Welcome back to MSF Mondays! Each week we break down one more aspect of the hottest mobile game, Marvel Strike Force!
Well, we’re officially in the Spider-Verse now! Over the past several weeks, we’ve gotten reworks for our original beloved web-slingers, Spider-Man and Spider-Man (Miles Morales). Then, to accompany them, we’ve been introduced to a couple other Spiderfolk to complete the new Web-Warriors team.
And, since the Young Avengers team is now broken up, we learned in a recent blog that the Young Avengers are due for a rework of their own. This includes two new toons to replace the Spiderfolk that have left for more webby pastures. We’ll discuss all of that in this week’s Marvel Strike Force article!
Let’s get into it!
MSF: Web-Warriors Are the Bio Answer
Doom Raids are a challenge. Heck, our Alliance has a lot of trouble even getting past some of the first nodes because of their difficulty. One thing I do know, however, is that my Bio-tag team is simply not up to the challenge of Doom Raids. It’s a sentiment that a lot of other players have echoed as well.
The new Web-Warriors team for Marvel Strike Force is supposedly the answer to all of our Bio woes. Tech might be another story for another time.
Our Web-Warriors are comprised of Spider-Man, Spider-Man (Miles), Ghost-Spider, Scarlet Spider, and Spider-Punk. I’m surprised by the addition of Scarlet Spider and Spider-Punk, just because I figured Scopely would tap into the Into the Spider-Verse crowd and give us Spider-Ham or Spider-Man Noir. I was really craving Spider-Man 2099 myself, but I’ll keep that on the dream board.
What makes the Web-Warriors so great is that they are a designated Raid team. That means they get additional buffs and bonuses whenever they’re fighting Raid battles. And the synergy really begins to build as you level up these toons.
Spider-Man now grants random positive effects to Web-Warrior allies whenever a negative effect is applied to an enemy. Which you will be doing A LOT with this team. Scarlet Spider Slows the enemy, applies Defense Down, and prolongs those negative effects. Only have debuffs on a few enemies? Ghost Spider is here to spread those around so everyone gets a debuff.
Spider-Man (Miles) is a utility knife, Speeding Up allies and slowing down enemies giving you trouble. Spider-Punk follows everything up with an encore, constantly granting Offense Up and making sure the Critical hits keep coming.
Whenever a team is designed to excel is a specific mode, I always here the same question: “Is this team worth it OUTSIDE of that mode?” And it’s usually a loaded question. You have teams like Shadowlands or Power Armor that are designed for WAR. Outside of War, they don’t have nearly as much bang for their buck, but inside of their chosen mode they’re quite powerful.
So really, it’s all subjective. I prefer to focus on teams that are fun to use in modes that I enjoy. Raids are a mode that you participate in every single day, whereas WAR isn’t ongoing. Therefore, Web-Warriors are going to give you more longevity over the course of the game than you might get for a really powerful WAR team. As yes, I know – Heroes for Hire is an exception to this rule.
All in all, the Web-Warriors are a fun team that makes all the status effects that you could ever want. They remind me a lot of Pym Tech, a Dark Dimension-focused team, in the sense that they have a lot of staying power while on the field. Plus, Spider-Man is an iconic Marvel character, and so it’s nice to be able to play with him and not lament about his weakness.
MSF: Echo Joins the Young Avengers
Continuing the trend of tapping into the latest Marvel hype, Scopely is introducing Echo to the game as a new Young Avenger. We don’t know who will be the fifth character to fill out the team yet, but my money is on Hawkeye favorite, Kate Bishop. It’s gotta be, right?
If Echo’s kit is a glimpse into what the future will bring for the Young Avengers, then they are going to be another must-have meta team. I don’t think that Scopely would throw around a sentence like this without it having some legs: “This powerful team will be formidable against Infinity Watch and many other of the top teams in Alliance War.”
I really like when characters in Marvel Strike Force have thematic tie-ins to their mechanics. For example, Echo’s strength is in mimicry. She actually starts with 150% Accuracy, because she has honed her craft so much. That means that if she attains the Blind condition, she actually only has a 50% miss chance instead of the full 100%. Sure, she also gains Slow with Blind, but that’s a really cool mechanic for the character.
Looking through the rest of Echo’s kit reveals some other strong mechanics. For example, as long as Echo isn’t Blinded, enemies can’t Assist. Sorry Nebula! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Heroes for Hire! Instead, Echo is the one who will be retaliating against enemies that attack her Young Avenger allies.
It also looks like Young Avengers will be relegated to War Defense instead of including War attacks, thanks to the wording of Echo’s Special Ability. I’d rather have the flexibility of choosing War Defense or Offense, because I want to play with these fun teams! Putting teams in a box like that makes theory-crafting fly out the window.
If you want to learn more about Echo, I recommend checking out Episode 3 of the Hawkeye series on Disney Plus. We have a recap and review of that episode here if you don’t mind spoilers.
Well I hope this helps you take your Squad from a D+ to a B- Commander!
Previous Installments
You can check out all of our other Marvel Strike Force articles right here! We try to put out a new article every Monday, so stay tuned for even more content.
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