News From The Battlerealm
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Saturday, January 2, 2021.
Schedule Notes: 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST.
RichTheMan looks at the new State of the Battlerealm puzzle.
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Friday, January 1, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Incursions Milestones reset at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 3pm EST following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series.
Karatemike takes down the 7.1 Electro Luke Boss with Omega Red.
-Dano357
Summoners!
First off, Happy New Year and thank you for supporting Frontline: MCOC in 2020. This year didn’t go as planned for any of us, yet Frontline managed to surpass my expectations. Whether you’ve just browsed the site, or we’ve interacted on LINE, Discord, Twitter, or Youtube, I really appreciate it! Creating content for MCOC has been one of the best parts of my 2020.
2020 RECAP
What’s interesting about running a blog site is it is very rare that a post “pops.” For Youtubers, the first 24-48 hours are critical for views. With Frontline, it’s much more of a “slow burn” driven by search engines (particularly Google), so the daily stats don’t really tell the true impact of a post.
2020 STATS
Posts: 697
Total Words Written: 160,311
Total Views: 778K
Total Visitors: 365K
Total Youtube Video Referrals: 10,934
I also thought it would be interesting look back at the Top 25 Frontline posts for 2020. This list is just posts, I’ve excluded items like the homepage, calendar, and pages such as the Champion Buff Schedule and Basic Pool Addition Schedule which get updated consistently over the course of the year.
| Rank | Post Name | Views |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Variant 4 – Chapter 1.1 Guide | 21,022 |
| 2 | How The November 2020 Side Quest Works – Shadow Base Raids & Joe Fixit’s Fine Goods | 18,942 |
| 3 | How The September 2020 Side Quest Works – Mutant Treasure Island | 18,413 |
| 4 | Release Notes: MCOC v29.1 – December 2020 | 17,545 |
| 5 | How The August 2020 Side Quest Works – Heralds of Galactus | 15,279 |
| 6 | How The October 2020 Side Quest Works – Hades Invasions | 14,726 |
| 7 | Variant 4 – Chapter 1.2 Guide | 13,433 |
| 8 | Variant 3 Polar Opposites – Recap & Guides | 12,979 |
| 9 | Variant 4 Waning Moon – Recap & Guides | 11,567 |
| 10 | MCOC Road Map – State of The Game 2020 Release Schedule | 10,552 |
| 11 | Variant 4 – Chapter 3.2 Guide | 10,447 |
| 12 | Variant 4 – Chapter 3.1 Guide | 9,938 |
| 13 | May 2020 Marvel Contest of Champions Road Map Update | 9,584 |
| 14 | Variant 4 – Chapter 2.2 Guide | 9,066 |
| 15 | Marvel Contest of Champions Permanent Content Recommended Order Guide – August 2019 | 7,940 |
| 16 | Northern Expeditions – How The July Side Quest Works | 7,791 |
| 17 | Northern Expeditions Canadian Difficulty – Diss Track Counters | 7,296 |
| 18 | Chapter Guide – Act 6.2.4 | 7,112 |
| 19 | 2020 July 4th Weekend Cache Deals | 6,990 |
| 20 | Which Variant Should I Complete First? | 6,409 |
| 21 | Variant 4 – Chapter 2.1 Guide | 6,294 |
| 22 | Variant 3 – Chapter 1.1 Guide | 6,240 |
| 23 | 5 Reasons to Rank 5 Stars Over 6 Stars | 5,840 |
| 24 | Chapter Guide – Variant 5 – Chapter 1.1 | 5,722 |
| 25 | Chapter Guide – Act 6.2.3 | 5,659 |
It’s really satisfying to see the overall growth of the site and how many posts did so well. I often get so focused on “let’s just get through today” that I forget about the big picture, and posts can do very well without me even noticing.
2021 PLANS
So, what’s the plan for 2021? Here on the website, Frontline will remain much the same as it is now. There will still be the daily and weekly calendar updates. Frontline Jr is working through Act 4 and eventually Act 5, and those guides will be a primary focus. On my main account, I’ll be working on Book 2 and then Variant 6 guides. Getting out more than a guide or two a week is likely overly ambitious, so those projects will keep me busy for most of 2021. I’d like to get back to posting some Champion Guides as well (they actually performed well over the long-term), but there are only so many hours in the day.
As far as Realm of Champions goes, I really like the game, but there isn’t going to be much of that content here on the site. MCOC as a game just lends itself better to the written format, and I’ve already got a mountain of content I need to work through. Again, only so many hours in the day.
You’ll see me Tweeting about Realm and jumping on some livestreams with Rich, but most of my MROC content will be on the Contest Realm Podcast. I’m very interested in seeing where Realm heads in 2021 as the design team continues to build-out the game.
Well that’s about it for me. Enjoy your New Years, stay safe, and I’ll see you Around The Battlerealm in 2021!
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, December 31, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the 4-Star Guardian and Luke Cage Featured Arenas begin at 1pm EST.
Lagacy & 4Loki take on AGT in Alliance War.
MetalSonicDude only needs a 2-Star Sentinel to take down Variant 6 Daredevil.
Karatemike has 6-Star Rank 2 Guillotine 2099 gameplay.
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Wednesday, December 30, 2020.
Schedule Notes: John Mulaney’s Champion Challenge ends at 1pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
RichTheMan looks at the comic book origins of Stryfe and Jubilee.
Seatin unleashes a 6-Star Rank 3 Sig 200 Aegon on an unsuspecting CCP Beta.
Lagacy and 4Loki take on NEWN in Alliance War. Also check out Karatemike’s fights from the same war.
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s my guide for Act 4.1.2 “A Little Help” in Marvel Contest of Champions.
General Thoughts:
Act 4.1.2 features 5 straightforward paths and only 2 of them have class gates, so it’s not as confusing a map to look at as 4.1.1. The biggest problem is the auto-poison node on the mini-boss, so you need to bring a Poison-Immune champion. The mini-boss rotates between Rocket Racoon and Star-Lord.
During my run through 4.1.2 I awakened 4-Star Red Guardian from my Christmas Awakening Gem, leveled-up my Man-Thing to 5/50, and pulled 4-Star Sentinel. I also reached Level 38 and put a second point in Petrify. I’m finding the ISO gain in Act 4 much better, which is needed for ranking up 4-Star champions.
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: Any, but remember to bring a Poison-Immune Champion for the Rocket Racoon Mini-Boss.
Restrictions: Need 1 Mystic & 1 Science Champion
Global Node: None
Boss: Ant-Man
Boss Notes:
Debilitate
+50% Attack & Health
Ant-Man is a very easy boss, just bait the SP1 and you’ll be fine.
Lane 1 – Left
Gate: None
Defenders: Elektra, Rhino, War Machine, Abomination, OG Vision, Spider-Man, Rocket Racoon
Nodes: Poison (Rocket Racoon)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing
Tips: This is a long path with a few potential pitfalls in Rhino, War Machine, and OG Vision. If you’ve got a team of 4/40 of better 4-Stars you should be fine even with some mistakes. Make sure you have a Poison-Immune champion for Rocket.
Lane 2 – Left Center
Gate: None
Defenders: Black Bolt, Magneto, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Rocket Racoon
Nodes: Power Drain (Magneto), Poison (Rocket Racoon)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing
Tips: I found this to be the Easy Path with no matchup issues.
Lane 3 – Center
Gate: Need 1 Science Champ
Defenders: Black Bolt, Magneto, Black Panther, Ronan, Wolverine, Yellowjacket, Star-Lord
Nodes: Power Drain (Magneto), Poison (Rocket Racoon)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing
Tips: Rocket was switched out with Star-Lord for the mini-boss here. This is still an Easy Path but it is a bit longer than Path 2.
Lane 4 – Right Center
Gate: None
Defenders: Black Bolt, Gamora, Magneto, Storm, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Yellowjacket, Star-Lord
Nodes: Poison (Rocket Racoon)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing
Tips: Only real issue here is Magneto if you forget to bring a non-Metal champion. Remember to check champion tags for this info if you’re not sure.
Lane 5 – Right
Gate: Need 1 Mystic Champ
Defenders: Black Bolt, Gamora, Magneto, Juggernaut, Hulk, Captain America, Daredevil, Wolverine, Yellowjacket, Rocket Racoon
Nodes: Poison (Rocket Racoon)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing
Tips: This is a long path and has a duped Juggernaut on it.
My Roster:
Jump To:
Act 3.4.6 – “Thanos Enters” – Big Account Updates
Act 4.1.1 – “Realm Reborn” – Nodes!
Act 4.1.2 – “A Little Help” – Level 38
Act 4.1.3 – “Incognito” – Hidden Nodes
Act 4.1.4 – “Symbioids” – Level 39 & 1st 6-Star
Act 4.1.5 – “Dark Times” – Level 40
Act 4.1.6 – “Trust” – Level 41
Act 4.2.1 – “Linked Might” – Level 42
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, December 29, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Dragon Man is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool (including the Dual Class Crystals) at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner.
Release Notes for V29.2, coming in early January, are now available.
Seatin highlights some excellent uses for Sunspot in Book 2.
-Dano357
Summoners!
2020 is thankfully behind us (although it was a pretty great year for MCOC), and I am very excited for January because it will be a Mutant-Themed month featuring Jubilee and Stryfe!
Expect to see v29.2 available for download on January 4 or 5. Read The Full Release Notes.
29.2 HIGHLIGHTS
X-Men: Prodigal Son Event Quest
Side Quest: Jubilee’s Arcade-ia
Jubilee & Stryfe
Undo Button
Season Tags
Fixes & Improvements
EVENT QUEST
January’s Event Quest, “X-Men: Prodigal Son” sees the Mutant home of Krakoa under attack from an unknown assailant. Cable and a team of young mutants set off to uncover the identity of their mysterious foe.
SIDE QUEST
Take a trip with Jubilee to the Mall Arcade. Use tokens each day to play Arcade Quests and earn Stamps on your Punch Card when you defeat foes to earn prizes! No word on if the villainous Arcade will make an appearance as an NPC in quest, but fingers crossed. Look for a full breakdown on the side-quest coming soon. Read the Forum Post.
NEW CHAMPIONS
A fan-favorite, Wolverine’s sidekick and Mutant mall-rat Jubilee is finally here! Expect Jubilee to put her fireworks powers to good use again Stryfe, an evil clone of Cable raised by, and later rejected by, Apocalypse.
UNDO BUTTON
Rejoice, for the Alliance Quest Undo Button is finally here! No longer will officers have to scramble when someone takes a wrong turn. You will have a limited number of Undos, and your energy spent will not be returned, so be careful.
SEASON TAGS
A new set of temporary Tags will be added to the game, allowing for more variety in interactions. Season Tags are going to be introduced in Alliance War content first and will be paired with new Tactics. Expect to hear more details on Season Tags soon.
FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
● New players will see that the first Mastery Point they receive at Level 6 will get spent on the Parry Mastery automatically at no additional cost.
● Fixed issue that would cause frame stutters during the run-in.
● Fixed issue where the camera would break during run-in if app was suspended.
● Fixed issue where the Info Page data would round numbers differently to how it was rounding in gameplay.
● Fixed issue where in certain circumstances HUD icons would show the incorrect timer when paused.
● Insecurity Buff: Updated Info Page to specify the Taunt debuff drains 50% of their max power over 3 seconds.
● Mind Games Buff: Updated string to specify opponents also have a reduced attack rating.
● Stubborn Defense Tactic: Fixed issue where the defender would gain an indestructible passive while attacking into a knocked down opponent.
● Blade: Demon Hunter Synergy updated with Mephisto and Dormammu to reduce Energy Resistance by a flat 950 rather than 30%.
● Ghost Rider: Updated the last three flamethrower hits during Special 2 to be projectiles instead of contact hits.
● Guardian & Spider-Ham: Fixed issue where their highlight Visual Effects would be behind other Champions in the Team
Select Screen.
● Human Torch: Fixed issue with Familiar Faces Synergy where Info Page did not match in-game potency.
● Korg: Fixed issue with Pit Fighter Synergy where Thor (Ragnarok) would not gain a Fury buff when finishing the combo with a Medium Attack against the opponent’s wall.
● Nick Fury: Fixed issue where his Special 3 Bleed would be more potent than expected if that Special was activated on the same frame as the 4th Light Attack.
● Nova: Fixed issue where Nova would obtain intense Power Gain when Stunned by Quake’s Aftershock during his dash.
● Old Man Logan: No…Not You… Synergy had Info Page updated to specify that Mysterio heals an additional 10% of the damage he took rather than flat +10% health.
● Spider-Ham: Updated misaligned Special 2 Visual Effects location.
● Vision (Aarkus): Fixed issue with Signature ability where Apocalypse was unable to prevent the Purify Ability.
● War Machine: Fixed issue where the rocket Visual Effects was misaligned during his Special 2.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you have been following me for a while, you know I’m a X-Men fan at heart, so anytime Mutants come to the Battlerealm is a call for celebration. While Jubilee isn’t at the very top of my list, she’s still a fun character with the potential for amazing Fireworks animations. Stryfe is a little bit of a deeper cut unless you’re a hard-core Cable fanatic, but I was just getting into comics during “X-Cutioner’s Song,” so he made a big impact on me as a kid.
The Undo Button is a fantastic, much-requested addition to Alliance Quest, but I’m a bit dubious about the Season Tags. Personally, I’ve dropped down to Tier 6 AW so I’m hoping they don’t have any impact on my day-to-day in-game experience.
Let’s hope MCOC gets off to a strong start in 2021!
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, December 28, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Summoner Sigil Owners, your Solo Event, Gold Quest, and items on a 7-day timer and the Legendary Crystal in the Black-ISO Market reset at Noon EST. Round 2 of the 4-Star Sabretooth and Spider-Gwen Featured Arenas at 1pm EST.
Lagacy solos Map 7 Apocalypse with Guillotine 2099.
Kingslayer looks at the impact of Masteries on champion damage output.
Karatemike cheeses Power Reserve with Goldpool.
-Dano357
Summoners!
Here’s my guide for Act 4.1.1 “Realm Reborn” in Marvel Contest of Champions.
General Thoughts:
Welcome to Act 4, where the game begins to get more complicated. You’re going to notice the Orange borders on Electro and the Doctor Strange Boss. These are Local Nodes which increase the difficulty of the fights by adding bonus stats and new abilities. It is important to get in the habit of checking these nodes when scouting paths.
Act 4.1.1 can be fully explored in 4 runs, or you can break it up into more attempts if you need to. The two middle paths (avoiding the class gates) offer the most direct route to the Boss. The mini-boss alternates between Carol Danvers and Spider-Man
I was able to make several roster improvements during my Act 4.1.1 run. I awakened 4-Star Man-Thing, and he is now at the top of my profile. I pulled 5-Star Luke Cage from a Dual Class Crystal, and 5-Star Dormammu from a Gifting 5-Star Nexus Crystal. I also awakened 4-Star Aarkus and brought him to rank 3, brought 5-Star Captain America Infinity War to Rank 3, and 4-Star Red Guardian to Rank 4.
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: Any
Restrictions: You’ll need 1 champion of each class to 100% explore this map. Please note the required classes on each lane below.
Global Node: None
Boss: Dr. Strange
Boss Notes:
+90% Energy Resistance
+50% Attack and Health
Doctor Strange has high energy resistance, so bringing any champs that rely on energy damage is not advisable. Most mystics are good for this matchup as they can nullify his buffs. You could also go with a Power Drain champion if his special attacks pose a problem for you. I used Man-Thing effectively in this fight.
Lane 1 – Left
Gate: Need 1 Science, 1 Tech, and 1 Cosmic Champion
Defenders: Punisher, Electro, Juggernaut, Drax, Unstoppable Colossus, Gamora, Scarlet Witch, Magik, Spider-Man
Nodes: +45% Armor (Electro), +100% Attack (Spider-Man)
Team: 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star King Groot, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4-Star Man-Thing, 4-Star Hulk Ragnarok
Tips: This is one of the long paths, and I needed more than my 55 energy cap to complete it. In addition to the listed fights, I was ambushed by 2 Adaptoids. Because of the number of fights, if your parry game isn’t on point you’ll want to bring some regen champs so you don’t have to spend potions.
Besides the path length, there are a couple of issues to plan for. The first is the Electro as mentioned above. Second is that there are two champions in Juggernaut and Unstoppable Colossus that go Unstoppable, so some sort of Power Control, Slow Debuff, or Stagger utility may come in handy. Finally, there is a duped Magik toward the end of the path, so you have to worry about Limbo Degeneration. Blade and Hulk Ragnarok are two of the best counters for Magik.
I mostly relied on Black Widow Deadly Origin and Man-Thing for my run on this path. I used King Groot for Electro and Man-Thing for the Doctor Strange Boss.
Lane 2 – Left Center
Gate: None
Defenders: Punisher, Electro, Hawkeye, Drax, Superior Iron Man, Black Bolt, Ms Marvel Carol Danvers
Nodes: +45% Armor (Electro), +100% Attack (Spider-Man)
Team: 5-Star Psylocke, 4-Star Aarkus, 4-Star Red Guardian, 4-Star Killmonger, 3-Star Mojo
Tips: This is an Easy Path. Besides Electro, there isn’t any need for specific counters.
Since my top champs were tied up in Alliance War, I used this as an opportunity to test out some of my recent acquisitions, particularly my newly awakened Aarkus. His damage is pretty good! I used Red Guardian for Dr. Strange, since he has no buffs for Strange to nullify.
Lane 3 – Right Center
Gate: None
Defenders: Thor, Electro, Hulk, Cyclops New Xavier School, Captain Marvel Classic, Deadpool, Ms. Marvel Carol Danvers
Nodes: +45% Armor (Electro), +100% Attack (Spider-Man)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin, 4- Star Man-Thing
Tips: This is the other Easy Path option. All of these defenders should be familiar to you at this point in the game. I mostly played a lot of Man-Thing and Yondu during my run, but you don’t really need specific counters.
Lane 4 – Right
Gate: Need 1 Mutant, 1 Mystic, and 1 Skill
Defenders: Thor, Electro, Ms. Marvel Carol Danvers, Cyclops New Xavier School, Daredevil, Ronan, Iron Fist, Elektra, Spider-Man
Nodes: +45% Armor (Electro), +100% Attack (Spider-Man)
Team: 5-Star Captain America Infinity War, 4-Star Yondu, 4-Star Emma Frost, 4-Star Black Widow Deadly Origin
Tips: This is the easier of the two long paths, and there aren’t any specific matchup issues to address. Just bring your best champs. I mostly relied on Man-Thing and Black Widow Deadly Origin for my run.
My Roster:
Jump To:
Act 3.4.6 – “Thanos Enters” – Big Account Updates
Act 4.1.1 – “Realm Reborn” – Nodes!
Act 4.1.2 – “A Little Help” – Level 38
Act 4.1.3 – “Incognito” – Hidden Nodes
Act 4.1.4 – “Symbioids” – Level 39 & 1st 6-Star
Act 4.1.5 – “Dark Times” – Level 40
Act 4.1.6 – “Trust” – Level 41
Act 4.2.1 – “Linked Might” – Level 42
-Dano357
Frontline: MCOC