by Patrick Yapjoco
I love thinking about different interactions that otherwise wouldn’t work because of rotation. This is one such case. I made a version of this team with my friend Kris Flores last year just before the rotation hit, and he finished in the Top 8 of a WKO we attended. Once the rotation hit, this team vanished… until ROC Age. This team has actually gotten better with a larger pool of figures to look at. The main reason is the addition of Astral Dr. Strange. Being able to have movement as a free action makes this team so potent. Let’s take a look at the team:
66 Mousers Swarm + Emma Frost Fragment
66 Mousers Swarm + Cyclops Fragment
66 Mousers Swarm + Magik Fragment
30 Ultron-18.2 Drone
13 Astral Dr. Strange (Incap)
13 Astral Dr. Strange (Incap)
13 Astral Dr. Strange (Incap)
15 ID Cards:
-SHIELD Level 7 (SR Nick Fury)
-SHIELD Level 7 (Peggy Carter, Hulk, Chase Hawkeye)
-Dr. Strange (ADW035 Dr. Strange)
18 Phoenix Force (Colossus and Namor)
Maps: ROC Blue Line, ROC Logan map
At first glance this looks weird, I know. It’s a bunch of 0-Damage and 1-Damage little dudes with an Ultron Drone as it’s best attacker (what?), and they’re supported by the Phoenix Force. Let’s delve into this a little more. There are the two main reasons we are playing this team:
- (Speed Special Power) THEY’VE SURROUNDED ME!:Mousers Swarm can use Sidestep and Flurry and deals penetrating damage. This power can’t be countered.
- (Defense Special Power) THEY JUST WON’T-STOP-COMING!: Mousers Swarm can use Toughness. This power can’t be countered. Mousers Swarm can’t be healed above this click.
These little critters have good dial depth at 6 clicks of health with 2 (TWO!) STOP Clicks. They also deal penetrating damage… whenever they deal damage. They also have a trait that can break multiple blocking terrain for a Power Action. For 60pts, it seems great, except for the fact that they have less than stellar stats, with a starting line of 4/10/17/1… and it only gets worse from there. So, it basically evens out. They are hard to KO, but they can’t KO anything themselves. How do we remedy this? Enter the Phoenix Force.
This ridiculous resource is almost tailor-made for the Mousers Swarm. By giving the 3 Mousers Swarm each a Fragment, they already become instantly effective. They have Flight, Poison, and some other ability (really, it’s just Mystics and TK). The remaining 2 Fragments are attached to the resource, giving them essentially permanent Invulnerability. With the set-up, they end up on a pretty sweet starting click on the Resource Dial: Charge/BCF/Empower and +1 Defense. So, they are hard to hit from afar (19-Defense), and they have a boatload of damage reducers to go along with those two STOP Clicks(!). Now, the important part: remember the first reason (hint, the Speed Power) why we are playing this? That’s right, they can use Flurry and deal penetrating damage. So, when they Poison… it’s penetrating. Ouch. Second, when combined with either Empower or BCF (both from the Resource), their Flurry will dealing 3-damage each on their Flurry attacks (or more if you want to BCF)… and the damage will be penetrating. Double ouch. With the Colossus Fragment and their STOP Clicks making it hard to KO even one Mousers Swarm, you can go into combat with virtually no fear. Once these little buggers start KO’ing little pieces here and there (without rolling dice, mind you), the Phoenix Force ticks up quite quickly, and before you know it, you’re on click 4 or 5 and you have +2 to all of your Stats with Perplex, HSS… you get the point. It’s not good for the opponent.
So, that’s all great, but they only move 4 squares. How would they ever be able to reach their target in time to use their Poison? This is where we dust off the Astral Dr. Stranges. These 13pt bargains from Galactic Guardians will act as the Mouser Swarms’ personal taxi (since those critters are tiny!). Not only that, but they have Phase/Teleport and a trait that allows you to give them a Move Action as a Free Action once per turn, which means they can go anywhere they want… let’s see this stupidity at work. At the beginning of the turn, the Astrals can all Phase 7 squares for free, each carrying a Mousers Swarm. They drop off each robot in the square in front, then they each Sidestep 2 more squares, and if they are all now next to an enemy character, they can triple penetrating Poison the team, and bunker down with their defensive position. Let’s not even talk about what happens if they attack the Mystics Mousers Swarm (hint: they die even quicker) on their turn. After some hits, their STOP Clicks and Invulnerability will allow them to survive to the next turn, where they will all be ready to go with 3 attackers with Flurry/Blades/Empower that deal penetrating damage… oh, and they get to Poison AGAIN.
To round out this team, I added an Ultron Drone and 3 ID Cards. There are so many to choose from, but the 18.2 Drone has the wing symbol, which can carry both the Astral and the Mousers Swarm at the same time with its Sidestep, thus giving 3 extra squares for the beginning of turn shenanigans. We all know how good the Ultron Drones are so it’s no surprise that you see a pair of SHIELD Level 7 ID Cards on here to have access to Peggy Carter (mainly to deal with Invincible), Nick Fury (to deal with anything), Hulk (to bust through walls), and ADW Hawkeye (to deal with bystanders or even Bizarro Green Arrow). Dr. Strange rounds out the ID Cards selection as the ADW Rare Dr. Strange is perfect for the Mousers Swarm as he provides a buff on Attack/Damage and provides Probability Control as his Inspiration. It’s important to note that the Mousers Swarm can call out Peggy and Dr. Strange, which makes it more versatile in their inclusion.
The strategy is basic, and you will be surprised at how little you actually have to attack with the team. You most likely want a closed off map for protection, which is why the ROC Blue Line 
is chosen. In instances where there will be multiple Barriers/Walls, the ROC Logan map (recent ROC States map) is a good option as you have protection as you move up, but also open enough to get around blocking. The Astrals set-up the Mousers Swarm by moving up a bit (for free!), followed by the Ultron Drone. Then on turn two, you should be able to free move to base the opposition and start Poisoning. Once a round of clearing occurs (and some minimal combat, perhaps), the Ultron Drone should be in position to Call-In any of the ID cards to either clean up or to break a hole in the defense (ie, Nick or Peggy turn off Invincible and the Mousers go to town with Poison and Flurry. Usually at this point, opposing pieces go down, and you lose a Mousers Swarm or a couple of Astrals, but when the Phoenix Force starts clicking up to “God Mode” it’s inevitable that the Mousers Swarm just takes over and wins.
You should note, however, that this team is kind of a slow burn, and relies on mounting an overwhelming amount of 
slow-building pressure and inevitability, and this team NEEDS to get in close and personal with the opposing team. With so much penetrating damage (especially from Poison!) and hard to KO pieces, the Mousers Swarm should eventually take over the game in the long run and win out, but you will find a lot of time that a complete wipe out won’t be easy because of the slow nature of the team (and of course, your opponent is doing stuff, too!). We have seen many awesome team lists leading up to the ROC U.S. Cup, but I believe this team has what it takes to win the entire event (if not get to the Finals). Stay tuned to find out as a teammate will be playing this at the event! Thanks for reading, and I will see you all at the event (or watching the stream)! Remember, when in doubt, Perplex the Attack!
