Real Name: Loki Laufeyson
First Comic Book Appearance: Venus (August 1949)
Affiliations in Comic Books: Asgardian Gods, Cabal
Marvel United Appearance: Marvel United: Tales of Asgard (July 2020)
Marvel United Team Decks: None
Movement
BAM!
Civilians
Thugs
How Loki Plays: Loki delays the Heroes long enough to run through his deck. Half of his effects create roadblock to prevent the Heroes from winning, while the rest help him play more Master plan cards face down. As soon as any deck, including the villain’s deck, runs out of cards, the Heroes lose.
Villainous Plot: Loki has no Villainous Plot. Instead, he has Special Rules
Special Rules: When a Hero is KO’d, Loki doesn’t activate his BAM!. Instead, draw another Master Plan card and add it facedown in the Storyline
BAM!: Deal 1 damage to each Hero in Loki’s Location.
Loki’s damage isn’t great, but he ignores the normal rules for KOing heroes. Rather than activating his mediocre BAM! effect again, he plays another Master Plan card face down which hastens the game. KOs dramatically reduces the time heroes have to win. But Loki’s BAM! effects won’t cause a chain reaction of other BAM! effects.
Still, Loki has other ways of dealing damage, through his Threat cards and a nasty tandem of cards in his Master Plan.
Overflow: If a civilian or thug token can’t be added to a Location, Loki gains 1 additional Health (may go above his starting value).
It doesn’t matter how many tokens can’t be placed due to Overflow, Loki will gain a single health per location that Overflows. Not the worst thing. But if you don’t control the locations, Loki’s additional health can add up. The more health Loki has, the longer it will take for the heroes to win. Yet another way Loki prevents the heroes from winning.
Threats
Loki has 2 copies of 3 different Threat Cards.
Frost Giants (Henchman)
Health: 5
BAM!: Deal 1 Damage to each Hero in this Location.
“Frost Giants’” simple BAM! effect should look familiar. While they give heroes with heavy Attack something to do in the early game, they function as a distraction. Loki is good at distractions. The “Frost Giants’” effect is easy to avoid, and they have a lot of health for henchmen. This is a low priority Threat but could be necessary to defeat depending on who your heroes are (hint: you’re playing heroes with high Attack).
Master Trickster (Threat)
Clear: 3 Heroics
Constant Effect: If Loki takes any damage while in this Location, each Hero in this Location also takes 1 damage.
“Master Trickster’s” effect only matters late in the game, when heroes can damage Loki. Heroes have control over this Threat’s effect, too. If a hero with low health occupies the same space as Loki, it may not be a good idea to damage him at this Location. No one likes to get KO’d. But no matter how much damage you deal Loki, you will only receive one damage in return with “Master Trickster.” So, high damage turns could be worth the one damage retribution.
Illusion (Threat)
Clear: 3 Heroics
Constant Effect: Loki can’t take any damage as long as he is in this Location.
“Illusion” is another Constant effect that only matters late game. This can be a huge problem because few effects can move a villain from their Location. Even so, Loki only has one card with 0 movement. He’s unlikely to stay in one of these Locations for long, but it’s worth noting that Loki does have one Master Plan card in his deck “Master of Illusions” that allows him to warp to the nearest, active “Illusion” Threat. Because of its effect “Illusion” is the highest priority Theat to discard before Loki becomes vulnerable.
Master Plan Deck
Movement: Loki averages 2 Movement each turn. He is 33% faster than any of the core set villains. His movement varies, only have 1 card speeds of 4 and 5, 2 cards with speeds of 3 and 0, and 3 cards of speeds 1 and 2. Loki may be the most unpredictable villain in terms of movement.
Civilians:
Loki adds civilians comparable to the core set villains. But he does have a few nasty cards that can add 4 in a single turn.
Thugs:
Loki slightly favors adding thugs over civilians, but every card that does add thugs adds them 4 at a time (two in Loki’s Location and one in the adjacent Locations).
BAM!:
Loki has a BAM! effect on all but three of his cards. One of the non-BAM! cards adds a whopping 7 tokens (split between civilians and thugs). Fortunately, Loki’s BAM! effect isn’t that intimidating but his constant movement and BAM! effects should keep Heroes on their toes.
Special Effects on Cards
1) Spread Discord: Each Hero not alone in their Location takes 1 damage. If all Heroes are alone, draw another Master Plan card and add it facedown in the Storyline.
“Spread Discord’s” second ability (the one that occurs if all Heroes are alone) can hasten the end of the game and bring Loki closer to his win condition. This is the worst outcome for the heroes. One damage per lone Hero doesn’t help either. If any of the damage results in a KO, that would be another Master Plan card added facedown in the Storyline. Note: both copies of “Spread Discord” have a BAM! effect, so it’s possible for it to do 2 damage to heroes at Loki’s location if there are more than one of them.
2) Sorcery: Each Hero alone in their Location takes 1 damage. If no Hero is alone, draw another Master Plan card and add it facedown in the Storyline.
“Sorcery” is basically the reverse of “Spread Discord.” “Sorcery” is also paired with a BAM! effect so this card can deal 2 damage to a single hero at Loki’s Location.
The effects of “Spread Discord” and “Sorcery” force the heroes to consider whether they stay together or spread. There are two copies of each of these cards. If you’ve seen both of either “Spread Discord” or “Sorcery,” you can respond accordingly. But Loki adds some of his cards facedown in the Storyline. You may not know if a certain card is already in the Storyline. There goes Loki fooling everyone again.
Special Movement: Loki has one card in his deck with the “Master of Illusions” Movement. It reads, Move clockwise to the next Location with an “Illusion” Threat card. If both “Illusion” Threat cards are discarded, Loki doesn’t move.
General Strategy
Loki can be confusing in the early game. You won’t know if you should stay together or spread out. Both can be a gamble. None of Loki’s Threat cards impact the early game, but I suggest taking out the “Master Trickster” and “Illusion” Threats to make the late game easier and then taking out thugs. Keep an eye on the tokens. Loki places fewer Civilians and if any of them get played facedown, you may not be able to complete the Rescue Civilians mission.
A mixed team works well with Loki. He doesn’t have the most health—unless he had a handful of Overflows during the game. So, you may not need a heavy Attack hero. But if you do have a heavy Attack hero, that hero can take down the “Frost Giants.”
Keep an eye on the “Spread Discord” and “Sorcery” special effects. Even if there’s one faceup in the Storyline and a handful of facedown Loki cards, you can gamble that one of the facedown cards is a “Spread Discord” or “Sorcery.” You may need press your luck because Loki will try to end the game before you can win.
Remember to time completing the first and second missions as close together as possible to avoid the villain speeding up too soon.
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