One of the highlights of the MCP convention events is going on in Las Vegas this weekend: 64 players have qualified for the invitational, and their rosters are in. Here is what some of the top players are bringing when they are trying their hardest to win!

Affiliations

Affiliations	Rosters	%
1	51	80%
2	13	20%

You may notice some disparity between these numbers and the numbers from the Longshanks Event, but that’s because I’ve looked over the rosters, and removed some “dual affiliations” that I don’t believe are intended to be played. When you see a roster purporting to play Wakanda without Wakanda Forever, or A-Force without Special Delivery, for example, I don’t buy the players reporting more affiliations, even though they technically can play it.

There are a lot of single affiliation rosters, but this belies a number that have multiple leaders available: 18 “single affiliation” rosters have brought two (or more) leaderships, and one dual affiliated roster has access to a third leadership. If you count those as duals, the number moves from 20% to 48%.

Affiliation	Rosters	%
Brotherhood	13	20%
X-men	13	20%
Avengers	11	17%
Shield	6	9%
Criminal Syndicate	5	8%
Guardians	5	8%
Web Warriors	5	8%
Cabal	4	6%
Hydra	4	6%
Convocation	3	5%
Wakanda	3	5%
Black order	2	3%
A-Force	1	2%
Spider Foes	1	2%
Weapon X	1	2%
Asgard	0	0%
Dark Dimension	0	0%
Defenders	0	0%
Inhumans	0	0%
Midnight Sons	0	0%
Sentinels	0	0%
Winter Guard	0	0%
X-Force	0	0%

The mutants are having their day in the sun! Together with the Avengers, they make up more than half of the rosters. Eight of the 23 affiliations weren’t represented at all. Of those, Midnight Sons and to an extent Inhumans might surprise some – they both like the crises changes a lot.

Characters

Characater	Rosters	%
Hulk	34	53%
Toad	30	47%
Mystique	25	39%
Juggernaut	24	38%
Doctor Voodoo	20	31%
Pyro	18	28%
Winter Soldier	18	28%
Black Cat	16	25%
Logan, The Wolverine	16	25%
Rhino	16	25%
Black Widow	15	23%
Rogue	15	23%
Beast	13	20%
Bullseye	13	20%
Iron Man	13	20%
Red Skull, Master of Hydra	13	20%
Storm	13	20%
X-23	13	20%
Luke Cage	12	19%
Lizard	11	17%
Malekith the Accursed	11	17%
Domino	10	16%
Magneto	10	16%
Nick Fury	10	16%
Baron Zemo	9	14%
Black Panther	8	13%
Captain America (Sam Wilson)	8	13%
Captain America (Steve Rogers)	8	13%
Ghost-Spider	8	13%
Killmonger	7	11%
Okoye	7	11%
Thanos, The Mad Titan	7	11%
Wong	7	11%
Angela	6	9%
Crimson Dynamo	6	9%
Gamora	6	9%
Hood	6	9%
Magik	6	9%
Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos	6	9%
Sabretooth, Apex Predator	6	9%
Shuri	6	9%
Bob, Agent of Hydra	5	8%
Groot	5	8%
Hawkeye	5	8%
Rocket Raccoon	5	8%
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)	5	8%
Star-Lord	5	8%
Baron Mordo	4	6%
Kingpin	4	6%
M.O.D.O.K.	4	6%
Nebula	4	6%
Quicksilver	4	6%
Scarlet Witch	4	6%
She-Hulk	4	6%
The Blob	4	6%
Amazing Spider-Man	3	5%
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme	3	5%
Hulkbuster	3	5%
Red Guardian	3	5%
Shadowland Daredevil	3	5%
Spider-Man (Peter Parker)	3	5%
Ancient One	2	3%
Baron Strucker	2	3%
Black Dwarf	2	3%
Captain Marvel	2	3%
Ebony Maw	2	3%
Gambit	2	3%
Honey Badger	2	3%
Jean Grey	2	3%
Lockjaw	2	3%
Ms. Marvel	2	3%
Red Skull	2	3%
Steve Rogers, Captain America	2	3%
The Original Human Torch	2	3%
Venom	2	3%
Vision	2	3%
Wasp	2	3%
Ant-Man	1	2%
Arnim Zola	1	2%
Black Swan	1	2%
Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.	1	2%
Carnage	1	2%
Cassandra Nova	1	2%
Colossus	1	2%
Corvus Glaive	1	2%
Crystal	1	2%
Doctor Octopus	1	2%
Doctor Strange	1	2%
Ghost Rider	1	2%
Green Goblin	1	2%
Heimdall, The All-Seeing	1	2%
Iron Fist	1	2%
Loki, God of Mischief	1	2%
Mysterio	1	2%
Proxima Midnight	1	2%
Punisher	1	2%
Supergiant	1	2%
Viper	1	2%
Wolverine	1	2%

Hulk has become the most popular character! I liked him before he was cool. Or good. More Hulks than Toads shows just how good he has become, and it means you really need to have a plan for a Hulk in your roster to compete at the top level.

Some notable fallers from meta-dominance are Doctor Voodoo and Black Cat. Don’t get me wrong – they are still popular (5th and joint-8th respectively), but they are much less prevalent than they have been previously.

Some recent releases have polled well, with Rhino, Logan and Pyro see decent amounts of play, making the top 10.

There are 100 characters brought, leaving 32 characters that didn’t make any rosters:

Black Bolt, Blade, Cable, Clea, Crossbones, Cyclops, Daredevil, Darkstar, Deadpool, Dormammu, Drax the Destroyer, Elecktra, Enchantress, Hela, Kraven, Medusa, Moon Knight, Mr. Sinisiter, Omega Red, Ronoan the Accuser, Sabretooth, Sentinel MK4, Sentinel Prime MK4, Sin, Skurge, Taskmaster, Thor, UltronUrsa Major, Valkyrie and War Machine.

Crises

Secure	Rosters	%
Infinity Formula Goes Missing!	26	41%
Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due?	24	38%
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest	22	34%
Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate!	21	33%
Riots Spark Over Extremis	20	31%
Mutant Madman Turns City Center Into Lethal Amusement Park	18	28%
Intrusions Open Across City as Seals Collapse	13	20%
Portals Overrun City With Spider-People!	12	19%
SWORD Establishes Base On Moons Blue Area	12	19%
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth	11	17%
Mayor Fisk Vows to Find Missing Witnesses	8	13%
Deadly Meteors Mutate Citizens	5	8%

There’s an interesting mix of secures. Infinity formula has never been an unpopular crisis, but it hasn’t normally topped the charts. Gamma usually did that, and it still is being played a lot, despite the changes to it. Demons was unchanged, and remains the kill-you-in-the-face crisis of choice.

Extract	Rosters	%
Fear Grips World As “Worthy” Terrorize Cities	36	56%
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership	27	42%
Paranoia Pummels Populace!	24	38%
Research Station Attacked!	21	33%
The Montesi Formula Found	21	33%
Mutant Extremists Target U.S. Senators!	20	31%
Struggle for the Cube Continues	17	27%
Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan	14	22%
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured?	9	14%
Alien Ship Crashes in Downtown!	3	5%

Hammers remains popular. But the revised Skrulls crisis has rocketed up the charts, along with the brand new Paranoia.

Tactics Cards

Tactics card	Rosters	%
Brace for Impact	55	86%
Fall Back	41	64%
Mission Objective	35	55%
Deception	24	38%
Do You Know Who I Am?	23	36%
X-Ceptional Healing	23	36%
Patch Up	18	28%
Pyrotechnics	18	28%
Sacrifice	18	28%
Recalibration Matrix	17	27%
This is a Robbery	16	25%
Eyes on the Prize	13	20%
First Class	13	20%
Heroes for Hire	13	20%
Escort to Safety	12	19%
Avengers Assemble	11	17%
Indomitable	11	17%
To Me My X-Men	11	17%
Magnetic Refraction	10	16%
Midnight Phantasmagoria	10	16%
No Matter the Cost	10	16%
Asteroid M	9	14%
Eye In The Sky	9	14%
Marked for Death	9	14%
Advanced R&D	8	13%
Helios Laser Bombardment	7	11%
Usurp the Throne	7	11%
Battlefield Medicine	6	9%
Dark Reign	6	9%
Follow Me	6	9%
Gotta Get Some Air	6	9%
Ricochet Blast	6	9%
Smash	6	9%
All Webbed Up	5	8%
Deadly Duo	5	8%
Sitrep	5	8%
Spider-Tracker	5	8%
The Shieldmobile	5	8%
All According To Plan	4	6%
Can I Borrow That?	4	6%
Face Me	4	6%
Journey Through Limbo	4	6%
NO More Mutants	4	6%
Second Wind	4	6%
Sleeper Agent	4	6%
Comrade’s Keeper	3	5%
Crew of the Milano	3	5%
Cruel Tutelage	3	5%
Inevitable Betrayal	3	5%
Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath	3	5%
Plane of Pohldahk	3	5%
The Black Bifrost	3	5%
Vibranium Shielding	3	5%
Wakanda forever	3	5%
We Are Groot	3	5%
A New Age	2	3%
A.I.M. Lackeys	2	3%
Astral Ring	2	3%
Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes	2	3%
Bird of Prey	2	3%
Book of Cagliostro	2	3%
Children of the Atom	2	3%
Cruelty	2	3%
Lethal Protector	2	3%
Mental Domination	2	3%
Shhh…	2	3%
The Bar With No Doors	2	3%
The Initiative	2	3%
The Whims of Chaos	2	3%
World Domination	2	3%
A-Force Assemble!	1	2%
AIM Lackeys	1	2%
Aunt May”s Wheat Cakes	1	2%
Bane of Dambalah	1	2%
Bar with No Doors	1	2%
Black Onslaught	1	2%
Blood to Spare	1	2%
Books of Truth	1	2%
Carnage Rules	1	2%
Cosmic Invigoration	1	2%
Dark Past	1	2%
Daughters of Thanos	1	2%
Defensive Prototype	1	2%
Disarm	1	2%
Do you know who I am?!	1	2%
Execute	1	2%
Fan Club	1	2%
First of the Black Order	1	2%
Gamma Launch	1	2%
Hard Reset	1	2%
Highway to Hell	1	2%
Mothership	1	2%
Orb of Agamotto	1	2%
Power of the Cosmos	1	2%
Psychic Shielding Device P.S.D.	1	2%
Psychic Shockwave	1	2%
Pym Particles	1	2%
Reposition	1	2%
Scientific Method	1	2%
Shadow Organization	1	2%
Sinister Traps	1	2%
Special Delivery	1	2%
Stalwart Determination	1	2%
The Books of Truth	1	2%
The Cat and the Spider	1	2%
The Grand Illusion	1	2%
Trip Up	1	2%
Versatile Strategy	1	2%
Victory Assured	1	2%
Well-Laid Plans	1	2%

Well I guess Brace is good. Seeing two character specific cards in the top 5 (and sort of a third in X-ceptional healing at joint 5th) speaks to the diversity of cards. There are no must takes any more – well, except Brace! Fall Back is a truly excellent card, and combos beautifully with Mission Objective, but plenty are leaving them behind.

Mind bogglingly, there was one player who brought Mystique but not Deception. Go figure!