Dear Readers,
Clear your mind. See what your future holds in your mind’s eye and think of a better tomorrow. A world of education and understanding. A tomorrow where all are equal. Some may call it a dream, but one man is looking to make it a reality. That man is Professor Charles Xavier. Professor X is the head master of Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. While education in fine arts, literature, mathematics, and science all happened within Xavier’s hallowed halls, an education in war crimes and warfare were also a part of the curriculum. And now, the dream of a better tomorrow through destructive eye lasers, wiping or rewriting a person’s mind, and glinting adamantium has been brought to Marvel Crisis Protocol.
Today, we will look at Charles Xavier’s abilities and I will give you my initial impression of the character and his play style. Again, this is not gospel and I get things wrong, so please take that into account as you read. I may miss things or have a different perspective on the character. I would love to hear your takes as well and look forward to the discourse around Charles Xavier.
The Stats:
Charles Xavier is a 4 threat with a 2/2/6 spread and 6/5 health with a size 2 frame and medium move while residing on a medium base.
Being medium move and medium base is a huge boon for Xavier that doesn’t make a lot of sense. The guy in the hover chair moving faster than Venom who routinely keeps up with Spider-Man is kind of something that rubs me the wrong way, but I also feel like we are kind of getting off topic, so I will right the train before we go off the rails about #Justice4Venom. Having a medium move with a medium base is huge and it offers X-Men the ability to field 3 such characters for only 11 threat. In fact, you can run an entire 16 point squad of medium bases to your roster and it will still work with Xavier. Distance is everything in MCP, and having even a slight advantage on your ability to get around the map is crucial.
Having a 6/5 spread for HP puts Xavier into the squishy category. And mean, real squishy. For comparison, OG Pete, who objectively has one of the highest control thresholds in game, has a long move, reroll 2 defensive dice for energy or physical attacks as well as dodge rolls, AND is a 6/6 (after his “buff”), still isn’t taken in WW or other control oriented lists. Part of this is he is missing a key component to what he is doing (Web Swing), but it is still a decent comparison. Charles is going to go splat if anyone even looks at him funny. He is a glass cannon with control elements. I think he is going to be a menace, but you need to look at Charles as a piece to be protected rather than a piece to be projected (I know it was bad. I am trying).
His defenses are nothing to really write home about. Having 2 in the most common attack type in the game alongside the thing that allows you to dodge is…not great. It is offset by one of his super powers, which we will get into in a moment, but I want to focus in on the dodge portion of his defenses first. Having 6 hp with a medium base with only 2 to dodge is an issue. It means that if you are moving anywhere towards the front for any reason you are opening yourself up to a lot of pressure from characters that can throw things at you. 6 HP also isn’t a ton of HP to hide behind when you consider characters like Hulk are just running around casually tossing size 4 terrain or characters into you. It isn’t a deal breaker by any means, but it is something to take into account that Chuck is harder to hide than your average character from thrown objects. Beware the Steel Chair.
The Abilities
While Xavier’s base stats aren’t really something to write home about (except for that whopping 6
Mystic defense. Convocation wants its member back guys), his abilities are another thing entirely.
Let’s start start with the leadership. School for Gifted Youngsters (Could have been X-Men insert color here or I saw X-Men Bald as well, but noooooo), is at first glance an amazing ability. Once per turn when you spend power on a super power you can give another character power. Pseudo ArD is amazing and the transference of power to other characters is why ArD was restricted in the first place. I routinely play Wong+ArD in my WW list because it turns Web Swings on turn 1, mitigates the damage I take from No Matter the Cost, or allows you to do a myriad of things with Black Cat or Ghost Spider. Having ArD in a faction with several 2 power charges is pretty awesome and allows for earlier plays and what I am going to call a power economy loop. I think that Xavier is going to have a unique playstyle where it is going to require you to think and predict even farther ahead than a normal round of MCP. Properly channeling the power economy loop is going to be key for good Xavier plays.
The leadership will probably also want you to have characters that have a mixture of reactive and active super powers. Cable, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat are some of the characters who come to mind first as characters who have both reactive and active super powers to utilize in order to maximize power flow. This comes in at a healthy 15 and gives you access to durable models with good mobility. It also gives you earlier access to Nightcrawler’s Mass Transit card which could give your entire team Webswing on Turn 1 depending on how you play it (Body Slide Cable on one turn and then give Kitty a reroll with her ranged attack to then Mass Transit the team where you need to go). Oddly enough, I think Gambit is going to be fairly good under Xavier as he can consistently change his hits to wilds, gain power and give power, and then still have power to use Enhanced Agility to further give power and get away. Some out of affiliation units that jump out at me are Crimson Dynamo (we are re-rolling enemy attacks for days!), Wong (I shall meditate to add a power, give a power, and then pass another power to give someone 3 power on turn 1), Amazing Spider-Man (Web Swing turn 1 is a definite yes along with passing power back out with Witty Banter), Black Swan (she gets charges turned on quicker, has more power to negate Wilds or do spencers, and Xavier gives her re-rolls which are severely needed), and Cosmic Ghost Rider (I hate that I am saying this…more power means more consistent psychosis and more consistent psychosis means the game is more unbearable for your opponent. It also sort of bypasses stun, which is one of the few ways to hamper CGR’s rampage.).
Xavier’s attacks are nothing to sneeze at and I am a big fan of them from a “utilize them well and you are going to be super annoying to deal with” perspective. Psychic Dart is a R4 D5 mystic attack that gives Root on a wild. This is important, because it makes your opponent’s power economy much more inhibitive while you are flowing power through your team almost every turn. Mental Suggestion is also pretty absurd. It is a nerfed version of Cassandra Nova’s ability, requiring it to do damage in order to move your opponent. However, if the opponent’s goal is to keep attacking Xavier, then you are practically staggering your enemy each time they want to smack you unless they have charge or some sort of placement. It also allows you to move your enemy into closer range for your close combat characters, like Wolverine and X-23, to have a better shot at continuously attacking someone. Astral Duel is ridiculous with one of the biggest issues for Web Warriors built into the attack itself (no rerolls for you ASM and no leadership). While I don’t think you use his spender very often, instead opting for Mental Suggestion or giving reroll support to your team, I think there will be times where you just want to kill a character who has been rerolling their saves all game and to shut them down.
Professor’s Guidance is your typical Shuri style reroll, allowing you to up the defensive and offensive capabilities of your team quickly and efficiently. There isn’t much to write home about this one, but there is a hilarious interaction with Charles, Cable, Shadowcat, and Amazing Spider-Man at 17 where you can have a ASM with up to 8 physical or energy defense with reroll any defense dice followed by reroll up to 3 defense dice followed by Witty Banter. All. Hail. The. Immortal Spider-Man.
Remember earlier how I said Xavier’s defenses were garbage. Well, they still are, but Telepathic Lock at least makes your opponent have to do a bit more to get some damage in. It allows him to utilize his monstrous mystic defense dice. This, along with his ability to hand out root, is going to make Chuckles hard to hit and deal significant damage to him.
Finally, Omega-Level Telepath means he can’t be pushed or advanced by super powers or mystic attacks. I think Charles is going to give CGR some issues, not many, but some. Forcing him to consistently spend power is going to ruin his economy, he can’t drag you to make you incinerated, and I’m sure X-Men can give him a stun somewhere to make Charles just an unappealing target.
First Impression
Creating a list, however, has been daunting for me. I find that there are two ways I want to play this: Like a Web Warriors defensive player and like a hyper-mobile fighting force. For defensive, in-affiliation play I find that I am leaning into Cable, Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler as some of my first choices in affiliation. Cable, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat are pretty self-explanatory, they hand out defensive boons or self buff their defenses, which can cycle back around in the power economy loop. Nightcrawler also gives you access to Mass Transit, allowing you to potentially have a better Web Swing across your units to get them out of danger. You can then couple that with some creative placement with To Me My X-Men and create a massive move to keep your units safe from harm. Rogue plays with the enemy’s power, which in conjunction with Charles means that your opponent is going to have a hard time actually accomplishing anything. Gambit and having Parting Shot is built-in but better Fall Back. If you aren’t there to get smacked again, you can’t be smacked again. For the in-affiliation mobile fighting force I am looking at Cable, Wolverine/Logan the Wolverine, Iceman, Psylocke, and Rogue. Cable and Rogue are pulling double-duty as they both have movement built into their kit with a place and a charge. Cable gets the ball rolling for your power economy loop and allows your team to start charging out of the gate. Iceman may seem like an odd choice, but I have him in for two reasons: Ice Slide and his massive access to slows. If your opponent cannot effectively get away from you due to slows, then they are going to have a hard time escaping charging units every turn. Ice Slide also helps with the chase by giving units like Rogue, Wolverine, and Psylocke better action economy while not slowing Bobby down at all. I can also see Cyclops with his field leader ability and reactive quick draw as a model in the list since Charles fixes one of his biggest issues in that he needs some form of consistent damage to be relevant to the map state.
Ultimately, Xavier is going to open up a lot of play space for creative individuals who can prioritize the power channels properly during a match-up in order to maximize efficiency. It will require more thinking than say a Cap1 leadership requires, but it is much more open in what it can do once you find the correct tempo and flow. I don’t think he makes the Web Warrior’s 10 though. He is a 4, which is already a heavily contested slot, and a lot of his power is derived from his leadership. He is faster than your average bear, but so is Bill. He can move people, but so can Bill. He has some level of defensive tech that your opponent controls, Bill also has defensive tech. At the end of the day, Charles only brings range over Bill, but I don’t think it's enough to save him a spot in the list.
But, what do I know? I am some crazy loon writing on the internet for what I am presuming is our enjoyment and possible delight. If I am wrong, please let me know. Do you plan on playing the good professor? If so, also let me know how you plan on doing it!
Till next time Webslingers.
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