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Marvel Duel is the card game / auto battler most the world has never heard of. In fact, its footprint in the English speaking world is almost non-existent. What is that? Why should you check it out, if you can? How can you check it out? Also what do you need to know to get started with the game? Well, this guide will try to answer these questions for you and hopefully help you discover this secret hidden gem.
How do you play Marvel Duel?
Well, the game has only been released in the South East Asia market so far, but access to the game is not overly complicated from anywhere in the world by changing your app store account's country or via a VPN.
This really simple guide from MajinBolt will get you started on your PC today:
Alternatively, lots of resources exist which show you how to set up or change the country in Google Play. Making a new account and following these instructions will allow you to download, just remember to sign into the game from the account you want to save too.
What is Marvel Duel?
Marvel Duel is in essence, an Auto Battler. You draft cards over specific turns to start creating your comp and you sell cards back to buy other cards as the game processes. There are 6 levels of cards you must upgrade your shop to work through and as you purchase multiple copies of cards they will combine too create stronger versions.
There are several tribes such as Asgardians, Avengers and Mutants to explore with synergies, as well as several keywords such as Iron Will, Invocation and Puncture (we will get to those) with synergies between the groups.
Sound familiar? It should as it's the basic formula of many of the successful auto battlers, being most comparable in play to Hearthstone Battlegrounds as Marvel Duel uses cards as the vehicle. You have 6 board slots to fill and will face off against one of 6 other opponents with your base health being around 25. You are also hit based on the levels of your characters rather than the shop level, so your hit for consistent amounts from round 1. In many ways it is a lot quicker than the other auto battlers as you hit earlier for more and every round seems to matter.
All these similarities though end at one crucial point which separates this game from the other auto battlers in a significant way.
How does Marvel Duel work?
You build your deck. That's right, it is not up to fate to draft based on what is shown to you or to compete to grab strong units before your competitors. Before you even enter a game you select 3 heroes to represent your deck. You then build 4 of the 5 sets of cards based on these 3 heroes and a neutral set. You build towards as many synergies as you like then draft from your own set of cards as the game progresses. This adds a whole level of meta strategy other auto battlers often don't have. It also means you can play what you like more often and changes the way this style of game is played more than it might even seem on the surface.
The game does an excellent job at teaching the basics and mechanics, so to give you the best start in Marvel Duel I have compiled some intermediate tips to get you started and maximizing your game time. So once you are in and had a few games come back and read over these tips to get ahead of your competition.
Tips and strategies to get you started
You only pull cards from your pool and your deck is made up of 5 sections. You have 3 heroes, one Neutral set and the Locked Set. The Locked Set you cannot edit and is made up of 4 copies of 2 cards at each cost. This is important as it means it is impossible to thin your deck entirely. However, the other sets are adjusted based on what you put into the deck.
When building out your deck, remember that once you purchase a copy it is gone and when you sell the cards they do not return to the pool. So make sure you don't just jam maximum copies of every card. Having some cards which are good as 1 copy you can buy then sell, reducing what is in your pool on future turns can help your consistency a lot.
2 copies combine into a single stronger version, however 3 copies does nothing. As a deck builder this means putting 3 copies in if you don't own the fourth is often not the correct play, especially given having multiple copies in deck does not increase your chances of rolling the card. Only removing other cards entirely increases your odds.
Do not let your board fall behind early on. In Marvel Duel the default is 25 health. I rarely recommend equipping the abilities that reduce your health as this number is quite small. If you are losing in the first few rounds, consider strengthening over upgrading.
Power cards and Tactics Cards are incredibly strong late game and can shore up your weaknesses. early in your journey they won't feel as impactful but well timed plays on these cards can be the difference between 2nd and 1st.
You unlock heroes each time you reset a season. You have plenty of time in these seasons with the limited pools so don't rush. This gets you more resources and you are not exposed to stronger synergies until you are ready. Spider-Man, Star-Lord and Thor are the entire first season. Star-Lord can be excellent early on as the cards trade up well but Spider-Man and Thor have much higher ceilings as you progress with the game. Investing in Thor as your first free Legendary can be a card you are playing for the rest of your time with Marvel Duel.
As you go into the second season (Iron Man, Captain Marvel and Hela) the game gets more complicated and take the time to really get a feel for the playstyle you like. The best strategy as you progress is too focus your resources into key heroes and open up stronger synergies, all the heroes have late game combinations later.
Do not spend your Isotopes. You may not be aware of this just yet but in the Shop you can use Isotopes to unlock key cards. Some of these are core to end game combinations and saving your blue gems until you get there will allow you to target the cards you want or work with your collection. These cards are only available with Isotopes so use them wisely.
Conclusion
Marvel Duel is a refreshing and unique take at an auto battler. The content and difficulty ramps up significantly but it remains very accessible on a budget and even the fabled free-to-play. If you like this content and want to see more guides on how to maximise the experience with the game, lets us know.
Good Luck, Have Fun and Stay Safe.