In this third iteration in Marvel Crisis Protocol of Logan, we get a taste of his more savage side. First things first: Weapon X is not long for this world. His job is to be thrown into the action, explode in a flurry of claws and Wilds and hopefully take down as many enemies with him as possible. Don’t put this character on the board if you intend on still having him there at the end of the game. That isn’t quite his speciality.

Let’s start with Savagery Protocols. This is what makes Weapon X super interesting. He can’t interact with or score Extract tokens at all. But he can score Secures, which is nice and thematic. Would you really want to be close to the Infinity Formula while this guy is there panting and drooling over it? Probably not. I have found that Weapon X is a great pick on Deadline To Destruction as he can interact with the Secures to ping some extra damage around. Make no mistake, dishing out damage is this guy’s sole purpose.

But the real sauce here comes from the second sentence. While Logan is contesting a Secure, he hits his extremes in both a positive and negative sense. He hits a lot harder, but also gets hit much harder. I have found that keeping Weapon X off a Secure in Round 1 works well, as he then won’t be vulnerable when your opponent has agency against him in Round 2 – while also starting Round 2 with two power, meaning he can Charge onto a Secure and have at it.

Beserker Rage having a Pierce and a potential extra dice makes it a very reliable attack. Plus you gain 1 power no matter what the result is, so you can use this to plan your next move…which may be an Uncontrollable Weapon. This attack is much less reliable, but the ceiling is huge. Getting double Wilds on a 7 (or 9, thanks to Savagery Protocols) dice attack is far from guaranteed, but when it goes off – boy does it GO OFF. Weapon X can take down characters of much higher threat value than him.

Healing Factor (3) is the biggest amount of Healing Factor we’ve seen up until this point. Weapon X having 5 health means you really need to take this guy down. You DO NOT want to leave this character alive on 1-2 health, as he will activate, slam down a ton of damage and then heal most/all of the damage off. This has led me to playing cards that can keep Weapon X in this sweet spot. Team Tactics Cards like Sacrifice, Instant Recovery and bodyguards like Luke Cage and Namor with their Team Tactics Cards, Heroes For Hire and Prince’s Protection. If you can lead your opponent into thinking they’re about to take Weapon X down before he gets to activate, and then prevent that…it can be crippling.

It’s worth touching on Logan’s injured side here. His healthy side gets bonus dice for attacking the same target twice and for standing on Secures. However on this side, he changes quite significantly. Beserker Rage loses the bonus dice in exchange for becoming AN AREA ATTACK?! This really leans into the theme of throwing Logan as far into the enemy team as possible and causing havoc.

If you put Logan on the table and accept the fact that he is temporary…you’re going to have a great time. I played this guy in the Weapon X affiliation alongside Nebula who has a very similar play pattern and oh my…it was a ton of fun. Having characters that you don’t necessarily care about losing is a big power move, especially when they hit as hard as Weapon X does.

Energy attacks are rare and desired in Marvel Crisis Protocol, especially attacks as consistent as Plasma Blasters. Rapid Fire attacks are great – especially when paired with Hit and Run. This allows Maverick to stay mobile while also pumping out some damage.

I’ve played Maverick in ~20 games now and I’ve never found a use for Adamantium Knife. Plasma Blasters plus Hit and Run is just too useful and consistent. Agent Zero is a great spender if you hit the wild – and fits in nicely with the fact that you want Maverick to stay at a safe distance from his enemies. 3/3/3 and 5 health means he will fall over easily if he gets into trouble. This is where Kinetic Energy Absorption comes in.

Once Maverick starts to get hit, it’s usually the beginning of the end. But if the attack is physical and Maverick survives, Kinetic Energy Absorption can help him out of range of a follow-up attack, or back onto a point he’s just been pushed off. It’s surprisingly flexible for a 3 threat and will catch your opponent off guard, as it’s something we haven’t quite seen on a character card before.

I have been playing Maverick in Weapon X alongside Domino, who is arguably the premiere Rapid Fire gun character in MCP. While Domino has some of the best dice quality in the game (TLDR she can count Skulls as Crits), she lacks mobility. Maverick on the other hand sacrifices some of that dice quality for mobility – which in a lot of scenarios can feel just as good. Different flavour of a Rapid Fire gunslinger here, but I felt it worth noting that Maverick feels comparable to Domino in a lot of cases, which is a huge compliment.

Anti-Healing Factor Corrosive! I nearly forgot to mention this! Nearly every time I’ve put Maverick on the table, I’ve had my opponent ask about this superpower. It’s his signature move – but honestly, I’ve never used it. Theme wise, it makes perfect sense. If you happen to be playing against Weapon X (the affiliation…confusing I know) or maybe even Uncanny X-Men where you expect to see a lot of Healing Factor characters hit the table, then the value of this ability goes up a lot. Maverick often has a ton of power, so paying for this shouldn’t be an issue. REMEMBERING he can do it on the other hand…that could be a problem.

Note: Anti-Healing Factor Corrosive prevents a character from removing damage from themselves. This does not stop Patch-Up or Wong, Doctor Strange & Phoenix healing as that is another character removing the damage from them.

All-in-all, Maverick really impressed me on the table. I recommend getting some games with him, as his value isn’t all that obvious from initial glance at his character card.

Affiliations

Both of these characters are Weapon X affiliated. Maverick brings some much needed energy attacks to the affiliation which is great, but he also brings a surprisingly great Team Tactics Card;

First off, the theme of this card is awesome. A hidden weapons stash somewhere on the battlefield that only Weapon X agents know about, love it. Maverick paying 3 power for it is no problem at all, as Rapid Fire characters have reliable power generation. If you’re lucky, you can get this off on Round 1. Maverick can move once, shoot someone from Range 3 on the midline, hope to get the Rapid Fire and then play this card on the Secure the target is standing on.

Worth noting that this grants cover that is not negated by your opponent being within Range 2. Not sure why; blame Magnetic Refraction for that confusing ruling. But that’s how it works. Also worth noting that picking up the Stash token will give you 2 dice on your next attack, not attack action. This means Maverick will not benefit from two 6 dice Rapid Fires on his turn, which is a shame. But you know who does benefit massively from this card…?

Weapon X! (the character). The stash token is not an Extract Objective token, meaning Weapon X can pick it up with his big stabby knife hands and add 2 dice to his next attack. Let’s say he does this on his second attack into a character during his activation…

5 dice Beserker Rage + 1 dice for attacking the same target twice + 2 dice for being on a Secure + 2 dice from Weapons Stash = 10 dice on a 0 power attack! That’s BeSeRk!!1! 😉

Much like the stash token, Dossier is not an Extract objective. Meaning Weapon X can pick it up…gain 2 dice on all of his attacks and move LONG?!?! That’s awesome. While he can’t play this card at the start of the game, Sabretooth, Apex Predator can – and the character holding the Dossier will then spend the rest of the game avoiding him. This is where I deploy Weapon X on an opposing flank. He excels at KOing characters and making them drop their stuff – and Dossier adds something to the pile that Logan can pick up and utilise. It’s great and I like to pretend it’s the Weapon X leadership. 

Speaking of…I guess we now have to go over the Weapon X leadership; Are You Sure You Want To Remember?

I’m a big fan of shouting about how cards that are much maligned by the community are actually good…but not here, not this time. This leadership is bad and it should feel bad.

BUT there is some fun synergy here with Maverick. Let’s say he’s on a Secure stood next to Captain America, Steve Rogers and is targeted by a Strike. He can activate this leadership and guarantee that he will be able to move back onto the point should Cap get his Wild. If the attack deals damage, Kinetic Energy Absorption will trigger and Maverick can move back onto the point. If the attack doesn’t deal damage…Maverick can move back onto the point.

That’s it. That’s all I have to say about that leadership. Moving on.

I previously mentioned that Weapon X is temporary. His job is to run in recklessly and take out targets before he inevitably KOs. Well, Dormammu may have something to say about that.

First off, the easy synergy. Weapon X will start the game with 1 additional power, meaning his Charge is online from Round 1. This gets his train rolling earlier than usual, which is great.

But the real insanity comes in the form of this Team Tactics Card that Dormammu brings to the table…

Dark Restoration essentially lets Dormammu bring back a 3 threat that has KO’d this game. It used to be cute…because by the time this happens, it’s usually too late in the game for it to really have an impact.

But Logan is here now to make this card a whole lot less cute and a lot more viable. Weapon X is highly likely to KO early in the game, especially with a Round 1 Charge putting the pressure on your opponent to deal with him. Once this happens, Dark Restoration can bring him back in to start the cycle all over again.

Tactics Cards

But wait…there’s more! This Team Tactics Card comes in the Weapon X & Maverick box.

I’ve done the research, I’ve asked around, and none of us can really figure out why this card exists. 

Now if you enjoy surprising your opponent with some damage during their turn – this could be very fun for you. Emphasis on the could. It does feel thematic for your Weapon X crazies to suddenly flip and lash out against their enemies, but paying a Team Tactics Card slot and 2 power and risk damaging the character that plays this card…and for FOUR dice?! It’s pretty awful. If this was 5+ dice, there may be an argument for it. Dazing an opponent mid activation is obviously huge. But there are plenty of other ways to do that without having to resort to this.

So overall…there’s some really cool and interesting stuff in this box. You are prone to putting these models down and having them wiped out before you really get to play with them…but so long as you accept that this will happen sometimes…you will occasionally get the game where Weapon X and Maverick really take over and hurt people.

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