Once you feel comfortable playing the game and have a moderate understanding of the rules, you will most likely want to expand on the types of cards you use in a deck.  I believe that if you have limited yourself to the four basic card types so far (Character, Special, Power, and Teamwork), then you will have learned how to play the game more quickly and will be ready for the other card types sooner.  I have detailed some of the card types you should try in this section.  The specific cards mentioned are only my examples.  As with everything else, you will have to try them out to decide how useful any cards may or may not be.

    This part is much longer than the others, so I have these quick links to specific sections:

• Events
• Homebase
• Battlesite
• Aspects
• Artifacts

Event cards may be the first type of card that you should experiment with.  Some Events can be very beneficial to you and some of them are completely worthless.  Events are best described as a double edged sword, as they affect both players when played.  Also, if you use more than one Event in your deck, you run the risk of increasing your discards (see my article on events in the part about game play for more information).  Here are some sample Events to try out followed by a brief explanation of how I might use it in my deck:

• Fatal Attractions - Shockwave Rocks the World -  "No cards with an Energy Icon may be used to attack this battle."  -  This is perhaps my all time favorite Event and it is in one version of my Strength / Intellect deck.  For a very long time, Energy decks were king of OverPower.  When I was in the middle of tweaking this Strength deck I realized how few cards with Energy icons I was using.  The only cards in that deck that would be affected by this Event are my MultiPower Power cards, one 6 Energy to use Teamwork usable only by Darkseid, and my Activators which were mostly for defense anyway.  After a lot of play testing, this Event seemed to wreak havoc among most of my opponents.  In fact, this Event probably helped me win a tournament.  But, as I said, Events are like a double bladed sword.  On a few occasions, this Event has actually hurt me.  When this Event is played against an Energy deck, my opponent will usually place everything within reason and plan on conceding.  If I can't match what my opponent has placed for future battles and I don't feel confident that I have the cards to Venture a lot more than usual, then the next hand may be a landslide in my opponent's favor.  In other words, a warning message should have been printed on all Event cards: Use Extreme Caution
• The Crossing - Heroes Avenge Murder - "One Front Line Character of your choice is immediately KO'd.  Reserve Character immediately moves into play.  Card is discarded if it will end the game."  -  This Event has also been in one version of my Strength / Intellect deck, but only when Doc Samson is on the front line.  This Event could easily be the most powerful one to use, when you plan to use it and then use it well.  Lately, most OverPower players have been using characters that have more weapons available to choose from than ever before.  Because of the higher number of cards at their disposal, players are planning on keeping each character in the game for as long as possible.  While that is an essential part of the game, it can fall apart if there are too many cards that only that character can play.  With this Event as part of your strategy, you can plan on losing a minor character while your opponent may be running the risk of losing a major part of his strategy.  This Event probably has the most potential for backfire, though.
• Dark Phoenix Saga - New Lease on Life - "Reshuffle the Power Pack and Dead pile into the Draw Pile."  -  This Event is great for Any Hero decks versus Battlesite decks, especially if it is drawn between the middle and end of the game.  All of your Any Hero Specials are reusable, but your opponent's Activators would only be usable if they were never played to begin with.  The only thing you have to worry about is cards for KO'd characters, but then again so does your opponent.
• Shattered Image - Entropy Field - "No Activator cards may be played this battle."  -  This is another good one for Any Hero decks versus Battlesite decks.  If you are not using Activators then this Event has little chance of backfiring on you.
• Fatal Attractions - The Best Laid Plans... - "Sort through the draw pile and choose any four cards.  Reshuffle Draw pile.  Put four chosen cards on top of draw pile."  -  This Event is pretty popular right now.  It does allow you to set yourself up for the next battle, but sometimes your opponent may make that backfire against you.  Usually, this Event is combined with Down But Not Out, which prevents Specials from being played.  The bottom line with this Event is to negate Post's Obfuscate or Maverick's Legacy Regression if you see your opponent play one of those Specials.

Locations may be one of the more complicated card types to use, so be patient when using them and do not go overboard.  Location cards may be used two different ways, as a Homebase or as a Battlesite.  Listed below are some sample Homebase ideas for you.  When used as a Homebase, your team must be made from the characters listed on the card.  The Sum Deck Rule is ignored when a Homebase other than Marvel Universe, Marvel Manhattan, and Omniverse is used.  Those three Homebases allow you to build any team of four characters, as long as they meet the Sum Deck Rule.  When a Location is used as a Homebase, the Inherent Ability listed on the card applies.  Lastly, you may use the Aspect card for your Homebase, for the Locations that have one.

• Four Freedoms Plaza - Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Thing, She Hulk, Namor  -  Four Freedoms Plaza is one of the more powerful Homebases around, and is quite popular because of it's power.  The Inherent Ability has been partly errata'd and is easy to misinterpret as well, but it is still head and shoulders above every other Homebase Inherent Ability.
• Avalon - Magneto, Professor X, Cable, Bishop, Acolytes, Colossus  -  The shear amount of powerful attacks coming from this Homebase is unmatched by all other Homebases.  Unfortunately, it may be difficult for a beginner to acquire all these rare cards to use with this Homebase.  The Aspect card is also a big part of the power of this Homebase, especially since you can now play a Homebase with Any Heroes/Characters instead of a Battlesite.
• Department H - Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool, Omega Red, Alpha Flight, Maverick  -  This one may just be on this list because it is a fan favorite, but the +1 bonus to Teamworks really starts to add up after a while.  Plus, no other Homebase allows you to have three level 8 characters in the same skill.  The Aspect is a nice addition, but for the most part battles are rarely decided by Venture, as usually one player will feel the need to concede before the battle gets that far.

    Battlesites are a different story.  I do not recommend that beginners use Battlesites, as Any Heroes are easier to put in your deck and less confusing to play.  You are bound to see your friends using Battlesites, though, so I thought I better talk to you before you learn about them on the streets :)  In my opinion, Any Heroes have more individual power, but Battlesites have a wider range of Specials to choose from, which makes them "potentially" more powerful.  These are the two most popular Battlesites to choose from:

• Onslaught's Citadel - Onslaught, Post, Holocaust, Dark Beast, Sentinels, X-Man  -  This is the grand-daddy of all the Battlesites so far.  This Battlesite has many cards to choose from that are found on no other Battlesite.  The major problem is that the Character cards and Specials for this Battlesite were already very hot items to find and/or trade for, and the power of this Battlesite has only increased their demand.
• The Outback - Wolverine, Jubilee, Longshot, Reavers, Sentinels, Dazzler  -  This Battlesite is commonly referred to as the "poor man's Onslaught's Citadel."  If you do not have all the cards needed for Onslaught's Citadel, or just do not wish to use what everyone else uses, then this is your next choice.  There is a good selection of defensive cards to use and this is one of only two Battlesites that have both types of negates available.  The only bad thing about this Battlesite is the poor choice of cards for Wolverine and maybe even Dazzler.

Aspects are a new addition to OverPower.  They were introduced in the last expansion so far, X-Men.  Aspects have not yet been made for all Homebases and some are obviously more potent than others.  Aspects are very similar to Specials in the type of game effects they have, but they are not considered to be Special cards.  They may not be negated.  If an Aspect acts as an attack, then it may be avoided, but for the most part they may not be removed from play by the opponent, at least not yet.  Aspects are played by the Homebase, not the characters.  The only Aspects you may use are for the Homebase, not the Battlesite.  Since Aspects are new, the door is wide open for all kinds of new and different game mechanics to be made, as long as the game continues to be published.  Right now there is only one Aspect for 22 of the Marvel Locations, but there is no good reason why there cannot be more.

• Avalon  -  "For remainder of game, both players must draw 1 card from top of Draw Pile for each Activator card played by Opponent.  Draw card before resolving Opponent's action.  Discard if duplicate."  This Aspect may be a little confusing to read.  Here is an example of how it works - I have an Avalon Homebase and play this Aspect.  When I play an Activator, you draw 1 card.  When you play an Activator, I draw 1 card.  Now I wonder why they couldn't just put that in the game text?  With the rules change that allows you to play a Homebase team with Any Heroes instead of a Battlesite, this Homebase just increased in power tremendously.
• Muir Island  -  "For remainder of game, Muir Island team may draw 1 card from top of Draw Pile immediately after blocking an attack using an Intellect Power card.  Discard if duplicate."  There is one part of this game effect that might not be as easy to understand as it should be.  When it refers to an Intellect Power card, that is the type of card that is played by the Muir Island team for defense.  It does not mean that the opponent has to make an attack with an Intellect Power card for this Aspect to work.  This Aspect can be a major factor in the game.  But like most cards, if you are relying on this one card to win you the game and it happens to be near the bottom of your Draw Pile, then you are in trouble.

  Artifact cards provide a unique way of altering your characters or enhancing the game.  Artifacts are one type of Tactic card and all Tactic cards require two characters to be played.  One of your characters must meet the first skill to use requirement and is the one who plays the Artifact.  A front line teammate must meet the second skill to use and is the one who receives the Artifact.  Artifact cards have a wide range of game effects, but are only used occasionally.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

• Shadowhelmet - This Artifact can be a great weapon to use against your opponent, if you don't forget to use it when you can.
• Serpent Crown, Super Soldier Serum, Adamantium Tentacles, and The Book of Darkhold - These four Artifacts allow you to boost a stat up to 7.  These would only really be used to boost a secondary stat, as the primary stat is too important to use characters with low values.
• Image Inducer - The new rule that started on April 1 modified this card a great deal.  Since this Artifact is not a One Per Deck and does not say how long it's duration is, it is for this battle only.