The new starter sets for the X-Men and Spider-Foes are slated to arrive this Friday for Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
When the new Marvel: Crisis Protocol Starter Sets were announced, I was pretty excited. They were slated for a release earlier this year but their arrival got delayed. That said, they are now slated for a December 5, 2025 release. Which is actually this Friday at the time of posting! So that’s exciting news. However, this also got me thinking: What should you get next?
X-Men Starter Set & Next Steps
What we know about the X-Men Starter Set so far is that it’s a steal of deal. It’s got plenty of characters in this set where you can play both X-Men or Brotherhood of Mutants AND you’ve even got two leaders for BOTH factions. Really, this is a great way to play these Affiliations and experiment. And, because you’ll get the dice and measuring tools, you don’t need to buy the Earth’s Mightiest Core Set (although that’s still a good purchase).
So, if I were looking to get into the X-Men/Brotherhood, what would I want to add? Plenty! The biggest problem right now is what’s on backorder, what’s available now, and what’s on pre-order. Set’s like Xavier’s Students Affiliation Pack (for example) is slated for a January 2026 release. That’s a great next step! But it’s a month out. Phoenix & Phoenix Unleashed is a newer kit and it’s the X-Men’s threat 6 character; She’s a bit of a power house. That’s not a bad option either.
There’s also all the kits coming that are repacks of previous kits. Many were announced during the Ministravaganza 2026. So that’s yet another couple of Affiliation Packs that could be worth waiting on, too. These packs are logical next steps for both X-Men and the Brotherhood Affiliations. But if you’re like me, then waiting isn’t part of the fun.
Unfortunately, the only packs that are realistically going to be available from Asmodee directly are Professor X & Shadow King and the Avalanche, Exodus & Lady Mastermind kits. Honestly, those are still good pick-ups. Your other option is to check your FLGS and see what they still have on the shelf. Your next step could just be picking up any kits they have for the X-Men or Brotherhood right there!
Spider-Foes Starter Set & Next Steps
As far as the Spider-Foes Starter Set, I’ve actually already written up an entire guide about their next steps already. The short answer here is that there’s a LOT of cross-over between the Spider-Foes and the Criminal Syndicate. So that’s a great Affiliation Pack to snag, too.
Other than that, you probably also want to snag a Doc Ock (or both). The Core Sets are your best bet to get him and also snag characters you might not have already.
A Final Note
One last thing for newer players to Marvel: Crisis Protocol: Don’t be afraid to run non-affiliated characters. One of the best parts about this game is that you can just toss in whatever character you want with the list and the game still works. The Squad rules are very simple in that regard. Do you want to have Captain America in your Spider-Foes list? Guess what: you can do that. Make-up whatever head canon you need for that to work out, but it’s still legal in terms of list/squad construction.
Team-ups happen all the time in the comics. There’s a lot of room to play around with that on the tabletop. So have fun with it and don’t be afraid to experiment. Especially while you’re waiting for some of those out of stock characters to come back…
Pick your All-Star roster of characters and have fun with some MCP!
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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