Clarifications

• an Heroic board/mat when playing a Scheme, enemies will enter the City in the Sewers, and move towards the Bridge.
• a Villainous board/mat when playing a Plot, enemies will enter the City in the Bridge and move towards the Sewers.

• If you have Heroic base sets (original Heroic Set and/or Marvel Studios Phase 1 Set):
  • 8 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents
  • 4 S.H.I.E.L.D. Troopers
• If you have the Villains Set:
  • 8 HYDRA Operatives
  • 4 HYDRA Soldiers
• If you have both Heroic and Villainous base sets, each player can decide if they want a basic or deck.

• 30 Bystanders as Bystander Stack
• If you have Heroic base sets or sets containing special cards of these types:
  • 30 S.H.I.E.L.D. Officers as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Officer Stack
  • 30 Wounds as the Wound Stack
• If you have the base Villains Set or sets containing special cards of these types:
  • 12 Madame Hydra as the Madame Hydra Stack
  • 15 New Recruits as the New Recruit Stack
  • 30 Bindings as the Binding Stack
• If you have the Secret Wars Volume 1 Set or sets containing Special Sidekicks:
  • 15 Sidekicks as the Sidekick Stack
• If some your sets provides special versions of these cards like Special Bystanders, Special S.H.I.E.L.D. Officers, Grievous Wounds, Special Sidekicks, add them to the appropriate stack, shuffle them, and put them face down instead.
• The number of cards in the stacks may vary when you add special cards but should be considered as a minimum for the stack when possible.

• Add 5 Mastermind/Commander Strike cards to the Villain/Adversary Deck.
• Now add Villain/Adversary Groups to the Villain/Adversary Deck. A Villain/Adversary Group is a group of 8 Villain/Adversary cards that work together. Each Villain/Adversary card lists its Villain/Adversary Group under its card name. The more players you have in the game, the more Villain/Adversary Groups you use, as shown in this table:

• To Add Villain/Adversary Groups:
  • Each Mastermind/Commander card says that the Mastermind/Commander “Always Leads” a particular Villain/Adversary Group or Henchman/Backup Group. Be sure to include that group as one of the groups you add to the Villain/Adversary Deck. (unless you are playing Solo Mode)
  • Pick the other Villain/Adversary Groups at random.
  • or each Villain/Adversary Group you pick, add all 8 Villain/Adversary cards from that Villain/Adversary Group to the deck.
• To Add Henchman Groups:
  • Pick that many Henchmen/Backup Groups at random. Henchmen/Backups are weaker Villains/Adversaries where each group has 10 identical cards. Add those cards to the Villain Deck.
• To Add Bystanders:
  • Check the table to see how many Bystander cards to add to the Villain/Adversary Deck from the Bystander Stack. Leave the rest in the Bystander Stack.

• Pick 5 Heroes/Allies at random. For each of those Heroes/Allies, add all 14 cards for that Hero/Ally to the Hero/Ally Deck. That’s 70 cards total.
• If you are playing with 5 players, add a 6^th Hero/Ally.

• Team Icon — The icon in the top left corner. (Unless the Hero/Ally is unaffiliated)
• Hero/Ally Class Icon(s) and Card Color(s) — Below the Team icon. Card color(s) are dependent of Hero/Ally Classes.
• cardName — The top line of text.
• Hero/Ally Name — The second line of text at the top.
• Recruit Points — Inside the icon. Use these to recruit more Heroes/Allies. Not all Heroes/Allies have .
• Attack Points — Inside the icon. Use this to defeat Villains/Adversaries. ]Not all Heroes/Allies have .
• Special ability — Text in the bottom white section of the card.
• Cost — Inside the icon. How many it costs to add this Hero/Ally to your deck.

• Play each card in your hand in any order, one at a time.
• Each time you play a card, do what that card says.
• You also get any Recruit Points listed in the icon on the card.
• You also get any Attack listed in the icon on the card.
• Some cards have a number like “2+” inside their icon. The “2” means that you always get at least 2 from that card. The "+" symbol means that you might get even more based on what the card says in its special ability.
• Keep the cards you play in front of you until the end of your turn.

• At the end of your turn, put all the cards you played this turn into your Discard Pile.
• Also discard any cards in your hand that you didn’t play this turn. (You don’t have to play all the cards from your hand if you don’t want to.)
• Then draw 6 new cards from your deck. If you don’t have any cards left in your deck and you still need to draw more cards, shuffle your Discard Pile to form a new face-down deck. Then draw the rest of the cards you need.
• Don’t shuffle your Discard Pile into a new deck until your deck has completely run out and you still need to draw or reveal more cards.

This represents twisted genetic experiments of scientists or horrific, unpredictable, and even monstruous Inhuman Villains/Adversaries.

This means "This Villain/Adversary gets + equal to the printed of the Hero/Ally in the HQ/Lair space under this Villain/Adversary's City space."

• An Abomination Villain/Adversary's can go up and down as the Villain/Adversary moves through the City.
• You can recruit a/an Hero/Ally under an Abomination to try to reduce its ... but you might also increase it!
• Some "Divided Cards" have two printed numbers, one on each side. If you need to know that card's "printed ." add both those numbers together.

This represents Some Villains/Adversaries are cruel demons that move themselves and others beyond the physical world to a realm of pure psychic energy. There they prey on the human psyche, evoking nightmare and terror.

• Some Villains/Adversaries say things like “Fight: If this Villain was in the city, it enters the Astral Plane.”
• The Astral Plane is a single, unique space that only exists in games with cards that use the Astral Plane. It sits immediately to the right of the Villain/Adversary Deck.
• While a/an Villain/Adversary is in the Astral Plane, it has no physical form: It can only be fought with , not . To fight a 5 Villain/Adversary you must spend 5. When you fight a/an Villain/Adversary in the Astral Plane, put it in your Victory Pile and do its Fight effect as normal.
• When a Villain enters the Astral Plane, any Villain/Adversary already there escapes. This causes all the same effects as if that Villain had escaped/overran the city (including KO’ing from the HQ/Lair, discarding from captured Bystanders, and escape/overrun abilities).
• Villains/Adversaries still get - and + bonuses while in the Astral Plane. You just use to fight the total .
• Some Masterminds/Commanders can also enter the Astral Plane. While there, they can only be fought with , not . If they escapes/overruns the Astral Plane, do all the normal effects for a/an Villain/Adversary escaping/overrunning the city.
• Then do the escape/overrun ability written on the Mastermind/Commander, which moves them to the Mastermind/Commander space.
• The Astral Plane is not a city space. It’s not “adjacent” to any city spaces. Card effects can’t move or swap Villains/Adversaries to or from the Astral Plane unless they explicitly mention the Astral Plane.
• Villains/Adversaries do Ambush effects when they enter the city. The Astral Plane is not part of the city, so Villains/Adversaries that enter the Astral Plane don’t do their Ambush effects at that time.
• For keywords from other sets: To fight a “Chivalrous Duel” enemy in the Astral Plane, you must spend from a single Hero/Ally name. You must spend to use Excessive Violence or Human Shields from the Astral Plane. You can’t use “Piercing Energy” on enemies in the Astral Plane. “Bribe” and other cards that say “You can spend any combination of and to fight that Villains/Adversaries this turn.” do not work against enemies in the Astral Plane.

This represents some X-Men going into a berserker rage of unpredictable violence.

This means "Discard the top card of your deck. You get + equal to the discarded card's printed ."

• Some cards say "Berserk, Berserk, Berserk" so you discard three times in a row.
• Some cards say "Berserk, X-Gene include Heroes and Allies using advanced weaponry, incredible gadgets, brilliant inventions, or next-generation science.: You get +1." You do the card abilities in order, so Berserk might discard a include Heroes and Allies using advanced weaponry, incredible gadgets, brilliant inventions, or next-generation science. card from your deck, letting you use your X-Gene ability.
• Berserk gives no benefit from discarding printed or values.

This means "If you don't recruit any Heroes/Allies or defeat any Enemies (Villains/Adversaries or Masterminds/Commanders) on your turn, you may KO a Bindings from your hand. If you do, the player to your right gains all the other Bindings from your hand."

• So if you have three in your hand, and you decided to use Betrayal this turn, you would KO one of those and put the other two in the Discard Pile of the player on your right.
• This is often worth doing if you have at least two in your hand, or if your turn wouldn't have been very good anyway.
• It's okay to play the cards in your hand, Dodge, and/or use abilities like "draw a card" to see how your hand develops, then decide whether to use the Betrayal ability from your hand. As long as you don't recruit Heroes/Allies or fight any Enemies (Villains/Adversaries or Masterminds/Commanders) during your turn, you can still use Betrayal.

This means "You can fight this card by spending any combination of and/or ."

This represents retreating by digging to safety when they are attacked.

This means "Fight: If the streets were empty, put this Villain/Adversary back into the Streets."

• Fight it while it's on the Streets, or
• Fight it while another Villain/Adversary occupies the Streets, or
• Fight it once to drive it back to the Streets then fight it again in the Streets to finish it.

This represents a Celestial impressed with your efforts granting you a Celestial Boon.

This means "(After this Villain/Adversary enters the City,) it charges the specified value of extra spaces, pushing other Villains/Adversaries forward."

This represents how some characters are inspired to redouble their efforts by adoring fans.

This means "You may play this card twice in a row if you return a Bystander from your Victory Pile to the bottom of the Bystander Stack."

This represents how Morgan le Fay and the knights of her "Queen's Vengeance" or Clan Yashida hail from a realm of honorable single combat. You can't gang up on an enemy in a Chivalrous Duel — you have to pick just one Hero/Ally Name to duel the enemy.

This means "You can only use from a single Hero/Ally Name"

• For example, to fight a 3 Villain/Adversary with Chivalrous Duel, you can spend 3 from two different Black Knight Hero/Ally cards. But you can't combine 2 from Black Knight cards and 1 from a Wasp card.
• If a/an Hero/Ally like "S.H.I.E.L.D. Trooper" doesn't have a/an Hero/Ally Name listed, then its Hero/Ally Name is the same as its card Name. So you can play three S.H.I.E.L.D. Troopers then fight a 3 Villain/Adversary with Chivalrous Duel. But you can't spend 2 from Black Knight and 1 from a S.H.I.E.L.D. Trooper.
• You can't use you get from anything that's not a/an Hero/Ally card, including Microscopic Size-Changing Villains/Adversaries, Mastermind/Commander Tactics, Shard tokens, etc. You can use from Hero/Ally Artifacts with the right Hero/Ally Name since those are Hero/Ally cards. In a setup with lots of Chivalrous Duels, like fighting Morgan le Fay or the Scheme/Plot "Pull Earth into Medieval Times," you will want to build your deck to concentrate your cards into just one or two Hero/Ally Names.

This means "During your turn, this Villain/Adversary has +X unless you reveal a/an Hero/Ally of X or more."

This means "You may gain another copy of this card from the HQ/Lair. If there are none in the HQ/Lair, you may gain a copy from the Hero/Ally Deck and shuffle it."

This means "Search the Villain/Adversary Deck for a copy of this Villain/Adversary, and it enters the city, ignoring any further Clone effects. Shuffle the Villain/Adversary Deck."

• A Villain/Adversary “Commands” their group and gets these abilities as long as it’s the leftmost Villain/Adversary of that Villain/Adversary Group in the city.
• If there’s only one Villain/Adversary of a/an Villain/Adversary Group in the city, it still Commands that Villain/Adversary Group.

This represents fiercest enemiesleading legions to conquer.

This means "This Villain/Adversary gets +X while any Villain/Adversary is in the specified location."

• This Villain/Adversary gets the bonus while it itself is on the specified location or while another Villain/Adversary is on it.
• Other Villains/Adversaries and the Hela Mastermind/Commander have different Conqueror abilities, with different bonus numbers and referring to different City spaces.
• Some Hero/Ally cards also have abilities like “Rooftops Conqueror 1”, which likewise means “You get +1 if any Villain/Adversary is on the Rooftops.”

• Each player in turn reveals a single card, either from their hand, or that they played this turn, or the top card of their deck. That player announces their “Contest Score,” which is that card’s printed , doubled if it’s a include Heroes and Allies with raw strength, but also strength of will, determination, and strong leadership. card.
• You must choose carefully whether to use the best score you have from your hand, or to take a risk by trying the top card of your deck instead.
• After all players have announced their Contest Score, then Evil/Good tries to win the contest. Reveal the top two cards of the Hero/Ally Deck, and Evil/Good uses whichever card gives the highest Contest Score (taking account of any doubling). Again, this is the card’s printed , doubled if it’s a include Heroes and Allies with raw strength, but also strength of will, determination, and strong leadership. card. Then put both those cards on the bottom of the Hero/Ally Deck.
• Whichever score is highest (or tied for highest) “wins” the contest. Everyone else “loses.”
• For example, in a 3-player game, say Alana’s score is 6, Piper’s score is 6, Melody’s score is 4, and Evil/Good’s score is 6. Then Alana, Piper, and the Mastermind/Commander all win the contest, and Melody loses the contest.
• The card lists outcomes for winning and losing.
• A few cards reveal a/an Hero/Ally card and use its colors for a contest. This can create contests that are multicolor, such as “Contest of Champions include Heroes and Allies using advanced weaponry, incredible gadgets, brilliant inventions, or next-generation science., include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults..” In this case, any card that includes either include Heroes and Allies using advanced weaponry, incredible gadgets, brilliant inventions, or next-generation science. or include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults. will match the contest and have its score doubled. (A card that’s both and won’t be quadrupled.)
• Some contests say that Evil/Good reveals 4 or 6 cards from the Hero/Ally Deck. Evil/Good’s Contest Score is still the highest-scoring single card.

This represents how some characters act as mentors to other characters, helping them reach their full potential and become true Heroes/Allies.

• Discard a Coordinate card from your hand and then draw a new card to replace it.
• That player can now play a copy of the card you coordinated with them. (A copy counts as playing the exact same card including its , , special abilities, and Hero/Ally Class symbol.)
• When you offer to Coordinate a card to another player, that player can decline. If so, you don't discard that card and that player doesn't play a copy of it.
• If you are playing with the Final Showdown, you can't Coordinate during that showdown.

• If you are playing a solo game, once per turn, you may discard a card with Coordinate to draw a card.
• Coordinate is printed on cards in red text to make it easier to notice during other player's turns.

This means "Once per turn, for each specified Hero/Ally Class card you reveal, this Enemy (Villain/Adversary or Mastermind/Commander) gets -3 this turn."

• For example, The Shaper of Worlds has “Cosmic Threat include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults.” and 10*. If you reveal two include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults. cards, he gets -6 this turn, so he has 4 left. If you reveal four include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults. cards, he gets -12 this turn, so he has 0, and you can fight him without spending any .
• The Celestials say things like “Cosmic Threat include Heroes and Allies with raw strength, but also strength of will, determination, and strong leadership. or include Heroes and Allies who use savagery and quick reflexes to dominate combats. Some use superhuman senses to get an edge on their opponents..” You can choose to use either include Heroes and Allies with raw strength, but also strength of will, determination, and strong leadership. or include Heroes and Allies who use savagery and quick reflexes to dominate combats. Some use superhuman senses to get an edge on their opponents. cards for its Cosmic Threat in a single turn, but you can’t use both to reduce its .If you try to fight a Mastermind/Commander with Cosmic Threat a second time in the same turn, it will return to its full , and you cannot use any Cosmic Threat abilities against it in additional fights that turn.
• You can use the same include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults. cards to reduce the of different “Cosmic Threat include Heroes and Allies who like to blow things up. Someuse inherent superpowers to blast things, while others use energy beams, elemental powers, and mental assaults.” Villains/Adversaries in one turn.

This represents as many versions of a character from parallel dimensions storm across Battleworld, only another version of the same character can stop them!

This means "Each player reveals one Hero/Ally of the specified character or a card of the specified character in their Victory Pile or gains a Wound."

• This counts any card that includes the specified text in its card name or Hero/Ally Name, Villain/Adversary Group name, or Mastermind/Commander Tactics plus the alternate versions of the specified characters.
You don't need to know the whole history of Marvel Comics to judge who counts as the specified character — below, there's a few, very specific exceptions that can be made to stay true to the characters: (this list is not complete and does include Cross-Dimensional Rampage options that are not even being used to this day)
• Some Heroes/Allies can transform into the specified character, like Bruce Banner and Amadeus Cho. A puny “Bruce Banner” card doesn’t say “Hulk” on it, so it can’t stop a Hulk Rampage. But revealing the transformed Bruce Banner card named “Savage Hulk Unleashed” works.
• When a Cross-Dimensional Rampage happens, you can choose to gain the Wound, even if you have the specified character that you already played or could otherwise reveal. You might want the Wound if you have Wounded Fury cards.