Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, December 23, 2019.
Schedule Notes: 100% champion availability until AW attack resumes around 2pm EST. Round 2 of the 4* Invisible Woman and 2014 Champions Featured Arenas at 1pm EST. Summoner Sigil Owners, your Solo Event and Gold Quest, as well as the Black ISO Market, reset at 1pm EST. Dungeons return at 1pm EST (Tech/Science). The Act 6.4 Beta ends at 2pm EST. UMCOC Podcast, Live On Discord, 8pm EST.
Here’s my guide for Back Issues (Variant) 4 – Waning Moon – Chapter 1.1.
General Thoughts: Only three lanes, and there is nothing too tricky here as long as you bring a counter for the Electro boss. Ideally you should bring a workhouse damage dealer for the path, specific counters for a couple of fights (particularly on the middle path and the Scarlet Witch) and then a boss counter. A champion like Stark Spider-Man, who is a big damage dealer with power control, is an excellent option to build a team around.
Restrictions: 6* & 5* Champions
MVP Champs: Stark Spider-Man, Blade, Hulk Ragnarok, Hyperion
Global Node: +400% Attack Boost
Boss: Electro
Nodes: +100% Health, Crackling Energy, Stun Immunity, Power Efficiency (specials cost 50% less power), Enhanced Special 1, Special 1 Bias, Force of Will.
The Crackling Energy node will place a passive energy damage over time effect on the Attacker dealing .50% of their max health every second for 10 seconds, and can stack up to 10. Striking the Defender with a non-contact hit removes all stacks. This node is the main challenge of the fight. You need to work around it by bringing an attacker that can mitigate the energy damage and/or has non-contact attacks to remove the energy damage passive.
Best Counters: Hulk Ragnarok, Namor, Hyperion, Blade, Havok, Bishop, Gwenpool, Quake
Notes: Hulk Ragnarok’s Face Me will negate the passive damage. Launch his SP2 to enervate Electro to negate the power gain. A high Signature Level Namor will reflect the damage back. With Hyperion, simply intercept with the SP1. I recommend hitting into Electro’s block a few times at the start of the fight to give yourself more room to bait him. Blade can negate Electro’s reflection damage with Danger Sense and clear the passive damage with his SP1. With Havok you want to use the double medium combo as you build up to a SP3. Bishop’s unblockable SP2 does huge damage in this match-up. Gwenpool’s Signature Ability will reduce Electro’s Defensive Ability Accuracy if you can get a high enough combo. If you’re a great Quake player, that will also work.
Lane 1 – Left
Defenders: Namor, Heimdall, Void, Kingpin, Loki, Miles Morales, Scarlet Witch
Nodes: Strike Back
Tips: Very straightforward path, perfect for the Blade Trinity or any big damage dealers. Just play patiently with the Strike Back node and you’re set. If you’ve got suicides on, make sure you have a counter for Void.
Lane 2 – Center
Defenders: Namor, Iron Patriot, Corvus Glaive, Kingpin, Ebony Maw, Captain Marvel Movie, Miles Morales, Scarlet Witch
Team Used: Stark Spider-Man, Ghost-Rider, Hulk Ragnarok, Hyperion, Symbiote Supreme*
Tips: So this is the hardest lane simply because it has the most nodes to deal with. Ghost-Rider was great for Corvus Glaive. You’re going to take a lot of chip damage in that fight, so having a champion that can heal is ideal. The Ebony Maw fight is probably the trickiest on the path. I actually found Hulk Ragnarok a better option for that fight than my nullifying mystics, and I went back in and tried the fight with Quake, and that also worked. Surprisingly, Stark Spider-Man was actually a really good option for Captain Marvel Movie as he wasn’t triggering the Rage node at low Poise early in the fight, and then I could get into a rotation of baiting her SP1, countering, using my SP1 to stun, get in another combo, and repeat.
*If I had this to do over, I would have dropped Symbiote Supreme in favor of Quake for the Ebony Maw fight.
Lane 3 – Right
Defenders: Namor, Iron Patriot, Magneto, Mordo, Cable
Nodes: Strike Back, All-Or-Nothing
Team Used: Blade, Ghost-Rider, Stark Spider-Man, Hyperion, Hulk Ragnarok
Notes: Easy Path, no revives needed here. Just bring someone with power control and you’re pretty much set. A champion like Stark Spider-Man, who can place Taunt Debuffs on the opponent, makes this lane very easy, especially the Mordo, which is the most difficult fight on the path.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions sees return of Dungeons, the release of Week 3 of The Halls of Heroes, and the continuation of the Gifting Event.
We are currently in the rewards lockout period for Alliance War Season 14. If you leave your alliance this week, you will not be eligible to receive season rewards.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% champion availability on Sunday, December 22 at 3pm thru Monday, December 23 at 2pm. Additionally, there will be 100% roster availability on Tuesday, December 24 starting around 2pm until AQ begins at 3pm on December 25.
Sunday, December 22: 100% champion availability following the conclusion of the AQ Series around 3pm EST.
Monday, December 23: 100% champion availability until AW attack resumes around 2pm EST. Round 2 of the 4* Invisible Woman and 2014 Champions Featured Arenas at 1pm EST. Summoner Sigil Owners, your Solo Event and Gold Quest, as well as the Black ISO Market, reset at 1pm EST. Dungeons return at 1pm EST. The Act 6.4 Beta ends at 2pm EST. UMCOC Podcast, Live On Discord, 8pm EST.
Tuesday, December 24: 100% champion availability following the conclusion of AW attack around 2pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST. The Halls of Heroes Week 3 opens at 1pm EST.
Wednesday, December 25: 100% champion availability until the AQ Series begins at 3pm EST.
Thursday, December 26: Round 1 of the 4* Green Goblin and TBA Featured Arenas begin at 1pm EST. Dungeons reset at 1pm EST.
Friday, December 27: Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Saturday, December 28: War attack begins for the second-to-last war of Season 14 around 2pm EST.
Frontline: MCOC 