The Big Apple
New York at night was a ledger with too many open tabs: synth hum of heating vents, neon reflections like bruises on wet asphalt, the smell of cheap coffee and leftover rain.
By now, everyone knows that when supervillains plot to take over the world, they start in one of the 5 boroughs of New York. But it’s never just one villain–New York is filled with criminals and dangers of all shapes and sizes. There is a gang war afoot, and it is up to you to slow down the deliveries of weapons entering the city. But there is a shadow hanging over the city. Watching. And hunting.
Find out who is responsible and stop them before the city descends into chaos!
The MC/DC team is proud to share The Big Apple, our first-ever fully playable custom scenario for Marvel Champions: The Card Game.
This scenario takes place across the streets and rooftops of New York, as the heroes battle in different locations to counter the threats standing in their way. Get ready as we dive into this first look at The Big Apple!
Locations
The Big Apple introduces players to a new card type: locations. These cards exist on the table permanently, arranged to form a layout of New York City that you navigate throughout the scenario. Since THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS, players will have to be extra careful how they move through the boroughs.
The first main scheme, GANG WAR, provides instructions on how to set up the scenario. We will get to the capos and leads later on, but for now let’s focus on the map. New York City is divided into 9 location cards (or 12 with the optional Uptown Expansion) that the heroes traverse during the scenario to complete investigations and take down the crime boss.
Each hero is represented on the map by a token, which can be moved to adjacent (not diagonal) locations by exhausting a character that player controls, or spending a resource of any kind. Location abilities only apply to the player at that location.
Each location provides either a static effect or an action you can take, which highlights the distinct flavor of the various locales across New York City. Starting in MIDTOWN, players plot a course to wherever their investigations lead them. Will you want to travel to HELL’S KITCHEN to find out what the Devil is doing, or visit the Sanctum Sanctorum in the WEST VILLAGE?
Each location can also have other cards that attach to it. The heroes may encounter MUSE as he leaves his macabre art throughout the boroughs, and with the gang war in full swing, they can expect the occasional SHOOTOUT or other incidents to cope with. There will be plenty of opportunities to interact with the city in the form of colorful characters, emergencies, and threats that require your attention.
Further dividing the city, each row of locations represents a capo’s turf. Players cannot interact with other players who are not located in the same turf. That includes sharing resources (like Helicarrier), interacting with minions engaged with other players, or helping to defend attacks.
In The Big Apple, heroes must plan their moves carefully and work together more than ever.
Capos
In the escalating gang war, you’ll face off against the capos in their respective turf. These capos each have two sides, depending on the desired difficulty that you want for the game.
Capos are the villains of The Big Apple, and 3 (or 4 if playing with the optional Uptown Expansion) of them will be randomly selected at the start of the game to determine who you will fight throughout the scenario. RINGMASTER will attempt to mind control you in order to stop you, while LADY YULAN uses her vampiric powers to bleed your deck dry. Will you be able to stop them from taking control of the city?
Each time a capo is defeated their health is reset, meaning you can’t win the scenario by defeating the villain until you have uncovered the source of the weapons. You will have to advance the scenario by investigating the source of the weapons that are coming into the city and escalating the violence of the gang war.
To discover who the GUNRUNNER is, you must follow the leads and see where the investigation takes you.
Leads
The main reason you will be traversing the city is to uncover clues about who is responsible for the illicit arms making their way through the streets of New York City. This is done with a new type of obligation introduced by The Big Apple: leads.
To conduct the investigation, heroes use leads randomly drawn from the leads deck. Some leads will be a WALK IN THE PARK. Others will be more demanding, like stopping a BAR FIGHT AT JOSIE’S. Regardless, you must travel to specific locations all over the city to investigate these leads.
You control one lead at a time, which has instructions for how to complete it. The heroes must work together to complete their leads to advance the scenario. But be careful! The investigation may turn up a RED HERRING, which will delay your progress.
Alongside investigating leads, each capo will need to be dealt with, so the heroes have a lot of responsibilities to juggle throughout The Big Apple.
Join us at MC/DC to Explore the Big Apple
The MC/DC team will have more information to reveal about the scenarios and cards in the future, including the Uptown Expansion for The Big Apple, custom mod sets, and another fully playable scenario that we are excited to show off!
MC/DC will be held on October 16-18, 2026 at Huzzah Hobbies in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC. Buy tickets or visit our free Patreon to subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest updates emailed to you whenever we have something to share!
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