So spidey and his new pals have this cool trait,

my question is, can you pick ATA's?

No, based on the Flagsmasher ruling.

Awesome. Many thanks to you.

You still might want to consider asking over at the official rules forum, as that ruling seemed to go against precedent.

Other similar abilities (though I forget which, unfortunately) explicitly say things like "other than an Alternate Team Ability or one that cannot be used by Wildcards." I think it may be Thunderbolts, actually.

Based on that, it's possible that the Spidey and Friends Base doesn't have that limitation, so it really is best to check. The wording is too sloppy to be sure without checking.

As long as its a copyable TA, then yes. I think.

But it also has to be a Marvel TA, which could be a problem, as ATAs are not assigned to any particular universe, meaning ATAs based on keywords like Atlantis, Outlaws, and Ravagers apply equally well to figs from either universe.

OTOH, I seem to recall a ruling that in a universe-specific tournament, ATAs were still allowed as they are somehow sort-of neutral.

That would depend I guess.

The PG Section 5 has 2 reference tables at the end of the Section (Section 15 is gone).

Each of these reference tables has a column for both standard TAs and ATAs that specifies Universe.

In the PG document

Atlantis is listed as DC
Outlaws is listed as Marvel
Ravagers is listed as DC

(referring to 1/29/14 PG Section 5)

Based on this and the precedent of Thunderbolts (which explicitly says "other than an Alternate Team Ability") it looks like the Spidey and friends TB can swap out for an ATA.

That's... something else. I doubt it'd make the TB "better" or even on par with the ToS or JLTB if it stays as-is anyway. I can't really think of an instance where using any specific ATA for the base really makes it unstoppable or insanely difficult to deal with.

At first glance, I would have thought that you could have chosen any Marvel TA that was copyable. But it seems as though TA's and ATA's are two separate categories. The power specifies a TA not an ATA.

ATAs are still Team Abilities. That is why it required an Errata to Flag Smasher to prevent him from picking ATAs.

Since his wording and SMaHAF have nearly identical wording, I would use that as precedent to rule that you cannot copy ATAs even though the current wording does not support that.

You can't pick ATA's.

http://www.wizkidseventsystem.com/bb....php?f=3&t=844

But yet, the wording of the ability doesn't specify.

I'm not saying the ruling is wrong, not by a long shot. A ruling is a ruling. What I'm saying is that when wording on powers and abilities are as sloppy as they are, how the hell are we supposed to know prior to asking?

You're not, plain and simple.