I know currently everyone and their mother is playing Asgard. But it’s been my main faction from November 23 until March 24 (and Thor has been my Discord Avatar since then too) and I’ve always said I will go back to them once the new pack was in my hands. It is now finally and up until the German GT in February 25 I will play them close to exclusively (with some Spider-Foes games mixed in sometimes probably).
My Asgard part of the list is pretty locked in for now but I have two spaces open for exploration and since I’m not super excited by the 3 threat options in affiliation (aside from Skurge) both are likely 3 threats.
here is the list in its current form (with the two 3 taken out for now):
Characters (8)
- Thor, Prince of Asgard (5)
- Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
- The Mighty Thor (5)
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Enchantress (4)
Lady Sif (4)
Skurge, The Executioner (3)
Team Tactics (10)
Heart of the Worthy
Odin‘s Blessing
Brothers in Arms
Giant‘s Blood
Meet My Executioner
Heroes for Hire
Indomitable (R)
Freyja‘s Blessing
Brace for Impact (R)
Versatile Strategy
Secure Crisis
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians (I, 17)
Mutant Madman Turns City Into Lethal Amusement Park (B, 18)
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest (E, 15)
Extract Crisis
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Paranoia Pummels Populace! (K, 16)
Thor 1 might be surprising for some when Thor 2 is really really good but (for now) I prefer to have the option to run his leadership for condition heavy matchups like Defenders or SHIELD. He is also absolutely amazing under Jane. The 15 of Jane, Thor and Loki 2 is also fun. (Even if the typical 15 now is Loki 2, Thor 2 and Bill and Brothers in Arms).
Now let’s look at some options for 3s starting with the ones affiliated I don’t have in the roster:
Valkyrie:
Basically nothing is really wrong with Valk and she is the more likely candidate to get another chance of the two affiliated options. Skurge just offers more for my taste. She definitely will get into a pure Jane all girls roster I want to try on the side (if I get to play enough at all that is).
Heimdall:
His kit is cool but he’s really power hungry and non of the leaderships really help him with that, Thor and Loki 2 even having power costing leaderships which he really dislikes. Heimdall often gets relegated to being a back point sitter, a role for which you can better look outside of affiliation as he basically does nothing there.
The obvious choices:
Baron Zemo
Asgard has turned into a pretty attrition focused affiliation and Zemo is probably the most reliable 3 threat killer and also hands out additional rerolls. Zemo seems like the person to beat here out of the gate.
Weapon X
Pure murder with basically no scenario play? 3verine sounds like an interesting candidate for that. He will really struggle to pay for Loki (or Thor) leadership but might really enjoy Jane’s leadership. Definitely someone I want to give a chance.
Black Panther, Chosen of Bast
As you saw I do still play 2/3 Pay to Flips. Bast Panther has the ability to reroll those but I think he might struggle building the power for it. He does bring an additional pounce for when you’ve run out of terrain to throw in your opponents face. He can also play the role of mobile objective grabber if you need to. And finally his mystic attacks can really help in some matchups (but Loki 2 will often be on the board to cover those of course).
Luke Cage
The classic Bodyguard. Brings one of the best cards in the game with Heroes for Hire (though Asgardians are all very good in spending all their power which makes it a bit harder to play). Skurge already fills his role pretty much though.
Iron Fist
The other possible target for HFH and the more mobile option who also produces 2 power per round making him an honorary Asgardian and better at playing P2Fs.
Warlock
Going in a completely different direction Warlock is a great back point sitter with his defensive bonus from outside of R3 and his own good R4 attack. He can also eat the terrain at the back end of the board that you can’t use to throw in your opponents face.
Miles
Not a lot is needed so say about Miles. He’s a great overall character and gives access to an easier Extract steal than Enchantress’.
Black Cat
The third of the 3 over the top 3 threat splashes. Offers mobility, durability, control and a steal. And one of the worst sculpts in the entire game and I don’t own or plan to own her original model. Out of the running.
Maverick
The box partner for Weapon X offers a way to shut down opposing healing factor and, with so many other Asgardians running around currently, a way to deny a critical Odins Blessing. Doubling down on energy attacks is also never a bad thing as it is still the lowest average defensive stat.
Iceman
Once again a different direction. I do love Iceman for being an annoying nuisance on the table which pares really well with Loki 2. He is rather squishy and doesn’t really put put a tonne of damage himself but he certainly helps in matchups where you need to play more scenario focused.
Crossbones, Merciless Merc
CB2 is a fantastic down the middle character. But he doesn’t make great use out of Jane’s leadership and might struggle to fund Loki’s.
Domino
A specialist for the mirror who just flat out ruins Loki’s day and is very good and focusing down Hero Thor. Her biggest downside is her lack of mobility and we don’t really have anything to help her with that though.
Sam Wilson
Sam is another of those generally great 3 threats though a bit behind the S tier 3. He doesn’t ft in this list particularly well though. Which is a shame because he is one of my best paint jobs 😅
Iron Man
Another original core box character that is still very relevant to this day (he did get buffed in 21 to be fair). Iron Man is another option for a home secure holder that is durable, offers control from a long range and brings access to two very good TTCs in Stark Amory and Helios Laser. Asgard will struggle to fund the latter and it’s gonna be difficult to get the most out of the former so he’d have to make the squad for just being there himself.
Pyro
A great controller of bigger enemy models and a TTC steal. Pyro is always at least relevant. He also comes with 4 energy defense for Meteors which is a shape he’d like.
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven has the potential to increase the already potent offense of every affiliated model by another die which is very good. He also corners Hero Thor very well in the mirror. But he also dies to random breaths of wind more often than not so theres that…
Shocker
In the latest Taco Truck episode Vince described Shocker as one of the most boring models to read and then one extremely entertaining to play and I totally agree with that. Especially in an attrition team neutering your opponents offense by Shocker just standing there annoying everyone coupled with the amounts of Shock you can hand out seems extremely great.
So there’s loads of candidates and I have to pick two of them. But first:
Why not a 3 and a 2?
Because I’m terrible at playing 2s.
You could make arguments for Wong, Toad, Okoye and Bullseye here but I end up losing the majority of games I bring a 2. It’s seldom that models fault but I guess it traps me into taking the wrong squad more often than not.
Back to the cutting:
First I will cut both the Spider-Foes models for now because Foes is my second affiliation and I don’t want any overlap between the two list for starters. I really do like the Shocker idea though.
Next I will cut Black Cat, Miles, Sam, Luke Cage and Zemo. All of these are known quantities and can easily be swapped into the roster if the spicier pick didn’t work out.
That leaves Iron Fist, Bast Panther, Maverick, Weapon X, Warlock, Iron Man, Domino, Iceman and Crossbones 2.
Warlock is not in a box I plan to get right away and I don’t play models (even on TTS) that I don’t own. So he is out for now.
Domino is really good in the mirror but I think (hope?) that’s not gonna be happening so often once the next new thing, like Apocalypse, comes out. If Asgard stays super popular she will get a chance.
Crossbones 2 is really an E specialist. He doesn’t seem particularly great on either of my other secures (well Madman could actually be OK) and especially doesn’t help a bit against scenario teams.
The other 6 will each be given a chance to prove themselves. I’ll start with Iron Fist and Bast Panther and will swap in Iron Man for either if I feel I need a back point sitter rather than what those two are bringing to the table. Iceman could make it in if area denial is what I see is lacking from the roster.
And once the WX and Maverick pack is out I think both will be in to prove themselves. I’m especially excited to try the mutant heat seeking missile of 3verine (no I’m not gonna stop calling him that) in Jane leadership.
So loads of options for roster spots 9 and 10.
Who’s your pick for a splash 3 in Asgard?
Cheers from Germany 🍻
MCP Germany Discord: https://discord.com/invite/KyCf3KUC
