Atomic Mass Games released their document for the new season of competitive Crises. This is a rotation out of old crises and the release of new Crises in the Tolerance is Extinction pack coming soon. AMG has shown the high resolution pictures of these crises and with all of this information we are free to start testing the new Crises and I will tell you my first impressions and some strategic tips.
First of all, these are quite different than the Crises we’ve been playing on for the last year. On the Extract side we now have Crises that use the Source token. You interact with a Source token to pick up an Extract from the Source and the Source becomes Exhausted for the Round. These Extracts disappear in the Cleanup phase and the Sources refresh for the next Round. Extracts from Sources can be either Assets or Civilians.
Extracts – Source tokens
Source tokens will increase the interaction with the objectives throughout the game and will cause you to expend more resources to score the same amount of VP you’d normally score in a game. These resources can be the Power you’ll need to spend to Interact with the Source token every Round, or the actions that you’ll now need to do to move yourself onto the Source token.
Source tokens give you the ability to grab an Extract from a Source before your opponent, effectively denying them an easy grab early on in the Round. I think a good player will be able to use Priority and Activations to effectively grab Extracts from Source tokens using fewer resources than their opponent. You could also force a scenario where your opponent has to grab an Extract with a character who is already low on HP or would much rather be attacking.
Source tokens also mean you won’t be able to grab an Extract in the first Round of a game and run into the farthest corner. Source tokens will be additional areas of bunched up models and will help attrition teams stay within range of opposing Extract runner models.
One other thing to note about Source token is that when they’re in the Exhausted state (after they’ve given up their Extract for the Round), a character cannot Contest, Secure, or Interact with them. This will have some implications for characters that care about Contesting an objective. These include characters like Shadowlands leadership, Miles Morales’ leadership, Nebula’s attack re-rolls. As one of these characters you still care about models standing next to Unexhausted Source tokens, holding Extracts, or Contesting Secure objectives.
When they previewed the Source tokens, they also were mindful enough to update the SHIELD agent grunt rules so they can interact with the Source tokens and get an Extract token from them. Unfortunately, they didn’t update the Hand Ninjas to be able to do the same. I’m not sure why the SHIELD agents would get this update and the Hand Ninjas would not. This is one thing I’m really looking forward to in the June update. Shadowlands Daredevil and Elektra would be really nerfed if their Extract specific grunts could not interact on the Source tokens.
AMG also failed to put on these Extract Crises the ability to pick one up that a model has dropped on the ground because they Dazed, KO’d, etc. They have written in the forum that each of these Extract Crises will have an Interact ability to pick them up if they’ve be placed on the table. You should play with this in mind, even if the cards don’t have that text on them yet.
Secures – 90 degree arcs
We have one new type of Secure that uses the 90 degree arc Secure token. You still Contest these are normal within Range 1 but you’ll use the 90 degree arc to determine if you’ve scored an extra VP during the Clean-up phase. These Secure tokens also move Range 1 in the Clean-up phase. Don’t forget that when you move these tokens you can rotate the arc any direction you want.
For the Secure that uses the arc, you’ll be wanting to place enemy models within the 90 degree arc within Range 3 of the Secure token.
Finally, this is an article discussing the competitive implications of this new rotation and what you should be playing at tournaments. However, you should remember that the Crises rotating out can still be played in any friendly game outside the tournament setting. I really like the War of Kings set of Crises and will hope to continue playing them for years to come in many games of MCP.
Additionally, we’re now seeing Crisis cards rotate out and back into tournament legal sets so keep a hold of your Crisis cards for future tournament rotations!
Lets dive into each of the new Crises and discuss their rules and what teams want to be playing on them, as well as some tips and tricks you can bring into your next game.
Assault Ships Make Sweeping Search! 16 Threat, Secure
This is a Secure with 4 points. Once per Turn, when a character is attacking during its Activation, if the defender is within Range 2 of a Secure, the attacker may reroll 1 of its attack dice. This is closer toward the midline than a B shape. A small base with medium move can get to your back points or a medium/big base with at least a small movement. To get to your opponent’s side you’ll need a small base with a long move or a medium/large base with medium move.
You’ll struggle to attack from one point to any other point reliably unless you have a Range 4 or 5 attack. The attack bonus will definitely come in handy when fighting over a point and benefits attacks enough that I think attrition teams will want to play on this Crisis.
Note: this Crisis rule does not benefit any out of Activation attacks like strike back attacks or attacks from TTCs like Surprise Webhead! This re-roll definitely does benefit Kang who will love to get access to a free re-roll. I would also try to use the Crisis re-roll on an attack with a big dice pool, or if you need a specific trigger.
I could see characters like Winter Soldier liking to play on this Crisis. He can get on a back point and attack in his first activation. Along with Kang I think an aggressive Spider-Foes list might like this Crisis. The have the movement (medium base + medium move) that I think really excels on this shape. Black Cat and Medusa will be able to stop their opponent from using the Crisis re-roll into them which will always be a nice benefit.
Take note that this Crisis is 16 Threat. You should have a game plan in mind if you need to play 16 Threat.
Evidence of Experimental Soldiers Exposed; 19 Threat, Extract (Source)
This is a 3 Source token across the mid-line, a little closer in on the sides than Deadly Legacy Virus (C shape). This one grants 1 re-roll of your defense dice when you’re holding an Extract.
This is a Source token so it seems like a lot of models will be near the mid-line for a lot of the game. At least while you’re on the midline you’ll be granted some defensive tech from the Crisis.
This is a midline grab so mostly you’ll need to be double moving on the first Round to get models to the Source tokens. Remember, a medium base long move model can get to the midline and move back safely in the first Round. However, I think this will become less of a benefit since you’ll need to move back to the midline again in the second Round to grab this Extract from the Source token again.
I think this benefits mid-range teams that want to brawl. It makes me think of Defenders and some Criminal Syndicate leaders like Shadowlands and MODOK 2. This is low scoring enough that you don’t want to be taking it if you’re on objective focused team.
Power Overload! Factory goes up in flames; 19 Threat, Secure
This has four points but if you control two points more than Range 5 of each other, you score an extra VP. Additionally, if 3 or more characters are within Range 1 of a Secure, each of those characters suffer 1 Damage.
This Crisis has the opportunity to score 5 VP from just the Secure and easily 3 VP if you’re holding just two points. Only the two close points to the deployment zone are within Range 5 of one another. This means that if you’re holding one point on your side of the board and a different point on the other side of the board, you can score the extra VP condition.
This looks to be a very good Kingpin Crisis on the level of Superpowered Scoundrels. Kingpin teams can probably score 4-5 VP on the Secure in the first Round and get off to a very strong start. It will be pretty easy for them to score at least 3 VP for the remainder of the rounds and catapult them towards victory very quickly.
The extra damage from the Crisis seems to be a rare case. You’ll need to be aware of it if you don’t want to take the additional damage on your model. But it could also be a boon if you wanted to move a model onto a point to damage two enemy models with this rule. As an attrition team it is a net positive to get that extra damage through against two enemy models. I also think that the wording means that even if the model is Dazed it will count towards the 3 models within Range 1 of the Secure point.
I still would not play on this Crisis if I was trying to be an attrition team. Kingpin and possibly Web Warriors will be advantaged on this Crisis.
Salvaged Supplies Fuel Resistance Efforts; 18 Threat, Extract
This new Extract is supposed to simulate two characters carrying the Supplies across the field of battle. You need another non-Grunt contesting the supplies for you to pick them up, you drop them if you end your Activation outside of Range 2 of another friendly model, and if this Extract would be moved to another character it is dropped instead.
There are only two Extracts on the board but they score 2 VP each. Having to commit two characters to picking up this Extract will be additional resources you’ll need to expend on the first Round of the game and each time you will want to pick up this Extract throughout the game.
A big advantage on this Crisis are characters who can choose where to drop the Extract. These are characters like the SHIELD agents, 4-Threat The Black Widow, and the Doc Ock TTC This is Our Day. Nick Fury spawning the SHIELD agents will also be able to pick up these supplies as long as another model is already contesting them (which should be easy if the SHIELD agents were the ones to drop the Extract in the first place).
All other teams will find it a pain to pick up this Extract from the ground. If your Extract runner is Dazed, your opponent will try to place it next to their own models and pick it up before you can get two models to the area. For this reason, I think you’ll want to be playing attrition on this Crisis. It is really effective to deny your opponent VPs by killing their Extract runners. Extract runners cannot move far away because they need to end their activation with Range 2 of an allied model. Objective teams also cannot really steal this Extract either because it drops on the ground and the two model rule comes back into play.
When you Daze an enemy character holding one of these Extracts, you should always place it outside of Range 1 of any enemy models. That way your opponent needs to use two Activations before they can pick it up. Of course, you should always try to place it somewhere you can pick it up.
Getting to this point requires a medium base with medium move from deployment, or small base with long move. However, you’ll still need to end your activation within Range 2 of an allied model so running away with this Extract is a challenge. Either way, I think you’ll be wanting to go wide with this Crisis so you can maximize your opportunities to pick up this Extract while also holding down the Secure objectives.
Overall, this Extract will be slow moving and something of a sitting duck. You should always try to focus down the holder of the supplies since it is such a production to try and pick them up again. I would also think about using models that can displace an enemy who has moved into place to Contest the supplies on the first activation. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a guaranteed set-up I can recommend to disrupt your opponent but Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil have triggers that can achieve this effect.
If you have the first activation you can also threaten your opponent’s side Extract by moving onto and grabbing it with your second activation. You’ll be putting two models onto your opponent’s side of the board but possibly be throwing a huge wrench into their game plan.
I do think using Nick Fury is very powerful on this Crisis specifically. If you’re already playing him I think this is a Crisis you’ll want to run. Putting a friendly character Contesting one of these on your first activation is good, followed by an Activation of the SHIELD grunts who can run up and grab your Extract. They will be the best holders for this and even if they Daze, you should still easily be able to grab the Extract on another activation.
Otherwise, I think you play an attrition team on this Crisis and you force them to stay in the middle of the board where you can do as many effective attacks as possible. I think Daredevil Defenders is going to be good on this Crisis because you’ll be able to get and stay within Range 2 of your opponent.
Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged! 17 Threat, Extract (Source)
This is a really tight square around the middle of the board. You’ll need to stay in the middle of the board because this is the Source tokens again where you’ll need to pick them up fresh every round. As with all of the Source token Crises, I think first activation each Round will be pretty important to pick up from the most contested Source and deny your opponent easy grabs.
In addition, this Extract also gives you an extra attack die when you’re attacking an enemy model within Range 2. Maximizing picking up these Extracts and attacking within Range 2 will be the name of the game. This will also benefit the player with Priority so perhaps going tall will be a benefit on this Crisis.
Daredevil Defenders already want to be attacking within Range 2 of the enemy model so that seems like a slam dunk here. You’ll want to activate with a character that can pick up and do 2 Range 2 attacks (at least) first. This will also work on strike back attacks so those characters would be good too.
This will also work on area attacks and beam attacks (on enemy models within Range 2). Beam and Area attacks already have the benefit of a large total number of dice and this will add to that effectively.
This seems like an aggressive Crisis but it will depend on your ability to interact and do quality attacks. If there aren’t any easy Extracts to grab or good Range 2 targets you’ll have a hard time maximizing the effect of this Crisis.
Strike Team Secures Shield Relay! 17 Threat, Secure
This was a Crisis from the War of Kings that is only now tournament legal. It is a pay to flip Secure on a D shape (diamond) that also gives a defensive reroll to characters within Range 2 of a Secure that they currently control.
Either you’ll need to flip the Secure to your control before you start attacking your enemy model, or move them outside the range of the Secure so they don’t benefit from the defensive tech to maximize this Crisis effect. On the other hand, holding the point and getting the defensive re-rolls will be a good effect, so putting tough characters who can stay healthy on these points is a good plan.
The usual strategy of Dazing an enemy model on the point before trying the pay to flip is now going to be more difficult and could results in someone holding on to the point for longer than they usually would.
If there is a Healthy enemy model on the point you definitely want to displace them or flip this point before attacking them. If the enemy model is already on their Injured side, it should be easy to flip the point and start doing attacks into them.
The teams that are going to excel at this Crisis are the ones that already have a displace and pay to flip plan (Doc Ock Sinister Scientist, etc.) or the ones that can burn down enemy models to their Injured side quickly.
Suprise Assault! Mutant Home Destroyed; 16 Threat, Extract (Source)
This is the most basic of the Source token Extract Crises we are getting. There are 4 points, pretty close to the midline and you get an Extract from a Source token. You can’t hold more than one and they disappear in the Clean-up phase. There are no special rules otherwise.
Because this is so close together and models will need to stay near the Source tokens, I think this benefits the aggressive teams. There isn’t much else to leverage here. The shape is the most impactful of the rules and you’ll want to be moving onto it and around the different points.
A small base long move gets to a Source on your side of the board from deployment. A medium base medium move does as well. You can mostly rely on Range 3 attacks from points near each other so you won’t feel safe sitting on any of these Source tokens.
Survivors Search For Safe Shelter; 20 Threat, Secure
This is a pretty strange 3 point Secure that forms a triangle around the exact midpoint of the table. The triangle has point about Range 5 from one another. A small base medium move can get you from one point to another but you already have to be positioned towards your destination to make it in one move.
It Contests like all other Secures but you also get the ability to spend 1 Power and give another allied model defending an attack and Contesting a Secure 1 extra defensive dice once per Turn. We’ve already seen superpowers like this on Cable and Exodus (among others) using 2 Power to provide 2 defense dice. Those superpowers are actually pretty good and I think the rate of 1 Power for 1 die once per Turn is going to be a good effect you’ll want to use during your games.
The difference we might see is that more experienced players will remember to use this effect or know the exact right time to use this effect more than inexperienced players. This effect is a Crisis effect and will get around the ability of Mystique and Emma Frost who shut down Reactive superpowers and reactive TTCs during their activations.
The close proximity of these Secure tokens still makes me lean towards aggressive or mid-range teams. You’ll also find success displacing an enemy off a point at the beginning of your activation so they cannot benefit from the extra defense die from the Crisis.
It will also be interesting to see how the middle point is dealt with in the first Round of your games. I can see early activations using characters to sit on your safe point but only late in the Round will some people move a model to sit on the mid line where they can Contest the point in no-mans land.
X-Men Infiltrate Secret Weapons Facility; 17 Threat, Secure
Here we have the first and only design of the 90 degree arcs on the Secure tokens so far. This is also an Energy pay-to-flip with 4 points. You can score an extra VP if you control two or more Secures that are pointing at an enemy model within Range 3 and inside the arc of the Secure you control.
During Clean-up you can also move a Spotlight you control within Range 1 (also rotating the arc any direction you wish!). In my experience the Spotlights just get closer to the main brawl on the table and you’ll be able to score your extra points more as the game gets longer.
One benefit you’ll have on this Crisis is teams that can rotate and flip multiple points in their activation. You should also try to displace an enemy model into a Spotlight you control for extra VPs! I think this Crisis will actually allow you to score more VP in the later rounds compared to the early rounds. You can get behind in VP and be able to catch back up using this Crisis effect.
I don’t really think you want to be playing this Crisis if you’re an objective team. Mid-range teams and heavy displacement teams will be good here. Heavy attrition teams might struggle on this Crisis if they can’t get damage on the enemy models early in the game.
Crises leaving the tournament rotation
All Crises where you could hold more than one Extract are leaving the rotation (Legacy Virus, Cubes, Hammers). The Terrigen Canisters and Montesi Formula Extracts are also leaving tournament rotation. Combined with the inclusion of Source tokens it looks like Extracts became a lot more interactive during the game. You’ll need to be prepared for more fighting and strategic activations. A lot of these are still Civilians so beware of Terrigenesis from the Inhumans players!
On the Secure side we have Cosmic Invasion, Deadline to Destruction, Intrusions, Mayor Fisk, M’Kraan Crystals, and Riots leaving the tournament rotation. I think the Secure rotation will be less impactful than the changes to the Extracts.
Overall, it looks like there will be more interaction and opportunity to brawl in MCP for the upcoming year. Time will tell whether that will be balanced out by an overall increase to health pools during the character update in June. My feeling is that if your team gets an average of 4-8 more health points than we shouldn’t really be worried about full on attrition for the year. AMG has done a good job of keeping this game balanced and healthy so I look forward to playing many games on these new Crises.
If you’re in the Ohio, West Virginia, or Western Pennsylvania region, come check out our regional MCP tour the Appalachian Cup! You can find me playing at my local game store, the Fabricator’s Forge outside Pittsburgh, PA. If you’re looking for models, shop the FLG online store! Good luck and happy wargaming!
