In
season 9, we will see a lot of Juggernauts this will reduce the Emma %
even more. Another character which likely will be played a lot is Simon
Williams Aka Wonder Man who is the first real tank in the game, but lets
go through each new character to understand why.
Wow,
this one was a close call much more than last season. I am in the process of moving to another country and my brother picked me up they
day before the end of the season to get my stuff, so I did not have time
to create any buffer. Yet again reminding me how bad the PvP system is in
Marvel Avengers Alliance.
Anyway
I manage to get Red Hulk of course, as I actually like Thunderbolt Ross
as Red Hulk, especially his appearance in the Avengers(vol 4) hes
definitely better than ....armor wearing Green Hulk.
I like how Red Hulk looks all mean-_-
Before
I go into Red Hulk Review, note I used Iron Patriot, thats because at
my level the last day was so full of Juggernauts. But especially there
was one 60x64 wallet warrior who was running Bruiser Agent with
Juggernaut and was the only hard battle of course I would face over and
over again. To beat him I pretty much needed a Blaster, thats why I used
IP Blaster. Which is much worse then Tactician IP especially as it was
around 80% Tactician in my enemies teams(mostly thanks to all the
Rescues).
Back
to Rulk. I like Rulk he got good animations, one of the best in the
game. As I mentioned his text he looks pretty mean and he does that in
game as well, overall I think he got one of the best visual in the game.
His
concept design is good as well as any real Marvel fan now. Rulk
generates Heat when he gets angry instead of becoming stronger, which
also can lead him to overheat in the end. Rulk definitely got one of the
most true design to his comic powers. His move set becomes more powerful the longer the game takes as he generate more heath. And he
can overload causing decent damage to the enemy team but this also stuns
him.
However
as I predicted in an earlier article this of course means Rulk takes
time to set up. This is true so hes not that great, still as he is a
tank(pretty much) the games with him should be longer then the average
game so it might be some use there. Also his ability to critical
everything who is burning and that he got the pyro ability to spread
burning etc. Makes him have some synergies with Human torch, Ghost Rider
etc. That also has some value.
One
thing that I felt was so retarded from Playdom is of course how all
tanks can lose their tank ability(expect Simon coming to him last). The
thing is, Rulk couldn't lose his Bulwark according to a path note this
was fixed(before his release)-_- yeah thx for this fix another tank that
don't work.
Rulk pretty much got the best activated tank ability in the game. He takes both Single and AoE so already there he obviously is better then Colossus etc but he also got a
damage reduction and he drains health from attackers. So hes really,
really tanky. But as with all other tanks he will lose his Bulwark and
with the abundance of stealth and Psychic he wont be able to tank much
anyway.
His
ultimate is really good actually, not the greatest but it gives a couple
of debuffs and cannot be protected etc so a good start attack in a
game.
I will try to use Rulk in Season 9. But I don't he will do that great.
The recall issue with Rulk is kinda boring is it not? I think hes a really
solid designed character expect that he will only work in PvE in how the
game is right now. Tank abilities really need to be unremovable also when
you think about it, you realize that how bad Beat and other people with cornered is when its easier to just remove the tank ability instead.
8/10, I like Rulk a lot just bad he is not very well suited for PvP.
Thundra
I don't get why Thundra did not appear as a villain and latter as lockbox character but whatever.
Thundra
is a great character with a nice concept design,,,which then got
sodomized hard as the next new Bruiser, Wonder Man got the exact same
concept(+ hes at tank).
Thundra
is a bout the concept of buffing herself and then using an ability with
Finest hour do deal increased damage, its true that Omega Sentinel had
this already but with her its much slower as she don't have Rising up.
Rising Up grants several of the standards buffs(str def etc) at random.
Then Wonder man got this in one ability....and the Ionic weaponry has
this as well.
Well Thundra also has Paragon Exploiter(increased damage if enemy is
debuffed) with her first attack having pressure point(randomizing
debuffs), so he deals ridicules damage. As her third attack got both
paragon and Finest hour + high critical chance. With her buffing herself
to deal more damage and lowering their defense and she might be
enraged. She also has Bastion a passive making her take less damage.
But its really about her other passive, Wallbreaker which makes her
attack with her first attack if they got a shield on them or are a protector(tanking). She performs excellent especially with so many Rescue
and other shielding/tanks in the meta. Absolutely one of the top meta
characters right now, her second ability also impairs the target, making
it weaker and it cannot critical. Lastly her ultimate is really boring
but gives intimation further reducing the target damage.
As
a design concept I really do like Thundra(excluding that her ultimate is
horrible) but now it really feels less good as Wonderman got the same
Rising up combo and those ionic weapons, just a really good way to make a new
character feel less fun.
Ignoring
that, Thundra is very solid, first you use her second ability on a
tank/shielded. This will give her buffs and debuffing them and then they
will die the second turn of her third ability. And seriously there are
sooooooo common you get a free attack in this meta. Thundra is not the
best character overall but in this meta she will almost always have a
double attack.
If
the meta in season 9 is the same as in season 8, and also with more
tanks(coming to this but I definitely predict a lot of Wonder mans) she
will be awesome.
7/10.
Overall I like Thundra Design but it falls a lot on her ultimate. Its just there, it reminds me of Nasus third ability(spirit fire read my
nasus review for detail why I hate it), that is just exist it does not
at all function with her other abilities, worst of all the animation... is
that freaking debris thrown by her chain... so dam ugly.
Juggernaut
(This will be his alt suit)
Juggernaut
is another character with good design, I actually would say all these 5
latest characters and kinda Shatterstar to has good design. So while
some of the might not work in PvP some might be Op and so on it Playdom
has started doing much more interesting character design. Thats really
good.
Juggernaut
I like in how hes immune to mental which is correct as in how hes
helmet protects him then hes immune to stun which makes sense as hes the
Juggernaut he also regains stamina so he never has to miss a turn very
solid concept design on him.
In game balance its great as he is a super hard counter to Emma Frost
and protected AoE Stun overall he works very good against most strong
characters in the Meta.
There
is 2 things I don't like with Juggernaut, his standing sprite is Fugly
but much worse his Second attack is a freaking ground attack but its not
a ground attack....it hits flying and its not grounded(meaning it can be
tanked). Feels like they put the wrong animation on him.
Juggernaut
do have one unprotectable attack when his momentum is fully charged
which makes sense. And its a good game balance as it takes time to
charge it up(not to much time but still) and deal high damage, his ultimate is really good as its a damage increase of 25% for the team but
its a quick action so like 1000x times better then Thors. It also gives
the team bonus to unarmed attacks which is why he is so popular with
Kitty and one thing that is really good with him, something I had
planned from the start before I even realised to bonus of his ultimate.
!
Techo organic skeleton, it gives the Agent Immunity to physic attacks
which of course its awesome with Juggernaut if then used with e.g
Magneto Emma cant do shit. But even better the actual attack of that
item is a unarmed attack which deals pretty high damage which can deal
huge damage with the buff from Juggernaut.
That item is ridiculously good used in synergy with Juggernaut.
However,
the ability to give everyone more damage is at its core really broken
as in how the damage output is(compared to the defense) there will be a
lot, a lot of Juggernauts in Season 9.
Juggernaut
is really good and one thing people probably wont think about so much
is that stamina free recharge is actually very good as well. Especially with all the Signpost, if there is one thing I have won games in its
how I can leach away their stamina and get a win as they cannot move.
This wont ever happen to Juggernaut. Furthermore, he is 100% straight
forward and his ultimate has has a decently shorted CD so it can be
reused again if removed(which it likely will be). And the AI always does
it when it can. So he works great in AFK.
Lastly if Wonder man is played a lot, characters with Catastrophic
attacks are even better(as he cant remove their way to go pass him).
10/10
I really like his overall design and he is a very good addition to the
meta. Hes not in anyway imbalanced but he counters mainly Emma in a imbalanced way which might finally get some more characters to be
played(especially when people realise how worthless Rescue is).
Constrictor
Really,,,
I don't get who wanna get Constrictor. Obviously a character they added
so they did not have to work any any new animations. Every time I see
Constrictor I think of
Were
is my dear Tasky. Taskmaster, the master of task would make more sense.
What I would have done is set Taskmaster as the boss on special
operation mission 1, hes hired by Hydra or Aim etc. Then he loses, you
as the agent capture him. During the mission 2 hes being interrogated
and so on. During mission 3 Taskmaster has done what he always done and
decided to work for the government for lower sentence and is a team up
one the mini bosses, while the special op guy, in this case Simon is still there for the final boss.
Or the epic boss is on the third mission and Taskmaster is hired by shield specifically as he is to find/counter the epic villain.
Ok,
before I go into Frank. Were are my dam Red skull battles!!! not that I
need boxes that much but I want to get free CP, free items etc. From
beating him and later when opening boxes more free stuff. I got a huge
number of FB friends which i solely have for this game but I still get
very few Red skull invites, which is another douche move from Playdom.
So if anyone reliable want to add me message me and we can send to each
other... god I had a guy asking me to to send him my skull today and he
would send me his. I sent he did not send to me, that person is now
removed from my FB of course.(Update I got some battles this day but still a low of what I had comparing it to Ultron)
Anyway
Constrictor, I predict not many will use. In the sole reason because
like no one knowns who he is and he got really boring animations. And
skills, yeah boring.
However, hes a really good character. Simply because he can heal and got a lot of luck.
Hes passive is great as it can randomize different good stuff(as mentioned mainly heal is awesome). And this happens a lot and will
happen even more in afk defense. Basically he could have kinda whatever
skills but still work kinda.
But, he of course has a lot of good abilities. I really feel this is
purely as hes a sucky character(comic wise and fame wise) so Playdom
compensate this by making him really good in game so people will get him
anyway, I would say it was the same with Omega Sentinel.
His
first move got the generalized ability which overall is a great debuff
and great to have on a tactician as he can then attack into a infiltrator and not get countered(as the debuff will remove the ability
to counter, and get stealth etc). It also gives Disabled same debuff as
Psylocke has, wont matter much but still makes the attack better.
The second move has the incapacitation, a debuff I would say is stronger
then stun(also works on bosses in PvE) and it gives the target an unique
debuff to constrictor which makes the next attack on them critical so
kinda like weakpoint(but it last 1 more turn). This further makes Frank a
really good support character as many Tactician are. He got the heal
and other stuff from his passive, the first ability lowers the utility
of the enemies while the second one enchanted on team members damage and
might stun the enemy.
His third move is pretty shity.
His
ultimate is the distress call, which was always a funny move he had in
PvE. This is a quick action and can only be used once per battle. In PvE
its not very good. But as PvP is so fast its not an issue that is
limited to once, its a QA so it always good ot use right away and the AI
in defense will use it right away(limited data of this I guess but I
dont see why he wouldn't so), not the greatest multimedia but good enough
for PvP.
Constrictor Isa good character, but as a game design work....
1/10. Hes
so pointless, a character who random items and the rest of the moves
already exists. Purely a character made as they couldn't come up with
anything better as a lockbox.
Wonder man
hmm I would prefer him in constant ion or is that just me?
Some
people seem too think he sucks, these people are retarded. Simon got
like the best base stats of any tank in the game, Higher def then Rulk
etc but still has a 2 in evasion so he got more in that as well and the
highest shared max hp.
Of
course his real strength lies in that he will always tank, hes not a
buffed tanker like everyone else in the game is. Or like Wolverine were
they might tank. His the first character in the game that will tank no
matter what, the agent has been able to do this for a while and has
always been very good.
Simon finally makes character who have cornered better then removers. Furthermore, his second attack has the really good new debuff Hobbled,
which makes the afflict be unable to stealth. The abilities can still be
used but they cannot be target past Simon(as he always tanks). Great
idea for an ability its also a stealth move so that Simon always can reach the enemy he went to Hobble. However, it is still only half good
design as physic attach still works perfectly fine and Rulk also dont
gain hp from being attacked by Psychic,,,, so yeah Emma and so on is
still broken.
I predict this team: Tactician Agent with Juggernaut and Wonder Man team
then Agent can be a glass canon to as Wonder Man will tank most stuff
and all of Wonder Mans abilities are unarmed melee so he gains a great
damage increase from Juggernaut.
Boring that they just plain refuses to fix Psychic, for example why not make Hobbled also means attacks are not longer Psychic.
Wonder
Man is also immune to Damage over time affects which is an much more
amazing then people give credit for. Run a full defense oriented team
and see how damage you take with on a tank character. Its extremely low.
The biggest issue is always that everyone has some kind of DOT attacks
usually 2-3 at least. So you regardless of you max defense you will end
up losing 20%+ max hp each turn. This wont happen to Wonder Man and hes
a Bruiser with high evasion so one scrapper and he will avoid way to
much and to end it of his ultimate heals him-_- He will be so freaking
hard to kill.
At
first glance I felt this ultimate was still a little weak as it don't
have a Quick Action but Simon gains a turn when tanking if the buff is activated so most of the time it will result in more turns especially when
attacking in PvP as the AI is so stupid.
Lastly as I mentioned earlier he got the Thundra Synergy abilities. With
his first ability being exactly the same as Thundras second!!! YES its
fucking exactly the same, such a fail design. Who ever did the full
design should get faired, are you fucking kidding me its such a let
down. Finally a character who cant lose his tank ability to removal but
you give him the exact same synergy and even the the exact same ability
as the latest character you realized? Talking about being lazy. Its like
they could only come up with, lets have a tank character who cant be
not a tank, oooomg we are awesome. And after that they forget to design
more of his skill and ended up just taking Thundras set up.
...Anyway
his first got Rising up as with Thundra,,,,and it got impaired as with
Thundra.... if it had something else then Impaired it would be decent still boring to have a character with Rising up and then Finest hour just
after Thundra but really. Giving it impaired just makes it such a blatant copy. Yeah so his third attack as with Thundra got finest hour,
then it actually got an interesting debuff the exhausted meaning target
wont be able to take extra turns.
Simon
is so freaking good, his second ability the one with hobbled also got
winded which removes follow up attacks. Winded pretty much turns of
Scrappers(which he would beat anyway as a bruiser but still he beats
them really hard then) + other characters can get really hard stopped by
this. Than the third one have exhausted turning of Tacticians class bonus. And the first ability with Impaired turns of Blasters critical attacks.
So
hes a tank who cant lose his tank ability, he cant be doted with is
huge for a max defense guy like him, he can heal himself and gain more
turns. Hes the only character in the game who can turn of
stealth(unfortunately not psychic to) and then tank much better then anyone
else in the game. He actually deals pretty high damage and he can turn of
Scrapper, Tactician and half turn of Blasters class bonus as well.
There will be a lot of Wonder Man in Season 9 thats for sure. Especially the Cain, Simon team well see a lot of play.
4/10. I
like that they finally got the constant tank guy, but why not make him
turn of psychic? And even worse why just steal Thundras move set
especially as she was just released if it was at least 6+ months between
them it wouldn't be so obvious.
Summary start early-mid season 9:
Less
Scrappers a lot of new good Bruisers and a lot of good new Tacticians.
Blasters as I have gone over last month are nerfed in how Tacts are
buffed. There has always been a lot of Bruisers and that will only
increase now, so Blasters might be a viable option but most teams will probably be Tact+ Bruiser + X. So Blasters wont be that good.
But, what it means effectually is that Scrapper will have the hardest
time right now. Especially Scrappers with no stealth abilities will be
almost completely useless, not that it was many good nonstealthed
scrappers.
Likely
people will keep using Rescue(because people are stupid) and people
will be start using Juggernaut(now when most have him). Other characters
that will be in the meta are Wonder Man and I like I mentioned earlier
Jug + WM is really good. Then classic overused characters like Phoenix
and Quicksilver will be played, some Emma. As I said last month I ma
waiting for a surge of Infiltrators but one issue with that there are
simply not so many infiltrators but this season at the start will 99% sure
be heavy of Bruisers and Tacticians so infiltrators like Nightcrawler will
be good, Psylocke. And Inf Phoenix(before I meant her in in general,po5
etc) will probably be a lot more common then Blaster, she was already
this in season 8, while for example in season 3 it was around 90%
Blaster Phoenix but now with the Tactician boost and a lot of Tacticians
she is widely played as Infiltrator.
