The future of the 6* locked champions (and the buff program)

This will be a bit of a longer post, TLDR at the bottom.

So with the Banquet event we are getting eight old 6* locked champs as new 7* releases (I am not counting The Punisher rework as he was never in the base pool). We also know champs like Ghost Rider, Thor Rags, Dr Strange & X-23 (who I predict will be in the Banquet Box with Hulkling) are getting reworks/updates.

So this got me wondering about the other champions who are currently 6* locked. Frankly many of them suck and should not be released as a 7* as nobody would want them. Some champs are also in the "possibly too OP according to Kabam, like Hercules" category.

Looking at all the remaining champs we have:

Cosmic:
Air-Walker, Annihilus, Black Bolt, Captain Marvel (OG), Cosmic Ghost Rider, Drax, Groot Heimdall, Hela, Hercules, Ikarus, King Groot, Captain Marvel (OG 2.0), Kamala Khan, Proxima, Ronan, Symbiote Spider-Man, The Champion & Thor.

Tech:
Dark Hawk, Dr Octopus, Ghost, Green Goblin, Iron Patriot, Nebula, Psycho-Man, Silver Centurion, Star Lord, Vision AOU & Vulture.

Mutant:
Beast, Cable, Cyclops (Red), Gambit, Jubilee, Kitty Pride, Magneto (Red), Old Man Logan, Psylock, Rogue, Toad & Wolverine.

Skill:
Aegon, Agent Venom, Black Widow (OG), Daredevil (OG), Elektra, Karnak, Kate Bishop, Moon Knight, Squirrel Girl, Task Master & Winter Soldier.

Science:
Abomination, Captain America (OG, Captain America (WW2), Electro, Gladiator Hulk, Rhino & Yellowjacket.

Mystic:
Black Widow (Claire), Dr Doom, Dormammu, Guillotine, Iron Fist, Loki, Mephisto & Morningstar.

Since so many of these champs would be awful to release as a 7* champion (like Red Hulk) and Kabam doesn't wanna just drop all the super strong champs right away, we might be looking at a new buff program soon that will be focussed on mostly champion reworks. Since so many of these remaining 6* locked champs would really need a full on new kit or a big tune-up. Personally this has me very excited as it almost feels like a full new release of a champion.

TLDR:
Many of the remaining 6* locked champions are not good enough to release as a 7* and with Kabam having recently halted their buff program, we might be looing at a new buff program soon that is more focussed on reworks/big tune-ups for older 6* locked champs.

Comments

JESUSCHRIST

Much was said

Nothing was relevant

Mysterio

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902078#Comment_2902078

Jesus Christ talking about relevance? Your last big moment happened over 700.000 days ago buddy!

Buttehrs

Remember, 7* ascension begins in roughly 5 months. When 6* launched, we had roughly the same amount of 5* locked champs. (Relatively speaking). Theres always a group of previous rarity champs that need to either be reworked badly or is too strong for the new rarity. Itll work itself out sooner or later.

Kabam (Osaurus) Rex

"Since so many of these champs would be awful to release as a 7* champion (like Red Hulk) and Kabam doesn't wanna just drop all the super strong champs right away, we might be looking at a new buff program soon that will be focussed on mostly champion reworks. Since so many of these remaining 6* locked champs would really need a full on new kit or a big tune-up. Personally this has me very excited as it almost feels like a full new release of a champion.

Many of the remaining 6* locked champions are not good enough to release as a 7* and with Kabam having recently halted their buff program"

The only thing that was halted was the 6-month period after NEW Champion releases, where they were up for rebalancing. Buffs for older Champions / 6 Star Locked Champions, and in general, have not been stopped.

I appreciate the long and thoughtful post, though!

AlayanZ

I would like them to change the loyalty and incursions artifacts 7* crystal pools. Even if they put there some "bad" champions we can start to slowly obtain them all. Than we would already have them if and when they would get buffed, instead of rework being monetized through a Double Track or have to waste a Titan slot. Yes I'm talking about Cyclops

Magrailothos

I thought it might be an interesting exercise to take your list and remove the insanely OP (Herc, Kate, Ghost, CGR) and also remove the total memes (those who surely can't be released as a 7* without a full rework)...

Which allows us to generate a list of people who are either already suitable for release (not many, and most of them still wouldn't say 'no' to a little adjustment), or those who would benefit from just a minor Tune-up before release (they're in Italics).

Obviously, the list is subjective and open to debate, but for me, it looks like this:

--—---

Cosmic: Annihilus, Hela, Ronan, Air-Walker, Heimdall, Ikaris, King Groot, Proxima, The Champion & Thor.

Tech: Doctor Octopus, Nebula, Darkhawk, Psycho-Man, Silver Centurion, Star Lord & Vulture.

Mutant: Magneto (Red), Cable, Old Man Logan, Psylocke, Rogue, Toad & Wolverine.

Skill: Aegon, Karnak.

Science: Yellowjacket.

Mystic: Dr Doom, Mephisto, Black Widow (Claire), Guillotine, Loki & Morningstar

---

Good to see Rex's comment above; because otherwise I think we'd have to conclude that the several classes (especially Science and Skill) are going to go significantly downhill as the remaining champs join the pool...

Mysterio

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902191#Comment_2902191

Thanks for clarifying that, sorry I got it wrong initially. Since you are here now, I do have one thing I would like to clarify. Since the 6* locked pool is getting smaller and smaller, does that mean we will sometime not too far in the future see buffs to 7* pool champs that are NOT new releases?

Take for example the most handsome champion in the game, me (Mysterio). I feel like a lot of champs are kind of in that Sentinel spot where they have a good base design but could use some small changes to find their place in the modern day MCOC meta and a small buff could do wonders for them.

Mysterio

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902270#Comment_2902270

A pretty solid list TBH. I'd say Dormammu should probably included too. If they buff his damage a bit and some number tweaks he'd be very solid. Good immunities, power/buff control and he looks cool.

Eakomo

the real question is when are they going to release the 5* locked champs, other than magik getting a rework

ItsClobberinTime

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902270#Comment_2902270

Ghost is not op and she's more than ready to be released as a 7*. Can't really keep calling Ghost op when there is a whole list of defenders she is completely useless against (about 75% of all current meta defenders) and that number barely goes down to 50% on nodes where she gets a ton of dot on her which isn't even that common these days other than in war.

WednesdayLength

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902832#Comment_2902832

Yeah the fact that she Was available as a 7 star for battlerealm brawl and saw little to no deck presence, I didnt watch the whole thing so maybe she was used but not that I recall, really says it all. She's still an incredible champion in her own right absolutely, but in the age of neuroshock and crit punishing mutants she's only really going to shine in certain metas and even then it won't be any crazier than shang chi was in the last skill meta. She'll be great for war and general questing but I really don't think she's as busted as she was

Buttehrs

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902830#Comment_2902830

There's only one other champ that's locked at 5* and below. Thats quake. Shell need to be redone like magik if they ever want to release her as 6*+.

LordVirom

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902191#Comment_2902191

Can we have an update for Quake? Since Magik is coming soon with her rework I suppose the same is gonna happen with her?

I think these 2 are the only 5* locked champions as for now. (Maybe I am wrong though)

I really hope we'll get her as 6* and 7* soon. She is unique and her play style is fun.

Finalfuryk

I feel like we've got at least enough for three more crystal pools (Banquet, Omega Days, Reunion etc…) without doing any serious buffs for who's currently left over and locked as six stars and that's because so many science champs that are left are duds. By then, I can see us getting some different style events for new character ascension mixed in with general buffs for the remaining characters.

ItsClobberinTime

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902843#Comment_2902843

Yeah and it was exactly the same for CGR and Herc I didn't see a single person win a round with any of them, Kate is the only one I can see still being extremely dominant because most defenders still aren't immune to her damage or don't slow her down quite enough.

With so many neuroshock and crit punishing mutants as well as champs from other classes like Yelena or Bullseye who also can't miss, her impact on the meta would be minimal. The only times where she would even have a chance to shine would be dot metas but that's about it. She's no longer this versatile champ that can do it all because defender kits have evolved a lot since she got phased out as a 6*.

WednesdayLength

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2902961#Comment_2902961

Yeah there's definitely a huge nostalgia focus. It's just like apocalypse, people were coping so hard that 7 star apocalypse was gonna prove how incredible he is and why he was 6 star locked for so long and he basically ended up being completely forgotten about because he barely counters most of what makes skill defenders so bad now