In the second of the Las Vegas Open, 13 players who were playing on day 1 didn’t enter again on day 2, but 21 new players signed up, taking total numbers to 47. Here is what was being played and what was winning.
Affiliations
| Affiliations | % |
| 1 | 43% |
| 2 | 49% |
| 3 | 6% |
Another sign that dual affiliation is becoming more popular.
| Affiliation | % |
| Avengers | 34% |
| Midnight Sons | 21% |
| Criminal Syndicate | 13% |
| Spider Foes | 13% |
| Black Order | 13% |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 9% |
| Unaffiliated | 9% |
| X-Force | 6% |
| Defenders | 6% |
| Cabal | 6% |
| Web Warriors | 6% |
| Dark Dimension | 4% |
| Asgard | 4% |
| A-Force | 4% |
| Convocation | 4% |
| Brotherhood of Mutants | 2% |
| Uncanny X-men | 2% |
| Wakanda | 2% |
| Inhumans | 2% |
A similar spread to day one, but this time every affiliation was represented at least once. Avengers grew in popularity, making them a clear favourite. Black Order saw a bit of a rise, joining the affiliations we had expected to see being popular, though Web Warriors were bafflingly unpopular.
Characters
| Character | % |
| Iron Fist | 43% |
| Bullseye | 40% |
| Baron Zemo | 34% |
| Lizard | 32% |
| Ghost Rider | 30% |
| Doctor Voodoo | 30% |
| Black Cat | 26% |
| Moon Knight | 23% |
| Luke Cage | 23% |
| Vision | 21% |
| Toad | 21% |
| Okoye | 21% |
| Hulkbuster | 21% |
| Hulk | 21% |
| Captain America (Sam Wilson) | 21% |
| Blade | 21% |
| Black Widow | 21% |
| Venom | 19% |
| Kingpin | 17% |
| Hood | 17% |
| Hawkeye | 17% |
| Scarlet Witch | 15% |
| Proxima Midnight | 15% |
| Nebula | 15% |
| Mysterio | 15% |
| Angela | 15% |
| Green Goblin | 13% |
| Ghost Spider | 13% |
| Doctor Octopus | 13% |
| Corvus Glaive | 13% |
| Captain America (Steve Rogers) | 13% |
| Wong | 11% |
| Winter Soldier | 11% |
| Thanos | 11% |
| Star-Lord | 11% |
| Rocket Raccoon | 11% |
| Kraven the Hunter | 11% |
| Iron Man | 11% |
| Doctor Strange | 11% |
| Black Panther | 11% |
| Thor Prince of Asgard | 9% |
| Mystique | 9% |
| Groot | 9% |
| Gamora | 9% |
| Enchantress | 9% |
| Ebony Maw | 9% |
| Carnage | 9% |
| Cable | 9% |
| Black Dwarf | 9% |
| Wolverine | 6% |
| War Machine | 6% |
| Spider-Man (Miles Morales) | 6% |
| Shuri | 6% |
| M.O.D.O.K. | 6% |
| Lockjaw | 6% |
| Domino | 6% |
| Deadpool | 6% |
| Crossbones | 6% |
| Baron Mordo | 6% |
| Amazing Spider-man | 6% |
| Valkyrie | 4% |
| Taskmaster | 4% |
| Sin | 4% |
| She-Hulk | 4% |
| Red Skull | 4% |
| Quicksilver | 4% |
| Loki God of Mischief | 4% |
| Killmonger | 4% |
| Hela | 4% |
| Drax the Destroyer | 4% |
| Dormammu | 4% |
| Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme | 4% |
| Captain Marvel | 4% |
| Beast | 4% |
| Ancient One | 4% |
| Ultron | 2% |
| Storm | 2% |
| Sabretooth | 2% |
| Ronan the Accuser | 2% |
| Punisher | 2% |
| Omega Red | 2% |
| Mister Sinister | 2% |
| Medusa | 2% |
| Magneto | 2% |
| Daredevil | 2% |
| Cyclops | 2% |
| Clea | 2% |
| Bob Agent of Hydra | 2% |
| Black Bolt | 2% |
| Ant-Man | 2% |
| Wasp | 0% |
| Viper | 0% |
| Spider-Man (Peter Parker) | 0% |
| Ms Marvel | 0% |
| Jean Grey | 0% |
| Crystal | 0% |
| Cassandra Nova | 0% |
| Black Widow Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. | 0% |
A few characters benefited from a higher representation of Avengers, with Iron Fist overtaking Bullseye for the most popular character, and Hulk especially seeing a lot more inclusion than on day one.
Looking ahead to the online season 7 meta, I’m expecting a decent amount of Avengers, but probably not at this level.
Crises
Note: Not all the players reported their full lists, so the figures from here on represent the 44 rosters that were fully reported
| Extract | % |
| Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities | 57% |
| Research Station Attacked! | 50% |
| Struggle for the Cube Continues | 34% |
| Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan | 30% |
| Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown! | 30% |
| Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership | 27% |
| Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? | 23% |
| The Montesi Formula Found | 20% |
| Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction? | 16% |
| Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! | 14% |
Higher amounts of research station today compared with yesterday, with a commensurate drop in Cubes and Spider Infected, but otherwise a pretty similar picture.
| Secure | % |
| Infinity Formula Goes Missing! | 45% |
| Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 | 41% |
| Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest | 41% |
| Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? | 39% |
| Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusment Park | 25% |
| Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians | 23% |
| Terrigen Cloud Sweeps Over City | 18% |
| Intrusions Open Across City as Seals Collapse | 16% |
| Portals Overrun City with Spider-People! | 16% |
| S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moon’s Blue Area | 16% |
| Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Sweeps Across Earth | 14% |
| Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnessess | 7% |
Demons and Deadly Meteors are the big gainers on Day 2, without significant movement elsewhere.
Tactics Cards
| Card | % |
| Medpack (R) | 57% |
| Brace for Impact (R) | 52% |
| Heroes for Hire | 45% |
| Disarm | 41% |
| Field Dressing (R) | 39% |
| Sacrifice | 39% |
| Blind Obsession | 34% |
| Deal with the Devil | 30% |
| Avengers Assemble | 27% |
| Climbing Gear | 25% |
| Advanced R&D | 23% |
| Bitter Rivals (R) | 23% |
| Marked for Death | 23% |
| Mission Objective | 20% |
| Patch Up (R) | 20% |
| Siege of Darkness | 20% |
| Lethal Protector | 18% |
| Helios Laser Bombardment | 16% |
| Monkey Brain is Lizard Home | 14% |
| Bats the Ghost Hound | 14% |
| Follow Me | 11% |
| Mothership | 11% |
| Ricochet Blast | 11% |
| Sinister Traps | 11% |
| Well-Laid Plans | 11% |
| The Grand Illusion | 11% |
| Birds of Prey | 11% |
| All According to Plan | 9% |
| Deadly Duo | 9% |
| Deception | 9% |
| X-Ceptional Healing | 9% |
| Crew of the Milano | 9% |
| No More Mutants | 9% |
| Tactical Analysis | 9% |
| Carnage Rules | 9% |
| Gamma Launch | 9% |
| Grievous Wounds | 9% |
| We are Groot | 7% |
| Cat and Mouse | 7% |
| Escort to Safety | 7% |
| Highway to Hell | 7% |
| Lovable Misfits | 7% |
| Dark Reign | 7% |
| Eyes on the Prize | 7% |
| Smash | 7% |
| Neoenetic Recombinator | 7% |
| Seance | 7% |
| All Webbed Up | 5% |
| Usurp the Throne | 5% |
| Hood’s Gang | 5% |
| Spider-Tracker | 5% |
| Illicit Tech | 5% |
| Dark Restoration | 5% |
| Execute | 5% |
| Inspiring Monologue | 5% |
| Odin’s Blessing | 5% |
| Warpath | 5% |
| Extreme Conditioning | 5% |
| Cosmic Invigoration | 5% |
| Can I Borrow That? | 5% |
| Bar with no Doors | 5% |
| Iron Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath | 5% |
| One-Two Punch | 5% |
| Orb of Agamotto | 5% |
| Plane of Polhldahk | 5% |
| Blood to Spare | 5% |
| Heavy Firepower | 5% |
| Second Wind | 5% |
| Cruelty | 2% |
| A.I.M Lackeys | 2% |
| No Matter the Cost | 2% |
| Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes | 2% |
| Chimichangas | 2% |
| Face Me | 2% |
| Pentagram of Farallah | 2% |
| Pretty Sneaky Sis | 2% |
| The Cat and the Spider | 2% |
| The Whims of Chaos | 2% |
| Last-Minute Save | 2% |
| Recalibration Matrix | 2% |
| Seven Suns of Cinnibis | 2% |
| Asteroid M | 2% |
| Astral Ring | 2% |
| Book of Cagliostro | 2% |
| First Class | 2% |
| Magnetic Refraction | 2% |
| Sucker | 2% |
| To Me My X-Men | 2% |
| Weapon X Program | 2% |
| Yoink | 2% |
| Banishment | 2% |
| Daughters of Thanos | 2% |
| Fearful Symmetry | 2% |
| Heavy Ordnance | 2% |
| Inhuman Royal Family | 2% |
| Kick ‘Em While They’re Down | 2% |
| Rainbow Bridge | 2% |
| Red Room Training | 2% |
| Seeing Red | 2% |
| Shhh… | 2% |
| Sibling Rivalry | 2% |
| Terrigenesis | 2% |
| There Will Be Carnage | 2% |
| Vibranium Shielding | 2% |
| Wakanda Forever | 2% |
With Iron Fist being the most popular, Heroes for Hire is super popular. Otherwise no suprises compared with yesterday,
What got played
81 games were played.
| Extract | % |
| Fear Grips World As Worthy Terrorize Cities | 19% |
| The Montesi Formula Found | 16% |
| Research Station Attacked! | 16% |
| Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown! | 14% |
| Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership | 7% |
| Struggle for the Cube Continues | 7% |
| Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? | 6% |
| Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators! | 6% |
| Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan | 5% |
| Mystic Wakandan Herbs: Fact or Fiction? | 4% |
Montesi formula seems to have been favoured by the random number generator – probably not something people expected coming in to today.
| Secure | % |
| Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest | 17% |
| Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 | 12% |
| Infinity Formula Goes Missing! | 11% |
| Intrusions Open Across City as Seals Collapse | 9% |
| S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moons Blue Area | 9% |
| Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? | 7% |
| Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnesses | 7% |
| Portals Overrun City With Spider-People! | 7% |
| Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians | 6% |
| Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park | 6% |
| Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth | 5% |
| Terrigen Clouds Sweep Over City | 2% |
Much more Gamma today than yesterday, but such is the way of the random nature of crisis selection. Researcher is also up, but that’s in line with its popularity.
| Threat | % |
| 14 | 7% |
| 15 | 11% |
| 16 | 11% |
| 17 | 33% |
| 18 | 15% |
| 19 | 12% |
| 20 | 7% |
A lower representation of 17 threat, but still by far the most common.
What was winning?
In comparison with yesterday, the priority split was almost “perfect”, 49% of games were won by the player with priority, and 51% the player without. Maybe yesterday was a statistical anomaly – we will need a much larger sample set to make solid judgements. Roll on season 7.
Again, three players went undefeated:
Douglas Kropp (Sploosh): Criminal Syndicate + Black Order
| Characters | Tactics Cards | Extracts |
| Kingpin | Brace for Impact (R) | Struggle for the Cube Continues |
| Hood | Medpack (R) | Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? |
| Bullseye | Sacrifice | Research Station Attacked! |
| Black Cat | Disarm | |
| Thanos | Mothership | Secures |
| Corvus Glaive | Climbing Gear | Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest |
| Proxima Midnight | Monkey Brain is Lizard Home | Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 |
| Luke Cage | Heroes for Hire | Infinity Formula Goes Missing! |
| Lizard | All According to Plan | |
| Black Widow | Cruelty | |
| Infinity Gems | ||
| Reality – Corvus | ||
| Mind – Thanos | ||
| Power – Thanos |
Nate Horn (GhostDeer): Guardians of the Galaxy
| Characters | Tactics Cards | Extracts |
| Star-Lord | Field Dressing (R) | Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership |
| Rocket Raccoon | Brace for Impact (R) | Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities |
| Groot | Deadly Duo | Research Station Attacked! |
| Drax the Destroyer | Lovable Misfits | |
| Nebula | Crew of the Milano | Secures |
| Angela | Blind Obsession | Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest |
| Winter Soldier | Deal with the Devil | Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? |
| Venom | Lethal Protector | Infinity Formula Goes Missing! |
| Bullseye | Marked for Death | |
| Ghost Rider | Sacrifice |
Aaron England (Spellshock): Black Order + Midnight Sons
| Characters | Tactics Cards | Extracts |
| Black Cat | Bitter Rivals | Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown! |
| Blade | Deal with the Devil | Research Station Attacked! |
| Corvus Glaive | Execute | Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership |
| Doctor Voodoo | Follow Me | |
| Ghost Rider | Heroes for Hire | Secures |
| Iron Fist | Marked for Death | Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Sweeps Across Earth |
| Proxima Midnight | Medpack (R) | Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? |
| Thanos | Mothership | Intrusions Open Across City as Seals Collapse |
| Vision | Sacrifice | |
| Wong | Siege of Darkness | |
| Infinity Gems | ||
| Reality – Corvus | ||
| Mind – Thanos | ||
| Space – Thanos |
Today was the day Black Order came to play. Mike De Luca also qualified for day 3 in 5th with Black Order in his roster. Guardians have been tipped as an affiliation that could do well in the right hands, and I look forward to seeing how they get on in the cut.
Xavier Protocols 