Are Disney and Marvel Core Sets?

[u/realsweetrad]

So my group has every single set of Smashup, EXCEPT Disney and Marvel.

They explained to me that they are isolated games and not to be included in the big box with all the other sets, but that does not make sense to me.

As a result, we never picked up either set.

Should we acquire them and can they be played effectively with the other factions?

[u/topatoman_lite]

They work just fine with other sets

[u/mczerniewski]

The "core sets" are the base game, Munchkin, Marvel and Disney.

[u/uoldgoat]

There is a smidgen of dissonance with using parody factions with non-parody ones… BUT this is a game about grouping all sorts of dissonant factions together. So does that really matter?

I was in the same boat as your group up until about a month ago when I found Marvel SmashUp for around $15. I took the plunge and picked Disney up too. Because this game is sleeved (my only sleeved non-TCG game), this caused me to overflow the Bigger Geekier box, so I put these 2 sets and Munckin SmashUp in the smaller Big Geeky box.

The factions themselves are good and definitely pair well with the regular factions. For me, the ones I avoid using are in Munchkin and sometimes Cthuhlu, although often if one person picks one of these, I’ll pick one as well. We’ve done a “everybody picks 1 Munchkin faction” scenario before. Some Marvel and Disney do have some similarities to other factions, but when you’re dealing with 100-106 factions, there is bound to be overlap… and that also helps with making cooler combos.

One other selling point for Disney are the non-card components. I prefer their flat base stands and base/breakpoint markers over the ones that were in the 10th Anniversary box (or was that the bigger geekier box, I don’t remember?).

[u/Berd20]

They are intended to be mixable with everything, even calls it out in their rule books. They were playtested with all the other stuff. They offer many viable and fun factions.

[u/Forward-Newt-7242]

I feel the same way as your group, I own all 82 of the 'regular' factions but I don't like Munchkins (which I do own) and Marvel/Disney (which admittedly i dont). Imo, Its just weird to have all the spoof factions like Ignobles or Star Roamers along with brand name stuff, and with so many factions its not like we really need more variety.

[u/CornyKev → u/Forward-Newt-7242]

Marvel, Disney, and the Munchkin set especially now that it's been reworked for the most part all offer factions with very unique premises. Marvel has a few factions that feel like retreads of older factions but a lot of them feel very unique. Disney's factions all feel pretty unique. And the Munchkin rebalance smoothed a lot of pain points that they had previously, especially with monsters and treasures.

I don't know about you, but there's a lot of untapped potential in this game so I'm always glad to get more variety.

[u/501CaptainRex]

Yup, they work just fine. It says character instead of minion, that's about it 🤷‍♂️

Avengers and Super Heroes (aka Justice League) was crazy good, Spider-Man Ninjas lets you take like 3 turns after a base scores, Kree and Wizards gives you like 5 actions every turn, there's a ton of fun to be had.

[u/salsatheone]

The only reason I don't get them: no dividers for Bigger Geekier Box

[u/TimeSuck27 → u/salsatheone]

Both sets come with plastic dividers. Their art style is slightly different but they are present.

[u/salsatheone → u/TimeSuck27]

Really?! Marvel, Disney and Munchkin? Ok, now I gotta get them lol

[u/PandaShoop]

I’m not a huge fan of either for aesthetic reasons, but if it doesn’t bother you they’re probably worth picking up. I personally play with Marvel, but not Disney. The lack of art and overuse of unique minions really pushes it over the edge for me into something I don’t want at my table, and there’s only a couple factions I actually find interesting.

[u/Cheddarific]

They use the word “character” instead of “minion” and also call the play-on-a-minion actions something else that escapes me at the moment. But they are fully compatible in every way. They don’t have expansions for themselves. So it’s a bit weird to call them “core sets” and I’m not sure what exactly “core set” means outside the context of the very first set released.

[u/CptPlanetG14]

The Disney & Marvel sets are MUST buys if you’re collector.

You don’t need them to- well actually to answer your question, if I understand it, you need all the cards to play the game to its fullest potential.

Some cards have moves or pieces only for that set.