by Jeff Bullard
Welcome to 2019 Majestix Open Series end of year review. The format is 300pts Bronze Age W/ Ban List. Just a little about the format before we get started: Superman set and up, any set with an “oreo” base is legal except Star Trek ships. There are a few game elements and figures that are banned in the format for various reason. Spells/Traps along with Horde Tokens are NOT legal. The Ban List consists of:
*Orange Power Battery
*Team Bases
*Felix Faust
*Copycat
*Resurrection Man
*Juston Seyfert
*Morphing Jar
*The Book of the Skull Resource Dial
*Black Swan
*Omega Drive
*Legion XDPS 036b
We follow modern rules using Wizkids and Majestix maps only. Also, ATAs are legal in this format.
It has been such an amazing year for the Majestix Open Series. We have had 15 Trials between to the two Open Series $1K Main Events. The diversity of the team builds and strategies are endless in this format. There were only two repeat Trial winners, Steve’s Quinjet and Esbrook’s Juggernaut. That makes 13 different winning team for the trials. The Open Series $1Ks also had two very different winning teams. The evolution of the format and the Meta have grown exponentially in the past six months.
Steve DiCarlo
The Summer Open Series $1K Main Event had five Trials leading up to the main event. Four out of the five Trial winners attended the $1K Main Event. Only two of the Trial winners made it to the finals. There was Steve DiCarlo with the Avengers QuinJet, Ryan Nelson with Super Skrull / Nighthawk, Jonah Weikert with Hulk Smash, Collin Froreich with Undying Cap and David Colon with Uni-Mind/Nighthawk. Steve won the Trial but was unable to attend the $1K Main Event. Nighthawk Prime and the Star Sapphire Battery. This is the tent pole of tent poles, Super Skrull is doing most of the work with only two ID cards on the team. Being able to pick 4 powers a turn makes it much easier to adapt to your opponent. Super Skrull is not an easy piece to play, so much credit to the pilot here. Jonah’s Hulk Smash team rolled through his opponents with the infinite attacks that were possible with FF Hulk, Korath and Wasp, Heart of the Avengers. He placed 9th in the Main Event only missing the cut by less the 60vps. Collin’s Undying Cap team went 5-0 in the swiss rounds of the Main Event. The build consists of Captain America with the Only to Defend Earth Trait, Lockjaw, Iron Heart and the Star Sapphire Battery. The Shape Change on the already hard to kill figures make sure that he is not giving up a lot of points. Unfortunately, he ran into a bad match up in the Quarter-Finals against the Shredder Team and lost. Collin placed 5th overall. Lastly there is David and his UniHawk. The Team is very straight forward, Uni-mind with Parallax equipped, Nighthawk Prime, Carnage and Pandoras Box. He didn’t make cut at the summer $1K but it will not be the last time you see UniHawk. The Trials winners laid the pathway for what was to be expected at the Summer Open Series $1K Main Event.
The Summer Open Series $1K had an astounding 35 players, becoming the biggest Heroclix event on the West Coast in over two years. The playing field was intense, and the competition was no joke. The Arizona crew came out and took up half the finals. I mentioned Collin earlier, there was also Ben Bielecki with his Lydea Monsters. The Monster Theme team has a +5 map bonus which helps him win map so Lydea can take part of his opponents resource. Michael Braudrick was playing his Blue Panther Dice Manipulation. The team is Gauntlet Panther, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Q Prime and the Blue Power Battery. The positive Perplexes and the re-rolls make this team extremely hard to take down, earning him 7th place. The fourth player that came out from Arizona to make the Finals is Justin Herrington and he was playing the Phoenix Shredders earning him 4th place. They are a hard to kill and the penetrating damage they deal after movement rips through most teams. Rob Gallagher was playing his undying tricksters, three different dice manipulators: Mr. Mxyzptlk, Q Prime and Q Super Rare. Along with Daredevil and the Star Sapphire Battery. Being able to control his opponents’ dice and make sure a six is not rolled. This ensures that Daredevil will stay alive. Robert place 6th in the event. Emilio Gutierrez place 3rd playing a Vulture Prime team. He always has amazing team builds that really explore what is capable in this format. He took a popular modern team, mixed in some Bronze Age and the combos and versatility he can produce with the Power Plant Resource is outstanding. The man who won it all Richard Medina. His Celebrity Lex team shook the format and made a new team that you must look out for. As a 200pt call in battery he can call in a variety of high point Pulse Wavers. With the proper positioning Lex cannot be targeted or attacked. This was a great season for the Majestix Open Series. The format is staring to develop a meta game. The Fall season is going to be even bigger.
Richard Medina
For the Summer Open Series winning teams click here and here.
The Fall Open Series $1K Main Event had ten Trials leading up to the Main Event. Matt Esbrook won two Trials with his Juggernaut team. He made a minor change to the team for the second Trial he won and main event, but the core of the team stayed the same. Seven out of the nine different Trial winners attended the $1K Main Event. Five of the Trial winners made it to the finals. Paul Cote with his Jason’s Three was unable to attend the $1K Main Event. His build is Jason of Sparta, two Jason Wyngarde, an Ultron Drone, Surtur and full sideline. Also, Dustin Seeders and the Mojo team were not present at the Fall $1K Main Event. The Mojo team is 175pt Yo-Yo Call in battery. It would have been great to see these two team at the main event. Richard Medina with Celebrity Lex also won a Trial. At the Main Event Richard did not make the cut. It seems the format adjusted to him winning and started packing a pulse wave call in or two. Alyssa McNeil won a trial with her Manipulation Rod team. She is running two die Manipulators: Q Prime and Mr. Mxyzptlk and the 2X2 Nimrod. Again, the Pulse Wave heavy call in got the best of the tent pole. The rest of the Trial winners used the same teams they won their Trials with and made it to Top 8.
The Fall Open Series $1K Main Event had 31 participants. The Top 8 looked much different for the Fall Open Series $1K Main Event. There were only two repeat players from the Summer Open Series $1K Main Event. Michael Braudrick is one and has been consistently placing in the Top 8 with his Dice Manipulation teams. He played a different version of the die manipulation team the fall season. His team was Mr. Mxyzptlk, Trelane, Ultron Drone, 100pt Wendigo paired with the Blue Power Battery. He went into the top 8 with a 4-1 record and 255vps. His team is not giving up a lot of points and with the more offensive team build he can get the points he needs to win easily. Michael has proven that the die manipulation Arch-Type is a solid strategy. A Fall Trial winner and second repeat Top 8 finisher is Robert Gallagher. Robert 100% solidified a new Arch-Type in the 300 Bronze Age Format. His +5 Robot Theme team has all three of the Danger Room Constructs with Ophidian equipped to Magneto, I.S.A.A.C., Tri-Sentinel and the Green Power Battery. The Green Power Battery is a hard counter to the current Meta. It limits the amount of free actions to one per character per turn. It either completely shuts down or hinders most of team in the playing field. Robert went 5-0 in swiss to lose in the Quarter-Finals to the Tony’s Mystical Wrestlers. The other six finalist where new to the 2019 Open Series $1K Top 8. Jonathan Murray is an up and coming player on the West Coast. He was piloting the Mystical Construct team. The team is Construct Magneto with Ophidian equipped, Construct Mister Sinister, I.S.A.A.C., Ultron Drone, Tri-Sentinel and the Star Sapphire Battery. This team has a bit more offensive ability compared to Roberts Green Construct Team. The Ultron Drone being able to call in heavy hitters and the one for one trade the Mystics Team Ability can give you, you end up with a higher damage output. Keep an eye out for him on the future. Wes Betschart is also a Trial Winner. He was playing a Jakeem Thunder JSA Theme team. Partnered with Jakeem was Red Tornado, Dr. Midnight, Billy Batson and the Phoenix Force assigned to two characters. Jakeem has always been a tough figure to take down. He is even more of a threat with the resource and the great pilot. Wes placed 7th in the Fall main event. Steve DiCarlo won a Trial and appeared in the Quarter-Finals with his Quinjet placing 6th. Steve has kept the same core build: Quinjet (full), Starfox, Jarvis and Eric Masterson. With new sets and LEs that have come out, Steve has only improved his ID call ins. This is a team that you will be seeing for a while. Matt Esbrook has brought us another close combat team in a ranged format. There are not very many close combat teams that can perform well in this format. He won two Trials and placed 3rd at the Fall Main Event. The team is 200pt Juggernaut, Construct Magneto and the Indigo Battery. He uses the Power Battery Wall trick to keep him protected and healed up. It’s not going to be easy to take down the unstoppable Juggernaut. In 2nd place we have David Colon a.k.a. Mr. Clixso. He continues to improve his game play and strategy with his Uni-Hawk team. He made one adjustment to his team for the Fall $1K, he dropped the Carnage for a Flora Colossus. It really made all the difference for him. Most people will KO Carnage and be up on points. If Flora heals, he is not the ideal target anymore. David’s hard work has paid off and earned him a spot in the finals. The man is a Trial winner and he had the toughest path to the finals, the Fall Majestix Open Series $1K winner, Tony Rodriguez! Tony made it into the finals with a 3-2 record and over 1100vps. He had more then 200vps between him and the 9th place player. Tony had a +4 Mystical Theme team, that include two WWE figures. He had Undertaker, Finn Balor, Alex Wilder and Tri-Sentinel. The synergy of the team was unmatchable. The Grand Entrance and the WWE Team Ability make it so the WWE figure a almost untouchable top dial. Finn Balor’s Special Move turns of defense powers for the turn like DKR Green Arrow. Tony’s skill of team building, understanding the Meta and his ability to play the game earned him the 1st place win. The format is growing fast. There are old pieces being rediscovered and new piece are pairing up great with the older ones.
Tony Rodriguez
For the Fall Open Series winning teams click here:
The 2019 Majestix Open Series has ended. It has been an amazing six months watching the 300 Bronze Age Format grow and adapt. The Meta has begun to take shape and the players are adapting to keep it changing. The 2020 Majestix Open Series is going to grow exponentially. The reintroduction of the Open Series Qualifier will feed directly into the end of the year $2K. There will a quarterly $1K events with ten Trials leading up the them that will also feed directly into the $2K. Online Win-A-Maps are going to roll out to make the Majestix maps more accessible to everyone. The Bronze Age format is the team builders’ paradise. The combination of old figures and modern figures bring about a synergy that might have been there before. The combos and team ideas are endless. You can play what you like and still win. With all this in mind, I would to remind you, don’t forget to practice rolling your dice.
