On Saturday I'll attend what looks to be the biggest MCP tournament ever run in Germany with a maxed out 16 players (yeah I know this seems very low but the scene is slowly but surely growing here).
Even before his card as even spoiled I decided that, if at all possible, I would take an Adam Warlock led Guardians team including his box members Quasar and Moondragon to this event.
I received and painted the trio on time:
For my birthday my wife gave me the Valkyrie and Elendil/ Warriors Three pack and I also have locked Valk for the list. The rest of the list is in flux.
I have played 3 games with it so far: all losses.
The last game against Webs I lost mostly because I let my 1 HP Quasar walk into Silks trap range, which of course cost me 2 VP right then and there. I wouldn't have won the game at that moment but would have held a commanding lead. Remember your opponents reactive superpowers kids.
After playing three games with the Bonded Soul/ Reality Gem on Adam Warlock I'm personally not convinced it's the best combination for me personally. I do have CGR in my roster at the moment but haven't played the pair together so maybe that's why I'm unconvinced.
I originally thought Mind would be most interesting but with conversations with my brother I realized that Mind would be strongest if you can have the last activation, which with an 8 threat leader is: unlikely.
So we came to the idea of Space Gem. Adam of course has a Range 2 place on his card already and can pay for it every round if he has at least one Gem (and there is absolutely 0 reason to not have the Bonded Soul Gem on him as AMG intended). But having another free Range 2 place makes him much faster and increases his threat range while also freeing up power for more Spenders. It can also be used to place an ally back on a point if Adam doesn't need it himself. I will have 0 test games with the Space Gem on Adam Warlock but have made up my mind to bring it to the event.
In the games played Adam has proved to be quite immortal when I remember to use the Bonded Soul Gem correctly. His Spender is also scarry and he needs to use it as much as possible to be worth the heavy investment in my opinion.
Quasar is the affiliated 4 threat I've brought in all three test games and she's been*Pat Dunford voice* fine. She is pretty survivable but you can overload her with damage and conditions to make it a hard choice to remove a condition or damage with her reactive superpower. In all my games with her I struggled to get power on her. I still like her in theory and her model is cool and I do aim for some best painted points on the event (even though winning that would be a huge surprise. Some fantastic painters will be there). She probably won't be the first 4 threat I pick for my Squads though.
Moondragon was in two games and she's been fine. Remembering to use her "Witty Banter" is key to making her worth the threat.
Valkyrie and Elendil have only been in one game so far but I enjoyed it very very much. They are quite dice dependent but with that the leadership can help of course.
Speaking of: Cosmic Awareness is by far my favorite leadership in the game now. I'm slowly learning to remember to it in every single turn (mine and my opponents) of the game. There's always something you can (and should) do with it. It's especially important to remember to use it when you spike a roll. It's easy to get overly excited then and "waste" a good dice you could have saved.
And now the rest of the list:
Characters:
Affiliated basically locked in:
Rocket Raccoon (2)
Loads of players swear by Nebula but Rocket, the only Guardians character fittingly represented in the MCU, has always been my man (or Raccoon if you're brave enough to call him that). His range 5 attacks combined with being able to score do outclass Nebula for me personally, especially as we don't have a way to fully unlock Skulls for Nebula. And not least of all no Guardians team would feel complete without Rocket.
Yondu (4)
After getting the Glow Up to an immense 7/6 Health Pool Yondu, who's already been a good character, is an A tier 4 threat and being affiliated here means we need a strong reason not to take him.
Star-Lord (3)
I thought about not having Peter in the roster at all to get rid of the temptation of playing his leadership on wider maps (which I know is just a more sensible way to play but I have committed to playing 10 games with Adam Warlock). But Plucky Attitude simply has good synergy with the leadership and Star-Lord is a solid in Affiliation 3 threat model in his own right. I also have one painted in blue like his original comic costume so that's my none leader Star-Lord model and I won't be tempted to play him as anything else.
Cosmic Ghost Rider (6)
I kind of hate CGR. I think the entire concept of the character beyond stupid (and Frank Castle was an extremely weird choice) and him being Guardians affiliated is based on all of 5 panels where he is with them against his own will. On the table he's still a strong model and has great synergy with the leadership. It's no coincidence that the most successful Adam Warlock players basically always play him in every game. I haven't tried it yet at all. But I am pretty happy with my paint job so maybe he will get me some points in that category at least.
What the list now needs is another 3 threat and a 5 threat. We have enough affiliated models to not really care if they are splashes or not. Here are some ideas in no particular order:
3 threats
Karnak (3)
Karnak can have big attacks, can use Skulls on his Spender and Blanks on his Defense rolls (in Martial Artist range) I think he can be a good killer under the leadership but the Affiliation doesn't do a lot to help with his main weakness which is mobility.
Black Cat (3)
A straight up broken character. She is super fast, extremely unreasonably tanky, has Stagger on a stick and can Steal an Objective. What she doesn't have is Damage Output. Not sure if that disqualifies her or not yet. The model sadly is also ugly and my paint job nothing special. She can be hidden in the back of the group shot maybe 😄
Baron Zemo (3)
A real deep cut and a suggestion here. I'll have to play Zemo a lot in my Kang Cabal (you can listen to the list building process in German here) though and I don't like having characters in two rosters I'm playing side by side. He is surely a good pick however.
Shuri (3)
An idea I heard in the Across the Bifrost episode on Adam Warlock. Shuri throws a bucket of dice in each of her activations which she doesn't need most of (as her 6 dice Gainer is capped at 1 damage). Shuri doesn't bring damage output but does control and she has a reroll bubble to help the rest of the team. Definitely a very interesting option.
Gorgon (3)
Gorgon is just a very good 3 threat. He doesn't have as much special synergy with the leadership.
Drax the Destroyer (3)
In the list because he's affiliated but as mentioned before that's not really necessary. Drax is quite tanky and has some control but ultimately his problem is his lack of mobility that we can only semi fix. Valkyrie and Elendil can place him and Adam Warlock with the Space Gem could in a pinch.
Groot (3)
Groot obviously makes Rocket better but Rocket isn't the main focus here.
Gambit (3)
Giving Gambit Wilds on demand sounds incredible but it's much harder to do in practice as you need someone else to let go off them. It's much easier to feed Gambit a hit which he can then turn into a wild himself if he can pay for it. A strong contender.
Iron Monger (3)
Iron Monger looks and reads amazing and I was able to build him yesterday. Unlikely that I can finish painting him until Saturday though.
5 threats:
Angela (5)
Affiliated, super fast and with decent damage output Angela at least deserves a mention here.
Nova (5)
Probably a giant shock for any regular readers of the Blog that he isn't locked in the roster. He is once again super fast, has high damage potential and a lot of control. I'm just not sure he makes the most out of the leadership.
Red Skull, Master of Hydra (5)
Red Skull 2 is just pure damage output. You can feed him Blanks your other characters don't want and his Hydra Grunts help with the inevitable low model count I'll have with an 8 threat leader. I'm not super happy with my paint job sadly 😅
Blue Marvel (5)
I have his box but it's still unopened and I don't have the time to get him table ready for Saturday sadly. He seems like a cheaper but more efficient (but infinitely slower) alternative to Cosmic Ghost Rider.
Doctor Strange (5)
Having a Pierce on a Shield is an interesting synergy here. He lacks mobility though.
King T‘Challa (5)
Maybe the killiest 5 threat of them all and definitely not lacking in Speed either. Another very strong contender.
Spider-Man 2099 (5)
Web Whip is drug. Guaranteeing the pursuit on his Gainer is a great way to keep Miguel relevant and he is a durable beater in a brawl. The biggest question is if he can get his power train rolling enough.
What about the other affiliated 4 threats?
Beta Ray Bill (4)
In a pure competitive list he would probably take Quasars spot. He is my most played model in this game and I want to give Phyla-Vell more of a chance to prove herself.
Agent Venom (4)
One of the most fun characters to play and a good Guardian especially against any team relying on defensive dice modifications. But with far fewer targets for Foreign Assignment in the roster (though the two best ones admittedly) he slightly looses out to Yondu for a very similar role. Range 5, Energy, the reroll and the additional point of Stamina outweighs the potential speed and control advantage of Flash Thompson.
Ronan the Accuser (4)
Ronan is a weird character. Everything on his card reads good but somehow it just hasn't ever really come together for me on the table. I'm already going in with far to little reps to be trying to make him work now.
Any decisions?
Not yet. Saturday is fast approaching and I need to finalize the list and pack the models as I'll have to get going very early in the morning and am bound to forget something if everything isn't packed by Friday evening. And of course list lock is also at that time.
Team Tactics (9)
Cosmic Awareness
There's no discussion needed here. It's the only leadership I'm willing to play. It's also fantastic.
Galaxy‘s Greatest
Guardians best card by a mile. Not as impactful as with the wider Star-Lord list but still an every game card.
Indomitable (R)
My restricted card of choice. Maybe now less mandatory that I have the Space Gem on Adam but denying a key displacement is still huge.
Lovable Misfits
An extremely high risk high reward card. The very definition of Winging It.
Recalibration Matrix
Quite possibly unnecessary here because of Adam Warlock but also just generally good card.
Warpath
My main game plan has to be to kill and this card can help me get into or stay in range to do that.
Survival
The card that was supposed to be anti Kaiju tech but ends up being every attrition teams joker: when you inevitably daze too many characters in a round and lose prio you use it to make your opponents freshly won priority activation as bad as possible.
Warrior‘s Frenzy
Not overly convinced about the card to be honest but it's here for lack of better alternatives.
Brace for Impact (R)
I've come the long way back to Brace. Negating key collision damages at an opportune time can win games. That hasn't changed even if the maximum amount of damage from collisions is lower now.
The last card depends on which characters I end up filling my roster with.
Secure Crisis
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians (I, 17)
I want low scoring and I have high average Energy defenses
Lockdown! Security Systems Stymie Breakout (S, 18)
I played my game against Webs on this crisis and it can definitely bite me. Added mobility is key here.
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Basically the opposite where mobility matters a lot less, at least depending on the extract.
Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack! (R, 20)
Adam should be able to hold a side basically by himself and the rest can overload the other side.
M‘Kraan Crystal Gets Heroes Home! (G, 19)
The one I'm least convinced on but I haven't really found a better one. Maybe just go with Infinity Formula instead? 🤔
Extract Crisis
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)
Slow and most of my characters can spend down their power pretty well.
Inhumans Deploy Advanced Weaponry (O, 18)
Double midline means more targets.
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Adam can even be used as a safe grab here with the space Gem and his Universal Translator Place.
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Probably the best one for me.
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Once again the one I'm least sure about. I obviously like more dice and don't rely too much on TTCs but giving the opponent better attacks into me is not really something I want to be doing. It's here for lack of better alternatives though.
Now what are my actual goals for the event? My absolute minimum goal is: to get three more games with Adam Warlock and his leadership in. So showing up (and not having to leave early for whatever reason) will assure me this.
I do have some more goals though:
- Play every character on the roster in at least one game.
This is actually going to be very hard to pull off when it's very unlikely that I can bring more than 4 models per game. The smaller and more attainable version of the goal is to play as many different characters on the day as possible and sensible.
- Use the leadership in every single Turn of each game.
Only when there's no clear improvement to be had do nothing.
- take loads of photos
This has nothing to do with my actual play but can easily be forgotten when I'm focused on the game.
- remembering all my triggers and if possible also my opponents
Losing games because you forgot what your own character can do makes you feel very stupid. For example in my second Adam Warlock game I thought Bonded Soul Gem would only work in Range 4 and didn't even get the idea of reading the card which was right in front of me...
- win at least one game
Going 0:3 would definitely sting a bit. Not as much as when I would bring a list I'm more practiced with and that I would build to try to win but still.
That's it for today.
I'll have some thinking to do until Saturday for sure. And obviously I will write about my experience at the event and you'll learn how the roster ended up looking in the end.
Cheers from Germany 🍻
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