The city never sleeps, and Paris was on fire
17 players in Paris, 10 tables won out of 13, and a store that opened an hour late
In this article · 9 sections
Saturday 17 October 2026. Seventeen of us in a Paris game store, a New York crime story on the tables, and cars burning in the city outside.
I am writing this the day after, while it is still fresh. Some days only happen once, and this was one of them.
Where this started
MC/DC is a three day Marvel Champions fan convention, held every year in the Washington DC area, at Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn, Virginia. Nothing in it is official: it is run by players, for players, and has no link to Fantasy Flight Games.
It is a moment to meet other players, talk about our common hobby, see some cool decks and laugh together. It is also a moment to experiment with the game and play fan made content that the publisher cannot print, because of IP limitations, accessibility needs or limited development time.
This year it was truly a worldwide event, and that reinforced the sense of togetherness. About 150 players gathered in DC, a dozen in the UK, and the French community joined from three places: 17 of us in Paris, 6 online and 3 in Grenoble.
The months before
The French edition was organized by the Communauté des Cartes, the non profit where I am secretary. We were global partners of the convention, which meant we saw the cards before everybody else. Our job was to playtest them, translate them, and help send them to the printer.
I organized the day and translated most of the words on those cards, which is a strange feeling when you finally watch strangers read your sentences out loud over a table. I was proud that we made it happen.
The result is La Ville ne dort jamais, 161 cards in French: 3 standalone scenarios, a 4 scenario campaign and 24 Defenders player cards. It needs the base game and Peur de Rien, it is free to print yourself, and MB Print will print it for 25€. The cover of the box was made by Merlin.
The content is playable online on the Marvel Simulator, and the rules are translated into French: download the French rules (PDF, v1 of 17 October 2026).
5am: last minute preparations
I could not sleep out of excitement the night before, despite being exhausted. At 5am I was up preparing my decks. My rule of thumb is 3 decks for a day. At 6am I took the train from Caen to Paris, sleeving cards on the way.
Morning: the door that stayed closed
Our booking at La Taverne de Jeux had been forgotten by the manager, so the store opened 1h later than planned. It was a mix up, nobody’s malice, and the store promised that next time the booking will be right.
We planned to play until 1am. We would be stopped at 6pm, because another booking had been held after the mix up. We did not know that yet. We started anyway, and had a lot of fun.
Morning: The Big Apple
We opened with The Big Apple. Four of the 7 tables won. Two died to the SWAT side scheme, and the third lost to the threat.
I played my Ultimate Black Panther in Leadership, built to slam all four Black Panther upgrades into play fast. It killed the weapon smuggler with 4 Wakanda Forever! in a single turn.
Around the room, two other decks made me stop and watch: a very efficient Jubilee in Justice by Yann, not available online yet, and a carefully crafted aggression protection Spider-Woman by Jean Babouin.
Afternoon: Kingpin, all of us at once
In the afternoon we played Kingpin in the massive multiplayer mode, and all 6 tables won. Kingpin is a treat. It was a tad long, and we had a lot of fun.
I played Ant-Man in entrapment, inspired by Ant-rapment, the deck of the French player Game Design Raccoon. At my side, Proust played Tigra in police entrapment, and Khudzlin played Nightcrawler in perfect defense. Ant-Man that way was extremely fun.
What was happening outside
Saturday 17 October was also the day tens of thousands of people marched in Paris, from the Place de la République, under the banner “convergence des luttes”. France 24 reported tear gas, fireworks thrown at the police, and cars burning on the square.
We were around burning cars and tear gas on the way, and then sat down to play La Ville ne dort jamais: crime bosses, an arms traffic, a city on fire.
I have played urban scenarios in kitchens. This was the first time the street played its part. The scenarios were written for exactly this kind of mood, and the day delivered it for free.
I still made my train back to Caen.
A checklist for your first convention
Your first convention, packed
- ☐ 100 to 200 extra sleeves, for your friends’ obligations, for the fan made content you will want to play, and for everything else.
- ☐ 3 decks.
- ☐ 2 scenarios, ours were The Big Apple and Kingpin.
- ☐ Your Standard and Expert encounter sets.
- ☐ A phone charger and a travel battery.
Do not take your full collection.
Thank you
To the 17 in Paris, who made it to the store on that day. To the 6 online and the 3 in Grenoble, who played the same scenarios from further away. To the translators and printers who made French cards exist at all. To the DC crew, who let us in before anybody else. And to Klug, Merlin, max47688, Brian, Jonah, Shura and Opus, for everything.
Want to play with us, or join next year? Come say hello on the Discord of the Communauté des Cartes.
The store promised that next time the booking will be right. The city never sleeps, and next time neither will we, until 1am.