If you missed part 1 of this adventure, I recommend starting here where I cover the bottom half of the rankings and explain the methodology a bit. Or you can check out the 5 threat version here. But back to the show!
Today we finish what we started last week in ranking every 4 threat in the game by pubic perception (except Cyclops because we all hate Scott). Fifteen 4 threats which we will break up into three groups of 5 for clustering purposes.
Above the Median – Corvus Glaive, Ancient One, Omega Red, Loki, Kingpin
15 – Corvus Glaive
A bit of a downgrade from his Reality Gem 5 threat version, Corvus is an okay enough of a beater to sneak into the top half of these rankings. Solid offensive and defensive stats, but not great power economy or mobility (though his mobility improves with power as his spender has a move built in). He’s been a staple of “double date” lists with sin+crossbones+proxima+cabal member to compress a 5 wide team into 3 activations to permanently hold priority while killing, but even there he takes the gem unless he cannot afford it. And with the roster building changes making him less flexible I expect to see gemless Corvus disappear off the face of the planet.
14 – Ancient One
Ancient One has been a tricky character to unlock. Short range and not super mobile, she uses her defensive tricks to deflect the worst of the enemy’s attack and draw them in for a mystical beatdown. Due to the r2 nature of her kit she isn’t a super popular splash when the top dogs in the 4 slot are all range 3 or better (except for Rogue), and the fact that she doesn’t have proactive displacement doesn’t help either. When she works she works but against a knowledgeable opponent you will get far less mileage out of her than certain other pieces.
13 – Omega Red
Arkady has been one of my pet projects since he was revealed. To be quite honest if I had gotten CS or Sin Cabal (or potentially a dual roster) to work for Season 6, he would have been the star. He plays a lot like fellow top-halfer Venom minus the counter-attack and throw in exchange for (arguably) better healing and tank stats, and some pretty funky poison synergies. Let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you park him on a Terrigen Cloud in CS, daze one enemy and pull another onto the cloud where you beat them in scoring thanks to Kingpin’s leadership and deal an auto-point in preparation for dishing out 2 with your aoe next round. Though admittedly this poll is about unaffiliated splashing so sin/fisk synergies aren’t part of the ranking here. To be honest if you’re forcing split C in your secure package Omega Red is one of the best characters to park on a point and go to town. He can feel a bit weak / not impactful round 1 and is very vulnerable to high quality control (medium pushes/throws, chain push/throws) so keep him away from Medusa, Thanos, and the ilk.
12 – Loki, God of Mischeif
Everyones favorite Tom Hiddleston impersonator, Loki Laufeyson is the original weird control piece. Park him in the middle to mess with the enemy’s power economy, try to not die, and maybe pop off with I Am A God if you are given the opportunity. The obvious downsides is he has power problems despite his Asgardian “heritage” and no proactive displacement without the Mind Gem. That said anywhere you can funnel power into him he becomes a lot more attractive. If you haven’t played him before DO note that on defense you get to see the initial roll (before exploding crits) of the attacker before deciding whether to I Am A God, which helps stretch his power economy an extra bit.
11 – Kingpin
As the first person to take CS in a TTS League (and then promptly being kicked from the cut by Morgan Reid’s Black Order), I have a soft spot for Fisk. Tanky, excellent control suite, and some of the highest pop off potential of any 4 in the game if you have 10 power, whats not to love? His power economy. He only generates one/turn, and every time he’s attacked he likes to spend power to take less damage which means he gets less power which turns into a vicious cycle. If his builder flubs (or more commonly if they displace you so you get 0-1 attacks) he can feel like a bit of a paperweight. Funnel power into him and watch your opponents fear his mass.
Above the Curve – Captain America, Carnage, Blade, Venom, Black Panther
10 – Captain America (Steve Rogers)
New Steve! Admittedly I don’t know how accurate this ranking is because at the time of the poll’s creation IDK how many people got games into/against him. But there IS a lot to love. Steve has a VERY solid long range attack which as long as you aren’t trying to burn down a single target is Medusa-esque. Plus useful utility in Bodyguard. Somehow I doubt he’ll actually become a perennial splash like Medusa or Enchantress but in a pinch he actually has a real function now.
9 – Carnage
My baby, my personal favorite! What are you doing this far down the list? Quite frankly, Carnage has been MVP in MCP for me lately. Between incredible synergy with Doomed Prophecy, range 4 reach with Carnage Rules, and a wonderful tendency to pop off he is one of the hardest hitting 4s in the game full stop. And let me tell you, you have not LIVED until you’ve boosted a spender under DP onto an entire enemy team before (which singlehandedly saved my round 2 in the league from some nasty unforced errors on my part). And on top of that Carnage is like Nutella: he goes great with everything. I’ve seen splashes in Criminal Syndicate to force prio with all according to plan, I’ve seen him in Dark Dimension for the power. If you have a slot for an unaffiliated 4 plus a tactic or two and don’t desperately need Enchantress for the roster, Carnage is your guy.
8 – Blade
Blade here is a victim of people either misunderstanding the poll and / or not playing him unaffiliated. I’ve seen him be played when not the leader and I’m not going to lie: it’s not pretty. Have you ever envisioned Wolverine but without his spender, a way worse charge, and all of his attacks are mystic for some reason? Well now that I’ve planted that idea in your head you have and surprise surprise that’s Blade when he can’t go bump in the night. Blade is the perfect example of a 4 that should never be taken outside of affiliation as the leadership unlocks his kit so completely that without comparable mobility tools he just doesn’t feel right.
7 – Venom
I did not expect Eddie Brock this high up in the standings but here we are. Back in the Drop Off days I’d take him in Cabal and dump him in the middle of the board with Ultron, got my first ever round 1 concession after a particular hard pop off doing so, so he has a special place in my heart. Quite frankly he belongs in the top echelons for sure and has since his inception. Between blocking defensive tools like rerolls and his incredible control suite unlocked once going you almost don’t even need to bring Lethal Protector with to get your money’s worth out of him. But alongside Lethal Protector, Venom functions almost like a more expensive / more complete Iron Fist which will strike fear into the hearts of a number of key matchups.
6 – Black Panther
Another classic character super high on this list which I love to see. Black Panther’s name is synonymous with “mobile control tank” and to be honest if you want someone to fill that role at 4 threat nobody comes close. Auto-push on the attacks, pounce for actionless mobility/damage, and rerolls galore if you’re willing to pay. If you can funnel 2 power into him (as certain affiliations can) he can single move pounce onto a midline point and either grab the extract + retreat or punch whomever is standing on the secure automatically pushing them off. Personally I don’t reach for him often as I rarely find a need for his tools in the current meta but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered him on occasion.
The tops – Vision, Doctor Voodoo, Rogue, Medusa, Enchantress
5 – Vision
Lowest of the top 5, Vision has been quietly rising in popularity ever since Nashcon and its not very hard to see why. Incredible tools at surviving / dealing with Medusa, a top tier builder and one of the best throws in the game full stop. Hell he can even Synthesize power to hand out in a massive Advanced R&D round 1 to everyone else on the team. If you don’t have good ways of taxing his defensive tools (or a way to bypass them with mystic), you will find Vision to be a frustrating tank with an Enchantress-esque pattern of sap beaming and throwing you to oblivion.
4 – Doctor Voodoo
Next we have the new kid on the block, Doctor Voodoo. He’s been rising in people’s estimation from “trash” at spoiler to “the new Enchantress” in the league today. Who knew Brother Daniel could be so god damn obnoxious? On top of that, Voodoo generates an INCREDIBLE amount of power between gaining power for skulls in rolls and the sap on his builder. It’s not uncommon to see him mid-late game double move onto a point, throw someone off and possess someone else so they don’t contest + drop all their tokens with Voodoo picking them up. If Enchantress is a bit much for you to feel comfortable inflicting on your locals give Voodoo a try because he’s nearly as obnoxious.
3 – Rogue
People are riding high on the Rogue train since the ministravaganza and its hard to argue with them, Miss Le Beau has quite the kit! Attack typing choice, charge, a terrain throw, displacement built into the (cheap) spender – quite frankly she’s what Wolverine wishes he could be. I’ve also seen people get results with her in early dojo across a number of power generating affiliations which lends me hope. Personally I just want to take her and Deadpool with new Steve to the game store and just go around draining everyone’s power every round and see how stupid it gets.
2 – Medusa
And finally we come to the top 2 that we knew were going to be here before we even started the poll. Surprising no one, Medusa DOES get edged out by Enchantress. Medusa might feel like she has an unfair amount of output both attritional and control, but at least its SOMEWHAT dicey – you don’t always damage + flurry on 5 dice reroll 1. In anecdotal fact I started with Medusa in my Spider-Foes but quickly cut her for Enchantress as Enchantress’ tools were so unique whereas Medusa just felt like a remix of Carnage. Quite frankly if you’re not taking one of Medusa/Enchantress (or possibly both as the affiliation allows) right now you’re handicapping yourself a fair bit. Hopefully this will be addressed in the upcoming balance pass like Steve and Hulk because we’ve talked about a LOT of cool 4 threat options here today that are just eclipsed by one or both of these ladies.
1 – Enchantress
And after 29 evaluations of varying degrees of harshness we come to the baddest bitch in all of MCP right now (no, not Okoye) – Enchantress! Ever since people understood how filthy All You’ve Got was with her she’s been a scourge of the game table. Sculpt your ideal beam, repeatedly hit them (and do some sapping while you’re at it), and if any are still alive chuck something at them to seal the deal. And thats just the attrition plan. What about double move bow on a midline secure? What about double move Advanced R&D steal an extract from a midline opponent? She has quite frankly a PAINFUL amount of utility both in round 1 and in later stages of the game. Admittedly she does get weaker the later it goes as she turns into paper when her opponents can actually afford to cut through her defenses, but in my experience that is not enough to limit her reign of terror. Amora haunts my nightmares but hopefully she gets the M.O.D.O.K. treatment and brought in line.
And that’s it for these 4 threat rankings! What surprised you on its placement – anything too low or too high in your personal estimation? Sound off in the comments wherever you find the article!
2 threat rankings will come next as I attempt to figure out a good way to rank 3s.
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