👑 Inhumans Are Back—And Smarter Than Ever
With the release of the Inhuman Royal Court box, we’ve seen a fresh wave of Inhuman rosters hit the table—and some are already making a serious splash.
One list rising to the top is a scenario-first, extract-based team that leverages Black Bolt’s leadership for an explosive Round 1. The goal? Get ahead fast, and end the game before your opponent can catch up.
Scenario-based Inhuman builds aren’t entirely new—but they used to struggle. Attrition teams on E-shapes and control-heavy wide scenarios could shut them down. Plus, most Inhuman lists leaned hard into powering up brawlers and sending them in swinging.
📉 Meta Shifts = New Opportunities
This year, the tides have turned:
- 🚫 E-shapes are out.
- ⚡ Thor 2 (everyone’s favorite storm god of chaos) has been toned down.
- 🛠️ New tools have arrived to help in the control matchup.
It’s the perfect moment for Inhumans to pivot from brute force to brainy scenario play—and they’re doing it well.
So let’s break down what makes this scenario roster tick, explore the core components, and show you how to make it sing.
🧩Core Pieces of the Inhuman Scenario Engine
If you’re looking to run Inhumans as a scenario-first team, there are three essential tools you’ll want in your kit:
👑 Black Bolt — King of the Inhumans
Black Bolt’s leadership lets you shift 1 power between characters each turn—a deceptively strong ability that enables flexible, optimized early turns. Power up a key piece exactly when you need it.
But don’t sleep on the King himself:
- 🛡️ Cheap bodyguard? Check.
- 💥 Explosive dazed-side damage? Absolutely.
- 🔒 Extract holder protector? Yep, he can scare off attackers just by existing.
⚡ Quicksilver — The Sneaky Snatcher
Quicksilver is a Long mover with extract game baked into his kit.
- With just 2 power, he can zip across the board (thanks to Speedster) opening up extracts your opponent thought were safe.
- Leveraging the leadership and an available power source, he can advance deep, grab an extract, and still retreat to safety.
Perfect for high-risk, high-reward extract plays on Turn 1.
☣️ Terrigenesis — Score While You Strike
This team tactics card is your secret VP weapon.
- 🎯 Target an enemy holding a Civilian.
- 🎲 Roll 4 dice—each Hit, Crit, or Wild = 1 damage.
- 💣 On average, that’s 2 damage—more than enough to finish off many squishy extract runners.
- 🏆 If you Daze or KO them? Score 2 VPs instantly.
It’s like a spike play that can cause a 4VP swing. Line it up right, and you’re punishing extract holders and racing the scoreboard.
🧩 Core Crisis — Pick Your Battlefield
To make this engine hum, you want Civilian Extracts—especially ones that spawn tokens deep on your opponent’s side. That sets up your steal game and scores from Terrigenesis.
Here are two all-stars:
🕷️ Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan
👑 Unexpected Guests Crash Royal Wedding
- ✅ Both are Civilians
- ✅ Both spawn extracts in your opponent’s half
- ✅ Perfect for Turn 1 extract steals
This is where the Inhuman scenario plan really clicks into place.
🧠 The Round 1 Gameplan (With Priority)
Here’s how you open strong and set the pace early:
🔁 Turn 1:
- Grab your home or center extract
- Use Inhuman leadership to give Quicksilver +1 Power (he’s at 2)
🚀 Turn 2:
- Give Quicksilver +1 more Power (now at 3)
- Speedster toward the enemy-side extract (2 Power)
- Move + Pick Up + Retreat to safety
✅ Result: You’re holding 3–4 extracts, your opponent has 1
✅ If you match on secures, you’re already 2–3 VPs ahead by end of Round 1
That’s huge in a scenario-focused team.
⚠️ When the Plan Goes Sideways…
Not every opponent’s going to sit back and let you extract-race them.
- 🛑 They might block the steal lanes
- ⚔️ They might dive your extract holders
- 🎯 They might have control tools to push your pieces around
Later we’ll need contingency plans, tech picks, and counterplay options for when the race gets messy.
🧠 More Extracts — Max Out the Value
You’ve got two Civilian Extracts locked in. Now it’s time to round things out with a third that keeps your Terrigenesis threat live and plays nice with your steal game.
🔍 Option 1: Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership
- 4 Civilians spread across the midline
- Center Skrulls are offset toward each player
- Your home Skrull is easy to grab, and Quicksilver can steal theirs if they don’t move fast enough
- A strong pick for extract-focused teams
🧠 Option 2: Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators
- 6 Civilians along the midline
- Holding one reduces mobility (max 1 move per turn)
- Not ideal for Round 1 steals, but…
- 🧱 You can trap enemies mid-board for punishment
- Use tools like Lockjaw or The Great Refuge to leap in and strike from range
❌ Honorable Mention: Struggle for the Cube Continues
- Same shape as Spider-Infected
- Allows classic Quicksilver steals
- ❌ Not a Civilian Extract—no Terrigenesis
- ✅ Enables Can I Borrow That? plays
- ❗ But beware: Cubes deal damage every round, and Inhumans don’t love attrition. If you include this, you’re betting big on speed.
🛡️ Secure Picks — Supporting the Game Plan
With your Extract plan dialled in, it’s time to find Secures that don’t get in your way.
📌 Important:
- If you win Priority, you’re forcing Extracts—great!
- If you lose Priority, you’ll often get stuck with the Secures, so you want ones that won’t blow up your gameplan.
❌ Hard Pass on Pay-to-Flips
Inhumans typically spend Turn 1 power on mobility and steals—not flipping points. Also, Pay-to-Flips benefit teams like X-Men and Apocalypse, who are tough matchups already. Skip ‘em.
❌ Avoid Midline Brawls
Midline-heavy Secures encourage straight-up attrition fights—which is not where this Inhumans list thrives (let’s look at that in a future article!). You want to score around the edges, not slug it out with Red Skull or Logan.
✅ Solid Secure Choices
Here are your best bets:
🌌 Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth
- D-shape with back points for retreat and safety
- Push effect adds some disruption
- A+ for extract-heavy teams that want to avoid scrapping
💣 Deadline to Destruction
- Mini D-shape, but lets characters damage extract holders
- Risky—you hold a lot of extracts, so this can backfire
- Use with caution
🔋 Infinity Formula Goes Missing!
- Wide map with 2 flanks
- Extra power means more explosive plays
- ⚠️ But big power = big fights—could backfire if the opponent leans into aggression
💉 Riot Sparks Over Extremis 3.0
- D-shape again
- Healing helps your average-stamina Inhumans stay in the game
- Excellent for long-term sustain
🕵️ Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate
- Very wide = lots of scoring potential
- Cover helps your fragile characters survive
- Weak to wide, secure-savvy teams (e.g. Web Warriors, Criminals) but overall very solid
🧪 My Secure Picks
For my style of scenario-first Inhumans, I lean toward:
- 🌌 Cosmic Invasion
- 💉 Extremis
- 🕵️ Scoundrels
They give me options, safety, and flexibility across different matchups. But as always—experiment, test, and tune to your playstyle.
🧬 In-Faction Powerhouses
To get the most out of Black Bolt’s leadership, you need Inhumans who synergize with power passing, reward forward positioning, and provide real value on scenario.
Here are the standout picks:
🐶 Lockjaw — Marvel’s Best Boy
- Power battery when properly placed
- Can teleport allies Range 3, enabling safe grabs or counterpunches
- On Senators, he enables a line of threats to double-tap the midline or safely extract
- Also great for repositioning Black Bolt or Voodoo into devastating spots
🔑 If you want Round 1 tempo, Lockjaw delivers.
🧘 Karnak — The Silent Sentinel
- T1: Grab a back point + Meditate for more team power
- He anchors a secure with strong counter-threats
- Weak to ranged poke, but punishes anyone who tries to fight up close
📏 Efficient, defensive, and sneaky strong. Underrated gem.
🐘 Gorgon — The Muscle
- Comes with Charge, Taunt, and a Hulk-sized spender
- Tosses out conditions, helping control heavy beaters
- Best used to pressure D shapes or punch kaiju threats in the face
💥 When you need to push back, Gorgon hits like a truck.
🧠 Beast — Mr. Utility
- Can safely grab home Skrull
- Size 2 throws for 2 power = perfect secure clearing tool
- Gains power on Failures, making him decent if stuck on Pay-to-Flips (avoid Meteors)
🔄 Beast brings cheap displacement and decent mobility—great value.
🧪 Effective Splashes — Power-Scaling All-Stars
Splash characters are where Inhumans go from good to spicy. Use Black Bolt’s power passing to activate high-impact abilities early, giving you control over the board from Turn 1.
🧙♂️ Doctor Voodoo — The MVP Extract Denier
- No-action steal tied to opponent’s threat cost
- With 3–4 power on him, Voodoo can walk/teleport and steal an extract immediately
- Especially strong into Toad, the most common extract carrier (cost = 2!)
💡 With Quicksilver, Lockjaw, Toad, and Voodoo on board, it’s very possible to go +5 VPs Round 1. That’s game-warping pressure.
🧮 Needs ~9 power Turn 1 total:
- 3 for Quicksilver
- 4 for Voodoo
- 2 for home extract grabs
- Black Bolt + Lockjaw make that happen
🐸 Toad — The Gold Standard Grabber
- Incredibly mobile
- Can dive for rear extracts with good setup
- Even with 1 less health, can be hard to take down
- Versatile on any Crisis
📦 Still the best bang-for-buck extract piece.
🐱 Black Cat — The Slippery Threat
- Long move + 2-cost guaranteed Stagger = major disruption
- Great into attrition and Kaiju-style teams
- Extract steal is more telegraphed, but the survivability and utility are clutch
⚔️ If you expect a grind, Black Cat’s your counter.
🕸️ Spider-Man (Miles Morales) — The Tech Flex
- Mobile, durable, and disruptive
- Spender forces extract drops
- Throw trigger, defensive rerolls, and can swing into the midline with extra power
- Excellent into brawler teams and for teching against extract hoarders
🌐 One of the strongest 3-threats in the game, full stop.
🥊 Fighting Talk — What If They Just Want to Smash?
Let’s be real: not every game will go to plan.
Your Inhumans scenario plan is about going +2 or +3 VP on Round 1, then squeezing the game shut with mobility, positioning, and precision. But what happens when your opponent just wants to smash your squishy team off the board?
You’ll need to pivot into brawler mode—and here’s the toolkit for doing just that.
🧠 Maximus the Mad — Mystic Fortress
- Weak to Physical, but 5 Mystic Defense
- Range 3 bubble forces attackers to reroll
- Can advance activated enemies out of the fight (or into his spender)
- Mystic spender ignores rerolls and crit boosts
🧲 Ideal for turtling up or anchoring a back point—then diving forward for punishing Mystic output.
👊 Ms. Marvel — The Size Bully
- In Small form: throws + pushes Size 2
- In Big form: gets 2 rerolls vs Size 2 & 3—perfect against characters like Zemo or Nebula
- Solid Energy defense (4)
- Flexible mobility with transformation + Large base reach
📉 Most 3-threats can’t stand up to her reroll-fueled attacks for long. Punches well above her cost.
🔨 Ronan — The Vengeful Tank
- Throws, pushes, and a Stagger attack
- Excellent Energy defense + high health
- If KO’d or Dazed? He gets a free move and attack—choose violence, or just walk away and drop their extract out of reach
🦎 Lizard — Tough Extract Grabber
- Damage Reduction + Healing Factor
- Good Physical Defense
- Clean extract grabber with strong staying power
- Can contest and live longer than expected in enemy territory
🛡️ Not flashy—but incredibly durable and annoyingly hard to shift.
⚡ Beta Ray Bill — The Kaiju Controller
- Good defenses, damage reduction, and a massive throw
- Can displace big threats or clear space for your extract game
- Reliable attacks, just keep feeding him some power
🌩️ He thrives in the thick of things, keeping your scenario core safe from monsters.
🐉 Shang-Chi — Martial Artist Supreme
- Charge T1 with power support
- Amazing mobility + Martial Artist defense
- Built-in advance off attack = flexible repositioning
- Possible Stagger + huge damage ceiling into any threat
🧨 He plays the attrition game your way—mobile, fast, and hard-hitting.
🧟♂️ Frankenstein’s Monster — Zombie Beatstick
- Medium base + Charge = surprising reach
- Size 4 throw, cheap stagger, and self heal.
- Bodyguard-style TTC (Hideous Monster), and damage-scaling spender!
- Lots of health, but needs power to do everything
🧬 With Inhuman power-funneling, he goes from lumbering monster to tactical menace.
⚔️ Baron Zemo — The Classic
- Long move + Range 2 reroll aura
- Cheap Charge with amazing reliability
- Supports the entire turtle with rerolls, while also able to dive targets solo
🎯 Sometimes, you don’t need fancy. You just need efficient.
🔄 Flex Your Build, Don’t Get Stuck
The best Inhumans rosters pivot. Your gameplan is extract-focused, but when someone comes in swinging, you’ve got tech pieces that hold points, punch back, and keep your squad alive long enough to score out.
Mix and match the above into your 10. Try different combinations. Ask what threats you expect to see in your local or competitive meta—and come ready to trade blows.
🧠 Tactics Cards — Play Smarter, Not Harder
When you’re balancing power transfers, fragile extract runners, and high-risk steals, your Tactics Card (TTC) suite becomes your lifeline. In the current format, Inhumans have some great options available—both in-faction and generic.
Let’s lock in your core TTC package:
🏰 The Great Refuge — Table-Wide Repositioning
- Your leader spends power to place allies R3—as long as they’re not holding objectives
- Turn 1: enables impossible steals (Home Hammer anyone?)
- Late game: resets your board, lets you reassemble after displacement, or gives Black Bolt a perfect Whisper line
🧩 The card singlehandedly solves your worst weakness: being split, thrown, or isolated.
👑 Inhuman Royal Family — You Get a Reroll, and You Get a Reroll…
Pay 2 power → Each Inhuman who paid gets to Reroll Any Number of Die once this round
This card shines in high-stakes turns:
- Use it when you must daze a critical target
- Or when survival on a key secure means everything
- Turns Black Bolt into a killing machine for a round
💥 A great faction-wide buffs when you need it.
🌀 Recalibration Matrix — Control the Spike, Save the Day
Re-roll all attack/defense dice for both players
- Saves you from bad luck on critical turns
- Rescues a bad Whisper, or lets Karnak’s Spender get a second chance at being hilarious
- Extra brutal when combined with Teachings of Karnak
🎲 Not restricted, but feels like it should be.
📛 Restricted Picks
🧱 Brace for Impact — Live to Score Another Day
- One big throw can KO an extract holder or break a scoring chain
- With average health and defenses across the team, this is your defensive insurance policy
- Use it late when throws are most dangerous—don’t panic Round 1
💡 Consider it your “VP Protection Plan.”
🧍♂️➡️👑 Sacrifice — Not Today, Friend
- Redirects an attack targeting one of your vulnerable characters
- Fantastic for:
- Saving Black Bolt
- Shielding extract carriers when Black Bolt is elsewhere
- Tankier options like Frankenstein or Karnak are ideal soak targets
🔙 Bonus Utility Pick
🚶♂️💨 Fall Back — Deny the Double Tap
- Especially useful into high-activation, high-compression teams
- Keeps extract holders alive just long enough to survive
- Turns a likely daze into a safety retreat
🧯 Might only buy you one round—but that’s all you need to stay ahead in the race.
🧩 Final TTC Thoughts
You’ll want to round out the remaining slots depending on your meta and splash characters, but this core gets you:
✅ Scenario control
✅ Spike protection
✅ Surprise movement
✅ Clutch rerolls
✅ Flexibility in crisis play
Your Inhumans may not out-brawl the top attrition teams—but with the right cards, they won’t need to.
🧬 Final Thoughts – Two Inhuman Lists
Version 1 (Skrulls):
Characters (10)
- Black Bolt (5)
- Maximus the Mad (4)
Frankenstein‘s Monster (4)
Doctor Voodoo (4)
Quicksilver (3)
Karnak (3)
Gorgon (3)
Beast (3)
Black Cat (3)
Toad (2)
Team Tactics (10)
Terrigenesis
Attilan Rising
Inhuman Royal Family
The Great Refuge
Can I Borrow That?
Hideous Monster
Recalibration Matrix
Royal Guardians
Sacrifice (R)
Brace for Impact (R)
Secure Crisis
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate (F, 20)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Extract Crisis
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Unexpected Guests Crash Royal Wedding (N, 17)
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (F, 17)
Version 2 (Senators):
Characters (10)
- Black Bolt (5)
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Doctor Voodoo (4)
Gorgon (3)
Quicksilver (3)
Karnak (3)
Beast (3)
Lockjaw (3) - Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Toad (2)
Team Tactics (10)
Terrigenesis
The Great Refuge
Can I Borrow That?
Royal Guardians
Recalibration Matrix
Inhuman Royal Family
Survival
Attilan Rising
Brace for Impact (R)
Sacrifice (R)
Secure Crisis
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Extract Crisis
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! (L, 19)
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (F, 17)
With everything laid out—from Black Bolt’s power transfers, to Quicksilver’s extract heists, to defensive pivots vs attrition teams—you now have two potent variants of an Inhuman roster built around getting ahead early and closing the game fast.
Each version leverages:
- Strong Round 1 extract plays
- Strategic use of Terrigenesis for bonus VPs
- Resilient pivots into more durable characters or combat threats when the matchup demands it
The Inhumans may seem subtle at first glance, but when played with precision and purpose, they reward deep planning and ruthless efficiency.
If this guide helped you understand how to approach an Inhuman roster—great. That was the goal.
🙌 Huge thanks to Torbjörn Hansson
A massive shout-out to Torbjörn Hansson for his breakdown of the Inhuman Civilian Extract play. His writeup was a fantastic foundation and inspiration as I built my own Inhumans approach.
🔗 Read his excellent blog here — it dives into the key lines and gives examples from real test games. A must-read for anyone serious about mastering the faction.
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