Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
Schedule Notes: The new Event Quest “Missing Links” and Week 1 of the Northern Expeditions Side Quest go live at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series at 3pm EST. The new Alliance War Tactics go live today.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, June 30, 2020.
Schedule Notes: The 5 Star Featured Pool resets at 1pm EST. The Featured Champions will be Terrax, Sorcerer Supreme, Storm Pyramid X, Black Widow (Deadly Origin), Red Guardian, and Tigra. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST. The Canada Day calendar begins at 8pm EST, so make sure your game has been updated to v27.2 before the calendar goes live.
Seatin and KT1 test out the newly buffed Hulkbuster.
Hulkbuster isn’t the only one getting an upgrade. OG Hulk received a new synergy from Hulkbuster, making him immune to Nullify, Fate Seal, and Stagger. As MCOC Ink points out, this makes him an excellent Symbiote Supreme counter now.
The Doctor is in! MCOC Doc introduces ChampMD! -Dano357
Kabam has just released Part 2 of the 2020 Road Map “Amping Up Alliances.” This post rehashes a number of items that have already been talked about in the v27.2 Release Notes, such as Leadership Tools and the Season 19 Alliance War Update.
Regarding Alliance Wars, the Road Map covers how Season 19 was developed prior to the recent community feedback, and that long-term Alliance War needs a complete redesign. The Alliance War Future section of the post is limited to goals and doesn’t have any set timelines or designs at this time. If you’re interested in AW, I suggest reading this section of the post directly as I won’t be covering it here, but will be likely discussing it this Sunday on Episode 24 of the Contest Realm Podcast with RichTheMan. For now, I’m just glad Kabam acknowledged the current meta of Alliance War is unsustainable, although that does leave the community in limbo with regards to Season 19.
With that being said, let’s get into the break-down and learn what we can expect for the future of Alliance game-play in Marvel Contest of Champions
ALLIANCE QUEST ENERGY
Release Date: July
Important Notes: The Energy Cap is being raised to 6, starting Energy will be increased to 4, and Timers are being reduced from 60 minutes to 45 minutes on all maps.
My Thoughts: This is a massive win for the community! For anyone playing high level Alliance Quest, this is a huge Quality of Life improvement, and it may make higher maps available to some that couldn’t manage the time restrictions in the past. These changes are long overdue, but very welcome.
AQ LINK NODES:
Release Date: July for Link Node Removal, TBA on Map 6 Restructure
Important Notes: The first set of link nodes will be removed in Maps 6 and 7, and the Map 6 link nodes will be changed to flow more like Map 7.
My Thoughts: Another great change that will allow Summoners to capitalize on that increased starting energy and reduce logins. More good stuff.
MAP 7 RE-BALANCING
Release Date: August
Important Notes: Pain-points in Map 7 are being addressed. The Mesmerize node is being removed (replaced with Mix Master) and the Mephisto on that lane is being replaced with Green Goblin. Captain Marvel is being removed from the Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Lane. Vivified is being reduced from 200% to 100% Defensive Power Gain, Korg and Killmonger are being removed from that path, and Redoubled Determination is being removed in favor of Blood in the Water. Problematic Champions such as Mordo, War Machine, Captain Marvel, and Magneto are being removed, or their buffs will be adjusted, in Variation 1.
My Thoughts: The good news keeps coming for Map 7. Some of the worst nodes and match-ups are being removed or tuned down. Some of these fights were unnecessarily specific in their need for counters.
AQ MID-SEASON UPDATE
Release Date: July
Important Notes: There is another Alliance Quest post, expected on June 30, which will reveal the new Epic Modifiers, Honor Reward Milestones, and Mini-Boss changes.
My Thoughts: I’m cautiously optimistic here. I’m very curious to learn what the new modifiers are, how much more difficult they will be than the Master Modifiers, and how accessible T5CC from Honor Rewards will be.
BOSS RAIDS
Release Date: Unknown
Important Notes: Boss Raids are set to be massive, Alliance-based battles that will feature Marvel’s greatest villains and recreate epic moments from movie and comic book history. This will be a unique game-mode that should give Alliances a new way to work together.
My Thoughts: The information here is very preliminary, but I love the idea. I hope they get real creative with Boss Raids, this could be an awesome social game-mode.
HELP SYSTEM
Release Date: September
Important Notes: Two words: Help All.
My Thoughts: Arena grinders rejoice, it’s finally happening! One button to clear them all.
UNDO BUTTON
Release Date: Unknown
Important Notes: Kabam is working on the tech to get an Undo Button into AQ and AW, so the days of accidentally heading down the wrong path may be a distant memory someday.
My Thoughts: As an officer, I can tell you I’ve had more than one day ruined scrambling to cover lanes and deciding which nodes to leave up when someone goes the wrong way, particularly in Map 7. I never thought an Undo Button was ever going to be on the table, so this is quite the pleasant surprise.
DEFENDER PLACEMENTS
Release Date: Unknown
Important Notes: This is still in development, but Kabam is working on a way for Officers to directly place defenders from a member’s Top Champs list.
My Thoughts: This is another pain point. Sometimes people forget to place and you’re trying to set defense, or have a legit life conflict. This will certainly help ease player stress.
PATH ASSIGNMENTS
Release Date: Unknown (2020 Target)
Important Notes: Kabam is currently in design with this new feature, which will allow officers to assign AQ and AW lanes to members.
My Thoughts: As attached as I am to my AQ lane spreadsheets, having paths assigned in-game is going to be pretty great.
AQ OFFICER
Release Date: 2021
Important Notes: This feature is designed to give Leadership more breathing room by showing the upcoming AQ Map variations, and queuing up the following round of Alliance Quest in advance.
My Thoughts: It’s always awkward when members start pinging leadership to start AQ, and you’re busy with something and then have to scramble to login, remember the order of the modifiers you’re running, and setup the maps without making a week-ruining error. Needing officers to be available during a very specific time-window can be problematic, and I like that this is being addressed.
What do you think of these new features? Do they meet your expectations, or does Kabam need to do more to improve the Alliance experience?
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, June 29, 2020.
Schedule Notes: Round 2 of the 4 Star Venompool and Hit Monkey 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. UMCOC Podcast, Live on Discord at 8pm EST.
It’s Episode 23 of the Contest Realm Podcast! This week continue to talk all about the Road Map, dig into the v27.2 Release Notes, and Rich ruins Poutine for me.
Let’s break down how July’s Side Quest, Northern Expeditions, works so you can maximize your rewards.
THE BASICS
If you remember Mole Man Expeditions, then you already know the setup for how Northern Expeditions will work. There will be 4 quests, with a new one unlocking each week in July. There are 4 difficulty levels: Heroic, Master, Epic, and Canadian. Canadian Difficulty is a new “Cavalier” tuned map, and you must be Level 60 to access it, but you do not need to have the Cavalier title.
Your quest team will be limited to 3 champions, and Sasquatch will be a random ambush, so be prepared to deal with him by adding a mystic counter to your team.
Canadian Difficulty will have an added Global node, and all paths but one will have linked nodes.
There will be no energy requirements for Northern Expeditions, and you can run all difficulty levels you have access to. All the rewards are on the paths, there are no completion or exploration rewards.
SCHEDULE
Week 1 (8 Paths) – Wednesday, July 1 at 1pm EST Week 2 – (8 Paths) – Wednesday, July 8 at 1pm EST Week 3 – (12 Paths) – Wednesday, July 15 at 1pm EST Week 4 – (12 Paths) – Wednesday, July 22 at 1pm EST
The Northern Expeditions ends on Wednesday, August 5 at 1pm, and all maps will close at that time so be sure to complete the event before the August event goes live.
REWARDS
Here is the break-down of rewards for Northern Expeditions. These are the total rewards than can be achieved by running every path of the event.
Here’s some info to get you prepped for what’s happening in Marvel Contest of Champions next month. Expect to see the v27.2 update available for download around June 29. Read the Full Release Notes.
NEW CHAMPIONS
As Guardian, James MacDonald Hudson leads Canada’s greatest Super-Hero Team, Alpha Fight. He is a Tech champion powered by a suit that grants him Armor Up, Perfect Block, and Shock damage, and looks to be a very defensive champion. He has a unique synergies with himself, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Squirrel Girl, Deadpool, Sasquatch, and Mole Man.
Dr. Walter Langkowski transforms into the mighty Sasquatch to become Alpha Flight’s resident powerhouse. He is a tanky Mystic Champion with Regeneration, Unstoppable, and Rupture. Sasquatch’s unique synergy partners are Man-Thing, Sabretooth, Hulk, Squirrel Girl, King Groot, Thing, Sentinel, and Hulkbuster.
EVENT QUEST In July’s Event Quest, Guardian and Sasquatch set out to stop a mysterious crystal smuggling ring in the Battlerealm.
SIDE QUEST Welcome to Canadian Difficulty! This month the Road to Cavalier Difficulty begins with the Northern Expeditions Side Quest. This event will work very much like the Mole Man Expeditions, as you can only bring 3 champions into the quest. There are 4 total maps for this quest, and a new one will be released each week. Note that you do need to be Level 60 to access Canadian Difficulty. Week 1 opens on July 1 at 1pm EST.
HULKBUSTER BUFF It’s finally here! Read all about the Hulkbuster rework going live with v27.2.
EXTRA REWARDS July will have a special 2-week calendar beginning on June 30th, as well as new Objectives. In addition to the usual shards, signature stones, and gold, you can also gain special Canadian themed revives (Poutine) and health potions (Maple Syrup).
NEW FEATURES The new quality of life features in this update are Battlegroup Assignments, which allows leadership to assign members into Battlegroups for War and Alliance Quest, Top Alliance Champions for AQ, AW Attack, and AW Defense, and a new fight menu screen.
BUG FIXES Big fixes for the month include fixes to the animations of Luke Cage and Mr. Fantastic, Crossbones not always receiving critical failures vs Domino, and an issue with the evade call-out not always appearing during specials.
FINAL THOUGHTS After a couple of slow months, it looks like MCOC is starting to pick up steam again. There is a lot packed into this update. The Leadership Tools debuting in v27.2 have been requested for years, and as the owner of an awakened 6 Star Hulkbuster, I can’t wait to try out his new kit in Incursions. Alpha Flight, while previously mentioned, is a team that has been noticeably absent in-game, especially considering Kabam is based in Canada. As always, the new champions need to be play-tested to see their true worth, but I have to admit Sasquatch looks like my kind of champion and I like his synergy partners. At the end of the day though, the community response to the rewards and difficulty for the Canadian level of the Northern Expeditions will define the month, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens when the first quest opens on July 1.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings with it a new game update, v27.2, which is packed with new content and features for the month of July. Joining The Contest next month are Guardian and Sasquatch from Alpha Flight, and Hulkbuster’s long-awaited buff finally goes live! Other highlights of the week include a new Featured 5 Star Crystal, the Canada Day Calendar, and new Alliance War Tactics.
I hope you and your family are staying safe during these difficult times.
Alliance Wars Seasons We are currently in Alliance War Off-Season. Season 19 will start on July 8.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% champion availability starting at 3pm on Wednesday, July 1 through Thursday, July 2 at 2pm EST. There will be a second window beginning at 2pm EST on Friday, July 3 through Saturday, July 4 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, June 28: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST.
Monday, June 29: Round 2 of the 4 Star Venompool and Hit Monkey 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. UMCOC Podcast, Live on Discord at 8pm EST.
Tuesday, June 30: The 5 Star Featured Pool resets at 1pm EST. The Featured Champions will be Terrax, Sorcerer Supreme, Storm Pyramid X, Black Widow (Deadly Origin), Red Guardian, and Tigra. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST. The Canada Day calendar begins at 8pm EST, so make sure your game has been updated to v27.2 before the calendar goes live.
Wednesday, July 1: The new Event Quest and Week 1 of the Northern Expeditions Side Quest go live at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability following the conclusion of the Alliance Quest Series at 3pm EST. The new Alliance War Tactics go live today.
Thursday, July 2: Round 1 of the 4 Star Basic and Featured Arenas begin at 1pm EST. Champions for both Arenas are still to be announced. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
Friday, July 3: 100% Roster Availability beginning at 2pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Saturday, July 4: 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3pm EST.
