by Kaleb Redick
Hello everyone! Welcome to my installment of a tournament report from the ROC Regional at Docs Comics and Gaming in Dallas, TX this past weekend where we had a large 34-player field. This showing allowed 5 rounds of Swiss with a cut to Top 16. I was able to go 8 and 1 and take first place. This is an awesome venue to play at with a great judge (James Antonaros) who always runs a smooth event. There were several clix teams that showed up, including Juggernauts, Team Ragnarok, Hurriclix, Earthbound and Down, my personal preference: The Clixmen. Now let’s look at the team I played, why I played it, and a little about each round.
My Team:
(Cosmic Theme +5)
Ultra Chase Captain Marvel 100
Starfox 80
Mister Oz 40
Mangog 30
Flora Colossus 10
Exospex 12
Mjolnr 10
Harley Quinn ID 5
Cyclops ID 5
Cyclops student ID 3
Jean Grey student ID 3
Firestorm TA x2
The Flash TA
Apache Chief TA
Maps:
Amok Time, Arthur’s Castle, Prison 42
Description of my team:
I have been using the ultra-chase with a variant of teams, each with either one or two Unseens. I always ran into a huge problem in the current meta: Precision Strike and passive damage (Poison, Force Blast, Shredder ping). Exospex give the much-needed move and attack to Marvel. Starfox with Mjolnr makes this team much more offensive, allowing me to use a double Perplex to either Marvel’s or Mangog’s Attack and Flurry from 8 squares away. Mangog is probably the best answer to swarm teams and if I’m able to pull the sword, goes from a 30-point beast to a 150-point monster; he also helps get Mjolnr equipped. Flora is a great cheap addition to a cosmic team to increase theme and potentially heal, making for a good tie up, meat shield, or surprise attacker. IDs were range based, with the Cykes being used to snipe Colossals or try and get thru the prevalent Super Senses and most reducers; Harley was mainly there for Lockjaw and double Perplex/token-giving-EE as needed; Jean Grey was the special object destroyer/stealer. Troubalerts were rarely used, but could be used when in a pinch.
Round 1– played Matt Donham (Lord Chaos and Mister Order mystical theme team) on Jotunheim Lake
First turn Matt calls in Jean and blows up Exospex. I equip Starfox with Mjolnr and sit defensively. He uses Tri-Sentinel to shoot a square of blocking terrain and kills Mangog. I tried to Flurry with Starfox to kill Tri-Sentinel after Perplexing up Attack to a 14…rolled a 3…prob….4…prob…3…second attack a 3. The game went quickly down hill from there with the potentially 4 Perplexes on his team. Lost 300 to 108.
Round 2– played Jake Cockrell (Boomerang gang with Sam Cap and Coulson soldier theme team) on Iceberg Lounge
I know Mangog’s specialty is killing swarm teams. His little Puffin steals the ‘Spex which I get back by killing it with a Jean Grey. I used the double Perplex from Starfox to keep Mangog at a 21-Defense. He brings his group over and does a bunch of free attacks, dropping the tank and killing Oz and dealing 2 to Starfox. Next turn I Flurry/Tank, get back to top dial, double Perplex Attack on Mangog, gog the team, and kill all but Sam Cap. Game ended shortly after that. Win 300 to 143.
Round 3– played Mike Eskew (Starro Mini Shredder Lockjaw) on Prison 42
Mike and I practice all the time, so we know each other’s teams pretty well. I took him to Prison 42 so I could hide Mangog behind walls and make his movement with Lockjaw a little more difficult. On second turn, I double up the Attack on Marvel, TK out with Oz, pick Hypersonic, and go kill Groot. His next turn he calls in Jean, shoots the wall in front of Mangog, carries Mini and Sidestep pings. Lucky for me, he rolls a 6 with Lockjaw to carry Mini. So next turn I call in Harley and KO Lockjaw. After that I moved over and just focused on Starro. Win 261 to 88.
Round 4– played Spensor Heim (Black Panther Lockjaw cosmic theme team) on Amok Time
Amok Time is the map to destroy objects. Since I won map roll, we went there, and I destroyed Symbiote turn 1. He sends Black Panther across map on his second turn to shoot at Mangog, who had a 22-Defense with hindering and Starfox double Perplex. With him missing, I was able to retal, he missed the Super Senses and Impervious rolls. Starfox was able to Flurry and kill Black Panther. Harley KO’ed Lockjaw who was token’d on 6 again. Win 298 to 138.
Round 5 – played Micah Love (Shredders) on Arthur’s Castle
Arthur’s Castle is a very difficult map for Shredders to be carried around on since Overdrive can’t easily reach everywhere. He clogs up the runway so I can’t TK Marvel out to Hypersonic kill Surtur, so I call in Cyke, TK him to the roof, and he shoots Overdrive to get him damaged. He tries to Sidestep and kill Oz, but rolls a 2 and a 1 for both Shredders, so they ping Marvel instead. Oz then TKs Marvel out, who picks Hypersonic and kills Surtur. Mangog does his thing and takes out everyone except Mini and Clone. Time was called not long after that. Win 288 to 158
Round 6 (Top 16)– played Warren Gynn (Beta Ray robot theme team) on Amok Time
With Beta Ray’s special, I figured I needed a wide open map so Starfox can long range punch the colossals and his team that are next to Beta. We go to Amok Time, and after a turn of equipping and Perplexing, I send out Starfox who kills both Tri-Sentinel and Wonder Woman. He was able to take out Starfox. I called in Harley to double up the Attack on Mangog and retaliated, doing some damage and then reaching his start zone to pull the sword. I was unable to kill Beta since he could phase then free heal. Time was called and I won 169 to 153.
Round 7 (Top 8)– played DJ Riggan (undying team with Lockjaw HAHA Joker and Daredevil) on Amok Time
I took DJ to Amok Time and also blew up Exospex on Turn 1. He came over with Lockjaw and Daredevil. I sent Marvel to kill Dormammu. Was unable to retal off of Mystics since Dormammu died. He tried several times to base Oz with Daredevil but kept rolling a 1 or a 2 with the Hypertime team ability. Lockjaw went with Hypersonic, rolled a 5, was going to be pushed, and he crit missed on Oz. A lot of bad rolls for him, I was able to pull the sword with Mangog and chew thru HAHA Joker, remove all the 6 tokens on Daredevil, and kill his Oz. Win 298 to 43.
Round 8 (Top 4)– played Zack Spraggon (Penguins Harley and company) on Arthur’s Castle
I took Zack to Arthur’s Castle thinking the Penguins would have a little trouble navigating the terrain. Whoops. I was wrong. All the free moves they get, and increased stats, they can get where they need. He had 3 retals (Mangog, Surtur, and Wonder Woman) just waiting for me to KO a Penguin. So I had to focus on killing those before worrying about the bystander Penguins or the core of the team he kept turtled in the back. Penguins were able to whittle down the Flora after some heals, the Hypersonic Precision Strike pog KO’d Mangog, Oz was not much help since he also had Oz. Starfox was able to Flurry KO a Surtur and then swung on a 21-Defense Mangog needing a 9, missed with Marvel’s Prob, and then was one shot by Mangog’s retal. I was down to Marvel against his whole team minus Surtur. My thoughts were: time is short, lets go across map and see if we can focus on his squad. Once over there, he used Harley to call in the balloon bystanders (rolled a 6). All kept autonomously flurrying and killed Marvel. He thought the game ended since I had no one on the board, but Marvel doesn’t work that way. After my 3 turns were up, I brought back Starfox, Oz, and Marvel to his side of the map. I called in Harley, and Energy Exploded his whole squad, giving them tokens. He made a mistake and tried to Pulse Wave Starfox and Oz who were immune to attacks until my next turn. I used Oz to TK Marvel into position, picked Energy Explosion, double Perplexed his Attack, and hit his team, killing all except Mangog, Oz, and Wonder Woman. I was up on points since Marvel isn’t scored until he is KO’d the second time. Time was called and I won 170 to 165.
Round 9 (finals)– played Micah Love (Shredders) on Arthur’s Castle
We went to Arthur’s Castle, he didn’t move his team up as far, and I was able to TK out Marvel turn 2 to Hypersonic and kill Surtur. He made some big positioning errors to allow Mangog and Oz to be pinged, and shortly after that conceded. Win 300 to 0.
