Predicting the timing of the next 5* feeder announcement

bluewolf

One of the hottest topics among the players is:  When will we hear about the next 4* that feeds a 5*, and who will it be?  I have no idea about the person being fed (some predict Daredevil, but I think it will be another older 5* that many newer players don't have), but I do have a guess about the timing.

The first date that a feeder began to produce 5* covers was 11/20/17, when people who had a highly-enough leveled Vulture began receiving Spidey covers.  The next two followed closely and were announced at the same time (11/28 and 11/30 for Black Bolt and Thanos).

The next date that a feeder began producing was 12/20/17 for Sandman giving Green Goblin covers.  11/20....12/20.  Hmmm.  The announcement for Sandman was made on 11/18/17 (a Monday).

If one assumes that the developers don't want to flood the players with unexpected covers for 5*'s due to sudden iso needs, a 4 week/month between feeders makes a good amount of sense.  I realize that many players desperately need 5* covers, but some have them covered but not champed due to iso needs, and it can take a lot of iso to save a 5* cover you aren't ready for.  So spacing them significantly is probably a "nice" thing for a lot of players.

Those who point to three feeders being pushed out at once as indicating a rapid deployment?  I am thinking that they pushed out 3 to start the program with a bang, so to speak.  And we'll get one a month from here on out.  It seems rather unlikely that they want to roll out a program like this more rapidly than one per month, especially since they want players to also consider purchasing covers via HfH.

So, long story short, my guess for the next effective date for a 4* feeder is 1/20/18.  Or around there - that's a Saturday.  We will see if we get an announcement around 1/18/18, which is a Thursday.

RedLion

I agree that once a month is both likely and helpful (in a small way) to players who need to plan ISO expenditures (i.e. almost everyone). 

What would really be helpful is a schedule that extends out a ways (say the next six months). They don't have to say which 4 leads to which 5 (that's fun to speculate on), but my 13 cover lvl 330 Silver Surfer is deathly afraid that he's next. I have other places to put ISO at the moment: my DD is complete at 13 covers, Gambit is at 12, and Thor is at 11. Which order they get their 500 thousand ISO would very much be affected by when they get a 4 star feeder. 

TetsujinOni

Any two points create a line. Hard not to trendline from that...

I think 1/month is either slightly above or slightly below the sustained rate they'd want -- either 1:1 for 5* rotation to classics or one per season seem more suited to the cycles of the game than a monthly rollout.

Noobulator

Release them all now!

therightwaye

I don't know the timing, but I wouldn't be surprised if the data push occurred before the forum update. 

Orion

mexus said:

I can't even guess but please GIMME Daredevils!
Thing is I can't figure out who's going to feed him. So far only Latest 4* are given these 5* feeding rewards. And so far they've been kinda linked (Medusa feeds another Inhuman and the Sinister Six guys give other Sinister Six guys). Cant finding a logical Latest to feed Daredevil.

4* Elektra seems to be the most logical to feed Daredevil, latest or not.

animaniactoo

mexus said:

I can't even guess but please GIMME Daredevils!
Thing is I can't figure out who's going to feed him. So far only Latest 4* are given these 5* feeding rewards. And so far they've been kinda linked (Medusa feeds another Inhuman and the Sinister Six guys give other Sinister Six guys). Cant finding a logical Latest to feed Daredevil.

4* IronFist makes the most sense. Out of latests I think but the most recent of the Defenders.

DarthDeVo

animaniactoo said:

mexus said:

I can't even guess but please GIMME Daredevils!
Thing is I can't figure out who's going to feed him. So far only Latest 4* are given these 5* feeding rewards. And so far they've been kinda linked (Medusa feeds another Inhuman and the Sinister Six guys give other Sinister Six guys). Cant finding a logical Latest to feed Daredevil.

4* IronFist makes the most sense. Out of latests I think but the most recent of the Defenders.

There could be an argument made for Kingpin as well. Vulture, a villain, feeds 5pidey, a hero.

I'm anxious for 5trange's feeder announcement. I'm hoping (and expecting) it is Mordo, my only 4* above 300. It would take my 5trange from 2/3/4 to 3/4/4.

redviper85

I sure hope the don't take a full month to release a feeder. at this rate we have 4/20. So it will take another 16 months?!?!? so by April 2019 all of the 5* feeders will be released. But just the ones up to this point. we'll need another 16 months for the feeders for the 16 5*s that have been released from now until then. 

Just release them all. It's a whooping 6 5* tokens. To champ a 5* you need 13...to max lvl one it is 113. That's a grand total 46% of the covers needed to champ and only 5.3% of the 5* tokens you need to max lvl a 5*. And that's IF you have a max level 4*. Personally i only stand to earn 1 or maybe 2 and most people stand to earn about 3? i'm sure giving everyone a one time 2.65% boost toward the endgame isn't going to break the ecosystem

Pongie

If it's going to be the latest 12, lets start speculating.

Gamora: Thanos
Sandman: Green Goblin
Vulture: Peter Parker

These 3 are set, so only 9 left.

C&D: ???
Lockjaw: Blackbolt again? 
Mockingbird: Hawkeye
Nico Minoru: ???
Nightcrawler:  Archangel/Gambit too new? Otherwise Phoenix
R&G: Starlord
Rogue: Archangel/Gambit too new? Otherwise Phoenix
Hulk: Bruce Banner
Yondu: Starlord

WelcomeDeath

If they do one a month they'll be done in like 4 years so...yay.

Milk Jugz

DarthDeVo said:

animaniactoo said:

mexus said:

I can't even guess but please GIMME Daredevils!
Thing is I can't figure out who's going to feed him. So far only Latest 4* are given these 5* feeding rewards. And so far they've been kinda linked (Medusa feeds another Inhuman and the Sinister Six guys give other Sinister Six guys). Cant finding a logical Latest to feed Daredevil.

4* IronFist makes the most sense. Out of latests I think but the most recent of the Defenders.

There could be an argument made for Kingpin as well. Vulture, a villain, feeds 5pidey, a hero.

I'm anxious for 5trange's feeder announcement. I'm hoping (and expecting) it is Mordo, my only 4* above 300. It would take my 5trange from 2/3/4 to 3/4/4.

I would love that, my Mordo is nearing 300 and my 5/2/5 DrS desperately needs another purple cover..... 

broll

Pongie said:

If it's going to be the latest 12, lets start speculating.

Gamora: Thanos
Sandman: Green Goblin
Vulture: Peter Parker

These 3 are set, so only 9 left.

C&D: ???
Lockjaw: Blackbolt again? 
Mockingbird: Hawkeye
Nico Minoru: ???
Nightcrawler:  Archangel/Gambit too new? Otherwise Phoenix
R&G: Starlord
Rogue: Archangel/Gambit too new? Otherwise Phoenix
Hulk: Bruce Banner
Yondu: Starlord

R&G: Starlord
Hulk: Bruce Banner
Yondu: Starlord

These 3 seem the most likely to me.  Most of the rest seem like a stretch.  If they are going to release them so slowly and only to select few, they don't need to make huge stretches to fit them in.  They can plan new 4*s to work well will older 5*s and get them later.

Also I really hope for Mordo:Strange

Dogface

I second that. Mordo -> Strange. And if it's in any way possible let the first be yellow. Pretty please.

broll

Dogface said:

I second that. Mordo -> Strange. And if it's in any way possible let the first be yellow. Pretty please.

I really hope the keep the first, second, third, first, second, third.  There are characters that would suffer due to it (looking at you 5/4/2 BP) but I would take the cover loss over consistency of being able to plan around the future.  

DarthDeVo

Dogface said:

I second that. Mordo -> Strange. And if it's in any way possible let the first be yellow. Pretty please.

I think they made a blanket statement when they announced the addition of 5* feeders that the covers for the 5*s would be rewarded in order across the board. I think maybe to make it easier for us to know what to anticipate, which is nice. 

LifeofAgony

Yes - 5* covers will be rewarded top to bottom >> top to bottom for the six covers.

Basepuzzler

1 a month is WAY too slow.  New 5 every 6 weeks and feeder every 4 means it'll take over a year just to catch up in classics. 

moss04

_If_ they eventually have multiple 4's feeding into the same 5, I'd like one to give 1st/2nd/3rd and the other to give 3rd/2nd/1st.

GrimSkald

We have too little data to predict what the pattern will be, I think.  You could be right on the 1/month, or they could be analyzing data and going slow - I don't know.  I certainly hope they'll do this faster than 1/month, this is my best chance of finishing some of the older 5*s, and honestly the best chance of newer players to break into the 5* tier.