My Defenders List

When the game was first announced just over a year ago, I was excited for each batch of characters as they were released, but none more than Doctor Strange.  As a fan of his comics and MCU movie, I could hardly wait to see him on the tabletop.  Now, with him and many of the Defenders out, they will be my primary affiliation for most games. For some flexibility, as you can see, I still prefer to run two affiliations to make my opponent worry about multiple possibilities during character selection. 

• Doctor Strange 5 pts
• Ghost Rider 5 pts
• Daredevil 4 pts
• Hawkeye 3 pts
• Valkyrie 3 pts
• Wong 2 pts
• Soul Gem 1 pt
• Shuri 3 pts
• Thor 5 pts
• Hela 4 pts

Team Tactic Cards

Most of the TT cards are pretty fundamental as Brace, Follow Me, Medpack, and R&D are pretty standard.  Hawkeye, Ghost Rider and evening Wong tend to have extra power to help prepare Strange or Valkyrie for some big turns with R&D. Seven Suns can be devastating if I’m able to get the Secure I want, Gamma Shelters, as the majority of characters are bunched up.  All You’ve Got is amazing with both Ghost Rider and Hela and their penchant for not dying. 

Secure and Extraction

A huge part of list building for MCP is choosing your secure and extraction scenarios for yourself, but also being prepared to build to any possible point level is crucial.

• Extraction
  • Skrulls 17
  • Montesi Formula 17
  • Hammers 18
• Secures
  • Gamma Waves 15
  • Meteors 17
  • Demons 19

Generally, if I win priority, I choose Secure because I want to concentrate the board in a more narrow space with 2 of 3 being on map E and the other being map C.  These maps help Doctor Strange shine with his ability to heal, buff defense and push folks around.  

The Extraction scenarios are chosen for the same general reason except for Hammers.  Hammers is great for Doctor Strange, more dice to get the crippling Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, Hawkeye or Valkyrie so they can be more lethal.  Even Ghost Rider loves the extra dice for Penance Stare.  The other two are similarly chosen for the need to clump up, at least for a round or two.

Narrowing down the field of 10

No matter the two scenarios chosen, I try to have an idea of who I’ll run at each point level possible.

• 15
  • Doctor Strange
  • Soul Gem
  • Shuri
  • Hawkeye
  • Valkyrie 

With only two options at 15, Herb and Gamma, the mobility of Hawkeye lends well to carrying the Herb and jumping to the far objective for a juicy 3 point score late in the game.  Strange and Shuri provide pushes which help slow down the opponent’s Herb carrier and move characters off the safety of the shelters.  Valkyrie just does what she does, punch guys in the face, hard.

• 16 
  • Doctor Strange 
  • Hawkeye
  • Valkyrie 
  • Ghost Rider

Honestly, I hope my opponent doesn’t have this as an option, as it is so spread out, it is hard for Strange to do his thing.  There isn’t a real need for the Soul Gem as everything is too spread out.  Ghost Rider and Valkyrie would go to one flank, Hawkeye in the back point and Strange to the opposite flank.

• 17
  • Doctor Strange 
  • Soul Gem
  • Shuri
  • Hawkeye 
  • Valkyrie 
  • Wong

This point value is where the majority of the games will end up being played.  Also, the configuration of characters depends greatly on the scenarios.  Closer together scenarios, I tend to take the Soul Gem, with more spread out Secures like Infinity Formula, Extremis and Portals, I do not, unless my opponent is running Avengers. For the more spread out scenarios, swapping in Ghost Rider for Wong and Shuri.

• 18
  • Doctor Strange
  • Soul Gem
  • Daredevil 
  • Hawkeye 
  • Valkyrie 
  • Wong

Again, the scenario options for 18 points are only a few, but Hammers is very popular and in my list, so best have a good plan.  If the secure is more spread out, then swapping out Daredevil and the Soul Gem for Ghost Rider is easy. If I see a MODOK in the options for my opponent, I will probably swap Hawkeye out for Shuri to keep that big head away.

• 19
  • Thor
  • Hela
  • Ghost Rider
  • Valkyrie
  • Wong

Demons and Panic Grips are the only options here, but with Demons in my Secures, so let’s be ready for it. This is the curveball for my list I suppose.  Both of the options at 19 are well suited for Asgardians as they can remove the incinerate from Demons and easily evacuate citizens with the power they create for themselves.  Ghost Rider can evacuate pretty easily as well, either he is getting power from being damaged or from allies being attacked.  Wong can remove an extra condition if need be in Demons and if in Panic, can help push his allies to 6 or more power to evacuate a token.

Or to maintain the all Defender

• 19
  • Doctor Strange
  • Soul Gem
  • Ghost Rider
  • Hawkeye
  • Valkyrie 
  • Wong

With the Defenders at 19 threat, I try to get a citizen token on Ghost Rider and Hawkeye, as they will have the power to evacuate.  Wong serves the same role as listed above.  The Seven Suns TT card should be brutal if my opponent wants to get any VP for the Demon portals.

• 20
  • Doctor Strange
  • Soul Gem
  • Ghost Rider
  • Shuri
  • Hawkeye
  • Valkyrie 

Presently, only the Alien ship secure is at this threat level so it won’t come around too often.

A few last notes

Of course all of the selections are fluid and depending on the options your opponents has in his/her character list.  

Doctor Strange has the ability to control so much of the field.  Crimson Bands might be the most oppressive attack in the game, as it takes away an entire activation of a key character.  This attack is why Shuri is in so many of the lists.  Her added rerolls with Strange’s inherent ones make the attack more consistent and devastating. Shuri also helps make sure a wild appears for Valkyrie’s Dragon Fang attack. If you are teaching the game, or just playing a friendly game, he should probably be skipped over much like MODOK and Thanos.

Most notably, if I see my opponent has Ghost Rider available with Deal with the Devil Team Tactic card, I will usually try to figure out a way to bring Ghost Rider in my squad as that is the only way to squash his shenanigans.

Thanks for spending a few minutes reading my thoughts on the different ways to build a Defenders squad for Marvel: Crisis Protocol.