Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Saturday, December 18, 2021.
Schedule Notes: No schedule updates.
Information on the January Side Quest has been released. Check out my write-up on everything to expect, including the debut of Strikers.
Kabam announced it has taken action against approximately 3,400 accounts for Terms of Service Violations. Many of these were arena bots. Kabam also stated that in the first quarter of 2022, they will be reviewing arena results and providing Summoners who missed out on Top 100 or Top 500 cutoffs because of arena bots the rewards they rightfully earned.
Finally, Kabam confirmed that information on the Gifting Event will not be released until the event goes live on Monday, December 20 at 1pm EST, and that there will be no champion buffs released with the January update.
Week 1: Wednesday, January 5 at 1pm EST (Quest 1/Red Compass)
Week 2: Wednesday, January 12 at 1pm EST (Quest 2/Purple Compass)
Week 3: Wednesday, January 19 at 1pm EST (Quest 3/Dark Blue Compass)
Week 4: Wednesday, January 26 at 1pm EST (Quest 4/Black Compass)
Ends: Wednesday, February 9 at 1pm EST
HOW TO PLAY
The Savage Wild quest asks the Summoner to explore the Savage Land. Each week on Wednesday at 1pm EST, a new quest will unlock. The first three quests will have four paths, and the final quest will have five paths, with the extra path only being available to Cavalier and Thronebreaker players.
Each quest will be available in 4 difficulties – Legendary, Epic, Master, and Heroic – and you will be able to play all 4 difficulties! There is no energy cost to run the Side Quest.
The trick with this Side Quest is each path requires a Compass (Gate Key) to unlock it. You’ll get 1 Compass each week in your inbox. Additional Compasses are earned from special objectives in the Searching For Direction Solo event that require you to make an initial clear of the X-Men: Invasive Species Event Quest at any difficulty. The final Compass is earned via an X-Men themed solo event.
The final week switches up a bit. The Black Compass and the special Platinum Compass (Cavs/Thronebreakers Only) arrive via the inbox, and the other 3 Compasses are earned through Solo Events.
Note that the Compasses are valid for all difficulty levels and are not consumed when you run the quest. They remain in your inventory for the month.
SOLO OBJECTIVES
The two solo events needed to earn the Compasses will go live at the start of the event on January 5 and run through the end of the event in February. The X-Men Use event simply requires you to win fights with an #X-Men champion, while the Destroy All Mutants event requires you to win fights against any Mutant champion. As there are 35 days to complete these events, it should be relatively easy to naturally hit the milestones as long as you’re active in-game.
STRIKERS
Strikers finally debut in MCOC. Every fight in the Side Quest will have the Striker feature available! There will be a new button located above the Special buttons to trigger the Striker. Each Striker will grant a different effect on either the attacker or defender. Triggering the Striker after the 4th light attack enhances the effect. Strikers are available at the start of the fight, and once you use them, you will have to wait until they build-up their power meter to be used again.
Each quest will have one featured Striker. Note that you do not need to have the champion in your roster to use the Striker, and the Striker has a power level tuned to each difficulty level of the Side Quest. Your roster has no impact on the power level of your Striker.
The Strikers and effects are: Quest 1 – Colossus – Grants Attacker an Unblockable Buff Quest 2 – Wolverine – Grants Attacker a Regeneration Buff Quest 3 – Hulk – Grants Defender a Weakness Buff Quest 4 – Juggernaut – Grants Attacker an Unstoppable Buff
On the Platinum Compass Lane of Quest 4 (Cavs/Thronebreakers only) you’ll be able to use all four Strikers.
REWARDS
This Side Quest features Path rewards as well as Completion and Exploration rewards, so you should receive something for your efforts each time you run a lane. You’ll only need to run each lane once per difficulty.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC CRYSTALS
January’s special hero crystal is called the Anthropomorphic Crystal. As usual these are available in Cavalier and Grandmaster variations for 4K shards, which can be earned from the Solo Events. This isn’t a great champion pool, but it’s also not very big. Dragon Man, Hit-Monkey, Mole Man, Spider-Ham, and Tigra look like the best drops in the crystal.
Anthropomorphic Crystal Champion Pool:
Beast Dragon Man Hit-Monkey Howard The Duck Man-Thing Mole Man Nightcrawler Rhino Rocket Raccoon Sabretooth Sasquatch Spider-Ham Squirrel Girl Tigra Venom The Duck
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m actually really excited about this Side Quest. It seems pretty straightforward, the Legendary rewards look good, and the Solo Events don’t seem too taxing. Of course, this event will sink or swim based on how Strikers are received by the community, and I think we’re all anxious to see how this new feature works in-game. Best of luck!
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Schedule Notes: Round 1 of the Overseer Basic Arena and Karnak/Nebula/Joe Fixit/Hawkeye Selector Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Tuesday, December 14, 2021.
Schedule Notes: America Chavez is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15pm EST.
Here’s your Marvel Contest of Champions news brief for Monday, December 13, 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 Symbiote Supreme Basic Arena and Kraven the Hunter Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest Enlistment opens at 3pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
It’s Episode 80 of the Contest Realm Podcast! Rich and I went live yesterday to discuss the cancellation of AW Season 30, the Anniversary Motion Comic which teased Sauron and Toad, and where Kabam went wrong with the Gold Boost.
Next week in Marvel Contest of Champions brings us The Overseer as the Basic Arena champion, Chapter 2.2 of the Sinister Six Side Quest, and America Chavez joins the Basic Pool.
Alliance Wars Seasons Season 31 will begin on January 5 after an extended off-season.
Full Roster Availability (No AW/AQ): 100% Champion Availability starting at 2pm EST on Sunday, December 12 through Monday, December 13 at 2pm EST.
Sunday, December 12: Sunday Arenas begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability begins at 2pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
Monday, December 13: 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 Symbiote Supreme Basic Arena and Kraven the Hunter Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. 100% Roster Availability ends at 2pm EST. Alliance Quest Enlistment opens at 3pm EST. The Alpha Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Tuesday, December 14: America Chavez is scheduled to enter the Basic Pool at 1pm EST. Please confirm via the in-game banner. The Alliance Quest Series begins at 3:15pm EST.
Wednesday, December 15: Chapter 2.2 of the Sinister Six Side Quest unlocks at 1pm EST.
Thursday, December 16: Round 1 of the Overseer Basic Arena and To Be Announced Featured Arena begin at 1pm EST. The Tier 4 Basic Arena begins at 6pm EST.
Friday, December 17: The Holiday Shard Arenas and the Trade-In Store end at 1pm EST. Incursions Milestones reset at 2pm EST.
Frontline: MCOC 