The Eradicator, Reality gem (no gauntlet) Sinestro, and AIR Ross won. It is the bomb test map I think is what is called. By Having elevated terrain near their starting area I was able to have Eradicator and Sinestro get attacks off. But I mainly had Erradicator push after Ross did Air strike to get an enahnced Psi-blast damage of 4. Once stranger was dead that was the end of the game. I have learned that you really need to have that reality gem go off. If you don't you are going to have problems. Also having Stranger going colosal on that map means that the test platform area on the map really opens him up to all sorts of long range attacks on elevation 2.

After playing the teams I realized that if you are able to kill both AIM Renegades you put a lot of pressure on the Stranger player. Without a shell to hide behind I've found that Stranger teams fall really fast. If Stranger was a bit cheaper to fit in one more gem then I would think there would be nothing that could challenge him. Now after doing some test I see that Stranger's ability to stand up and fight early on is very limited.

That was one game and played on bomb site. Did Stranger team roll that low for initiative? With theme, he should have advantage on map choice. I also wonder how good Eradicator is with Stranger being able to outwit. I would be more concerned with Sinestro. Thanks for the recap.

The more I think about it, Air Strike seems like the way to go. Just came up with this Soldier team.

IH208 General Thunderbolt Ross 55pts
Infinity Gauntlet + Gem 15pts
AVM041 Red Skull 170pts
AVM032 Skrull General 60pts

Debating on which Gem to go with, and whether to put Gauntlet on Ross or Red Skull. Red Skull is the obvious choice, but as I mentioned earler in the thread, by putting the Gauntlet on Ross, it's possible to do an Air Strike on the second turn.

At that point in testing I had tested about 6 other teams and about 2 days of play. I was seeing what elements outside of team would hurt the Stranger Team. In the end I determined that the challenging team needs to make the first move. If they do then they will be able to put pressure on Stranger. The problem ended up being getting down there with a few amount of tokens. The other thing about that map is the elevated terrain in the middle that gives you an edge if he goes collosal because you can get a shot off of him with Sinestro outside of Stranger's base range.

I will say this. The main reason I play one game is that I go over the elements that are concrete and the elements that are up to chance very carefully as I play. The problem is that while Crit misses and hits are game changers they are not things I can depend on. So I look at formations and timings to see on what turn I can do what. I allow myself to reposition so I can get my figures in the best set up possible. Each test game takes about an hour. Then I talk to people I know so I can tweak the teams a bit more.

I understand the Stranger barrier team, but when I used Stranger I wasn't turtling and turning the dial at all. I was reall aggressive with him. Especially in the games I didn't play against Thanos. I was attacking every turn. To the point where it almost didn't even matter if I got to 2 or 3 on the gauntlet.

Was the team the same as mine? What did you change up if not?

I will admit I'm a very defensive player. I use barrier to hide behind because it eats my opponents actions to get past it. I didn't like moving out with Stranger because most maps are open enough that a hss figure or good running shot figure with tk could get around my barrier placement to either shoot my AIM Renegade or Stranger.

This answers a lot of questions. Differing play styles will net different results. It also depends on opponent's play too. Like you, I don't let luck enter into the equation when play-testing. Usually, I use statistical mechanics to calculate percentages and probability after each move and net resulting moves for the game. Relying on luck (my rolls) will simply take too long and skew the results...WAY too many low rolls.

Regardless, in your test game, did the scientists lose initiative roll? Winning the roll should give map advantage thus by-passing the hardship of opponent going first and getting map choice.

I ignore iniative roll and set up the Stranger team to go second. That is one of the main problems I faced. Most of the teams that I made that had +4 initiative didn't have the power to take down Stranger. After game 5 I resolved to give first turn to the non-Stranger team to see if that is part of the problem. Bam things started to change just a little bit. Giving the other teams first turn to move out it gave Stranger 1 less turn to roll for gauntlet before the opposing team was down field and attacking.

I have at least one 4-figure theme team in mind that ought to be able to do a lot against Stranger. Gonna have to try it a few times/a few variations.

Here's a team I've been considering:

Silver Banshee 153 + IG (full) 40
Johann Schmidt 40
Hydra Footsoldier 30
Hydra Technician 35
= 298, Past theme.

Johann plus these two make ranged combatants so great. The Technician, in just one turn, can:

When Banshee attacks:
1) Use the Hydra TA to lower opponent(s)' DV
2) Use SHIELD to increase range +1
3) Use Enhancement to increase damage +1
4) Use Perplex

For 35 points. So good, it's stupid. And the Footsoldier can PB for 3 damage on the same turn! Sweet, no?

With Runner going up, not sure if this is true worlds-level meta but here are my initial thoughts for a blitz team based around him:
Leech 35
Matter Eater Lad 35
Runner 210 + IG (Soul + Reality) 20
300

Matter eater taxis leech around, runner gets in there, does a little damage, gets out with leech prevent move-and-attack retaliation. Has the gauntlet on the Power Cosmic hitter fig on the team so you are still in the race to #2 unlike Astral Strange w IG based teams.

Runner has to get himself across the map for the blitz, no TK anywhere on that team. The Astral Dr. Strange team is all about setting up Leech and a double TK cannon so you can blitz with a Magog.

Runner can't do a whole lot of damage and he can't get around barriers after click 2.

Seeing the stats now I would say don't even worry about Leech and play Roulette instead.

Yeah. What he said.

That Leech guy isn't even good. Did he make a showing at Gencon last year? Doesn't speak well if only a couple guys played him out of 64 people. And I don't think top 16 used him either.

I joke. Green kids in black touques are both deadly and stylish.

I think Earth Man is a better option than Leech, especially with all of the 'Cosmic' pieces coming out. But he ends up being a third of your team, and his keywords aren't very great either. I'm curious to see if he makes a strong showing at Gencon.