Best Of

Kabam stated act 9 was the end of book 2. Or, rather the beginning of the end of book 2.

I won’t deny that, seeing the damage with Cyclops when he’s fully ramped is really fun but unfortunately it’s not something you’ll be able to pull off in BGs most of the time and whenever you do you against the defenders he’s supposed to counter you will most likely lose a good amount of hp which if you’re being competitive just isn’t good enough. The utility is sort of already there, and he would’ve been great if he at least had the zeal passive Nico has so the thorns and bleed damage never decays and you recover 100% but in his current state he doesn’t even make the top 10 list there are way better mutants than him. Strange on the other hand will definitely make the top 10 maybe even the top 5 purely because of all the buff and power control, and block regen he has:

1. He is going to be one of the most reliable Serpent counters only after Nico.
2. He will potentially be the best Imperiosa counter who is really nasty on metas where she actually gets to throw her specials, that block penetration is nasty.
3. Most of the current top mystic champs rely on power steal heavily making them not that effective for Hulkling, Strange doesn’t which will make him one of the best and safest Hulkling counters out there.

So yeah, I can see where you’re coming from but I think Strange overall is going to have a lot of value compared to someone like Cyclops who gets outshined not just by the top 5 mutants but the 6-10 ones as well. Strange might not make it to the top 5 but he’s definitely somewhere in 6-10.

Now, if you’re talking about the fun aspect purely yeah he’s very fun especially in long fights where you can ramp him up fully and spam specials back to back so I won’t argue that. I just think whoever designed his kit missed the mark in terms of utility, a prowess based mutant with no daunted in 2024 who can’t counter thorns and block damage fully is criminal.

He would feel so much better if he had just automatically had a fractured power, not sure why they decided to go with the double tap instead it’s not like he’s this Tigra level attacker so you need to add some complexity to his playstyle. He’s really just there to nuke Serpent and Hulkling, not sure how well he can handle Dark Phoenix and Thanos. Other than that tho, huge W, already can see him being more relevant than Cyclops was when his buff was released

Honestly, I don't even care how good new Strange is; he is just so damn fun to play it doesn't matter! They did a great job with him.

Doing incursions twice isn’t too bad - but I don’t understand why they couldn’t have given us the piece for completing either week so we could use Star Lord against this week’s coliseum Void. It would have been a fantastic opportunity to let us really get a feel for SF SL in content he’s built for, against a science champ, let them get more attention and interest in SF champs… disappointing choice

Rewards do reset.

No not really, the duping a max sig is mostly for the titan, but every 7* dupe will give something. Here's the post: https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/407213/retroactive-economy-rewards-deeper-ascension-insights#latest

We're getting shards for the ascension pool crystal

Lizard is a completely separate thing where you'll get ascension materials for him every time you pull him until ascension comes out

15 isnt too bad, 6 star Aegon can solo most of it, and not to mention there will be 7-8(?) Boss Hacks in the first 10 zones. Plan accordingly. Top Boss Hacks include:

Second Chance

Mutually Assured Destruction (regen on specials)

Buff Cornucopia

Also, take advantage of pausing and closing the app immediately when you know you're about to get KO'd FOR SURE. You will come back to your champion with his health cut in half, which wont matter when you can regen a ton and have the passive indestructible from Second Chance.

Genuinely asking…. Is it mainly Masters alliances that hate it? I get it as most of the large spenders are in those alliances (like yours). I’d be upset if I built my roster for AW mainly to only get to use 1 defender.

From most other alliances, it seems Big Thing is strongly preferred based on discord, line chats and in here. Maybe there is a solution to where the top 100 alliances (or whatever) get the full map and a separate set of rewards and every else has Big Thing with lower rewards?

Either way, having Big Thing war more often is a win. A suggestion for next time:

A better map and allow bans! Imagine having all season with Yelena on node 3 with Anti Venom, Nefaria and Warlock banned. That’s what makes it fun!