What are we playing??

Season 7 of the online league has now begun! At the time of writing players in this latest season of online play are either scheduling their first game, looking at their list in despair, or reveling in the glory of their roster construction abilities. This latest season marks a turning point in the game of MCP. The maturity of the latest rules changes will be seen in their full effect, and some people will be playing the updated stat cards for their favorite characters competitively for the first time. With all of this being said, it has made deciding who to play this season a challenge for the Strike Better Team.

This article is going to show you what the Strike Better Team have chosen to play this season and go through a few hot takes on their roster choices. Spoiler alert: there are a few spicy choices in these rosters, so good luck if you get paired against any of these lads!!

Ryan Farmer – Web Warriors
Characters
1. Amazing Spider-man
2. Black Cat
3. Doctor Voodoo
4. Ghost Spider
5. Lizard
6. Luke Cage
7. Moon Knight
8. Okoye
9. Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
10. Toad

Tactics
1. Advanced R&D
2. All Webbed Up
3. Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes
4. Brace for Impact (R),
5. Escort to Safety
6. Heroes for Hire
7. Indomitable
8. Medpack (R)
9. Sacrifice
10. Spider-Tracker

Crises – Secures
1. Infinity Formula Goes Missing!,
2. Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0
3. Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate!
Crises – Extracts
1. Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!
2. Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators!
3. Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan

As promised, Farmer has brought back the Web-Warriors for season 7. Ryan has made it no secret that he plans to push the Amazing Spider-man to the limit and run him whenever possible. Therefore, bringing characters like Doctor Voodoo and Black Cat is no surprise, as their tech fits great into any roster, and they can swing a game in your favour from the brink of defeat. Farmer has splashed tanky and reliable characters throughout his roster, as well as effective low-threat web-warriors to allow him to run Miles Morales leadership at the lower crises levels.

Speaking of Crises, Farmer has a good mix of shapes for his secures, and has opted for a more RNG approach to his extract choices. Overall, Farmer has assembled a very solid Web-Warriors roster, and we are looking forward to seeing the ASM do some serious damage this season!

Morgan Reid – Guardians of the Galaxy
Characters
1. Angela
2. Black Cat
3. Bullseye
4. Doctor Voodoo
5. Groot
6. Hulk
7. Nebula
8. Rocket Raccoon
9. Star-Lord
10. Thanos with Space and Mind Gems

Tactics
1. Advanced R&D
2. Brace for Impact (R)
3. Climbing Gear
4. Deadly Duo
5. Escort to Safety
6. Field Dressing (R)
7. Indomitable
8. Marked for Death
9. Mission Objective
10. Sacrifice

Crises – Secures
1. Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park
2. Portals Overrun City with Spider-People!
3. S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moon’s Blue Area
Crises – Extracts
1. Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!
2. Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators!
3. Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership

We all know that Morgan would have thought long and hard about his roster this season, and with the characters he has chosen, you can see that he has analysed the biggest threats to him this season. Morgan discussed his concerns about CS and Black Order in the current meta, so a lot of the choices in his roster construction look to counter these factions. Vodoo and Black Cat make an appearance here to leverage their tech, along with excellent control and attrition pieces to dictate the terms of the game in Hulk and Thanos (which is an interesting pick?!). Looking at Thanos, the 8-threat monster is an absolute control machine. With Space Gem now being a staple after the changes to the Time Gem, Thanos can now move himself and his allies around the board with ease, allowing him to still deal out similar levels of shenanigans the Time Gem nerf attempted to fix.

All of these great characters boosted by a Guradians leadership make the roster a very strong contender this season. Looking at his crises, Morgs has really gone hard on the RNG side of things. All of his crises are pay to flips, seeking to counter the CS and BO strengths. Making things more neutral in the crises means that Morgan’s tech should help him in those more challenging match ups.

Mike D’Amboise – Criminal Syndicate
Characters
1. Black Cat
2. Bullseye
3. Doctor Voodoo
4. Kingpin
5. Lizard
6. Luke Cage
7. Mysterio
8. Okoye
9. Thanos with Mind Gem
10. Toad

Tactics
1. Advanced R&D
2. Climbing Gear
3. Disarm
4. Fall Back
5. Field Dressing (R)
6. Heroes for Hire
7. Indomitable
8. Medpack (R)
9. Sacrifice
10.The Grand Illusion

Crises – Secures
1. Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Sweeps Across Earth
2. Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnessess
3. Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate!
Crises – Extracts
1. Deadly Legacy Virus Cured?
2. Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction?
3. Research Station Attacked!

It looks like Mike took Morgan’s advice and dropped his beloved Crossbones for Mysterio to place him alongside the rest of his CS core in Kingpin, Bullseye. The 9 point core is a very strong foundation for a list that capitalises on the CS leadership, paired with very strong splash characters that are hard to take down. Another case of Doctor Voodoo and Black Cat is seen being thrown in Mike’s roster alongside the control oriented Thanos, which gives him the flexibility to adapt his playstyle, should the “potato sitting” plan not go his way. Seeing Thanos again in a roster that isn’t Black Order…Perhaps there is some secret Strike Better tech at work here (spoiler alert: there is!).

Mike has teched out his tactics cards to help CS stay around their secures that little bit longer, with cards like fall back and Indomitable preventing his opponent from dealing damage or throwing him off the points. Mike’s crises selection looks to leverage the CS strengths, along with an interesting pick in Wakandan Herb. I know a lot of people are considering this card for some fast gotcha plays, and maybe Mike has something planned himself. I look forward top seeing a few of the squad combinations that Mike plays in the upcoming weeks, as the splash characters he has added to a very solid core should do well in most of his match ups.

Travis Foss – Inhumans
Characters
1. Angela
2. Baron Zemo
3. Black Bolt
4. Black Cat
5. Doctor Voodoo
6. Honey Badger
7. Medusa
8. Ms Marvel
9. Ronan the Accuser with Power Gem
10. Toad

Tactics
1. Can I Borrow That?
2. Eyes on the Prize
3. Field Dressing (R)
4. Follow Me
5. Indomitable
6. Marked for Death
7. Medpack (R)
8. Mission Objective
9. Sacrifice
10. Seeing Red

Crises – Secures
1. Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due?
2. Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest
3. Intrusions open across city as seals collapse
Crises – Extracts
1. Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!
2. Deadly Legacy Virus Cured?
3. Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities

If you’ve read this far, its probably not surprising that Voodoo and Black Cat appear here in Travis’ Inhuman roster. Travis has opted for a strong core of Inhuman characters in Black Bolt and Medusa, alongside some less popular options of Ms Marvel and Ronan. That being said, Ronan with a Power Gem is a beast! Getting Kree Justice online as much as possible to hand out stagger and stun if you can deal some damage is a brutal attack. There is a good smattering of splash characters on show here, however, there is no love for Lockjaw!? Farmer won’t be happy about this absence, but I’m sure Trav has a plan to run without the goodest of boys.

Along with everyone else in the cast, Indomitable will help Trav stay on his secures, which are mostly all E shape, showing us he is looking to fight! Mission Objective is popping up a little more, which is not surprising considering how good this card is. Having MO makes sense when looking at the extracts Trav wants to run, especially considering he will be looking to remain grouped together when he can. I’m excited to see how far he can push Inhumans this season.

Jaren Foss – Guardians of the Galaxy
Characters
1. Angela
2. Black Cat
3. Bullseye
4. Gamora
5. Ghost Rider
6. Groot
7. Medusa
8. Nebula
9. Rocket Raccoon
10. Star-Lord

Tactics
1. Blind Obsession
2. Deadly Duo
3. Deal with the Devil
4. Field Dressing (R)
5. Grievous Wounds
6. Indomitable
7. Lovable Misfits
8. Marked for Death
9. Medpack (R)
10. Seeing Red

Crises – Secures
1. Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due?
2. Infinity Formula Goes Missing!
3. Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park
Crises – Extracts
1. Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!
2. Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities
3. Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction?

And last but not least, we have Jaren also choosing to run the (now) powerful Guardians. Ghost Rider is an absolute machine since his card was updated, and he slots in very well to this roster (who doesn’t do better with re-rolls?). No Voodoo to be seen here, but there is a Black Cat! Jaren also has three 2-threat characters in his roster, meaning he can go very wide at low threat, and even have space to bring in some heavy hitters like Angela. This choice to bring in that third 2-threat adds flexibility to his already very solid character choices.

Blind Obsession is a great card to bring in this type of roster when looking to go wide, as you can often find an enemy piece isolated to target on a flank. Alongside Marked for Death, Jaren’s roster looks designed to assassinate some key pieces that he be facing across the virtual table. Jaren’s Crises look to be a good spread of shapes and threat values, with Wakandan Herb thrown in as well for some potential shenanigans. Another exciting list that I will look to watch during one of J’s many upcoming streams.