Who Are Cable & Domino?

Neena Thurman (Domino) is a mutant mercenary with the power to manipulate probability in her favour (unconsciously; she doesn’t necessarily choose what happens and how). She also harnesses enhanced agility and reflexes, but then again, most superheroes do.

In the comics, she has been a part of X-Force, X-Men, The Six Pack (I know right…who?!) and many more teams over the years. She made her on-screen debut in Deadpool 2 played by Zazie Beetz, where she convinced both Wade Wilson and all of us that luck is indeed a superpower.

Cable, on the other hand is, slightly more complicated. A baby born to Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean Grey) who was lost in time thanks to being infected by a techno-organic virus which he focuses his innate mutated abilities of telepathy and telekinesis to keep at bay, preventing it from taking over his body and ultimately killing him. Cable grew up through various post-apocalyptic lands throughout the future thanks to friend of the X-Men and guardian Bishop, learning to harness both the combat skills and the futuristic technology he now uses to fight for the future of mutants everywhere.

DEEP BREATH…EXHALE…say it with me…Comics. Are. Wild.

Anyway, let’s get onto how to play this pair on the table.

Cable

It’s worth noting that this is not the card that will come in the box. Cable got a fairly major buff back in 2023. Be sure to print this version out – you’ll have a much better time.

Characters that can ‘self-fund’ in Marvel Crisis Protocol are usually on the strong side. This means that a model can be plopped on the table and achieve everything they want to achieve without any outside help from leaderships or other characters. Cable is a perfect example of this. Techno-Organic Virus Suppression allows him to generate 2 power every turn, which coincidentally is the amount of power required for his signature move, Body Slide By One. Don’t let the Range 5 on Plasma Rifle fool you – Cable really wants to be within 3 of his targets as this will grant him two re-rolls in the attack. See the range 5 as a sort of compensation in case your target manages to get out of range. Body Sliding being available every turn makes it extremely easy for Cable to start blasting from Range 3 – and with the re-rolls, it’s more like seven dice twice with a good chance of applying Incinerate with a wild. This guy is going to deal damage consistently…and if he doesn’t…

Then there is Omega Level Threat. Throwing terrain is the most consistent method of damaging your opponents models in MCP – and Cable comes with one of the best terrain throws in the game. Spending power equal to the size of the terrain maximises its efficiency and coupled with the Medium range and being able to select terrain from Range 3 away; this ability is going to be of use more often than not.

But that’s not all! Cable also comes with Telekinetic Shield. A handy piece of kit that helps keep his allies alive. Gaining 2 power a turn while also having an awesome power gaining attack (Plasma Rifle) means Cable is often swimming in power. With Telekinetic Shield, he can contribute to the fighting even when it’s not his turn.

The key to having Cable in the right position comes down to mastering a combination of these 3 aspects. He wants to be within Range 3 of his allies and within Range 3 of his targets (when attacking). Having Body Slide By One allows him to maintain this perfect position throughout the game. The range 2 place isn’t just for getting into kill range (though let’s face it, it usually is); it can also be used to disengage and keep Cable at a same distance.

A health pool of 7 on both sides of his cards may make it seem like Cable is hard to take down – but a defence line of 3/3/4 isn’t the best for a 5 threat. Sure it actually translates to 5/5/6 when you use Telekinetic Shield, but you’re probably better off spending that power to protect allies who have higher quality dice (dice that count blanks for example) than him. Don’t be afraid to attack, attack and then Body Slide By One back a bit to stop Cable taking too much of a beating.

The attack Askani’Son looks pretty great on paper. But in reality, Cable has far better ways to deal damage and spend power than using this attack. Rolling 7 dice flat with this attack won’t feel much better than rolling 5 dice with two re-rolls with Plasma Rifle. The healing he gets from it is nice, don’t get me wrong — but focussing down 1 or 2 targets with a couple Plasma Rifles and a terrain throw, while also likely having power left over for Telekinetic Shield is likely a more reliable way for Cable to protect himself. I’m not saying Askani’Son is bad per se (it’s actually the case that the rest of Cable’s abilities are so good); but there are only specific times where you’ll want to use it. If Cable is hurt and surrounded by 3+ targets and he’s got a ton of power, that might be the time for an Askani’Son.

Domino

Domino is the definition of ‘looks good on the card, but plays way better on the table’…and hot damn does she look good on the card.

Probability Manipulation coupled with Things Tend To Go My Way are the main characters here. They’re both clearly good and sneaky good at the same time. When Domino has a couple power (which she basically always has, thanks to Automatic Pistols guaranteeing 1 power with every shot, with rapid fire), she’s essentially doubling the chance she has of rolling a crit. Crits are key for achieving those trademark MCP dice spikes.

But wait, there’s more! Thanks to Things Tend To Go My Way, your opponent cannot add additional dice if they roll a crit, which cuts off their ability for dice spikes; leaving the door wide open for Domino to barrel through with damage. This ability also goes both ways: models attacking Domino also can’t add dice for their crits, making Domino deceptively survivable.

All of this culminates in Domino achieving a level of reliability way above her 3 threat pay grade. But it doesn’t stop there. Grenade Bounce offers an automatic incinerate while also denying the target cover is more reliability from Neena. Lucky Shot is a secret weapon and offers some very specific tech to an already fantastic kit. Worried about an Immortal Hulk coming back with a ton of health? Lucky Shot that sucker. Want to deny Thor, Hero of Asgard from clapping back after you’ve kicked their teeth in? Lucky Shot! Power denial coupled with Stun is hugely impressive tech when used in the right scenario.

Domino does suffer from a lack of mobility, however. She is a Range 3 turret that really struggles with being displaced by your opponent. Team Tactics Cards like Indomitable or Warpath can help keep Neena in place, so I’d recommend bringing them with you if you need things to continue going your way.

Tactics Cards

Both Cable & Domino are affiliated in X-Force and are decent choices for this card. It places them a little further up the board after deployment and enables Domino to move once to a midline objective and get an Automatic Pistols attack that she might not otherwise have been able to make.

I do however think that this card was made for Cable.

As previously mentioned, Cable has a great amount of mobility. He can pretty much always get to within Range 3 of a target using Body Slide By One and start blasting. Using Cat and Mouse on Cable helps him get this level of offence as early as Round 1; while also being on a midline objective. It helps get the Cable train rolling early, which when you’re playing X-Force… that’s a big old train.

Playing the crises Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities (or ‘Hammers’ as most people call it) gives X-Force a pretty scary play thanks to Cat and Mouse. 

If the X-Force player has priority; they can deploy Cable opposite a side hammer with Cat and Mouse…and another character who wants to pick a hammer up in Round 1 (hello again Domino). Their first activation is to pick up the side hammer with Domino, which forces your opponent to go and pick up the hammer on Cable’s side. Cable can then Body Slide By One to be within Range 3 of the target and do what he does best. Chances are this will end up with X-Force having three hammers at the end of Round 1. Not to mention that those hammers are now in possession of two absolute killers — Cable & Domino.

Affiliations

X-Force

We’ve already talked about how these two are great at dealing damage. Having them both affiliated in X-Force only helps further with this. One attack re-roll that lets you roll your way out of skulls is fantastic. Especially for Cable, as he has his two re-rolls from Plasma Rifle which can sometimes get locked out due to not being able to re-roll skulls. The Wetworks re-roll can be done either before or after the Plasma Rifle re-rolls (your choice), so it can be used to free up more dice for Cable to re-roll.

Uncanny X-Men

Both Cable and Domino are Uncanny X-Men affiliated and there’s a ton of synergy here, so let’s do a quick fire round of why you might take these models into the Danger Room with the rest of the mutants.

Storm [X-Men Gold]

The ‘Storm hop’ leadership likes medium bases as it provides further distances for models to place across. Cable has a medium base. Storm also tends to bring squishy models along with her and Telekinetic Shield can help with that. Also, we mentioned that Domino has problems with mobility. Giving her the chance to ‘Storm hop’ into Range 3 of a target can be very scary for your opponent. 

Cyclops [X-Men Blue]

Cyclops is looking for people who can deal damage consistently. As we’ve mentioned previously, Cable & Domino excel at consistent damage thanks to their very reliable attacks. Cable dishing out incinerates also makes it easier for the rest of the X-Men to push damage through, triggering the leadership.

Speaking of the leadership; it hands out additional power each time an ally deals damage with an attack. Domino’s rapid fire means she has four chances (so long as she hits her triggers, which she tends to do) to deal damage and trigger the leadership FOUR times in her turn.

Xavier [Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters]

The Professor rewards mutants for using superpowers on both their turns and the opponent’s turn (power is handed out once per turn when an ally spends power on a superpower — that includes your opponent’s turn). 

Cable and Domino excel at this. Cable basically always uses Body Slide By One on his turn, which will trigger the leadership. He’ll have multiple chances to trigger Telekinetic Shield on your opponent’s turn too, generating an obscene amount of bonus power.

The same goes for Domino. She’s always spending power on Probability Manipulation, both when she is attacking and when she is being attacked (and even dodging?!!). Both of these models are going to be drowning the rest of your team in power under Professor X.

Conclusion

What a pair these two are! They both look great on their cards and feel great on the table. Where Cable excels at being a mobile damage dealer than can chase and throw terrain around; Domino is able to punch way (and I mean WAY) above her threat level once she’s in the right position.

Getting their position right is key to finding success with these two. Cable wants to be close to the action, but not necessarily IN the action – and Domino wants to be consistently within Range 3 of a poor unfortunate soul who is about to learn that luck can be a superpower.

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