Bag-Man: a history and evolution

Dormammu
Dormammu Posts: 3,531 Chairperson of the Boards
edited May 2019 in MPQ General Discussion
(FYI: there is no real point to this post. It's simply something that was on my mind as I was viewing my roster and I felt compelled to write out my thoughts.)

I remember when this game launched 5+ years ago and I was pounding through the Prologue with my 1-star team of Iron Man, Storm, and Black Widow. One of the nodes awarded a Spider-Man (Bag-Man) cover and I was really excited. Spider-Man! He'd been my favorite superhero since I was four years old and watching him on a PBS show called The Electric Company. I knew if I could just get my hands on Spider-Man I would dominate MPQ. As the face of Marvel, there's no way he couldn't be the toughest character in the game, right? Plus, he had TWO stars! That was twice as many stars as any other character I had. When I finally beat that Juggernaut node and got my Bag-Man cover it was like being really thirsty and pouring yourself a glass of milk, only to discover it was sour as soon as you took your first swallow.

At launch, Bag-Man was despised, hated, and completely misunderstood. Keep in mind, this dud of a character was in tokens back then. You could pull a Bag-Man from a Heroic! It was considered a wasted pull and the old forums were filled with posts complaining about the rotten luck of pulling a Bag-Man cover instead of something useful. There were cries to the developers begging them to rework him, and threads dedicated to discovering a use for him. We just didn't get it. The joke was on us, and I'm guessing the development team had more than one laugh at the player's expense.

Once the joke caught on, that's what Bag-Man became: the butt of MPQ humor. There were memes dedicated to poor Bag-Man and his uselessness became celebrated. The only thing that was more fashionable to joke about was the lack of Dazzler in the game. When Invisible Woman was released (either the second or third 4-star character after XFW) she was so bad that we all started calling her 'Bag-Lady'; associating her this way with the worst character in the game was a true testament to how awful she once was and everyone instantly understood the reference.

It was around this time that the developers relegated Bag-Man to the status of 'limited' and removed him from tokens, thus creating one of the truly rare covers in the game which was hard to obtain. That rarity triggered Bag-Man's final evolution as he transformed into a trophy. Bag-Man is not like the other limited characters: Yelena, Howard the Duck, Taskmaster, Peter Porker, or Devil Dinosaur. Those characters, while not good, actually have utility and/or offensive capability. But not Bag-Man. Oh no. Whatever utility he may possess (and it's questionable if any exists at all) is completely nullified by his insane AP costs. Because of his utter uselessness and the rarity of his covers appearing, Bag-Man is truly unique in MPQ. To roster Bag-Man is to tell your fellow players that you are a completionist. A collector. You are hardcore. To champ a Bag-Man is a declaration of pride in your roster and shows true dedication to the 'gotta champ 'em all' mentality. To max-champ a Bag-Man is an achievement many simply dream of and is the crown-jewel of roster trophies.

So in the span of this game, Bag-Man has gone from a normal character amidst the field, to the definition of 'lowest tier', to a running joke, to the ultimate trophy. Not bad, eh? I guess it's deserving that this happened to the face of Marvel.

(Anyways, I gotta go. I'm gonna try my luck in PvP and see if I can't get another Bag-Man cover. I only need 19 more before mine is max-champed.)
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Comments

  • PiMacleod
    PiMacleod Posts: 1,786 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm about 10 away from max-champ myself.

    I remember keeping each cover for him, and despite needing slots at one point or another, I held on.  

    Part of it was for the completionist mentality... The other part was for the just-in-case scenario that they buff him up.  At the time, I didn't catch the joke.  But that was before I even had a 3* champ.

    My alliance... Same one I've always been in... Made a few comments.  Why am I hanging on to such a dud?  ...wait, why did you max level him?

    Wait... Now that we can champ our guys, you chose to CHAMP BAG-MAN?!  Yep.  I replied, why not?  If I get another cover, I want more rewards.  I went this far... Why turn back?

    And here I am, about 10 covers shy of max champ.  I've only found one unique thing I can do with him, and it's pretty pointless at this level of the game.

    His blue "locks" tiles in that sticky web.  Unfortunately they don't count as web tiles.  But they DO count as locked tiles.  Quicksilver's blue is passive, and needs 4 locked tiles, then another blue match, to trigger.  Tagging Quicksilver and Bag man together, you have another way to create locked tiles, and another color to swap tiles too (purple, instead of just QS's black).

    No, it doesn't win anything except situational fights and whatnot (mainly PvE), but I always keep it in mind as the one thing I can use him for.
  • Therealsmkspy
    Therealsmkspy Posts: 254 Mover and Shaker
    I haven't pulled a bagman since his pvp...dude is harder to get than a damn five star. 
  • CT1888
    CT1888 Posts: 1,201 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm proud of my max champed trophy. 
  • TPF Alexis
    TPF Alexis Posts: 3,826 Chairperson of the Boards
    I love hearing the backstory on things that happened before I started playing. Thanks!
  • The rockett
    The rockett Posts: 2,016 Chairperson of the Boards
    I didn’t know the whole history of the Bags so thanks for that.  Once champing came out is when he truly shined as he gives out an LT at 144.  Now I have 5 fully champed Bags and working on the next one.  
  • Daredevil217
    Daredevil217 Posts: 3,966 Chairperson of the Boards
    Two Bag-trophies here, working on a third.

    I would add the fact that he is the only 2* to give a LT and the only 2* to have his own PVP (on April Fool’s no less), cementing the fact that the developers have embraced the joke. Other than those omissions, nice write up on the Bag-history. 

    I also think Yelena has less utility than bags. Champing bags makes sense for his PVP and the LT. No reason to keep a maxed Yelena other than for completionist purposes (which I have). 
  • jamesh
    jamesh Posts: 1,600 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm building my second Bag-Man, currently at level 99.  I didn't have the heart to sell off the first, given how long it took to build.
    One benefit of champing Bag-Man is that when you send him to an alliance mate as a team-up, it ensures they get a five-cover version of one of his powers.  In turn, that maximises the AP cost.
  • maguirenumber6
    maguirenumber6 Posts: 457 Mover and Shaker
    Proud of my level 100 Bag-Man. The team-up with Quicksilver stated above is the only useful suggestion for Bag-Man I've ever seen, and I'm just about to hit my four year anniversary :lol:
  • TPF Alexis
    TPF Alexis Posts: 3,826 Chairperson of the Boards
    Daredevil217 said:

    I also think Yelena has less utility than bags. Champing bags makes sense for his PVP and the LT. No reason to keep a maxed Yelena other than for completionist purposes (which I have). 
    Payback Mission's ability to overwrite any Enemy Special tile has saved my bacon on more than a few occasions. Can't say the same for any of Bags's powers.
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    Bagman's Snarky remark is very useful  for characters that benefits from long friendly countdown tiles. For example, Dr Strange's blue, Ronin's purple, War Machine's red, Yondu's Yellow, Cable's blue etc. What's more, it's only 7 yellow ap.
  • sambrookjm
    sambrookjm Posts: 2,163 Chairperson of the Boards
    Anyone else use him as part of a rainbow team with 2-star Torch in the Deadpool Daily?  I do that on occasion, just to mess with the metrics kept about which characters are used. :)
  • St1nkf1st
    St1nkf1st Posts: 127 Tile Toppler
    I browsed a super whale roster once with around a dozen max champed bag men.

  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,283 Chairperson of the Boards
    My Bag-man has 18 saved covers, I originally planned to champ him for his last PvP but needed the ISO elsewhere so I may now wait until he has 25 saved so is half way.
  • ThaRoadWarrior
    ThaRoadWarrior Posts: 9,456 Chairperson of the Boards
    I’m convinced that his ability to extend a friendly countdown (only character that can) will one day be useful. You’d think leaning on Gho5t Rider the way I do that Chain Whip would be that power, but it kind of just isn’t lol.

     I sold my 144 Bagman right around his pvp when I maxed him and started another (2/1/2). 
  • Yepyep
    Yepyep Posts: 954 Critical Contributor
    I had a max-champed BM (pun intended) but sold him for the roster slot needed to start him over; the new one in the oven is at 4/0/3. 

    The richest source of his covers by far for me is in the lightning rounds...
  • Hilk
    Hilk Posts: 131 Tile Toppler
    edited May 2019
    Maxed, sold and working on #2...  at 128

    nice history
  • Malcrof
    Malcrof Posts: 5,971 Chairperson of the Boards
    I regret selling my max champ bagman, expected to re-champ him, then i retired, he is almost back to being a champ!
  • Alfje17
    Alfje17 Posts: 3,817 Chairperson of the Boards
    Too bad I needed the HP to roster the latest 4*, I really wanted to keep my maxchamped Bagman, but at least his replacement is coming along... at about 1 cover every quarter.
  • pheregas
    pheregas Posts: 1,721 Chairperson of the Boards
    I have three max champ Bag-men on my roster and am building the fourth.  It's dumb, but it makes me happy.

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