What were those promo mats exactly? I do consider the two large (26x26) mats already released as 'generic'...

I know I had to come here and see what I did read wrong. I played my first game against Kang yesterday and I thought that Kang III was a real, real bad meanie. I was unable to beat him, although I sort of breezed through the previous stages. I kept drawing Time Portals and badly timed Rampage side schemes that buried me with obligations. I had to divide my best effort between them and the main scheme, until I lost in the truest Marvel Champions way ever: drew an Advance at the worst time possible. 😂 Anyway what I haven't told yet is that I also had 2 Kang's Dominion on the table. I had no time nor resource for them, which means that I never even managed a single damage on Kang III. My mistake was that for each Kang II that I actually beat (I played two-handed), I also added the Kang's Dominion side scheme as instructed... when the stage would have been completed. But they weren't. That's when Kang II wins. 🤦‍♂️

For me the mat is now an essential part of the experience. When I unroll one after a hiatus, just the smell brings me joy. 😄 Beyond that, I think it makes a card game more boardgame-like in the sense that I get a clearly defined gaming area with a thematic backdrop. When I play with a generic, solid-color mat I get less of that but I continue to enjoy the feel of the surface and the ease with manipulating cards on the table. All that being said, I have never believed Marvel Champions is especially well suited to single-player, hero-specific 14x24 mats. I say that only because of the involved money and the resulting quantity of neoprene you have to find storage for, but I do respect all of you who want to buy everything. I just think Champions decks are too ephemeral for them. For this reason, I prefer the larger 26x26 mats, especially when I play solo. Such size is perfect.

This is such a good idea, it hurts. 😂

The theory is convincing, I know that. I'm just not sold on the reliability of it. Things happen in the course of a game, obviously, and the choice between reacting and building is made much worse by a low hand size and no reliable card draw engine to come with it (including the draw 1/discard 1 on the alter-ego, which is disappointing for genius scientist when you compare it with, say, Captain Marvel). Protection is _a lot_ about building your board, and cards like Counterpunch (which I otherwise love) cripple your choices even more when your turn starts. Basically if you don't have Unstoppable Force you will likely face tough choices a lot of the times. Not saying you can't pull it all off. I just don't think it can be _reliable_. Sure Hulk is Hulk, but then in this case I'd rather play the tank in Aggression instead.

Taking a quick peek around here after putting away the game for the last several months, I'm glad to see discussions remain the same. 😂 I've just ordered Kang, Ant-Man and the Hulk. Personally, I don't think I will play Hulk much. I've been a little disappointed in how he turned out after watching some videos. I thought he might be the quintessential tank-style Protection hero (as opposed, say, to the more elusive style with Spiderman), but I don't know that it's feasible right now. I think Groot will earn that title more easily. We all have those, and I can't figure out why either. In my case, it's Iron Man who has earned my complete and somewhat unexplainable disinterest.

Currently deckbuilding before starting the Innsmouth campaign. Would blessed/cursed tokens be considered as symbols for the purpose of this card?