Is the Marvel WOH What If? Venom Card Unreasonably Priced?

As Marvel War of Heroes starts to dwindle in popularity, the prices of cards continue to increase. The ridiculousness of some of the values of the cards leaves one wondering if, to keep up, they need to sell a organ or dip into life savings. The values of some cards can go all the way up to over $1,000 and the end of the card game is nowhere in sight. A few months ago they introduced a new level of cards called Ultra Legendary, which made the regular market plummet but the ceiling for prices increase.

Also with the addition of Odin Decrees, regular cards can be boosted to new attack/defense levels but leaves the chance of theft high because you cannot trade these boosters and are forced to trade your card to a sometimes unknown seller for them to boost your card for you. The company who created the app for smartphones, Mobage, is usually not known for being very customer-friendly, but is innovative in the ways of business. With prices ever increasing, this makes it very difficult to acquire desired cards. Two new cards in particular, What If? Spider-Man and What If? Venom, are the new releases in the card pack known as What If? These new cards seem to be every symbiote geek's who play the game fantasy, but is the price point on these cards hurting Mobage or embracing the business for them?

Leg+ What If? Venom

Leg+ What If? Spider-Man

The two new cards vary in price due to their rarity. The new What If? Spider-Man is valued around 1200 Power Packs—the currency used outside of card packs in Marvel WOH—and this roughly translates to around $240. The What If? Venom is so hard to find that I could not even find an official price point for it, but it is well over the 3k mark of Power Packs—or $630 dollars. These cards leave the average player high and dry. Hoping and wishing for an incredible pull in a free ultimate card pack is almost futile as the drop rates are low. These cards seem mythical, but who really decides the price points? No one knows, but the people willing to pay these high prices for a digital card with no physical copy leave us stuck in these high markets.

Let's give an example. Building my dream deck in the game with only 5 characters I like in comics would cost:
SS Venom-Villain boost - 650pp
M Magneto-Villain boost -1200pp
PIC Juggernaut-Villain boost -550pp
AN Dr. Doom-Villain boost - 650pp (roughly guessing)
Uleg Ck Thanos- Villain boost - 3500pp

This deck would cost me a total of 6550pp, or $1375.50. (based off $0.21 per Power Pack)
To those with the wealth to spend this much on a cyber card deck, congratulations; but to the common working class, this seems impossible.

What are your opinions on Marvel WOH? Which symbiote cards do you play with, and which ones are you willing to pay for? Let us know in the comments section below and don't forget to follow A Dose of Venom for new content every Friday. Also, if you're looking to get a free Marvel Legends Agent Venom action figure, check out our Symbiotic Holiday Giveaway and enter for a chance to win before November 30, 2014!

The Amazing Carnage-Man Part 1

Ever since the red symbiotic psychopath returned from his extended vacation in space, Carnage has been pretty busy in the comic world with multiple miniseries and appearances. The most recent event we find Cletus Kasady being tangled up in is AXIS. Marvel has gotten a lot of flak from fans with their overuse of huge events like this as of late, but since Carnage is involved, I felt pretty obligated to check it out, so let's discuss what Kasady and his symbiote pal have gotten themselves into now. Carnage makes his first appearance at the end of AXIS #2 with Magneto and his team of baddies (and Deadpool), but Magneto #11 elaborates on just what the heck Cletus is doing playing team-up. Right off the heels of Deadpool vs. Carnage, Magneto finds Carnage sulking about how chaos is nothing but lies, but Magneto convinces him to join his team of villains to defeat Red Skull because what would be more random for Carnage than becoming a hero?

The action picks up in AXIS #3 with Cletus joining villains like Jack O' Lantern, Hobgoblin, and Absorbing Man in an attempt to take down Red Onslaught and two giant, adamantium Sentinels that are programmed to target heroes, giving the team an edge. There's some funny banter between the villains who at a second's notice would be at each other's necks if it weren't for the colossal Nazi clone with the brain of a telepathic mutant trying to take over the world. All seems to be going well until Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch cast a spell that is intended to bring Xavier's consciousness over Red Skull's with the spell covering all of Genosha. And that is how we get to Carnage's most recent miniseries, AXIS: Carnage. The interior art is done by Germán Peralta and Rain Beredo, and the story is written by Rick Spears who (I remember from an interview) had stated that he does not like writing serial killers, so I thought of him being a writer for a Carnage book of all things an odd choice, but that was before I had known how brilliant and hilarious the book would be.

Sometime after the spell is cast on Genosha, Carnage and Deadpool give a disturbing, out-of-character friendly greeting to each other in Deadpool #36 before Carnage returns to New York for the miniseries' first issue. Without wanting to give away too much of the story's plot, Cletus has been affected by the spell and is now forced to be a hero, but focuses his homicidal urges to serving justice—something very reminiscent of Venom in Venom: Lethal Protector. The premise alone is a funny concept that breathes new life into a character that many people consider a painful relic of the '90s or a one-trick killer pony with no character depth, granted these are some traits that I and a multitude of others like about the character, but I'm not here to judge. The story also introduces an all new Sin-Eater—the villain that indirectly created Venom—who has a much more literal and spooky side to him now. All in all, AXIS: Carnage #1 is a gory, fun, and entertaining read that Carnage fans are sure to enjoy, but even if you aren't a Carnage fan, this issue might win you over to “Carnage-Man.” Be sure to join me next time where I catch you up on all the carnage going on in AXIS and AXIS: Carnage #2!



What were your thoughts of the inverted Carnage? Would you mind seeing him being a hero for a while longer after AXIS? Let us know in the comments section below, and keep following A Dose of Venom for new doses every Friday!

Symbiotic Holiday Giveaway *UPDATED*

UPDATE: Participants now need to answer within 70% to 100% accuracy on the questionnaire to qualify for the drawing! See below for details.

Seasons greetings and happy holidays, fellow Venomaniacs! It's that special time of the year again when everyone is gearing up for the coming winter holidays and to celebrate, The Venom Site and A Dose of Venom is hosting a special giveaway in the spirit of giving back to our loyal and most fanatic followers.

We're not called "The Venom Site" for nothing, so what will you be competing for? How about one of the hottest symbiotic toys of 2014? That's right, we're talking about the Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends Infinite Agent Venom action figure from Hasbro!

This is the latest installment of Marvel's super-posable symbiote action figures and Agent Venom's second action figure after the highly popular Marvel Select Venom (Flash Thompson) figure from Diamond Select Toys. This action figure scales perfectly against its Marvel Legends brethren from the same Ultimate Green Goblin BAF (Build-a-Figure) series: Carnage and Eddie Brock as Toxin (both called "Spawn of Symbiotes" on their respective packaging, with Toxin as a variant chase to Carnage). Agent Venom was sold exclusively at Walgreens, putting him in high demand among collectors.

Carnage figure possesses custom painting.

The figure features four weapons including three pistols and a small machine gun, and a detachable four-tendril back piece, which has three weapon-holding hands to add to the base figure's two weapon-holding hands. The posability on this figure surpasses its Marvel Select predecessor despite its smaller stature, which gives it a higher range of flexibility in display.

Marvel Select Agent Venom (left, possesses custom painting) vs.
Marvel Legends Infinite Agent Venom (right)

One winner will receive this must-have action figure mint-in-box along with a super secret complimentary gift provided by A Dose of Venom Lead Editor himself, Orion "STARB0Y" Petitclerc (yours truly). So how can you get your hands on these awesome gifts? Well, you'll have to have your knowledge of symbiotes tested, of course!

Below, you'll find a link to a Google Forms survey, where you'll have to complete a trivia questionnaire. The questions will range in difficulty from beginner to advanced, so make sure you're current on your general symbiote history and canon! Fill out the survey completely including your full name (real name only), mailing address (not a PO box; US and Canada residents only), and contact information to enter the giveaway. (All private information will not be shared and will remain confidential. Please provide accurate information, as it is vital for delivering your prizes in the event that you are the winner.) You must complete the entire questionnaire within 70% to 100% accuracy of answers to qualify for the drawing. A qualifying winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted upon the final decision to verify the validity of his/her contact information. All expenses will be paid for by the giveaway host; no entry fees are required to qualify. One entry per person. The winning entrant will be announced here on A Dose of Venom shortly following the end of the giveaway period: November 7, 2014 through November 30, 2014. Please submit your questionnaire answers by the end date to qualify.

Take the trivia questionnaire here!

Happy holidays, and good luck! Don't forget to check back at A Dose of Venom every Friday for new content, and follow The Venom Site for all of your symbiote news, reviews, and point-of-views!