Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, March 23, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Round 2 of the 4* Aarkus and Star-Lord Featured Arenas at 1pm EST. 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 1pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST. UMCOC Podcast, Live on Discord at 8pm EST.
Episode 9 of the Contest Realm Podcast with RichTheMan and special guest Royal Marshall is now live.
It’s Episode 9 of the Contest Realm Podcast, with special guest Royal Marshall from UMCOC Podcast! This week we talk about the Feelin’ Green event, problems with champion acquisition, learn more about the origins of the UMCOC podcast, discuss the in-game economy and much more!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Sunday, March 22, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. The International Women’s Day Boss Rush ends at 1pm EST. Season 7 of Alliance Quest, the Alliance Quest Series, and the Glory Store Buff go live at 3pm EST.
We’ve got a very busy Marvel Contest of Champions calendar headed our way next week. The highlight of the week is, of course, the new Featured 5* Crystal. We don’t know the full pool yet, but the featured champions will be Silver Surfer, Squirrel Girl, Nova, Longshot, Mojo, and Mole Man. The new Featured 5* Crystal debuts on Tuesday, March 24 at 1pm.
Alliance War Season 16
We are currently in Alliance War Season 16. Rewards locked on Friday, March 13 at 6pm EST, and the season will end on Tuesday, March 24.
Note that because of a scoring error, rewards will not be distributed within 12-16 hours of the season ending. Instead it may take up to 1 week to receive rewards, and you do need to stay in your alliance until rewards are out to remain eligible.
Alliance War Season 17 is set to start on April 8. Because of the AQ schedule, there may not be much time to receive Season 16 rewards and change Alliances before Season 17 starts. It is likely you won’t be able to change alliances before Alliance Quest ends on April 4 without losing either your AW Season Rewards or your Alliance Quest rewards, so please plan accordingly.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% champion availability on Friday, March 27 at 3pm EST through Saturday, March 28 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, March 22: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. The International Women’s Day Boss Rush ends at 1pm EST. Season 7 of Alliance Quest, the Alliance Quest Series, and the Glory Store Buff go live at 3pm EST.
Monday, March 23: Round 2 of the 4* Aarkus and Star-Lord Featured Arenas at 1pm EST. 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 1pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST. UMCOC Podcast, Live on Discord at 8pm EST.
Tuesday, March 24: Feelin’ Green event ends at 1pm EST. The new 5* Featured Crystal, with Silver Surfer, Squirrel Girl, Nova, Longshot, Mojo, and Mole Man goes live at 1pm EST. Silver Surfer enters the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Alliance War Season 16 ends at 2pm EST. Reminder: There will be a 1 week delay in receiving season rewards. Do not leave your alliance if you wish to remain eligible for season rewards.
Wednesday, March 25: Week 4 of the Mole Man Expeditions becomes available at 1pm EST.
Thursday, March 26: Round 1 of the 4* TBA and Terrax Featured Arenas begin at 1pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Friday, March 27: 100% roster availability following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series at 3pm EST.
Saturday, March 28: 100% roster availability until AW attack resumes at 2pm EST.
Overall Impressions: If you’ve played through Variant 1 and 2 already, you’re going to notice a decrease in both the difficulty and the number of paths in each chapter, which is a welcome improvement. Variant 3 is also different from the first two in that it has one common theme in the global nodes. If you have a strong tech roster (I would recommend having at least three 5* 4/55 or better tech champs for the average player), this is the easiest Variant for an initial clear and to 100%, because it does not require the extensive roster that the others do.
The general theme for Polar Opposites is that tech champions are the best choice because all non-techs suffer a -50% attack penalty. There is also a global node that increases the length of tech champion’s debuffs, and the debuff length is increased for each additional tech on your quest team. This leads to some useful interactions we’ll cover below. Furthermore, the mutant hunting robot Sentinel gets a unique global buff which allows it to get to 100 Analysis Charges much faster than normal.
Champion Recommendations& Tips
Sentinel First off, Variant 3 was specifically designed to give Sentinel a huge advantage. If you don’t have a 5* or 6*, even a 5/50 4* can do major work. While Sentinel doesn’t need to be awakened, it really helps with the damage ramp-up. At the most basic level, you want to get your Sentinel to 100 Analysis and then launch a SP2 for maximum damage. If you are unfamiliar with Sentinel and want to take a deeper dive into one of my favorite champions, check out my Champion Guide to Sentinel.
Stark Spider-Man He’s a great champ, but you’ve probably been focused on his SP2 damage, which is amazing of course. But what you don’t want to forget here is that the increased debuff timer also applies to the stun on his SP1, allowing you to stun-lock many opponents if you bring a team of Stark Spider-Man, Mile Morales, and three additional tech champs.
Warlock I’m not a Warlock owner, but after reviewing the lanes in Variant 3, Warlock might be the second best option after Sentinel. With his heal block, shock damage, power control, and immunities, he can take pretty much any fight.
Ghost Ghost is arguably the tech champ that benefits the least from the global nodes, since she doesn’t rely on damaging debuffs to do big damage. That being said, if you’re a great Ghost player and just want to bring the Quantum Trinity, you’re going to mow through a lot of Variant 3.
Doctor Octopus Doctor Octopus will give you huge value on a number of lanes that require power control options.
Vision Much like Doctor Octopus, Vision will bring power control to the table, and also is double immune, which is also helpful.
Star-Lord Yes, it’s time to get Star-Lord off the bench. The large health pools mean Star-Lord can get ramped-up and do some big time damage. I used Star-Lord for some of the easier fights so my Sentinel was at full health for the more difficult ones.
Other Options: Here’s a few other options to consider. Darkhawk is double immune, which will be useful for the Bioharard path. Guillotine 2099 is a champion I don’t have to play right now, but clearly does big damage. Iron Man Infinity War will benefit from the extended debuff timers and can be a good pinch hitter in certain match-ups, like against Iceman. Mysterio is a great counter to Domino and can save you some revives. Nebula is underrated, and her shock damage makes her one of the better options for the final boss.
If you choose to go outside the tech class, it will likely be because you need to counter a specific difficult defender like Korg, Mephisto, Magik, or Dormammu that deals unavoidable damage that the tech class doesn’t counter. Your usual go-to champions for these match-ups like Namor, Blade, Hulk Ragnarok, and Void will still work, it will just be a longer fight.
General Thoughts: Variant 3 ends of a high note with a fantastically entertaining final boss fight. While there are some difficult fights in the final chapter, nothing feels cheap for the Summoner, which is excellent. The difficulty of each lane is about even, so your choice for an easy path is going to depend on your roster, play-style, and how comfortable you are with the nodes.
MVP Champs: Sentinel, Ghost, Warlock, Stark Spider-Man
Global Nodes: +400% Attack and Health Boost Apex Manufacture: Sentinel gains Analysis Charges at 2x normal rate, and attacks deal 1% additional damage per charge. Composite Construction: All Tech Champions are Immune to Ability Accuracy Modification Stack Overflow: Additional Tech Champions on the Attacker’s Team increase the duration of Debuffs by +10% Overclocked: All Champion Classes other than Tech suffer a -50% Base Attack Penalty.
Boss: Kang
Boss Fight Nodes: +300% Health Selective Timestream: Every 20 seconds the Defender’s health returns to full and all Debuffs are removed, and this can not be prevented with Ability Accuracy Reduction. Incinerate and Shock Debuffs prevent this Regeneration. Picture of Health: Defender is immune to Regen Rate Modification. Enhanced Special 1 Enhanced Special 2
Boss Fight Tips: I think this is just a fantastic fight to end Variant 3 with. It sounds a bit frustrating, but if you bring the right counters and understand the node, it’s actually a lot of fun. The key is to make sure Kang either has an incinerate or shock debuff on him when the timer runs out so he doesn’t regenerate. You can’t heal reserve him so don’t try. Once again, Sentinel is the obvious choice as he has the ability to place both incinerate and shock debuffs, but you can also use Nebula or even Stark Spider-Man. Just make sure you load up on techs to take advantage of the extended debuff timer.
Lane 1 – Far Left Defenders: Night Thrasher, Kingpin, Ghost Rider, Gamora, Human Torch, Proxima Midnight, Captain America Infinity War Nodes: Recharge, Defensive, All-or-Nothing, Power Shield (Main Path) Tips: None of these defenders are that tricky, but All-or-Nothing means you need power control (or the full Ghost synergy team). If Sparky is your best option, it is a good idea to bring Blade so you start the fight with the 3 Poise Charges. Warlock and Vision are also solid bets.
Lane 2 – Left Center Defenders: Civil Warrior, Unstoppable Colossus, Howard the Duck, Iron Man Infinity War, Killmonger, War Machine, Emma Frost Nodes: Explosive Personality (Main Path), +100% Health, Debilitate, Aggression: Armor (Emma Frost) Tips: There are a few tricky defenders here in Iron Man Infinity War, Killmonger, and Emma Frost that most people counter with Corvus, so you’re going to have to figure out how you want to handle this lane without him (or take the damage penalty). Sentinel is very good against Killmonger and Emma because of the armor break on the SP1. For Iron Man Infinity War, make sure you bring a champion you’re comfortable heavy-countering with. Champions like Stark Spider-Man, that have a short-heavy, are usually really difficulty to play against Iron Man IW. If you’re use to nullifying the Armor Nodes on Explosive Personality, keep that in mind too, as you can’t hit into block more than a few times per fight, and you don’t want to get backed into a corner.
Lane 3 – Center Defenders: Taskmaster, Void, Yondu, Green Goblin, Miles Morales, Omega Red Nodes: Long Distance Relationship (Main Path), +100% Health, Aggression: Fury, Aggressive (Omega Red) Tips: Void and Long Distance Relationship can be tricky. I like Stark Spider-Man for that fight because you can stun-lock Void with your SP1 and drain his power if needed. Save a robot champion for the Omega Red fight.
Lane 4 – Right Center Defenders: Vulture, Black Panther Civil War, Heimdall, Hulkbuster, Angela, Havok Nodes: Enhanced Armor Break, Enhanced Armor Up, Crumbling Armor (Main Path), +100% Health, +100% Power Gain, Crumbling Armor Tips: First off, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got a Havok counter. Warlock is a top pick, but don’t be afraid to bring someone like Red Skull if needed. Other than that fight, this path is actually not too bad.
Lane 5 – Far Right Defenders: Venom, Venom The Duck, Magik, Scarlet Witch, Mysterio, Ebony Maw, Mr. Sinister Nodes: Combo Party (Main Path), +100% Health, Special 1 Bias, Recovery Tips: Provided you can hold your combo and have either Warlock or Sentinel, this is a pretty easy path. For the Magik fight, I would recommend bringing Blade or Hulk Raganork and just accept the damage penalty since she’s not a difficult defender if she can’t Limbo you to death. Scarlet Witch you need a poison immune, and Mysterio you’ll need to counter with armor break or Stark Spider-Man. Ebony Maw is another tricky one that you might use Blade for. For this path I brought Sentinel, Stark Spider-Man, Blade, Mephisto, and Star-Lord to get the full Danger Sense bonus against Maw. Finally, Mr. Sinister is either easy if you have a great heal block champion like Sentinel or Warlock, or a possible road-block.
General Thoughts: This is an interesting chapter with a great boss fight, but this is also where it gets a bit harder to 100% the map, as defenders like Korg, Thing, Domino and Dormammu are present.
MVP Champs: Sentinel, Warlock, Ghost, Doctor Octopus, Vision
Global Nodes: +400% Attack and Health Boost Apex Manufacture: Sentinel gains Analysis Charges at 2x normal rate, and attacks deal 1% additional damage per charge. Composite Construction: All Tech Champions are Immune to Ability Accuracy Modification Stack Overflow: Additional Tech Champions on the Attacker’s Team increase the duration of Debuffs by +10% Overclocked: All Champion Classes other than Tech suffer a -50% Base Attack Penalty.
Boss: Storm
Nodes: +300% Health Typhoon: When the Defender actives a Special Attack, they place a passive Ion Pulse Charge on the Attacker. At 10 charges the Attacker is Power Burned for 100% of their current power. If the Attacker performs a SP3, all charges are removed. Power Efficiency: Defenders Specials cost -50% power Rolling Thunder Unblockable Special Attacks Protective Shielding
Boss Fight Notes: Also long as you are competent at dodging Storm’s special attacks (and make sure you are because she’s going to throw a lot of them) there isn’t anything special to worry about. Sentinel will get to 100 Analysis almost immediately in this fight, but you can use any champion. Just don’t get hit, because with Rolling Thunder active, it’s going to really hurt.
Lane 1 – Far Left Defenders: Gwenpool, Black Panther, Venom The Duck, Guillotine, Domino Nodes: Enhanced Abilities, Enhanced Bleed, Enhanced Crits (Main Path), +100% Health, Enhanced Abilities, Enhanced SP2, Stupefy (Domino) Tips: This is a good easy path, other than Domino none of the defenders offer much of a challenge beyond large health pools. Mysterio is a great Domino counter if he is in your roster.
Lane 2 – Center Left Defenders: Red Skull, OG Vision, Hawkeye, Dormammu, Psylocke Nodes: Plagued Mind (Main Path), +100% Health, +100% Power Gain, Unblockable Special Attacks (Psylocke) Tips: Plagued Mind may slow you down a bit but it isn’t too much to worry about. For Dormammu you may want to bring a hard counter like Hulk Ragnarok or Blade and live with the damage reduction, or just go into the fight understanding you may lose a champion or two to the degeneration (or turn off dexterity). As the Boss Fight isn’t hard, losing a champ on one fight isn’t a big concern.
Lane 3 – Center Right Defenders: Korg, Thing, Unstoppable Colossus, Morningstar, King Groot, Iceman Nodes: Bioharzard, Toxic Splash (Main Path), +100% Health, Empowered Immunity, Armor (Iceman) Tips: This path has much more to deal with than the two left paths. You’re going to need to load up on the double immunity champions to play it safe. Korg and Thing pose the usual challenges. Ghost, Iron Man Infinity War, and Warlock are all good Iceman counters.
Lane 4 – Far Right Defenders: Doctor Strange, Symbiote Supreme, Thor Ragnarok, Heimdall, Cable, Mephisto Nodes: Spite, +200% Power Gain (Main Path) Tips: This is a great path to go full Ghost. If you are looking for power control, consider OG Vision, Warlock, or Doctor Octopus. Even with the damage reduction, Void is still viable against Mephisto, just play very slowly.
Frontline: MCOC 