Let me begin by openly admitting... I am NOT a competitive gamer.
Ask any one in the Duke's Gaming community and they will tell you, if you want to play to win, play against me!
Marvel: Crisis Protocol is by far my favourite table top game right now and has been for a few years. Minis, game play, narrative, all of it appeals to me and when the opportunity came to attend my first Grand Tournament I immediately jumped at the MCP event.
I decided instantly on running Spider-Foes (Sinister 6). Not meta list, just narrative driven as I do enjoy this rag-tag list of Spider-Man's greatest enemies. The list also allows to play as Criminal Syndicate with the addition of Taskmaster. With 2 spaces left to fill though, would Bullseye and Zemo make a good addition? I settled on Black Cat and Bullseye, making the line up to 10: Green Goblin, Kingpin, Venom, Lizard, Taskmaster, Black Cat, Doc Ock, Bullseye, Mysterio, Kraven.
My main focus this week is understanding the new updates and how the game now runs from the November ‘21 update as it's been a few months away from it.
Green Goblin’s only real changes to be prepared for are the new Affiliation cost (zero but once per turn) as well as a 5 dice builder.
Kingpin and Bullseye have also had changes but I need to check them.
Ideally I'm looking to get 1 game a week played minimum to start utilising synergy with the team and for tweaking.
The current core team will be Green Goblin, Venom, Lizard for 11 points and see how 3 tankish characters can work out. Lizard is VERY cheap for 3 threat, but let's see how it goes.
Crisis cards-wise, I’m looking at B, F, and C deployments initially due to the close proximity of each objective. In theory it will help me dish out damage at close range as well as maximise those status conditions.
Main decked Crisis Cards:
Struggle for the Cube (17) F
Spider-Infected (17) F
Panic Grips City as Evacuation Efforts Continue (19) B
Infinity Formula Goes Missing (17) B
SWORD on Moon Base (14) C
Deadly Meteors (17) C
Game 1 – 3rd Feb 2022
Vs Dan (Web Warriors)
Struggle for the Cube (17) / Bombs (17)
Green Goblin, Venom, Lizard, Taskmaster, Mysterio
Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man (Miles), Ghost Spider, Black Cat, Moon Knight
Ran out of time on this one, but at the end of Turn 3 Venom was injured, Mysterio nearly injured, Goblin injured. Score was in the Web Warriors favour, but honestly the game could have gone anywhere. Miles was K/O, Black Cat injured, Ghost Spider injured, Moon Knight injured. I think I could have pulled it back with sheer attack damage.
Key takeaways:
Goblin is now considerably better with a 5 dice builder. Oscorp Weaponry can make such a difference on a key attack but I need to take the “Once Per Turn” into consideration more.
Mysterio had a great performance, but I played him too far on the flank. Sinister Traps on the centre objective was not a great idea as I could have secured 3 Cube fragments from the beginning as I had priority and it pushed both teams to either flank. I needed to have played The Grand Illusion when Mysterio got pummelled by Miles early on. I need to check if Mysterio has to be active to play it or is it just Mysterio’s power that has to be used during any of my Active team’s activation.
I need to remember Advanced R & D and play it early on either on Venom or Mysterio so Tricks and Traps can kick off or Venom gets to react with So Many Snacks at a more pivotal time early game.
Not sure if Taskmaster gels with the team, he performed well once he had some power on him with mnemonic technique, but otherwise he had a quiet game.
Tactics Cards update. I am dropping Grievous Wounds and taking another healing card instead like Patch Up. With games like Struggle for the Cube I need to keep the health up on the Cube carriers for longer, as Venom can heal himself and Goblin can’t carry objectives on his injured side.
Is 17 threat too much? Should I focus on 14 threat instead? I’m going to try some 14 threat cards on Saturday’s game against Gav, see how that plays.
All in all, as far as first-time list building goes, not a terrible game! Just need to actually finish one now... 😊
Game 2 – 5th Feb 2022
Vs Gav (Criminal Syndicate)
Mutant Extremists (14) / Extremis Consoles (17)
Green Goblin, Venom, Lizard, Mysterio
Kingpin, Ultron, Luke Cage, Bullseye
Strong game for the Spider-Foes, 16-8 turn 5. First win! First time playing with a 14 threat and it worked really well. End of the game, Lizard was on his wounded side but everyone else was nearly on full health. Mysterio and Lizard had a great game, really strong. Venom and Goblin played sentry mostly (which felt a little wasteful) as Goblin secured the senator on turn 1 (last activation) so was able to get in and get out very quickly, and then spent the game flying around the back of the board hitting and running.
Gav was cursed with a series of bad hit roles (7 Dice Energy attack on Venom from Ultron, 0 wounds...ouch) but I feel my team is clicking together better.
Key takeaways: Remember to put in Monkey Brain card for Lizard! There was a key timing opportunity to take on 3 of the opposition but I’d forgotten to put in to the play hand! Stoopid monkey brain... Otherwise Lizard proved to be a serious thorn in the Criminals side. Being able to hit twice and then throw into scenery for extra damage (and space) helped a lot.
Brace for Impact and Patch Up worked like a dream! Kept Lizard from flipping over too early, and saved Mysterio’s bacon when he was down to 1 life! 100% keeping them in the play deck.
I played Grand Illusion at the wrong time. It is a great aura effect that can help protect the team when needed, and not purely to protect Mysterio alone. Mysterio, Lizard and Goblin make a hard centre. Lizard and Goblin can redeploy quickly to either flank.
Using Sinister Traps to force opponents down a specific channel helps too. Gav deployed a heavy right flank, Sinister Traps on the right-hand objective forced Luke Cage to take damage from turn 1.
I think I’m getting the feel for the game a bit more, and now my head is beginning to turn with the idea of Criminal Syndicate and Black Cat combo... I may try it in a later game once I’ve built and converted my Black Cat model. 100% aiming for low crisis games going forward.
What are your thoughts? Anything that works well in your games or spotted something that could be better? Let me know, every little helps.
Massive thanks to Dan and Gav for the games this week, both were real eyeopeners! Lots of synergies to look out for, and I think I'll have my biggest test next week... Black Order against David. Wish me luck!
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