Quiet Council Meeting: Twity

Hello and welcome back!

As we are getting near the end of 2024, I wanted to do something special to wrap up the year. So I reached out to some of the most experienced X-Men players out there to do a retrospective on the X-Men in 2024. In this series, I'll be asking open questions about characters, Team Tactics Cards the state of the game and what's coming on the horizon. In today's article, I have the pleasure of hosting Twity!

Section 1: New Leadership

In 2024, the Uncanny X-Men recieved, with the release of Charles Xavier, a brand new leader to supplement Storm and Cyclops. What are your thoughts on this new leadership and how it fits in the overall affiliation?

It's certainly strong and viable, but it requires specialized loadouts to execute with and they can be difficult to harmonize with other X-Men rosters headed up by Storm or Cyclops.This is then compounded by the fact that Xavier can have specific match-ups and board states (terrain or scenario) that are disadvantageous.

I think that if you try to cover these scenarios with alternate leaders (either Storm or Cyclops) you end up with subpar X-men rosters simply due to the models that are required to make Xavier function well. The other option for covering weaknesses is to try to include tech pieces that help shore up problematic boards, but that can be difficult to gel with his somewhat inflexible play patterns dictated by the leadership.

When it is in a scenario and match up it likes (of which there are plenty) it is a top tier roster, my main problem is when you run into situations where you are not able to execute on your main plan. There are also games where Xavier is a bit of a dead model (or at least very underwhelming), which can be a hard pill to swallow on a 4 point leader.

I suspect that a experienced or talented Xavier player can overcome bad scenarios by understanding the full extent of the options available to them, but I think that is going to take a ton of practice. If I was trying to make him work for a big event I would lock in a core stable of models (Nightcrawler and Magik are some of my favorites) and then just play it as much as I could while trying out different maneuvers in game.

I also understand the impulse to build a reroll bubble, but I think that one of the strongest aspects of Xavier is the lack of range restriction for power passing. The ability for one model in one corner of the board to influence a fight on the other side is incredibly powerful. That could just be personal bias though, I tend to avoid rosters that like scenarios like gamma shelters.

Section 2: Character reviews & team tactic cards

X-Men received a lot of new characters and team tactic cards in 2024. What are your impression of them, what they bring to X-Men and their place overall in the affiliation?

Professor X

A strong but distinct alternative to play styles that have existed with the current leadership. A subpar model for fighting that should probably only be used when you are using the leadership and have a roster that can take advantage of it.

Bishop

A strong option if you think that your down the center fight is lacking, with the immunities functioning well in scenarios he already likes.

Nightcrawler

My vote for the strongest four threat in X-men, and one of the strongest options in general. He is extremely strong into some of the big meta threats (Asguard, Kaiju lists), and unmatched mobility, strong defensive tech, and the potential to kill anything. The threat of deleting something with Brimstone Blitz is almost stronger then actually trying to pull it off.

I usually use him late on turn one to get a key stun on the board and position in a problematic place (like a rear scenario place), but an early activation can be strong if he can grab a good pay-to-flip while remaining in a good position.

Iceman

An under rate models that creates problems and is difficult to engage into. He is moderately annoying for some rosters and will absolutely dismantle others. Consider him into common meta threats like Zemo1.

Shadowcat

A very strong model that is very reliant on her speed and defensive tech. I use her to get a across the board quickly and support other models. She can usually find something useful to do, and when it is time to throw down she can hit above her weight class.

Angel

I like him, but I understand other peoples hesitancy. When I start playing Storm X-men more I plan on giving him a fair shot, but in a team that is already stacked with strong 3 threats he might come up short.

Cerebro

I have never actually gotten this to work well, but I like it in theory. My main use case was going to be with Jean when she is teched in against lists like Web Warriors, and that is just a scenario that is inherently difficult to get a lot of reps in with.

Mind Wipe

It seems like the threat of this is always better then its actual execution. It still has the potential to be a game winning card.

Xavier's Dream

This is as close to auto include as I get, I don't think I have used X-men without bringing this card. While the obvious use case of saving an important model is great, doing things like denying critical power on a builder can be just as powerful.

Section 3: Current place in the meta

How impactful have you found the new leadership to be for the affiliation?

Not much. I think it is strong, it just doesn't let me play the game I want to play.

How have you found the new models impact your list building and how you approach the affiliation?

I approach the affiliation and list building in a very similar way (mostly affiliated, mostly storm, mostly fast and flexible), it just so happens that Kurt and Kitty fit very nicely into that archetype.

I think it still waits to be seen how Angel will work with what I want to do, but I think my hopes are much higher then other peoples.

Bishop and Xavier are not the types of models I typically like, so I haven't use them much.

What would you say is the biggest gain X-Men made this year and why?

Xavier's Dream or Nightcrawler, but probably Xavier's Dream if I am being honest. There is not game and no scenario where it will be incredibly impactful. The lack of restrictions (what can be reduced, who can pay for it) was probably a little overboard.

What would you say is X-Men's biggest loss this year and why?

Namor is a common threat that plays well into X-men. That being said, I think the threat of Namor has been a lot worse then when I have seen him on the table. I tend to play very wide (primarily 3 point models) and spread out, which does make him a little sad.

He does enable a safe grab as well, and X-men are very good at punishing teams that cannot safe grab.

The biggest loss might be X-Ceptional Healing, that one hurt.

This feels like a meta where a lot of the things that have caused me problems (Deception, Researchers) have been kneecapped and I have all the answers to the big boogeymen.

I would like to thank Twity for taking the time to answer my questions and give feedback on what's been a pretty busy year for the Uncanny X-Men. I'd also like to thank you for taking the time to read this article and as always, don't forget to have fun!