Underoos! - Omega Red

Dear Readers,


Welcome to the first in a series called Underoos!, where we look at characters that have been underutilized in TTS leagues, tournaments, and competitive play. In this series we will try to find these underrated super beings a home where they can flourish and hopefully wreak havoc in the future while also looking at why they may not see as much play as their counterparts. We will be starting this series off with a personal favorite of mine - Omega Red.

The Stats Card

Omega Red is a threat 4 beater with a respectable 3/3/4 defensive spread and 6/6 health. The boy is fairly bulky and his bulk is only further realized with his Carbonadium Armor ability that gives him damage reduction 1. His bulk is further realized with his builder, which heals Omega Red for 1 damage if he deals damage. Being able to potentially heal 2 damage a turn on a R3 builder is amazing, even if you have to deal damage to get the ability to activate.


One of the things that really makes Omega Red shine in my opinion is his ability to create zones where your opponent just doesn’t want to go. Death Spores creates an R2 zone of auto-poison status condition, and considering a good chunk of attacks in the game are within that range, your opponent now really has to think about who is going after Omega Red. Poison isn’t the most powerful ability in the game, but considering Omega Red can just pop 2 automatic damage on himself and everyone around him, and then potentially heal that 2 back with his builder is a fairly good DPS output on certain scenarios and only grows in value the more afflicted enemies that are around him. In addition, he has something akin to Venom’s Web Snare in that he can drag someone into range of him and force the Death Spore to poison your enemy or he can just yank an opponent off of a point from R4.


His kit isn’t all roses though. Even though he is on a medium base, small movement is never ideal and his spender is just barely alright with a better pierce (except against Scarlet Witch) and a sap power effect on a wild and the ability to change between energy and physical. I look at his spender versus say Rogue’s or Venom’s and weep. Rogue’s is cheaper and has the ability to throw a size 4 character, making it potentially more better DPS and control in one attack while Omega Red gains one more range and is more expensive while losing the control element. Venom has the same range and heals for the damage dealt and can be done on a retaliation turn while shutting off dice rerolls for the enemy. Poor Omega Red seems to have been given the short end here especially considering his Death Factor hurts him, but he is not completely down and out.

Omega Red’s Role on the Team

So, now that we have broken down his card, what does Omega Red do well? He holds a side very well. Don’t believe me? Look at Lizard, with DR1 and Healing Factor 1. His defenses are comparable to Omega Red and people take him. Granted, he is one point cheaper. No denying that fact. However, Omega Red can pull people off of points or into areas that they do not want to be in from much farther and creates the dreaded poison zone. Omega Red plays the role of Drain Tank very well by consistently shrugging off damage and regenerating his lost life by attacking his opponents. Once you get him rolling, it is kind of hard to stop him from just rolling over some opponents. Those people he doesn’t want to deal with he just pulls off of a point. Or, on maps like Gamma Shelters, he is able to go last in the middle and give your opponent some choices to make about contesting the point while also keeping the back point safe from the enemy. As long as Omega Red has 2 power, he can pull someone as much as he likes.


Omega Red controls the battlefield and forces your opponent into hard decisions. Poison is one of those status effects that goes under the radar, but ultimately forces your opponent to rethink their game plans. Either they shake the poison or miss out on guaranteed power generation. It slows down your enemy’s plans and has on more than one occasion been the deciding factor between whether or not a big swing turn can be accomplished. Not only that, but his sphere of influence is massive. R2 means that Omega Red has an effective R4 diameter of poison and potential auto-damage, R4 pulls equates to R8 diameter of displacement, and he is capable of damaging/healing within a R6 diameter. It really makes your opponent wary about how close to actually get to him, and on certain maps they don’t have a choice. Either you double team Omega Red while hoping to get the most damage through and hoping to take him down or you let him take a side on his own.

Where does he fit?

There are two factions I think Omega Red fits in well with: Defenders and Criminal Syndicate. Crime Syndicate makes sense because he is in faction. Omega Red being a chonk boi supreme plays very well into Criminal Syndicate’s plan of holding down a spot while counting as two characters and his ability to displace multiple characters off of points, even those from far away, assists the cause even further. He also isn’t a bad carrier for extracts that need to be passed off later like Legacy Virus due to his innate drain tank status.


His placement on Defenders, though, has a different purpose and reason, and it starts with the leadership. To ensure that Omega Red’s first or second tendril attack does damage, you can change his attack type to the weakest of your opponent’s defenses. In my mind, for a good chunk of characters in the game, this gives Omega Red the ability to spend 1 power to get a pseudo incinerate (sometimes even better than incinerate if your opponent has way less defense on one or two of their defenses) on your opponent. This also gives you a chance to give that opponent the Hex special condition. This will ensure that further damage dealt to the character is more consistent and also makes the opponent choose between Poison and Hex to remove. The next reason I am looking at Defenders is Strange himself. With the ability to give out additional dice and heal, Omega Red is incredibly difficult to shift for some teams through traditional murder and his size 3 on a medium base means you need someone a bit more specialized to actually chuck or push him. You have to fight through his healing and damage reduction on top of Strange providing defensive buffs and healing on his own. We haven’t even included the use of Wong yet, who can be reliably kept safe by Strange and Omega Red by moving people around and forcing them to move back into range of Wong.

What Scenarios Should You Play?

I find that I really like Omega Red in scenarios that force your opponent near you and play into his natural bulk. My favorite secures for Omega Red are Gamma Shelters, Demons Downtown, and Terrigen Mists (yay auto poison and immunity to poison for our red boy here) all play well into Omega Red’s gameplan. You can tug people into the radioactive wastes on Gamma Shelters, dealing more damage as you go while Demons Downtown passes out Incinerate, which means you will have an even easier time of draining that sweet sweet life energy from your foes. If you like something more on the B end of the spectrum Mutant Madmen is a good choice and Infinity Formula means you are able to tug your enemy off of their point every single turn by moving towards an already activated enemy, tugging them off of the point, and then moving back. Super Powered Scoundrels also give Omega Red an interesting niche as the middle point man who just won’t die unless you get close to him which, realistically, is where he wants you to be.


Meanwhile, on the extract front, I really like extracts that force people near me or up my damage/control output. Hammers, Cubes, and Research Station (which is just a secure in disguise) all work wonderfully. Hammers give Omega Red even more bruiser abilities while upping his chances of draining life from your foe while Cubes gives him the ability to pull every turn without fail and he has a good chance of regenerating the life he lost from holding the cube. With 5 dice versus 3 defense, you have roughly a 70% chance of dealing some damage, and if it’s good enough to use Thunder in Pokemon competitively, then it’s good enough for me in Marvel Crisis Protocol. You may not get 2 HP back a turn, but you have a good shot of getting at least 1 back, which offsets the Cubes' detrimental effects and makes Omega Red even better. Finally, Omega Red likes forcing fights, and there is no bigger forced fight than Research Station.


I would not recommend Spider Infected or S.W.O.R.D. Base as Omega Red’s limited mobility is one of his massive detriments, and while he can tug people toward him, letting your opponent move him how they wish is never a good idea.

Why isn’t Omega Red Played Much?

As much as I love the concept of Omega Red, I think he is outperformed by other characters, namely Venom. Venom does everything that Omega Red does to an extent. Both have R3 attacks, both of them have a medium tug that can be used for as long as they have power, and both are slow moving bulky bruisers on medium bases. But, Venom has an excellent throw, the Lethal Protector TTC, a strike back, the ability to remove re-rolls, auto-bleed on his builder, and a greater potential for healing. Meanwhile Omega Red has better durability in most situations (due to DR 1), his R2 death field, and a TTC that in theory is fantastic but in reality doesn’t do to much (he is immune to one status effect and it’s rare that you are going to get more than 2 status effects on you a game from my experience). We aren’t even talking about Rogue yet who is all that and a bag of potato chips while also being a fantastic unit to field. Omega Red has a lot of competition in the 4 threat range from Black Panther to Venom, but I think when a list is built for Omega Red he has a chance to throw your opponent off and truly shine. When I have put him on the field in the past I have liked what I have done with him and not cursed the heavens for having him on the field.


In games such as this there are some characters that are so focused on what they do that it is almost a detriment to be so specialized and I think that is what has happened to Omega Red. He holds points and does not afraid of too many things. That's all he does. He is kind of like playing a turret defense game where you get him on the point and just hold while hoping to pop or displace enough of your opponent’s balloons before they get to the banana stash. I think that metaphor got away from me, but I hope you see where I am going dear reader.


Is this enough to bring Omega Red to the top tables? Who knows? I think one of the big things is trying it out and reporting back what you find. Why not try this list I just whipped up special just for you, and only you reader:


[Characters]

- Clea: 3
- Doctor Strange: 5
- Elektra: 4
- Ghost Rider: 5
- Hood: 3
- Hulk: 6
- Iron Fist: 3
- Omega Red: 4
- Valkyrie: 3
- Wong: 2


[Team Tactics]

- Bitter Rivals
- Brace for Impact
- Climbing Gear
- Deal With The Devil
- Escort to Safety
- Follow Me
- Indomitable
- Marked For Death
- Mission Objective
- Seeing Red


[Extract Crises]

- Fear Grips World as "Worthy" Terrorize Cities [D]: 18
- Research Station Attacked! [E]: 16
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17


[Secure Crises]

- Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? [E]: 19
- Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest [E]: 15
- Terrigen Clouds Sweep Over City [C]: 20

Till next time Webslingers