What is the most valuable card in Vs. System today? I think it’s a safe bet to say that it’s a Marvel Origins rare that gives +5 ATK to an attacker and features a picture of Hulk with his arms stretched above his head, ready to smash. Yes, I’m referring to Savage Beatdown. What do you get when Hulk is in that pose and there are additional companions in the art? Well, Mike Hummel apparently concluded that it should be more than +5 ATK. And what’s better than +5 ATK? How about +6 ATK, you say? Well, that’s a reasonable guess, but Mike’s not your typical fellow. Sure, that bonus would leave room to step things up in the future, but who really wants to wait? And so, to the chagrin of the timid designers and developers in our lot, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes take things to a whole new level. We weren’t messing around with this one. It’s now time for +7 ATK!

For those of you trying to figure out the timing rules for this card, there is no way to chain your plot twists so that you will get the bonus from Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and another plot twist in the same turn. You’ll just have to settle for that +7 ATK. Replacing the example used in the Avengers FAQ with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, you’d have the following explanation for timing rules:

“After this effect resolves, you cannot play additional plot twists on the same turn that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was played. Note that you may play Earth’s Mightiest Heroes if you have already played another plot twist on the same turn. You may also play another plot twist in response to this one. If you do either action, however, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will do nothing on resolution except stop you from playing further plot twists this turn.”

The tricky part of making the most of this card is not getting stuck with it or other plot twists in your hand. While you are often rewarded for holding off on using plot twists until a crucial juncture of the game, the restrictions on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes require some changes in approach. You want to set up scenarios where you can use Earth’s Mightiest Heroes early in the game to a profitable effect. You shouldn’t hesitate to use it to attack up the curve at the earliest opportunity, especially if you’re attacking a character that can’t visibly be reinforced. One of the better ways to deal breakthrough without plot twists is to have characters with flight that can naturally break up formations and push through damage. So, if there is a close decision about which characters to include in your deck, you should strongly consider the ones with flight.

There’s still one problem, though—when you draw multiple copies of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, there just isn’t much time to use them. After all, today’s preview card has a threshold of 4. It’s very likely that you will only have a two-turn window in which to play it in a typical deck. That’s because you often won’t have a chance to swing back when you don’t have the initiative, or at the very least, it may be unwise. Thus, if you have the initiative on turns 5 and 7, those might be your only chances to use the card, and you might wind up with a lot of unused plot twists or an unused Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. On the even initiatives, the same will hold true unless you manage to extend the game until turn 8. So, how do you avoid ending the game with unused cards?

In my experience, one of the best ways to get maximum use from Earth’s Mightiest Heroesis via characters in your hidden area. After all, one of the primary rationales for introducing the hidden area was to allow players to make profitable attacks on turns when they didn’t have the initiative. The Avengers conveniently have one of the more brutal concealed characters around in Black Panther. There’s something quite satisfying about swinging in with your 3-cost character for 14 ATK (or more) at the mere expense of a single plot twist. Keep an eye out for him and other concealed Avengers.

The last way to get around the drawback is a little less subtle. You can include a small number of plot twists in your deck and opt instead to run plenty of locations. You will find that there are also a reasonable number of character and equipment cards that can be discarded from your hand to produce an effect. Old favorites like Mikado and Mosha, Light Armor, and Chopping Block will be joined by similar counterparts in the Avengers set.