Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, September 23, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the Masacre Basic Arena and Nimrod Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, September 21, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Shang-Chi is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. Server Maintenance is scheduled for 11pm EST and may last up to 4 hours.
Kabam released the new Champion Spotlight for Thor Ragnarok.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, September 20, 2021.
Schedule Notes: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Legendary Crystal in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Odin Basic Arena and Archangel Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us the week 4 of the Marauder Objectives, Masacre and Nimrod Arenas, and Shang-Chi enters the Basic Pool.
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in the Alliance War Off-Season. Season 29 is set to start on September 29.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting 3pm EST on Wednesday, September 22 through Thursday, September 23 at 2pm EST. There will be a second window starting at 2pm EST on Friday, September 24 through Saturday, September 25 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, September 19: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST.
Monday, September 20: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Legendary Crystal in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Odin Basic Arena and Archangel Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST.
Tuesday, September 21: Shang-Chi is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. Server Maintenance is scheduled for 11pm EST and may last up to 4 hours.
Wednesday, September 22: Marauder Objectives for Week 4 go live at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series.
Thursday, September 23: Round 1 of the Masacre Basic Arena and Nimrod Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Friday, September 24: 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest enlistment opens at 3pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Saturday, September 25: 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15 pm EST.
Kitty Pryde has been the number one champion on my wish list for a long time, so once it was announced she was joining the Contest, I knew I needed her on my team. Given the relatively low odds of acquiring her from even 30-40 Cavalier Crystals, I decided to go for the sure thing and grind arena for a 5-Star Kitty. Here are some notes on my experience as well as some stats from the grind.
Overall, the experience wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. The mental strain was much worse than the physical one. I’m not a huge arena grinder, and the last 5-Star Featured I went for was Green Goblin as a repeat several years ago, so I didn’t have experience with the new arena format going in. One of the first things I had to do was get some practice in. I turned on the “suicide masteries” and got some reps in the preceding Featured Arenas to get a feel for the grind.
Setting Goals
Next, it was important to set a goal for the grind, and then break that down into a daily pace. After reviewing the recent arena cutoffs on Reddit, I decided I needed to get to at least 65m to feel safe. I then broke the 65m into a daily grind target, which you can see below, along with my actual daily point totals. Breaking down the grind into manageable potions is important for managing stress and making sure you are on track!
Day
Target
Actual
Thursday
10m
11.7m
Friday
10m
19.3m
Saturday
30m
29m
Sunday
15m
11.1m
Total
65m
71.1m
My Grind Pattern
Rounds 1-6 with 4/55 to gain multiplier Rounds 7-18 with highest PI champs in descending order Run All 6-Stars Run 5/65 5-Stars Run 4/55 5-Stars Run Top 3/45 5-Stars Refresh & Boost Top 3 6-Stars Refresh & Boost Top 3 5-Stars
For this grind I had 56 6-Stars available and 39 5/65 5-Stars. I was able to get in 6 runs with my 6-star roster over the course of 3 days. If you’re interested in seeing my roster, check out a recent account update.
Unit Spend
I ended up spending 3,715 units on this arena grind, and gained 235 units back from arena milestones and event rewards. Based on the 5-Star cutoff, I probably could have gotten away with spending less than 1,000 units. But it’s better to be safe than sorry with arena grinding, and I would likely have spent many more units trying to acquire Kitty via Cavalier Crystals. I don’t feel bad about overshooting. The goal is to get the champ.
Grind Data
Round
Points
8
1,018,964
16
2,050,514
22
3,019,841
32
5,002,598
34
5,238,329
40
6,027,812
45
6,415,247
55
10,003,085
69
11,697,848
83
15,040,331
90
16,237,607
100
18,048,887
103
18,283,577
139
25,026,041
150
28,302,089
171
31,064,735
191
35,377,421
214
40,023,233
234
43,709,288
245
46,402,322
260
49,354,721
277
51,541,052
280
51,826,133
300
55,780,274
330
60,013,193
350
64,406,645
375
69,945,107
388
71,172,392
Tips for Featured Arena Grinding
– Keep your mind occupied! Put on long-form content in the background to keep you from thinking too much about the grind.
– Take breaks often. You can’t do it all in one go. Stopping for even 15 minutes when your boosts expire can really help with fatigue management.
– Speaking of boosts, make sure to use them. The Superior Solo Crystals are a great source of 6-Star Boosts.
– Know that you’re going to have moments of despair! This is why breaking up the grind into different milestones is helpful. The final goal will seem unreachable at certain points along the way, so you need to have checkpoints that you can look at and say “it’s ok, I’m on track.”
I hope this information helps you with your next arena grind!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, September 16, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the Odin Basic Arena and Archangel Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest Enlistment opens at 3pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, September 14, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Alliance War Season 28 concludes with the end of today’s war attack. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, September 13, 2021.
Schedule Notes: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Featured Crystals in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Angela Basic Arena and Kitty Pryde Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
It’s Episode 74 of the Contest Realm Podcast! In this episode Rich & I discuss the ongoing bug issues and the state of MCOC, and the Doctor Strange and Marvel Zombies episodes of What If.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us the week 3 of the Marauder Objectives, Odin in the Basic Arena, and the conclusion of Alliance War Season 28,
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in Season 28. Rewards eligibility locked on Friday, September 3 at 6pm EST, and the season will end on Tuesday, September 14.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting 3pm EST on Tuesday, September 14 through Thursday, September 16 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, September 12: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST.
Monday, September 13: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Featured Crystals in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Angela Basic Arena and Kitty Pryde Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
Tuesday, September 14: Alliance War Season 28 concludes with the end of today’s war attack. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Wednesday, September 15: 100% Roster Availability all day! Marauder Objectives for Week 3 go live at 1pm EST.
Thursday, September 16: Round 1 of the Odin Basic Arena and To Be Announced Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest Enlistment opens at 3pm EST.
Friday, September 17: The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15 pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Saturday, September 18: Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, September 9, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the Angela Basic Arena and Kitty Pryde Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
Schedule Notes: 100% Roster Availability all day! Marauder Objectives for Week 2 go live at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. AQ Enlistment begins at 3pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Silver Centurion is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST, following the conclusion of Alliance War Attack.
Kam released his Pros/Cons Review for Kitty Pryde.
Here’s my guide for Variant 6 Chapter 2.2 “Corrupted Strength” in Marvel Contest of Champions.
General Thoughts:
This is a straightforward, 3-path chapter with a very easy boss fight for a Variant. The most difficult fights on the map are Mojo and Mysterio.
If possible, run the Resonate for the Weakness debuff, as it will let you take advantage of the extra damage from the Tyrant Node. The Tyrant Node allows Villains to deal 50% of their attack as bonus Energy Damage each time they hit their opponent or the opponent’s block while the defender is suffering from a weakness debuff.
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: Mojo, Doctor Doom, Venom, Apocalypse, Magneto
Restrictions: Only use #Villains on attack. Non-Villains can be brought for synergy purposes.
Global Node: +400% Champion Boost SP3 Active 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.
Boss: Drax
Boss Notes: +300% Health Tyrant Overlord Opportunist 2 Aggressive Superior Specials 2 Optimist
This Drax is a very easy boss. While you can do this fight with anyone, it will be much quicker with a Mystic Villain that can nullify his buffs to gain the extra damage from Overlord Node. Personally I used Mojo, but Doctor Doom, The Hood, and Morningstar should also do just fine.
Lane 1 – Left – Easy Path
Gate: None
Defenders: Venompool, Ghost-Rider, Mysterio, Hela, Sabretooth, Black Widow Deadly Origin
Nodes: Overlord, Tyrant
Team: Mojo (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 60), Symbiote Supreme (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 60), Killmonger (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Void (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Apocalypse (6-Star Rank 3 Sig 20)
Tips: Champions with nullify will gain the biggest advantage from the Overlord node, so load up on your top Mystics. Personally I decided to go with Mojo, ramping him up on Venompool, Ghost-Rider, and Hela. I took Mysterio down with Killmonger, and then ramped-up Apocalypse on Sabretooth and used him to crush Black Widow Deadly Origin.
I then soloed poor Drax with Mojo, who just melted him.
All these fights are standard for the given defenders with no added difficulty from the nodes (assuming you bring a Villain attacker). If Mysterio is giving you problems, consider an attacker like Venom who has easy access to Armor Break and can disable Mysterio’s helmet.
Note Symbiote Supreme isn’t actually a Villain, I didn’t realize that until after the run because I never used him.
Lane 2 – Center
Gate: None
Defenders: Colossus, Venom, Medusa, Black Panther Civil War, Scarlet Witch, War Machine
Nodes: Overlord, Fury, Armor
Team: Mojo (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 60), Doctor Doom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Killmonger (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Void (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 200), Sentinel(5-Star Rank 5 Sig 160)
Tips: I found the matchups slightly more difficult on this lane, but because the defenders gain Fury buffs during the fight there are more buffs to nullify and it’s easy to take advantage of the Overlord node. Once again, I recommend taking your top two Villain nullify champions.
As with lane one I ran Mojo as my main champ, spamming his SP1 along the way. Mojo took every fight except for Scarlet Witch (I used the poison-immune Sentinel there), but he had his day ended early when I ran into a War Machine SP1. War Machine can do some big damage now that he is buffed! I finished the War Machine fight with Void, then it was a quick SP3-SP2 from Doctor Doom to solo the Drax Boss.
Lane 3 – Right – Hard Path
Gate: None
Defenders: Mojo, Hulk Ragnarok, Elsa Bloodstone, Juggernaut, Longshot, Stealth Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Quake, Corvus Glaive
Nodes: Tyrant, Enhanced Weakening
Team: Mojo (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 60), Venom (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 40), Apocalypse (6-Star Rank 3 Sig 20), Mr. Sinister (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 80), Magneto (5-Star Rank 5 Sig 21)
Tips: This path has the toughest defenders and the most fights, making it the Hard Path. That being said, it can still be easily completed without spending items. Just make sure you have a Mojo counter and a Mutant for Elsa and Nick Fury. Bringing Venom along to neutralize Stealth Spider-Man is also a good idea.
Personally, I used Magneto for Mojo, Apocalypse for Hulk Ragnarok, Elsa, Nick Fury, and Quake, and Mojo for Juggernaut, Longshot, Corvus and the Drax boss.
Once again, so no need to worry about adapting your fighting style to counter the nodes, these are all pretty vanilla fights for the given defenders.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, September 6, 2021.
Schedule Notes: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Legendary Crystal in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Mangog Basic Arena and Medusa Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series ends at 3pm EST.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us the week 2 of the Marauder Objectives, Silver Centurion joins the Basic Pool, and Kitty Pryde is the Featured Arena champion!
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in Season 28. Rewards eligibility locked on Friday, September 3 at 6pm EST, and the season will end on Tuesday, September 14.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting 2pm EST on Tuesday, September 7 through Thursday, September 9 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, September 5: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Monday, September 6: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Legendary Crystal in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Mangog Basic Arena and Medusa Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series ends at 3pm EST.
Tuesday, September 7: Silver Centurion is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST, following the conclusion of Alliance War Attack.
Wednesday, September 8: 100% Roster Availability all day! Marauder Objectives for Week 2 go live at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. AQ Enlistment begins at 3pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Thursday, September 9: Round 1 of the Angela Basic Arena and Kitty Pryde Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15pm EST.
If you are looking to acquire Kitty Pryde and Nimrod in Marvel Contest of Champions here are some important dates to mark on your calendar. Please note that Kabam can make changes to the Arena and Basic Pool release schedules, and all these dates are based off my understanding of their champion release process.
Kitty Pryde
9/9/21 – 1st Arena 11/2/21 – 5-Star Featured Crystal 1/11/22 – 6-Star Featured Crystal 1/25/22 – Basic Pool (Projected) 3/3/22 – Basic Arena (Projected) 4/19/22 – 6-Star Basic Pool
Nimrod
9/23/21 – 1st Arena 11/2/21 – 5-Star Featured Crystal 1/11/22 – 6-Star Featured Crystal 2/8/22 – Basic Pool (Projected) 3/17/22 – Basic Arena (Projected) 4/19/22 – 6-Star Basic Pool
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Friday, September 3, 2021.
Schedule Notes: The Incursions Crystal Store resets at 1pm EST. Incursions Top Zone Bonuses and Milestones reset at 2pm EST. Rewards Eligibility for Alliance War Season 28 locks at 6pm EST. You must be in an Alliance for matchmaking and play a minimum of 5 wars with that Alliance to be eligible for Season Rewards.
Kabam Miike responded to a forum request for more timeline information on Bug Fixes.
CCP reviews for Kitty Pryde are now live. Check out what Kingslayer, Vega, Kam, and Seatin had to say.
How many chances will you get for 6-Star Hyperion? RichTheMan crunches the numbers.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Summer of Pain and August Events end at 1pm EST, and September Events begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 3:15pm EST when Alliance Quest resumes.
Kingslayer pits Miles Morales vs Spider-Gwen in a Damage Race.
Kitty Pryde and her Marauders need your help to solve a mystery and save the Battlerealm this fall. This is part one of a special two month long side quest event, so read on for all the details.
Begins/Week 1 Objectives: Wednesday, September 1 at 1pm EST
Week 2Objectives: Wednesday, September 8 at 1pm EST.
Week 3 Objectives: Wednesday, September 15 at 1pm EST
Week 4 Objectives: Wednesday, September 22 at 1pm EST
Week 5 Objectives: Wednesday, September 29 at 1pm EST
Part 2 October Side Quest Begins: Wednesday, October 6 at 1pm EST.
Marauder Crystal Expires: Saturday, October 9 at 1pm EST.
Ends: Wednesday, November 3 at 1pm EST
HOW TO PLAY
September’s Side Quest is pretty straightforward and requires you to complete a set of weekly Solo Objectives. Every week, depending on your in-game progression level (Proven/Conqueror/Uncollected/Cavalier), you will receive a set of Solo Objectives for your level and all the levels below your current level. You must complete Week 1 of the objectives in order to be able see Week 2, and so on throughout the month.
Week 5 (September 29) is the final week of Solo Objectives, and you must complete at least 1 objective from Week 5 at any difficulty level in order to gain access to the October Event.
More details are still to come for October, but next month there will be a Side Quest with a total entry limit of 28. Most of the quests will be grindable, but there will be a special quest that can only be run once. This special quest contains a 25% Tier 5 Class Catalyst Selector and 10K 6-Star Shards in the Legendary Difficulty, so make sure you unlock this during Week 5!
REWARDS
September has 5 sets of rewards you can earn from completing the Solo Objectives. You will be able to complete objectives for your current level and all levels below you.
October will feature 6 repeatable Side Quest maps at 4 difficulty levels (Legendary/Epic/Master/Heroic) and a Special Quest that you can only run 1 time. You’ll have 28 total entries for the month of October. The Special “One-Time” Quest has the best rewards, so do it first so you don’t miss out!
MARAUDER CRYSTALS
One of the highlights of September’s Side Quest is very likely to be the special Marauder Crystals. These will be available in Cavalier form for Cavalier and up players for 4K shards, and in Grandmaster form for Uncollected and below for 3K Shards. Earn Marauder Crystal Shards by logging in every day and collecting them for a Special Calendar during the month of September.
These crystals are quite exciting because the pool features two champions – Hyperion and Ghost-Rider – which have never been available as 6-Stars before. It also contains 6-Star Iceman, who is not currently in the 6-Star Basic Pool
Marauder Crystal Champion Pool: Bishop Black Panther Black Widow Colossus Cyclops (Blue Team) Cyclops (New Xavier School) – No 4-Star Doctor Strange Electro Emma Frost Ghost Rider – 6-Star Debut! Hyperion – 6-Star Debut! Iceman – Rare 6-Star Magneto Nightcrawler Professor X Psylocke Spider-Man (Classic) Star-Lord Storm
FINAL THOUGHTS
This Side Quest is pretty easy to understand, but it all depends on what the Solo Objectives turn out to be. If they are simple ones that you’ll earn simply by playing, that’s great. I have found some of the recent Solo Objectives to be far too niche though (beating Punisher 2099 20 times with Vision/Vision AoU/Aarkus for example), so I hope that these objectives don’t mirror what we saw in August. We’ll just have to wait and see on that though.
Best of luck this September and I wish everyone a brand new 6-Star Hyperion!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
Schedule Notes: 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST, following the conclusion of Alliance War Attack. Alliance Quest enlistment begins at 3pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, August 30, 2021.
Schedule Notes: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Featured Crystals in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. The Legends Celebration, including the Gold and Battlechip boost, ends at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Civil Warrior Basic Arena and Peni Parker Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
It’s Episode 72 of the Contest Realm Podcast! In this episode Rich & I discuss the MCOC v32.2 Release Notes, Episode 3 of What If, the Marvel Future Revolution Launch, and the new Roadmap for Realm of Champions.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Sunday, August 29, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us the conclusion of Summer of Pain, the v32.2 update, and the beginning of September’s events.
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in Season 28. Rewards eligibility will lock on Friday, September 3 at 6pm EST, and the season will end on Tuesday, September 14.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting at 3pm EST on Sunday, August 29 through Monday, August 30 at 2pm EST. There will be a second window from Tuesday, August 31 at 2pm EST through Wednesday, September 1 at 3:15pm EST.
Sunday, August 29: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series.
Monday, August 30: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Featured Crystals in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. The Legends Celebration, including the Gold and Battlechip boost, ends at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Civil Warrior Basic Arena and Peni Parker Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Tuesday, August 31: 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST, following the conclusion of Alliance War Attack. Alliance Quest enlistment begins at 3pm EST.
Wednesday, September 1: Summer of Pain and August Events end at 1pm EST, and September Events begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 3:15pm EST when Alliance Quest resumes.
Thursday, September 2: Round 1 of the Mangog Basic Arena and To Be Announced Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST.
Friday, September 3: The Incursions Crystal Store resets at 1pm EST. Incursions Top Zone Bonuses and Milestones reset at 2pm EST. Rewards Eligibility for Alliance War Season 28 locks at 6pm EST. You must be in an Alliance for matchmaking and play a minimum of 5 wars with that Alliance to be eligible for Season Rewards.
Saturday, September 4: The Daily Bugle store closes at 1pm EST.
If you plan on clearing some difficult content in Marvel Contest of Champions this September, you’ll need to know when all your champs will be available. Here is the full schedule of 100% Roster Availability Windows (no AQ/AW) for the month. All times are EST, 2pm is based off of the approximate end of AW attack.
Tuesday, August 31 at 2pm EST – Wednesday, September 1 at 3:15pm EST
Tuesday, September 7 at 2pm EST – Thursday, September 9 at 2pm EST
Tuesday, September 14 at 3pm EST – Thursday, September 16 at 2pm EST
Wednesday, September 22 at 3pm EST – Thursday, September 23 at 2pm EST
Friday, September 24 at 2pm EST – Saturday, September 25 at 2pm EST
Kitty Pryde and Nimrod join The Contest, the X-Men solve Marauder Mysteries, and Shang-Chi has a special challenge for Summoners this September. Expect to see v32.2 available for download on August 30 or 31.
In September’s Event Quest, the disciples of Apocalypse have begun to clash with Xavier’s followers on Krakoa, and it looks like Kitty Pryde is the cause! Kitty sets out with Wolverine to clear her good name and learn who is behind the latest discord in the Battlerealm.
MARAUDER MYSTERIES – SIDE QUEST
In the Side Quest, help Kitty Pryde to complete weekly Solo Objectives to earn rewards and solve mysteries in the Battlerealm. This unique event will span two months, and the rewards depend on your progression level. One of the most exciting parts of this event is the Marauder Cavalier Crystal, which features the debuts of 6-Star Hyperion and Ghost-Rider!
KITTY PRYDE
She’s finally here! If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you probably know that I’m a big fan of the X-Men, and that the original run of the Excalibur comics is what got me hooked on Marvel as a kid. Kitty has been at the top of my most wanted list for a few years, so I’m very excited she’s finally entering the Battlerealm.
Kitty Pryde is a mutant with the power of intangibility, meaning she can phase through solid objects and people. When she does this to robots or anything with electronics, she tends to cause a major system disruption. She is usually accompanied by her loyal companion Lockheed, a small, purple Dragon that Kitty found on an alien planet after a battle with the Brood. Although he is only the size of a cat, Lockheed is quite powerful, particularly because of his dragon fire and immunity to psychic control. Lockheed is extremely protective of Kitty. The two are psychically linked and he will not hesitate to defend her at all costs.
Kitty Pryde first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1980’s X-Men #129, which coincidentally is the first issue of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Kitty joined the X-Men as the 13-year-old girl after a brief “recruiting war” between Professor X and Emma Frost. She was much younger than the other team members at the time, with Storm taking on a motherly role guiding Kitty, Nightcrawler falling into the big brother role, and Wolverine as the grumpy uncle who teaches you how to be a Ninja. Kitty developed a crush on Colossus early on, but because of the age gap (Colossus was 19 at the time), that plot line was abandoned until Kitty became an adult.
During her early years, Kitty changed her codename (Ariel/Sprite) and costume quite a bit. Her costume history is showcased brilliantly in this month’s Motion Comic.
Kitty spent much of the 80s with the X-Men until she and Nightcrawler were injured defending the Morlocks during the Mutant Massacre. By the time they recovered, the rest of the X-Men were assumed dead, and the pair (along with Lockheed) formed the original version of Excalibur with Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, and Meggan. During her time in Excalibur, Kitty went by the codename Shadowcat. After Excalibur dissolved, Kitty, now an adult, tried to live a normal life as a college student in Chicago, but eventually rejoined the X-Men, where she developed into more of a leadership role. She also spent some time with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Must reads for Kitty Pryde fans include 1984’s Kitty Pryde and Wolverine limited series, “Kitty’s Fairy Tale” (UXM #153), and Astonishing X-Men #1-24. Kitty Pryde was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. For my money she is Claremont’s greatest creation. Considering he is the definitive X-Men writer, and his list of Marvel creations is massive (Rogue, Mystique, Emma Frost, Sabretooth, Cannonball, Jubilee, Legion, Moonstar, Psylocke, Gambit), that’s really saying something. Lockheed was created by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith, and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #166.
NIMROD
Nimrod is a Tech Champion. He is the ultimate Sentinel from the Days of Future Past Timeline where the Sentinels have all but taken over Earth and destroyed the X-Men. Nimrod kills a grown Katherine Pryde in this timeline, but not before she is able to send Rachel Summers back in time to Earth-616.
Fans of the 90s X-Men cartoon will remember Nimrod battling with Bishop and Wolverine. Nimrod has all the abilities of normal Sentinels, but at a much higher power level, and he can regenerate almost any level of damage. From a brute strength standpoint, Nimrod is able to engage in combat with the Juggernaut.
Nimrod first appeared in 1985’s Uncanny X-Men #191. The X-Men manage to fight him off in several encounters, once by Rogue (who absorbed Colossus and Nightcrawler’s powers), and another time thanks to some solid teamwork by Colossus and Kitty. Nightcrawler is injured during one battle with Nimrod, affecting his ability to teleport, which leads to his further injuries during the Mutant Massacre.
Nimrod returned in the 2000s as a member of the Purifiers to battle the New X-Men in the excellent Crusade and Falling Mercury arcs (New X-Men #24-36). While Nimrod doesn’t have many appearances in the comics, he makes a big impact when he does show up, because the X-Men recognize him as the ultimate Mutant-Killing machine.
Nimrod was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.
CHAMPION BUFFS
Gamora and Spider-Man Miles Morales will receive buffs in September. The buffs will go live as soon as you download v32.2.
SHANG-CHI’S CLOSE QUARTERS CHALLENGE
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings hits theatres this September, so it’s the perfect time for a challenge. Get ready to battle the master of the martial arts and the Battlerealm’s other expert fighters.
BUG FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
● Players will be able to preview the X-Men: Future Shock quest maps when selecting their team.
● Fixed an issue where Cornered buff was not granting more power when a Rupture debuff was inflicted.
● Fixed an issue where Ghost would not gain a Fury buff when removing a Rupture debuff by Phasing.
● Fixed an issue where Power Gain from Goldpool’s SP2 was not a Passive Powergain.
● Fixed an issue where War Machine’s armor breaks did not trigger Engineered Fracture and Infectious Wrath.
.● Fixed an issue where Hercules’s Immortal Buff was not being nullified by Longshot’s Special Attack 2.
● Fixed an issue where Jabari Panther was not gaining Fury from Mind’s Eye.
● Updated Spider-Man 2099’s Synergy with Sabretooth to include missing information. The Synergy will now read “Blocking an attack has a 10% chance to grant a regeneration passive…”.
● Fixed an issue where Ultron’s Special Attack 2 Description was missing.
● Fixed an issue where Ultron’s PI fell in the last update.
● Fixed an issue where going into a quest with Heimdall and synergy members could cause the game to crash.
● Changed Peni Parker’s Synergy with Miles Morales. The synergy will now read: Each Spider-Sense Charge grants +4% Attack Rating, and +4% personal debuff duration and ability accuracy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
MCOC needs some hype right now, and I’m really hoping that Kitty Pryde and Nimrod are excellent champs and get some excitement going in the community. Personally, I’ll be going for Kitty no matter what. The Shang-Chi challenge and the Side Quest sound interesting, but as always, we need to see the events in action to determine their real value. Best of luck to everyone this September!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, August 26, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the Civil Warrior Basic Arena and Peni Parker Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The third Summoner Showdown challenge (Nameless Hyperion) opens at 1pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, August 24, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Jabari Panther is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series kicks-off at 3:15pm EST.
September’s Motion Comic, X-Men: Future Shock, debuts today at 11am EST. Based on yesterday’s teaser art and the thumbnail, expect to see Kitty Pryde and her loyal companion Lockheed as the stars of the video.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us the Legends Celebration, Peni Parker’s official Contest debut, and the final Summoner Showdown Challenge.
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in Season 28. Rewards eligibility will lock on Friday, September 3 at 6pm EST, and the season will end on Tuesday, September 14.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting at 2pm EST on Sunday, August 22 through Monday, August 23 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, August 22: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST.
Monday, August 23: The Summoner Sigil Solo Event, Gold Quest, items on a 7-day timer, and the Legendary Crystals in the Black-ISO Market reset at 1pm EST. The Legends Celebration, including the Gold and Battlechip boost, begins at 1pm EST. Round 2 of the Super-Skrull Basic Arena and Stark Enhanced Spider-Man Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest Enlistment opens at 3pm EST.
Tuesday, August 24: Jabari Panther is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series kicks-off at 3:15pm EST.
Wednesday, August 25: No schedule updates.
Thursday, August 26: Round 1 of the Civil Warrior Basic Arena and Peni Parker Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The third Summoner Showdown challenge opens at 1pm EST.
Friday, August 27: The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
I’ve been playing MCOC for 6.5 years now! Let’s see how my account has progressed in the last three months.
Champions – 726 (+26) PI – 1,996,350 (+147.742) Prestige – 11,336 (+411) (Increase over the past 3 months)
Two new champions have entered my profile, and my account is about to break the 2 million mark! Once I duped Apocalypse, it was clear we would be going to Rank 3 immediately. He’s become one of my workhorse champions, particularly in Variant 6 which I have just finished up. Morningstar is my most recent Rank 3. She doesn’t get a lot of love these days, but she is still a beast ramped-up, particularly in Incursions. Falcon remains at the top of my profile and is the one 6-Star I am currently feeding Signature Stones. Falcon is now Sig 80.
6-Star Roster
I now have 54 6-Stars, up from 46 since the last update. I’ve had a lot of luck pulling Science champions lately, adding Spider-Ham, Immortal Hulk, Red Hulk, and She-Hulk. It’s going to take a lot of Science T4CC to get them all to Rank 2! In the last three months I’ve taken Ghost, Cable, Red Goblin, and Ronin to Rank 2. Spider-Ham I’m ranking up as well, and he’ll go to Rank 3 if I can dupe him.
5/65 5-Stars
I now have 37 5/65 5-Star champions, up from 36 three months ago. As I have transitioned to focusing on 6-Stars, I don’t have as much T5 Basic available for 5-Stars. However, the one 5-Star I did think was worth ranking up was Immortal Abomination. He was a major help with Summer of Pain Mysterio and could solo the Acid Wash lane I was running when I was in a Map 7 Alliance.
4/55 5-Stars
Note: Gambit is Rank 3, but She-Hulk and Punisher are Rank 4.
Thanks to Variant 6 Rank-Up Gems I now have 20 Rank 4 5-Stars, up from 18 last update. Hela, Longshot, She-Hulk are my new Rank 4s.
Top 5 Most Wanted (5* or 6*) Aegon – Abyss (5-Star) Silver Surfer – Prestige (6-Star Dupe) Spider-Ham – (6-Star Dupe) Dragon Man – Cause he’s a robot dragon. Sorcerer Supreme – Buff/Unstoppable Counter
I pulled 5-Star Cosmic Ghost Rider, so he comes off the Most Wanted List. I also pulled 6-Star Spider-Ham, but I want to dupe him so he remains. I’ve been playing a lot of Dragon Man and Sorcerer Supreme on my FTP account and would love to have them on my main. Sadly, Aegon continues to evade my account despite 80+ Dual Class Crystals, and he remains at the top of the list.
Content Progress
I’ve been quite busy with real life the past three months, so I haven’t gotten into Act 7.2 yet, and I didn’t get a chance to attempt the Grandmaster’s Gauntlet. I did manage to complete all the Summer of Pain objections, which I’m happy about. We’ll see how the final challenge goes!
The one piece of content I’ve been focused on recently is Variant 6. Now that it is complete, I can get the rest of the V6 guides out and move on to Variant 7 before heading back into Act 7.
For alliance play I’m currently in DOMIN, which is where my FTP mini account Frontline Jr also lives. With my current playtime restrictions, I’ve had to cut back on the time spent on Alliance Gameplay as well as SQ/EQ so I can focus on permanent content. At some point I’ll move back up, but likely not until 2022.
Total Account Spend: $637 USD (+$69 past 3 months – $30 of this was July 4th)
Content Progress (% as of May 17 in parenthesis for comparison)
If you are looking to acquire Spider-Man 2099 and Peni Parker in Marvel Contest of Champions here are some important dates to mark on your calendar. Please note that Kabam can make changes to the Arena and Basic Pool release schedules, and all these dates are based off my understanding of their champion release process.
Spider-Man 2099
8/12/21 – 1st Arena 10/5/21 – 6-Star Featured Crystal 11/2/21 – 5-Star Featured Crystal 12/28/21 – Basic Pool (Projected) 1/11/22 – 6-Star Basic Pool 2/3/22 – Basic Arena (Projected)
Peni Parker
8/26/21 – 1st Arena 10/5/21 – 6-Star Featured Crystal 11/2/21 – 5-Star Featured Crystal 1/11/22 – Basic Pool (Projected) 1/11/22 – 6-Star Basic Pool 2/17/22 – Basic Arena (Projected)
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Wednesday, September 22, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Marauder Objectives for Week 4 go live at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST, following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series.
