Last week I covered some Cabal characters that should be included in all Cabal Rosters, but one extremely important Character was left off that list. In my first MCP Cabal article I mentioned that Red Skull synergizes extremely well with MODOK, but did not elaborate why. When MCP was first released MODOK was a terror on the tabletop. The game did not have the glut of characters it enjoys today, and MODOK had truly terrifying abilities, and damage potential, included on his card. As more and more characters were released for MCP MODOK fell slightly out of favor for other Affiliations, but he is still an excellent 5 Threat character. He is especially powerful in his home Affiliation of Cabal. This article is going to be a full explanation on why MODOK is such an amazing Character for Cabal, and why he is rarely not included on my Team.
First off, MODOK is a 5 Threat Character which is on the more expensive side as far as Characters in MCP are concerned. There are a ton of powerful 3 and 4 Threat Characters in the game currently, so MODOK really needs to bring a lot to the table to justify this 5 Threat cost. With his 6 dice Mystic attack, and his Doomsday Chair spender, there is no denying MODOK can put out a ton of damage. This alone isn’t going to make you take MODOK at 5 Threat though. There are a ton of Characters in the game that throw out damage for less Threat, but there are some things MODOK can do that almost no other character in the game can accomplish.
MODOK’s ability to control your opponent’s models is unrivaled in MCP. Bow To The Will Of MODOK is an amazing ability that lets MODOK move your opponent’s models Short once per Turn for just 2 Power. MODOK doesn’t care if he is moving Hulk or Thanos. When MODOK says move, they move. This ability can be used in Objective play by moving enemy models off of Secures, or by moving a Character with an Extract closer to your Cabal murder machine. Letting your other characters pick up the Extract after MODOK, or your other Cabal characters, do some serious damage.
MODOK also comes with the ability to throw terrain up to Size 3. This can amp his damage up even further! Throwing terrain Long is an amazing way to stack damage onto an enemy character who may have survived MODOKs initial attacks, or can be an awesome way to start pushing damage through onto multiple targets. Also, at the bargain cost of 2 Power this Superpower will be extremely reliable to use every turn with the amount of Power MODOK can generate from his Psionic Blast. Pair this with Red Skull’s Leadership ability and you will have a fully powered up MODOK!
The last ability on MODOK’s card is Pea-Brained! MODOKs Genius is Infinite! This ability allows MODOK to spend power to re-roll either attack or defense dice during the Modify Dice Step of his attack or defense. Sometimes this ability can feel like a luxury if your MODOK is spending his power to move enemy models, and throw terrain, but don’t forget this ability is on MODOK’s card! Another way to get re-rolls on MODOK is with the Dark Reign Tactics Card for Cabal. MODOK doesn’t even need to be the one spending the 3 Power required to target an enemy character for full re-rolls on attack rolls!
MODOK also gives you access to some very interesting Tactics Cards of his own. AIM Lackeys is an extremely powerful card that lets MODOK spend 3 Power to give another allied character an additional Move action during their next activation. Getting extra actions in MCP is extremely powerful, and this card turns 3 Power into the ability to get one of your characters in a position your opponent wasn’t planning for. Use this Tactics Card to get two attacks off instead of one on a key enemy, move into position to deny your opponent Secure points at the end of the Round or even run away with your own character who is holding an Extract.
MODOK’s second specific Tactics Card is much less popular, but it can still be extremely strong. Psychic Fortress allows MODOK to spend 3 Power to give all allied characters Cover while within Range 4 of MODOK. Cover can be extremely good at foiling your opponent’s offensive plans, but this ability only lasts for one Round. MODOK will need to be sufficiently powered up at the right moment of the game in order to make the most out of this Tactics Card, but it definitely helps with MODOK’s biggest weakness.
MODOK has some defensive tech in his ability to turn all enemy Wild rolls to blanks when targeting him, and his ability to re-roll 1 defense dice per Power spent, but he is still extremely vulnerable to being taken down by Physical attacks. Rolling just 2 Physical defense hurts MODOK a lot, and let’s not even think about how fast MODOK will take damage if he is Incinerated. There are a TON of solid Physical attack profiles in the game currently, and MODOK doesn’t want to tussle with any of them for too long. MODOK does have 10 health on his healthy side, so your opponent will need to commit some substantial actions to Daze him. Once Dazed, MODOK only has 4 health, but should have a ton of excess Power. Make sure he activates early to get one last powerful turn in!
With the explosion of characters available in MCP MODOK has fallen out of favor, but he is still an extremely powerful character. Not only can he deal an insane amount of damage, but he can also act as a powerful control piece. MODOK feels right at home using Red Skull’s leadership ability, so don’t worry about all those fancy characters your opponent is taking like Thanos, or these new characters with Grunts, just unleash your MODOK!