Let’s start this by setting one thing straight – Hulk is one of the best models in Marvel Crisis Protocol. He was one of the first releases to hit shelves after the very first Core Box released – and he still holds up as well as he should, terrifying tables all over the world and in all kinds of affiliations. However…not in the way you might expect.
If you’re here because you want to yell HULK SMASH as your opponent removes their models from the table and places them lovingly back into their carry case, you might be better off checking out The Immortal Hulk (another variant of Bruce Banner that is a little more punchy). Hulk is the premiere control piece in Marvel Crisis Protocol – and that’s important to know. Newer players tend to play Hulk as an attrition piece (as in “roll loads of dice to KO enemy models”) and are often left feeling disappointed. This version of Hulk is best used as a control piece – now let’s get into why.
Character Card
Image courtesy of Atomic Mass GamesFirst off, Inner Rage is phenomenal. Not just because 3 power a turn is fantastic, but also because it funds the next, most important part of his kit…
Gamma Leap. You may have heard the term ‘action compression’ in MCP before. It essentially equates to “What can a model do to ensure it uses both of its actions to make attacks.” Gamma Leap being a Range 2 place, coupled with Hulk’s huge base (the biggest in the game) means he can reliably get exactly where he needs to on the board without using an action to do so.
Strongest One There Is. Simply put – displacing an enemy character for 2 power is amazing. Throwing Size 4 terrain at an enemy is even better. Throwing enemy characters into each other and off a Secure is EVEN BETTER. Hulk should be throwing things and people around – and this only costing him 2 power is backbone of what makes Hulk so good at what he does.
You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry is the fun part of playing Hulk. It essentially challenges your opponent with a decision they have to make as early as deployment – “Can you KO Hulk this game?” The more damage Hulk takes, the scarier his attacks become. Many MCP players have a story about a Hulk they left alive on 1, and the sinking feeling that comes along with that. Watching a Hulk player grin as they pick up fistfuls of dice and punish your entire team for not finishing the job is a memory that most MCP players struggle to shake.
So why bother? Why not just ignore Hulk and KO the rest of his team? That’s where Inner Rage comes in. If ignored, Hulk can still reliably fund his entire kit himself and still get to play the game he wants to play.
Hulk Not Puny Banner might as well not be on this card. Most players don’t bother using it unless it would prevent Hulk from Dazing. Re-rolling skulls is nice, but his defence dice pools are often so small that it doesn’t make much difference, especially for 4 power. He can spend that power in so many better ways. While learning Hulk, I recommend ignoring this ability entirely.
Now onto his attacks. Strike and Hulk Smash are great attacks with one caveat: You need to get a Wild. This is why I think that Hulk shouldn’t be played as an attrition model. He has no way to modify his own outcomes; it’s just fistfuls of dice and a dream. If you don’t hit your Wild triggers, especially on Hulk Smash, then it can feel real sad. Some games you’ll get them and he’ll feel amazing, other games you’ll miss them at an opportune moment and you’ll cry. Such is the way with this version of Hulk – and it’s why I think we should focus on the potency of the guaranteed displacement that comes from Strongest One There Is.
Potentially controversial opinion here, but I would recommend putting Thunder Clap in the same category as Hulk Not Puny Banner. Ignore it. There are no triggers, no effects and no power to gain from it. Unless you have a beam lined up where you can get 3-4 targets, then it might be worth considering. But everything else on Hulk’s card is leagues better, so I recommend ignoring this attack most days.
There is one key weakness with Hulk which isn’t immediately apparent. While his 20 health is very impressive, his inability to Daze is actually an enormous hindrance for the big green guy. Having a model daze means the violence stops for that round and they’re essentially untouchable until they flip to their injured side next round, where they come back for a second chance. Hulk doesn’t have that…so once he has activated, he’s a sitting duck and is entirely at the mercy of the enemy team and how many attacks they want to throw at him. Against an opponent that knows they have the capability to deal up to 20 damage in a round, they will soon wipe Hulk off the board.
His inability to flip to his injured side means he is also very susceptible to status conditions, as they will never be removed from him in the Cleanup Phase. We don’t want to be wasting actions on shaking those, especially on a 6 threat model. So he tends to keep hold of them all game.
All of this essentially amounts to my recommendation to play Hulk as a defensive control piece. Grabbing an Extract with him in Round 1 and staying away from the midline essentially sends a message to your opponent of: “This belong to Hulk now.”
Waiting until the end of a Round, once all enemy models have activated to then Gamma Leap onto a Secure, throwing an enemy off with Strongest One There Is and having two attempts of using Strike to displace another 1 or 2 enemies makes Hulk a VP swinging machine.
Affiliations
Hulk’s first home comes to mind! Let’s get into where and why we’ll likely see Bruce assemble.
Captain America from Core Box 1 has a leadership that reduces the first superpower you use by 1. We’ve already discussed how great Hulk is at funding his own kit without any outside help – but having access to Gamma Leap for 1 power or Strongest One There Is for 2 power is nothing short of ridiculous. Besides saving this power for other superpowers later in the turn, it also gives Hulk the option of a safe Extract grab Round 1. He can Gamma Leap for 2, leaving him on 1 power to then move to the midline with, pickup an Extract – and then move back to safety. Crazy.
Captain America from Core Box 2, however, brings a completely different flavour of ridiculousness for Hulk. This leadership allows Hulk to pay 1 power to change 1 dice in his attack rolls to a Wild – thus fixing the trigger fishing problem we discussed earlier. This really fixes a key issue for Hulk’s game pattern, adding another near-guaranteed displacement tool. Again…crazy!
Captain America Sam Wilson also brings something interesting for Hulk. His leadership grants Hulk the ability to remove status conditions and move into a better position for the perfect activation. As discussed, status conditions can pose a problem for Hulk, so this helps a lot. But the move also allows him to move back to safety, or towards a Secure that he wishes to displace enemy characters off later in the round. Lots of flexibility!
Hulk is also affiliated to Defenders! Under Daredevil, he is granted a re-roll per enemy character within 2 of him. A well placed Gamma Leap can get Hulk into the perfect position, surrounded by enemies to get a big attack off with a bunch of re-rolls. This helps him fish for those much needed triggers, while also giving him a bit of dice fixing to help ramp up the damage.
It’s worth noting also – that Hulk being so self sufficient and a 6 threat makes him the perfect splash in any affiliation looking to increase their control & displacement potential.
Tactics Cards
This card is fun. It’s often used as a kaiju delivery system (kaiju = a single, big scary, often expensive attrition piece) to ensure you get the maximum amount out of them in Round 1. The problem with this however, is that is has to be on Hulk’s own turn – and costs him the full 3 power he gets in the Power Phase, meaning he will then not be able to pick up any Extract (or do anything else at all).
In short, this card is fun if you want to fire your main killy model up the board. Otherwise, it’s not too useful.
At the time of writing, this card offers the only way to throw Size 5 terrain. It requires She-Hulk to be on the team, which come to think of it…I’ve never seen the two Hulk cousins on the board at the same time – and also costs them 3 power each.
Throwing a Size 5 is fun…throwing it Long is even more fun…just PLEASE make sure your opponent doesn’t have Brace For Impact online…
This card is kind of funny. It essentially amounts to giving Hulk 1-2 extra dice on his attacks due to its synergy with You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry, which is cute. Is it good? Not really.
At best, it makes his attacks go off a little harder – dazing/KOing enemy models before they get a chance to spot that he’s now up to 5 points of damage closer to Dazing himself.
You don’t need this card. Hulk is self sufficient enough on his own – and as we’ve already established in this article…he job isn’t to be a big attrition piece.
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