Mutants in Midgard! An LVO Qualifier Battle Report

Core

Storm: Leading X-Men Gold, she's the starting bloc of most Uncanny X-Men rosters

Beast, Domino, Rogue, Logan: The usual affiliated pieces, Beast being the go-to 3 threat for his mobility, cheap displacement and 50mm base. Domino is there to put some offensive pressure on the opposing team. Rogue serves mainly as a resilient control piece, the default model to throw size 4 terrain and brings Mutant Absorption to round up her kit. Finally, Logan rounds up the core models well with a solid offensive kit, a size 3 character throw with reliable mobility.

Tech

Pyro: Bringing above average damage and great utility with his Firewall superpower that lets X-Men leverage their better inherent mobility. In addition to Root and Slow, he can easily incinerate which synergizes well with his signature Tactics Card, Pyrotechnics and makes setting up Kick'Em While They're Down a lot easier.

Mystique: A lot has already been said about what Mystique does well, be it Deception, her Shapeshifter superpower, Expert Sabotage and so on. In X-Men, the combination of Stealth, Martial Artist and Cover granted from the leadership when she's outside her Martial Artist range makes her a lot more resilient and helps her put pressure on the board. She also brings a long mover to help with scenario plays.

Scarlet Witch: I brought Wanda to the event because I felt I needed a bigger model that could hit very hard and would bring some additional tools to help deal with harder match ups or more brawly scenario combinations.

Trials

Emma Frost: The White Queen is definitely a unique character. I wanted to bring her for scenarios where I would be able to use both her normal and diamond form to some effect. Emma also brings the Tactics Card; Headmistress, which lets her help move other affiliated models.

Psylocke: The second model I wanted to try during this event was Psylocke because I felt she would bring a very mobile and hard-hitting model to X-Men that would go well with Logan and Rogue if I needed to have a good brawling team.

Games

Game #1: X-Men vs Hydra, Mutant Madmen/Spider-Infected (17)

Teams: Storm, Beast, Logan, Rogue, Mystique vs Red Skull, Master of Hydra, Baron Strucker, Spider-Woman, Arnim Zola, Nebula

At first, when I lost priority and my opponent chose to pick their extracts, I was confused and figured there was something I missed in their list. So, I went with a team I felt comfortable for the scenario. I end up being able to grab 3 Spider-Infected on round 1 and keep parity on the Madman traps for most of the game, locking the win 21-15.

Game #2: X-Men vs Hellfire Club, Deadly Meteors/Skrulls (20)

Teams: Storm, Beast, Domino, Logan, Psylocke, Mystique vs Emma Frost, Ulik, Beta Ray Bill, Baron Mordo, Rhino.

This game I was getting to play one of my friends and regular sparring partner with whom I practiced for this event. Unluckily for them, the dice on my round one are significantly above average and I manage to daze, Emma Frost, Beta Ray Bill and Baron Mordo on round 1 while grabbing a 5-1 VP lead. At the beginning of round 2, they go with Emma Frost which manages to do barely anything to Logan, who proceeds to KO Beta Ray Bill, almost go through both Emma Frost and Mordo, at which point we agreed that it's mostly a non-game at this point and wrap it up soon after.

Game #3: X-Men vs Hydra redux, Demons Downtown/Spider-Infected (17)

Teams: Storm, Domino, Rogue, Psylocke, Pyro vs Red Skull, Master of Hydra, Baron Strucker, Spider-Woman, Hood, Bullseye

From the start, I knew that playing in Demons Downtown, especially without priority, it would be a brawly game, but with Spider-Infected, I also figured I would need a team that’s mobile enough to stay in the action even if my models were displaced. Choosing Red Skull’s leadership for the game, I figured I would be able to fight well enough. Early on, I get behind on VP’s, letting my opponent score the central Demon Portal but letting me get ahead on attrition. We then trade attacks back and forth and I catch up my VP deficit to tie it up 9-9 on round 3 but having KOed 2 of my opponent’s characters. I end up tabling my opponent on round 5 with Domino, Rogue and Psylocke, winning the game on the spot with a final score of 13-10.

Game #4: X-Men vs Brotherhood, Spider-Portals/Senators

Teams: Storm, Emma Frost, Logan, Psylocke, Mystique vs Mystique, Sabretooth, Apex Predator, Juggernaut, Hulk

Being on Senator against Mystique, especially against a good player, I knew I had a tough challenge ahead of me. Usually, I try to let my opponent grab more Senators than I (4-2) but be a lot more aggressive on the Secures to keep both parity of VP and the inherent mobility provided by the X-Men leadership. We play a very close game being tied or close to on VPs for most of the game, but I don’t manage to pivot well enough to keep the advantage on Secures and end up losing on round 5, 20-17.

 

Game #5: X-Men vs Criminal Syndicate, Spider-Portals/Hammers

Teams: Storm, Domino, Logan, Psylocke, Rogue vs Kingpin, Hood, Ulik, Rhino, Bullseye

For the last game, I figure I’d bring a more resilient team to be able to deal with my expectation of seeing Shadowlands Daredevil on the other side of the board but instead encounter Kingpin with hard hitting, resilient models. I manage to get a big lead early on, finishing round 1 with 3 Portals and 2 Hammers but made some pretty terrible sequencing and target priority decisions, overcommitting into Hood and Ulik without getting rid of them which lets my opponent take a big scenario and attrition advantage which I almost manage to come back from but not quite and end up losing 21-19 on round 5.

Overall, I’m ambivalent on my performance at this event, I liked the opportunity of having the newly released Emma Frost and Psylocke in my roster to try them out, but was disappointed with my performance, especially in my last game where I felt I could’ve played a lot better. I still had a lot of fun and all my opponents were very nice and friendly which is the most important thing.

The event highlighted how both Emma Frost and Headmistress are a lot harder to use than they look on paper and I think they either don’t fit the classic game plan of X-Men or she’s not proactive enough to lock a spot in my roster. I think, like Jean Grey, she might have a great use case if the meta is right but felt very much like a tech character and not quite a generalist. Psylocke on the other hand impressed me very much, she brings solid mobility and good damage but has no form of control compared to the likes of Rogue and Logan, but so far, I like her enough that I see her staying in my roster.

Thanks for taking the time to read this peace and as always, don’t forget to have fun!