Dear Readers,
In our final installment of the Web Warriors Primer we will be looking at some sample lists. Normally, I would just make a list myself and explain why I chose things and how I came to my decisions, but I felt that was too small a task for ya’ll. So, I reached out to some of the top players on the ladder to create lists for after Gwenom and Scarlet Spider came out and I was gifted with four lists from those players. Remember, ladders are always changing, so if it is different later that would be why. I thought that this would be much better than just one man’s opinion because while Web Warriors has its core models and strategies, not all players are going to pilot their lists in the same way, so I was able to get the help of Web Warrior Arun, Deaton, Trefenwyd, and Johnny Pastrami to help me with this very special edition of Friendly Neighborhood Web Warrior.
One of the things I love about this faction, and game for that matter, is that choices can vary wildly between players and I think seeing that demonstrated in our lists will help new and old Web Warrior players alike make decisions better suited to their playstyle. Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at some sample lists.
We are starting off the list with the number one Web Warrior player in the world, Arun. With a staggering 94% win rate, Arun obviously knows what he is doing when it comes to Web Warriors. One thing that really stood out to me about this list is the inclusion of Clone Saga, which is a card that I had written off earlier but makes a bit more sense when Arun explained that it is a mirror match tech piece. Miles can easily chase down other Miles characters and getting reroll any number of attack dice against your enemy is a great way to eliminate enemy leaders or key tech pieces. Just remember that Black Cat is immune to this, but you will have a great chance of running into enemy Peters, Miles, and Gwens when you play Web Warriors, and with the new Gwenom coming out, she will be especially deadly to eliminate her opposition with a double reroll when double tapping. However, Arun isn’t running Gwenom in the list, but with Gwen’s ability to deal massive damage with a spender into 7 dice builder, she is able to still take advantage of the re-rolls given by Clone Saga to take out enemy Gwenoms too. Ben makes the list though because, along with Zemo, he is ridiculously tanky and provides more of the same game plan while also leaning into attrition control as Arun put it.
Another key thing to note is Arun doesn’t run Brace for Impact and rather runs Patch Up instead due to the wide-spread availability of Spider-Sense in the list. Venom is another interesting inclusion with modern Web Warriors due to his speed, but he is still viable with his long range medium pulls and his tech to eliminate enemy Web Warriors. Remember though that due to Venom’s low energy defense and limited movement that he is very very matchup dependent and you can't always rely on Lethal Protector to get you where you need to be. Black Panther has been a staple of Web Warrior play since our inception as he works so well with the game plan with his counting blanks in some of his defenses, auto pushes, and speed.
Arun told me that he generally plays the same five team tactics cards in most matches: Patch Up, Mission Objective, All Webbed Up, Spider Tracker, and Advanced Research and Development. However, Researcher is the bane of our existence as Web Warriors and Arun says that the usually replaces Mission Objective with Marked for Death, but Masked Menace will have a lot of value at the 15 threat level where we can see 3 or 4 Web Warriors fighting people, which allows us more power to do things like Staggers with Black Cat, pulls with Ghost Spider, or Web Swinging with Miles.
Sporting an 81% win rate with Web Warriors, Johnny Wedzicha is no stranger to Web Warrior play. The first thing I noticed in this list is a giant Hulk shape in the middle of it, which the creator of the Lunch Meat Classic explains fixes his Research Station problem depending on the Secures that he faces. I actually had the same idea for Hulk in my list, but when I brought that up, Johnny brought up a great point that I hadn’t considered before. You are using 20% of your TTC slots to shred your own character’s defenses along with a good chunk of his resources to give yourself a spender that may not do what you need it to do. Keeping Hulk alive is important if you run him, but venomizing him is very resource and action intensive for a game that will normally only last about 4-5 rounds.
Another thing that caught my eye was 2 threat Widow. Normally in our community we have fallen into three camps on our two threats: Wong, Toad, or both. Johnny explains that Widow fast, has a stagger that will go off 70% of the time against 3 defense three models and is great at bogging models down while threatening your opponent’s scenario objectives. Johnny does fall into the "both" category, just not with Wong as he is running Toad as well.
In addition, he is running Proxima Midnight as she moves fast, is tough to hurt with DR 1 and gives amazing conditions on her spender. This doesn’t even take into account her having Martial Prowess, which further intensifies her ability to survive and may even reflect damage back to your opponent. Teleporting with her is a long-range movement as well, which is comparable to our Web Swings in a pinch.
I also like the inclusion of Clean Up. While I do not run Agent Venom (he knows what he did), Clean Up is an amazing card to include for both mirror matches as well as general use to give Agent Venom more defense so that he can keep his guns blazing for longer.
Coming in with an 83% win rate with Web Warriors, Jacob Deaton is a part of the Danger Room and is a top level threat in MCP. The list he sent me is super spicy, as it includes Shuri, Honey Badger, X-23 and has a distinct lack of Ghost Spider.
That is because Deaton is looking to maximize Gwenom in all aspects and I think that this kit does a fantastic job of giving her everything that she needs to be successful. Honey Badger sticking like glue to your opponent’s big threats does two things: gives pseudo incineration and a taunt to force your opponent to attack her. This gives Gwenom space to perform as many out of activation attacks as possible and allows Laura more out of activation movement with the Lil’ Sis super power. Out of activation anything is usually pretty strong as it allows you to get more value out of models, and getting two things for one action is amazing.
To further give Gwenom more power on the table, Shuri is a consistent source of offensive rerolls for Gwenom, allowing her to maximize her damage, while also keeping bothersome models away from her in order to keep her alive by pushing them away. While Gwenom is tough with Spider Sense and healing from her spender, she isn’t invulnerable, so adding in the ability to keep the board clear and having fewer attacks come into her is essential to her success.
Face Me is another interesting option and just another way to force enemies to get smacked out of action by Gwenom while also pulling them off of points or into more advantageous areas for our attacks.
The best part is, you can still maintain a solid 15 threat list with Miles, Spectacular Spider-Man, Gwenom, Honey Badger, and X-23 or Shuri and you will be keeping enemies off of points or just dead throughout the matchup. The only downside to this is fighting a hulk who has a huge HP pool and can avoid Honey Badger shenanigans by just throwing her away. But, for most matchups, I can see this shredding people and being a terrifying list to fight when piloted right due to the sheer amount of offensive rerolls available to Gwenom while also maintaining a more traditional Web Warriors play style with Miles, Wong, SSM, Black Cat and Gwenom at 15.
Trefenwyd comes in with another impressive 83% win rate with Web Warriors and the list he has concocted looks pretty nasty. When I asked about the list, since it is so rare to see all three of our Venoms together under one roof, he said that he thinks a wider webs list that focuses on hard scenario play is probably still our best way to go for optimum win conditions and rates and that the new models in his opinion didn’t do much to change that. However, if he were to utilize the new models, he was going to go punch someone in the face with them (ok, I may have twisted the words a bit there, he said it was more fight focused) and still be able to go 6 wide at 17 with Miles, Cat, SSM, 4 for taste, Toad and Wong or a 5 wide with Miles, Gwenom, Venom of choice, Zemo, and Cat. I feel like as we get more offensive options, Zemo is going to be even more important in the future as he ups the damage we deal while also giving us more defensive rerolls. Having a 17 with a center line Secure and Masked Menace seems like it will generate a ton of power for the team and keep pressure on in a good way. You can even do this on the turn before All Webbed Up and then finish off a ton of models on the next turn with your increased power generation.
Giving up the more Extract or Secure focused options from the list does hurt a bit, but Trefenwyd explains that it allows for a solid plan B for when you need to just get the job done. I like that we now have this option with the inclusion of Gwenom instead of skirting it with people who want to deal damage but maybe can’t get it through as often as they would like.
Now for my list. I have decided to run both Ben and Gwenom in my list alongside Ghost Spider. For a long time I ran Beta Ray Bill, and I may do so again after some testing with Logan the Wolverine, but I have seen what Wolverine does on a flank by himself and it is pretty disgusting, only being increased by his ability to reroll skull results under Miles while also keeping some of the core concepts of Web Warriors available to him through his throw and place. I haven’t fully adopted the two two’s strategy yet, but that is because I don’t like the frail feeling of two threats with their lower HP. I also fight against a surprising number of Bullseyes, which means consistent damage on lower HP pools. I love our D shaped Maps, which is why all of my Secures are D shape. I think Web Warrior D fights are a little lopsided and with Logan the Wolverine to crush a side they become even more so. For a long time, I ran three Extract thieves, and I may replace Gwenom with Spider-Woman again if I feel like it is needed, but, at the moment, having so many models with a way to move enemies feels very good on a D map and I may not need the additional extract stealing potential.
Having 5 3 threat characters in the list allows me to go 5 wide at 15 and 16 or 6 wide at 17 if I need to. What is interesting to me is that out of all the lists presented today, only Deaton and I are playing ASM. I love ASM in the list because I can reliably run him up and back to acquire midline Extracts or across to steal enemy back line Extracts with ease and he has a great chance to survive the endeavor. Especially when you are on Cubes and he is able to steal a backline Cube and potentially daze someone to steal another Cube and then just run off into a corner where he can just take 2 damage a turn, daze, pick back up the cubes and stay safe. Remember, you only need to gather 16 VP, and if a model got you 6 VP throughout the game, they shouldered over a third of what you needed to win. ASM is one of those models that can easily do that with his durability and mobility. It’s the same reason I really like Lizard in the list. He is surprisingly fast, can toss people off of points, and just won’t die. He literally can hold a cube and have a minimal amount of damage leak through due to his healing factor.
Thank you so much for reading my Primer series for Web Warriors. As you can see, every Web Warrior list looks different, and every Web Warrior player has a different approach to the game. However, the goal of the Web Warrior player at the moment is the same: gather as much VP as possible in the shortest amount of time. Your defenses won’t hold out forever and your feet will only take you so far, so make sure that you are winning games as quickly as possible to avoid damage spikes that will put you in a bad space.
If I could give one last piece of advice to new Web Warrior players it is this: practice and experiment. Web Warriors is a faction that requires planning, timing, and adaptability. You won’t get any of those things in a meaningful way with a few games unless you are naturally inclined to them. You will probably lose your first few games. I remember running Miles into fights he had no business being in because I over estimated Spider-Sense when I first started playing. But as you play you will see when the opportune time to stagger a character with Black Cat is or when to just run because you are so much faster than them. You will know when to activate last with Miles to prevent your enemy from scoring more or when to throw ASM into the thick of it. Practice and reflect honestly as to what you did in the game so that you can grow. Dice will be dice and no amount of rerolls can save you from bad luck, but you can control how to approach the game and what moves you play. Keep moving forward with your game, tell some bad jokes like Peter, and have fun with the game.
Till next time Web Slingers.
Web Warrior Arun - Web Warrior Protocols
Characters
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Ghost Spider
Black Cat
Moon Knight
Toad
Venom
Baron Zemo
Scarlet Spider
Spider Woman
Black Panther
Team Tactics Cards
Patch Up
Mission Objective
All Webbed Up
Spider Tracker
Advanced RnD
Lethal Protector
Aunt May's Wheat Cakes
Masked Menace
Clone Saga
Marked for Death
Secure Crisis
Cosmic Invasion - 16 Threat
Riots Spark - 17 Threat
Portals Overrun - 18 Threat
Extract Crisis
Deadly Virus - 19 Threat
Paranoia - 16 Threat
Fear Grips - 18 Threat
We are starting off the list with the number one Web Warrior player in the world, Arun. With a staggering 94% win rate, Arun obviously knows what he is doing when it comes to Web Warriors. One thing that really stood out to me about this list is the inclusion of Clone Saga, which is a card that I had written off earlier but makes a bit more sense when Arun explained that it is a mirror match tech piece. Miles can easily chase down other Miles characters and getting reroll any number of attack dice against your enemy is a great way to eliminate enemy leaders or key tech pieces. Just remember that Black Cat is immune to this, but you will have a great chance of running into enemy Peters, Miles, and Gwens when you play Web Warriors, and with the new Gwenom coming out, she will be especially deadly to eliminate her opposition with a double reroll when double tapping. However, Arun isn’t running Gwenom in the list, but with Gwen’s ability to deal massive damage with a spender into 7 dice builder, she is able to still take advantage of the re-rolls given by Clone Saga to take out enemy Gwenoms too. Ben makes the list though because, along with Zemo, he is ridiculously tanky and provides more of the same game plan while also leaning into attrition control as Arun put it.
Another key thing to note is Arun doesn’t run Brace for Impact and rather runs Patch Up instead due to the wide-spread availability of Spider-Sense in the list. Venom is another interesting inclusion with modern Web Warriors due to his speed, but he is still viable with his long range medium pulls and his tech to eliminate enemy Web Warriors. Remember though that due to Venom’s low energy defense and limited movement that he is very very matchup dependent and you can't always rely on Lethal Protector to get you where you need to be. Black Panther has been a staple of Web Warrior play since our inception as he works so well with the game plan with his counting blanks in some of his defenses, auto pushes, and speed.
Arun told me that he generally plays the same five team tactics cards in most matches: Patch Up, Mission Objective, All Webbed Up, Spider Tracker, and Advanced Research and Development. However, Researcher is the bane of our existence as Web Warriors and Arun says that the usually replaces Mission Objective with Marked for Death, but Masked Menace will have a lot of value at the 15 threat level where we can see 3 or 4 Web Warriors fighting people, which allows us more power to do things like Staggers with Black Cat, pulls with Ghost Spider, or Web Swinging with Miles.
JonathanPastramathan - Juicy Al’s Juicy Pals
Characters
*Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
Spider-Woman (4)
Ghost-Spider (3)
Black Cat (3)
Toad (2)
Hulk (6)
Proxima Midnight (3)
Black Widow (2)
Agent Venom (4)
Team Tactics Cards
All Webbed Up
Spider-Tracker
Sacrifice (R)
No Matter the Cost
Mission Objective
The Cat and the Spider
Brace for Impact (R)
Fall Back
Aunt May's Wheat Cakes
Clean Up
Secure Crisis
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate! (F, 20)
Extract Crisis
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (F, 17)
Struggle for the Cube Continues (F, 17)
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! (L, 19)
Sporting an 81% win rate with Web Warriors, Johnny Wedzicha is no stranger to Web Warrior play. The first thing I noticed in this list is a giant Hulk shape in the middle of it, which the creator of the Lunch Meat Classic explains fixes his Research Station problem depending on the Secures that he faces. I actually had the same idea for Hulk in my list, but when I brought that up, Johnny brought up a great point that I hadn’t considered before. You are using 20% of your TTC slots to shred your own character’s defenses along with a good chunk of his resources to give yourself a spender that may not do what you need it to do. Keeping Hulk alive is important if you run him, but venomizing him is very resource and action intensive for a game that will normally only last about 4-5 rounds.
Another thing that caught my eye was 2 threat Widow. Normally in our community we have fallen into three camps on our two threats: Wong, Toad, or both. Johnny explains that Widow fast, has a stagger that will go off 70% of the time against 3 defense three models and is great at bogging models down while threatening your opponent’s scenario objectives. Johnny does fall into the "both" category, just not with Wong as he is running Toad as well.
In addition, he is running Proxima Midnight as she moves fast, is tough to hurt with DR 1 and gives amazing conditions on her spender. This doesn’t even take into account her having Martial Prowess, which further intensifies her ability to survive and may even reflect damage back to your opponent. Teleporting with her is a long-range movement as well, which is comparable to our Web Swings in a pinch.
I also like the inclusion of Clean Up. While I do not run Agent Venom (he knows what he did), Clean Up is an amazing card to include for both mirror matches as well as general use to give Agent Venom more defense so that he can keep his guns blazing for longer.
Deaton - The Danger Room
Characters
* Amazing Spider-Man (5)
Gwenom (4)
* Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Venom (4)
Black Cat (3)
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
Shuri (3)
Honey Badger (2)
Wong (2)
X-23 (3)
Team Tactics Cards
Brace for Impact (R)
Sacrifice (R)
All Webbed Up
Masked Menace
Spider-Tracker
Lethal Protector
X-Ceptional Healing
Fall Back
Face Me
No Matter the Cost
Secure Crisis
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate (F, 20)
Extract Crisis
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! (L, 19)
Paranoia Pummels Populace! (K, 16)
Coming in with an 83% win rate with Web Warriors, Jacob Deaton is a part of the Danger Room and is a top level threat in MCP. The list he sent me is super spicy, as it includes Shuri, Honey Badger, X-23 and has a distinct lack of Ghost Spider.
That is because Deaton is looking to maximize Gwenom in all aspects and I think that this kit does a fantastic job of giving her everything that she needs to be successful. Honey Badger sticking like glue to your opponent’s big threats does two things: gives pseudo incineration and a taunt to force your opponent to attack her. This gives Gwenom space to perform as many out of activation attacks as possible and allows Laura more out of activation movement with the Lil’ Sis super power. Out of activation anything is usually pretty strong as it allows you to get more value out of models, and getting two things for one action is amazing.
To further give Gwenom more power on the table, Shuri is a consistent source of offensive rerolls for Gwenom, allowing her to maximize her damage, while also keeping bothersome models away from her in order to keep her alive by pushing them away. While Gwenom is tough with Spider Sense and healing from her spender, she isn’t invulnerable, so adding in the ability to keep the board clear and having fewer attacks come into her is essential to her success.
Face Me is another interesting option and just another way to force enemies to get smacked out of action by Gwenom while also pulling them off of points or into more advantageous areas for our attacks.
The best part is, you can still maintain a solid 15 threat list with Miles, Spectacular Spider-Man, Gwenom, Honey Badger, and X-23 or Shuri and you will be keeping enemies off of points or just dead throughout the matchup. The only downside to this is fighting a hulk who has a huge HP pool and can avoid Honey Badger shenanigans by just throwing her away. But, for most matchups, I can see this shredding people and being a terrifying list to fight when piloted right due to the sheer amount of offensive rerolls available to Gwenom while also maintaining a more traditional Web Warriors play style with Miles, Wong, SSM, Black Cat and Gwenom at 15.
Aaron “Trefenwyd” Franklin
Characters
Agent Venom (4)
Gwenom (4)
Venom (4)
* Black Panther (4)
Black Cat (3)
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
* Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Baron Zemo (3)
Toad (2)
Wong (2)
Team Tactics Cards
All Webbed Up
Aunt May‘s Wheat Cakes
Brace for Impact (R)
Fall Back
Lethal Protector
Masked Menace
Mission Objective
No Matter the Cost
Sacrifice (R)
Spider-Tracker
Secure Crisis
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Extract Crisis
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Paranoia Pummels Populace! (K, 16)
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (F, 17)
Trefenwyd comes in with another impressive 83% win rate with Web Warriors and the list he has concocted looks pretty nasty. When I asked about the list, since it is so rare to see all three of our Venoms together under one roof, he said that he thinks a wider webs list that focuses on hard scenario play is probably still our best way to go for optimum win conditions and rates and that the new models in his opinion didn’t do much to change that. However, if he were to utilize the new models, he was going to go punch someone in the face with them (ok, I may have twisted the words a bit there, he said it was more fight focused) and still be able to go 6 wide at 17 with Miles, Cat, SSM, 4 for taste, Toad and Wong or a 5 wide with Miles, Gwenom, Venom of choice, Zemo, and Cat. I feel like as we get more offensive options, Zemo is going to be even more important in the future as he ups the damage we deal while also giving us more defensive rerolls. Having a 17 with a center line Secure and Masked Menace seems like it will generate a ton of power for the team and keep pressure on in a good way. You can even do this on the turn before All Webbed Up and then finish off a ton of models on the next turn with your increased power generation.
Giving up the more Extract or Secure focused options from the list does hurt a bit, but Trefenwyd explains that it allows for a solid plan B for when you need to just get the job done. I like that we now have this option with the inclusion of Gwenom instead of skirting it with people who want to deal damage but maybe can’t get it through as often as they would like.
Foster - Friendly Neighborhood Web Warrior
Characters
* Amazing Spider-Man (5)
Black Cat (3)
Ghost Spider (3)
Gwenom (4)
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
* Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Scarlet Spider (4)
Lizard (3)
Logan, the Wolverine (4)
Wong (2)
Team Tactics Cards
All Webbed Up
Aunt May‘s Wheat Cakes
Masked Menace
Spider-Tracker
Brace for Impact (R)
Advanced R&D (R)
X-Ceptional Healing
The Cat and the Spider
Mission Objective
Fall Back
Secure Crisis
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Portals Overrun City With Spider-People! (D, 18)
Extract Crisis
Paranoia Pummels Populace! (K, 16)
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan (F, 17)
Struggle For The Cube Continues (F, 17)
Now for my list. I have decided to run both Ben and Gwenom in my list alongside Ghost Spider. For a long time I ran Beta Ray Bill, and I may do so again after some testing with Logan the Wolverine, but I have seen what Wolverine does on a flank by himself and it is pretty disgusting, only being increased by his ability to reroll skull results under Miles while also keeping some of the core concepts of Web Warriors available to him through his throw and place. I haven’t fully adopted the two two’s strategy yet, but that is because I don’t like the frail feeling of two threats with their lower HP. I also fight against a surprising number of Bullseyes, which means consistent damage on lower HP pools. I love our D shaped Maps, which is why all of my Secures are D shape. I think Web Warrior D fights are a little lopsided and with Logan the Wolverine to crush a side they become even more so. For a long time, I ran three Extract thieves, and I may replace Gwenom with Spider-Woman again if I feel like it is needed, but, at the moment, having so many models with a way to move enemies feels very good on a D map and I may not need the additional extract stealing potential.
Having 5 3 threat characters in the list allows me to go 5 wide at 15 and 16 or 6 wide at 17 if I need to. What is interesting to me is that out of all the lists presented today, only Deaton and I are playing ASM. I love ASM in the list because I can reliably run him up and back to acquire midline Extracts or across to steal enemy back line Extracts with ease and he has a great chance to survive the endeavor. Especially when you are on Cubes and he is able to steal a backline Cube and potentially daze someone to steal another Cube and then just run off into a corner where he can just take 2 damage a turn, daze, pick back up the cubes and stay safe. Remember, you only need to gather 16 VP, and if a model got you 6 VP throughout the game, they shouldered over a third of what you needed to win. ASM is one of those models that can easily do that with his durability and mobility. It’s the same reason I really like Lizard in the list. He is surprisingly fast, can toss people off of points, and just won’t die. He literally can hold a cube and have a minimal amount of damage leak through due to his healing factor.
Conclusion
If I could give one last piece of advice to new Web Warrior players it is this: practice and experiment. Web Warriors is a faction that requires planning, timing, and adaptability. You won’t get any of those things in a meaningful way with a few games unless you are naturally inclined to them. You will probably lose your first few games. I remember running Miles into fights he had no business being in because I over estimated Spider-Sense when I first started playing. But as you play you will see when the opportune time to stagger a character with Black Cat is or when to just run because you are so much faster than them. You will know when to activate last with Miles to prevent your enemy from scoring more or when to throw ASM into the thick of it. Practice and reflect honestly as to what you did in the game so that you can grow. Dice will be dice and no amount of rerolls can save you from bad luck, but you can control how to approach the game and what moves you play. Keep moving forward with your game, tell some bad jokes like Peter, and have fun with the game.
Till next time Web Slingers.
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