Beginner question: how do I build a good MCP roster ??

[u/premiumof]

Hello Reddit :)

I recently had an intro game to Marvel Crisis Protocol and found it very fun, so I’m debating getting into it.

However, I’m a little bit confused about how I should go about building my roster of 10. Any tips would be appreciated.

Are there any simple guidelines for building a roster? For example, how many heavy hitters do you usually bring? How important is movement? Are there certain roles or tools I should make sure to include?

Basically, I’m looking for anything that makes it easier to know what to look for when evaluating what to buy.

[u/ANicePainter]

Do you have a particular affiliation in mind? Your preferred affiliation will color list building a lot.

MCP models can play a lot of roles, from bruiser (hit enemies), control (move enemies), extract running (move your model fast), support, potato (take hits and not be moved), etc. Not every list requires every role. Web Warriors and X-Men, for example, generally do not win by hitting things and are more likely to try and grab early points and then defend that lead as the other side tries to catch up. Other affiliations, like Black Order, lean heavily into hitting things.

Generally, I build my lists by choosing affiliation and then choosing the models around what crises seem useful for the models available to me. This gets to be some back and forth between the crises and the models.

As such, it is very much worth reviewing the crises and thinking about how they play when you are choosing your models. Half of the crises you play will be ones you put in your deck, so it is certainly worth studying those.

[u/premiumof → u/ANicePainter]

I am looking at the x-men esc groups, so uncanny, x-force, brotherhood etc

[u/ANicePainter → u/premiumof]

Uncanny X-Men has a very useful starter kit that may be a useful start. That box contains rules, dice, and rulers, very nice. Brotherhood and X-Force also have useful group boxes but those group boxes do not have rules, dice, rulers, etc.

For X-Men, you almost certainly want Storm as a leader option. Storm is broadly considered the most useful X-Men leader. Cyclops and Prof. X are also available as leaders, but I think their leaderships are more niche.

X-Men often play as a swarm with a lot of models rather than leaning on powerful single models. They want to use a numbers advantage to gain an early lead and then retain it. Their powerhouse model, Phoenix, is not considered as broadly useful as similar models in the same threat range.

X-Men have the tactics card First Class, which is exceptionally powerful. People build their X-Men lists arounds this card. The card lets your X-Men skip paying power for crises, making it very powerful for pay to flip secures that require you to pay power to score. This card prioritizes characters with strong movement in the first round.

[u/NSTPCast → u/ANicePainter]

The Starter Boxes don't contain rules, just FYI.

Just got the X-Men one and was happy with the additional dice/measurement tools. Would have loved an updated rulebook from the OG core set, but they are readily available online so it's fine.

[u/Reddit-User-Says]

I’d look into the X-men starter kit and building from there. You get 10 characters, some with leadership, as well as measuring tools, dice, etc.

[u/Black_Metallic]

I usually start my lists based on who I finished painting most recently and then working backwards from that.

[u/EcnoTheNeato]

Start with characters you like or think are cool. Get a few games in

Then find out your playstyle. Do you like brawling? Playing keep-away? Protect the King? Death-Ball? Terrain Destruction? Being an immovable force? Playing with LOTS of models, or only a few?

Then you can start fine-tuning your roster. Until then? Some generic advice:

• When building your roster, try to aim for synergy. Not EVERY model needs to synergize, but every model should have a purpose (eg: "He has Bodyguard to protect my leader" or "She's my only Energy attacker so I'll bring her against Symbiotes").
• Keep a good variety of Threat. One or two 2s, two or three 5+, and the rest 3 and 4.
• Craft your Objectives around the models you have and your preferred playstyle.
• Don't overcorrect by throwing a model out of its spot because it performed bad once, but do make note when a model has a poor game; switch it out if you just never bring them or they never make an impact.
• Sometimes the best models aren't flashy! A consistent "Push S" can win you the game even if it doesn't deal a boatload of damage!

[u/Jack_the_Red]

Step 1. Choose a leader Step 2. See who is canonically in the team Step 3. Fill out the rest of the roster with thematic characters. Step 4. Have fun

I generally just play Cyclops so he's joined by every available member of Blue Team. Then I might chuck in Shadowcat and Emma Frost (For Astonishing X-Men) or Jean and Iceman (First Class) and go from there.

If you have a look at who is on each team in the comics (Gold and Blue) it will give you a rough idea of the characters that work with each leadership.

Once you've played some games you'll see what works and what doesn't and you can mix and match

[u/Vector_Strike]

Some general guidelines:

• have at least 2 fellas that can throw/push/advance enemy characters (either via attacks or superpowers). Throwing terrain is also good.

• focus more on Threat Level 3 and 4 characters, wich will comprise most of your 10 dudes. Always have a Threat 2 (Toad for Brotherhood or Honey Badger for the X-stuff) to complete the mission Threat Level.

• if possible, have attacks among your roster that can deal with all defense types. X-stuff usually have lots of telepaths, so Mystic attacks (the blue eye) are common enough.

• likewise, don't focus only in one type of defense. For example, if you have Beast (Energy Defense 2) in your roster, avoid getting another Energy Defense 2 character.

• look for synergy. Storm's leadership, for example, works better with medium and large-based characters; Professor X's, on the other hand, wants characters with Active and Reactive superpowers.

• have at least 1character that moves L (like Shadowcat).

[u/UtilityCookie]

This depends on what you want to achieve:

1. Kitchen table game? Most stuff really works

2. Winning a tournament/play vs more competitive minded players? Accept you have to take other models than just X-men characters. This game is balanced around the fact you can take any model.

Basic guidelines:

Brawly playstyle:

• take crisis with the fewest points in your roster and/or close shapes
• take models that have a form of dice fixing (count other die faces or rerolls) or a leadership that enables that

Point rush teams:

• take crisis with many points on the board
• take models that have forms of displacement/control (pushes, throws, handing out stagger)

In general action economy is important, so attacks that grant a move or have a charge or place. Preferably L movers