**Mastery Loadouts**
Due to issues related to the release of Mastery Loadouts, the "free swap" period will be extended.
The new end date will be May 1st.
Due to issues related to the release of Mastery Loadouts, the "free swap" period will be extended.
The new end date will be May 1st.
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Falcon: My experience with an underrated attacker
Primerprime5
Posts: 1,238 ★★★★
After the Falcon Buff, he's proven himself to be an excellent Evade counter, but he's rarely considered beyond that. Being the (relatively) proud owner of a 4 star R3 Falcon, I decided to test him out against various opponents, and I've found him to be criminally underrated. If used well, he's an absolute beast that shuts down the best defenders in the game. I haven't fully finished testing him out, but some of my favourite and surprising moments are as follows:
1) Nightcrawler- Falcon destroys Nightcrawler, but only when Locked On. I've found that the best way to use him is to Lock Onto NC while he's in Nephty-whatever mode, and force him into Swashbuckling Mode while on cooldown. Rinse and repeat, and NC will never evade.
2) Thing- Nothing new here, but still definitely worth a mention. Falcon's Lock On prevents Thing from gaining Rock Stacks, and with an aggressive playstyle you can easily push into Sp3 Range by the time it ends. The only downside is waiting for 8 seconds, but taunt-parrying usually stalls Thing long enough.
3) Carnage- Locking On right at the start of the fight before either Falcon or Carnage lands a hit doesn't allow the latter to activate any Symbiotic Buffs. It's an excellent way to prevent Carnage from quickly building up the Physical Resistance that makes him annoyingly tanky in longer fights.
4) Domino- This one surprised me. I didn't know Critical Failure is a Defensive Ability (and maybe I'm wrong and I just got very lucky without it triggering), but it doesn't activate when Falcon is Locked On. I've tested it around 2-3 times (activate Lock On and let Domino hit me), and it never triggers while Lock On is active. If I'm right, then this is a definite game changer.
5) Red Hulk- Falcon prevents Red Hulk from building Heat Charges, via both losing health and Sp1. I don't think I need to say anything else about this; Red Hulk becomes useless without Heat Charges, and this allows Falcon to tear him apart.
6) Korg- While Locked On, Korg's Rock Shield doesn't deal damage when striking into it, making Falcon another viable counter against him.
7) Electro- Similar to Korg, Lock On doesn't allow Electro to deal back damage on being hit. The advantage Falcon has over other anti-Electro Champs (like IMIW, Gambit, etc.) is that it applies to all hits, making it less stressful to use him in such a scenario.
8) Nick Fury- The one that inspired me to come up with this post. Falcon doesn't allow Fury to build up Tactical Charges. This one actually scared me a tiny bit, as this actually means that Falcon will prevent Fury from reaching his full potential (especially in his second stage). Even Mutant Champs aren't as effective against Fury, and I'm still testing this out.
1) Nightcrawler- Falcon destroys Nightcrawler, but only when Locked On. I've found that the best way to use him is to Lock Onto NC while he's in Nephty-whatever mode, and force him into Swashbuckling Mode while on cooldown. Rinse and repeat, and NC will never evade.
2) Thing- Nothing new here, but still definitely worth a mention. Falcon's Lock On prevents Thing from gaining Rock Stacks, and with an aggressive playstyle you can easily push into Sp3 Range by the time it ends. The only downside is waiting for 8 seconds, but taunt-parrying usually stalls Thing long enough.
3) Carnage- Locking On right at the start of the fight before either Falcon or Carnage lands a hit doesn't allow the latter to activate any Symbiotic Buffs. It's an excellent way to prevent Carnage from quickly building up the Physical Resistance that makes him annoyingly tanky in longer fights.
4) Domino- This one surprised me. I didn't know Critical Failure is a Defensive Ability (and maybe I'm wrong and I just got very lucky without it triggering), but it doesn't activate when Falcon is Locked On. I've tested it around 2-3 times (activate Lock On and let Domino hit me), and it never triggers while Lock On is active. If I'm right, then this is a definite game changer.
5) Red Hulk- Falcon prevents Red Hulk from building Heat Charges, via both losing health and Sp1. I don't think I need to say anything else about this; Red Hulk becomes useless without Heat Charges, and this allows Falcon to tear him apart.
6) Korg- While Locked On, Korg's Rock Shield doesn't deal damage when striking into it, making Falcon another viable counter against him.
7) Electro- Similar to Korg, Lock On doesn't allow Electro to deal back damage on being hit. The advantage Falcon has over other anti-Electro Champs (like IMIW, Gambit, etc.) is that it applies to all hits, making it less stressful to use him in such a scenario.
8) Nick Fury- The one that inspired me to come up with this post. Falcon doesn't allow Fury to build up Tactical Charges. This one actually scared me a tiny bit, as this actually means that Falcon will prevent Fury from reaching his full potential (especially in his second stage). Even Mutant Champs aren't as effective against Fury, and I'm still testing this out.
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Comments
Carnage - it’s not the buffs that are annoying. It could be that power gain from cavalier biohazard paths. He’s been there back to back month. Not exactly a tough defender.
I r4ed my 5*. The upgrade makes him have utility again. Definitely better for evaders. Otherwise, I’m still seeing lack luster dmg compared to other non evade counters. (Ex havok/namor for KM, electro, thorns, etc). He will have some niche uses. He shut down Immortal Hulks regen. You could probably very carefully avoid biohazard (if you had to had too) and abomination poison from hitting him.