My Hero Academia: Girl Power Card Mechanics
Hi folks! I’m Matt Smith, a senior Game Designer for Universus! Our seventh set for My Hero Academia, “Girl Power!”, is fast approaching. This was the first set I worked on after joining the UVS games team, and while I didn’t have a huge impact while I was learning the ropes, I’ve found a lot in the set to be excited about.
Deflect
Firstly, we have a brand new keyword ability introduced with Girl Power, Deflect!
In dire circumstances when you don’t quite have the resources to block, you can use a card’s Deflect ability from your hand to reduce the damage you would take from an attack. This won’t require any checks or committing, so it can be a reliable bit of defense at the end of a rival’s attack string. Just keep in mind that using a Deflect ability will add to your card pool and further increase your progressive difficulty, so don’t get too trigger happy if you have plans to block later in the turn.
Among the cards in Girl Power you’ll find your typical support for various attack types and strategies (there is a kick card in particular I love to play), but there are a few specific mechanics we chose to lean on in the set.
Keyword support
You’ll find a number of cards in the set, from Characters, to Attacks, Foundations, and even an Asset that supports your use of a variety of Keywords.
Counting keywords might sound like a lot of work, but just think of the variety of options you’ll have with a deck packed with so many abilities!
Revealing cards from hand
You’ll find a few different effects that capitalize on your ability to reveal cards.
You might be a bit wary about giving your plan away to your rival, but a mallet doesn’t get any lighter just because you know it’s coming!
Counting counters
Counters counters everywhere! Not exactly, we tried not to cause too big a mess this time. Between Kinoko and Pony you’ll find a few cards supporting an addiction to counter proliferation.
I’ve got my 3d printer working overtime to produce all the Mushroom counters I want to bury my rival’s stage in.
New tools for standard
Aside from some of the crossover mechanics we put in the set, you’ll find some very powerful individual effects to add to your toolbox.
Decay Awakened
A spiritual successor to “Self Destruct!” it’s been a while since we could cause this level of havoc in standard. Just knowing such a powerful effect is out there should do its job to keep players from leaning too heavily on oversized stages.
Big Fist Bash
For fans of Breaker, we have quite a gift for you. Big Fist Bash sports a Breaker value of 3! This is the highest Universus has seen in years, let alone the MHA format. As a +3 mid block you can expect this to be a very potent defensive trick to turn the tempo your way.
Resistance Training
For players who like to draw cards we have Resistance Training. They may not be coming at the most opportune time, but a Foundation that lets you draw 7 cards has to have something broken going on, right?
Gigantification Swing
Lastly, we’ve got a real home run. With a handful of keywords and resource symbols, Gigantification Swing is leadoff hitter in a variety of decks. When it does its job, it does it well, helping you to play the rest of your attacks with extra grease. The response ability is deceptively potent, think of it like a +2 speed modifier that, should your rival decline to block, just keeps carrying on to the next attack.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief look into some of the treasures you can find in Girl Power! Believe me, there is plenty more where these came from.
My Hero Academia: Girl Power releases on May 17th, 2024.
You can preorder My Hero Academia: Girl Power now at your local game store! To find a store carrying UniVersus near you, use the store locator on our UGN.
Talk to your LGS about signing up for the May 10th prerelease events as well, where you can gain access to the product and play in sealed events one week before the set releases! In addition, every Prerelease kit will include a random alternate art Ultra Rare or alternate art Character Card!
You can also use our event finder to locate Girl Power Prerelease events near you!