“I’m the Juggernaut! Ain’t nothin’—ain’t nobody—can beat me!” – Cain Marko

Something sinister lurks in the shadows, a looming threat that only a few are even aware of. A diabolical plot slowly takes form, its goal something you can only guess at, but one thing is for certain: at the center of it all is a young, headstrong mutant, Hope Summers. For some reason, the villains’ plans hinge on Hope, and she may be in over her head…

Fantasy Flight Games is thrilled to announce NeXt Evolution, the sixth campaign expansion for Marvel Champions: The Card Game!

In this expansion, the team of mutant heroes known as X-Force arrives on the scene! Squaring off against them are some of X-Force’s most iconic foes, including the brutal Marauders, the unstoppable Juggernaut, and the ever-scheming Mister Sinister. This expansion comes with five brand-new scenarios, and as with previous expansions, you can play each of these scenarios individually or as part of a larger campaign. NeXt Evolution also kicks off a new wave of playable X-Force heroes for the game, beginning with Cable and Domino, both of whom come with fully pre-built and ready-to-play decks right out of the box. And within those decks you’ll find a brand-new card type: player side schemes!

Suppressing Hope

The story of NeXt Evolution’s campaign begins in forgotten tunnels beneath New York City, where a group of shunned mutants known as the Morlocks are under attack by a vicious group of villains, the Marauders!

The first scenario, Morlock Siege, has you and your fellow heroes fending off the Marauders as they attack the Morlock tunnels underneath New York. Each Marauder has different strengths and abilities; for example, Arclight (NeXt Evolution, 70A) can confuse a character you control, Chimera (NeXt Evolution, 72A) can drain your “mental” resources, and Greycrow (NeXt Evolution, 73A) can discard your highest-cost ally, support, or upgrade from play. Each Marauder’s activation presents you with a choice between two options, allowing different heroes to take different approaches when defending against their attacks.

As for the scenario itself, you’ll have to defeat three random Marauders in order to claim victory, all while keeping your Morlock (NeXt Evolution, 79) allies safe. You’ll have to be careful, though, as each Routed (NeXt Evolution, 81A) Marauder will power up the next one, making cards like Bolstered by Wrath (NeXt Evolution, 82) and Pushed to the Limit (NeXt Evolution, 83) stronger. You’ll have to help the Morlocks Hide (NeXt Evolution, 80) from the Marauders in order to prevent a Mutant Massacre (NeXt Evolution, 78B)!

The campaign’s second scenario, On the Run, also uses the Marauders, but in a completely different way. The Marauders have captured Hope Summers—Cable’s adopted daughter—and they are now trying to get away. Unlike the first scenario, only one Marauder serves as the villain this time. Your goal is to defeat the one that is Hope’s Captor (NeXt Evolution, 105A) twice, just like you would a normal villain, while the other Marauders appear as minions that get in your way! After you defeat the villain once, they begin to grow desperate (NeXt Evolution, 105B), which makes things even tougher. Keep on attacking the villain and stop them from Escaping with Hope (NeXt Evolution, 104B)!

The third scenario has you facing off against The Unstoppable Juggernaut (NeXt Evolution, 121B). A massive brute with extreme strength, Juggernaut (NeXt Evolution, 118) gets more dangerous with every “momentum counter” he builds up. Worse, with his signature Helmet (NeXt Evolution, 122A) equipped, he becomes immune to stun and confuse and gets overkill. With all the power he wields, it may feel impossible to slow this villain down, but there is a way: by spending 3 resources of the same type, you can rip Juggernaut’s helmet off of him, removing all momentum counters from him and leaving him Exposed (NeXt Evolution, 122B). While he’s exposed, Juggernaut takes extra damage from cards with mental resources printed on them, like the newly-rescued Hope Summers (NeXt Evolution, 130), who will assist you for the rest of the campaign! Just make sure she doesn’t wind up a Captive (NeXt Evolution, 131) again…

A Sinister Plot

After taking down the Juggernaut, it’s finally time to square off against the mastermind behind the plot to capture Hope: Mister Sinister (NeXt Evolution, 136). Befitting his tendency to incorporate other mutants’ DNA in his own genome, Mister Sinister gradually amasses new powers over the course of his scenario. With the power of Flight (NeXt Evolution, 151) he gains increased ATK and overkill; with Super Strength (NeXt Evolution, 155), he gains ATK and steady; and with Telepathy (NeXt Evolution, 159), he gains a boost to his SCH and retaliate. The more powers he gains, the more Mister Sinister’s Genetic Mastery (NeXt Evolution, 147) grows, and the bigger threat he becomes!

Once you have defeated Mister Sinister, it’s time to take on the final boss of the campaign: the cruel clone of Cable, Stryfe (NeXt Evolution, 163)!

As a powerful psionic, Stryfe is skilled at turning the heroes’ strength against them. Whenever he attacks, he gains bonus ATK equal to the number of the “most common type of card in your hand.” The “type” of card refers to whether a card is an ally, event, resource, support, upgrade, or player side scheme. So, if you have 3 allies and 2 upgrades in your hand when Stryfe attacks you, he’d get +3 ATK!

Stryfe’s power is already formidable enough on its own, but when Hope winds up in Stryfe’s Grasp (NeXt Evolution, 168A), she tries to mimic his powers to escape him—and becomes overwhelmed! Stryfe’s Uncontrollable Power (NeXt Evolution, 166B) proves too much for her, which means you and the other heroes must save Hope from becoming a Living Bomb (NeXt Evolution, 168B). Can you stop Stryfe before he leaves you to your fate (NeXt Evolution, 167B)?

Moving Out

With such powerful threats and the crucial need to protect Hope, you will need some skilled heroes to come to your aid. Fortunately, NeXt Evolution comes with two powerful members of X-Force ready to jump into the fray from the moment you open the box.

The first of these heroes is Nathan Summers (NeXt Evolution, 1B), better known as Cable (NeXt Evolution, 1A). Even though his body is slowly being ravaged by a deadly technovirus, Cable is an unflinching leader who guides X-Force on missions to take out threats before they can strike. As his alter-ego abilities suggest, Cable is all about utilizing the new type of player card added in this expansion: player side schemes.

Player side schemes represent missions that the heroes undertake to aid them in defeating the villain. You put them into play by paying their cost, just like you would any other player card (there is a limit to how many player side schemes can be in play at once), but after that point they function the same as normal side schemes. These schemes never actively hinder you, but if you manage to clear them, you can net yourself some fantastic rewards!

For example, Cable’s signature side scheme Technovirus Purge (NeXt Evolution, 6) can take a while to clear, but once it’s in the victory display, Cable gains the Psionic trait and gets a permanent buff to all of his basic powers! Player side schemes can appear in aspect cards as well, such as Call for Backup (NeXt Evolution, 18), which lets each player find an ally and put it into play when defeated, and Establish Perimeter (NeXt Evolution, 20), which gives each identity a tough status card.

The rest of Cable’s kit is no joke either. With Bodyslide (NeXt Evolution, 2), he can change his form and allow each other identity to change with him, and with Precognition (NeXt Evolution, 4), he can stack the encounter deck in his favor. You’ll notice that, like with Precognition, many of Cable’s abilities scale to the number of side schemes in the victory display (player side schemes or otherwise). This means that events like Mind Scan (NeXt Evolution, 3) and Telekinetic Blast (NeXt Evolution, 5) only get stronger the longer a scenario goes on. Use Professor (NeXt Evolution, 8) to help you search for your player side schemes, and then, once you run out of those, give the villain some Forced Amnesia (NeXt Evolution, 10) to toss one of their side schemes into the victory display for good measure!

Befitting his position as leader of X-Force, Cable comes to the game with a pre-built Leadership deck. Call on Caliban (NeXt Evolution, 14) to help you find Fantomex (NeXt Evolution, 15), then play Fantomex to summon his E.V.A. (NeXt Evolution, 21) support into play with him. Cable is all about completing missions, so cards like Mission Planning (NeXt Evolution, 17) and Uncanny X-Force (NeXt Evolution, 22) can help ensure that you get those side schemes cleared up without your allies taking any consequential damage! Not that Deadpool (NeXt Evolution, 24) would care about that, but still, it’s the thought that counts.

Joining Cable on the front lines is Neena Thurman (NeXt Evolution, 37B), also known as Domino (NeXt Evolution, 37A)! With her power to manipulate chance in her favor, Domino can swap a card from her hand with the top card of her deck once per round. This is already handy enough, since you might wind up with the exact card you needed, but there’s another use for this trick.

Many of Domino’s signature cards, such as Diamondback (NeXt Evolution, 38), A Good Workout (NeXt Evolution, 40), and Luck Be a Lady (NeXt Evolution, 41), cause her to discard the top card of her deck, with her gaining different or scaling effects depending on how many resource icons are on the discarded card. If you used Domino’s ability to swap a card from your hand with the top card of your deck, then you know exactly what resources will be on that card, and the best part? The other ability on Domino’s hero card lets you count “wild” resources twice! (Fun fact: 14 out of Domino’s 15 signature cards have wild resource icons.)

Use Domino’s Pistols (NeXt Evolution, 46) to pepper an enemy with potshots, take advantage of your Probability Field (NeXt Evolution, 49) to boost your basic powers, and call on Pip the Pug (NeXt Evolution, 44) if you ever discard something that you end up needing. Now, most people would expect to hit the Jackpot (NeXt Evolution, 43) only once in their lives, but, Domino being Domino, you could turn up lucky again and again!

As a hero experienced in solving problems her own way, Domino comes to the game with a pre-built Justice deck. Use Wolfsbane (NeXt Evolution, 51) in tandem with Domino’s hero ability to grab an extra card in your hand, then use the resource from that card to help the group pay for a Team Investigation (NeXt Evolution, 53). Use the big burst threat removal from Team Investigation to finish off Take Out the Guards (NeXt Evolution, 54) and wipe out some minions, then thwart two schemes at once with Overwatch (NeXt Evolution, 55) to keep the momentum going. Then, once the villain’s schemes are under control, call on the members of your Posse—including Outlaw (NeXt Evolution, 39), White Fox (NeXt Evolution, 57), and Domino herself—and show the villain that The Posse (NeXt Evolution, 58) isn’t to be trifled with!

X-Force Inbound

As with every Marvel Champions campaign expansion, NeXt Evolution marks the beginning of a new wave of hero packs. There will be four hero packs this time around, and each of them stars an iconic member of X-Force. We’ll go over each of these heroes in time, but for now, here’s a little sneak peek at what’s to come:

Can you stop the villains’ sinister plot and save Hope? Take on new challenges with X-Force when NeXt Evolution hits store shelves in August!