Sentinels, Suit Up! Picking a Sentinel & Building a Team

by Blue-Haired Protagonist

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a card game (with a video game adaptation) themed around epic superhero-supervillain clashes in colorful and even volatile locations. Unlike most card games, SotM stands apart as a cooperative game of three-to-five heroes challenging a villain in the standard format. But with dozens of heroes to pick from, figuring out who to play as can be nearly as daunting a task as defeating the villains for any newcomer. Or maybe you’ve played Sentinels of the Multiverse before and already know who you like to play as, but you’re wondering what other heroes would complement their strengths and weaknesses. You may even be a SotM veteran who knows how to consistently win, but you’d like to try playing the game differently by trying out new heroes.


Fortunately, Sentinels of the Bloggerverse is here to simplify the process of picking heroes with detailed information on what each hero has to offer. Newcomers and veteran SotM players alike will find insights for picking a character matching their preferred playstyle and tips for building a team that can save the day.

Which Sentinel Is Right For Me?

Each of the Sentinels of the Multiverse heroes emphasize a different playstyle and have different abilities to contribute to your superhero squad. Heroes also vary in their level of complexity, as described in the rulebook, with some being straightforward to play and others requiring a keen strategic mind to play well. I recommend that new players consider what role they think they would most enjoy and try playing a character that fits that mold, and consider starting off with a simpler character from the original 10 “base set” Sentinels, like Haka, Legacy, or Ra, before trying out the usually-more-complex additions of the various expansions.

Hero Summary

Before unraveling in detail what abilities each hero possesses, I’ll give a brief summary of what each Sentinel is like to the uninitiated person considering trying this game out. The heroes are listed in alphabetical order by expansion. The numbers next to the character name represent how easy a character is to play, based upon the 1-3 simple-to-complex scale from the rulebook:

[Base Set SotM]

Absolute Zero [3]: As a once-normal human turned science experiment victim forced to live out his days within the safety of his cryo suit, Absolute Zero avoided becoming a tragic villain by becoming a reluctant hero. AZ cancels enemy actions with freezing temperatures and blasts foes with his own personal avalanche of attacks while healing off any burns he takes.

Bunker [2]: The villains tried telling Bunker that top-secret military hardware doesn’t count as a superpower, but he couldn’t hear them over the BUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDA of his minigun.

Fanatic [2]: Alignment may be dead in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, but that doesn’t stop Fanatic from sticking to her Lawful-Good Paladin roots. She protects her allies by shielding them from harm while smiting all evil that crosses her path with a radiant, fiery blade.

Haka [1]: It turns out that green skin and a poor grasp of verbal communication aren’t prerequisites for absurd levels of physical strength. A living weapon infamous among his enemies, Haka crushes those foolish enough to oppose him.



Legacy [1]: As the leader of the Freedom Five, Legacy empowers his allies with damage buffs while holding his own in a fight with a variety of Superman-and-Captain-America-themed abilities. To summarize, Legacy is like the team’s cheerleader... A really ripped cheerleader who heals and strengthens his friends by punching bad guys. Go team! --THOKK!--



Ra [1]: With all the god-like power of Marvel’s Thor but with infinitely more Yu-gi-oh! The Abridged Series references built in, Ra channels the power of fire to teach evildoers just how flammable they are. Fire, fire, yeah.



Tachyon [2]: Tachyon speeds into battle to help her team draw the cards they need to fight while punching foes faster than the speed of sound. Gotta go fast!



Tempest [1]: What’s that? A galactic warlord is sending his armies to crush the Earth? Relax. Tempest has this handled with his mastery of storms and superior healing abilities. In fact, he’s already wiped out the army all at once. Gee, that was easy.



The Visionary [2]: The Visionary’s psychic powers allow her to prevent the worst villain schemes from ever happening with her deck manipulation abilities, as well as control the flow of elemental energy on the battlefield by twisting the ether to strengthen allies or weaken foes.



The Wraith [1]: Part skulking shadow of justice, part femme-fatale, and no parts 1960s live-action slapstick, The Wraith deflects enemy assaults under the cover of smoke bombs while cleanly removing the opposition one-by-one.

NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-BAAAAAT-BAAAAABBBBEEEE!!! 

...Darn '60s, couldn't resist after all.

[Rook City]



Expatriette [2]: If your idea of fun is to shoot first and ask questions while double-tapping--all while sporting the eyepatch look of Metal Gear Solid series’s Big Boss--this gunslinger girl is the character for you.



Mr. Fixer [2]: Trading out a law degree for a more pragmatic mechanic’s life, Mr. Fixer repairs cars in-between leaving crooks battered and broken on the streets of Rook City.

[Infernal Relics]



Nightmist [3]: The old magicks are a terrible, exacting power that Nightmist has tapped into. Though it hurts her to wield her abilities, Nightmist can channel that same power to restore her vitality, deflect enemy attacks back at their source, and strike a powerful arcane blow for the side of good.



The Argent Adept [3]: While other heroes swing their fists like cinder blocks, lash out with powerful elemental attacks, and weaken villains, The Argent Adept stands at the back of the fight playing his musical instruments… and things explode, for some reason. Even better, he hastens ally card plays and power activations. It’s like somebody really wanted to play Sentinels of the Multiverse as a D&D bard.

[Shattered Timelines]



Chrono Ranger [2]: The Chrono Ranger puts down the nastiest varmints with a quick-six and an arsenal of time control weaponry, growing stronger with each bounty he accepts. No matter what timeline a villain attacks, the Chrono Ranger is there to teach them that it’s time to split.


Omnitron-X [2]: When the menacing robot known as Omnitron took enough beatings from the Sentinels of the Multiverse, it calculated a way to increase its power so that it could emerge victorious. The crucial factor, it decided, was empathy. Upon altering its own programming to experience this human emotion, the remade Omnitron-X had a change of metallic heart. Now in another multiverse, Omnitron-X shuts down villain powers, heals heroes, and unleashes an elemental torrent of pain for the benefit of all it once tried to destroy.

[Wrath of the Cosmos]



Captain Cosmic [2]: Captain Cosmic is essentially a recolored Lantern who creates constructs from nothingness to provide weapons or armor for allies and enable them to act more frequently.



Skyscraper [3]: A hero with three forms--normal, tiny, and huge--who changes sizes and fighting styles frequently to punch foes while the size of a Skyscraper and sabotage villain attacks with booby traps too small to see.

[Vengeance]



K.N.Y.F.E. [1]: Take one super-soldier serum, add a few drops of futuristic energy blade technology, and throw in a pinch of obnoxious accent, and you get K.N.Y.F.E. Wherever there’s a problem, you can punch or stab it farewell.



Parse [2]: Obsolete projectile weapon? Check. Superior observational and tactical planning skills? Check. Ability to ignore enemy armor and card plays while jacking ally damage output through the roof? Triple check. Welcome to the team, Parse.



Setback [3]: Love card games but suffer from terrible luck? Then Setback will find his place in your snake eyes-rolling heart. Just remember that for every unfortunate circumstance, a karmic force works to better your tomorrow and inflict proportional pain to the bad guys. Hare krishna, hare, hare. Oops, sorry, mister villain! I didn’t see you there… are you okay?



The Sentinels [3]: If you want to control your own personal superhero squad within a larger team, The Sentinels offer the unique chance to play as multiple characters at once. Their dismal hit points are offset by an insane amount of damage output, healing, and even the ability to revive fallen members of the squad.



The Naturalist [2]: Like Skyscraper, The Naturalist boasts three forms: A gazelle for disrupting enemy Ongoing powers and befriending otherwise hostile environment targets, a rhino for shielding the team from harm with its thick hide, and a crocodile for turning baddies into chew toys. With so much versatility, The Naturalist can find a place with any hero team.

[Mini-Expansions]



Benchmark [3]: A cyborg dedicated to protecting public citizens and firing missiles at miscreants, Benchmark boasts a variety of robotic abilities, from shielding allies from gunfire to repairing his own circuitry on the fly to generating holographic doubles of his friends to copy their powers.



Guise [2]: The BEST hero EVER, ME! That’s right, it’s Guise, who’s now the captain of your ship and the author of this article instead of Blue-Haired Whatever.


What makes me so great? Anything a hero can do, I can do, too! Plus, everybody loves blatant references to classic cultural experiences. Speaking of cross-references, wait until you hear me voice over a beloved childhood character in Inspector Clifford, the Big Red Gumshoe!


...Crap, that BHP guy is coming back, and he looks NOT as happy to see me as he should be. I gotta run, but you can count on Guise returning as soon as I sell some sweet merchandise!



Stuntman [3]: For Stuntman, the player turn order is more of a loose suggestion than a steadfast rule. In fact, he blitzes through enemies with the power of Hollywood movie magic, and lays down the hurt even more when he acts outside of his own turn. Try not to get too jealous when he steals the scene.



The Scholar [3]: An alchemist possessing the Philosopher’s Stone and the abilities to regenerate constantly, resist villain attacks with ease, and channel all healing into cosmic energy to strike foes with, The Scholar has all the strength of a superhero with the demeanor of an everyday guy who just wants to relax and maybe enjoy a beer or two.



Unity [2]: Tired of having to fight robots all the time? Then you need an army of your own robots, complete with onomatopoeia! ZZZZZAP! Pew, pew! Scratch one bad guy!



Void Guard Dr. Medico [2]: The Void Guard characters are The Sentinels re-envisioned as solo heroes. Like before, Dr. Medico boasts incredible healing abilities, and this time can bring other players’ characters back to life.


Void Guard Idealist [3]: A hyperactive teen with the ability to turn ideas into reality with a thought, The Idealist essentially serves as the most complicated damage-dealing hero in Sentinels of the Multiverse and a fun challenge for veterans looking to hurt the villains in a more interesting way.


Void Guard Mainstay [1]: A magma-chain-wielding biker, Mainstay is good at two things: Protecting friends, and beating the pulp out of foes… All while blasting Born To Be Wild from Sweet Rhonda’s sound system on the open road.


Void Guard Writhe [2]: Tapping into the same technological goodness that heroes like Benchmark and Omnitron-X enjoy, Writhe turned in his noire-like appearance for that of a certain multi-armed scientist character related to a certain arachnid-empowered superhero. Writhe now drains enemies of their powers while gashing them with a shadowy blade.

Hero Roles

As mentioned earlier, a good way to figure out which hero you should play as is by breaking down by the game’s playstyles and seeing which ones appeal to you the most. There are four main roles that SotM heroes fit into: Those who deal lots of damage, supporters who make allies stronger, survivalists who block villain attacks, and heroes who control the battlefield conditions. One of the best aspects of Sentinels of the Multiverse is that each role is equally valuable to the game’s strategy, and anyone can jump into a game and play the way they enjoy most while contributing effectively to the team. There are even multiple ways to play each role, which are detailed below.


Bruiser: Attack-oriented heroes who put the hurt on the villains with raw damage output. Damage-focused heroes usually emphasize either targeting down a single enemy or clearing a crowd of minions, although some excel at both.


Supporter: Characters who empower their allies to even greater feats of heroism. There are many kinds of support features in SotM, all of which provide the team with beneficial effects. They play differently from other sub-types, so it’s worth differentiating them.


> Card Draw - Simple, but so effective. Causing allies to draw more cards allows for greater player options, as well as countering villain effects that force players to discard valuable cards.


> Card Reclaim - While not many heroes can cause others to reclaim discarded cards, those who can make recycling powerful strategies a reliable option.


> Damage Buff - Like dealing damage? How about dealing MORE damage?! Buffers maximize the potential of Bruisers and help the heroes overcome any armor villains may have.


> Assist - These heroes have cards and/or abilities that permit other players to play cards or use powers outside of their turn, squeezing out the most actions possible in a turn.


> Medic - Team healing is limited in Sentinels of the Multiverse, but those who can restore the HP of their allies may just keep them alive long enough to win the day.


Tank: A traditional RPG term that applies perfectly for Sentinels who can take a beating. Although the goal for all Tanks is personal and team survivability, there are three main ways Sentinels can achieve this.


> Armor - The most obvious Tank trait is the ability to decrease the harm suffered from attacks. This is usually coupled with another Tank concept.


> Redirect - Since the point of a Tank is to protect allies, those who have cards that allow them to take damage in place of another hero can be real lifesavers.


> Self-healing - Some heroes specialize in restoring their own HP so they can outlast their foes. This helps them perform their job without relying upon a Medic to keep them going.


Field Controller: The final major category consists of heroes who shift the battle in the team’s favor by controlling what cards enter or remain in play, reduce damage dealt to the heroes, or find ways to nullify villain effects.


> Deck Manipulation - These heroes stack the deck in your favor so that you can more easily obtain the cards you want from the hero decks or avoid the nastiest villain or environment cards.


> Damage Reduction - Damage reducers aid the team’s survivability not by being a Tank, but by limiting villain and/or environment damage output. This strategy can completely shut down some villains, and it’s always good to have a hero capable of reducing damage on the team.


> Ongoing Buster - Ongoings can be the most difficult villain cards to dispose of. Thankfully, these heroes have means of dealing with the lingering effects of even the most insidious ability. Alternatively, these characters can destroy hero Ongoings with downsides, such as causing the hero using the Ongoing to suffer increased damage when hit.


> Effect Nullification - A rare ability in Sentinels of the Multiverse available to only a select few heroes. These abilities include delaying villain or environment actions and even giving a big “NOPE” to death.

Building an Incredible Team

By this point, you should have a clear idea of what the different Sentinels abilities are like and the main playstyles in Sentinels of the Multiverse. But how do you take all these hero powers and different roles and put together a team that will stop the villains and create a fun playing experience?


There are many winning combinations, and I’m not going to try to cover them all. Rather, I’ll outline the key decision points in team building that should apply to almost every villain battle.


The first team building concept is to make sure each role is covered. Every team should have at least one Bruiser, Supporter, Tank, and Field Controller to function effectively. Each hero can cover at least two of these roles to some degree, so fitting together a squad is less about worrying if you missed a role and more about making sure you have multiple heroes covering each role.


For example, while an all-Bruiser team can unleash an impressive amount of damage, it’s unlikely that these heroes will actually acquire the cards they need for their optimal damage output on their own with no Supporters to help them draw the cards they need and no Field Controllers around to protect any precious equipment or ongoing cards necessary for such attacks. A far better composition would be to have one or two characters emphasize damage output while the others focus on the other party needs, such as having a Tank to soak up villain attacks so your Bruiser survives long enough to do their job.


The second rule is to cover specific sub-types of hero roles that are critical for beating villains. While there are many Field Controllers, not all of them can destroy villain ongoing cards, for example. A lot of villains rely upon ongoings to some degree, so fielding a team incapable of destroying ongoings will likely lead to a rough time. You’ll also want either a Tank who can redirect damage away from the other heroes or a Field Controller capable of reducing or even preventing villain damage. It’s always a good idea to have at least one hero capable of making other heroes or even the entire team draw cards so that you can access more play options. Lastly, I recommend either having a medic Supporter hero or picking a group of heroes with at least some degree of self-healing and/or armor.


Put these strategies together, and the team building ceases to be mysterious, and your ability to play the game well improves in equal measure.

Saving the Multiverse One Beatdown at a Time

You may not have known which hero you should play as for your first Sentinels of the Multiverse game before, but now you know each of the many options available to you and what each one has to offer. Where once there lingered a question of which heroes gel together, there now rests an answer. Whether you’ve yet to play SotM or you’re looking to jump into your hundredth game, the tips from this article can help you face down even the most brutal villains--Iron Legacy, Ultimate Cosmic Omnitron, even OblivAeon--and emerge victorious.


Even better, you now possess a great new power: The ability to view each Sentinel and analyze their playstyles at a mere glance of a comprehensive chart, which I’ve designed and included below. This Hero Playstyles chart succinctly summarizes the role breakdown given earlier in the form of icons placed in the order of priority for each hero, according to Sentinels of the Bloggerverse analysis. With it, you can more easily pick up playing heroes you may not have tried before, or maybe even teach SotM newcomers the ropes easier.


Onward to victory, heroes!

Disclaimer: Sentinels of the Bloggerverse does not claim association with Greater Than Games, LLC, nor claim rights to any of the character artwork used in our articles or visual chart creations. We aren't selling anything, either. We're just avid fans eager to discuss our favorite cooperative card game with other great fans.