From Panel to Play: Thor, Hero of Midgard and Loki, Prince of Lies

In today’s From Panel to Play, we meet new versions of the royal brothers of Asgard: Thor, Hero of Midgard and Loki, Prince of Lies! These two characters bring new abilities and create new squad building considerations to Asgardian squads and are included in the upcoming Asgard Affiliation box along with Lady Sif and The Mighty Thor.

Thor Odinson is a well known character in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. His first release was early in the game’s life and this new version is sure to make a splash when he arrives. Thor has gotten stronger over time and has earned his title “Hero of Midgard” thanks to his many exploits saving the people of Earth. He is a Threat Value 6 character with solid defenses and high Stamina stats of 9 on his Healthy side and 8 on his Injured side. Like all Asgardians, Thor has the Asgardian Innate superpower which grants him extra Power each round. He also has the Flight and Immunity (Shock) superpowers players would expect from the God of Thunder.

Thor, Hero of Midgard takes the idea of brawling to heart. Both of his attacks are limited to Range 3 and hit extremely hard! His first attack, Odinson’s Ire, generates Power for him based on the damage it deals to opponents. As it has a Strength of 7, this can be quite a bit of Power each time it’s used! It also comes with a few special rules highlighting his ability to channel lightning. Lightning Arc deals one damage to enemies within Range 3 of the target. The number of enemies hit is based on the number of Wilds in the attack roll. Additionally, no one can withstand the force of a strike from Mjolnir. The Push rule allows him to Push any target a Short distance away from him.

Opponents should think twice before offending Thor, Hero of Midgard. His second attack, I Would Have Words With Thee!, is a Strength 10 attack that has Thor fly up to the target then Throw it away Medium if it is Size 4 or less!

Speaking of Throws, Thor, Hero of Midgard is well known for launching himself into combat. With Have at Thee! he Throws himself Medium distance, and if he collides with something, he suffers no damage from the collision. The terrain feature or enemy character he collides with isn’t so lucky. Given he is Size 3, this is a lot of damage an opponent may have to dodge. This isn’t the only superpower that involves a throw, however. The Power of Thor allows him to Throw terrain features of Size 4 or less a Long distance. Between Thor’s ability to throw himself and nearby terrain features, few enemies will be safe from having to deal with collisions when he is on the battlefield.

The last thing on his card is a powerful Reactive superpower. I Say Thee NAY, Villain! costs 3 Power and is used after Thor is attacked by an enemy within Range 3. Seven dice are rolled and the attacker takes damage for each Critical and Wild result. This can be a huge amount of damage and is sure to make opponents think twice before attacking Thor with weaker characters who could be easily Dazed by this superpower.

While this Thor has been working on Midgard he has learned to share his power with his human allies. The For A Limited Time Only Team Tactic Card costs 3 Power and gives nearby allies the Thor’s Blessing superpower for one round. This Innate superpower has two effects. First, it adds one die to all of the character’s attack rolls, and second, if the attacks deal damage, the target suffers the Shock special condition!

While Thor has been off gallivanting about Midgard, someone else has been taking a more active role in Asgard’s leadership. Loki, Prince of Lies is a whole new version of the infamous adopted brother of Thor, and he is here to take control of Asgard.

Loki, Prince of Lies is a Threat Value 5 character with 4/4/5 Defense stats. He has solid Stamina values of 7 on his Healthy side and 6 on his Injured side. He also has a Long Speed stat that allows him to get where he needs to be quickly and efficiently. Loki’s cunning use of illusions are on display all throughout his character card, starting with his attacks.

Mischiefs and Magicks is his first attack. This attack features Power building based on damage dealt and has the Bamboozle rule. When it triggers, the target of the attack gets Advanced by Loki and at the end of the movement gains the Root special condition! Now the target is out of position and unable to use superpowers efficiently. This ability will resolve before the defender is able to use Reactive superpowers that occur after an attack so those abilities will suffer the effects of Root as well, which could prevent an enemy from slipping away or striking back!

His second attack, Clever Ploy, is an Area 3 attack with a relatively low Strength of 5. This attack costs 4 Power, but if it does damage to a target, Loki can Advance them Short. Additionally, allied characters do not take damage from this attack if they are within range which makes this attack much more appealing if he has the Power for it.

Loki’s Power generation is worth mentioning at this point. He has the Asgardian superpower like the rest of the Asgardians, but this Loki has become a leader in Asgard through a mix of cunning and lies. I Come Bearing Gifts is a powerful Leadership ability that boosts his allies and fuels his other abilities. Loki’s largess is seen only when he stands to gain something of greater value from it in return. This Leadership ability allows allied characters to reroll one die in their Attack, Defense, or Dodge rolls in exchange for giving Loki one Power. Loki, Prince of Liesdoes not benefit from this reroll effect. This Leadership ability, combined with Asgardian, ensures he will have enough Power to fuel the rest of his kit.

Unlike his brother and many other Asgardian characters, Loki isn’t one to brawl. He has people to do that for him. Go Forth! allows him to select an allied character within Range 4 of him and Place it within Range 2 of its current location. This can only be done once per turn but has myriad uses and will likely be used every round thanks to his Power generation.

Loki’s mastery of illusions is well known and his opponents are often on guard against them. However, Loki is still often able to overcome their guard and his foes will find themselves falling victim to these deceptions, tripping over their own feet like a toddler learning to walk. Each time this happens, Loki’s response is a mocking, Oh My, What a Pity. This Reactive superpower costs 1 Power and can be used whenever Loki or a nearby ally is attacked by an enemy. It can also be used when Loki is making attacks. If there are any Failure results in the opponent’s dice roll, they take 1 damage. This damage can quickly add up and make weaker enemies easy to remove by Loki and his allies.

Loki loves sowing chaos around the battlefield, capitalizing on enemies’ fumbled weapons and stubbed toes, and his last superpower shows how he benefits from it. This Isn’t Mischief, This is Mayhem is an Innate superpower that gives him the ability to count his opponent’s Failure results as successes when attacking or defending, providing a nice boost to his efficiency at both.

Loki knows his limitations, however. He is not one to stand toe to toe with his opponents and instead favors distance. The Giant’s Blood Team Tactic Card highlights this by giving him an escape when enemies close in on him. This card is played reactively to an enemy ending a movement within Range 2 of him. All enemy characters within Range 2 gain the Slow and Root special conditions and Loki is Placed within Range 5! This massive teleport before an enemy could even declare an attack is sure to confound enemies. It does have one additional cost to keep in mind: Loki Laufeyson (yes, this card uses his alter ego so it works for both versions of Loki) will drop any objective tokens he is carrying.

Loki is also known for making deals with his wary or desperate allies. The Trickster’s Boon Team Tactic Card does this by granting a non-Asgard allied character 5 Power in exchange for a promise to Daze or KO a chosen enemy character. Should the allied character be successful, Loki’s player will gain 1 VP. Should they fail, the opponent will gain 1 VP and the allied character will lose all of its Power—and Loki, Prince of Lies will gain that Power.

Our introduction to Loki, Prince of Lies and Thor, Hero of Midgard is complete. Hopefully Thor can break through the illusions to reveal the truth of Loki’s deception to all of Asgard! These two characters release as part of the upcoming Asgard Affiliation box alongside The Mighty Thor and Lady Sif. Check back later for another From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your Asgard Affiliation Box at your local game store or through the webstore today!