Picture the scene – the day of roster submission for the largest MCP event in the world. People have submitted their lists or are the brink of pushing that button, revising them right up to deadline, when suddenly Atomic Mass Games announces that there are major changes to the banned and restricted list, introducing a third category: ‘rotated’. The league organisers very sensibly pushed the pause button, and made everyone resubmit their rosters, but in the new, standard legal format.

Health Warning

What that gives us is a unique look at the initial effect that has had on the online meta. Whilst not all the lists were in as the deadline hadn’t been reached, there were 232 rosters submitted before the lists were closed on the old system. Under the new system, we have 298, making this the largest league so far, but raising a slight warning: the two data sets are not just direct changes to individual rosters (but I’m hoping to get to that at some point!), but also 66 new rosters that weren’t previously accounted for. That means the data I present here isn’t a perfect reflection of the changes, but is robust enough to give some good general conclusions. Changes of up to +/-4% will be hard to distinguish from general noise of a larger data set, so significant changes that are larger than that are what I will generally be commenting on below.

Anyway, on to the numbers!

Affiliations

Affiliations	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
1	227	76%	-1%
2	64	21%	0%
3	5	2%	1%
4	0	0%	-1%
5	2	1%	1%

Mono-affiliated lists remain the vast majority. Two brave soles added an extra affiliation to their rosters, to sport 5 leaders (though these rosters appear to be more Thanos and Friends to my eyes!).

Affiliation	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
Criminal Syndicate	50	17%	4%
Avengers	44	15%	0%
Brotherhood of Mutants	34	11%	1%
Guardians of the Galaxy	30	10%	0%
Uncanny X-men	24	8%	0%
Black Order	24	8%	-3%
Convocation	21	7%	0%
Spider Foes	21	7%	2%
Cabal	20	7%	-2%
Web Warriors	20	7%	-1%
S.H.I.E.L.D	14	5%	2%
Wakanda	12	4%	-1%
A-Force	12	4%	-1%
Asgard	12	4%	0%
Midnight Sons	10	3%	-1%
Defenders	10	3%	0%
Inhumans	8	3%	1%
Dark Dimension	8	3%	0%
Unaffiliated	4	1%	0%
X-Force	0	0%	-1%

Whilst only a 1% point change, X-force going from 2 to 0 rosters is a full 100% decrease. But otherwise, this change hasn’t had large impacts on what people are choosing to play. You might say that restricting gems has led to a 3% drop in Black Order. This doesn’t meet my threshold but bear it in mind when you look at numbers for Thanos, and especially Corvus and Proxima below.

Characters

Character	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
Toad	107	36%	-2%
Hood	92	31%	10%
Black Cat	88	30%	1%
Bullseye	84	28%	4%
Winter Soldier	82	28%	4%
Doctor Voodoo	78	26%	0%
Heimdall the All-seeing	77	26%	4%
Black Panther	63	21%	-1%
Rogue	59	20%	0%
Juggernaut	57	19%	0%
Shadowlands Daredevil	49	16%	1%
Mystique	48	16%	0%
Hulk	46	15%	-2%
Iron Man	46	15%	2%
Venom	42	14%	1%
Rocket Raccoon	41	14%	0%
Scarlet Witch	41	14%	3%
Baron Zemo	40	13%	-5%
Lizard	40	13%	-3%
X23	39	13%	2%
Luke Cage	39	13%	6%
Thanos	38	13%	-11%
Nebula	37	12%	1%
Quicksilver	36	12%	0%
Vision	35	12%	-1%
Black Swan	35	12%	0%
Captain America (Sam Wilson)	34	11%	-2%
Angela	34	11%	-2%
Magik	34	11%	0%
Wong	34	11%	2%
Black Widow	33	11%	-5%
Iron Fist	33	11%	0%
Loki God of Mischief	33	11%	0%
Magneto	33	11%	1%
Killmonger	33	11%	2%
Captain America (Steve Rogers)	32	11%	-1%
Ghost Spider	31	10%	-3%
Medusa	31	10%	2%
Doctor Strange	31	10%	3%
Groot	30	10%	0%
Star-Lord	30	10%	0%
Ebony Maw	29	10%	-3%
Domino	29	10%	-2%
Okoye	29	10%	-1%
Honey Badger	29	10%	2%
Corvus Glaive	28	9%	-4%
Baron Mordo	28	9%	-1%
Gambit	28	9%	0%
Kingpin	28	9%	0%
Moon Knight	27	9%	-4%
Shuri	27	9%	1%
Ghost Rider	27	9%	2%
Mysterio	25	8%	-2%
Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme	25	8%	0%
Proxima Midnight	24	8%	-4%
Enchantress	24	8%	0%
Hulkbuster	24	8%	3%
Nick Fury	24	8%	3%
Green Goblin	24	8%	3%
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)	23	8%	-1%
Beast	22	7%	-2%
Storm	22	7%	-1%
Gamora	21	7%	-1%
M.O.D.O.K.	20	7%	0%
She-Hulk	19	6%	-1%
Supergiant	18	6%	-2%
Hawkeye	18	6%	0%
Valkyrie	18	6%	0%
Captain Marvel	18	6%	1%
Thor Prince of Asgard	18	6%	1%
Ancient One	17	6%	1%
Kraven the Hunter	17	6%	1%
Ms Marvel	17	6%	2%
Red Skull	16	5%	-3%
Crystal	16	5%	0%
Doctor Octopus	16	5%	0%
Amazing Spider-man	16	5%	1%
Black Dwarf	15	5%	-3%
Ultron	14	5%	0%
Lockjaw	13	4%	-1%
Blade	11	4%	0%
Drax the Destroyer	11	4%	0%
Ronan the Accuser	11	4%	0%
Ant-Man	11	4%	1%
Sin	10	3%	0%
Black Bolt	10	3%	1%
Omega Red	9	3%	-2%
Mister Sinister	9	3%	-1%
Dormammu	9	3%	0%
Jean Grey	9	3%	0%
Skurge	9	3%	0%
Colossus	8	3%	1%
Carnage	7	2%	-1%
Cassandra Nova	7	2%	0%
War Machine	7	2%	1%
Wolverine	7	2%	1%
Cyclops	6	2%	0%
Clea	5	2%	-1%
Elektra	5	2%	-1%
Wasp	5	2%	0%
Spider-Man (Peter Parker)	5	2%	0%
Black Widow Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.	5	2%	1%
Crossbones	4	1%	-2%
Bob Agent of Hydra	4	1%	-2%
Deadpool	4	1%	0%
Taskmaster	4	1%	0%
Sabretooth	3	1%	0%
Daredevil	3	1%	1%
Cable	1	0%	-3%
Viper	1	0%	-1%
Hela	1	0%	0%
Punisher	1	0%	0%

The Terrible Toad King! This unsuspecting 2 threat has wormed his way in to 36% of lists. Now that’s not the heady heights Okoye reached in her heyday, but seeing a 2 threat right up there makes you reflect on their value in rosters.

The biggest winner in terms of character selection has been Hood, up 10% from pre-standard Season 8 rosters, at the cost of Thanos, down 11%. Corvus and Proxima are down a bit (-4% each, which may well not just be noise. Luke Cage seems to on the rise maybe partly as he brings with him a truly excellent tactics card.

The “power bottom 10” (to steal a phrase from some podcasters) now features no completely unloved characters, has some usual suspects, but Taskmaster is a surprise to me, maybe a casualty of Winter Soldier making the top 5 most popular.

Voodoo has been displaced from top spot, but hangs around near the top. I think a lot of people were predicting a shift in crises away from single extract crises like Alien Ship and maybe also more pay-to-flip crises like Mutant Madmen. Speaking of which…

Crises

Secures	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due?	124	42%	5%
Intrusions open across city as seals collapse	98	33%	-2%
Mutant Madman Turns City CenterCentre Into Lethal AmusmentAmusement Park	98	33%	3%
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest	85	29%	0%
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate!	75	25%	-5%
Infinity Formula Goes Missing!	74	25%	-1%
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0	68	23%	1%
Portals Overrun City with Spider-People!	63	21%	3%
Terrigen Cloud Sweeps Over City	58	19%	-2%
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians	53	18%	2%
S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moon’s Blue Area	51	17%	-2%
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Sweeps Across Earth	31	10%	1%
Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnessess	16	5%	-3%

So Madmen in particular did see a growth in popularity since season 7, but Demons is back with a vengeance. Maybe Field Dressing and Medpack both disappearing has egged on the attrition focussed team, along with Shadowlands Daredevil being a New Shiny (and a damn good one at that) maybe being a factor. Since the changes, Demons is up even more, at the expense of Scoundrels.

Extracts	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities	188	63%	1%
Struggle for the Cube Continues	122	41%	9%
The Montesi Formula Found	113	38%	5%
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan	111	37%	4%
Research Station Attacked!	107	36%	-4%
Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!	87	29%	-3%
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership	69	23%	0%
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured?	54	18%	2%
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators!	43	14%	-3%
Mystic Wakanda Herbs: Fact or Fiction?	0	0%	-12%

Herbs going away was always going to change the numbers, but I would have been the least popular Extract in S8 under the old rules, boosting Cubes up: it’s quite often the fourth crisis that just misses out when I build rosters, so maybe that’s not a huge surprise on reflection. Hammers continues to be by far the most popular extract, so make sure you have plans for what to do with and against hammer-lovers.

Tactics Cards

I plan to do a bit more delving in to tactics cards in the coming days, but here is a first pass to see the initial effect of the changes:

Tactics Card	Rosters	%	Change from old rules
Brace for Impact (R)	179	60%	2%
Patch Up (R)	131	44%	28%
Mission Objective	118	40%	15%
Follow Me	108	36%	18%
Marked for Death	104	35%	17%
Indomitable (R)	85	29%	-40%
Fall Back	61	20%	18%
No Matter the Cost	59	20%	13%
Do You Know Who I Am?	57	19%	2%
Heroes for Hire	56	19%	6%
Escort to Safety	55	18%	12%
Sacrifice (R)	52	17%	-23%
Deception	50	17%	1%
X-Ceptional Healing	42	14%	6%
Lethal Protector	42	14%	2%
Helios Laser Bombardment	41	14%	6%
Advanced R&D (R)	41	14%	-19%
All According to Plan	40	13%	5%
Hood’s Gang	37	12%	5%
Avengers Assemble	37	12%	-1%
Face Me	36	12%	7%
No More Mutants	34	11%	3%
Usurp the Throne	33	11%	3%
Asteroid M	33	11%	2%
Magnetic Refraction	31	10%	1%
Warpath	30	10%	9%
Can I Borrow That?	30	10%	0%
Journey through Limbo	29	10%	2%
Deadly Duo	29	10%	0%
Smash	28	9%	5%
Ricochet Blast	27	9%	1%
We are Groot	27	9%	2%
Deal with the Devil	25	8%	3%
Crew of the Milano	24	8%	3%
Shhh…	23	8%	-4%
First Class	23	8%	0%
Mothership	22	7%	-3%
To Me My X-Men	22	7%	-1%
Lovable Misfits	22	7%	2%
Recalibration Matrix	22	7%	7%
Inspiring Monologue	22	7%	7%
Eyes on the Prize	22	7%	3%
Iron Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath	21	7%	0%
Versatile Strategy	21	7%	0%
Trip Up	21	7%	4%
Cruel Tutelage	21	7%	4%
Bar with no Doors	21	7%	0%
Spider-Tracker	19	6%	0%
Execute	19	6%	1%
All Webbed Up	19	6%	-2%
The Grand Illusion	18	6%	-2%
Monkey Brain is Lizard Home	18	6%	1%
Sinister Traps	18	6%	1%
Plane of Polhldahk	17	6%	1%
Jonathan the Unstoppable	17	6%	2%
Dark Reign	17	6%	-2%
Eye in the Sky	17	6%	3%
Blood to Spare	17	6%	1%
First of the Black Order	16	5%	-2%
Well-Laid Plans	16	5%	1%
One-Two Punch	15	5%	2%
Wakanda Forever	14	5%	0%
Vibranium Shielding	14	5%	2%
Gamma Launch	14	5%	1%
Cosmic Invigoration	14	5%	-2%
Black Onslaught	14	5%	0%
The Whims of Chaos	13	4%	1%
No Mercy	13	4%	2%
Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes	13	4%	1%
A.I.M Lackeys	13	4%	2%
Disarm(R)	13	4%	-11%
Special Delivery	12	4%	0%
Odin’s Blessing	12	4%	1%
Second Wind	12	4%	1%
Shadow Organization	12	4%	1%
Cruelty	12	4%	1%
Psychic Shielding Device (P.S.D.)	12	4%	3%
Sitrep	12	4%	3%
Battlefield Medicine	12	4%	1%
The Age of Ultron	11	4%	-1%
Mental Domination	11	4%	0%
Stalwart Determination	11	4%	0%
Rainbow Bridge	11	4%	2%
Children of the Atom	11	4%	2%
Siege of Darkness	10	3%	-1%
Last-Minute Save	10	3%	0%
Orb of Agamotto	10	3%	0%
Wand of Watoomb	10	3%	0%
The Shieldmobile	9	3%	1%
Kick ‘Em While They’re Down	9	3%	2%
Neoenetic Recombinator	9	3%	2%
Book of Cagliostro	9	3%	0%
Daughters of Thanos	9	3%	2%
Doomed Prophecy	9	3%	1%
Birds of Prey	9	3%	0%
Bats the Ghost Hound	9	3%	0%
Astral Ring	9	3%	1%
Sibling Rivalry	8	3%	2%
Grievous Wounds	8	3%	1%
Dark Restoration	8	3%	0%
Bane of Damballah	8	3%	1%
Psychic Shockwave	7	2%	-2%
Reposition	7	2%	-1%
Inhuman Royal Family	7	2%	0%
Pym Particles	7	2%	0%
Seven Suns of Cinnibis	7	2%	1%
Elemental Infusion	7	2%	0%
Carnage Rules	7	2%	0%
Illicit Tech	6	2%	-1%
Price of Failure	6	2%	0%
Power of the Cosmos	6	2%	1%
Uneasy Allies	6	2%	1%
Shuriken Arashi	6	2%	2%
The Books of Truth	6	2%	2%
Dark Past	6	2%	2%
A-Force Assemble!	6	2%	-1%
Highway to Hell	5	2%	0%
Seance	5	2%	1%
Meet My Executioner	5	2%	1%
Defensive Prototype	5	2%	2%
A Better Tomorrow	5	2%	0%
Terrigenesis	4	1%	-1%
The Cat and the Spider	4	1%	-1%
Till the End of the Line	4	1%	0%
Red Room Training	4	1%	1%
The Initiative	4	1%	1%
Fan Club	4	1%	1%
Carbonadium Synthesizer	4	1%	-1%
Cloning Banks	3	1%	0%
Psychic Fortress	3	1%	1%
Helicarrier Strike	3	1%	1%
Sucker	3	1%	1%
Vapors of Valtorr	3	1%	1%
Dark Empowerment	3	1%	0%
Attilan Rising	3	1%	1%
Difficult to Please	2	1%	1%
Making a Ruckus	2	1%	1%
Pentagram of Farallah	2	1%	1%
Weapon X Program	2	1%	1%
Chimichangas	2	1%	1%
Fastball Special	2	1%	1%
Forced Extraction	2	1%	1%
Heave Ho	2	1%	1%
The Air Force	2	1%	1%
Wolverines	2	1%	1%
Banishment	2	1%	1%
Magnetic Crush	1	0.3%	0.3%
Mind If I Cut In?	1	0.3%	0.3%
There Will Be Carnage	1	0.3%	0.3%
Weapons of Midgard	1	0.3%	0.3%
Fearful Symmetry	1	0.3%	0.3%
Heavy Firepower	1	0.3%	0.3%
K’un-Lun Training	1	0.3%	0.3%
Thunderwave	1	0.3%	0.3%
Agents of S.M.A.S.H.	1	0.3%	0.3%
The Airforce	1	0.3%	0.3%
Vendetta	1	0.3%	0.3%
Medpack (R)	0	0%	-59%
Field Dressing (R)	0	0%	-49%
Blind Obsession	0	0%	-33%
Climbing Gear	0	0%	-22%
Bitter Rivals (R)	0	0%	-8%
Tactical Analysis	0	0%	-5%
Battle Lust	0	0%	-4%
To Ash and Cinder	0	0%	-1%
Seeing red	0	0%	-1%
Unearthly rage	0	0%	-1%
Acute Senses	0	0%	-1%
Extreme Conditioning	0	0%	-1%
Rocket Boots?!	0	0%	-1%
Cat and Mouse	0	0%	0%
Charming Thief	0	0%	0%
Web Barrier	0	0%	0%
No Escape	0	0%	0%
Reversal	0	0%	0%
Heavy Ordnance	0	0%	0%
Anger Management	0	0%	0%
Blood Red and Personal	0	0%	0%
Bounty Hunters	0	0%	0%
Dirty Work	0	0%	0%
Hard Reset	0	0%	0%
Jean!!!	0	0%	0%
Life Model Decoy	0	0%	0%
Pardon Me, Sugah	0	0%	0%
Pretty Sneaky Sis	0	0%	0%
Professionals	0	0%	0%
Tactical Maneuvers	0	0%	0%
Yoink	0	0%	0%

Well, that looks a bit different. Brace on top is predictable. What is more interesting is seeing the real risers. Patch Up saw a huge rise, up 10% points more than any other card. Below that, Fall Back, Follow Me, Marked for Death, Mission Objective, No Matter the Cost and Escort to Safety are the pick of the unaffiliated cards moving up by between 12% points and 18% points compared to before we knew about Standard. A number of Character cards are also up significantly.

Mission Objective is a card worth calling out. It often saves you losing a victory point, and your opponent gaining it, so it can easily be “worth” 2 victory points. It used to languish mid-table in these lists, but now is the highest non-restricted card.

At the bottom end, 4 cards that got rotated weren’t being brought at all anyway: Web Barrier, No Escape, Reversal and Heavy Ordinance.

I’ll be breaking down more of the data as I get a chance to, so keep tuned in to catch all of the impact we are seeing from the Standard changes.