DDQ CotT Cycle 5: Professor X vs Improved Elektra

ZeiramMR

Be warned, barring early crits, this may be a long one for you. But, for anybody who didn't fully appreciate the re-design that Elektra received or only read the post without trying her out, this match is going to give some good examples.

Once she gets Shadow Step tiles on the board, she gets more black AP from both SS Trap tiles that are used, and by stealing AP in her colors when Dance of Death is on the board. This could mean chains of Shadow Step preventing any damage unless you can string some double matches together to burn through her invulnerability faster. Plus, I wasn't able to keep enough Purple for a reserve Blind Spot in case my initial one got matched away.

Champed Professors should have an easier time than my Level 168 5/3/5 did, but anybody with a weaker Prof. X using the 1 cover invisibility Hail Mary is going to have a LONG match ahead of them.

smkspy

Took 3 tries with my level 120 4/5/4 Xavier. Boosted purple everytime.

Was more.annoying than in times past, but third match I lucked into several match 5s that ultimately downed her.

Reward, champ level Wasp.

Black Duke

Took me three attempts with my level 180 4/5/4 Prof. X. Improved Elektra is nasty to play against since her red steals AP now. My advice: When you've gone invisible, deny red and black under any circumstances!  

Alsmir

GG.
After wondering for a good while how she keeps dropping Shadow Step after Shadow Step, I realised that Ballet of Death iis bugged and not only steals my black AP, but generates ap if I have none.

Sluggo

Previously: this was one of the easiest Crashes. Now it's challenging (/annoying?).

Once New Elektra gets Shadow Step down, she'll continue to generate AP and re-cast it pretty much every time it breaks, along with everything else in her arsenal. Hopefully you've tucked an invisibility tile in a corner she can't reach, and you'll get some lucky cascades with strengthened strike tiles on the board for those brief windows where Shadow Step is down. (Or, you'll just down her before she gets any black.) 

It took me four tries with a 165 5/4/4 PX, and I might still be going if I hadn't fallen into a lucky cascade match-5 at the end of the match I won. Each fight took a few minutes, every match featured at least one board reshuffle, and every time my invis tile broke, I got one-shot. This is another crash that benefits from the 5-day reset, as it might take lower level PXs a few days to get a good board. 

(reward: currently hoarding LTs, waiting for C&D to enter vault) 

Spidurman27

Took me two tries.  Having attempted the first round prior to coffee, I deliberately left the AI a match-5 red in order to fire my blue passive.

Apparently Prof X isn't Jean Grey....lol.

Second time after coffee was far more successful.  Invisible fast and just focused on protection and black to keep her out of shadow step.  Very fast and easy win.

Reward: in the hoard.

MikeG72

Took me four tries with my 135 4/1/1 Professor X. I boosted all colors, blue + purple, and also boosted all color damage. Got Red Spider-Woman. She's now 4/2/3

DFiPL

Two tries. My first try, the board gifted me with a few match-5's, but she was able to get Shadow Step and a couple Ballets of Death out thanks to Elektra-friendly cascades; once she matched off my invisibility tile, that was it.

Second try, I got NO match-5's, but my invisibility tile got placed in the lower right corner at which point it was a matter of managing her purple and trying to set up mini-cascades to eliminate her Shadow Step traps.

Got an Agent Venom red.

PuceMoose

I managed this on my first try with a level 192 5/2/1 Professor. It was a close one - I was down to 221 HP when I won.  The reason I almost lost was my own fault - my invisibility token fell into a match-3 possibility, and I thought I'd match it so that at least Elektra didn't get the AP. I forgot that she'd used double-cross six or seven times, so I took over 3000+ damage from a match-4 she made due to the hyper-pumped strike tiles she had. Luckily I was left with 221 HP and enough purple to cast invisibility again. It landed in a good place and I was able to finish her off with match damage. 

EDIT: I just opened the token I won - Gwenpool black! That brings her up to 3/3/1. 

stealthdroid

I got super lucky and did it with my lvl 90 2/0/1 prof X. It was very close and I'm sure it would have been easier with a purple cover.

granne

My level 74 1/1/0 prof has wiped 4 times so far, both with and without boosts. I almost got her once, but a cascade took out my invisibility tile and her strikes did the rest. I'll probably keep trying, but I'm not going to waste any more boosts on it.

(Why yes, I did neglect to remove them and so used more on a trivial node. Why d'you ask?)

iron-n-wine

Took about 6 attempts but did it with my 2/2/0 lvl 106 prof x.  needed elektra to double cross me once so that I had a strike tile to buff

oh and got a Hawkeye red for my troubles

sinnerjfl

Champ Prof X, match opened on a match-5 that did another match-5 on its own, gg.

She did manage to still cast her black with 27 health left, just prolonging the inevitable.

LT stockpiled.

rocks52

First try with lv 192 3/5/1 had an incredibly unfavorable board. got 3 purple first turn, then struggled to find purple again and got crushed. Then I go in with +4 purple and get purple match 5, then cruised to a win. Go figure 

LT gave black mordo

Dataspectre

L94 1/2/1 Prof X and without boosts, 3 retreat games due to bad unfavourable starting matches.

4th game, got some nice 3x 3 matches Purples at start, put up Blind Spot in the single purple left bottom corner, deny red/black, allow her to gain purple to use Double-Double Cross, when she used her DD-C power and 3 match a green, it showed me a 5 match yellow, then board flip, 5 match blue, board flip again, 5 match green, and then 3 match cascade of linking blue, red, TU, green, finally a 4 match yellow from the top to finish her off.
Another Leg Token stockpiled.

JackTenrec

5/5/1 Professor X. I ran unboosted just to try things out. Elektra was able to get purple before I did and fired off Double Double Cross, which was ultimately the game. I turned invisible shortly thereafter and focused first on denying black and second on stockpiling backup purple.  I wish I'd checked the strength of the strike tiles before I finished her off using only matches, no match-5s to nuke with the forehead of doom.

LT = Medusa yellow

optimus2861

4 blue, 4 purple for my Professor. It took 3 tries, and I was +2 All on the last two to go invisible quicker.

Try #2 turned into a Shadow Step nightmare. She must've been immune to damage for about 12 straight turns, even as I had ~1400 strength strikes on the board waiting to kill her. Finally she flipped them, took out my invisibility, and that was all she wrote.

I nuked her on try #3 with a lucky double match-5 cascade that wrecked her after, I dunno, 10 turns or so.

But then I freaking drew Cage black with the token, which my 2/5/1 Cage can't use. Wasted time & effort.

badsaj

1/1/2 level 94 Professor X got her on the 2nd try, but it took foreevvvverr! Went invisible early, and made good progress bringing her down, had to match out my invisibility (otherwise she would have) to get enough purple to fire it again and in that one turn she took me down to 400. By the time she got below 1000 she was hitting shadow step constantly. I'd hit her for a couple hundred, then nothing for 6 or 8 turns, then I'd hit her a few times, then nothing for a dozen turns. If the AI was smarter, I wouldn't have had a chance, she missed at least 4 or 5 opportunities to take out my invisibility.

My prize for all this time was a Green Danny Rand.

bigsmooth

Got it done on the 4th (maybe 5th?) try with my lv.120 4/4/2 Charles. It's definitely harder than it used to be, and Elektra's AP bug does not help at all.

I had to boost +2 B/P and +2 all (so I could get a purple off after one match 3) and then I boosted all damage as well.
With her new improved strikes, if I became visible it was basically instant death, and it's really tough to fire off Blind Spot later in the match. It just came down to luck on the placement of my invisibility tile and a favorable early board (got a couple of early crits in).

Reward was a Blade Green, for a champ level.

granne

I have wiped so many times that it's kind of laughable. 10+ tries so far, and I've been close only once. Every board seems to be covered in red and black. Ah well, makes me gladder than I was before of the 5-day window.

KFloppy

I have a 2/0/2 lvl 106 ProfX.  I wasn't even gonna try it, until I read stealthdroid's post above.

Ok, I tried it once, and lost, but Electra only had 950 points left.  I had a streak of 4 match-5 criticals.  I thought I was gonna win for sure, because now her hit points are the same as ProfX, but she managed to pull off double double-double-cross, and beat me down with 2 more matches.

I'll try this again, but I doubt I'll be able to get this close again.