Limited by only working when you defend - i.e. you can't use it to reduce damage from an attack you facetank without defending. This makes it best with heroes who have little or no opportunity cost in defending: Quicksilver (who can basic-defend then ready with his Super Speed ability), Nightcrawler (who can defend without exhausting thanks to Bamf!), and Domino (who can go into defend state when attacked by a villain or villainous minion with Lucky and Good).

A great versatile persona and strong identity, with original and fun scrying mechanism (Magik's ability + Limbo, is reminiscent of LOTR's Gandalf + Wizard's Pipe), and a lot of events and upgrades against the most problems : thwart, attack, defense, steady, retaliate, piercing, cards recursiveness and so on. The game style is subtle and call thinking at the table. Great in multiplayer and in true solo, in all aspects. I personally have a preference for Magik in Protection.

What happens with the "Tough" status if you defeat a Goblin Soldier using this card?

a) You defeat the goblin, get a Tough, and then, the Goblin's "when defeated" remove your Tough.

b) You defeat the goblin, receive a point of damage due to his response, and then get your Tough?

I would say that "a" is the correct answer, but if anybody can confirm my theory I would appreciate it.

It's 2025 and there is no review for Gamora. I'm honestly kind of baffled, since she has been a mainstay in more than a couple high-profile decklists on this very website over the years.

In a vacuum, Gamora will get you 6 damage and 3 cards before leaving the table. She can also thwart, though not as effectively, and of course she can take a hit for someone in an emergency. All this for 4 ER is a good deal; like most of the Basic Guardian allies, she punches above her cost.

Now, if you have a source of consistent healing for her, her value goes up substantially - if you can activate her every turn, she functions kind of like an Avengers Mansion that also does 2 damage (or 1 thwart) to stuff. The most accessible way to heal her is probably First Aid, which essentially nets you 2 cards plus 2 activations (spread over 2 turns) every time you heal her, for only 2 ER. Fantastic. Might as well Voltron her at this point.

Of course, it's not always that simple - non-Guardians who want to run her will have to find a way to cheat her into play (think Call for Backup or Summoning Spell). Furthermore, it's not always straightforward to use her - sometimes the guy you really want to hit has Retaliate, and maybe there's nothing to thwart. Even worse, she can only get you Events, and mills your deck while she's at it. A lot of Heroes have valuable non-Event cards that they hate milling, like Rocket with his guns. Her Response can even fizzle if there are no Events in your draw pile.

Adam Warlock is almost certainly the Hero that wrings the most value out of Gamora. Adam has fantastic Events and loves milling his deck, since doing so powers up Soul World and helps him tutor non-Event cards back to hand with Quantum Magic. He also has built-in healing for her with his Battle Mage Hero Ability.

Beyond the one-round use for instantly drawing when we defeated an ennemy, this upgrade :

1) is a virtual stock of cards / resources and a future extended hand-size for one or several players, in a Cyclops + Field Commander archetype with low minions (in conjunction with Practiced Defense or stun effects, or nothing) : the player who will need some resources or new cards to spend them, could be interested in defeating the ennemy with that upgrade.

2) gives a "free" target for Optic Blast + Ruby Quartz Visor's Cyclops, and defeating an ennemy without spending an exhausting opportunity.

3) triggers an Interrupt effect that potentially takes a timing advantage on a villain in some scenarios, between one villain stage and another.