Review of Black Panther (Shuri) Hero In Marvel Champions
I have finally been able to play the new hero in Marvel Champions, and I have a lot of thoughts about Black Panther (Shuri).
Shuri’s Identity Cards & Kit
Shuri comes with a fairly average stat arrangement. Her counterpart, T’Challa, has a straight 2-2-2 stat line with a 4 recovery and 11 hit points. It’s interesting, then, that they chose to downgrade Shuri to 1 in ATK, when they otherwise can do many of the same things. T’Challa also has the Retaliate 1, which Shuri does not.
Where Shuri differs, however, is that her upgrades can be used every time she uses a basic power, and they can be discarded to give them better effects. Most of the time, you will likely want to keep the upgrades out, but that is not always true.
For instance, when Shuri defends, she could trigger her Spider Bites to deal out some damage and stun each enemy you damaged. This could negate the villain’s next turn and some of the minions. However, this also means that Shuri will have to flip between Hero and Alter-Ego a lot to keep her identity-specific upgrades in play.
I did find that Shuri could feel fairly vulnerable, as she takes a lot of damage. She doesn’t want her ally to defend for her, as T’Challa is very valuable. However, Queen Ramonda can do some heavy lifting at keeping Shuri alive, just like Aunt May, and combined with The Elephant’s Trunk, you can have some very hefty hands full of cards.
Aja-Adanna is one of the best cards for her, and you should prioritize this if you come across it. Do not underestimate it. Without Aja-Adanna, you will have a very difficult time getting your upgrades back. Otherwise, Shuri has some nice Vibranium resources and some decent events to play. None of them feel spectacular, and her Wakanda Forever! only has 1 copy to T’Challa’s 4, making Aja-Adanna even better.
The biggest piece of Shuri’s kit from the hero pack is the Dora Milaje package featuring Okoye, Ayo, and Aneka and their Support. This is a really fun package, particularly in something like Leadership where it can be very easy to boost their stats. I could see this being played in either T’Challa or Shuri, but I could also see it in someone like Maria Hill Leadership, especially since they would all be considered SHIELD as well.
The Dora Milaje Package in Marvel Champions
The fact that you have to trigger the abilities on a different Dora Milaje does make it hard to setup, but the payoff is pretty high if you do. In one game, I had a 5-5 Okoye ready and raring to go. That said, if you’re looking to race the villain, this is not the package for you. This is for the long game.
Playtesting Shuri
I did find Shuri somewhat vulnerable in most aspects, as she would have to do most of the defending for herself. This can trigger her upgrades, so it’s not a bad thing. And you want to do a lot of flipping back and forth with her anyway, but it did lead to frustration when trying to figure her out.
That said, once set up, Shuri can do some pretty big things. I was able to pull off some big plays, like doing 20 or so damage in one turn and clearing off some side schemes. It helps if you have another hero around who can do some of the work as well. Shuri may not be quite up there with Doctor Strange and Black Widow just yet, but she’s got an A-game.
I did want playing her in combination with T’Challa to feel better than it did. Queen Ramonda is certainly a big boon, but Heart of the Panther does not trigger for both of them when played. If T’Challa already has all four of his upgrades out, he has no reason to play it over a Wakanda Forever! It is slightly better in Shuri because it can get her upgrades back, but I wanted it to feel much more epic.
That said, playing her with Iron Man is a whole different ball game. Stark Tower is amazing for her. Tony does have to be down to use it, but when it works, it works.
Shuri Justice
This has some potential. She can keep the villain confused a fair amount, and she can boost up her allies and stay in Alter Ego a bit more with this aspect. I wasn’t sure about some of the cards that came in her pack, at least to be used with her, but the tech cards do work. I think the problem is that Black Widow can use Prism Dust better and get it back faster, but it doesn’t feel bad to play them with Shuri.
And, some of them can keep her alive without her having to defend. The biggest issue is that threat often seems to be more prominent problem than damage most of the time, and I don’t really like the cards that make the villain scheme instead of attack such as Invisibility Gear, unless they are already confused. That said, I think Shuri can use Sonic Rifle better than anyone else, and she can play it for just 1 resource in Alter Ego. Altogether, not a bad aspect for Shuri.
Shuri Aggression
I didn’t do a lot of playtesting with this one, but Hand Cannon is currently the only tech card in Aggression and it’s just not good enough for Shuri, particularly when she has to defend for herself so much. She already only has a 1 ATK, and as often as she has to defend, it just doesn’t feel as good. That said, anyone who can run Ingenuity can run a good Honed Technique deck, so if you do go Aggression, forget the tech, go event heavy, and take advantage of the mental resource always at your fingertips.
Shuri Leadership
This is where I spent a lot of time playtesting. It felt pretty good, and it was the easiest way to get the Dora Milaje trio setup and working in high gear. Lead From The Front is great with the trio, and the ally upgrades are crucial to keeping them in play. I loved running Team Training and Med Lab, which let me get them back as soon as possible to keep the synergy going if one of them did get taken out. You can also grab Triskelion to keep Black Panther (T’Challa) in play as well.
Alternatively, a Sidekick deck for T’Challa works very well, as you can keep healing and readying. Going that route, you might want some chump blockers to help you out, but it’s entirely feasible and a very fun way to run Shuri. Do include the Med Lab, though. You don’t want T’Challa shuffled back into the deck.
Shuri Protection
This is where I think Shuri shines. There are, comparatively, many tech upgrades in Protection. And you can do some pretty great things with a Repurpose, lots of tech, and nearly no events. It’s a very different Protection build, but I had nearly 21 cards on the table at the end of this playtesting session, and more in my hands. The Energy Shield was actually quite good. Throwing a Repurpose down with the Energy Shield to ready, even for a +0, was a good way of getting Shuri back up to do some shenanigans after playing a tech card or defending.
I would also heavily suggest playing the Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz supports. Even though Shuri isn’t SHIELD, they are well worth the investment if you can get them on the table. Simmons I would say is more important, but Fitz can get tech cards in your hands, including those Black Panther upgrades that Aja-Adanna shuffles back in.
While Protection players don’t often spend a lot of time in Alter Ego, with the amount of ways to Stun and Confuse enemies, flipping back and forth doesn’t feel bad, and the new Preparation, Ready for a Fight, is great here. I’d also heavily recommend Change of Fortune, as Shuri can very easily take out some minions during the villain phase. To see my deck, click here.
The Shuri Wrap Up
While I feel like it took awhile to really find my stride with Shuri, and admittedly she hasn’t broken into my top 5, I do very much like her and will play her again. And she, like Black Widow, could get much better over time depending on how many Wakanda and tech cards get added to the game. I will be reviewing Silk next, so stay tuned to see my thoughts on the new Web-Warrior!
