Spider Foes, Wave 2

So If you’ve seen this video I did () You’ll know I don’t think much of Spider-foes at the moment. Their Leader is underpowered and has been denied his one previous use. The other models in faction are on the slow side, only one of them is 3 threat and the only real beater (Venom) has some weaknesses (Energy). Butthere are 4 new models on the Horizon, and we’ve now seen all the cards. We haven’t seen many tactics cards yet, and I haven’t played with them, but we can at least look at the cards. 

I’m going to try something different, picking out the great, the good, the bad and the ugly of each card, and then hot take on a tier for the model (S, A, B, C ,D)

Lizard

Let’s start with the newest. 3 threat Tank.

The Great: He appears to be one of the tankiest models in the game with 6 health (5 on red side), 4 Physical Def, damage reduction AND healing factor. He’s very tanky for a 3 threat, and better than some higher threat models.

The Good: He’s 3 threat! He has a throw, and his spender is only 3 power for 7 dice and bleed and slow.

The Bad: Only M move, so still no L in faction, but he’s on a medium base so not all that bad. The throw is within 2 and range S, so not the best.

The Ugly: 4 dice builder which gains power for damage. That’s terrible. We’ve seen lots of 4 dice attacks that gain 1 automatic. Yes it has a wild push, but on 4 dice… It is range 3, but his spender is range 2, so that’s actually really unhelpful. He is going to struggle to get power.

So I wouldn’t count on the throw happening a lot, or Cold-Blooded, but he should be tanking a bit. Shame he doesn’t hame any movement shenanigans; maybe a tactics card? He will be OK in Spider-Foes, they need more 3 threats, but I think he’ll be really good in Syndicate, sitting on a point, and also (bizarrely) in Web warriors under either Leader.

Hot Take Tier = B

Kraven

Kraven is a semi-support character, who I was hoping had a Leadership ability.

The Great: Corner looks great. Put it on an enemy that has to move and watch them take damage. Combo that with Bleed! Or move them with Enchantress or MODOK to be mean. 

The Good: Re-rolls on attack and defense. His attack combo is good. Kukri, gain 1, put on bleed, Hit Spear for 7 dice (costing nothing) , get to move M if the Kukri got a wild, gain power, throw on Tracker or Corner. Legit! 

The Bad: Standard 3 threat Defensive stats.

The Ugly: No Leadership (although he’d have to be 4 threat or toned down I guess)

He can be a beater, an objective getter (with spear), support. He seems really good. Might be a bit squishy, and possibly the first target your opponent attacks. Seems very good in Foes, and nice in lots of other factions. I really like him in Cabal with Skull, MODOK and Enchantress (Only 16 threat) although altogether may not work well!

Hot Take Tier = A

Carnage

The crazy killer. A very odd character.

The great: Maximum Carnage! As long as you hit multiple enemies this is great. 7 dice on each enemy then if you hit the trigger (not that unlikely) the other enemies take more damage. Combo with Sadistic glee for silly damage.

The good: Paint the town red gives him better survivability and an extra attack and movement. Serial killer stops enemy defense spikes and Auto Bleed on tendrils is good. 

The Bad: I feel like he needs some sort of movement help. Like a pounce, charge, or move on his builder. Or L move. He really wants to be attacking from the shadows, but nothing in his kit lets him do that.

The Ugly: Those defenses. People have complained about Venom’s 2 Energy Def for a year, but this is 1 and on mystic Def. A Scarlet Witch or Modok or Cable (and so on) will completely wreck him. And unlike Venom he doesn’t have a counter and an easy heal.

So he can do a lot of damage to a lot of people, but he might die before he gets there. At 4 threat I’m not sure it’s worth the risk. Thor is One threat more with a comparable Area attack, but charge and way more survivability. I’m sure he will be fun to play, but I prefer Venom. Not sure If he helps spider-foes much. Strangely, he will be good in defenders and Storm’s X-Men. Strange can buff his defense and switch his attacks to energy, and portals gives him a delivery system. Storm can also bump his movement and grant him stealth. Was Carnage ever good to justify this affiliation switch??

Hot Take Tier = C

Mysterio

Everyone be raving about Quentin, but Is he all that?

The Great: Tricks and Traps works well with stealth. You cannot attack from 4 away, so you move to 3 and then probably take damage and he runs away. 

The Good: 3 threat in 2 affiliations which have lots of 4+ models. 5 Mystic Def when Mystic attacks are the new energy. 2 Mystic attacks, both with good extras. Master of Illusions is nice for energy building.

The Bad: Slow movement. Ugh. Luckily you don’t want him running up the board.

The Ugly: 1s on Def. Yes they have to pay 2 to not attack Mystic, but that’s not a lot to basically make sure he dies. And if someone gets to him round 1 or 2 he doesn’t have enough power to trigger Tricks and Traps, so he dies. 

I’ve seen a lot of people saying he’s super survivable, but I don’t see it. Later on he may be able to Trick away. But when he has no power he can’t. And if someone bases him with a range 3 attacks, I don’t think he gets away. And he can only use it when someone moves. Enemies can easily move him, make Mysterio spend 3 to run away, then attack someone else, and send another character after him when he has no Power. And then they don’t need to move to attack him. I’m also not sure what roll he fills. He can’t hold a secure as his whole schtick is moving away. And he isn’t much of an extract runner with only S move. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong, but currently think he is more a Fun piece over a quality piece.

Hot Take Tier = D

So 4 new models, ABCD. What would I rate the previous 4?

Venom B

Doc Ock C

Green goblin C

Kingpin B (A in Criminal Syndicate)

So that gives us A BBB CCC D. So Spider-foes are better. And now they’re playable. But are they competitive? It depends a lot on any new tactics cards. Currently they don’t have an affiliation tactics card which they really suffer from. They have to take one of their worst models as their leader, still have a massive lack of speed and are much worse than other affiliations at Secures, Extracts or Fighting. They’re better than the D tier I put them in, but I think they only got to C. If only Kraven had a leadership power. Maybe we’ll get a new Doc Ock. We’re still missing Rhino, Electro, Vulture (and the shocker) but I’m not sure any of them come with a leadership.

All images/cards (C) Atomic Mass Games

Tags: Marvel Crisis Protocol, MCP