
B+
Loki, God of Mischief:
Loki 1 was always way under the curve on Stamina for a 4 threat (that can even be turned into a 5) with low end 3 threat stats of 5/5. He kind of stays that way with 6/6 now but that does make a big difference. He's always been really good if he didn't get one shot and that is now much harder to do.
B+
Loki, Prince of Lies:
I can't detect any changes
Luke Cage:
Just updated to the new format
Magik:
Gained another point of Stamina to be 6/6 now. She is a staple in Servants of the Apocalypse, Professor X X-Men and obviously New Mutants. Also interesting in Convocation so all those spaces like this a lot.
B+
Magneto:
Maybe the most important update of the bunch. Magneto seems great now. They replaced his old Spender with Magnetic Crush (like it was always planned but it didn't fit on his original card...), gave him better Physical and Energy defense (at the cost of being able to use Mystic for Power), gave him Indom on his card and his throw is now a fixed 2 Power. So less Rapid Fire Size 1s (not that that was actually ever a thing), but more easy access to bigger pieces which translates to more power for the team under his leadership. An added Immunity to Shick also means Max will always hit with full strength. And while his glow up is big, he did also get Peerless making him not really a desirable piece in Cabal, his other affiliated home.
A
Malekith:
Peerless added. No double Kaiju lists in Cabal.
B
Man-Thing:
I can't detect any changes
Maverick:
Maverick was already a good character and the increase to 6/6 makes him better but his biggest weakness is only being affiliated with Weapon X. He's going to be a staple there and mostly forgotten by the rest of the world.
B+
Maximus, the Mad:
Going up to a chunky 7/7 makes an already decent character quite good. You absolutely don't want him to have Power because is awesome when he can found his kit.
B+
M'Baku:
8/7 Stamina. I can tell you that didn't help against Dormammu yesterday but overall he's now even harder to get off the board and if he is powered up your opponent will feel his wrath.
B
Medusa:
The Queen of the Inhumans got elevated to 7/7 making her stronger again. She had been fallen out of Inhumans lists in their hayday last year but has started to come back and even led the factions to some wins. I think she'll be a key piece for them again.
A-
Mephisto:
You can't read any names for his abilities on the card anymore... Apperantly he has had Peerless added to him which is a bit of a shame and not really necessary in my opinion.
B
Mister Sinister:
The Beam is now a Gainer! That is a huge improvement and makes the loss of the Strike not matter at all. Overall Sinister got a big overhaul without really changing his play pattern. It just works much better now (I think). I think he'll be really good in all his many affiliated homes now.
A
MODOK:
He has gained a point of Stamina on the injured side. He is still mostly a nothing character on his backside. Fun but not great.
C+
MODOK, Scientist Supreme:
4 threat George has gained two points of Stamina and his on card Sacrifice already made him quite hard to put down. Likely still only used as a leader but decent for that.
B-
Moon Knight:
I've always liked Moon Knight in MCP (even though his best play pattern of throwing moons out of Stealth range isn't a good representation of the character in the comics) and added Stamina on both sides makes it a bit more feasible for him to get into a fight.
B-
Moondragon:
I can't detect any changes
Ms. Marvel:
A character I was very disappointed to not change more than gaining a couple HP. She's always been solid the way she is and is now a bit better of course but I just don't like that you only get to use her much better Embiggend model for only a couple of seconds per game.
B
Mysterio:
Finally! Mysterio can take part in round 1 now with an M movement and can reposition later in the game if absolutely necessary. He's always been fantastic when you could get him to where he needed to be and that just became a whole lot easier.
B+
Mystique:
A character I never really warmed up to even in my Brotherhood run where I played her for 10 games. She just doesn't have a good way to spend power for my taste. She is now even tougher with 6/6 and with her Stealth and Martial Artist she is going to be an even bigger pain to get off the table. Great objective runner.
B
Namor:
Why AMG? Why not kill the double bubble? Sure it is harder now when it is only 4 threat Zemo but you could've just renamed it Strategic Genius on Namors card and the world would've been a much better place...
A
Nebula:
New style card only
Nick Fury Jr. :
No additional changes since Ministravaganza 25
Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos:
These guys could see a resurgence at 6/6. They've fallen behind the meta and the SHIELD alternatives but are now probably worth another look.
B
Nightcrawler:
Everyone's favorite German Mutant goes up to 7/7 making up for the (justified) Ministravaganza 25 nerf. He's always been good in the right situations (mainly Xavier X-Men) and this could make him more interesting as a splash again.
B+
N'kantu, the Living Mummy:
I can't detect any changes
Nova:
The objectively best character in Marvel has gotten up to 7/8 (from 7/7). It's not a huge improvement but Nova with a Big Dumb Hero token was already disgustingly good and now he stays on the board a tiny bit longer. The larger community has finally come around to what I've always been saying: he's a fantastic 5 threat in Guardians, though maybe not the most splashable character.
A-
Okoye:
New style card only
Omega Red:
M movement for one of the coolest sculpts in the game. Other than that the wording of his Spender got cleaned up and the rest stayed the same. Which is fine as his kit was always pretty good with Ensnare being the obvious best part (as it is sizeless displacement and not limited to once per turn). It was always a problem of him not being able to participate in the game when he was moving S.
B
Phoenix:
More health was not needed for Phoenix, when she dies through Phoenix tokens anyway. Peerless is the last nail in the coffin for her. Sad as the miniature is fantastic.
D
Professor X:
Charles goes to 7/7 and thus won't be as much of a liability anymore. But he remains one of the most frustrating to play characters in the game (fitting for how he acts in the comics). His leadership is absolutely amazing but he himself will never actually do anything useful when you need him to.
B
Prowler:
Living under the shadow of his ultimate nephew Prowler was already great on release and is now even better.
A-
Proxima Midnight:
A point of Stamina on the front side and a die on the Spender. It isn't much but not nothing either and Proxima has always been a solid, if kind of forgotten, 3 threat.
B+
Psylocke:
Betty gains another point of Stamina, this time on the front. She's a fantastic 4 threat killer and should probably see more play as a Splash.
A-
Punisher:
The 0 cost Warzone is sadly an error. He only got a Stamina buff. His problem remains the same it's always been: he is barely affiliated anywhere and the Defenders leaders don't really look for what he is doing. So you have to justify him as a splash and what he does is not really specific enough for that.
C+
Pyro:
Bane of the Kaiju meta of ages long gone Pyro got more health on both sides, a power increase on Firewall and a power decrease on Stoke the Flames. Which overall makes him a bit more offensive and a bit less controlly. He's still very good overall.
A-
Quasar:
I can't detect any changes
Quicksilver:
He can now choose to drop an objective to use Speedster. Which is just better than to not have the option at all. He also got upped to 6/6.
B-
Red Guardian:
He gained a point of Stamina on the front side and Siberian Shield Slam got down to 2 Power but only 5 dice. What you pay for is the guaranteed Size 3 character throw though which now triggers before damage is dealt. Not very likely to be splashed nowadays but still the absolute staple number 1 model in Winter Guard.
B
Red Skull:
Amazingly Red Skull got to keep his sizeless displacement on both his Builder and Spender. More importantly though Cosmic Blast got reduced to 0 Power and Cosmic Cube got the Clea update of dealing a flat 2 damage to him when he rolls any number of skulls in the role. It is statistically worse now but has taken out the potential for a real big feels bad. He's also up to 7/7. You'll only ever see him as a leader but could do so a little more often again.
B
Red Skull, Master of the World:
Got a point of Stamina on the front. Still very good as a leader and an interesting splash in a lot of places.
A-
That's it for part 2. Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4 in the coming days.
Cheers from Germany 🍻
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