Chapter Guide – Variant 6 Chapter 1.2 – The Underbelly – “Venom’s Playground”

Summoners!

Here’s my guide for Variant 6 Chapter 1.2 “The Underbelly” in Marvel Contest of Champion.

General Thoughts:

Overall, this is a very easy chapter. Focus on bringing Villain champions with access to Armor Break. There are some excellent options available with this utility, including Venom, Magneto, Sentinel, Hela, and Red Goblin. The most difficult matchups you’ll need counters for are Havok (Lanes 2/3) and Magik (Lane 3).

If you have questions about the basic attack moves and combos in Marvel Contest of Champions, please check out my MCOC 101: Combos guide.

Best Champs: Venom, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Sentinel

Restrictions: Non-#Villain champions can be brought into the quest for synergy purposes but will suffer major penalties if used on attack.

Global Nodes:
Black ISO Resonance – Attackers increase their attack by 100% but take 5% of their max health as Direct Damage every second. This can not be prevented but attackers are immune to all other sources of damage. Does not apply to #Villain champions.
Malevolence – Non-#Villain attackers are unable to gain power.
Malignance – Non-#Villain attackers are unable to heal.
+400% Attack
SP3 Active

Boss: Winter Soldier

Boss Notes:
+300% Health
Genius – When benefiting from at least 1 Armor-Up Buff, #Villain Attackers will Passively Burn 10% of the Defender’s Max Power on each Hit, dealing Direct Damage based on the Power Burned
Madness – When triggering an Armor Break Debuff, #Villain Attackers will also apply a Passive Powerlock to the Defender which will last until the last Armor Break ends
Unblockable Finale – Defender Unblockable below 25% Health
Optimist
Dash Vulnerability

Winter Soldier is a fairly simple opponent with an easy to Dex Special 1 Attack, so this is not a very difficult Boss Fight. The one thing to watch out for is the Unblockable Finale. If you die while he’s under 25% health, things get much trickier as he’ll start the fight Unblockable and your Intercept game needs to be on point. Once you get into the fight and can cycle SP1s you’re be alright though.

Note that a very easy way to get around the Unblockable is to bring in Magneto, as Winter Soldier is a #Metal champion. Magneto’s -70% Ability Accuracy reduction vs #Metal champions significantly reduces the chance the Unblockable will trigger. That being said, you can use pretty much any champion for this fight, but Magneto can make it a much easier time.

Lane 1 – Left – Easy Path

Gate: None

Defenders: Captain Marvel Movie, Symbiote Supreme, Doctor Octopus, Yellowjacket, Moon Knight, Symbiote Spider-Man

Nodes: Genius, Madness, Energize

Team: Doctor Doom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Kingpin (6-Star Rank 2 Sig 0), Venom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 40), Sentinel (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 157), Magneto (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 21)

Tips: Venom is the MVP of this lane. While he can’t do the Symbiote Supreme fight without taking heavy damage, he will destroy everything else on this path, and counters the pesky Symbiote Spider-Man’s evade. Venom benefits from an easy to access Armor Break on his Heavy while also being able to generate an Armor-Up Buff. This allows him to Power Lock the defender with a Heavy at the start of the fight, then keep them at 0 Power for once the first Armor-Up buff generates. It’s a pretty easy game when you don’t have to worry about the opponent throwing specials.

Personally, I used Venom for Captain Marvel, Doctor Octopus, Yellowjacket, and Symbiote Spider-Man, Magneto for Moon Knight, and Sentinel for Symbiote Supreme and the Winter Soldier boss.

Lane 2 – Center Left

Gate: None

Defenders: Havok, Sentinel, Darkhawk, Air Walker

Nodes: Genius, Madness, Energize 1, Enhanced Special 1

Team: Doctor Doom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Kingpin (6-Star Rank 2 Sig 0), Venom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 40), Sentinel (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 157), Magneto (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 21)

Tips: This was another great lane for Venom, and Magneto is also a nice option. Venom is a Havok counter provided you can get an early Armor-Up buff. If not, you may have to restart, but it’s the first fight so you should get it within a few tries. I also used Venom for Sentinel, and he destroyed Air Walker.

For Darkhawk I took Magneto. Just Parry-Heavy your way to an SP2. Once you’ve got that Armor Break on Darkhawk it’s over. Just be careful with the Unblockable SP1, instead you want to bait the SP2.

I also took Magneto against the Winter Soldier boss for the solo. As Winter Soldier is a #Metal champ the Unblockable last 25% of the fight didn’t activate, making for an easy fight.

Lane 3 – Center Right – Hard Path

Gate: None

Defenders: Havok, Magik, Professor X, Captain America WW2, Killmonger, Angela

Nodes: Genius, Madness, Energize 1, Enhanced Special 1 (Havok), Mastermind, Madness, Armor (Magik, Professor X, Captain America WW2), Madness, Power Snack 2 (Killmonger, Angela)

Team: Doctor Doom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Kingpin (6-Star Rank 2 Sig 0), Venom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 40), Sentinel (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 157), Magneto (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 21)

Tips: So once again I started off with Venom against Havok, and I then used Venom against Magik as well. With Blade and Hulk Ragnarok off the table, you need a champion with quick access to Armor Break to keep Magik from activating Limbo, which is something Venom does very well.

I then used Sentinel for Professor X and Captain America WW2, spamming his SP1 and Heavy attacks. Venom was back in action for Killmonger, as his Armor Break once again shuts down the annoying defensive tricks of Vibranium Armor and Power Gain. Finally, I decided to give Doctor Doom some action against Angela, then it was another easy solo of Winter Soldier with Magneto.

Lane 4 – Right

Gate: None

Defenders: Stark Spider-Man, Hulkbuster, Longshot, Hulk, Killmonger, Angela

Nodes: Madness, Power Snack

Team: Doctor Doom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Kingpin (6-Star Rank 2 Sig 0), Venom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 40), Sentinel (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 157), Magneto (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 21)

Tips: The big thing to remember off the top if you’re using Venom is that Power Snack can – and likely will – eat Venom’s Kylntar Buff, which means Stark Spider-Man can evade him. Don’t sleepwalk into the fight just to get evaded and KO’d.

I used Venom for every path fight except Longshot (that just seemed like it was asking for trouble) utilizing the same Heavy/SP1 spam I used for the other paths. For Longshot I took in Sentinel, and then Magneto again for the Winter Soldier boss.

Recommended Videos:

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Jump To:
Variant 6 Chapter 1.1 Guide
Variant 6 Chapter 1.2 Guide
Variant 6 Chapter 2.1 Guide
Variant 6 Chapter 2.2 Guide
Variant 6 Chapter 3.1 Guide
Variant 6 Chapter 3.2 Guide

-Dano357