The ROC World Cup has come and gone. Thankfully, Wizkids has started to increase the frequency of their WizKids Open Championship with the next round taking place on November 5th. What can we expect to see? What pieces are worth planning for?
There are two big shifts in competitive play as we progress through the rest of the year and into 2017; the ROC will move into the Limited format whereas Wizkids events like the upcoming WKO will stick with standard 300-Point Modern Age Constructed. What’s really great about this WKO in particular is that since we just had the ROC World Cup, we have a very good idea of what the current high-level play builds are.
The best way to prepare for a major tournament is to study the events leading up to that point. Let’s take a look at some of the bigger builds we saw during the ROC World Cup and leading up to that event in various ROC events. Based on those builds, we can get an idea of what we’ll most likely be seeing.
Krang is a dominant force. If players are looking for a modern tent-pole piece, then Krang is their answer. His overwhelming aggression and killer stats of 10/11/18/4 along with the ability to grow in size and pump his combat values by +1 or +2 make him a fierce piece to play against. However, he has yet to pull out major victories. Krang will often place well, but comes up short as there’s just too much out there to punish his play.
Will He See Play: Yes. Keep in mind that players with less experience will look to Krang as a quick and easy team to build that doesn’t require a lot of prep and practice (although practice is what separates a good Krang player from an okay Krang player).
The little imp from the 5th Dimension played some pranks and ran away with some wins during the Summer, and proved that he’s quite the force to be reckoned with. He didn’t have a huge presence at the ROC World Cup in terms of teams built around abusing his special attack power, Zeroing The Playing Field, which lets him use Pulse Wave, but hands out action tokens rather than damage. It’s a devastating mechanic and can borderline hand you the game if you’re careful and it’s played correctly.
Will He See Play: Mr. Mxyzptlk himself? Yes. Specifically builds around abusing Zeroing The Playing Field? Maybe. It requires a lot of finesse much like the Quinjet and near-precision play to win.
Devil is probably my favorite piece of Modern competitive play; he’s tough, annoying to deal with, has Telekinesis, and is goofy fun. The big red T-Rex clone did quite the number on competitive play leading up the ROC World Cup, and for good reason. His value is insanely good and the amount of tools he provides easily offsets his point cost. When coupled with the Avengers Round Table/Justice League Teleporter, you have the start of a truly brutal team.
Will He See Play: 100% guaranteed. Devil Dinosaur is fairly easy to obtain and he can be used in so many different ways. I’m going to take a shot and say you’ll probably see more Devil Dino’s than any other piece.
Ultron’s are pretty scary with their ability to Call-In pieces of 120 points or more with ID cards. 2 clicks of health is a nice attempt at balancing them, making it fairly easy to take them off the board and somewhat neutralize the looming ID card threat. Swarm builds started to pop-up more often as we approached the ROC World Cup and made quite the showing, proving that strength does come in numbers. Ultron drones became such a staple of high-level play, it drove players to uncover their bane of existence in Living Lightning.
Will They See Play: Drones themselves will 100%, without a doubt see play. As for Ultron Swarms, I don’t think they will. They give a lot of points and have more of a direct counter than a lot of other builds.
Spider-Man’s villains got a big boost in the Superior Foes of Spider-Man set, and they were making a pretty good showing in events leading to the ROC World Cup. They didn’t really have what it took to get the job done and defeat some higher-level teams, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly. With their plug-and-play nature, large roster, versatility (hello Chameleon), and brutal primary attacker in the form of OP Kit Doctor Octopus, the Syndicate could have some surprise showings.
Will They See Play: Probably. The Syndicate is probably the cheapest team to piece together financially, and they’re relatively easy to play. They have a lot of strengths and tend to not put all their apples in one basket like Krang does.
The powerful ATA that shuts down lines of fire showed its’ dominance quite a bit this Summer, and even took 4th place for the big event. Pairing with the Con LE Doctor Strange gives this team a great deal of versatility and unpredictability, and with his 150 point cost, he’s a great character to use for ID Call-Ins. From Spider-Man Noir to Felix Faust, it’s pretty simple to form a Mystical theme team and make life pretty difficult for the opposing player.
Will They See Play: Yes. A Top-4 finish in the biggest event of the year means there will probably be players looking to capitalize on the teams’ success. Plus, you don’t need many figures to play the team which is a big draw for some people.
Of course we couldn’t talk about tournament prep without covering the dominant team in competitive play. It won World’s in the Summer, took a small break from winning ROC events, and flew back into Atlanta to carpet bomb everyone in the ROC World Cup. 3 of the Top-4 players in the ROC World Cup were piloting the jet, and it’s easy to see why. With a steady supply of ID cards, and the ever popular Jarvis, the jet is a total force to be reckoned with and requires precision play to defeat.
Will It See Play: Like Devil Dinosaur, 100% guaranteed. There’s no way you won’t see Quinjets all over WKO events.
If you’ve been reading the results of previous tournaments, these teams probably aren’t new to you. However, it’s important to understand what kind of competition you’ll most likely be playing against so you can make an informed decision and build the best team possible. Just because these teams did well doesn’t mean that there won’t be anything new or some other pieces showing up. Let’s take a look at some contenders that you might/will see pop-up.
SR Iceman – Bobby is a fearsome piece and he did really well at the Summer WizKids Championship taking second place. I think people may question why they stopped playing him, especially since he tokens the jet down which is a great strategy.
Felix Faust – The cat is out of the bag; Felix Faust is back with a vengeance and made quite the impact at the ROC World Cup. Count on seeing this piece as players try to capitalize on his competitive presence.
Nick Fury – Sure, he’s mostly been relegated to ID card status, but Nick is one of those pieces that you always have to think about. I don’t doubt there will be some players with newer builds that mainboard Nick in an attempt to abuse him.
Living Lightning – As I mentioned above, Ultron Drones are a big deal and Living Lightning does a phenomenal job of nuking them. With a possessor or Pandora’s Box (or both), he’s going to be a great piece.
Nighthawk Prime – There’s just too much value here for 65 points for players to not take advantage of him. From virtually shutting Krang down to turning Sins from Pandora’s Box into paperweights, he’s incredibly good. I would expect to face him.
Griddex – He’s new, he’s mean, and he hasn’t seen play yet. His numbers are solid and he can dish a lot of damage. He can change size to be carried or hit from farther away. I think we’ll be seeing his competitive debut in November.
Shellectro – A lot of high-level players have talked about this guy’s 50-point starting line. Being able to shut down ranged attacks is a pretty big deal, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a showing.
Renet Tilley (TMNT 2) – Wizkids has put out a lot of super taxi’s, able to carry 4 characters at once, and the newest Renet put them all to shame. With her better-than-KC-Spectre Probability Control power, I don’t doubt Renet will see some play.
Rat King (TMNT 2) – Talk about a force to be reckoned with. This guy has an insane amount of control and value for his points. His values are great throughout his entire dial, and he has Free Action movement. Mystical keyword pushes him into greatness. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make a showing.
Jenny Sparks – Running Shot, Pulse Wave, and a Trait that totally shuts off Special Powers is incredibly effective. I’m surprised she hasn’t seen some play lately and I think some players might decide it’s time to put an end to stop clicks.
The Atom (and other Colossal Retaliators) – It’s absolutely worth mentioning that retaliators are here to stay. They’re super effective for their insanely low point cost, and provide another ID card slot on your force. I would expect to see a lot of retaliators.
There are undoubtedly more pieces that will probably see play in the upcoming WKO, but this should give you a good basis to start thinking about what you want to play or what you’ll be playing against. Remember, building a team to counter another team isn’t the best route to take. If there’s one piece of advice I can give, its versatility. If you can build a team that can handle multiple threats and evolve based on what it’s playing against, you should do well. That’s why the Quinjet is so powerful; it’s the poster child of versatility.
Good luck!
