Who all has held the 4* crown?

Daredevil217
Daredevil217 Posts: 3,939 Chairperson of the Boards
edited March 2018 in MPQ General Discussion
“The king stay the king” - D’Angelo Barksdale

Shameless plugging of The Wire aside, I was thinking about my character rankings and the MPQ March Madness tournament and was curious about who all has held the crown as best in the game. Right now I’m limiting it to 4s (I’m a 4* only player but would love someone to do it with the 5s!). MPQ historians feel free to add on since I don’t know a lot about the game’s history.

I’m Interested to see how accurate my timeline is to reality. 

- While the 4* game is being dominated by an unholy triumvirate, a royal family if you will, none of the famed three can stake claim as the best in their tier. That distinction goes to Carol who will inevitably face off against Vulture in a Black Panther style puddle fight to keep her crown. Wakanda forever!  She rules the passive-era meta

- Before Carol, was Queen Peggy Carter. Again, the meta team didn’t involve Peggy (It was a combo of Carol, Wasp, Blade, Medusa... another royal family), but Peggy was the stand-alone best 4 in the game.  She stunned you and slowed you down as she ruled the suppression-era meta. 

- Looking at the chracter release order, it is hard to think that there was a better 4* in the game released between Peggy and Iceman. So, our last king had quite an extensive reign atop the 4* tier.  And why not?  His frosty kingdom included acceleration, stunning, and both single target and AOE nuking. Probably the oldest 5 that still holds up against any of today’s top 4s in the game. 

- Prior to Bobby we had a duo that ruled the land in Queen Jean and King Buster.  Technically Hulkbuster debuted first and thus had a short reign on top ruling the acceleration-era. However, shortly after his release, Jean Grey ruled the AOE-era. 

- Here’s where my history gets shakey... Before Hulkbuster I do believe her highness Jane Foster had the crown for a short while.  Her asscention to the top of the ranks occurred after the inaugural king was assasinnated.  Or was she nerfed at the same time and one Professor Xavier rose to prominence as the interim king? This was all before my time!

- Which brings us to who I would deem the first king of the 4* tier: X-Force Wolverine. Apparently his powers were broken beyond belief and he was ruthlessly murdered as a result. Before his rise to power, it is my understanding that you would be better served running a 3 than a 4. So there you have it. If I’m correct, we have had 65 characters and only 7 have held the crown, maybe 8. Will Vulture be next? 

TLDR:

Carol Danvers
Peggy Carter
Iceman
Jean Grey
Iron Man
Professor X (maybe?)
Thor (maybe?)
Wolverine

are the only characters who have held the title of best single character in the tier.
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Comments

  • Jarvind
    Jarvind Posts: 1,684 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited March 2018
    While Vulture is excellent, I'd have a hard time placing him above Carol. He does decently as a standalone but is mainly useful as a battery, whereas Carol does both support and standalone assbeating really well.
  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,495 Chairperson of the Boards
    Sentry.  In the days of +3AP boosts,  Sentry by himself could finish a match in 5 rounds.  With hood 2 turns.  His nerf  was as equally devasting as what Xforce saw if not moreso.
  • Bowgentle
    Bowgentle Posts: 7,926 Chairperson of the Boards
    Phumade said:
    Sentry.  In the days of +3AP boosts,  Sentry by himself could finish a match in 5 rounds.  With hood 2 turns.  His nerf  was as equally devasting as what Xforce saw if not moreso.
    4*.
  • DrDevilDinosaur
    DrDevilDinosaur Posts: 436 Mover and Shaker
    Dormammu said:
    A king or queen can only be crowned if they've had at least one thread in General Discussion calling for their nerf.
     ;) 

    All hail Vulture. Long live the King.
    I think this is perfectly valid criteria and confirms Vulture succeeded Carol.
  • hunky_funky
    hunky_funky Posts: 111 Tile Toppler
    Vulture is a beast, but I've always got 2 problems with (personal, at least). First is constant black feeding. I don't know why, maybe it's my luck, but sometimes there's no black on the board at all. 4 little tiles putted in the corners and nothing. In this situation can help C&D, but we looking him as a standalone, right? While he's airborne and someone feeding him black - he's total machine of dead from above. No black - no game. Second problem is that his green cd matched away very often. Again, it's personal nitpick, but I got it destroyed by the AI all the time. Sometimes I just only can fire it on the 3rd or 4th try. 
    If we talking about usability in now day's meta... well... I don't see Vulture that much in pvp besides boosted weeks. C4arol I see all the time. In regular pvp, even if she's unboosted and in Simulator in various team combinations. As I sad, Vulture is top character nowadays, but in the scale of whole 4* meta, you know who's in charge now... Gramodusa team, of course. Them like 3 headed dragon (4 technically) siting on the meta throne. You can count them as one thing and put on the top.
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards

    I would say the very first king of the fourstar tier was Nick Fury, as he was the first fourstar people actually wanted to get. X-force Wolverine was in the game from the beginning (I Think, or very early at least) and Invisible Woman was introduced early on, but neither one was particularly good. Nick Fury was actually useful, and the sneak release where his covers were awarded to the top 100 Alliances made him hard to get at first.

    He didn't hold on the Crown for long though, soon after his regular release X-force Wolverine was upgraded to monster status and then Thor was released.

  • Raud
    Raud Posts: 74 Match Maker
    America Chavez is the new queen  <3
  • Magic
    Magic Posts: 1,199 Chairperson of the Boards
    America is a Queen of support 4* for the 5* realm... for the moment. I have a feeling that Valkyrie might replace her. When she is paired with somebody who has a great skill in the strongest color (say Thor, Gambit, Strange, OML, Bolt, Iron Man to name some) the match becomes a breeze (but it's good to target the correct enemy ;)). The downside is she might be best kept at low levels.

    With America being a selfdriving addition to a 5* team she might keep the crown but I've enjoyed playing with Val. She was super useful in the SCL9 5* node with boosted Thor.  
  • Shintok17
    Shintok17 Posts: 620 Critical Contributor
    I have done it myself. Vulture has surpassed Carol. I was playing PVP with my non boosted champed Vulture against high level champed boosted Carol. We were the last two characters left. She had way more health than me since she was boosted and her black would of been a 1 hit death. Once I used Vulture's Green and then went in the air it was over. She kept using her black and count it down to zero, but I was always in the air so no damage. Kept the Green and Black combo going and did not even get hit once. I have also taken out whole teams with just Vulture left. When Vulture is boosted he's a monster. 
  • Shintok17
    Shintok17 Posts: 620 Critical Contributor
    The Meta in 4* land now is Rocket & Groot, Gamora, and Medusa. That team is everywhere in the Simulator once you get to higher points. The same with PVP once I reach a certain rank or points threshold that is all I see. That is at least for me in my MMR.
  • Crnch73
    Crnch73 Posts: 504 Critical Contributor
    Of course some may argue that Peggy never surpassed iceman, as has been discussed ad nauseam in other threads (and something I have to agree with. Peggy does not stand alone well as her stun only works with allies still alive) 
  • Dormammu
    Dormammu Posts: 3,531 Chairperson of the Boards
    Peggy was everywhere in the 3-star and 4-star PvP prior to Carol and absolutely wore the crown for a decent period of time, and while she was often tied to IM40 that pairing wasn't as prevalent as Grocket & Gamora's shackles. I've never understood the argument that she isn't effective alone; the only time that would happen is in DDQ, otherwise Peggy would tear her opponents a new one long before her allies would go down.

    Daredevil217 said:
    - While the 4* game is being dominated by an unholy triumvirate, a royal family if you will, none of the famed three can stake claim as the best in their tier.
    This is the more interesting debate. While it's certainly fun to weigh the value of Vulture vs. Carol, neither one of them can honestly claim the crown right now. The 'crown', as it was unspokenly defined by the fine Mr. Daredevil217, is heavily dictated by use. How often do you see them? Currently, no 4-star can even come close to the saturation of Grocket, Gamora, and Medusa - at least in the SHIELD sim for anyone playing within the 4-star MMR.

    But what about the event PvPs where a required character and boosted lists come into play? Those muddy the lake a bit, because I rarely see Grocket, Gamora, or Medusa over boosted 4-stars, so it's hard to use those events to argue for the 'Triumvirate'. However, I do see a lot of unboosted Vulture who has replaced unboosted Carol in these events.
  • ZeroKarma
    ZeroKarma Posts: 513 Critical Contributor
    There are several ways to approach the question. 

    If we are discussing PvE, then the crown is undisputed. It's Grockett, and has been for a long time. America Chavez is now also a significant non-5* player in this game. The rest for the most part don't really have a place. (Though Valkyrie is interesting)

    The other side is PvP, and whether you are a 5* player looking to add a boosted 4*, which is how I normally gauge the strength of the 4's. I still have Captain Marvel #1. I will always run her when she's boosted, and Peggy to a lesser extent. Cyclops, Mordo, Fist, Medusa, Blade, Riri and Gamora all make that list as well. But I have a 349 Vulture and I don't use him when boosted. He's a pain on defense if he goes airborne, but that's more because he draws the fight out. He feeds blue and green, which don't help Gambit at all, and you only want the green for Thor or Daredevil. He matches well with Ock and AA but.... He's a great character, but for me only on the edge of making the cut. That said, I've gained a few levels on him since he was last boosted so I'm willing to give him another look. 

    If it's 4* only, he is still a good character, but he doesn't seem to crack the meta team with Gamora/Medusa/Grockett still everywhere. He can still win you a match, but there's a wide range of 4* that can be pretty deadly. 

    Head to head? Well, that favors anyone with a stun or an ability like his black which protects him from damage. It also would decrease the effectiveness of Peggy, however, who can't stun in a one-on-one battle. He's up there in that category for that reason alone. 

    Overall, I think he's an excellent 4*. Right on the edge of the top tier if not in it, but not the best. Marvel is still at the top in my eyes, and there are several others that I would choose over him. 

    Last note - there was a time between Iceman and Peggy where Rulk's were all the rage. 
  • Punisher5784
    Punisher5784 Posts: 3,845 Chairperson of the Boards
    Medusa will always be my Queen
  • ThaRoadWarrior
    ThaRoadWarrior Posts: 9,391 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited March 2018
    Even un-boosted, Vulture can take a 5* team by himself if you play your cards right on offense. He'll have a hard time against Gambit with his countdown based AoE, but if paired with a stunner like G4mora, that problem goes away. If anything, he may suffer from being too self-sufficient by removing himself from the damage pool and forcing your other two allies to soak damage/die in the match. But many times I've been able to carry a match against overwhelming opponents and have a low health Vulture be the last man standing. If you have a low-covered 5e character, Vulture/G4mora will carry you through that node at least through SCL8 by feeding the stun and then green AOE the opponents.
  • wymtime
    wymtime Posts: 3,758 Chairperson of the Boards
    The one thing I will say about the list is I nerves felt iceman was the best 4* in the game.  I know some people swore by him, but I always felt he was too squishy on health to be considered the best 4*.  I felt Hulk Buster was and is still. Better 4* than iceman.  At the time iceman came out you still had personal scaling and if you could not hide iceman he took too much damage.  

    I think for the 4* tier now America and captain marvel are the top 2 individual 4*.  When buffed you will see them paired with 5* and will do work.  Some players run America in buffed with 5* to climb in PVP as her critical tiles do that much work.  Gamora is also exrtemly strong on her own with 3 very good powers.
  • Anon
    Anon Posts: 1,455 Chairperson of the Boards
    I say Vulture is currently the best 4*. Carol is strong, yes, but I don't really fear her much. Vulture on the other hand...
  • tiomono
    tiomono Posts: 1,654 Chairperson of the Boards
    Peggy was never scary to me. As I entered 4* land within my first 10 champs I had medusa and carnage. I hit every Peggy team I found. She is good but passive damage tears her up. I would never see an attack from her. She is vastly overrated imo and the meta has flown past her.

    Carol I respect but I rarely target her first. Vulture I always pounce on first,  same with medusa.

    Now I see more 5* teams so the 4* I see most unboosted is america. So I take her down first and be done with her annoying passives.

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