Changelog

• 6/6/2025: Updated the character cards to reflect 2023 and May 2025 character updates. Updated Doctor Strange to reflect May 2025 character updates. Changed Dr. Strange Leadership discussion to reflect update. Added brief discussion of alternate affiliations.

Who Are Dr. Strange and Wong?

Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, the most powerful human sorcerer in the Marvel Universe (adjusting for whatever storyline he happens to be in at the moment); when arrogant surgeon Stephen Strange ruined his hands in a car crash, he sought out the Ancient One in the peaks of the Tibetan mountains to help heal his hands, and long story short, learned to be a good person and got magnificent cosmic powers. Wong, usually depicted as a monk, is variously his manservant, confidant, friend, co-worker and every now and again teacher, mentor, and boss. They come paired as a unit, both in the comics and also for use on the tabletop.

Dr. Strange and Wong both made their debut appearances in 1963, in all their campy glory. Originally a vampire-looking “master of black magic, Dr. Strange’s look, thankfully, got some much needed updates over the next few years. He was eventually transformed into the familiar (dare I say iconic?) look showcased in this lovely model.

Unfortunately, Wong remained the subject of some casual racism tossed toward vaguely East Asian cliches for…a long time.

Both profiles here are quite old in the lifespan of Crisis Protocol. Wong got a boost in defense dice semi recently. Dr. Strange just got hit with a significant update. Here are some (hopefully) compelling reasons to throw a couple of masters of the mystic arts onto the table at an upcoming game night.

Wong

Stat Card

How to Use Him?

I’ll do Wong first, just to get him out of the way. He is a known entity and has been around a few blocks.

If you’re new to the game and unfamiliar with Wong, he is the game’s support two threat. There are tons of stories of Wong getting a clutch daze and turning the tide, but your plan with Wong should be to hold a back secure, maybe pick up an extract, and then power up and heal your other models.

Some players love him. Some players would rather have a more active model in his place (a more proactive two threat model or upgrading a three threat to a five threat, for example).

If you want to use Wong, leverage his strengths.

Vishanti’s Blessing is solid. Healing or condition removal throughout the game can be excellent. He can keep your other models in the game longer. Is your main hitter shocked? Not anymore. Do you have an important model alive on one? Try alive on three.

Servant to the Sorcerer Supreme is…fine. Adding to his defense dice makes him stick around a little longer. With four stamina, he’s not sticking around for long if he gets targeted. Don’t put him in harm’s way. If your opponent wants to attack him, make them spend the resources to move closer first.

Meditate is solid. Wong can spend an action to give himself more power. If he’s sitting on a point and scoring without anyone to heal, consider meditating twice to power him up for later turns.

Faithful Assistant is arguably Wong’s best ability. Two power to pass one to an allied unit is small, but it can have a big impact. While it doesn’t unlock the round one turn one plays, because Wong has to activate to use it, it does unlock some strong round one powers. Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Shang Chi are three examples of characters with movement superpowers that aren’t normally active on turn one. If you want to threaten the middle of the table on round one this is a solid way to do it. Wong can similarly give the Sorcerer Supreme his Scalpel on round one.

Outside of round one, passing power to allies just adds to their efficacy as the game goes on. How often have you been one power shy of doing that cool combination of superpowers? If you’re passing power from Wong to allies once a turn, you can strategically keep models powered up.

Again, this may or may not be the best use of two threat.

Doctor Strange

Stat Card

How to Use Him?

Doctor Strange was heavily sidelined with the release of Sorcerer Supreme. It makes sense. The Sorcerer Supreme is very flexible. Doctor Strange was an older model and often feels like he doesn’t live up to his five threat. Now, with an update, there might be new life in the model.

His stats are good, but in an era where five threat models tend to have fours across the board for their defensive stats, a physical defense of three seems pretty soft. Six stamina on his healthy side and seven on his injured still feels like the low end as far as five threat models are concerned. But, some of his super powers can make up for it.

Doctor Strange only has two attacks. His first attack, Bolts of Bedevilment, just got the addition of a pierce on a block result. While five dice is definitely low for a five threat model, Doctor Strange does have a very strong reroll mechanic. You can choose to reroll all of his dice (including skulls) once per attack or defense roll. This means that he is actually pretty resistant to bad rolls, and pretty likely to spike.

Bolts also brings a push if damage is dealt. This push is omni directional and has no size restriction. Now, his attack is only five dice, so if your opponent rolls hot, even with the rerolls, Strange may not get his damage through.

The good doctor’s second attack, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, is a spender that I don’t see used often, but can be potent. It’s only six dice and it costs four power, but it has an automatic stagger with approximately a 25% chance (more if you count the reroll) to activate a model. I usually don’t find that it’s worth the four power, unless I really need the stagger. Especially considering that pushing a model back is sometimes as effective as a stagger, I will almost always save his power for other things.

Doctor Strange’s superpowers definitely reflect a support model. Oshtur’s Refuge allows Strange to spend three power to heal three wounds on himself or a nearby ally. With the upgrade to range three, this gives Strange a fairly good area of impact. Offsetting damage dealt and forcing an opponent to spend an extra action to daze one of your models can be phenomenal.

Hoggoth’s Hoary Wisdom is one of my top tier superpowers to say out loud (Baleful Bolts of Balthakk is still the winner in my mind), and adds two dice to Strange’s or a nearby ally’s defense or dodge roll. Depending on your philosophy on defense dice, this superpower is either phenomenal or worthless. Defense dice are worse than attack dice. With two extra defense dice, the statistical addition to a defense roll is less than one extra success.

With that said, there are a handful of models in Defenders that have the ability to increase the impact of defense dice. Amazing Spider-Man can reroll any of them which means the two extra dice are actually likely to yield more results. Ancient One, Shang Chi, and Iron Fist bring Martial Arts which means that when the conditions are met, their defense dice are more likely than not to give a success on a defense roll. Elektra’s Martial Prowess is an interesting contender as well, seven dice is a fun handful to roll on defense. Finally, Luke Cage is a contender simply because he has damage reduction and a taunt, so he’s likely to be taking attacks and keeping him around longer is a good idea.

The Eye of Agamotto lets Strange reroll all of his dice (not some) including skull results on any attack, defense, and (now!) dodge roll. This ability actually adds quite a bit to Doctor Strange’s efficacy. As mentioned above, he is a little more resistant than most models to dice luck. Any time he has a bad roll, this superpower means he can just get a do-over. Unlike the Time Stone, this reroll is part of the standard reroll timing window, which means it happens before the opponent modifies Strange’s dice. When attacking, it means that Strange can fish for the shield to get pierce and the extra power.

Shield of the Seraphim lets Doctor Strange gain an extra power if he rolls any shield results, which can actually help Strange build up enough power to do cool things after the first or second round.

He’s got Flight and can carry around either the Time Stone or Soul Stone. While the stones are a big investment, the extra power in the power phase might be worth consideration. It brings him up to six threat, which definitely feels like it is too much for the stats and superpowers he brings. Still, on a tight objective layout where a ton of opposing models will be using superpowers within range four of Dr. Strange, the Soul Stone might be enough to make it worth it. If Strange has the power to heal a model every round and stack up a bunch of defense dice, that might make him feel like a six threat model.

All of this put together is a very strong support model. The issue with a support model is: is he worth five threat in your team?

The other issue comes with comparing him to other five threat models. In affiliation (assuming Defenders), that includes Amazing Spider-Man, Namor, Ghost Rider, Scarlet Witch, and the Sorcerer Supreme.

Now that he’s been updated, he feels much more in line with his five threat, although he is still a five threat support model.

Still, there are a few compelling reasons to put him in a roster and get him to the table in a crisis team.

Liking Dr. Strange as a character, especially the classic costume from the comics as early as 1963, is a great reason to run him. The look has changed in the six decades following, but that blue and white with the red cape and golden belt seems to keep coming back. Run Strange and figure out the best ways to use him.

Alternatively, in a roster filled with hard hitters, and Defenders can definitely make it happen, spending five threat on a support model that can keep them around can be a good way to keep your hitters from getting beat up by an opponent’s roster. Adding some defense dice to Wolverine, Valkyrie, Immortal Hulk, or Namor can keep them alive long enough to leverage their higher than average offensive output. Similarly, healing those models can keep them around longer.

Amazing Spider-Man is a special case as well. Taking him out when he has extra defense dice is hard to do. Now, that example is ten threat and concentrates those threat into one small area of the board. But, those two can absorb a lot of attack actions. Even without Witty Banter to force an enemy’s reroll, a seven die attack only has a 40% chance to do one damage, and around a 25% chance to do more than one damage to Peter. That means it takes an average of five or more attack actions to daze Spider-Man.

Leadership

Dr. Strange can function as a leader in Convocation, although I recommend Sorcerer Supreme, if that’s your jam. As a leader of the Defenders, Dr. Strange has typically been overshadowed by Daredevil. This makes sense, as rerolls are phenomenal.

Dr. Strange’s new leadership is Judgement of the Vishanti.

Essentially this means that once per turn, when attacking, an allied character (including Dr. Strange) can apply the hex condition to the target of an attack if damage is dealt or if the model is five threat or higher. Littering the opposing team with hex and denying their ability to get the extra dice from critical results is a notable turn in the math on a high threat character’s ability to spike. It doesn’t mean that Thanos or Hulk suddenly lose efficacy, but it can slow their roll a little.

This leadership is best when you can get the hex condition before the opponent rolls a lot of dice. Because of the five threat and above clause, this can mean a guarantee of landing the condition on a big model like Thanos, Hulk, or any variety of Thor. It is probably worth highlighting that Malekith, Immortal Hulk, and the injured side of Apocalypse are all immune to Hex. Although Dormammu, oddly enough, is not immune to Hex.

Why Use This Leadership?

This leadership stands in contrast to Daredevil. There are a couple of reasons to reach for one over the other.

Daredevil excels on a crowded secure objective layout. The number of rerolled dice is equal to the number of enemy models at range two. This means that landing attacks while surrounded by enemies is the idea situation for Daredevil’s leadership. He also favors brawlers: either Hulk, Wolverine, Valkyrie, Namor, Amazing Spider-Man, any Hero for Hire, all models that attack frequently within range two.

With the recent changes to the available crisis cards in competitive events, there are fewer closely packed in maps. Mayor Fisk, Wedding Party, Intrusions, and M’Kraan Crystals are all excellent options for Daredevil.

On the one hand, Dr. Strange’s leadership is fairly agnostic to the crisis layout. While applying Hex to high threat models is easier, applying Hex to any opposing models is a good move, especially when it doesn’t cost anything.

Dr. Strange himself does tend to do better when he is around a few other models. When he can heal and throw extra defense dice on allies, he is at his best. At the same time, he is not a brawler and usually does well when he can keep enemies at a little bit of a distance. With that said, Dr. Strange does well when the other members of the roster can attack as often as possible. Anyone who has range four or higher or a charge are a good fit: Hawkeye, Magick, Valkyrie, Hulk, Namor, Amazing Spider-Man, some of the Heros for Hire. Although Luke Cage fits well because he has a taunt, meaning Dr. Strange can boost his defense and heal him when he starts to take damage.

Wow. Look at that! There’s some crossover between Daredevil and Dr. Strange. Apparently good models are good under a variety of leaderships.

Realistically, if the goal is to run Defenders, the deciding point for which leader to run is likely: which models and secures are in the roster. If the goal is to run tightly packed secures, Daredevil is likely a slightly better option. If the goal is to use some long ranged attackers, Dr. Strange might be better to lean into.

Defenders Cards

Last time most of us gave the good Dr. Strange a thought, Defenders only had one team tactics card. Before we dive into the new ones, I’ll review the old.

Pentagrams of Farallah

The original Defenders card, Pentagrams allows Dr. Strange (not the Sorcerer Supreme) or Wong may place two tokens that allows for three power that allows any model (enemies included) to teleport between the two for a cost of one power.

This card is very strong. It gives a limited level of action compression to models who don’t have it. It also allows you to strike and fade. If you place one portal forward toward an objective on the midline, you will be able to throw a model forward with it and double attack. Then, the next round, that model can attack twice and jump to safety in your backline.

The specific uses of this card can vary. You might use it to get to an objective to score points. You might use it to strike and fade. You can also use it to give models without action compression a selective charge. I particularly like Pentagrams with Dr. Strange and Scarlet Witch. They are both models that are reasonably effective offensively, but they lack any kind of charge. Allowing them to move forward without spending an action can make them significantly more relevant.

Vapors of Valtorr

Not strictly a Defenders card, but it is a Dr. Strange card. Vapors gives you the chance to rerolls an enemy’s attack dice against a specific model for a round. But, you need two other models to be close to Dr. Strange. Wong is likely already there. You’ll probably want the target of this card to be close as well, so it’s not the worst condition, but it’s not great either.

The effect is very powerful. We’ve all seen the Amazing Spider-Man knock off a trigger or shrug off that attack that was finally going to do damage to him with Witty Banter. This is the same effect but for any number of attack dice. If you want a model to survive the round, Vapors is one of the more effective ways to do it. Now that so many non-character specific cards have been rotated out, maybe it’s time to dust off Vapors again?

Seven Suns of Cinnibus

Another Dr. Strange card. Yet again, two allied characters must be within range two. An annoying requirement. Still, on a central fight, having access to a range five beam that throws eight dice for the cost of only three power is good. The fact that you can incinerate a bunch of the enemy team is also great. I’ve had games where I never get to use the card because allies keep getting dazed, pushed, or thrown. I’ve also had games where this attack devastated an enemy team.

Cover Me

The first of our new Defenders specific cards. Cover Me allows one Defenders character to spend four power. After an attack is resolved against the character, another allied character may respond with an attack.

Extra attacks are really good. Anything that can give you extra actions is worth a look. Now, in order to maximize this, you’ll need models that can respond effectively when your opponent chooses the situation. Any model with long range is good. The more dice you can leverage in the responding attack, the better.

My first choice to provide cover is always going to be Hawkeye. Between Trick Shot and range five, Hawkeye will nearly always be able to respond if he’s anywhere near the character that played Cover Me. Obviously, if someone with more dice or damage potential is available, use that attacker instead. Scarlet Witch is pretty good here. Dr. Strange can lend reasonable attacks as well, especially with his push. Silver Sable is a strong choice as well.

The other thing to consider with this card is disincentivizing your opponent. Is Hawkeye going to stop Hulk from smashing something? Probably not. But, if you time it carefully, you might be able to limit your opponent’s choices. They’re not likely to take the risk of drawing a counter attack if they have a model on only three health. The possibility that Hawkeye dazes the model and denies them an action is significant.

Mystic Ward

Mystic Ward offers Defenders the capacity to take one secure objective away from the opponent. You can also use it to stop an opponent from picking up an extract objective, but only if they haven’t picked it up yet. To use the card, your Defenders model must be within range three of the objective and have two power to spend.

I see a few uses for this card: taking a secure from an opponent who has invested resources in holding that secure, stopping an opponent from picking up an extract and running away with it, or directing your opponent away from one area of the table.

The first use is to take a secure from an opponent. Having your last activation (round one or otherwise) deny your opponent a secure objective that they have spent actions moving onto can be a significant move, especially if this pulls you ahead of your opponent in objective points. Obviously this can be very valuable on an objective that counts for two or more points. A potent use on round one, if you win priority, is to send Amazing Spider-Man or Namor to steal the central objective, then deny your opponent one secure, which can allow you start the game up by two or more objective points.

A second use for Mystic Ward is to use it early in a round, on an objective that is in its original placement or one that has been dropped. If you can’t get to it, and your opponent is lined up to pick it up with a slippery model (Black Cat, for instance) you can deny their ability to pick up the objective and run away with it.

A third use is to play it early in a round to incentivize your opponent to push their models to another part of the table. If they know that they won’t be able to secure an objective, that may give you a little breathing room. This use seems less effective than the others because it’s relying on your opponent to respond instead of putting their movement under your control.

Street Smarts

Street Smarts is the final card. Any number of Defenders characters can spend one power. For the rest of the round, if a character who spent one power would be pushed, advanced, or thrown, they can take one wound to stay where they are. While the prospect of taking wounds is certainly less than ideal, being able to stay on a secure objective or stop a big model (Hulk) from being thrown into a friendly model is phenomenal.

Considering there will be secure objectives in every game you play, the use case for Street Smarts is fairly universal. That said, I think you’ll be less interested in Street Smarts when playing with pay-to-flip secure objectives. Contesting a pay-to-flip can still make it less likely for your opponent to flip it (unless you’re playing SWORD Establishes Base on Moon’s Blue Area) can still be useful.

Street Smarts is also worth considering when you find yourself facing down a list that has a lot of pushes or throws. Denying displacement for a turn, even at the risk of taking damage, can be valuable.

What Should Your Roster Look Like?

With all of the good that I’ve said about Dr. Strange, one would imagine that I’d say building a list with him is easy. Well, it’s not. He’s a five threat model that is essentially a support piece. So, he has to be thoughtfully built around.

One thought is to lean into the things Dr. Strange is supporting (defense and healing, plus a little bit of control). Looking at the Defenders roster, the first two models that stand out to me are Hulk and Amazing Spider-Man.

When Amazing Spider-Man gets extra defense dice and occasional healing from Dr. Strange, he is tough as nails. He can still do some damage, but he becomes an absolute terror to remove from the table. Dr. Strange’s leadership also means that Peter is going to take even less damage if he manages to hex a model before it attacks him.

Hulk, on the other hand, is a phenomenal control piece (he can push and/or throw just about anything your opponent puts on the table). The extra healing and defense dice can help Hulk stick around a little longer, which is a nice bonus.

If you want to lean into the fighting side of the Defenders, while still using Dr. Strange, Namor and Immortal Hulk are excellent options.

One of Namor’s biggest weaknesses is just occasionally getting spiked and dazed or ko’d. Dr. Strange can help shore up Namor’s defenses. Dr. Strange’s leadership also allows either of Namor’s attacks to inflict Hex, making his follow up attack(s) just a little more effective.

Immortal Hulk is already very strong. Adding some extra healing to him is probably unnecessary, but can help keep him around longer.

This leaves a significant issue in roster building: starting with Dr. Strange and a five or more threat model, is likely going to be a pretty tall list. But, there is good news! Defenders have a great low end. Wong is two threat, and while he doubles up on Dr. Strange’s healing, he is also great to plop on a rear point to score objectives and remove conditions from allies.

The three threats in the Defenders roster are phenomenal. Luke Cage, Chosen of Bast, and Hawkeye are some of the best three threat models in the game for entirely different roles and fill out a roster very nicely. Iron Fist, Valkyrie, and Magick also deserve honorable mentions as cheap models that can add some ability to punch up, and with the support of Dr. Strange, might actually stick around long enough to do damage.

If you want some discount power in your list without leaning on a second model at five or higher threat model, Shang Chi and Wolverine are both top tier attackers, and they can both benefit from some extra defense dice and healing from Dr. Strange.

With that in mind, here is an idea for the roster:

Dr. Strange
Wong
Immortal Hulk
Amazing Spider-Man
Wolverine or Shang Chi
Luke Cage
Iron Fist
Hawkeye
Magick
Black Panther, Chosen of Bast

Now, you can of course sub out any number of characters for non-affiliated models. You can also sub out anything that you’re not interested in. Dropping one of the three threat models for another four threat model is probably a good idea.

For your tactics cards, start with the four Defenders cards, two restricted cards of choice, and then any character specific cards that would be good to lean on. Heroes for Hire is an obvious choice. I’m partial to Go Get ‘em Tiger, although I don’t know that the meta finds it to be a great card.

I don’t think this roster needs Patch Up particularly, since Wong and Dr. Strange both bring some level of healing to the table. It’s still a strong card if that’s a priority.

Here’s an example selection, depending on which characters are in the roster.

Pentagrams of Farallah
Cover Me
Mystic Ward
Street Smarts
Heroes for Hire
Go Get ’em Tiger
Brace for Impact
Fall Back
Weapon X Program or Chi Mastery
Journey Through Limbo

For crisis selection, there are a few options. For this list, any extracts with a central objective can be strong, if the plan is to use the Amazing Spider-Man or Namor. M’Kraan Crystals can be a more tightly packed map while still being more spread out than an E map to allow Dr. Strange to be maximally effective while not just being a brawl in the center of the table. The extra power from Infinity Formula can be solid. Mayor Fisk can also work well, especially with a Hulk and Wolverine in the roster.

Other Affiliations

Midnight Sons also hosts Dr. Strange. Both leadership options are phenomenal. Blade adds mobility and Elsa provides for some increased offensive output. Dr. Strange can do well with both. I think Blade’s Bump in the Night does a little more for Dr. Strange, who doesn’t have any ability to move himself beyond using an action. The bump gives him more changes to be in the right position to double tap, use his heal, or provide extra defense dice to allies. Elsa’s leadership is top tier, but I don’t see Dr. Strange benefitting from it more than any other models. The fact that two thirds of the Midnight Sons roster is already in Defenders, the possibility of a dual roster is attractive if the different leaderships seem better for different situations.

Convocation is a short conversation. The Sorcerer Supreme is likely a stronger choice for a roster. He tends to be able to impact a table more with the Scalpel of Strange, generating extra power, and access to range five.

Still, Convocation has a fairly fragile roster. Dr. Strange isn’t completely uncalled for to defend and heal a bunch of mages. With low stamina pools and low or finicky defenses, Dr. Strange can actually shore up some of their weaknesses.

Dr. Strange is definitely stronger than he was before the update. The idea of splashing him anywhere that ramps up power, especially under Steve Rogers, seems like an attractive placement. If the plan is to use his extra defense dice affordably, he has notable competition in Avengers with Cable, who is affiliated.

Wong is quite strong in Midnight Sons as well. He can provide healing and remove conditions from friendly models while standing on a back objective to score points. Bump in the Night is great for Wong to help him get into range to leverage his. superpowers at a slightly wider range.

As a two threat model, Wong is a strong candidate to splash in just about any affiliation where a two threat support model seems useful. Toad remains the stronger objective player, but when faced with a roster than inflicts conditions, Wong’s ability to remove them can be invaluable.

Conclusion

Hopefully this gives some new ideas. Take it, use it, and have some fun. Or just comment below to tell me how wrong I am and that Dr. Strange is completely worthless, even after his update.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.