Another… Monday, another Three Box Challenge? Sorry for the delays, but with lockdown starting to lift life has become VERY busy. Hopefully I’ll find a good balance soon and articles will return to the regular. But enough about my schedule, on to the Three Box Challenge!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Three Box Challenge, the challenge is as follows – what affiliated rosters can you put together with just the core set plus three boxes of your choice. Many of us buy every box for this game but its accessibility at the entry level is a HUGE draw for me, and so this article series seeks to help newer players dip their toe in the game and create a comparably functional roster on the cheap. If you missed last week’s article on Wakanda, you can check it out here. But this week we will be focused on the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Brotherhood of Mutants have been an interesting affiliation since their introduction last November. Only four characters at launch, but a bevy of character and affiliation specific tactics that were above the curve of other affiliations. Which considering the nature of the 3 box challenge make them a natural fit.
To start off the purchasing we’re going to once again go with the 2 obvious boxes: Magneto & Toad and Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch:
Magneto is arguably one of the heaviest hitters in the game alongside being a great leader, able to dish out RIDICULOUS amounts of damage while keeping his team full of power with his leadership. Toad is probably the only 2 threat close in value to Okoye, though instead of fighting power he excels at extract shenanigans with his mobility and unique interaction passive. Quicksilver is also a really cool extract shenanigan character as long as you can source him power (which Magneto is great at doing) and Scarlet Witch is a mystic heavy hitter who rivals her father in output (and will be your primary source of non-physical damage as the only non-physical attack/throw outside of her is Toad’s spender which you won’t use often). On top of that the Maximoff twins come with a TON of character specific tactics that alongside Magneto’s tactics will completely transform your roster from the standard core cards. Alongside that you’ll get two crises to spice things up as well.
As is tradition here I’ll suggest 3 different boxes to round out the three box challenge. And to start things off I’m going to beat a bit of a dead horse and suggest Angela and Enchantress:
Like I said in the Wakanda article (and will literally repeat here as it still stands), Angela and Enchantress are arguably two of the most meta defining characters at the moment. Angela is the first of a very exclusive club of characters – characters that can interact with midline objectives in a single move, allowing them to grab key extracts and retreat. She also a pretty solid fighter for her cost. Enchantress on the other hand is a control heavyweight – moving enemies against their will, sapping their power, and even stealing extracts off of enemies. For Magneto led Brotherhood, throwing/destroying terrain generates power for the team and both of these powerful ladies have throws in addition to their already impressive kits. Angela can also pair with Toad and/or Quicksilver to unlock a LOT of flank-agnostic midline extract shenanigans. Enchantress brings control elements which are lacking in the boxes we have so far. And overall, without bringing more than the Grievous Wounds tactic for use they’ll feel like valuable members of pretty much any roster you make at the moment.
[Characters]
Angela: 5
Baron Zemo: 3
Black Widow: 2
Doctor Octopus: 3
Enchantress: 4
Magneto: 6
Quicksilver: 3
Red Skull: 4
Scarlet Witch: 5
Toad: 2
[Team Tactics]
Asteroid M
Brace for Impact
Can I Borrow That?
Difficult to Please
Magnetic Refraction
No More Mutants
Patch Up
The Whims of Chaos
[Extract Crises]
Research Station Attacked [E]: 16
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park [B]: 18
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
Another angle you might like (in a repeat of last TBC) some DIFFERENT Asgardians:
Just like Angela/Enchantress, these are two solid characters who happen to have in-built throws. Valkyrie is a common 3 threat splash character in tournament Brotherhood rosters, often throwing two pieces of terrain together in an Advanced R&D esque opener to give your whole team (including Valkyrie) for 2 power (net 1) and double move to stand on a secure + pick up an extract. Thor has been superseded by Angela for 5 threat splashes in this extract focused meta, but he is still a solid top end beater who LOVES some extra power and can generate multiple throws in a turn, burning enemy Brace For Impact early, and giving multiple vectors to trigger Magneto’s leadership. As for tactics cards, neither work for brotherhood but Odin’s Blessing (along with Thor and Valkyrie) are must take pieces for ANY Asgard roster. The crisis however, is an attractive extract option for pretty much any affiliation, including brotherhood.
[Characters]
Baron Zemo: 3
Black Widow: 2
Doctor Octopus: 3
Magneto: 6
Quicksilver: 3
Red Skull: 4
Scarlet Witch: 5
Thor, Prince of Asgard: 5
Toad: 2
Valkyrie: 3
[Team Tactics]
Asteroid M
Brace for Impact
Can I Borrow That?
Difficult to Please
Magnetic Refraction
No More Mutants
Patch Up
The Whims of Chaos
[Extract Crises]
Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities [D]: 18
Research Station Attacked [E]: 16
Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park [B]: 18
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
Finally we’re going to turn our eyes to something a bit more Brotherhood focused…
I’m going to level with y’all: I’m not a big fan of Beast. I hate hate HATE the fact that his builder has a random chance to non-optionally teleport you to your target. Sure you can work around it but there will persistently be those times where you wanted the wild place and don’t get it, or vice versa. That said, he spends power well as a tank with his defensive rerolls and boasts a decent throw to facilitate Magneto’s leadership. But Beast isn’t the focus of picking up this box, Mystique is.
Mystique didn’t make the first two “must take” boxes over Scarlet Witch + Quicksilver because it’s hard to run only 3 brotherhood characters, essentially forcing you to play Magneto Mystique Toad every game. That said, she has been an all star in so many games, Brotherhood or otherwise. She’s incredibly mobile with a solid builder and a pretty cool Spender, and an (admittedly hard to pull off sometimes) terrain destruction effect. Her character-specific tactic Deception is an excellent counterplay for a lot of opening plays, forcing your opponent to be wary of you dragging someone in and deleting them with Magneto & company. The Books of Truth is another solid Brotherhood tactic – a more compact Recalibration Matrix, and Advanced R&D is an excellent toolbox card that can open up some aggressive Asteroid M plays, or funnel power off of a backline character to ensure your heavy hitters are topped off.
[Characters]
Baron Zemo: 3
Black Widow: 2
Doctor Octopus: 3
Magneto: 6
Mystique: 3
Quicksilver: 3
Red Skull: 4
Scarlet Witch: 5
Spider-Man: 4
Toad: 2
[Team Tactics]
Asteroid M
Brace for Impact
Can I Borrow That?
Deception
Magnetic Refraction
No More Mutants
Patch Up
The Books of Truth
[Extract Crises]
Research Station Attacked [E]: 16
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park [B]: 18
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
And FINALLY, if you’re not supporting your FLGS for MCP, I would like to bring your attention to our sponsors for your wargaming needs in both NA and the UK:
NA:
https://www.discountgamesinc.com/
UK:
https://blackgategames.co.uk
That will wrap us up for this Three Box Challenge article here on acrossthebifrost.com! Also make sure to check out the Roster Doctor on Facebook, Youtube and Anchor.Fm!
https://www.facebook.com/rosterdoctor