Happy holidays to everyone celebrating Christmas, I have a routine gift for you all! Another Friday, another Three Box Challenge, this time: Asgard!
What is the Three Box Challenge, you may ask? It’s simple – what affiliated rosters can you put together with just the core set plus three boxes of your choice. I know a lot of us obsessively purchase every single box, but I think a huge part of why this game is so great is you can pick up a core box, and a couple boxes of what appeals to you and you could take that to a game night or tournament and do OK.
If you’re coming to this article without having any MCP experience whatsoever and are doubting the value of the Core box, I’m here to tell you that it is worth it. For $100 you get:
All the dice you should need
All the measuring tools you will need
~Half a tournament board’s worth of terrain
10 characters (a standard game requires a roster of 10)
20 tactics (you’ll need 10)
3 secure crises and 3 extract crises (you’ll need 3 of each to play)
Compared to other big wargames like 40k/AOS and WMH, its really impressive what you can get for ~$200. So, this is somewhat akin to a budget/beginner’s MCP guide, focusing on a different faction each time.
And if you live in the US and want to get your own Three Box setup started, check out our Holiday Bash Giveaway where we will be giving one lucky reader their choice of a core box or their three boxes to help build their collection.
But back to Asgard! What should catch your eye when considering Asgard? For starters, due to their 5 threat leader in the form of Thor, Prince of Asgard
In particular I want to focus on his Leadership first, Prince of Asgard. Once per TURN (not once per ROUND, once each time you get to activate a character – a lot of people misunderstand this at first!) you can pay 1 on a character to heal them 1 OR remove a status. This is a slow, long term attrition tool that synergizes very well with how Asgard wants to play.
You’re probably going 4 wide at 17 thanks to literally every Asgardian except Valkyrie costing 4+ and your leader costing 5. Which means you will probably have priority. Which means you should focus on an attrition game plan. On top of the Odinson you have a cast of situationally AMAZING affiliated options. Angela is still best-in-class midline extract grabbing (and an absolute murderbot against swarms like Sam Wilson Avengers aka “Sam Spam”), Enchantress despite her recent nerfs is still a compelling control piece, Loki is having a renaissance thanks to the gem reworks, and Valkyrie is still a death blender in a pinch. Hela is a bit of a redheaded stepchild (what color is her hair canonically? black like the movies?) in the greater Asgardian affiliation but she has some key stats that people don’t respect enough.
Thanks to her medium base + medium move, she can double move to enemy B/F points round one to steal a cube/spider-infected or contest an infinity point. And if your opponent just so happens to have brought a flip secure in 3 box like Madman, Spider-Portals or the core box Deadly Meteors, she has 4/4/4 defenses innately to give her GREAT odds of flipping a point through an enemy. Don’t sleep on Hela if you know you like Loki!
As for signature tactics they have a bunch of iconic ones but I want to focus on the two you’ll be looking at the most:
Rainbow Bridge is a team wide medium move in a can, while Odin’s Blessing is one of the most powerful anti-attrition cards in the game. Squaring off against a heavy hitter like Hulk or Corvus + Reality Gem, taking 1 damage from a big spike attack can mean the difference between winning and losing the game on round 2. Odins Blessing should be in your 5 tactics pretty much every time you play Asgard, whereas Rainbow Bridge should be brought in for whenever you feel like you need some extra mobility.
Now, after spending all that time hyping you up on Hela earlier we’re going to start with Thor/Valkyrie and Angela/Enchantress. No offense to Mr. Laufeyson or Hela but Thor/Valkyrie/Angela/Enchantress is a picture perfect Asgard team at 17 threat. That’s not to say Thor/Valkyrie/Loki+Gem/Hela (or any combination in between) isn’t fun too but you’re going to get more bang for your buck this way, trust me. At this point the third box is a bit of a quandary. We just showed how much we love our 17 threat team, so there’s no need to fill a hole in our “Default” team. We could grab another 2 threat to split Enchantress into two 2s, or a particular 3 to break up Angela alongside Black Widow, but I’m going to proceed under the assumption that if you’re reading this you want to stay as Asgardian as possible. So therefore, there’s only one box we can start with:
I’ve already given their spiel above so I’ll spend more time here talking about the other cards in the box. First everyone’s favorite, Doomed Prophesy:
This card has gone through a lot of revisions for those of you steeped in the game long enough to remember. At first it was literally unusable, paying 3 power to lose your defense for the rest of the game & no benefit. Now, it’s Asgardian only in an attempt to curb the most extreme abuse cases.
Unfortunately it’s still restricted but in the 3 box format where you’re hard pressed to get boxes with better options than Brace for Impact and Patch Up in the core box, I think this one might just edge out Patch Up. And I’d be remis if I didn’t bring your attention to one of my favorite cards in the game that just so happens to be in this box:
Just trust me, if you’re ever taking Thor and Loki at the same time TAKE THIS. The damage is worth it, the stagger is worth it, hell the medium move on Loki is worth it! Back in the Hired Muscle days I used to Sibling Rivalry Loki for a free medium move on turn 1 so I could retreat back to within range 2 of Thor after stealing an extract and block a Deception from Mystique. DO NOTE that neither Thor nor Loki are causing the throw effect so Loki cannot be thrown through Thor, and effects that target the character that caused the effect do not work as neither character did the throw, the car did. Dazing Ronan and denying his revenge is always a blast!
If Hela is contending for Enchantress’ spot then Loki is contending for Angela’s. First thing to do is decide which gem you want to take with him:
Space is the new hotness thanks to its rework/buff and allows Loki to do similar extract steals to Angela, as well as put allies back on points after being pushed/thrown off. The mind gem though has proven to be a historically powerful effect moving ANYONE barring a couple holdouts like Deadpool or Juggernaut on his healthy side. Stacking this with Enchantress’ Siren’s Call can lead to your opponent dancing around the map and slowing them down on secures enough for you to grind it out. DO NOTE that with the nov 2021 rules update gems are locked in with characters at roster construction so you’ll have to commit to one, put some games in with both and see which fits your playstyle better. There’s also the option of no gem Loki but I’ve personally found that 4 threat Loki often struggles to carry his weight like either flavor of gemmed Loki can.
Consider the following roster:
[Characters]
- Angela: 5
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Black Widow: 2
- Enchantress: 4
- Hela: 4
- Loki, God of Mischief: 5
- Infinity Gem: Mind
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker): 4
- Thor, Prince of Asgard: 5
- Ultron: 4
- Valkyrie: 3
[Team Tactics]
- Brace For Impact
- Disarm
- Doomed Prophesy
- Follow Me
- Inspiring Monologue
- Mission Objective
- Odin’s Blessing
- Rainbow Bridge
- Sacrifice
- Sibling Rivalry
[Extract Crises]
- Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities! [D]: 18
- Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
- Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians! [C]: 17
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
Next up as we’ve exhausted all Asgardian options we’re going to zag a bit and focus on a dual affiliation offering mixing Asgard and Steve Rogers Avengers with some Winter Soldier and Vision
Both of these guys are excellent Avengers inclusions, solid splashes anywhere in the game right now, and as an extra cherry on top they come with a VERY SPECIAL restricted card to add to your collection:
Field Dressing characters is already an impactful play but when you can combine it with Asgard leadership (ideally across multiple rounds) to creep even further away from the point of death it can be even more impactful. Plus since you’re Asgardian, certain characters will naturally be overflowing with power and glad to take a detour to prop a buddy up. Take a gander at the following roster:
[Characters]
- Angela: 5
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Black Widow: 2
- Captain America (Steve Rogers): 4
- Enchantress: 4
- Iron Man: 3
- Thor, Prince of Asgard: 5
- Valkyrie: 3
- Vision: 4
- Winter Soldier: 3
[Team Tactics]
- Avengers Assemble!
- Brace For Impact
- Disarm
- Field Dressing
- Follow Me
- Inspiring Monologue
- Mission Objective
- Odin’s Blessing
- Rainbow Bridge
- Sacrifice
[Extract Crises]
- Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities! [D]: 18
- Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
- Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians! [C]: 17
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
And at this point you might have noticed something lacking in the rosters put forth so far. Namely outside of Enchantress’ Loki’s and Hela’s spender attacks, neither roster so far has mystic attacks. Thankfully, I have the box to fix that:
Running into a lot of Web Warriors where Miles and core box Peter spider-sense their way out of your For Asgards and Valkyrie charges? Well fret no more and yeet those jerks off the table with two of the most compelling mystic attackers to ever be put in one box together! Voodoo is an incredible meta staple due to his possession mechanic allowing you to make an enemy drop extracts and be unable to hold points. Hood is a more pure attrition piece focusing on dealing damage and healing. He even has bonus synergy with Asgard as his heal applies bleed to your allies which you can just remove with the leadership!
I’ve added the two character specific cards here – Hood’s Gang and Seance – mostly for flavor. I don’t think they’re bad by any stretch, especially in the 3 box format where the strength of the average tactic card tends to be a fair bit lower, but they are situational cards tacked onto characters you should only be playing in certain circumstances thanks to the affiliated synergies of Odin’s Blessing and Rainbow Bridge.
Take the following roster out for a spin:
[Characters]
- Angela: 5
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Black Widow: 2
- Doctor Voodoo: 4
- Enchantress: 4
- Hood: 3
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker): 4
- Thor, Prince of Asgard: 5
- Ultron: 4
- Valkyrie: 3
[Team Tactics]
- Brace For Impact
- Disarm
- Follow Me
- Hood’s Gang
- Inspiring Monologue
- Mission Objective
- Odin’s Blessing
- Rainbow Bridge
- Sacrifice
- Seance
[Extract Crises]
- Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities! [D]: 18
- Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
- Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians! [C]: 17
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- 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:
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 Twitch!
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