by Patrick Yapjoco
Well, we have had our first larger, competitive Bronze Age Limited event in August, and there is another big one coming up this weekend in NorCal, run by Clix Collective. The aptly named Master Mold event should draw well from up there, hopefully drawing 20+ players (or close to it). Now that the format has formed its initial layout, let’s take a quick look at the some of the archetypes expected at the event, especially now that X-Men: Rise and Fall will be legal for the event.
Alpha Strike/Drop Ship teams
With the format being heavily close combat-oriented, it’s no surprise that this archetype will see the most play as it also has the widest array of options, from Themed Teams (Animals, Secret Six) to just a mix of “good stuff.” There are great taxis in the format in Overdrive, Ch’p, Voyager, Renet Tilley, and plenty of “free attacks” in the form of bystanders from various figures (Maggott, Medusa, Guy Gardner, Klarion), or figures like Wonder Woman (w/lasso), Atom, and Micron. This is the closest you can get to “point and shoot” in the format. Of course, positioning and threat assessment is going to be key on this type of team because you will be exposed once you cross the map, and if anything goes wrong, the house of cards can crumble.
There is one important difference, however, when looking at the two types of teams. Yes, they can both get to the opposing team in one turn, but Alpha Strike teams mostly will send one attacker at a time (normally through TK), while the Drop Ship teams send the entire team into the fray (carried by a taxi).
Latveria variants
Mainly the team will be either Cosmic or Ruler-based since those seem to have the best options. Expect to see Sky Tyrant/Flash alpha strike teams mainly, with a smattering of other options, like retaliation-based (Groot, Mangog, Surtur), or controlling-based (with Molecule Man among others). It will be interesting to see if any other tech comes out with this since these Doom teams have many of disruption/control aspects.
Spider-Family variants
These types of teams have been staples in the format for quite some time now, so I won’t go too much into them, however I will say that the main ones you will see are Robot-based, Martial Artist-based, Soldier-based, and Ruler-based. All of these have some crazy options to choose from and you can tailor make your team with the various ATAs that the wildcards can use.
Swap team variants
The Fantastic Four have been around using this mechanic to much success, and the new X-Men Rise and Fall set takes it step further, with X-Men, Brotherhood, and Hellfire Club teams having access to the “swap” mechanic as well in the form of Professor X and Magneto.
Expect to see some Krakoan Revival shenanigans with Chase Apocalypse and Mimic, as well as some great swap options in Blackheart and Gladiator. These teams can really go offensive when compared to the Fantastic Four versions (they’re more defensive in nature).
Monsters
These are part of the “old guard.” Shredders and Monster retal-teams are the choices here. Mini Shredder easily goes onto Mole Man teams and Onslaught should do well in Bronze as he has access to relics. Carnage, Groot, Surtur, Mangog, and Wendigo are all great in multiples and once you get the retal chain going it can turn into an avalanche. Doppelganger prime and Sky Tyrant are also great additions to the archetype if you don’t want to go more alpha strike.
Defend Shells
Another old guard team. We can’t talk about Bronze without talking about Defend Shells. It’s not just the actual “share Defense” power/ability, but just hard to hit Defenses overall. Fantastic Four fits in here with sweater Thing, but it goes further with KC Green Lantern and Despotellis sharing their 20-Defenses, and pieces like Nighthawk prime and Sheriff Steve making it difficult to hit, and even things like the Boxing Ring adding more defensive measures. Teams like this are risky because all it takes is a little luck and the shell can break, but it won’t stop players from always trying.
This weekend should provide some great teams and hopefully we can see new archetypes emerge and perhaps a return of the tent-pole in the format. If I had to choose one to win it all, I would go with one an Alpha Strike/Drop Ship team. Thanks for reading, until next time!
