Welcome back to SG Protocol.
With the recent heavy influx of these types of cards, today I wanted to take a look at all currently available TTCs that let you redirect an attack into another of your characters.
We’ll start with the classic one:
Sacrifice is an absolute staple in the game being in the majority of lists out there. It is the weakest overall version of this type of card in making the defenses of the model sacrificed to much, much worse (can’t even explode crits) but it’s main benefit is pretty obvious: everyone can play this. Two power for this type of card is pretty much the standard rate and here it is shared between the original and new target making it very affordable.
+ can be played by anyone
+ power shared between original and new target
– decreases the defense of the new target
– costs a restricted slot
– no “after the attack is resolved effect”
Angel brings his own version of Sacrifice making it Ultimate. Here Warren has to pay for the card alone. He has an interesting version where the after the attack is resolved effect only happens when he is Dazed or KO’ed. The effect is very good though. Angel doesn’t place near the original target which is unusual. He can of course combine this with Fallen turning him into Archangel. But if you want 2 character specific cards for your 3 threat is a different question.
+ decent after the attack effect
+ Angel pays for it
– Angel is very fragile
The oldest and most popular character specific version of attack redirection. It’s basically stapled to both characters that can use it and makes especially Luke Cage a fantastic splash in almost every list. The original target has to fully pay for this one, which is often a little downside and makes playing around it somewhat easier. The big upside here is the throw and of course that both characters are quite durable, Luke even more than Danny.
+ Throws size 3 if Luke or Iron Fist lives through the attack
+ places near the original target
+ comes on durable characters
– original target has to pay for it
While Namor’s version of this effect has a very good trigger with AoE sizeless Push it can feel a bit weird to actively throw your extremely versatile but not super durable 5 threat, that’s potentially even your leader, under the bus. Having himself being the one paying for the card is great as he doesn’t have many ways to spent his power anyway.
+ Fantastic after the attack effect
+ Namor pays for it
+/- teleports to the attacker instead of the ally. Depends on the situation which is better
– expensive, not defensive character you maybe don’t want in harms way in the first place
Venom doesn’t have an after the attack trigger on his card but course you aim to be able to use his counter attack after he’s taken some damage by the attack he intercepted. Venoms biggest problem is his mobility and being in Range 3 of the right ally might sometimes be harder than anticipated. The included teleport can set up Eddy to have a great next turn, if he gets to live that long.
+ Venom is rather tanky
+ teleports Venom who otherwise lacks movement
+ Venom pays for it
– no innate after the attack trigger
My personal favourite of the bunch. Red Guardian has extremely reliable Power generation making it very likely that he’ll be able to pay for the card when you need him to. He places within 2 of the ally instead of the usual 1 and if he takes damage but survives he throws the attacking character away. No size restriction. See you in hell Dormammu. Red Guardian is also comparably tanky for a 3 threat and this card makes him a worthwhile Splash in almost any list, even though people tend to pick Luke Cage over him most of the time. Luke is of course more durable and can Taunt innately but Red Guardian shouldn’t be overlooked if you need some extra control and long range fire added.
+ size less throw
+ Red Guardian pays for it
+ Places in Range 2 of the ally instead of 1
– trigger requires you to take damage
The newest version of this type of card comes with the Monsters Unleashed (did I already tell anyone that I can’t wait for that box?) pack. Adam is a tanky boy but his after the attack effect here is very weird. You want him to take some damage for the clap back to be more likely but also not die from the attack. The push towards him is also weird and it has to be noted that, since the allied character is paying for the card (which I usually don’t prefer but with Frank’s limited power generation it’s actually a good thing here), the ally is the character ignored for the push. Frank will stop it. Making it not very likely to get a whole lot out of it. Especially not bringing the attack outside of range of the original target. (Thanks to the latest Taco Truck Episode for pointing this out)
+ the ally pays for it (good for Frankenstein’s Monster who has only gainers)
+ places Frank
– weird after the attack trigger
– Push will not be able to get the attack outside of range of the original target
Overall these cards are all great as redirecting attacks is a really strong effect. If you bring any of these characters in your list you should definitely consider the card very heavily with only Namor’s Prince’s Protection not an auto take for me personally solely because he’s a bigger investment than any others of these. I’d happily throw an Angel under the bus to safe my Thor 2 for example. The same probably isn’t true with Namor.
As for Sacrifice itself: Nowadays you basically start with Brace and it in your list and you find reasons to change it to either Patch Up, Fall Back or Indomitable. If you feel any of these is more needed for your roster than Sacrifice maybe fill the gap with one of the ones from this article. It really helps that I would call every character that can play one of these a good character in their own right. Venom is probably the least easy splash able character here with Luke Cage and Red Guardian being the easiest includes.
Now what if we were to take this one step further? (In reality it’s several steps to far, but it’s funny)
I present you the “you’ll never attack who you wanted” list:
Characters (10)
- Mephisto, Lord of Temptation (5)
- M.O.D.O.K. Scientist Supreme (4)
- Red Skull (4)
Angel (3)
Red Guardian (3)
Luke Cage (3)
Iron Fist (3)
Namor the Sub-Mariner (5)
Frankenstein‘s Monster (4)
Venom (4)
Team Tactics (10)
Comrade‘s Keeper
Heroes for Hire
Hideous Monster
Lethal Protector
Prince‘s Protection
Ultimate Sacrifice
Devil‘s Reckoning
Embrace the Inferno
Fallen
Sacrifice (R)
Secure Crisis
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest (E, 15)
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Extract Crisis
Research Station Attacked! (E, 15) (R)
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Mephisto, MODOK 2 and OG Red Skull can all innately redirect attacks on them into allies and every other character here has acces to a TTC. Making playing against this list a nightmare. It won’t win a lot of games but it at least will be annoying as hell 😅
Cheers from Germany 🍻
