by Ryan S.
Background:
The ROC Tennessee State Tournament took place on December 5th and had 17 very competitive participants. However, the biggest hurdle for many, myself included, was coping with the enhanced risk of spreading or contracting the COVID-19 virus. The host shop – Frontline Games in Clarksville TN – did a great job mitigating risk by requiring masks, social distancing, and keeping other store patrons to a minimum, but the risk of gathering a group of over 20 people together for 12 hours was not lost on anyone. Ultimately, I’m glad I participated and I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the day and felt safe, considering the circumstances. All players did their best to stay positive, stay safe, follow the rules, and still enjoy a day of tabletop gaming.
Team Summary:
I played a variant of the popular robot build based around XDPS G12 Cyclops Sentinel, XDPS011b Magneto (Danger Room), SVAC070 Steampunk Peni and WKG01 Tri-Sentinel. Steampunk Peni gives all characters with the robot keyword the Spider-Man Family keyword, which makes them a named theme with theme-team Probability Control. I also elected to run SVAC064 Leonardo Da Venom so I could include FF063 Valeria Von Doom as part of the themed team. Leonardo Da Venom does the same as Steampunk Peni, but gives characters with the Scientist keyword Spider-Man Family keyword.
(Click to Buy!)
(Spider-Family +7)
60 Leonardo Da Venom
50 Cyclops Sentinel
50 Magneto (construct)
45 Steampunk Peni
30 Valeria Von Doom
30 Tri-Sentinel
15 Mary Jane Watson
12 Exospex
5 Spin Ring
Sideline: Marvella, SVAC002 Iron Man, She-Venom, Troublemakers/Troubalerts
Maps: Sentinel Factory, Pit Fight, Ancient Hold
The final build was a +7 Spider-Man Family theme team that had a lot of Perplex, a lot of range, and limited my opponent’s Perplex and Outwit range (via Leonardo Da Venom’s power “The Smartest Man of the Age”). My primary objective was pretty simple – hit hard with Cyclops Sentinel from across the map and follow up with Danger Room Magneto or Valeria Von Doom. I usually accomplished this by copying the SHIELD Team Ability with Steampunk Peni and Mary Jane Watson and positioning them, along with Leonard Da Venom, next to Cyclops Sentinel. That gave me an 11 – Range (base 8 range + 3 SHIELD TA) before using any Perplex. I also utilized Cyclops Sentinel’s Prime Directive trait and Valeria’s special placement provided by the equipped Spin Ring to achieve full map reach.
The final aspect of my team was map choice – I won map many times throughout the day and I always took my opponent to the outdoor ROC map, Pitfight. The map makes it difficult for non-flight or standard sized teams to equip objects because of elevated terrain positioned right next to the starting areas. The map slowed my opponent down in each game, giving me the range advantage because my primary attacker was Colossal Size and ignored the elevated terrain.
Swiss Rounds:
Round 1
Opponent: Brian; Robots variant
Result: Win (1-0) 300 – 30
I opened the day against my most consistent practice partner and teammate, Brian Estes. Brian is an amazingly good player and I had little doubt we’d have to play again if either of us expected to win the tournament. Brian was also the only person at the tournament who had seen or prepared against my team because we had practiced earlier in the week. We both were very aware that winning map made a huge difference in our almost mirror matchup. He had a larger theme than I did, but I luckily won map roll and the game went almost exactly like our practice. I sniped his Cyclops Sentinel and Tri-Sentinel at the beginning of turn 2 and it was off to the races after that.
Round 2
Opponent: Dustin; Reginald Barclay and God Emperor Doom
Result: W (2-0) 300 – 50
Dustin is also a very talented and strong Tennessee local. He won the last 300 Modern ROC States tournament and for this tournament he played a unique variant of the Reginald Barclay Scientist archetype where God Emperor Doom was his secondary attacker/support piece. Similar to my first match, I won map roll and had a large range advantage. Dustin chose to leave his Valeria Von Doom forward after equipping objects and I exploited that decision immediately. At the beginning of turn two, I was able to use Steampunk Peni’s special Perplex power, Engineered Solutions, to get Cyclops Sentinel up to a 14 – Attack with 11 – Range for 4-penetrating damage. By eliminating Valeria and the Spin Ring, I had eliminated Dustin’s access to Telekinesis, severely limiting his reach. I was able to slowly pick off the rest of his team after that, but Dustin definitely learned from this game. We played again later and it did not go as smoothly.
Round 3
Opponent: Tyler; Spider Pharaoh Herald
Result: W (3-0) 300 – 0
Tyler’s team was based around Spider Pharaoh being assigned the Herald of Galactus dial and he included a pretty smart gimmick. He played SVAC054 Spider-Man as one of his attackers, which allowed me to create a bystander anywhere on the map at the beginning of the game. I thought it was the right idea to generate the bystander right next to his starting area, which disrupted his ability to equip items and also could force a Colossal Retaliation if he killed it. However, he just sat back and turned his Herald and Elemental Converter Dials because the bystander was right there! If he did this on purpose, I was definitely impressed. However, I was still able to utilize my full map reach to knock out his colossal retaliators at the beginning of turn 2. Then I picked off pieces slowly by getting Magneto into his starting area. In the end, he did do some damage to two of my pieces via the Elemental Converter mechanic, but it was not enough to slow down the entire team. It was a good game and a very neat strategy employed by Tyler.
Round 4
Opponent: Daniel Powell; Punisher War Machine and Spider-Man 1776
Result: L (3-1) 130 – 300
Daniel sat at the top table for the entire Swiss Rounds and his squad did not disappoint. He won map against me and, although I did not see that as a huge issue, it made a difference. He equipped a Carnage Symbiote special object to his Punisher War Machine, which gave him a crucial rollout, Shape Change. My plan of attack was to wipe out PWM quickly with a pumped up Cyclops Sentinel attack, but because of Spider-Man 1776 I only had 3 actions per turn. One less action has an enormous impact in this meta and I didn’t have enough actions to get my Outwit into position before shooting. The Punisher War Machine squads exploit a similarly high range to mine, boosted by the SHIELD team ability copied by Spider-Man Family pieces, so I still had to take the risk. I made the first shot, and it definitely hit hard, but his PWM rolled a 6 on his Shape Change so the most important target didn’t take damage. From that moment forward, I knew I needed to just score as many points as possible. Daniel’s next turn was a doozy and he wiped out Cyclops Sentinel as well as my Valeria Von Doom while I contemplated the importance of Barrier tech.
Round 5
Opponent: Aaron; Starro and Spider-Man 1776
Result: W (4-1) 240 – 110
Aaron is a great player with a fantastically fun team. His squad was probably the only one to outrange mine, since Starro’s base is a 10 – Range, which he enhanced with the SHIELD team ability. I also won map roll in this game and I think it made a huge difference in the result – Aaron’s team also had the reach to steal objects. However, we played on my trustworthy Pitfight map and it was a slug fest. Unfortunately for Aaron, Starro could not be protected and he had to bunch up his figures to enhance his range. Cyclops Sentinel’s special Attack power, “Enormous Optic Beam”, came into play the most during this game. He could not avoid the first blast on his Starro and he was not able to KO Cyclops Sentinel before I could queue it up a second time. Two Enormous Optic Beams equaled a dead Starro, but the game remained close afterwards.
The win against Aaron solidified me as the second seed going into the cut, which ended up being an advantageous path to the finals for my team.
Top 8
Game 1
Opponent: Tim Rhoton; Black Widow and Black Leopard
Result: W (5-1) 300 – 185
Timmy is a local player and I was excited to play him in Top 8. He piloted the BWM017 Black Widow team exceptionally well and kept me on the ropes for most of the game. I was not particularly surprised; although the matchup with Black Widow favored my team, Tim did not ever bow out. He played methodically and intelligently and exploited every minor positioning mistake I made. Since he didn’t have any terrain to hide behind and he had no objects to equip, he advanced across the map quickly. On turn two, I used the Exospex equipped to Magneto to select Pulse Wave as my attack power. Then I used Running Shot: Pulse Wave with Magneto to ping his entire team for one damage. I then used Magneto’s special trait, “Simulated Master of Magnetism” to reposition them. I blasted the entire squad again with Cyclops Sentinel with my next action and scored the first 50 points by KO’ing Black Leopard. Undeterred, Tim advanced the remainder of his team and used CAAV054 Captain Marvel to KO my Tri-Sentinel as well as my Leonardo Da Venom. Tim made it difficult, but I was able to finish off the remainder of his team and advance to a rematch against Dustin.
Game 2
Opponent: Dustin Rematch
Result: W (6-1) 250 – 145
Dustin and I had equal theme and map made a huge difference for our teams. He needed an indoor map with a lot of blocking terrain to get the most out of Reginald Barclay. I needed the opposite so I could shoot Reginald Barclay. Somehow, we both rolled abysmally, but my 5 on the map roll beat his 4. Back to Pitfight we went for the rematch. Dustin was more careful this time and his piece placement was smart. He hugged the opposite back corner of the map to avoid getting sniped right away. I knew I needed to draw him out and I actually could not reach the most critical piece on turn 2 – his God Emperor Doom. I decided to play a little slower and wait to attack, but I misplaced by a square because Cyclops Sentinel is a 2×2 and I did not count right. That gave him a shot on Cyclops Sentinel, but I was frankly OK with it. He had to use Telekinesis to sling Doom forward, then position his other pieces up forward as well to get a range boost from the SHIELD team ability. His shot paid off – he KO’d my Cyclops Sentinel. However, his God Doom was now forward enough that I could hit him with Magneto and also get Valeria Von Doom into position to use the Spin ring’s free placement for additional penetrating damage. The real MVP of this game for me, however, was Tri-Sentinel. Its retaliation is what KO’d God Emperor Doom, giving me a point lead and it also whittled down the remainder of his team. It actually gave me the third hit of a turn and so I was able to bring in JLU Gorilla Grodd via the “Let’s Cause Trouble” mechanic. Gorilla Grodd gets the second place MVP for this game because it used Quake to KO three additional pieces. Overall, this was an excellent game that could have gone either way. I was humbled to be moving onto the finals and happy that Dustin enjoyed himself. Many Paparazzi were killed during this match.
The finals was another rematch, this time against my first opponent of the entire day.
Game 3
Opponent: Brian Estes Rematch
Result: W (7-1) 300 – 92
Brian and I are good friends but we may be developing a rivalry. We seem to both elevate our gameplay against one another and we always find ourselves across the table during big tournaments. Being friends with your opponent in the finals makes for a more relaxed environment, but it doesn’t make the game any less intense. Brian won map and I felt up against a wall immediately. His robot team favors the Sentinel Factory map and he brings extra Barrier via SVAC038 Marvella on his main force. This match was back and forth to start, but I think it came down to one crucial turn. Brian equipped two of his three objects during his first turn and he did not move anyone out of his starting 
zone because he understood my team’s reach. On my first turn, I equipped my objects and then I used Sidestep to position slightly forward because I knew his team’s ability to reach all the way across the map was limited and he probably wouldn’t risk it before taking out Tri-Sentinel. On Brian’s second turn, he chose to use Sidestep as well and then he used Barrier to protect his main support and his Cyclops Sentinel. He did not over extend and attack. This gave me a small opening and I knew I had to make the most of it. The Spin Ring gives Valeria Telekinesis, which I used to position Magneto forward. Then I used all my Perplex, I had to make this attack work, to give Magneto a 13 – Attack, 12 – Movement. I selected Hypersonic Speed using the Exospex and moved Magneto all the way up to punch out Brian’s Tri-Sentinel. I ended up missing. Brian had to burn 3 or 4 of his Theme Team Probability Controls to make it miss, but it worked. I thought that was the end, but I moved up and attacked with Cyclops Sentinel as well, just to do some damage to his other pieces. On his turn, he used all four of his actions to take out my magneto and score 50 points. He took the lead but he left me with a retaliation opening and my Cyclops sentinel fully intact. I was able to use both the next turn to take an 80 – 50 point lead by KO’ing his Tri-Sentinel and his Cyclops Sentinel. He KO’ed my exospex next along with my tri-sentinel to go up 92-80. We went back and forth the next few turns, but his lack of big damage producers and also theme team Probs gave me the edge. I was able to come back and, to my surprise, clean the table. 300-92 was the final score. It was a thrilling game and I will remember it for a long time.
