How to start the affiliation
You basically have to pick up Supreme Strange and Clea as it comes with one of the core pieces of the affiliation as well as the leadership TTC (and more affiliated TTCs). Clea sadly is one of the few characters I’d say desperately needing a rules update. Which is a shame as she is cool as hell in the comics (at least the recent stuff). Next up you should probably pick up Ancient One and Baron Mordo for two more affiliated models and Doctor Voodoo and Hood next. Just be sure to use Voodoos updated card. Hood isn’t affiliated but fits the style of the affiliation. At some point you’ll also want to look at Doctor Strange and Wong even though the former will almost never see the table for you here.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical archetype
By far the best handling of a leadership TTC. It is incredibly flexible in who plays it and doesn’t even take a spot in your 5. It also has two modes making it even more flexible in play. Circle of the Cosmos is a drug. Note that it is not once per turn but once per turn per character. Meaning if they damage multiple of your Wizards (or their friends) everyone gets to “Bump”. Moons of Monnopur is a bit more niche but can also be effective sometimes. You’ll probably spend most of your game on the Cosmos side though.
In terms of game plan you can take the affiliation basically anywhere you want them. They’ll probably sit best at a type 3 (midrange attrition, with some scenario play if they can’t kill you), but a type 2 is also easily doable.
Rating every affiliated TTC and character
Team Tactics (8)
Astral Ring
B-. Some Convo players swear by it but it is very tricky to use.
Bane of Damballah
B. AoE Root is good.
Book of Cagliostro
C. While removing an activated token is obviously great it is expensive and very hard to set up. And also pro tip if you’re ever thinking about the discard two TTCs to get this card back mechanic: Don’t.
Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath
A. Significantly worse now since it doesn’t trigger the return on a Grunts death anymore but still a card you’ll play in basically every Convo game.
Orb of Agamotto
A. Teleportation is good. Who would’ve thought.
Plane of Pohldahk
A. Chances are you’re bringing a lot of Mystic attackers in your squad and this works on every allied character not just Convocation affiliated ones.
The Bar With No Doors
A. Your excellent leadership as seen above.
Wand of Watoomb
B. Cool and flexible card.
Characters (8)
Ancient One (4)
B. Ancient One is much tankier than her raw stats would suggest and can punch people pretty hard. Displacement in their turns is also very good. She probably nowadays a bit overshadowed by Shang-Chi who plays a similar role but here she at least has the advantage of being affiliated.
Baron Mordo (3)
B. Mordo is very fast with a 50mm base, Medium Move and flight. He also loves being pushed by the opponent as he has a reactive superpower that allows him to move after the push. He doesn’t have the biggest offensive output himself but is a great objective piece and can spread Incinerate and Hex on the opposing team, as well as boosting the dice of allied attacks making him a great support character and often the default 3 threat here.
Clea (3)
C-. Clea is one of the few characters in the game in need of a rules update. She isn’t totally useless but a little change to her power generating superpower, where she’d only take 1 damage if she rolled any Skulls would go a long way to making her better. As is it is much to dangerous to actually use it as there’s a non zero chance of outright killing her with her own superpower (though highly unlikely) and with her already low health pool and below average defenses that is even more debilitating.
Doctor Strange (5)
B-. Original Doctor Strange isn’t bad per se. He has a very good builder, can boost defense dice and has a heal. You’ll probably never play him here though because of:
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (5)
A. Supreme Strange is fantastic. With 3 power per Power phase, Scalpel of Strange (which isn’t once per turn), great and flexible attacks this version of Stephen Vincent Strange is much more of an offensive power house than the “Defenders” version. He’ll probably be in every game you play as Convocation.
Doctor Voodoo (4)
A. Many people discarded Jericho after his (much much needed) nerf in 2023 but the community has slowly come around on him still being really good. He remains one of very few action less steals and brings even more control with the throw trigger on his strong builder. His spender is also fantastic and he can be fast too if he needs to be.
Magik (3)
B. Magik is a mobile flexible damage dealer through her place and brings a fantastic personal TTC in Journey through Limbo. Her biggest weakness is how squishy she can be so be careful with her.
Wong (2)
A. As much as I personally dislike playing him I can’t deny how good Wong is as a 2 threat especially here where he’s affiliated and can sometimes even be made the leader to safe guard a home secure. His strongest opening will usually be to give Supreme Strange an additional power for him to use Scalpel in Round 1 so he can get in range immediately. But there’s basically an infinite number of plays you can achieve here depending on your squad.
Who could be added to the affiliation especially as a leader
No one apparently. It seems unlikely that they’ll ever get another leadership since every affiliated model can be the leader. But we had a multitude of characters that could have been affiliated from Wanda to Loki (who is even on the leadership card) but none were.
Probably the most likely additions in the future are two characters fresh in peoples minds from their excellent Disney+ series: Agatha Harkness and Wiccan. I’d also like some of the Strange Academy kids but AMG might be (understandably) hesitant to put actual kids in the game. Nico Minoru is another possible addition.
Example Roster
Characters (10)
Ancient One (4)
Baron Mordo (3)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (5)
Doctor Voodoo (4)
Magik (3)
Wong (2)
Shang-Chi (4)
Ebony Maw (Space) (6)
M.O.D.O.K. Scientist Supreme (4)
Black Panther, Chosen of Bast (3)
Team Tactics (10)
Astral Ring
Bane of Damballah
Book of Cagliostro
Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath
Orb of Agamotto
Plane of Pohldahk
The Bar With No Doors
Wand of Watoomb
Brace for Impact (R)
Sacrifice (R)
Secure Crisis
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest (E, 15)
Extract Crisis
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)
That’s it for today. Next up: Criminal Syndicate
Cheers from Germany 🍻
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