Unmatched: Deadpool by Mondo Games and Restoration Games
Price: ~$18.00
Players: 2 to 4 (with the necessary base game, not included)
Playtime: 20-40 minutes
Perfect for: Players who enjoy asymmetrical balanced dueling games, incredible art, and the Marvel merc with a mouth.
Unmatched: Deadpool unleashes a new character into the game of strategic combat! With this standalone character expansion within the Unmatched series, individuals can now play as Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. This antihero, self-healing mutant is a mainstay in Marvel comics and cinematic lore as a wisecracking, unpredictable mercenary who follows his own rules. Now, it’s time for Deadpool to enter the fray with his own unique set of abilities and attacks.
It is important to know that Unmatched: Deadpool cannot be played without other Unmatched games—only the miniature and deck come in box, meaning a board and additional at least one character is needed to play. This review will only cover this expansion; the rules, gameplay style and structure of Unmatched are covered in other articles (some links to these have been embedded within).
RELATED: Tabletop Game Review – Unmatched: Cobble & Fog
The Deadpool character begins with 10 health, a move speed of 2, melee attacks, and flying solo (no sidekick). His special ability (appropriate to his comics-established mutant healing factor) is to regain 1 health after any attack. What makes Deadpool interesting is his unpredictability. Those familiar with the Unmatched game system likely recognize a certain balance and general each fighter’s deck has. Deadpool on the other hand can suddenly make melee attacks, teleport, and deal random amounts of damage provided the player has the appropriate cards.
What is notable about Unmatched: Deadpool is the art and creativity. Unlike other character decks, literally every single card for Deadpool is different with incredible design qualities. Some feature recreations of comic book panels, others mimic previous Unmatched character cards, and a few even recreate “real world” items such as credit and metro cards, receipts, and identification badges. The amount of detail and care that went into the creation of the deck is fantastic and definitely contributes to the experience and enjoyable factor. For lifelong Deadpool fans, this expansion will make them proud.
Players who take a careful, strategic approach to Unmatched may find the Deadpool character a bit frustrating. Low health coupled with wild variance in the cards make his attack style a bit more (purposely) frantic and random—individuals could find themselves at a loss without the right draws. For example, the character of Medusa from Legends Vol. 1 has an attack card called Gaze of Stone which does 2 damage plus an additional 8 if they win combat. So theoretically, if Deadpool does not have (or play) a defense card when this gets deployed by an opponent, the player could instantly lose despite having full health. To be fair, this situation might have been known to developers who ironically gave Deadpool an identical Gaze of Stone card for his deck.
Deadpool is another solid entry in the Unmatched franchise with the character adding some real spice to the proceedings. While his game style will likely be a bit divisive, his inclusion will undoubtedly keep things very interesting and definitely cause at least few laughs along the way.
Recommended if you like: Unmatched (previous entries), Heroscape, Star Wars: Epic Duels
Final Grade: A-
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