Hello everyone, and welcome to the first Roc Wrap-Up here at Two Clicks From KO! In this new series, I’ll be reviewing the top 8 teams that placed in a recent ROC event. Today I’m going over the first stop of the new Majestix Open on March 24th, 2018.

The new ROC Age format is pretty exciting, and I had the chance to play in one of the early events last year. It breathes new life into the game as older pieces that have faced rotation are still legal going all the way back to the Superman set where the new dial style was introduced. This means that all resources are fair game, and it creates a very unique environment. With the exception of a small ban list, this series has more figures in the pool than any other, so there are wildly different teams we get to see.

As I mentioned in the header, I’m covering the ROC Age event that took place on March 24th, 2018 at Majestix in Orange, CA.

8th – Jacob Yamagata

Quinjet + Resource Dial | 145 Points

Blind Al + Proteus | 48 Points

Ultron-6 Drone | 30 Points

Ultron 18.2-Drone | 30 Points

Carnage | 10 Points

Gamma Bomb | 5 Points

6 ID Cards | 30 Points Level 7, Green Arrow, Thor, The Atom, Zatanna, Spider-Man

Sideline: Cosmic Spider-Man (75), Nick Fury, The Atom (15), Bombshell Zatanna, Chase Green Arrow, Thor (100)

Maps: United Nations, Wakanda

There isn’t too much to explain with the base of this team as it’s a rehash of the Quinjet skeleton we all know from last year as it dominated the meta once the batteries rotated out, along with the entities. The Quinjet, Ultron Drones, and a full suite of 6 ID cards creates a very dominant team that risks very few points to summon monstrous attackers, most of which can easily be pulled from the map after bringing them in. The jet is also amazing in that it can bring in ID summon characters as ‘real boys’, placing them on the map and protecting them from being scored via the rules of the resource dial.

It’s interesting to see how new and old game elements were implemented into the build. The Gamma Bomb shows up quite a bit in these events as it’s an incredible amount of free damage for only 5 points, so it adds some fantastic potency to an already brutal team. Where The Atom or even Skyscraper Wonder Woman or Ameridroid were once staples, Carnage now takes the place as the go-to retaliation figure, and we all know why as he’s simply the best 10 points in the game. I really like Jacob’s play of Blind Al with Proteus as he can easily get the possessor on the map on his second turn thanks to Blind Al’s self-damaging trait if she leaves your starting area, and into the jet to have a fantastic primary attacker that’s incredibly difficult to deal with. It’s a different take on the Morloc combo, but is quicker at popping him out.

ID cards are nothing new as everything but Bombshell Zatanna was legal during the jet’s run last year, but she’s a great addition to the cast giving Probability Control to the team.

7th – Jim Moraga

Mistress Death + Eclipso | 125 Points

Goblin King | 75 Points

HAHA Joker | 30 Points

Splitlip | 20 Points

Carnage | 10 Points

Book of the Skull (Full) | 30 Points

2 ID Cards | 10 Points Green Arrow, Hulk

Sideline: Maestro (100), Chase Green Arrow

Maps: Limbo, Underground Cavern, Jean Grey School

Mistress Death has been competitive from the moment she was shown last year, and it’s very easy to understand why; an unkillable piece that assigns double damage to figures she touches is exceptional, and the addition of Mjolnir from the Thor set throws her into overdrive. Jim didn’t go this route though. Instead, he opted for a Book of the Skull build to increase her attack to a huge 14 and give her powers like Charge, Exploit Weakness, Steal Energy, or whatever else he needs. Speaking of the Book of the Skull, it’s far and away the best resource ever printed, so it’s a good idea to plan around this if you’re thinking of taking part in the ROC Age events.

Eclipso is an interesting addition; he grants Impervious, Stealth, and Precision Strike up front, Outwit for the middle of her dial, and Prob at the end; all very good powers. We all know what Goblin King does and how brutally efficient he is at 75 points, acting as either the best support piece you could ever want or a solid secondary attacker. HAHA Joker gives Jim another figure to pick up hammers to further turn the resource and overpower Death, and Carnage does what he does best; punish anyone for attacking.

Regarding the ID cards, Green Arrow is a must-play, but I really like the inclusion of Maestro on this team. At the 100 point line, Death can summon him in and Flurry someone with a touch of death token with a base 11 attack and 4 damage with Battle Fury. That’s going to KO anyone in 1 shot, and Goblin King can make sure Maestro doesn’t miss. It’s a neat play and I like seeing different options for ID’s.

6th – Tony Rodriguez

Thanosi | 100 Points

Yondu + Proselyte | 101 Points

Shifting Focus Dr. Strange | 50 Points

Invisible Plane Terrain | 5 Points

Black Light Ring | 8 Points

Green Arrow ID Card | 5 Points

Indigo Power Battery with Ring, Wall, Net, and Sniper Rifle | 30 Points

Sideline: All Shifting Focus Dr. Strange, Chase Green Arrow

Maps: Arthur’s Castle, Harley’s Apartment

Tony’s Mystical team might not seem like much on paper (or rather a screen) with only 3 characters, but it’s actually brutally efficient.

Thanosi is a figure that folks in ROC Age should learn very well as he’s seeing a lot of play. For 100 points, you get a pretty mean top-click with big damage, but more importantly, you get the ability to shut off all improved movement for terrain on opposing characters with 8 squares. Couple this with Yondu who can shoot anyone within 8 squares regardless of line of fire, and you have a very powerful duo that can deny you any type of aggression while taking pot shots. Strange serves as the taxi for this duo and when Yondu is ready to take a shot (or even Thanosi if there’s line of fire), he’ll buff them by +1 to attack and damage. He’s also a very solid attacker as well if he needs to be.

Tack on the Indigo battery and you get even more irritating as now the opposing team can’t even draw lines of fire to Tony’s team unless they’re within 4 squares of their target. This gives Tony the upper hand in every engagement. With constructs like the Wall and Net, he can constantly spit out hazardous terrain for his opponent’s while having the freedom to do whatever he wants. The Invisible Plane further interrupts with a huge 8-square piece of blocking terrain that can heal his team up if it goes down.

The Black Light ring gives a character free Smoke Cloud for even more hilarity, give his allies Stealth to make it even harder to hit (as if that was possible), and reduces the speed and range of enemies that come near said smoke terrain. Last up, Proselyte gives Yondu Perplex, better damage, and a way to heal up his allies on click 2. It’s an overall disgusting team and must be very frustrating to play against.

5th – Steve DiCarlo

Quinjet + Resource Dial | 145 Points

Jarvis | 40 Points

Ultron-6 Drone | 30 Points

Atomica | 25 Points

Carnage | 10 Points

Flora Colossus | 10 Points

Flora Colossus | 10 Points

6 ID Cards| 30 Points Green Arrow, Thor, The Atom, Nightwing, Hawkeye, Wonder Woman, Hulk, Black Canary (3 free from Jarvis)

Sideline; Chase Hawkeye, Thor (100), TMT Hulk (100), The Atom (15), WI Thor (100), Nick Fury, Chase Green Arrow, Black Canary LE, Nightwing LE, BvS Wonder Woman

Maps: Manhattan Bridge, Muir Island, Zipline Park

Another version of the classic Quinjet lineup sees the return of Jarvis to pocket an additional 3 free ID cards. The rest of Steve’s build is dedicated to taking on as many ID cards as possible with a whopping 9 cards. Amazingly, Steve only has one drone meaning that this team is a bit risky. Thankfully, with 2 Flora Colossus and Carnage on the field, the drone will have plenty of coverage. Some might question the Flora Colossus rather than playing 3 Carnages’ (of course, if Steve has access to 3), but with the Manhattan Bridge map, there’s tons of water for them to grow and thrive.

There’s not much else to cover on this team that I didn’t talk about on the other Quinjet team and we haven’t seen before since the colossal are really the only difference to this throwback build. Even the ID cards are the same, with the exception of Green Arrow utilizing the chase and Hawkeye bringing along his chase as well, as well as the ‘colossal punch’ Hulk from The Mighty Thor.

4th – Rob Gallagher

Mistress Death | 100 Points

Chase Lt. Sulu | 50 Points

Chase Captain Kirk | 50 Points

Overdrive | 35 Points

Splitlip | 20 Points

Book of the Skull (Full) | 30 Points

3 ID Cards | 15 Points Spider-Man, Green Arrow, Hawkeye

Sideline: Unknown. Most likely Chase Green Arrow, Chase Hawkeye, and Cosmic Spider-Man (75)

Maps: Dungeon, Sporting Arena, Genosha

I knew when I saw the Chase Kirk and Sulu that it was only a matter of time before these two saw competitive play. As a new favorite for Overdrive Alpha Strike builds, these two are very brutal, and with the addition of the Book of the Skull to give them +2 to their attack values, you have borderline guaranteed hits. Mistress Death of course does what she will do best, most likely picking up a Charge hammer so that she can get in and hit before the Trekkies roll up and do their 1-2 punch.

What’s interesting about this Alpha Strike team is that with the Book of the Skull and the limitations in that you need to be 5 squares from a starting area to drop a hammer, and Mistress Death requiring Charge to be effective (or Running Shot for Pulse Wave shenanigans), this team actually takes a turn or two to power up whereas Shredder Alpha Strike teams hit the gas immediately. Obviously Rob is comfortable with that as he picked up a 4th place rank.

ID cards make a lot of sense if I got the sideline correct; all are very good ranged pieces to bring in against enemy snipers that he can’t reach, and give him nice call-in options of tank killing and swarm eliminator.

3rd – Adam Friedman

Uni-Mind + 3 Eternals + Ion | 190 Points

Ultron (Phalanx) Drone | 30 Points

Flora Colossus | 10 Points

Flora Colossus | 10 Points

Lawyer | 3 Points

5 ID Cards | 25 Points Green Arrow, Iceman, Level 7, Level 7, Nightwing

Indigo Power Battery with Ring, Wall, Decoy, and Catapult | 32 Points

Sideline: Makkari, GotG Thanos, Starfox, TMT SR Hulk (100), Chase Hawkeye, Chase Green Arrow, Nick Fury, Nightwing LE, Chase Iceman (60)* – this sideline seems to be split on Majestix

Maps: Morlock Tunnels, Daily Planet, Wonder Woman Barn

Adam brought the big boy of Uni-Mind to play, and in ROC Age, he really shines. With the inclusion of older Eternals like Thanos and Starfox, you get a lot more options, and some deadly characters if he goes down. Speaking of which, let’s see what Thanos and Starfox give Adam both as options for Uni-Mind and on their last clicks.

Thanos grants Uni-Mind Running Shot, Pulse Wave, Invincible, and Outwit with Pulse Wave obviously being the big addition here. On his last click, Thanos has 9 Charge, 9 Steal Energy (moot), 17 Invulnerable, and 4 Probability Control. Not outstanding with a low attack, but the reducer and Prob with big range and damage is nice. Starfox on the other hand gives Uni-Mind Sidestep, Mind Control, Toughness, and Exploit Weakness. On his last click, Starfox has 8 Mind Control, 9 attack, 16 Willpower, and 2 damage with the ability to heal friendly characters each turn. These are both interesting options.

Ion joins the party in giving Uni-Mind Invincible and Probability Control so that he can always pick an offensive power on his turns, like Pulse Wave from Thanos.

For the rest of the build, Adam has a single Ultron drone to call in characters while Uni-Mind is taking pretty much all the priority to take down (with all call-in options at 120 points or lower), two Flora Colossus to block lines of fire and pick up more ID cards during force construction, and a Lawyer for the exact same reason. Finally, the Indigo Battery makes Uni-Mind even harder to deal with as it gives him a disgusting amount of range advantage, and does a great job protection his single Ultron drone.

2nd – Emilio Gutierrez

Mystique | 60 Points

Mystique | 60 Points

Mystique | 60 Points

Mystique | 60 Points

Gamma Bomb | 5 Points

Omega Drive | 3 Points

Pym Particles | 2 Points

Power Plant (full) | 30 Points

4 ID Cards | 20 Points Hulk, Wolverine, Iceman, War Machine

Sideline: Peace Machine, XXS Wolverine (50 Points), TMT FF Hulk (50), Chase Iceman (60)

Maps: Cargo Plane, Zipline Park, Bifrost

I’m sure a lot of you that didn’t already know about this team are saying the same thing right now: “what the heck is that?” and I don’t blame you. For those of you that wanted a budget option to play in the meta, here’s your team. 4 rares, 3 relics, an old resource, and yes some fairly expensive ID cards, but the point is that the main force on this team is 4 freaking rares.

If you’ve noticed a trend with the last 6 teams we covered, all of them do a very good job of hitting you either before you hit them or stopping you from hitting them. Emilio’s team says “I don’t care about that because you’ll never get the chance”, and he’s right. Four Mystiques make it nearly impossible to score any points on the team, and the Gamma Bomb gives Emilio a great way to deal damage without ever having to make attacks as he can continually pinball his opponents over towards the bomb and keep them there until it explodes. The Omega Drive gives him SUPER Outwit and the Pym Particles allow him to adapt to any situation based on elevation, size limitations, or anything else that could pose a problem.

The Power Plant gives some great options in that it can sacrifice rings to boost any Mystique’s stats by +1 for the turn to make a decent attack, but its real power comes from the rings. Better Force Blast with penetrating damage, TK, Flight, lowering stats on hit characters, Pen/Psy, Energy Explosion, Mind Control, Barrier, Incapacitate with free Barrier afterwards, terrain modification, better Smoke Cloud, beefier ranged attacks, and resource/relic elimination are all options that the team can take advantage of to gain the upper hand and react to any team it plays against. At any time, the team can turn off the passive play and resort to one calculated precision strike, and it’s only going to be on his terms.

1st – PJ Bolin

Mistress Death | 100 Points

Mini Shredder | 90 Points

Splitlip | 20 Points

Skyscraper Wonder Woman | 15 Points

Flora Colossus | 10 Points

Mjolnir | 10 Points

Gamma Bomb | 5 Points

Book of the Skull (Full) | 30 Points

4 ID Cards Green Arrow, Iceman, Level 7, Jean Grey

Sideline: Chase Iceman (60), Chase Green Arrow, Chase Hawkeye, TMT SR Hulk (100), FF Jean Grey

Maps: Turtles Lair, Wakanda, Crossfire Canyon

We almost made it through the whole top 8 without any Shredders, but alas the best of the bunch came out to play. The only thing that really breaks the 4 Mystique team are characters that don’t attack for damage, and that’s exactly what PJ had on his team. PJ was also the only person to run Mjolnir on Mistress Death, and with a hammer from the book granting Charge and +2 to attack, he gets a 15 square swing with 14 attack to double all damage on a character. For those of you saying “hey wait, you can’t have two equipment on a character”, the Hammers from the Book are relics, so it’s 100% legal!

Skyscraper Wonder Woman and Flora Colossus round out PJ’s team with one being a great way to lock characters down so that he can easily retaliate with his main force afterwards, and an unkillable tree that eventually turns on for a very low investment. The Gamma Bomb also makes an appearance just like on many of the other teams here as a way to manipulate the field and pump out free damage (and destroy walls for Death to eventually get to turtle teams).

ID cards are basically what you would expect but with two new X-men ID’s in Iceman at 60 points (incredibly powerful) to pump out an Ice Clone as another hammer wielder, and the Fast Forces Jean Grey to get Mjolnir on Mistress Death turn 1 if he needs it, or setting up a brutal turn later in the game.

So what can we learn from these top 8 teams? So far, Mistress Death, the Gamma Bomb, and ID cards seem to be the big players for ROC Age, so it’s a very good idea to watch out for them. ID cards shouldn’t even really be mentioned because they have changed the game forever and as long as they’re legal in competitive play, in any competitive play, they’ll be present on every top 8 build. What’s interesting is that Uni-Mind and any of the Shredders only made one showing. Folks like Nighthawk Prime were missing in action, and the Quinjet proved that it’s still a powerhouse in the right hands.

I think the biggest surprise is how many Flora Colossi were used in the event with a whopping 5, putting them ahead of any other single figure in top-8 (with Mystique coming in second thanks to just one team!). Of all the teams, the Mystical Thanosi team was my favorite and that kind of innovation is what I really like to see, although the most original idea award goes to Emilio for his 4 Mystique only team. There’s something for everyone here, and it’s great to see some new team lists rather than what we’re all used to with Modern WKO’s or ROC’s.

What do you think of the Top 8 teams from this event? Which was your favorite and why? If you are planning on going (or were planning on going), what are you looking to play? I’d love to hear it, so let me know in the comments section!

Thanks for joining me this week and I hope you liked this new series. I probably won’t do too many of these as they take a bit longer than I usually have time to spend on writing articles, but they are pretty fun to take teams apart and figure out what choices people made and why.

See you guys next week on Clix Fix and remember, the real fun begins when you’re Two Clicks From KO!