Dear Reader,
He is swift. He is agile. He does whatever a spider can. He is, as some have called him, the Amazing Spider-Man. A Web Warrior leader and annoyance on the table top, the Amazing Spider-Man is a character that I have found to be under utilized in the rosters of many Marvel Crisis Protocol players. So, I have decided to figure out the puzzle that is Peter Parker as the Amazing Spider-Man (ASM).
Stats
So, there are some major take-aways for ASM to consider for the table:
- He is a long mover on a medium base.
- He has a heft 4/4/3 defensive spread along with 6/6 HP.
- He has a Web Swing, increasing his already impressive movement by a considerable degree.
- Like most Web Warriors, ASM has the Wall Crawler special rule, making terrain almost impossible to impede his movement.
- He has dice manipulation for your opponent (more on this later).
- Mastered. Spider. Sense. (again, more on this later).
You’ll notice that I didn’t speak too much on ASM’s attacks. He is, by no means, a slouch in putting in some damage. He isn’t, however, an offensive juggernaut. His kit revolves around throws that aren’t throws that require a trigger to perform.
Spider Strike is especially interesting as it is just a D5/7 attack unless there are 2 enemies near each other, at which point it has a distant possibility to become a D5/7 with an attached collision on a second character and forced place for ASM. It is a good ability, just not great. I would have given up the extra mobility to have just had an upgunned clone of Mile’s builder, but you know what they say about wanting something different. Suck it up buttercup ya got Spider Strike as is!
Anything a Spider Can is interesting in that it “throws” a piece of size 2 terrain within 3 on a wild, which is a nice addition for a D8 attack. What is truly solid about this attack is that it has a guaranteed medium movement, lending itself more to ASM’s hit and run tactics and allowing him further mobility to an already extremely mobile kit. The only downside is that the ability costs a whopping 5 power. It is not something to plan around too often and I find that, more often than not, I have been using my power to utilize Witty Banter as often as possible.
The Immortal Spider-Man
So, let’s talk about ASM’s greatest control quality - near Immortality. Using Jarvis 1.0, here is an example of his defensive capabilities against a basic 5 dice physical or energy builder:
More often than not, ASM is not taking any damage. Now, before we bring in Witty Banter, this test is only with Master Spider Sense. I am no statistician, but I would imagine the chance of going to no damage would go up by quite a bit with the reroll for your opponent. This is very important to note, because this means that the vast majority of attacks in the game over half the time do nothing to Peter Parker and when they do they maybe do 1 damage. If your opponent is really lucky, 2. He is very hard to kill and can survive some of the most absurd situations by just being able to reroll.
ASM provided control in a few different ways, but the biggest way he does it is through sheer annoyance. Unlike other characters where you “have to kill them” because they pose a major offensive or support threat to your team, ASM is a powerhouse of objective play that forces your opponent to devote more resources than they would really like to in order to take him out. And, sometimes, this is all you need to win a game. If your opponent is popping the head off of Cat or Gwen, then you are able to perform more staggers, theft, life saver, or enemy pushes. If your opponent is consistently chasing ASM down, then they aren’t really focusing on Toad or Miles.
Now, I know the title is misleading and obviously ASM can be killed, but it is such an endeavor for your opponent to undertake that it’s sometimes not even worth trying. Which then free’s ASM up to do ASM things like take points or Witty Batter support for your other team mates. With ASM’s movement, he is able to support pretty much any part of the board that needs his help which also puts some psychological pressure on your enemy as well. Where can they run from Peter Parker? The answer, unsurprisingly, is nowhere. Or, more importantly, how quickly can he get out of sticky situations that would normally take him out. Don’t expect him to take on 3 or more characters at once all game, but if you have priority, you can pull some real brave plays and dive him into your opponent’s zone and just run away next turn with them scratching their heads as to what just happened.
It’s All in the Art of the Banter and Insults
One of the things I have loved about ASM is Witty Banter. At R3, you are able to force an enemy to reroll an offensive dice of your choice for 1 power. While Web Warriors generally struggle to keep their power generation going smoothly, this is definitely one ability that you are going to want to use. The ability serves two functions:
- The most obvious function is possible damage reduction
- The removal of triggers.
Allow me to elaborate. Given your own rerolls in defense, having a 50% chance of removing damage to yourself for 1 power is an absolute beast of an ability and can slow damage on ASM or his allies to a crawl. This further frustrates enemies into wanting to take out ASM, which means they are now further attacking into your tank. It is an unfortunate place to be for more attrition based lists because now target saturation is going to be between ASM, Gwen, and the person they actually want to hurt (we all know it’s Felicia). If they leave ASM alone he is going to continue to make fun of their mommas (for my younger readers do not be like Spider-Man here), if they leave Gwen alone she is going to continue to life saver and push enemies around, and if they leave Cat alone then they are getting staggered or stolen from.
But, this is, in my opinion, the essence of Web Warrior strategy. You create scenarios for your opponents that are tough to call on and can be fleeting. Notice that all three of the characters I mentioned above have a few things in common: they are longer movers who can change the course of the game in some form or fashion and are the epitome of annoyance.
For the second, and quite frankly, most important portion of Witty Banter: turning off triggers. We have all been there. Doctor Strange needs his Crimson Bands to activate someone and he gets it on the reroll. What are you going to do? Witty Banter is your answer. Tell Doctor Strange that a child’s party needs its magician back and ruin the trigger for activation. Don’t want that push on a wild to go through? Reroll it. If your opponent has no redundancy in their roll for the trigger then most times they are going to be able to reroll into the trigger happening only 12.5% of the time. The only thing this doesn’t truly stop is pierce. Don’t ask me why, something about order and sequence and I failed math.
The best part about Witty Banter is that it comes at the end of the sequence. You can see if your opponent got their triggers or even a good roll before you decide to use your power. This is huge to remember because for Web Warriors, every power counts. If you are wasting a Witty Banter you lose out on potential Web Swings or ASM leadership (more on that later).
I have to stress this though: Witty Banter is not an every time your opponent attacks type of thing. You will run out of power. Quick. A lot of ASM is timing, so make sure you time your Witty Banter well to get its best effects.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team
I am going to admit, for a long long time ASM’s leadership was my least favorite part of his card. I wanted it free with no flip or the slow to not be pulled off or free and no slow removed with the place activated. And all of that is still true. But, I will say, it’s growing on me. One could even say it has webbed up my heart in a way. But this leadership is more than meets the eye and has a lot of baked in utility.
First and foremost, slowing your opponent generally means they will never reach you if you play smart. Most savvy opponents know this so they will naturally shake it to catch you. Which means you have successfully staggered your opponent for 1. It’s a delicate balance for your opponent as they know a good chunk of your force is fast, and if they can’t move at normal speeds then they have absolutely no chance to catch you so they have to do the one thing that makes sense for them which is to shake, but then they lose an activation making you more survivable. I feel like I am spinning my webs here, but when played correctly it feels so good to get slows on everyone and just run from them all game.
Second, the flip. Having direct access to multiple slows is great. Being able to then reverse Bump in the Night opponents off of points is even better. Indomitable doesn’t stop it. Aggressive doesn’t stop it. The only thing that stops it is your opponent’s well thrown bottle at you. But, we call that aggravated assault, and friends don’t crime friends. While it does remove the slow from your opponent’s model, getting an additional point here and there and possibly having a fast unit literally just come back in afterwards to reapply the slow and run off is great. One thing to note, start your slows earlier rather than later for the best flip effects. You can only do the leadership once per an allied character’s activation, so a little bit of forethought is needed to get the most out of this leadership.
Third, and most hilarious of all: All Webbed Up (AWU) Murder Machines. We’ve all been there, your R3 slow bubble didn’t quite hit everyone. Miles or Gwen are somehow dueling for their lives on the sides and you need to kill your opponent. Welp, just apply your slow. You don’t have to be attacking the models affected by the AWU to get your additional 2 dice. They just have to have the slow special condition. So, for 1 power, you now get 2 additional dice, which makes Gwen especially killy if she has 4 power to start (Spender>Spider Technique should give you 17 dice with a potential throw mixed in) and superchargers other characters to deal with your opponents.
I have found that this leadership requires a lot of practice though. You will probably fail at using it properly in your first few games. I still find areas where I say that I should have used it or shouldn’t have. Do not be afraid to fail with it though to get those reps in and you will be annoying your opponent’s to no end in no time.
Friendly Neighborhood Tabletop Scourge
Should you play ASM? Yes…and no. I would recommend if you are a brand new Web Warriors player to start with Miles' leadership and try ASM. He breaks some of our traditional math in wanting a 9 threat core by pumping it to 11. This is ok. You just have to compensate somehow. But I would definitely not suggest putting ASM as the leader on the table if you are brand new to the faction. Instead, get to know the faction and how they work around each other first, and once you have quite a few games with the group and you feel good about timing, then transition into ASM. It’s obvious he can be a contender, with ASM Web Warriors as I said earlier taking GenCon, but it’s technical group and from my experience requires some good planning, technical knowledge, and understanding of your scenarios.
So go out there, web some people up, make some light hearted jokes, and put your Friendly Neighborhood Amazing Spider-Man on the board. While you’re at it, tellem Foster sentcha. Your opponent will probably have no idea what you are talking about, but that’s the allure of playing Peter Parker, keep them on and off their toes.
Till next time Webslingers
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