Why should you play the affiliation
Because, as we all know, Magneto was right.
On the table Brotherhood offer fun leaderships and a bunch of good affiliated models.
How to start the affiliation
Update: from October 2025 AMG releases new single Person starter sets. One of them is the X-Men starter set (which is a Brotherhood of Mutants starter set in disguise too):
Aside from the ten characters it also contains ten dice and the measuring tools. The X-Men starter (which is a Brotherhood of Mutants starter at the same time) is a permanent addition to the line up, whereas the Spider-Foes one will only he sold for a limited time. It's your perfect starting point as it comes with overall All Star Toad, faction leaders Magneto and Mystique as well recently buffed Gambit, useful 4 threat Rogue and tech piece Sabertooth and is definitely the first purchase if you want to get into Brotherhood (if you can't wait for it then the affiliation pack is the way to go). Of the included X-Men I think Beast is the most interesting for Brotherhood under both leaderships (he's just generally a good model anyway). Next up should probably be Juggernaut as he is excellent under both leaders and will see the table a lot. After him the Blob and Pyro box is a very good pick up. Pyro is great even as a splash and people have come around on Blob appreciating him for what he brings to the table. You’d probably not grab him as a splash very often but here in affiliation is just good at his job. The new Avalanche, Exodus and Lady Mastermind box is also a good pick up including new affiliated TTCs.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical game plan?
From the ruins is an incredible fun leadership that can really turn on your squads abilities much faster than you’d expect. It’s also important to note that you also get to distribute power when your opponent destroys terrain not just you yourself.
Freedom Force is a very different kind of leadership. While it’s refund on extract is nice and can be used for some shenanigans the biggest power in the leadership comes from the “Mystique Token”. It’s basically like having a free extra model that can only secure a point. Other affiliations often have to bring an actual character for the job giving you a big advantage.
In terms of archetype it very much depends on who your primary leader is. Mystique plays a type 1 (pure scenario) to maybe type 2 (midrange scenario side) plan while Magneto is probably better suited at a type 3 (midrange attrition side).
Type 1: Pure Scenario team, as many VPs on the table as possible and try to win by scoring out as early as possible and with as little engagement
Type 2: Midrange Scenario team. Similar to Type 1 but can fight and chase if necessary
Type 3: Midrange Attrition team. Wants to be the beatdown but can shift to scenario play if the other side is clearly the beatdown.
Type 4: Pure Attrition team. Wants to murder you as quick as possible. Tabling is a possible and achievable goal here, but not the only way to win (they mostly score their points and deny yours by virtue of your models being dazed or KO'ed)
Who could be added to the affiliation in the future, especially as leaders?
Original text: "We know we’ll get Lady Mastermind, Avalanche and Exodus next year with Exodus having a pretty high chance of being a leader."
Sadly we now know now that Exodus is not be a leader so maybe Polaris could be the next best guess? Was she ever in the Brotherhood at all? I'm not really an expert on Mutants I have to admit.
Seeing his alter-ego used on a TTC has me thinking that a new version of Magneto might be in the works, too.
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
We’ll add Magnetos and Mystique’s character specific cards here even though they are technically unaffiliated.
Team Tactics (7)
Asteroid M
A. You’ll probably never play a Brotherhood game without this card. Teleporting characters an infinite range is… Pretty good.
Difficult To Please
C-. It’s also difficult to set up, difficult to fit the three characters in a squad, difficult to trigger and than also difficult to get a lot out of the additional Mags activation as you’re probably already winning when you met the conditions to play the card.
Magnetic Crush
C. It's just an OK attack
Magnetic Refraction
A+. It’s a very strong effect that would probably be worth it if you’d ever splash Magneto but getting it back every round in Brotherhood means it is absolutely stapled to Magnetos face.
Stolen Identity
B-. The fairer update to Deception is still at least a decent card but absolutely not as game breaking as the original. You can basically “only” use it to kidnap someone on one of your beaters turns and not use it as a guaranteed way to get someone off a point because they can just walk back in their activation. It’s at least a pseudo stagger then.
The Books of Truth
B. Fine if you want to double down on Recalibration Matrix like effects but since this card only applies to your character it isn’t nearly as good as taking away an opponents spike.
New TTCs:
Genetic Superiority
B. If you have both Exodus and Max Eisenhardt (is that a hint that we will get a second Magento soon?) on the table at the same time the card is very good in theory. In practice you quickly run out of threat for models who can trigger the effect, limiting the effectiveness of the card.
The Pawns Go First
A. If you're running a Magento led Squad this card should definitely be in consideration for your 5.
Characters (18)
Colossus (4)
B+. He’s a pretty fast and very durable affiliated 4 threat. He can also taunt and now finally throw characters on his spender. Great fit in Magneto now.
Emma Frost (4)
B-. Emma can be an interesting tech piece against Web Warriors for example with her long range Mystic attacks and Shield Mind to stop them pushing your models around. Also good if you’re pestered by Thanos.
Gambit (3)
B. With his Update Gambit has become a much more interesting option. He can play Dark Past here which is a great TTC and he can also wreck face and live through more than you expect him to now. If you get the necessary wilds which can be a problem here as there isn't a lot of ways to get dice fixing in affiliation.
Juggernaut (5)
A. You’d have to have a very good argument not to play Juggernaut in every Brotherhood game you play regardless of the leadership. Don’t expect him to be a great damage dealer though. One 8 die attack will let you down constantly if you rely on it. Juggs strength comes in the combination of Health Pool + Pay to reduce to 0 and his Incredible movement. Be aware that Nothing Stops the Juggernaut isn’t limited to once per turn so as long as he can pay for it Juggs and do it again and again. He also has his card Do you know who I am stapled to his head which is very strong. Especially if you manage to use it in Mystiques (or Emma’s) turn so the opponent can’t use reactive superpowers or TTCs against the throw.
Magneto (6)
B. Magneto is a fair 6 threat which means he could use a little something extra. He really needs his own leadership to work and having some kind of help to move him around without him having to spend actions on it is absolutely key to having any success with him.
Mystique (3)
B. Raven is fast has stealth and rapid fire. Her exploding terrain is also nice. But in my experience she often tends to swim in power that she can’t really spend on anything. She also dies rather easily for a Stealth, Martial Artist.
Pyro (3)
A. Pyro is an absolute nuisance for your opponent and brings conditions for days, good attacks and a TTC that drops objective and pushes at the same time. He’s pretty much a lock in the roster.
Quicksilver (3)
B. He’s a fast and somewhat durable objective runner with an (assets only) steal TTC making him quite good in the wide Mystique plan.
Rogue (4)
A. Rogue is fantastic and really comes to live in Magnetos leadership that helps her fund her great kit instead of relying on her builder.
Sabretooth (4)
B-. Interesting as the fastest healing factor character and good at hunting Kaijus. More of a tech piece than a generally good 4 threat though.
Sabretooth, Apex Predator (4)
A-. Apex is a mini Thor 2 with his combination of great attacks, a pounce and a character throw. In Mags you can give him all the power he needs to really become the monster you know from the comics.
Scarlet Witch (5)
C+. Poor Wanda always gets left behind in these articles. She is by no means a bad character but picking her over Juggernaut is hard and running both and Magneto becomes incredibly expensive quick.
Shadow King (5)
C. I want to like Shadow King as his model is in the discussion for coolest in the game for me but I feel AMG might have overcorrected him to too weak when they tuned him down in play testing (they said he had to be nerfed as he was an absolute misery to play against at first).
The Blob (3)
B. Blob is pretty durable and has a unique attack deterrent where he can displace you for attacking him. His spender is also fantastic.
Toad (2)
A. By far and large the best extract focused 2 threat in the game. There's no excuse not to have him in your Brotherhood roster really.
New characters:
Avalanche (3)
B+. Avalanche has decent stats for a three, can push on demand and destroy terrain reactively. He's not going to be your star player most of the time but should be super reliable at what he does (he also looks very cool!).
Exodus (5)
A-. Exodus is a massive ball of raw stats and staying power. Getting him into a squad past Juggernaut is really the biggest hurdle.
Lady Mastermind (4)
B+. Lady Mastermind is a very hard character to evaluate. Being a 4 in Brotherhood is tough but she does do very unique things. Worth a try if nothing else.
Popular Splash Characters for the affiliation
Lockjaw (3)
B. Lockjaw is a cheap tool to transport your Magneto around the board. He is also a very good boy.
Red Skull, Master of the World (4)
A. As icky as it feels Red Skull 3 is a perfect support model for a Magneto led Brotherhood list. He can teleport Mags, take power from where he finds it, has a great terrain throw himself and also very good attacks.
Example Rosters
Magneto Example Roster
Characters (10)
Avalanche (3)
Exodus (5)
Lady Mastermind (4)
* Magneto (6)
Juggernaut (5)
The Blob (3)
Toad (2)
Pyro (3)
Sabretooth, Apex Predator (4)
Colossus (4)
Team Tactics (10)
The Pawns Go First
Genetic Superiority
Brace for Impact (R)
Do You Know Who I Am?
Happy Birthday, Runt!
Indomitable (R)
Magnetic Refraction
Pyrotechnics
Recalibration Matrix
Warpath
Secure Crisis
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack! (R, 20)
M‘Kraan Crystal Gets Heroes Home! (G, 19)
Extract Crisis
Inhumans Deploy Advanced Weaponry (O, 18)
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Mystique Example Roster
Characters (10)
Avalanche (3)
Colossus (4)
Gambit (3)
Juggernaut (5)
Lady Mastermind (4)
* Mystique (3)
Pyro (3)
Quicksilver (3)
Toad (2)
Lizard (3)
Team Tactics (10)
Asteroid M
Brace for Impact (R)
Can I Borrow That?
Dark Past
Do You Know Who I Am?
Fall Back (R)
Monkey Brain Is Lizard Home
Pyrotechnics
Stolen Identity
Survival
Secure Crisis
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Extract Crisis
Scientific Samples Found in Discovered Universe (D, 17)
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! (L, 19)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
If you want to support me in what I do here and get something out of these articles you could consider becoming a Patron at www.patreon.com/sgprotocol
Thank you for reading and Cheers from Germany 🍻
Comments
Post a Comment