We’ve got down to crunch time in season 3: the top 16 players have submitted their rosters for the final knock-out stages. Let’s see what has risen to the top at the moment.
| Affiliations | Taken | % |
| 1 | 8 | 50% |
| 2 | 7 | 44% |
| 3 | 1 | 6% |
A really even split! Half of finalists taking a solo affiliation and the other half going multi.
| Affiliation | Taken | % |
| Wakanda | 7 | 44% |
| Defenders | 5 | 31% |
| Asgard | 3 | 19% |
| Crime Syndicate | 2 | 13% |
| Cabal | 2 | 13% |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 2 | 13% |
| Web Warriors | 2 | 13% |
| Avengers | 1 | 6% |
| Black Order | 1 | 6% |
A few people have been saying for a while that the competitive scene has been sleeping on Wakanda. No longer! Maybe it’s the banned and restricted list that hasn’t impacted them much at all, or how good their characters are in loads of other affiliations, but there’s going to be a lot of pushing and shoving going on in the top 16. Two of those seven picks are solo Wakanda, with the other five being brought as part of a multi-affiliation roster.
Defenders are a strong and versatile faction, with a good showing. Four rosters are running both Defenders and Wakanda, with one of those also slotting in Crime Syndicate. Every faction apart from Spider Foes has some representation in the top ranks – a really healthy sign for the game!
| Character | Taken | % |
| Valkyrie | 13 | 81% |
| M.O.D.O.K | 12 | 75% |
| Okoye | 11 | 69% |
| Shuri | 11 | 69% |
| Black Panther | 7 | 44% |
| Dr. Strange | 7 | 44% |
| Killmonger | 7 | 44% |
| Ghost Spider | 6 | 38% |
| Vision | 6 | 38% |
| Spider-Man (Miles Morales) | 5 | 31% |
| Taskmaster | 5 | 31% |
| Wong | 5 | 31% |
| Black Widow | 4 | 25% |
| Hela | 4 | 25% |
| Thor | 4 | 25% |
| Kingpin | 3 | 19% |
| Baron Zemo | 3 | 19% |
| Infinity Gem: Soul | 3 | 19% |
| Nebula | 3 | 19% |
| Rocket Raccoon | 3 | 19% |
| Venom | 3 | 19% |
| Proxima Midnight | 3 | 19% |
| Corvus Glaive | 2 | 13% |
| Drax the Destroyer | 2 | 13% |
| Ghost Rider | 2 | 13% |
| Groot | 2 | 13% |
| Hawkeye | 2 | 13% |
| Infinity Gem: Mind | 2 | 13% |
| Loki | 2 | 13% |
| Punisher | 2 | 13% |
| Red Skull | 2 | 13% |
| Star-Lord | 2 | 13% |
| Ant-Man | 2 | 13% |
| Black Dwarf | 1 | 6% |
| Captain America | 1 | 6% |
| Crossbones | 1 | 6% |
| Gamora | 1 | |
| Green Goblin | 1 | 6% |
| Infinity Gem: Power | 1 | 6% |
| Infinity Gem: Reality | 1 | 6% |
| Ronan the Accuser | 1 | 6% |
| Spider-Man (Peter Parker) | 1 | 6% |
| Thanos | 1 | 6% |
Valkyrie and M.O.D.O.K. have long been heralded as some of the best characters in the game, so I’m not surprised to see them at the top. Having the four Wakandans in the next 5 characters after that reflects not only how good the affiliation is, but how good they are individually. I expected that Crime Syndicate may have given Killmonger a little bump in popularity, but the only Syndicate list he makes is one also featuring Wakanda. There’s a lot to dig in to there, but one surprise for me was with four Defenders and one Defenders/Avengers, Hawkeye only got taken twice. I was less surprised to see Corvus and Proxima tumble down the lists.
| Team Tactics Card | Taken | % |
| Field Dressing* | 14 | 88% |
| Medpack* | 11 | 69% |
| All You’ve Got | 9 | 56% |
| Disarm | 9 | 56% |
| A.I.M Lackeys | 7 | 44% |
| Advanced R&D | 7 | 44% |
| Usurp the Throne | 7 | 44% |
| Wakanda Forever | 7 | 44% |
| Brace for Impact* | 5 | 31% |
| Seven Suns of Cinnabons | 4 | 25% |
| Extreme Conditioning | 3 | 19% |
| Lethal Protector | 3 | 19% |
| Marked for Death | 3 | 19% |
| All Webbed Up | 2 | 13% |
| Blind Obsession | 2 | 13% |
| Climbing Gear | 2 | 13% |
| Cosmic Invigoration | 2 | 13% |
| Deadly Duo | 2 | 13% |
| No Matter the Cost | 2 | 13% |
| Odin’s Blessing | 2 | 13% |
| Recalibration Matrix | 2 | 13% |
| Shadow Organization | 2 | 13% |
| Sibling Rivalry | 2 | 13% |
| Tactical Analysis | 2 | 13% |
| We are Groot | 2 | 13% |
| Pentagram of Farallah | 2 | 13% |
| Avengers Assemble | 1 | 6% |
| Blood to Spare | 1 | 6% |
| Crew of the Milano | 1 | 6% |
| Cruelty | 1 | 6% |
| Doomed Prophecy* | 1 | 6% |
| Execute | 1 | 6% |
| Highway to Hell | 1 | 6% |
| Hired Muscle | 1 | 6% |
| Mothership | 1 | 6% |
| Patch Up* | 1 | 6% |
| Psychic Fortress | 1 | 6% |
| Trip Up | 1 | 6% |
| Vibranium Shielding | 1 | 6% |
Well, we have winners for most taken restricted cards – though we are less than week from it’s announcement, so ideas may shift over time. Field Dressing is only missing from two rosters, with Medpack not far behind it. It may be that the prevelence of Field Dressing is due to All You’ve Got not making it on to the restricted list – that may be something the developers keep an eye on in the future. All five restricted cards have been taken at least once, so again it’s nice to see that even here there is a bit of balance. It is interesting to see that Seven Sun of Cinnabus appears to be the favoured Defenders affiliated card, with four out of five taking it, where Pentagrams of Farallah only makes it in to one roster.
| Secure | Taken | % |
| Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest | 10 | 63% |
| Demons Downtown! Has our Comeuppance come due? | 8 | 50% |
| Infinity Formula Goes Missing! | 7 | 44% |
| Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 | 7 | 44% |
| Portals Overrun City With Spider-People! | 3 | 25% |
| Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians | 4 | 25% |
| Mayor Fisk Vows To Find Missing Witnesses | 4 | 25% |
| Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Sweeps Across Earth | 3 | 25% |
Gamma Wave is popular. Wakanda is popular. It’s not hard to see a correlation. Only one Wakandan roster isn’t running Gamma Waves. I was expecting more Demons, but I thought it would be Defenders pushing it: only two of the five Defenders rosters are bringing it. A really nice spread at the bottom means a good diversity is still going in secures.
| Extract | Taken | % |
| Panic Grips City as Evacuation Efforts Continue! | 10 | 63% |
| Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities | 9 | 56% |
| Struggle for the Cube Continues | 8 | 50% |
| Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan | 6 | 38% |
| The Montesi Formula Found | 6 | 38% |
| Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction | 5 | 31% |
| Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown! | 2 | 13% |
| Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership | 2 | 13% |
Citizens and Hammers remain the most popular, but with a slight edge towards Citizens. The random chance extracts remain unpopular, but that means those banking on them might be able to take advantage.
Roster Spotlight
There are some really good rosters submitted, but one really caught my eye: JZuccollo’s
| Characters | Tactics Cards | Crises |
| Ghost Spider | A.I.M Lackeys | Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians |
| Hela | Advanced R&D | Demons Downtown! Has our Comeuppance come due? |
| M.O.D.O.K | All Webbed Up | Infinity Formula Goes Missing! |
| Okoye | All You’ve Got | Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities |
| Punisher | Doomed Prophecy* | Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction |
| Shuri | Field Dressing* | Struggle for the Cube Continues |
| Spider-Man (Miles Morales) | Lethal Protector | |
| Thor | Odin’s Blessing | |
| Valkyrie | ||
| Venom |
I like the mix of Asgard and Web Warriors. The lack of Medpack or Patch Up is bold, but there are plenty of defensive cards. It looks like a list that can play control and pivot into damage dealing if it needs to swap to be the Beatdown. It doesn’t really have a specific weakness in crises it doesn’t want to see, as faster, wider or lower threat crises, you can run Web Warriors but in slower, narrower or higher threat crises Asgard can play a great game. JZuccollo, I tip my hat you.
Xavier Protocols 