I want to do something a little different today rather than your typical team build. Instead of saying use this piece over that piece, or which format a team can run under, today will be about your options with the super-themed Chase Captain America.

My team builds usually go into depth about a character, their dial, their traits, and breaks down why they’re strong or where they’re weak. As I finally decided it was time to talk about perhaps the strongest single team-build piece in Avengers Defenders War, I thought to myself “ya know, there are a lot of low-point Avengers these days.” Because of that, I figured it would be nice to instead treat his article like a primer of sorts and talk about what your options are and who pairs nicely with the good Captain.

Before getting into his allies, let’s look at his single trait that makes everything possible:

WHO ELSE IS SECRETLY WITH ME?: During force construction, characters that have the Avengers keyword also have the Hydra keyword. Other friendly characters with the Avengers keyword can use the Hydra team ability.

Steve is one of the best pieces in the game if you’re looking to mix keywords and build a theme team that really shouldn’t be one. Unlike pieces like Pirate Deadpool, Steve’s effect works during force construction, meaning you’ll get initiative bonus and Theme Team Probability Control from his ability as long as you, ya know, actually stick with a theme and don’t include a random Green Lantern or something. Hey, there might be some folks that just want to milk that Hydra team ability for their DC sniper.

Obviously, the Captain is insanely good with Avengers; not only does he grant them the Hydra keyword, but he also grants the Hydra team ability as well meaning that all your team members are going to reduce the defense of anyone they can see when their buddy makes a ranged attack. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to only play Avengers. You can play Hydra, too. You can easily mix and match between Avengers and Hydra as he basically makes them one super team.

Before I get into the units, I honestly didn’t have the time to link each individual piece, so forgive me on that part. You can find each of these pieces in the Units Section on HCRealms.com.

Let’s take a look at the Modern Avengers that I think are worth looking at.

WKMP17-001p Giant Man | 15 Points – While Giant Man is the strongest retaliator out there, it’s important to note that he’s a great use of 15 points if you manage to be a little short. Retaliation is a very strong ability, and the fact that he can serve as both a taxi and an almost guarantee for triggering the Hydra team ability (thanks to him seeing over just about everything) makes him a very strong pick.

WI 002 Iron Man | 100 Points – You have to be very picky with higher point pieces when you’re already locked into a 75 point piece, but this Iron Man is exceptionally strong for his points. With the ability to modify his attack to do different things, Ranged Combat Expert, and the addition of his allies lowering defenses, which he can carry with him, he might be one of the strongest ranged contenders out there for the team.

WI 005 Thor | 110 Points – Again, anything over 100 is risky, but this Thor has big damage, Running Shot, Pen/Psy, and can also carry folks with him, allowing an easy nerf to defense. If you can swing 110, he might actually be a better pick than Iron Man.

ADW 005/023 Wasp | 40 Points – Tiny Avengers are very good as they’re essentially free to carry around to get that guaranteed Hydra bonus, and Janet is a fantastic option. Her uncommon form has a terrific Leadership power and since she’ll always be next to someone, you can almost guarantee you’ll get some use from it to keep your attacker mobile.

ADW 006/024 Vision | 50 Points – A contender for the best Avenger piece of all-time in my book, Vision should be a consideration on any team. Swapping between taxi and Pen/Psy mode and super tank Expoit mode makes him fill whatever roll you need. His 10 attack will easily be mitigated by friendly Hydra.

ADW 007/018 Black Panther | 30 Points – Another almost guaranteed piece on Avengers teams. There’s simply no reason to not include T’Challa as he’s a 30 point Outwit piece with Stealth. If your primary attacker has flight, you’re getting a -1 defense debuff and and Outwit.

ADW 022 Hawkeye | 55 Points – Cheap ranged damage, 5 trick arrows to let him adapt, and Ranged Combat Expert make Hawkeye a pretty great choice if you need a budget attacker. I would rather have the common Iron Man from What If…, but he’s worth mentioning.

ADW 025 Swordsman | 40 Points – Close combat isn’t that great for this team, but a piece with Sidestep, high attack, and a low point cost is a different story. This guy can be moved into place one turn next to an attacker, Sidestep to another attacker, and then Sidestep in for a brutal melee attack the following turn. He’s a pretty good investment for his points.

ADW 038 Jessica Jones | 15 Points – Because this team is most likely going to be heavy in range, it’s awesome that we can throw someone on for 15 points that just turns off Stealth. I would say she’s about as mandatory as you get if you’re spec’ing full range.

ADW 051 Dr. Strange, Earth’s Guardian | 80 Points – Stephen takes the idea of buffing your ranged attacks a step further with his awesome title ability that increases damage to himself or an ally by +1. He’s got great stats, Prob, and has the incredible re-roll ultimate ability, and is only 80 points. Heavily consider him.

ADW 043 Iron Man | 165/125 Points – While he’s a bit too expensive to field with our 75 point Cap, if you really want a disgusting primary attacker, it probably won’t get much better than this. Both point costs are great and you get some solid values and pretty much any powers you could need. Probably best for 400 point games or higher.

ADW 054 Captain America | 50 Points – There hasn’t been this strong of a support piece for Avengers in a long time. Outwit, Perplex, Leadership at 200 points, Stealth, and removing tokens from characters that heal is a fantastic combination. 50 points might be a bit high to burn on support, but he’s worth it.

ADW 067 Hawkeye | 65 Points – The name of the game is ranged attacks, and practically no one does this better than Clint. With an already impressive 11 attack and the ability to snipe everyone on the enemy team, he’s disgusting when paired with a tiny character than he can keep with him. Improved targeting makes him an A+.

SFSM 049 Spider-Man | 100 Points – This is a great primary attacker because he can stay back to help your ranged dudes make attacks, Perplex up their damage to make those hits sting, Hypersonic in for a cheap shot, and then end his movement next to another ranged attacker. Spidey is very versatile, which makes him a great piece for the team.

CWSOP 008 Wasp | 70 Points – While I like the 40 point Wasp, this version is a little more deadly, and can be an incredible nuisance to your opponent. Her placement effect on Shape Change means that you can potentially shift her around without actions to benefit people you’re looking to throw into the fight on the following turn.

CWSOP 011 Yellowjacket | 60 Points – How about we have a guy that can not only debuff defense but also Perplex up all our attack values or damage at the same time? Meet Hank Pym/Skrull Pym. 60 is a lot to pay for a dedicated support, but he could be very helpful in making our attacks really sting.

CWSOP 013 Spider-man | 80 Points – Another great melee attacker that can get himself to his allies after hitting to help them with ranged attacks. Charge and Flurry make him incredibly deadly, and although he’s only getting 2 squares away, it’s easy enough to work with.

CWSOP 023 Falcon | 70 Points – This might seem like an odd choice, but a taxi that can also push his targets back from 11 squares out could be a lifesaver. The biggest weakness to ranged-focused teams is getting based, and Falcon throws that plan out the window.

CWSOP 108 Spider-Man | 70 Points – You’re already keeping people adjacent to each other, why not have an insurance plan while you’re at it? Pushing him onto click #2 gives you Perplex making him an even better support piece.

UXM 054 Quicksilver | 75 Points – If you want melee, this is ideal. A fairly low cost and he can attack remotely means that Pietro is always going to be next to your friends to help them out. If you can afford it, he’s an almost must-have.

UXM 055 Scarlet Witch | 75 Points – 50 was a lot for support, so 75 is almost out of control. However, Scarlet Witch has not only Prob but Enhancement, making her a fantastic addition to ranged attackers. Any piece you have is almost guaranteed to hit with the Witch next to them. Plus, you get to nerf their primary attacker with easier crit-misses.

CACW 002 Iron man | 125 Points – The ability to see through Stealth, good values, Running Shot, and a kick-ass Leadership power make Tony a very good option. If you need to take out one target in particular, he’s very good about doing that.

CACW 005 Ant-Man | 55 Points – Size changing is very strong, and this can help with some of your actions, or even provide some safety from melee attacks since you can drop one of your friendlies in front of your target. Outwit on top dial makes him an attractive support piece.

CACW 006 Hawkeye | 85 Points – While he doesn’t have Running Shot, he has some absurd numbers and can fire tiny Avengers at people. Ranged Combat Expert and just one tiny character next to him that can see his target gives him an impressive 5 damage with essentially a 12 attack.

CACW 007 Redwing | 20 Points – Absolutely absurd for this team. Not only can this bird be carried, it also does a pseudo-Hydra team ability by itself once per turn. Pretty sweet giving an opponent -2 to defense for an attack every single turn for only 20 points.

CACWS 004e Falcon | 45 Points – Flight and Enhancement is all that’s needed. 10 attack with Stealth busting is just icing on the cake.

CACW 006e Black Panther | 45 Points – If you’re running Avengers and you have a taxi, why not also nerf free actions? This is a very good options with all the Pick-A-Power pieces running around these days.

NFAoS FF 002 Agent Coulson | 75/50 Points – The S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability is a natural fit with Hydra to increase your range, and Phil actually has a pretty darn good kit. Not to mention he has a placement effect that can pull a friendly character to him, which this team revolves around.

NFAoS 036 Agent Coulson | 75 Points – While this version of Phil doesn’t have that neat placement ability, he does have Enhancement and can pull tokens from 2 characters on your team with his Leadership. He’s actually got pretty good stats, too.

NFAoS 037 U.S. Agent | 80 Points – Let’s face it; Barrier is going to be a problem. Break it down with Mr. John Walker here and go to town. He won’t help in the Hydra department while he’s deep in enemy territory, but he’ll counter an effective counter-play.

NFAoS 051 Steve Rogers | 150 Points – Okay, 150 is a lot to pay, but the fact that he grants ES/D to adjacent characters that share a keyword is nuts. Oh yeah, and he has Enhancement, and if you use Avengers with the S.H.I.E.L.D. keyword, they all get Prob if he hits. He’s a very solid 150 points (plus, those attack values).

NFAoS 053r Iron Man | 50 Points – I like Falcon more for under 50 points, but Tony does have Perplex to match the Enhancement and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability to increase range.

NFAoS 061 Avengers Sky-Cycle | 50 Points – If you have great stats but no move-and-attack, the Sky-Cycle is a really great option. It also protects one of your characters and can carry around someone to get that Hydra debuff without sacrificing movement (as well as a tiny character). You also have an option of getting a +2 to your attack.

Yeah, there’s a lot of them, and this is probably only half the Avengers in Modern. The rest that I didn’t cover was because I don’t think they really help in what the team does. Cap is all about buffing your range game, so pieces that focus on that aspect are probably better. That doesn’t mean you can’t run melee pieces like a Hulk; it just means that I personally recommend support and range.

What’s really neat about Cap that I mentioned earlier is that he doesn’t have to pair with just Avengers. Hydra is also available as you’re building a Hydra theme team. Hydra is also known to have a lot of low-point, support-type characters, so they’re a great source of support whereas the Avengers are better attackers.

Let’s take a look at the Modern Hydra members that I think are worth looking at.

DXF 007 Ninja | 15 Points – While a 15 point Hydra piece isn’t that helpful since we’re getting the team ability like crazy, she’s a very low-cost (financially) option if you really want to get a huge buff from the team ability, meaning running multiples.

DXF 049 Fenris | 60 Points – They’ve got fantastic values with their special attack and the option to go either penetrating or cause knock back make them a very efficient piece. Enhancement means they’re going to help your other pieces out too. Not to mention they have some ROC wins under their belts.

CWSOP 026 Taskmaster | 80 Points – Why not just run a single piece that can do anything you want? Ranged, Melee, Support; Tasky does it all. Click 3 is especially good with Running Shot to make his own attack and Enhancement to buff anyone he ends up next to. Since Cap has the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability, he can grab that with Wild Card to increase range if he needs to.

NFAoS 014a Hydra Recruit | 20 Points – If you’re looking for low-cost characters for the team, Hydra Recruit is your go-to. Sidestep, Willpower, and Enhancement means they’re always going to help you with your attacks for an insanely low investment. Oh yeah, and if they’re KO’d, you get to pull tokens off any 2 characters on your force.

NFAoS 014b Hydra Agent H | 30 Points – Perhaps the best piece to pair with Cap. She grants a third team ability to your team as everyone adjacent to her gets to use the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability. If you can swing a vehicle or mass transit, you can potentially max everything out at -3 to their defense and +3 to your range all thanks to this 30 point character. She’s also got the ability to pull your tokens when she’s KO’d as well.

NFAoS 046 Imperial Hydra | 45 Points – The ability to constantly supply your force with Hydra pieces of 40 points or less (see Hydra Recruit) makes Imperial Hydra a very good option. While it’s somewhat of a gamble, he could easily be paired with Cap, one large attacker, and a bunch of goons to make a very frustrating team.

NFAoS 060 Baron Strucker | 120 Points – Another high-cost piece that probably isn’t going to work in 300 points, Strucker is a great candidate for bigger teams. When filled with low-cost team members that you don’t mind losing, you can buff your attack values of your entire team and remove action tokens from your characters (thanks to the Hydra recruit’s trait). He’s not A+ material by any means, but could be very nasty.

Again, I didn’t list every Hydra character in Modern because not all of them are worthwhile for what we’re trying to accomplish. Pieces like Agent Ward are very strong for their points, but he doesn’t really accomplish anything that the team needs.

I’ve found that building around Cap is actually slightly harder than it looks, so hopefully this resource will help in that regard. This will change quite a bit next year when some of these sets rotate out, but for now there’s plenty to choose from.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that you actually got some use out of it. I’ll see you all on Thursday on Two Clicks From KO and again here next Tuesday (which will be live a bit earlier than normal due to work events). Until then, take care!