The X-Men movies and current comics never refer to Jean Grey by her original costumed codename. Xavier’s five original Uncanny X-Men were Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman and . . . Marvel Girl. Appropriately, this version of Jean Grey is the smallest in the Origins set. At a cost of 4, however, she is more expensive than the starting versions of the other four original X-Men, and rightfully so.

Though her classically depicted power is telekinesis, Jean also possessed telepathic abilities when her mutant powers first manifested. While using her telepathy on a childhood friend, the friend was struck by an oncoming car. The psychic trauma from the accident was too much for the young Jean to handle. Her parents brought her to Xavier’s in hopes that he would be able to help their daughter. Xavier mentally shut down Jean’s telepathic abilities until she was old enough to use them safely.

In the game, Jean Grey, Marvel Girl’s telekinesis allows you to “move” unwanted cards in your resource row to your KO’d pile and replace them with the top card of your deck. Throughout the game, you’ll have “dead” cards in your resource row. The most common example is when you have to use a character or equipment card as a resource. Using Jean’s ability, you can get rid of this dead weight and hopefully draw into a useful card to replace it. But keep in mind that Jean’s power can also be used to replace revealed plot twists and duplicate face down locations.

Her ability is further enhanced by combining it with other card effects in the Origins set that let you see the top card of your deck. Examples include the plot twist Night Vision and the location Base of Operations. These effects will let you best judge when you want to activate Jean’s ability versus when you’d rather draw the card.  

Marvel Girl’s defense value is also impressive. Most 4-drop characters average a 6 or 7 ATK. Only the 4-cost Wolverine and Sabretooth are strong enough to take out Jean Grey’s 8 DEF without additional support cards. This makes her a strong board stabilizer on turn four if your opponent has the initiative.

Marvel Girl is also very important to late game decks that use Jean Grey, Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force version requires another copy of Jean Grey in the owner’s KO’d pile to recruit it—in effect, having her rise from the ashes. This version of Jean Grey is the X-Men’s heaviest hitter and one of the most powerful 8-cost characters in the Origins set. The 4-cost gap between the two versions gives you plenty of time to make use of Marvel Girl and then get her to your KO’d pile before the Phoenix version takes flight. It also helps you dig further through your deck looking for the big Phoenix.

Final fun fact: Another card in the set, Dark Phoenix, doesn’t have the Jean Grey title. This means you can have both Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix in play at the same time. “Aren’t they the same person?” you might ask. That story is for another time.

I predict a Brotherhood preview tomorrow.