Fudge. So basically +15 points gets you +3 stats?

Yep.

Hadn't designed with any specific official units in mind, nor whatever the current meta is; just screen accuracy insofar as possible and to keep points, combat values, and abilities consistent with the most recent official sets

I suppose I could edit the dial to limit Vidal to only getting a bonus for killing friendlies who share a keyword with her, but that also feels like it puts a limit on Death conceptually. With only one target and low starting values, I feel like it'd take her at least 3 turns (assuming she doesn't miss an attack AND gets her Willpower roles) to kill 3 characters (though that's assuming she wasn't granted Pulse Wave by some other means). By that point, with how small maps are these days, I'm sure the opposing force would be all up in your face with more aggressive tactics.

WHAT IF…? SEASON 3 THOUGHTS

What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

Liked:
+PACIFIC RIM meets Jack Kirby

Didn’t Like:
-inorganic what if. Felt like a toy commercial
-Expository & overcomplicated

What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?

Liked:
+ETERNALS love
+Old Hollywood musicals meets Bollywood

Didn’t Like
-I’m so f***ing done with Agatha, you guys.

What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?

Liked:
+Fun character pairing, good excuse to conglomerate expanded lore from later phases
+THELMA & LOUISE meets MIDNIGHT RUN.

What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?

Liked:
+Dormammu & Kaecilius
+funny climax

Didn’t Like
-not a What If premise, really
-do all of these have to be mostly comedies?

What If... the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?

Liked:
+Hey look, a serious episode!
+timely anti-authoritarian message
+amused that all the villains were white
+cool glow up for Vision

Didn’t Like:
-Eternals lore without Eternals or Celestials

What If... 1872?

Liked:
+tale examining exploitation of Chinese Americans during America’s westward expansion
+Kate Bishop was cool
+non-comedy episode

Other Thoughts:
-IRONHEART was pushed back thanks to the pandemic and restructuring following Bob Chapek’s firing. That means while it, and thereby the Hood, would’ve been established prior to this season of WHAT IF…?, now, it feels prospective. That’s kinda neat.

What If... the Watcher Disappeared?

Liked:
+Storm
+Byrdie’s design

Didn’t Like:
-everything else about Byrdie
-very expository
-stakes felt too macro to be sympathetic

What If... What If?

Liked:
+Ghost Rider cameo at the end

Didn’t Like:
-so much boring exposition between the bald guys
-so much flat, boring, fighting bereft of plot, stakes, or emotion
-boring location that failed to incorporate elements from previous episodes (characters, locations, concepts)

This article sums up my thoughts on the season and the series overall: one of missed opportunities:

https://www.polygon.com/tv/501626/ma...eason-3-review

Episodes I'd like to have seen:
-What if Iron Man killed Captain America & Bucky?
-What if Shang-Chi never left Wenwu's service?
-What if the Eternals allowed the Emergence to happen (and what did they do next)?
-What If Werewolf By Night got a sequel?
-What if the projects of Phases 4 & 5 had released in their original intended order and if Kang was still the big bad.

Again, please don't expect dials for a few weeks. I'm a bit busy on this end.

Rio is solid. She’s half the build so if she is sacking 5 point figures or bystanders so be it, it’s basically her strategy outside of the Coven, who are all squishy enough getting to the Season Finale combat bonuses shouldn’t be a problem either way.

Nope, your best bet is deleting her friends and facing her last if possible. If I were playing her I’d find a pog generator and camp in the starting area until she’s eaten three before engaging.

re: What If

I tried two episodes of Season 1 and couldn’t get into it. I respect the concept, find the animation style glorious, and appreciate the undertaking, but I feel this type of series would have benefited being much farther down the line. As big as the MCU is the bench isn’t all that deep yet. They can’t even tell the stories of the comic What If because they haven’t cast a majority of the characters or told the original story to offer the spin.

And apparently it’s setting up Exiles. Without Blink. Treating it as a consolation tissue for the actors they killed off. No thanks.

RE: What If

Agreed on most your points. I thought about doing another thread like I did for season 2, but I just wasn't inspired by this season. I have a few ideas for a couple dials, but definitely not enough for multiples from every episode. I agree the 1st episode was more of a toy commercial, but I couldn't even get enough out of it to design toys for it. I didn't even realize Moon Knight was in it until we saw his mech at the end.

I was glad the see America Ferrera in episode 3 but am sad if that's her only MCU work.

I loved the 1872 episode. I really liked how they tied Shang Chi to the west with the Chinese rail workers plight. I thought it was interesting that they used The Hood as the villain. Kingpin is the bad guy in the 1872 comic and would have fit with Kate Bishop being there. Also curious how many people actually recognized Sonny from Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Didn't need two episodes for the finally. Would have rather had a Storm in Asgard episode or something else.

What if the other half got snapped?
What if another animal escaped instead of Rocket?
What if other characters were pulled over in No Way Home?

Definitely agree that the lack of material hurts the show a bit, though the first season managed to make a meal out of it.

I think it's a complicated situation.
-Several of the movies seemingly wouldn't change significantly were their events organically altered.
-Marvel Studios evidently turned down several ideas and characters that were too close to upcoming projects
-They're very obviously limited by their casting budget and by current contracts. No Downey Jr., Evans, Hemsworth, Johansson, Renner, Olsen, or Bettany (but Mark Ruffalo seems to show up for everything). They could afford Oscar Isaac & Rachel Weisz for a few lines of dialogue, Hailee Stenfield, Kathryn Hahn, Kumail Nanjiani, and Simu Liu for an episode each. It kinda makes sense that the last couple episodes focused on Captain Carter, Storm, Kahhori, and Byrdie because they could be cheaply cast and likely wouldn't appear elsewhere.

Funniest thing about that last point is that Season 1's finale set up "The Guardians of the Multiverse," but because they could only pay for Hayley Atwell, switched to calling them the Exiles.
Haha honestly, I don't feel like doing dials for this season either. I wasn't impressed by most of it and honestly the overall tone WHAT IF...? seems to have taken as a series. It and SHE-HULK felt like they reinforced the idea of the MCU as a brand worthy of adulation rather than as a world populated by complex characters.

That said, overall, I don't think WHAT IF...? has been a bad series by any means-- it's got a lot of big ideas, genre versatility, and earned story beats; it just isn't interested in the things I like about the MCU, generally.

Definitely agree about how interesting and vital 1872 was. Even though it was different than its (excellent) base comic, it skimmed the surface of a side of the west most Americans don't like to think about. I'd like to see more stories exploring that facet of it.

I'd also go to bat for the Ironheart vs. Mysterio episode. It felt very pointed to me, especially after the 2024 election that a diverse group of characters were fighting in the rubble of America against unfeeling, state-sponsored police [robots] and that, pointedly, they, Vision and Mysterio, are the only white characters on the screen. Moreover, Mysterio's whole thing is gaslighting with fake realities ("alternate facts?") and propaganda. That he's portrayed as an egocentric old man just strengthens that read.

Admittedly, I'm exhausted by the thought of all the MCU stuff coming out this year.

Jan. 29 - Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Feb. 14 - Captain America: Brave New World
Mar. 4 - Daredevil: Born Again
May 2 - Thunderbolts*
Jun. 24 - Ironheart
Jul. 25 - The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Aug. 6 - Eyes of Wakanda
Oct. 3 - Marvel Zombies
Dec. ? - Wonder Man

Happy for the prospect of getting official dials of many of these (hopefully Marvel Zombies!), but I might need to reconsider the scope of this thread.