Uncanny X-Men are certainly one of the fan favourites in Marvel. We all grew up watching the animated series on TV and our love was likely rekindled by the hit series X-Men 97. Marvel Crisis Protocol and its creators Atomic Mass Games have certainly not been shy with mutant related releases since the game first hit store shelves. Each AMG Roadmap update to date has included some sort of clawed & healing factor laden killer, blue skinned, winged or some form of psychic genetic freak coming to the game – and I for one, love it.
But how do they play on the table? AMG themselves have previously stated that X-Men are designed to be a ‘tool box’ affiliation. Each new release brings new tools to the team, giving them a jack-of-all-trades kind of feel.
There are currently 3 X-Men leaderships available, in the form of Cyclops (X-Men Blue), Storm (X-Men Gold) and Xavier (Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters). However, each of the leaders are looking for different mutants to help bolster their gameplan. So let’s get into that; exactly what is the game plan and play style for each of the Uncanny X-Men leaderships?
Cyclops [X-Men Blue]
A Cyclops led X-Men team are rewarded for dealing damage. Most leaderships of a similar vein tend to come with a ‘once per turn’ caveat, however this one does not. Every time an ally deals damage with an attack, another ally within 5 gains 1 power.
This essentially means that Cyclops is looking for X-Men that are consistent with their damage dealing, or those who give themselves plenty of opportunities to have a shot at dealing damage. Here are some of the mutants that excel in this area:
- Cable: Cable gets 2 re-rolls when attacking with his Plasma Rifle from within 3, which he can achieve very easily without any help thanks to Body Slide By One. That coupled with his ability to dish out Incinerate when rolling a wild makes him a very reliable damage dealer in X-Men.
- Domino: At first glance, Domino may not seem like the absolute monster damage dealer that she is. However utilising Probability Manipulation to count skulls as crits makes her Automatic Pistols potentially devastating. Not to mention Things Tend To Go My Way making it harder for her targets to block what she’s sending their way. It isn’t uncommon for Domino to attack 4 times a turn (especially with the help of Cyclops’ Field Leader ability to get her into position) and thus, dishing out multiple power to her team per turn.
- Honey Badger: It isn’t always about how many dice you throw at your opponent. Sometimes it’s about reducing their ability to block the incoming damage. Honey Badger’s ability Anklebiter causes your opponent to roll one less defence dice (plus, it stacks with Incinerate!!!). This makes your attack more likely to deal damage and trigger the leadership.
Storm [X-Men Gold]
Storm’s leadership has arguably the highest skill expression of the three. What is colloquially known as ‘the Storm hop’ allows for extra movement that most teams could only dream of. In Round 1, this is primarily used as a way to grab an extract on the midline and retreat to safety.
A small base Storm hopping off a medium/large base, will allow a small base to medium move once to the midline, grab an extract and use their remaining action to move back to safety. There are more details on that neat trick, among many others on the First Class blog by Vodkablitz here. This means that bigger base models excel under Storm, as they offer even further movement when taking part in the once-a-round Storm hop.
And we haven’t even gotten to the part about the defensive re-roll. When being attacked from outside of Range 2, Storm’s squad get a single defensive re-roll. This of course stacks with other defensive tech like cover, or other re-rolls, making the right character choices potentially very tanky. So which X-Men fit nicely into a Storm led roster?
- Beast: Beast is a phenomenal member of the X-Men in MCP. His medium base, medium move and Wild place on his Acrobatic Strike make him incredibly mobile. Plus a 2 cost, Size 2 character or terrain throw granted by Baser Instincts is fantastic utility. For any Round 1, Extract grabbing shenanigans, a medium base is required – and Beast is most X-Men player’s first port of call.
- X-23 (with special guest, Honey Badger): Laura Kinney is one of the premium 3 threat assassins in MCP. The one thing she lacks is any sort of charge or place to get herself into the right position before she starts swiping. The Storm hop however, can help with this greatly. Especially when paired with her clone, Honey Badger. The pair grant each other plenty of movement if anyone is misguided enough to attack them, allowing you to line up the perfect Storm hop just in time for X-23 to activate and start doing her job from the perfect position (which is…surrounded by enemies with not much health remaining).
- Angel: As we’ve mentioned before, medium/large bases are just what Storm is looking for. But one side effect you will find occurring once you get the hang of Storm is that you remember to keep your team all within Range 2 of each other. This is where Angel’s Team Tactics Card Ultimate Sacrifice comes into play. Storm teams tend to be made up of characters that are on the squishy side. Angel provides some much needed protection and healing with this card. I recommend running this alongside Sacrifice to really push yourself into learning to keep Storm’s X-Men in position at all times.
Xavier [Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters]
The newest addition to the Uncanny X-Men leaders comes in the form of their headmaster and mentor, Professor Charles Xavier. This leadership has huge potential, if the right team is built around it. Cheap and impactful superpowers reign supreme here. Especially those that can be used either on Round 1 to get the power chain rolling, or as Reactive superpowers during your opponent’s turn as ‘once per turn’ counts for your opponent’s turn as well as yours.
There are many characters that could use an extra power or two in Round 1, in order to get all of their abilities online early. Charles provides the ability to keep that train rolling throughout the entire game, leading to what feels like some very big brain plays. Here are the X-Men that really make this leadership feel Omega.
- Nightcrawler & Magik: Kurt & Illyana both have the ability to place themselves within 1 in Round 1, for the cost of 1 power. Coupling this with the staple X-Men Team Tactics Card First Class means they can move, move, pick up an Extract, place themselves within 1 back towards safety AND grant 1 power to another member of the team. It’s also worth noting that Nightcrawler has a Reactive superpower in the form of Unglaublich Acrobatics that will trigger the leadership on your opponent’s turn, granting a bonus power to your team. Wúnderbar!
- Rogue & Wolverine: Some mutants are givers, some mutants are takers. Rogue & Wolverine want to be in the action, doing the best at what they do. Throwing 1 extra power in Round 1 their way (thanks Elf) can turn on their Charge, getting them into the action and performing an attack on the midline earlier than they otherwise would be able to.
- Iceman & Shadowcat: It’s not all about attacks with Xavier. Some mutants have 2 cost superpowers that offer some x-traordinary utility in Round 1. Throwing a power Iceman’s way at the start of the game will allow him to use his Ice Slide to get allies further up the board. Granting Shadowcat a single power will grant her the ability to Phase Rush, move to the midline, grab an Extract and then Long move back to safety (with the help of First Class of course).
In summary, Cyclops likes damage dealers, Storm likes big bases and Xavier likes lots of superpowers. But with AMG preferring to design our mutant brothers and sisters as ‘tools’ to be added to the X-Men tool box, they can at times feel like they are lacking ‘X-perts’ (see what I did there?).
Splash Characters
The following characters are fantastic ‘splashes’ (characters that are run in affiliations they are not a part of) for each leader.
Cyclops [X-Men Blue]
Shuri: Cyclops relies on his team dishing out damage reliably. Shuri’s Upgrades ability leans into this nicely. Using Upgrades to provide the team with offensive re-rolls helps to trigger the leadership, while also potentially refunding itself by giving the power granted by it back to Shuri.
Additionally, Shuri’s Panther Gauntlets may only be able to deal 1 damage, but with Range 5, 6 dice plus potential re-rolls with Upgrades or counting shields with Super Genius, she can very reliably trigger the leadership on her own turn.
Storm [X-Men Gold]
Rhino: Bases don’t get larger than Rhino, sitting pretty at 65mm. This, plus his signature card This Is A Robbery bring a lot of much needed tech to a Storm led roster. Using the leadership to Storm hop a small base, medium mover off of Rhino will grant them a huge amount of movement, useful for any point in the game, but especially for a Round 1 safe extract grab.
The beauty of Rhino here is that after supplying the team with a huge jump in movement, he can then go off on his own and steal an Extract that your opponent has rudely grabbed…probably unsafely because they aren’t playing X-Men.
Xavier [Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters]
Juggernaut: It’s a beautiful thing that Charles’ step-brother Cain has a home in this team. Let’s just pretend they’ve made amends and have now agreed to work together. Anyone who has played Juggernaut knows how self-sufficient he is. He gains 2 power just for moving!
This means that on Round 1, you can throw a power his way after activating someone like Nightcrawler or Magik, giving Juggernaut a whopping 4 power after his first move of the game. He can then move twice, grab an extract from the midline – and still have 3 power left to use Nothing Stops The Juggernaut and slide back to safety…while also granting 1 power to another member of the team.
Top this off with his Reactive Super Power Nice Punch, which will also grant your team power whenever Juggernaut decides to reduce damage – and it’s a perfect fit for anybody who wants to keep that power train going all game…after all, nothing stops the Juggernaut.
Final Thoughts
X-Men bring a lot to the table in terms of tools. Their Team Tactics Cards First Class and To Me My X-Men are staple to the affiliation and only work on Uncanny X-Men affiliated characters, meaning bringing the right X-Men to the table is an important part of making that mutants feel cohesive.
Storm, Cyclops & Professor X each offer very different approaches to roster building. Hopefully with the help of this article, you will be well on your way to choosing the right leader and team build for you!
