The Marvel: Crisis Protocol World Team Championship is on the 19th – 20th of October and sees over 200 people across 42 teams battle it out for their country.
This will be one of the largest MCP events of the calendar year and comes hot off the heels of a recent balance change so we should see some interesting developments.
I’ve sat down with Gil, one of the organisers of the WTC to go over what we can expect this year.
Table of Contents
WTC 2024
Alfred_Pharius: This is the second year running the WTC for MCP. Are there any exciting plans or surprises this year compared to last?
Gil: We’ve seen the WTC expand and more teams from more countries have joined us. We have some great sponsors to help with prize support. Atomic Mass Games themselves have provided their Grand Tournament prize support including the much coveted blue dice. Two Thin Coats are the official painting sponsor with prizes for best roster, best single model of each base size and best table. And we will have dice trays from Deep Cut Studios for all participants with two different designs to choose from.
Strategies
Alfred_Pharius: Do you think we will see some unique strategies or play-styles from the different countries?
Gil: The winning team from Sweden last year have been on a number of podcasts talking about their process so I expect we will see other top teams try to replicate their success in their own way. Having said that not every team is there for the podium and some will just be there to roll dice and have fun. We need to cater for everyone either way.
Terrain
Alfred_Pharius: Terrain is a big part of Marvel: Crisis Protocol, has it been challenging to balance between terrain that is both thematic and practical?
Gil: That balance will always be a challenge but in MCP you can make terrain out of anything. Think of the official Quinjet model, it isn’t always the most practical but it works. There is nowhere in the rules that says you need to be able to put models on all pieces of terrain so having a mixture of terrain, some for throwing, some for cover and some to stand on is how we can manage that balance.
Just as important as the gameplay is the story that each table has to tell. As well as a game with well written rules, MCP is a visual experience and each table has to make sense. Houses don’t belong on the middle of the road, snowy bases don’t belong in a desert etc.
This year we will have 20 brand new tables with army bases, forests, snowy maps as well as some themed tables with Asgard, Wakanda and Hydra.
A big thank you to the organisers of Adepticon for supplying some of the tables for the WTC this year as well.
The Meta
Alfred_Pharius: The format of the WTC is for of each character to be represented only once across the team. How do you think this will affect the ‘meta’ we will see at the WTC?
Gil: The “Perfect” way to build a team is for each person to put forward what team they want to play and then see how much crossover there is to go from there. So what the meta will be like will depend on which splash characters the players favor at the time.
The format does mean that we may not see some affiliations like the Hellfire Club who tend to just include all the best characters in the game in one place. Some other affiliations like the Servants of Apocalypse will also take a lot of thought to plan a team around as they take some of the best characters and can’t splash other characters as easily.
The idea to stop duplicate characters was taken from the previous Warmachine WTC where we had a similar restriction. This meant that we didn’t just see teams where each person took the ‘best’ list over and over and ensures some variety.
The pairing system we have will also help with this as it adds another layer of complexity. MCP isn’t a “Rock, Paper, Scissors” style game where one team will always beat another but there are certain advantages you can get by getting the correct opponent and table.
Predictions
Alfred_Pharius: Do you have your eye on any favorites to do well or are you keeping that close to your chest?
Gil: The returning champions are expected to do well considering they have kept the same team but some of their winning strategy is out in the world now so perhaps they will have some strong contenders. One or two of the teams from England should do well as they have some very strong players on there. There is a lot of potential from the Austrians, the Spanish and the Italians and at least one of the Canadian teams has brought the Shark Tank.
As long as the team from America has prepared properly and play as a team they could also do very well.
The home team form Denmark was just shy of a podium finish last year and if they play their cards right they also have a good shot.
As usual for an event this size there will also be the possibility of a wild card team that can pull out a surprise from nowhere.
Streaming
Alfred_Pharius: Will there be streaming or other community engagement if people want to tune in?
Gil: The Professional Casual Network will be streaming the games with a camera on one of the top tables.
Unfortunately we were unable to get everyone from the Professional Casual Network out to the event so we are looking for a volunteer to help with the streaming. if you are interested in helping out please email mcpwtc@gmail.com or get in touch with Norbert or Gil on discord. Volunteers will get room and board paid for but would have to sort their own flights to Copenhagen.
Final Thoughts
List lock for the event will be after Friday the 11th so stay tuned for some analysis of what each country will end up bringing to the tables in Copenhagen.
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