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The new end date will be May 1st.
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Silver Surfer: Disrespected for far too long
KDSuperFlash10
Posts: 5,869 ★★★★★
I am making this thread to appreciate a champion who has been disrespected for far too long. That’s right, that champion is Silver Surfer. People have called him a “lemon”, they’ve called him a “meme tier” champion, they’ve called him a “massive disappointment”. I am here to tell you that Silver Surfer is a cosmic god in MCOC. His power is yet to be fully understood by a lot of the MCOC community, and I hope this thread can help you understand why Silver Surfer is TRULY worthy of his name, the Silver Surfer, a Herald of the mighty Galactus.
Now some of you may be thinking to yourselves, “KD, what is this title? Where is the ‘SILVER SURFER IS THE BEST COSMIC CHAMPION IN THE GAME - CORVUS COME OUTSIDE - THE APOLOGY NEEDS TO BE AS LOUD AS THE DISRESPECT’ title that we all expected?” Well, this time, I chose to make a very insightful thread because Silver Surfer is obviously not the best cosmic champion in the game, he’s not even top 4. This thread is not intended for comparisons between champs, it’s intended for an analysis of Silver Surfer’s mechanics and stats. I want to spend this time showing to all of you why Silver Surfer is extremely underrated and a very powerful champion.
2 days ago, I took Silver Surfer to r5 for 2 reasons. No, NOT prestige, no, NOT AW defense, no, NOT stupidity. The 2 reasons are the following:
1. Fun. Silver Surfer is the funnest (Yes, it is a word. Ask my 6th grade English teacher. Ah, the nostalgia.) champion I have ever played in MCOC. His rotation is so satisfying to pull off and his animations are ice cold. He is my current favorite champion in the game (Sorry Cable). I’ve been using him literally everywhere recently cuz I’m having way too much fun with him.
2. Power. Silver Surfer is a cosmic god, with all sorts of interesting mechanics, damage, and utility. I took him to r5 because I have no doubt that I will be using him quite a lot in challenging content in the future for all sorts of lanes and nodes. And I will enjoy every single minute of it.
I will be injecting every single cosmic signature stone that I acquire right into him, NOT for prestige, but for sheer power, as his sig ability helps in making his powerful buffs even stronger.
Let’s talk about his mechanics.
He has 3 buffs (power rate, fury, armor up) that rotate in a “power cosmic buff” cycle where you either charge a heavy attack for 1 buff or use an sp1 for 2 buffs of that specific buff type. After this, the power cosmic buff goes on cooldown and you plan for your next buff. Each unique buff on Silver Surfer (doesn’t even need to be from his abilities, can be from dexterity and external sources) increases his external energy damage per hit (other than his regular damage) by +273.63. Typically, I use a heavy attack at the start of the fight for a power rate buff to get my power rolling and start the cycle. When the power cosmic buff resets, I use an sp1 for 2 fury buffs for maximum damage. While I am doing all of this, I am building up power so that I can get to my sp3, which will give me an aptitude buff. However, before that, the 3rd cycle of the power cosmic buff comes, and I go for 1 armor up buff using my heavy attack. Now, I have an ideal buff rotation for Silver Surfer. I use an sp3 to gain my aptitude buff, which will increase the potency of all of my buffs by 25%, increasing my damage, armor rating, and power rate. After this, it is a repeated cycle of refreshing that power rate buff so that all of your buffs are active the entire time (The reason the power rate buff is shorter than the other buffs is so you can refresh it). After this, you throw sp2’s for maximum damage, and let me tell you this, they hit hard. In addition, the potency of the energy damage per unique buff from this attack is increased by a whopping +180%, making it hit very hard. Just as a tip, for a bit of extra energy damage, trigger dexterity right before throwing the sp2 for one more unique buff. For the cherry on top, the sp2 is unblockable (and it’s a buff, so you gain even more energy damage), so you can penetrate straight through that block! You also don’t need to worry about the buffs falling off because all buffs on Silver Surfer and the power cosmic are paused throughout the duration of all special attacks. I can only imagine that sp2 in the incursions with buff cornucopia (I will be testing it soon, do not fret).
So that was essentially his rotation in a nutshell. Now to talk about his utility and his “hidden” utility. First off, every single time he throws a heavy attack to gain a buff from the power cosmic, he places 3 armor breaks on the opponent. These armor breaks aren’t as potent as say Sym Supreme’s armor breaks or Medusa’s armor shattered, but they’re nothing to look past. However, damage is not their intention. They provide utility whenever not just 1, but 3 armor breaks would be required. Emma Frost, a stacked IMIW, Ghost, and other armor champions/nodes/interactions are completely shut down with the flick of a single heavy attack. Now for a piece of “hidden utility” that some people skim past when reading up on Silver Surfer. His “phase” mechanic. Most people see it as just a mechanic so that you can charge a heavy mid combo or out of the blue to acquire a buff from the power cosmic safely. However, it is much more than that. You can use the phase mechanic to “tank” special attacks. You can time your play so that you phase at the moment of impact when the opponent throws their special attack. Depending on the length of the opponent’s special attack animation, you can phase through (meaning take 0 chip damage) through some or all of their special attacks. To put this into perspective, Silver Surfer can phase through the entirety of Winter Soldier’s sp2 (See MSD’s Silver Surfer guide). I’ve used his phase mechanic to phase through some parts of the opponent's special attacks, and sometimes the entirety of their special attacks. This, coupled with his incredibly potent armor up buffs, make him a very sustainable champion who will take very little chip damage throughout the fight. By being able to heavy attack freely without the risk of retaliation, Silver Surfer has a ton of control on the fight.
Next for his pseudo-immunities. He takes -100% less damage from all incinerate, coldsnap, and shock debuffs. This is incredibly useful, as in the right matchup, you can essentially heal from those debuffs. Think matchups like Hulkbuster, Freezer Burn, Iceman, any 30/60 second DOT nodes of those debuff types, and all sorts of other matchups that would inflict those debuffs. They provide him with great utility, as he doesn’t just ignore those debuffs, he heals from them but more importantly, they increase his energy damage by a significant amount. In addition to each unique buff increasing his energy damage by +273.63 per hit, each debuff (not unique) increases his energy damage by +273.63. Get those debuffs rolling!
On his base, Silver Surfer has +1131 energy resistance, which is a respectable amount of energy resistance, meaning he can get around some nodes that would deal energy damage to Silver Surfer with not as much damage taken as other champions. You can heal from willpower from certain energy debuffs due to his energy resistance, however the 3 debuffs he’s resistant to are the 3 most common energy debuffs in MCOC at the moment, so the energy resistance is just a nice added bonus.
As Silver Surfer has access to many buffs and debuffs, he is both a buffed up and diss track counter. He can easily build up buffs with the power cosmic, making him a great buffed up counter. He can also easily place 3 armor break debuffs on the opponent, making him a great diss track counter.
In addition, Silver Surfer has a vigilance buff off his sp1 that he can use to counter miss. However, this vigilance buff does not really play into his normal rotation, so therefore unless being a miss counter is needed, that buff will not be utilized.
Let’s get into the numbers a little bit. Before we get into the numbers, I’m going to consider Silver Surfer at sig 200, which makes all of his buffs 50% more potent. However, he does not at all need to be at sig 200 to have great damage, armor rating, or power rate. Instead, it merely makes them even stronger, but is not necessary. I will not be considering the aptitude buff he gains off his sp3, which increases the potency of his buffs by +25%, so make of that what you will. His buffs can be even more powerful than what I will be describing below. I will be considering all of the stats as being representative of a 5 star rank 5 champion. Just as a disclaimer, the below champion comparisons are in no way intended to be comparisons between the champions themselves, they are merely comparisons between the stats.
First off, the fury buffs. 2 fury buffs, which are very easy to obtain (1 sp2 and you can keep them on for the entire fight), provide a whopping +3283.5 attack rating for the entire fight if he is played correctly. This attack bonus is very, very strong. This attack bonus also does NOT include his energy damage from each unique buff, which does add quite a lot to his damage. To put this into perspective:
Nick Fury’s fury buff grants a +4141.8 attack bonus
Silver Surfer has a comparable base attack to Nick Fury
Silver Surfer’s armor break debuffs (decrease opponent’s armor rating by 1111.77 all together) and energy damage make his damage very comparable to Nick Fury’s
Now, this is not to take away from Nick Fury. We all know how strong those bleeds are. Nick Fury’s is clear of Silver Surfer’s, but against a bleed immune opponent, they do nearly the same amount of damage.
Medusa with 3 fury buffs gains a +1311.6 attack bonus
Of course, her armor shattered gives her a lot more damage as well, but Silver Surfer’s fury buffs are much more potent
Each of Venom’s fury buffs increase his attack rating by +365.55
Each of Ghost’s fury buffs off her heavy attacks increases attack rating by +1297.5
Each of Ghost’s passive furies from phasing a DOT debuff increase her attack rating by +2595
Keep in mind that all of the above champions except for Nick Fury cannot sustain their furies for the entire fight. In addition, none of the above champions can sustain their furies for the entire fight consistently while being at a high health level. So yeah, Silver Surfer can pack a punch while also being very sustainable.
For the power rate buff, I’m going to keep it concise. At sig 200, each power rate buff increases his ability power rate by +22.5%, which makes it so that he can cycle special attacks with ease and keep the rotation going. Obviously, there are more powerful “power rate” or “power gain” effects in the game, like Hyperion’s and Vision (Aarkus)’s, but it is nothing to overlook.
Finally, for the armor up buff. At sig 200, each armor up buff increases his armor rating by +3150. This armor rating, with JUST one armor up, is insanely potent. His armor up buff, which can be sustained throughout the entire fight, also makes him a Havok counter and one of, if not the best counter to that Diss Track Energy Adoption Havok in 6.4.3. Colossus, a well-known extremely tanky champion, with 13 armor ups gains an armor rating bonus of +3029. Silver Surfer with just one armor up beats that. With 2 armor up buffs, Silver Surfer goes to a Super Saiyan level of Armor, as he increases his armor by +6300. This value is nearly equivalent to Colossus with 27 (TWENTY-SEVEN!) armor ups, who gains an armor rating increase of +6291. This armor rating makes Silver Surfer extremely sustainable, as he takes very little chip damage. Punisher 2099’s specials hit like a feather into Silver Surfer’s block (you could also phase through some of it and block the rest). This armor rating does not require RNG, nor does it require more parries than presidents of the United States (Sorry Colossus). It requires 2 heavy attacks OR 1 special attack 1. ONE sp1. Mind-blowing.
Silver Surfer is a very worthwhile investment of sig stones because each sig level increases the potency of his power rate, damage, and armor rating by a small amount, but it adds up. +50% potency for all of his buffs is a really nice addition to his kit. There are also not many top tier cosmic champions who need sig levels past sig 20 (other than CMM, although she is perfectly capable at sig 20). Therefore, Silver Surfer will be a very worthwhile investment of your sig stones. Also, if you care about it, Silver Surfer has the highest prestige in the game, so the sig stone investment will be very beneficial for you prestige-wise.
Ok ok so KD, why isn’t Silver Surfer the best champion in the game?
Well I’ll tell you why. He is a fantastic champion but has his weaknesses.
1. His debuff pseudo-immunities only reduce the damage taken from those debuffs by -100%. That means that any bonus debuff potency nodes or interactions (ex. Human Torch incinerates) will actually make him take damage from those debuffs. Unfortunately, his pseudo-immunities are not like Corvus’, who takes 0 damage from the debuffs that he is pseudo-immune to (bleed, coldsnap, and shock). In addition, by being -100% resistant to incinerate, coldsnap, and shock DEBUFFS, he is not resistant to their respective passive effects. He cannot deal with E.M.P. modification, which any fully shock immune champion would be able to deal with. He cannot deal with Mephisto’s aura of incineration, as that is a passive effect.
2. His miss counter vigilance buff does not play into his rotation. In order to fully utilize his vigilance buff, which is quite short, you cannot play in the ideal Silver Surfer rotation. Therefore, if you need a miss counter, you’re better off using a proper miss counter who can sustainably and consistently negate miss effects.
3. Phase buff length - His phase buff can be incredibly useful, but it comes at a cost in that you will not always be able to phase special attacks as when you phase, it is not guaranteed that the opponent will throw their special attack. You can play around this by throwing the heavy attack right as they throw their special attack, but that could screw up your rotation if you chose the wrong buff from the power cosmic.
4. The aptitude buff off of Surfer’s sp3 cannot stack. This is unfortunate, as it only increases his buff potency by +25%, which is nothing crazy (although it is nice). If the aptitude limit was changed, he could have even more buff potency potential, although it can be argued that his buffs are already incredibly potent as they are.
5. Finally, some champions just have more to them. In late 2020, the standard for the quality of champions is incredibly high. Colossus has 6 immunities and is one of the highest damage dealers in the game. Ghost can convert every DOT on herself into potent furies, making her stronger and stronger. Quake doesn’t even need to touch the opponent to do damage, and can reduce the opponent’s ability accuracy by 100%. Doctor Doom has much more damage potential than Silver Surfer with 2 furies, in addition to being an incredibly powerful power control and buff control champion. To be completely frank, some champions just do more than Silver Surfer.
Conclusion: Silver Surfer is an amazing champion with a lot of cool mechanics and tricks. He can deal a LOT of damage and has all sorts of interesting pieces of utility. He is DEFINITELY a worthy rank up in most Summoners’ rosters, whether it is for actual usage or for prestige. Silver Surfer will be relevant in this game for a very long time because of his prestige, but I hope that this guide will have convinced some of you guys that he is much more than just a prestige champion. If you have any questions on Silver Surfer or this guide, feel free to post them below.
Peace out and have a fantastic day,
KD
Now some of you may be thinking to yourselves, “KD, what is this title? Where is the ‘SILVER SURFER IS THE BEST COSMIC CHAMPION IN THE GAME - CORVUS COME OUTSIDE - THE APOLOGY NEEDS TO BE AS LOUD AS THE DISRESPECT’ title that we all expected?” Well, this time, I chose to make a very insightful thread because Silver Surfer is obviously not the best cosmic champion in the game, he’s not even top 4. This thread is not intended for comparisons between champs, it’s intended for an analysis of Silver Surfer’s mechanics and stats. I want to spend this time showing to all of you why Silver Surfer is extremely underrated and a very powerful champion.
2 days ago, I took Silver Surfer to r5 for 2 reasons. No, NOT prestige, no, NOT AW defense, no, NOT stupidity. The 2 reasons are the following:
1. Fun. Silver Surfer is the funnest (Yes, it is a word. Ask my 6th grade English teacher. Ah, the nostalgia.) champion I have ever played in MCOC. His rotation is so satisfying to pull off and his animations are ice cold. He is my current favorite champion in the game (Sorry Cable). I’ve been using him literally everywhere recently cuz I’m having way too much fun with him.
2. Power. Silver Surfer is a cosmic god, with all sorts of interesting mechanics, damage, and utility. I took him to r5 because I have no doubt that I will be using him quite a lot in challenging content in the future for all sorts of lanes and nodes. And I will enjoy every single minute of it.
I will be injecting every single cosmic signature stone that I acquire right into him, NOT for prestige, but for sheer power, as his sig ability helps in making his powerful buffs even stronger.
Let’s talk about his mechanics.
He has 3 buffs (power rate, fury, armor up) that rotate in a “power cosmic buff” cycle where you either charge a heavy attack for 1 buff or use an sp1 for 2 buffs of that specific buff type. After this, the power cosmic buff goes on cooldown and you plan for your next buff. Each unique buff on Silver Surfer (doesn’t even need to be from his abilities, can be from dexterity and external sources) increases his external energy damage per hit (other than his regular damage) by +273.63. Typically, I use a heavy attack at the start of the fight for a power rate buff to get my power rolling and start the cycle. When the power cosmic buff resets, I use an sp1 for 2 fury buffs for maximum damage. While I am doing all of this, I am building up power so that I can get to my sp3, which will give me an aptitude buff. However, before that, the 3rd cycle of the power cosmic buff comes, and I go for 1 armor up buff using my heavy attack. Now, I have an ideal buff rotation for Silver Surfer. I use an sp3 to gain my aptitude buff, which will increase the potency of all of my buffs by 25%, increasing my damage, armor rating, and power rate. After this, it is a repeated cycle of refreshing that power rate buff so that all of your buffs are active the entire time (The reason the power rate buff is shorter than the other buffs is so you can refresh it). After this, you throw sp2’s for maximum damage, and let me tell you this, they hit hard. In addition, the potency of the energy damage per unique buff from this attack is increased by a whopping +180%, making it hit very hard. Just as a tip, for a bit of extra energy damage, trigger dexterity right before throwing the sp2 for one more unique buff. For the cherry on top, the sp2 is unblockable (and it’s a buff, so you gain even more energy damage), so you can penetrate straight through that block! You also don’t need to worry about the buffs falling off because all buffs on Silver Surfer and the power cosmic are paused throughout the duration of all special attacks. I can only imagine that sp2 in the incursions with buff cornucopia (I will be testing it soon, do not fret).
So that was essentially his rotation in a nutshell. Now to talk about his utility and his “hidden” utility. First off, every single time he throws a heavy attack to gain a buff from the power cosmic, he places 3 armor breaks on the opponent. These armor breaks aren’t as potent as say Sym Supreme’s armor breaks or Medusa’s armor shattered, but they’re nothing to look past. However, damage is not their intention. They provide utility whenever not just 1, but 3 armor breaks would be required. Emma Frost, a stacked IMIW, Ghost, and other armor champions/nodes/interactions are completely shut down with the flick of a single heavy attack. Now for a piece of “hidden utility” that some people skim past when reading up on Silver Surfer. His “phase” mechanic. Most people see it as just a mechanic so that you can charge a heavy mid combo or out of the blue to acquire a buff from the power cosmic safely. However, it is much more than that. You can use the phase mechanic to “tank” special attacks. You can time your play so that you phase at the moment of impact when the opponent throws their special attack. Depending on the length of the opponent’s special attack animation, you can phase through (meaning take 0 chip damage) through some or all of their special attacks. To put this into perspective, Silver Surfer can phase through the entirety of Winter Soldier’s sp2 (See MSD’s Silver Surfer guide). I’ve used his phase mechanic to phase through some parts of the opponent's special attacks, and sometimes the entirety of their special attacks. This, coupled with his incredibly potent armor up buffs, make him a very sustainable champion who will take very little chip damage throughout the fight. By being able to heavy attack freely without the risk of retaliation, Silver Surfer has a ton of control on the fight.
Next for his pseudo-immunities. He takes -100% less damage from all incinerate, coldsnap, and shock debuffs. This is incredibly useful, as in the right matchup, you can essentially heal from those debuffs. Think matchups like Hulkbuster, Freezer Burn, Iceman, any 30/60 second DOT nodes of those debuff types, and all sorts of other matchups that would inflict those debuffs. They provide him with great utility, as he doesn’t just ignore those debuffs, he heals from them but more importantly, they increase his energy damage by a significant amount. In addition to each unique buff increasing his energy damage by +273.63 per hit, each debuff (not unique) increases his energy damage by +273.63. Get those debuffs rolling!
On his base, Silver Surfer has +1131 energy resistance, which is a respectable amount of energy resistance, meaning he can get around some nodes that would deal energy damage to Silver Surfer with not as much damage taken as other champions. You can heal from willpower from certain energy debuffs due to his energy resistance, however the 3 debuffs he’s resistant to are the 3 most common energy debuffs in MCOC at the moment, so the energy resistance is just a nice added bonus.
As Silver Surfer has access to many buffs and debuffs, he is both a buffed up and diss track counter. He can easily build up buffs with the power cosmic, making him a great buffed up counter. He can also easily place 3 armor break debuffs on the opponent, making him a great diss track counter.
In addition, Silver Surfer has a vigilance buff off his sp1 that he can use to counter miss. However, this vigilance buff does not really play into his normal rotation, so therefore unless being a miss counter is needed, that buff will not be utilized.
Let’s get into the numbers a little bit. Before we get into the numbers, I’m going to consider Silver Surfer at sig 200, which makes all of his buffs 50% more potent. However, he does not at all need to be at sig 200 to have great damage, armor rating, or power rate. Instead, it merely makes them even stronger, but is not necessary. I will not be considering the aptitude buff he gains off his sp3, which increases the potency of his buffs by +25%, so make of that what you will. His buffs can be even more powerful than what I will be describing below. I will be considering all of the stats as being representative of a 5 star rank 5 champion. Just as a disclaimer, the below champion comparisons are in no way intended to be comparisons between the champions themselves, they are merely comparisons between the stats.
First off, the fury buffs. 2 fury buffs, which are very easy to obtain (1 sp2 and you can keep them on for the entire fight), provide a whopping +3283.5 attack rating for the entire fight if he is played correctly. This attack bonus is very, very strong. This attack bonus also does NOT include his energy damage from each unique buff, which does add quite a lot to his damage. To put this into perspective:
Nick Fury’s fury buff grants a +4141.8 attack bonus
Silver Surfer has a comparable base attack to Nick Fury
Silver Surfer’s armor break debuffs (decrease opponent’s armor rating by 1111.77 all together) and energy damage make his damage very comparable to Nick Fury’s
Now, this is not to take away from Nick Fury. We all know how strong those bleeds are. Nick Fury’s is clear of Silver Surfer’s, but against a bleed immune opponent, they do nearly the same amount of damage.
Medusa with 3 fury buffs gains a +1311.6 attack bonus
Of course, her armor shattered gives her a lot more damage as well, but Silver Surfer’s fury buffs are much more potent
Each of Venom’s fury buffs increase his attack rating by +365.55
Each of Ghost’s fury buffs off her heavy attacks increases attack rating by +1297.5
Each of Ghost’s passive furies from phasing a DOT debuff increase her attack rating by +2595
Keep in mind that all of the above champions except for Nick Fury cannot sustain their furies for the entire fight. In addition, none of the above champions can sustain their furies for the entire fight consistently while being at a high health level. So yeah, Silver Surfer can pack a punch while also being very sustainable.
For the power rate buff, I’m going to keep it concise. At sig 200, each power rate buff increases his ability power rate by +22.5%, which makes it so that he can cycle special attacks with ease and keep the rotation going. Obviously, there are more powerful “power rate” or “power gain” effects in the game, like Hyperion’s and Vision (Aarkus)’s, but it is nothing to overlook.
Finally, for the armor up buff. At sig 200, each armor up buff increases his armor rating by +3150. This armor rating, with JUST one armor up, is insanely potent. His armor up buff, which can be sustained throughout the entire fight, also makes him a Havok counter and one of, if not the best counter to that Diss Track Energy Adoption Havok in 6.4.3. Colossus, a well-known extremely tanky champion, with 13 armor ups gains an armor rating bonus of +3029. Silver Surfer with just one armor up beats that. With 2 armor up buffs, Silver Surfer goes to a Super Saiyan level of Armor, as he increases his armor by +6300. This value is nearly equivalent to Colossus with 27 (TWENTY-SEVEN!) armor ups, who gains an armor rating increase of +6291. This armor rating makes Silver Surfer extremely sustainable, as he takes very little chip damage. Punisher 2099’s specials hit like a feather into Silver Surfer’s block (you could also phase through some of it and block the rest). This armor rating does not require RNG, nor does it require more parries than presidents of the United States (Sorry Colossus). It requires 2 heavy attacks OR 1 special attack 1. ONE sp1. Mind-blowing.
Silver Surfer is a very worthwhile investment of sig stones because each sig level increases the potency of his power rate, damage, and armor rating by a small amount, but it adds up. +50% potency for all of his buffs is a really nice addition to his kit. There are also not many top tier cosmic champions who need sig levels past sig 20 (other than CMM, although she is perfectly capable at sig 20). Therefore, Silver Surfer will be a very worthwhile investment of your sig stones. Also, if you care about it, Silver Surfer has the highest prestige in the game, so the sig stone investment will be very beneficial for you prestige-wise.
Ok ok so KD, why isn’t Silver Surfer the best champion in the game?
Well I’ll tell you why. He is a fantastic champion but has his weaknesses.
1. His debuff pseudo-immunities only reduce the damage taken from those debuffs by -100%. That means that any bonus debuff potency nodes or interactions (ex. Human Torch incinerates) will actually make him take damage from those debuffs. Unfortunately, his pseudo-immunities are not like Corvus’, who takes 0 damage from the debuffs that he is pseudo-immune to (bleed, coldsnap, and shock). In addition, by being -100% resistant to incinerate, coldsnap, and shock DEBUFFS, he is not resistant to their respective passive effects. He cannot deal with E.M.P. modification, which any fully shock immune champion would be able to deal with. He cannot deal with Mephisto’s aura of incineration, as that is a passive effect.
2. His miss counter vigilance buff does not play into his rotation. In order to fully utilize his vigilance buff, which is quite short, you cannot play in the ideal Silver Surfer rotation. Therefore, if you need a miss counter, you’re better off using a proper miss counter who can sustainably and consistently negate miss effects.
3. Phase buff length - His phase buff can be incredibly useful, but it comes at a cost in that you will not always be able to phase special attacks as when you phase, it is not guaranteed that the opponent will throw their special attack. You can play around this by throwing the heavy attack right as they throw their special attack, but that could screw up your rotation if you chose the wrong buff from the power cosmic.
4. The aptitude buff off of Surfer’s sp3 cannot stack. This is unfortunate, as it only increases his buff potency by +25%, which is nothing crazy (although it is nice). If the aptitude limit was changed, he could have even more buff potency potential, although it can be argued that his buffs are already incredibly potent as they are.
5. Finally, some champions just have more to them. In late 2020, the standard for the quality of champions is incredibly high. Colossus has 6 immunities and is one of the highest damage dealers in the game. Ghost can convert every DOT on herself into potent furies, making her stronger and stronger. Quake doesn’t even need to touch the opponent to do damage, and can reduce the opponent’s ability accuracy by 100%. Doctor Doom has much more damage potential than Silver Surfer with 2 furies, in addition to being an incredibly powerful power control and buff control champion. To be completely frank, some champions just do more than Silver Surfer.
Conclusion: Silver Surfer is an amazing champion with a lot of cool mechanics and tricks. He can deal a LOT of damage and has all sorts of interesting pieces of utility. He is DEFINITELY a worthy rank up in most Summoners’ rosters, whether it is for actual usage or for prestige. Silver Surfer will be relevant in this game for a very long time because of his prestige, but I hope that this guide will have convinced some of you guys that he is much more than just a prestige champion. If you have any questions on Silver Surfer or this guide, feel free to post them below.
Peace out and have a fantastic day,
KD
44
Comments
But if you wanna get into the stats and analysis of his mechanics, you're gonna have to read the analysis parts of the thread at least cuz I don't have tldr's of those.
Sorry for the weird formatting in the stats section
He's not bad. And he's fun. And shiny.
Nobody wants to scroll up and down the whole time.
Christ! 🙄
I have Silver Surfer as a 6-star myself. The benefit being, that I don't have to waste rank up resources to get him usable in Cavalier level content.
Unlike the general consensus, I always thought he was quite decent - his damage was quite good even with only a few buffs on and not the full contingent. I don't have him awakened, and have never run him with a synergy team (the Hulk or Doctor Strange one seems extremely beneficial, but I don't have/enjoy either of them). It has been fun playing with him, especially in the Side Events that inflict incinerate /coldsnap / shock.
The drawback to him for me is the complexity: paying attention to buff timers, my own power level, as well as managing the enemy AI, in addition to the fight itself.
What always interested me the most about Silver Surfer was a phase mechanic. Similar to Ghost (and now Tigra), this ability to ignore damage completely always seemed tantalizing to me. Like you said in the write up though, it seems hard to rely on (either because the AI is not compliant, or the duration of the phase to cooldown timer is not in your favor).
I have occasionally been able to bait the enemy's SP and phase it, but that usually interferes with my ability to maintain my buff rotation. Unlike Ghost and Tigra, there seems to be a trade-off in offense in utilizing Surfer's phase. Both Ghost and Tigra's 'phases' enhance their offensive ability in addition to avoid damage, while Surfer's phase potentially harms the offensive ability (due to timing of buffs and his rotation).
I am really hoping to see more guides on Silver Surfer and how to weaponize his phase ability better.