Welcome back to the Clinic! As it’s Tuesday, that means we have an affiliation to rate, this time Asgard. You can check out last week’s A-Force Tier List here:
https://acrossthebifrost.com/2021/01/19/the-clinic-a-force-tier-list/
along with a description of how units are rated. For those who just want a quick refresher, this is in the context of how good they are as individual pieces, either in the affiliation or helping you splash other affiliations. S is “build your roster around these pieces, and can build around for a strong second affiliation inclusion”, and D is “You can make this work if you try but its not worth it unless you like the character”. But enough of the basics, on to Asgard!
I’m expecting this to be a more controversial tier breakdown than last week, especially towards the lower rated characters. Asgard is a very strong affiliation right now
Valkyrie – S – Unsurprisingly Valkyrie is near the top of the list, moving slightly up from her A-Force affiliation. Unlike in Arcadia, on Asgard she is the only 3 threat Asgardian (ignoring Winter Soldier and Taskmaster), and on top of that is arguably one of the best 3s in the game. She’s almost always relevant round 1 with either move -> charge or move -> move -> throw, and your opponents are afraid to hit her lest she starts a round with a double Dragon Fang (which with Doomed Prophesy assistance pretty reliably one-rounds Hulk or She-Hulk). She will make the core of almost every Asgard team you put together, and opens up exciting Defenders and A-Force splashes for your roster.
Enchantress – S – The new kid on the block, Amora has been immensely impressive so far. She brings even more control elements alongside Loki, and generally can function as a discount M.O.D.O.K. with her throw and advance tools. Her builder is solid (sapping multiple characters is JUICY) and her spender can be outright devastating. And as a cherry on top, she’s a key element of the Dashgard roster thats been terrorizing the blogosphere for the last couple months. As for buildability, her inclusion in Cabal allows for a Cabal/Asgard roster with her and Loki as the bridge pieces, and most affiliations are very happy to make use of what she offers already.
Thor – A – As mighty as he is, I do not quite as highly rate Thor as Valkyrie and Enchantress. Thor is a solid benchmark of how strong/tanky a 5 threat character should be – damage, mobility, throws all excellent. I think his luster has fallen off a bit in the face of certain 4 threat physical beaters who can do a reasonable approximation in a pinch if you’re willing to give up part of Thor’s all-around package (I’m looking at you, Wolverine and Kingpin). Also Drop Off has in general hurt Thor/Asgard’s play pre-Dashgard, as one of the key play patterns for thor was to open with a move into Drop Off + Sibling Rivalry to throw Loki into the middle of the action from the start.
Angela – A – I will say for the record, Angela starting with an A did not affect my ranking of her. I have been reasonably whelmed by her when I’ve seen her on the table. Slightly more flexibility/mobility than Thor with similar attack output, but without the utility of a character throw. You’re always happy taking her because she punches above her weight and is already in one of the heaviest weight classes in the game. And again with a lot of characters here she’s another key element of Dashgard. She helps bridge A-Force and Guardians rosters both of which have their appeal alongside what Asgard likes to bring.
Loki – B – THIS is the one I’m expecting a lot of controversy over. I know I say this about basically every Asgardian, but Loki is the true key piece to Dashgard. With a Mind Gem he makes it possible to play 4 wide at 19 to facilitate holding priority when playing on Panic, his superpower tax aura makes him immune to a lot of early plays that try to punish Hired Muscle (no Valkyrie throw on the table without bonus power from somewhere), and he threatens basically every defensive tech in the book if you hit him for 1+ – I Am A God, Trickster, Rainbow Bridge, Odin’s Blessing. He is a very prickly pear to tangle with when he’s all up in things.
That said, I think we’ve seen time and time again now Loki is only wanted for when there’s something else you want to break. Loki was incredibly common as a splash in the early days of MCP, then disappeared once drop off / sibling rivalry stopped working. Now he’s back in the limelight because he doesn’t mind wasting a round double moving as the majority of his power budget is in his aura and defensive abilities on a team whose whole purpose is to not attack, just grab objectives and run away. And since a lot of people aren’t playing Hired Muscle out of a social compact, I have a hard time rating him as much higher than a B. He has a job and is very good at it but unless you are doing very specific things to abuse his tools he can feel super underwhelming. His power generation can be suspect if you don’t get lucky on a couple strikes, and he’s only tanky as long as he’s flush with power. Without power for I Am A God and reroll backup, his attacks can feel quite lackluster as well. That said, he and Enchantress both bridge you into Cabal which between the two of them, the mind gem, and M.O.D.O.K. you’ll have your opponent’s entire team dancing on your strings.
Hela – C – I deliberated on Hela for a while as to whether she is a B or a C, and ultimately landed on a C. Which again is not a condemnation of her power but rather a statement on where she fits in the pantheon we have here. At 4 she is outshone by Enchantress, and Loki is often more palatable than Hela when you’re playing two 4 threat characters (presumably for a threat your opponent chose). That said, she is a great split scenario piece. Between her deceptively high 4/4/4 defense pool and her ability to collect souls to save her from an untimely end, she can easily hold off a D or B flank with little to no support. She is very power hungry though, and likes ways to fuel her soul collecting ranged attacks. Her stock goes up a lot if you’re planning on putting her in teams that want to funnel her lots of power like Cabal or A-Force splashes but again as a C don’t expect her to pop off with those resources like Angela, Thor, Valkyrie, or Enchantress.
All in all, I like Asgard. Lots of solid bodies, incredible tactics cards, and a lot of fun spellcasters to spruce up the basic physical attacks and superhuman throws. If you make a team out of 4 of these asgardians at random, I’d be reasonably happy to play them on most crises.
But enough about my thoughts on these characters, what do you think? Let me know in the comments or on any of the discords which characters you think I underrated or overrated!