Web Warriors Primer 3: Team Tactics Cards

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Dear Reader,


In this third installment to the Web Warriors Primer, we will be looking at Team Tactics Cards (TTC). The TTC stack is massive as we are nearing 400 cards in the game. Not all of them are legal for standard play, but there are still so many of them that it may be a bit daunting for new players to go through each and every one of them to decide what is best for you. In this week’s installment, we will be dividing the cards into four separate categories: Restricted, Affiliated, Character specific, and Generalist. Cards sometimes make the faction, and they are one of the things in Marvel Crisis Protocol that create pivotal points in the game for victory or defeat. A well-timed Brace for Impact or Spider-Tracker can completely alter the course of the game or nullify a key turn for an opponent. In this article, we will not cover every single card in the game, but rather we will narrow the focus down to those cards that I think are key to Web Warrior play.

Restricted


  • Brace for Impact - Brace for Impact is such a good card that I kind of just consider in almost any list I make to have 9 TTC slots and 1 mandatory Brace for Impact slot. It is a card that I am generally confused about when I do not see it across the table in my opponent’s 10 cards. Being able to just say no to a thrown object in MCP is so big, especially considering when you have the likes of Rhino, Beta Ray Bill, and Hulk running around who are easily splashed and can throw size 4 terrain at you. While many of our Web Warriors have Spider-Sense to mitigate incoming damage, high value models with extract tokens on them do not want to have a garbage truck chucked at them for 5 incoming damage and then fail all of their saves twice to just get one shot by a throw. If you don’t take Brace, it isn’t the end of the world, as some notable Web Warrior players do not include it in their allotted 10 TTC. I would recommend making sure you have a plan for your gameplay before leaving it at home though.

  • Advanced R and D - Web Warriors have a problem in their tactics: power generation. We don’t traditionally hit two hard, which limits our ability to use our fantastic spenders or superpowers. Some characters are able to generate steady power, such as Ghost Spider, Spectacular Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider (when he is released), but that power is generally used fairly quickly. Advanced R and D allows for turn 1 plays with Web Warriors characters such as Miles or Amazing Spider-Man to get off a turn 1 Web Swing or Webline that we wouldn’t normally have access to. This allows us to play a bit more aggressively from the jump, or it allows for turn 2 plays such as a Black Cat steal, Venom/Gwenom throw, or spenders from Spider-Woman and Miles Morales. I recommend taking Wong with this card, as you can either double meditate to give up to three characters an extra power or you can move to hold a point and give 2 characters the additional power.

  • Sacrifice - Web Warrior players are all about objective based gameplay, and sacrifice is a card that allows us to keep the extracts or secure tempo going by passing an intended attack off on someone else for a minimal cost. This is crucial when fighting some groups to keep people alive through Dark Reign, Marked for Death, or even opposing All Webbed Up turns. It requires some additional positioning, but a well-timed Sacrifice can tilt the flow of a game into your favor by preventing big attacks or saving a character who is grievously injured from taking too much damage and losing key positions.

  • Patch Up - Earlier I said that Web Warriors characters sometimes have power issues. This is true, but not for all of our characters and certainly not for all of our splashes. Moon Knight is a character that does well just generating power in affiliation for example and is happy to heal his teammates with the excess power. Some of our affiliated and preferred splash characters are exceptionally annoying to take down, and there is nothing more demoralizing than dealing 5 damage to the Amazing Spider-Man or Lizard and then having some crazy hobo run up and bandage them back to full HP. Patch Up is amazing when done properly and is always on my short list of considerations for the two restricted slots in my roster.

Affiliated


  • All Webbed Up - This card, well there is no sugar coating it, defines Web Warrior play. It can be used both offensively and defensively to create pivot points in gameplay. If Brace for Impact is one of my auto-includes from the restricted list, then All Webbed Up is my auto-include for Affiliated cards. You can utilize the card to create a hyper offensive turn to swing the game in your favor or utilize the ttc to slow many enemies at once and just run away utilizing your superior movement. All in all, this is a card that I consider a requirement for a successful Web Warrior roster. You may not take it every single game, but I have found that I utilize it in 99% of my games.

  • Aunt May’s Wheatcakes - The one additional HP is sometimes nice to keep you moving, but the best part of this card is the anti-slow portion. Fighting against Web Warriors or any faction with access to consistent slows will hate when you pop a group wide Wheatcakes turn to get rid of their advantage and get you moving again. Remember, a slow ASM or Black Cat gets about 40% the distance in a full turn as an unencumbered model.

  • Spider-Tracker - Enemy charges? Walk away. Enemy moving towards you menacingly? Walk away. Spider-Tracker gives you more of the things you already love: superior movement. Spider-Tracker is a key card for Web Warrior gameplay as it allows you to keep your distance from enemies and then ruin game plans. Remember, distance is also defense and this card gives you more of what you need.

  • Masked Menace - I have had one game with Masked Menace so far, so I cannot definitively speak on the card. However, I can say that it was an amazing card when I played it and gave me the power, I needed to create a later play to win the game. I am not sure that it will be included in your five ttc’s every game, but it does give us access to some strategies that we did not have before and the fact that it doesn’t only affect Web Warrior characters, since it just says allied characters, is amazing. I may actually have to paint my Nightcrawler as Spider-Man for this TTC…

  • Clone Saga - This card is a bit too situational for my tastes. The power it offers when it works is pretty good since most of our characters are able to move just as quickly as their targets if not faster, but for our core members it will generally be relegated to anti-Web Warrior tech. Outliers of course would be Amazing Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Spectacular Spider-Man, and Ghost Spider. In the future when we have even more Alter Ego characters this may see more use, but as it stands now it seems a bit limited.


Character Specific



  • Cat and the Spider - This card is pretty awesome when played with Cat and Spectacular Spider-Man. With proper positioning, you are able to treat this as an Eyes on the Prize for turn 1 center line grabs while still allowing Spectacular Spider-Man to attain his own points since he has the automatic 1 power. While technically Core1 Pete can do this too, he is just too much at threat 4 to be considered in the roster when we have 3Pete and ASM.

  • X-Ceptional Healing - Lizard, Logan the Wolverine, and future healing factor models having access to a damage to 1 card is amazing. It makes your characters far more durable on the field and even more of an annoyance to deal with. If you are running a character with healing factor, I would recommend playing this card.

  • This is a Robbery - Rhino is already an amazing inclusion to Web Warriors with his hyper mobility, damage reduction, large hit pool, and ease of Patch Up/Advanced R and D usage. If you add in his ability to force someone to not only drop all of their tokens, but also throw them medium away, then Rhino becomes a menace. I have seen entire turn 1s in a game skewed because the opponent was worried about when Rhino was going to potentially force someone to drop tokens.

  • Age of Ultron - If you are running Ultron 2, then this card gives him a massive boost to his staying power to the point people may just not attack him. While this seems counter-intuitive, the rest of our force is fairly mobile, allowing Ultron 2 to sit there and just gather VP while he controls the opposition’s movement is fantastic for him. Never discount consistent VP generation.

  • A Better Tomorrow - I used to play a lot of Kamala Khan in Web Warriors since she just seemed to click and High Fiving people with re-roll skulls is a dangerous attack. While Kamala isn’t really used at the moment, I could see her getting a buff in the future and this card coming back for us. Giving Miles a super-Web Swing to get out of danger is huge and if Kamala is in your list, then I think this card should be included too to benefit both her and Miles.

  • Clean Up - Used by Agent Venom and a Peter Parker model, it gives Peter a bit more offense and Flash a bit more defense and I just ask myself why I didn’t play Gwenom instead (when she is released of course). It’s not a terrible card and definitely has a place if you are an Agent Venom enthusiast, but I find it doesn’t make it into my 10 all that often.

  • Lethal Protector - If you are playing Venom, then Lethal Protector should be in your 10 ttc. It gives him movement, protects a character, and gives him an opportunity to hit your opponent back with either an attack that auto bleeds or will probably heal Venom.

  • Go Get'em Tiger - If you are playing Peter Parker, it is...ok? I really wish this card just healed him three and gave you a move if you had an objective, but here we are. If you are limited on ttc access or are playing a limited format, then it gets the job. But if you have access to a wider range of cards then it loses its effectiveness quicky. It has been voted best ttc art for all of Marvel before, so it's got that going for it, which is nice. 


Generalist


  • Mission Objective - Name of our game is objective control and if you are out of bodyguards, movement, and general defense, there is nothing better than passing your objectives to a buddy as you fall in combat. This requires a bit of set-up, but it also works on things that force the drop so you can keep scoring points.

  • Fall Back - You have to have the power before the attack to do this, but moving out of range of the double tap or into stealth range is fantastic for Webs players to stay alive. I find that I do not leave home without this ttc in the 10.

  • No Matter the Cost - So, this is a high-risk high reward ttc. It’ll allow you to spend 3 hp to force an attack drop with Miles or Jessica so you can pick up the extract, then run followed by a Swing or Glide away. Time this well, and it will win you the game. Miss time this card and you just made it easier for your opponent to take back what they had.

  • Marked for Death - This is purely anti-Web Warriors tech and should probably be used on the All Webbed Up turn. While the ‘slow’ won’t count towards your dice, taking away dice rerolls for defense is a quick way to make an opposing Miles or ASM die since so much of their survivability is tied up in pretty much everything Marked for Death takes away.

  • Escort to Safety - This is simply another get out of jail card. You could, if you really wanted to, partner this up with Spider-Tracker and Fall Back to have one of the slipperiest ttc sets around, but I find that it really comes down to personal preference since I like having All Webbed Up in the five for pretty much every game and there are only so many slots to play with. If we had more TTC slots during a game it would make it in more often, but, since we do not, I usually leave it at home. It is still a very good card though.

  • Recalibration Matrix - Recalibration Matrix works well if our defensive tech has failed us. Where it really shines is with Black Cat though. If you flubbed the roll terribly and your enemy is just barely getting enough damage to daze or kill Cat, then you can Recal. Your opponent cannot reroll dice due to Black Cats abilities and she gets a second chance to survive.

Conclusion

While this list is nowhere near comprehensive in its scope in regard to the number of cards in MCP, it is a great place to start with for your first forays into Web Warriors play. Part of what I love about Web Warriors is that, while we generally have the same game plan goals in mind, I have seen some wild variations in characters and team tactics cards. The only way to truly find what works for you is to test and adjust. I think cards such as Inspiring Monologue, Face Me, and many others definitely have a place in Web Warrior play, but they are either something that requires a bit more finesse to use or may not be as optimal. Either way, test things out, have fun with the game, and keep on swinging.


Till next time Web Slingers


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