Today we look at the quote on quote best splash characters at every threat level. This will just list generically good characters that do their job well enough wherever you stick them. Don't let this discourage you from trying something weird, though! Some characters the internet "agrees" on being bad (or suboptimal at least) might work out better for you personally than a character everyone thinks is great.
So with that important notice out of the way let's start:
2 Threats
There's a bunch of candidates here already. Generally people will say Toad is the best objective running 2, while Bullseye is the best damage dealing one. But there's more nuance to it for me. 2 threats have a unique role from their point value alone because they allow squads that otherwise wouldn't be possible. Which makes them a valuable asset regardless of whom you're choosing.
Characters (7)
Black Widow (2)
Widow 1 is great if you mostly need mobility and scenario play from your 2. Her Long move and stealth and martial artist can sometimes trump Toad for the role.
Bullseye (2)
Long Range, action economy and automatic damage. Bullseye simply is really good at what he does. Generally useful as your back point sitter and "kill confirmer".
Nebula (2)
Nebula is not as generally useful as most of the other picks here but if you just need a 2 threat murder machine look no further.
Okoye (2)
And completely contrary to that, if you need your 2 to take some hits for your more important models don't forget Okoye exists.
Rocket Raccoon (2)
A 5 dice Range 5 energy attack is pretty good right? Rocket is also deceptively tanky with him always counting as having cover and especially being immune to collisions. Something Bullseye will routinely die to. Rocket is in my current Asgard list and hasn't let me down so far.
Toad (2)
Wall crawler, hop, taking extracts from his friends, interacting from Range 2 and most importantly Slippery. There's a reason Toad is considered the premier 2 threat in the game. If you need a cheap objective runner and don't have a specific reason to pick Widow over him, he's probably not going to let you down.
Wong (2)
With Wong you bring in a way to cheat your power economy and someone who can heal or remove conditions from your models. Don't expect him to do anything else though.
Honey Badger and Bob need to be affiliated for me to be considered over the other choices here. Both are totally fine for their jobs though.
3 Threats
3 Threats are often core members of your team with specific roles. There's some that are generalists but most are focused on one thing and very good at that.
Characters (15)
Baron Zemo (3)
Zemo probably is the most all around good 3. He is incredibly fast, has very good and reliable damage output and even makes models around him better. He's wildly regarded as the best overall 3 and it's hard to argue with it. There's two characters at least reaching for his crown though:
Black Cat (3)
Felicia is super fast, surprisingly tanky, can steal and more importantly automatically stagger.
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Miles is comparably fast as Black Cat with his Range 3 place, has more control with the wild throw trigger on his builder, can steal, too and with Spider Sense is the most durable of the three.
Captain America (Sam Wilson) (3)
Sam is just a nudge under the top three but still a very very good overall 3. He's once again incredibly fast and has great control on top of it.
Deadpool (3)
Wade is the exception of the rule here as he's very much a generalist. He is fast, durable on his back (which you don't mind him being on) and has reliable damage output.
Iron Man (3)
3 Threat Tony Stark is good at guarding your home objectives, pushing people from afar and not dying easily himself.
Lizard (3)
Lizard is fast with Medium Move, Medium Base Wall Crawler and very tanky. He's good at grabbing an extract and living with it.
Luke Cage (3)
Cage is probably the tankiest of the 3s and comes with the incredible Heroes for Hire TTC stapled to his face. If you need a guy to take some punches Luke is your man.
N‘Kantu, the Living Mummy (3)
Mummy can kind of do a bit of everything for you. He isn't especially fast but very durable unless spiked and he offers some control and a long range mystic gun. Not as generally good everywhere but worth taking a look at in many places nonetheless.
Pyro (3)
Pyro is the supreme annoyer of big Kaiju type models. Firewall is one of the most effective superpowers in dealing with them (Slow and Root is a tough pill to swallow). He also brings a great TTC in Pyrotechnics which can be a steal, AoE control or in the best case both at the same time.
Shuri (3)
Shuri is great if you need help with dice fixing. She can safe guard your back point, hand out rerolls and push everyone around. She won't live against any kind of dedicated focus on her though.
Skurge, The Executioner (3)
A more out there pick as a splash (but great in his factions), Skurge is the more offensive version of Luke Cage. He'll run head first into the enemy, hand out some 6 dice Gainers, occasionally a piece of terrain and then most importantly he'll Taunt attacks onto him that we're ment for his friends.
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
Spectacular Spidey is a 3 threat that you can plan the turns for perfectly and he can have a huge impact with them, too. Throwing Size 3 characters from Range 3 is incredible.
Weapon X (3)
Threeverine as I like to call him is basically Nebula but more. His base movement is lower but he makes up for it with Charge and his damage ceiling is even higher. Don't consider him if you're going more for a scenario focused build, but if you're out to kill your opponent as fast as you can, Weapon X might be your man.
X-23 (3)
Similar to Weapon X Laura is mostly there to kill. She can play the objective game better though for a bit less raw damage potential so that's the trade off.
Nick Fury Sr. and the Howling Commandos (3)
The Howling Commandos are good long range fire support and offer a deterrent with Got Your Back but what makes them most interesting as a splash is their Brother's in Arms placing if allies.
4 threats
These are your bread and butter characters that define the list most of the time. For the longest part people would have Beta Ray Bill right at the top here but there's a new king in town and he isn't a horse robot from space:
Characters (20)
Shang-Chi (4)
Shang kind of does it all: he's fast, extremely tanky inside of range 3 and he's got incredible damage and control potential. It's hard to not default to him nowadays when you just look for a very good all around 4.
Agent Venom (4)
Flash Thompson has yet to have a bad game for me. I mostly use him in affiliation but his kit is so great that it works wherever you put him. He's really mobile has great damage output and control. He trades his reach for much less durability though.
Baron Helmut Zemo (4)
Often overlooked for his 3 threat version Baron Helmut Zemo from core set 2 is still a very good character making everyone around him better in the process.
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Bill is my most played model since I started tracking basically every game I play on Jarvis. But that's because I have the most games with Asgard and some games with Guardians where he is affiliated. I honestly think he is a bit overrated. What he is very good at is not dying when he should. And throwing size 4. His spender is also good at dealing with big boys. He's undeniably good but there's 4s that will do more for you on a game to game basis.
Bishop (4)
Bishop is kind of similar but opposite to Bill. He's almost as fast (missing flight), has far higher damage output and the same throw. Where he differs is that he really isn't reliable on living throw attacks what so ever.
Black Dwarf (4)
Under loved and under played in my opinion. He has a terrible superpower you should never use but otherwise he's a big ball of health that can taunt and once again throw size 4s around.
Black Panther (4)
Original T'Challa was for a long time considered the best 4 in the game and he still holds up very well today, too. Long Move, pounce and mantle of the Black Panther are all great. He doesn't like being flipped where his above average defenses from the front side melt into a much worse superpower though.
Crimson Dynamo (4)
Dynamo is the best at what he does simply because he's the only one doing it. He's super durable himself and keeps your team alive and constantly robs the opponent of his or her triggers with his Disruption field. The Shock on his Range 4 beam makes the "extremely annoying to play against" package complete.
Doctor Voodoo (4)
Once complete and utterly broken Voodoo is still very good even after his nerf. An action less steal is incredibly powerful and he combines it with good attacks and defenses.
Gwenpool (4)
A character that is (rightfully) not especially loved from her comics but a super reliable ball of stats in MCP.
Lady Sif (4)
Sif is fast, durable and has tremendous damage potential. Will often be overlooked outside of Asgard but should be in more people's minds in my opinion.
Logan, the Wolverine (4)
Cowboy Hat Logan is arguably the best character at holding down a flank on his own. He isn't especially tanky but makes up for that in sheer damage output.
Medusa (4)
Reliable and comes with a place for allied characters which is what makes her truly interesting as a splash.
Nick Fury (4)
Fury comes with Grunts and of course the TTC Eye in the Sky making him an interesting inclusion for many lists.
Nightcrawler (4)
Among the fastest models in the game. His automatic stun is also super relevant in a world where Asgard is as popular as it is right now.
Psylocke (4)
Her only fault is not being Shang-Chi. Woefully underplayed.
Red Skull, Master of the World (4)
Red Skull 3 has fantastic superpowers, spends his allies power to fund them and good attacks on top of it.
Rhino (4)
After the nerf to This is a Robbery Rhino isn't as ubiquitous as he once was but he's still among the fastest models in the game and does come with one of the best steals in the game.
The Wrecking Crew (4)
The newest toy here. Wrecking Crew are just super flexible though they can fold pretty quickly to dedicated fire.
Vision (4)
Vision comes with a good beam, good spender, immunity to collisions and a size 3 terrain or character throw for 2 power.
5 Threats
These start to be your really high impact models. You need them to do a lot for you to be worth your high investment.
Characters (15)
Namor the Sub-Mariner (5)
Namor is the fastest model in the game I'd say and is a natural safe grab and has a steal. He punches through damage reduction and hands out rerolls to himself and allies in 2. He pretty much is the premier generic 5 threat splash.
Abomination (5)
The newest addition here, A bomb comes with multiple power per round, good attacks and his unique poison AoE superpower all on a 65mm base.
Amazing Spider-Man (5)
ASM is a natural safe grab and very hard to kill with his defensive rerolls and Witty Banter which also helps keep his friends alive. He hasn't particularly impressive damage output himself though.
Black Bolt (5)
Someone who absolutely does have impressive damage output. His 6 dice Range 4 energy Builder with wild pierce and his innate Inhumans reroll might just be the best builder in the game. He can also bodyguard for 1 power on his front side and when he gets flipped your opponent is rather likely to regret making him angry. Underused as a splash.
Cable (5)
Cable might beat out Black Bolt for the highest damage average at least when he gets in close. In Range 3 his 5 dice energy builder gets to reroll two dice and always has wild incinerate. His range 2 place helps him to basically always being able to double tap (his builder is range 5, only the rerolls need range 3) and his variable terrain throw means he's got a lot of additional damage potential from throws, too. Defensively he can add twonl defence dice to himself and allies in range 3 which can sometimes to clutch, too.
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (5)
The more aggressive version of Strange is the one better suited to being splashed. He has good damage and fantastic control. He will struggle to stay on his feet though.
Dracula (5)
Another recent addition Dracula is very flexible, super hard to bring down, has great attacks and can absolutely punish you for attacking him. A premier damage dealing 5 threat though lacking the action economy of a Cable.
Juggernaut (5)
Dispite having arms that are lager then some entire muscles don't expect Juggs to hand out a lot of damage. His job is to grab an extract and then zoom around the board pushing people off of secures while himself being basically immune to being controlled. He is very sad when your opponent has a lot of size 4 character throws though.
Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
Loki is probably the 5 here with the least impact in his own turns. What he brings is his super annoying ability "Oh my what a pity" to constantly hand out chip damage for your opponent rolling skulls on their attacks. He might struggle to pay for it consistently without his own leadership however.
Mephisto, Lord of Temptation (5)
Mephisto offers a very unique set of skills. He is deceptively fast and can teleport your models in when your opponent tries to attack him. His damage ceiling is pretty high, too.
Red Skull, Master of Hydra (5)
Red Skull 2 is absolutely unique in the game because he comes with Grunts that can contest (and interact with) secure objectives. He himself is one of the most reliable damage dealers if he can afford to use his "count blanks" ability for his 6 dice Gainer.
Sentinel Prime MK4 (5)
If you desire a giant health pool, almost immoveable model that hands out rerolls in range 4 around a 65mm base Sentinel Prime MK4 is your robot. His own damage output isn't super impressive though.
The Mighty Thor (5)
Jane needs to be a splash to even be played in her most iconic place (Sam's Avengers) but she offers something to other teams as well. She has good range with her Charge and Range 3 attack that can throw, a big health pool, good defenses and a size 4 terrain throw.
Ulik (5)
There's no one who can escape Ulik if he wants to reach them. Key to understanding him is that Crushing Leap isn't once per turn meaning his action economy is unparalleled if he builds the power for it. His spender, while very dicey, is also a great tool to handle big bads and his overall damage output is increased with his size 4 terrain throw.
Ultron, Metal Tyrant (5)
The rumours of Ultron 2s demise after the rotation Age of Ultron were greatly exaggerated. He's still an 8/6 model with 4/4/5 defenses, additional defensive tech against mystic, a range 3 M size 4 terrain throw, a bow, very good attacks and the Grunts with the highest average damage output (though they can't score anything). While not absolutely immortal he's still very very good. What he lacks is movement so you basically want him to plant his feet somewhere and obliberate anything that comes to close.
6 Threats
Here we start to get into the territory of "has to run the board when splashed in" and there's two clear cut candidates for that. And two more niche ones.
Characters (4)
Hulk (6)
OG Hulk is still in the conversation to be the best threat for threat model in the game. His amount of durability, mobility, damage and control is enormous. Not having a backside can be a bit of a downfall for him though as he is weak to being focused down.
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
Challenging Hulk for Best in the Game is the other person claiming to be the Strongest Avenger. Thor 2 as the highest damage potential in the game in exchange for less control. Him being able to be dazed is a big upside as he can't be focused done as easily as Hulk.
Namor the Sub-Mariner with Time Gem (6)
We covered Namor in the 5 threat slot and the Time Gem is really mostly there to turn his abilities on faster. You need to have a specific plan for him but he'll be very good at executing that.
Ebony Maw with Space Gem (6)
Space Maw is interesting as a Mystic Damage dealer, that is deceptively tanky, has fantastic control and will empty the board off terrain. He isn't as plug and play as Hulk or Thor 2 but will shine in the right places.
7 Threats
There's currently two 7 threats in the game with Immortal Hulk and Malekith, the Accursed. Both are decent enough in affiliation but I wouldn't really pick them as splashes over the 6s personally. They will be fine if you like them and want to play them over a 6.
8 Threats
There's only one 8 Threat that can even be a Splash and that is Thanos with two Gems. It's usually going to be Space Reality but in his most popular space which is Red Skull 3 Cabal it's Space Mind. Thanos is grossly overtuned and needs to be touched again. You should feel bad for playing him 😄 He's also a super boring character in the fluff too so why would ever want to play him anyway? If the answer is to win games that's totally valid though 😁.
That's it for today. Cheers from Germany 🍻
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