To pull or not to pull: breaking down the 3 Latest Legends

Daredevil217

I’m seeing a lot of people wondering how the three Latest Legends play and if they are worth chasing.  I champed all three and have played them a bunch.  Out of boredom, I decided to rank them and break them down for those interested.  This is super long, so if interested in one particular character, you might just want to skip ahead to them.

#3 Storm

Storm is best described as “controlled chaos” as all her powers will shake up the board and yet at the same time, you can manipulate said chaos, to warp the board in your favor.

Two out of three abilities don’t do damage (green/yellow) and the one that does (black) has a damage cap that isn’t super high. On the plus side, her damage is AOE, cheap, and somewhat self-fueling, but without a proper partner, you may be waiting awhile before actually firing the power, as you wait for charged tiles to trickle in. And one cast destroys all charged tiles, meaning you get to start all over after you finally get that big hit. All in all, this makes her a slow character alone who needs the right partners to get going, if you build a team around her.

On defense, board control powers tend to work pretty awful. Think about the AI 3* Widow plopping down green randomly, or Coulson swapping two random tiles, not opting to make a charged match. Storm has two such powers, so you only really need to keep an eye on black, which again, only hits hard with the proper amount of charged tiles on the board. So you can consider her an offense-only character, which the meta is moving further and further away from... unless you provide blinding fast offense for a hop/quick-clear team. Which unfortunately Storm doesn’t. 

Offensively, that board control can be pretty great though. Her yellow is especially good as she can turn 6 teamups to a color of her choosing and then convert three of that color into charged tiles. Usually, you can create matches and cascades in helpful colors by choosing the right color.

Her propensity for match 4s and X-Men affiliation make her a good Professor X partner. While her affinity for charged tiles and color combo will absolutely have you dusting off your old nerfed Gambits (assuming you held onto him).  This combo of two mediocre characters is downright brutal when played together.   Finally there is some synergy with Black Bolt and Cable, but the color overlap makes them perhaps better third options than partners in pick-2 situations. In pick-3 it is sometimes helpful to bring along an additional black user.  Storm often creates more black than she can use while waiting for the right time to fire her black. So an extra black AP dump can be beneficial.

Finally, looking at her green, it might be worth the cost at 5 covers, but since I can’t bring myself to drop either of her other covers below 5, her green is mostly a “use if you have the AP and nothing better to spend it on”. At 3 covers you are spending 10 green to destroy 6 of a color (does not generate AP). Not exactly a great trade-off. 

In summary, Storm is slow on offense, not at all scary on defense, but a great support/ board control character in the hands of the player. She is best played with other charged tile creators who she can fuel while simultaneously being fueled (again... Gambit).

#2 Iceman

Iceman is best described as an “annoying pest”. Like Storm, he can be a ton of fun with the right partners, but he also can stand alone or pair with others in general better than her. Where Storm’s specialty is board control, Bobby’s is defense. The problem is while he’s “annoying” to face (especially if you run Thorkoye) like a Jessica Jones, he’s not flat out dangerous (Gritty) or broken (HawCap/Gritshop) to face. And because of that, most won’t bat an eye when facing him, especially if it means sidestepping broken 4*s.

On offense, Bobby’s main attraction is his very unique stun. For a very low cost (3 blue) he passively spams the board with blue CD tiles that either stun a character (1 turn per tile matched/destroyed) or add to their stun duration. The pro is that matching blue fuels blue to keep the tiles coming. The con is that matching blue dries the board of blue, so you eventually run out of places to put countdowns. So his best power is extremely board dependent and is one of those high risk/high reward powers that that will either do little, or save the match for you. A very cool thing about his blue is that it applies AFTER match damage is dealt. So, if you KO an enemy with a match 4 of blue CDs, the next opponent in line gets stunned for 4 turns. Daredevil (despite color overlap) makes a great partner to take advantage of this stun mechanic do to the tacked on Sonar Strike damage.

Like Storm, Bobby has only one damage dealing power with some pros and cons. The cons are the damage is very small “chip damage” and that it’s tied to repeaters. Hitting random characters also makes it harder to control on offense. The pro is that the power is super cheap/spammable; the “chip damage” can be boosted by Okoye to insane levels, and the amount of repeaters can add up quick. The fact that it hits random characters also makes it harder to counter on defense. He’s definitely a pest against Thorkoye, where the random damage can hit a hiding Thor and the stun can freeze Okoye’s tanking in its tracks. But there’s not enough there that you shouldn’t beat him reliably. You just might get dinged up a bit. 

I honestly forget about his yellow a lot and that’s for two reasons. 1) I don’t play with animations on and 2) the board is usually filled with CDs and repeaters once he gets going, so adding a yellow CD in a sea of them usually goes unnoticed by me. I’ve probably taken some delayed damage or matched the tile and shrugged off damage unknowingly on more than one occasion. 

In summary; Bobby is slow on offense and annoying to face on defense, but not scarily so. The fact that he uses blue gives his value a boost As their aren’t many quality blue users in the tier.  He pairs well with Daredevil or as a Thorkoye third, since they will drain the board of three other colors, leaving more blue to match.  He also works well on any team that needs blue to “complete the rainbow” as both his passives provide added value.

#1 Professor X

Professor can best be described as a “Swiss Army Knife”. Put him on any team and he will provide added value on offense and defense.  But he is also a character you can respec and build around to truly leverage different strengths. 

Professor at 5/5/3 is my pick for that “third slot” on team Thorkoye. While Jessica edges him on defense, that team is all about offense and speed. And the fact is, Professor will add more of that than any other character in the game. Thor’s cascades and Okoye’s team-up spam will help trigger Professor’s awesome blue power. Make no mistake, even without that pairing; his ability should trigger way more in an average PVP match than Strange or Jessica’s passives. The fact that the AI sees and hits every match-4 makes it an even deadlier defensive power. Getting an extra AP every match-4 may also seem small; but it adds up. 

While that AI-proof, hard-hitting blue passive may be the reason most people run Professor, his purple is also an amazing power. For only 8 AP, you can hit with a huge single target nuke, nice AOE, or 4 other niche powers that may be helpful in different situations (my favorite being providing attack tiles to Kitty). The utility (especially for the cost) makes this one of the best and most fun powers in the game. The fact that in the AI’s hands; they won’t usually use the best ability is perhaps Professor’s only real drawback. 

Professor’s black seems like his “throwaway power” but can actually be something to build around.  At 5 covers when he’s flanked by two X-Men (of which there are 8 candidates in the 5* tier alone!) it can be downright brutal. It seems counterintuitive to have the 5* with the second lowest heath (I think only Strange is lower) act as your primary tank; but the health he does have  will stretch far as he shrugs off 75% of ALL damage. Not only that, but with three X-Men, the opponent’s red, green any yellow powers cost +3 AP. So imagine trying to do a quick hop with Thorkoye and having to slug it out with a character that negates 75% damage AND makes your powers more expensive. Might want to just skip instead?

There are tons of combos that can make him the most annoying character for hoppers to face (outside the previously mentioned broken characters). How about OML healing and making strikes for Kitty? Boosted Rogue making you choose which health pool to slog through? Iceman throwing out that yellow countdown and either shrugging off damage or eating it for Professor. In the 4* tier; Bishop and Juggs are also both X-Men. The possibilities are seemingly endless!

In summary, Professor X is a very versatile character that adds speed to a game built on speed. He has varied builds and will play different depending on who you play with and against. He’s the new gold standard for pairing with Thorkoye and can create tons of killer defensive teams when paired with other X-Men. If anyone in the tier is worth chasing, it’s him!

MushroomGenius808

Thanks for the write up

Sm0keyJ0e

Pretty spot on I'd say. Only things I would add is that in my experience he is more dangerous and annoying on defense than JJ. You can see her traps and adjust accordingly. Hard to predict when a match 4 is gonna show up and the AI will take it every single time. It hits roughly as hard as a JJ trap. However, also on defense, he can simply be stunned by any number of Bishops out there and then summarily destroyed.

jp1

Worth noting that JJ’s traps will resolve while she is stunned as well. That’s a pretty nice bonus with her.

Edit: If it matters Storm is very well rounded as a solo character, and both her and Bobby are fun to play, it looks like Professor is quite fun as well...but mine is barely useful.

Vins2

for the pick-2 essentials in pve I use either DD/thanos or Thor/america.  I look forward to trying out Thor/Profe$$or when I get him covered. 

There's probably a small pocket of players who are torn between cracking their hoard before Storm leaves, and hoarding until more details about this targeting system come out.  

ThaRoadWarrior

5torm is fun with Chavez (a match 3 involving a critical and a black charge tile is about the same as a JJ trap tile), and works surprisingly well with GE Doom, even though they have all kinds of active overlap. I was pretty convinced that Nightcrawler, p4ofessor X, 5torm would be that new winfintie for me, but it’s too slow to start. It is pretty fun though. My Proffe$$or just has one blue, so I can’t evaluate how well he does or doesn’t fit in. 

Warbringa

I don't think Storm is worth cracking a hoard on.  The new 5* doesn't appear to be very good but we don't quite have full numbers yet.  That being said, just waiting until we know more about targeting new function may also prove prudent to wait on cracking any hoards.  That is my plan. See what new 5* look like and wait until more info on targeting is revealed.  It may be a month plus but I don't think I am missing out by not getting Storm covers.

Borstock

None of them are meta. Storm and Bobby are fun. Prof X is low health, not a scarecrow, and not so fast that I lose something picking a different third for Thorkoye. 

So, while the OP was way more thorough, I will say I disagree. X is 3 for me and the reason I wouldn't pull. Bobby is 1 and Storm is 2. 

Greenroom

Without a horde i have Bobby at 3/4/2 already. RNG is my lord and master but ive got a chance here!

MoonKnight

As a player who spent his first 5* hoard on the storm, prof $, and Iceman, your assessment is spot on. I will say though that of the three, storm is easily the one at the back of the line. I think Prof X is more versatile, and Iceman is more dangerous with the right team (Gritty is a dangerous combo), storm really only works well if she has BB and/or Gambit. If someone has gritty as their main 5* combo it might be worth waiting on the new 5* synergy before unloading.

wymtime

So I am a bigger fan of Storm over ice man.  I run Storm with Black Bolt and either 1/2 health Thor or gambit in sim. I don’t use her in PVP because she isn’t meta but I like her.  With BB I use her yellow and black and use BB green.  Because I bring BB his passive is consistently triggering and it is easy to get storms black to fire at max.

for Bobby I like his powers his passive stun and his green is good, but there is something about him that just feels gimmicky over good.  He ends up to tank too many colors as well.  I personally will only use him in PVE when essential.

i do prefer the Damage output I can get from Storm, and the cascade potential she has over Bobby.  Bobby isn’t bad, but he also does not have a natural partner like Storm does.

tiomono

Greenroom said:

Without a horde i have Bobby at 3/4/2 already. RNG is my lord and master but ive got a chance here!

Mine is sitting at 4/2/5 with 3 saved covers atm. No "horde" when he was released either. I may have had 10 pulls or so if I remember right when he came out. He is my only 5* bonus hero and I think I have gotten 4 for him so far. Stupid good bonus hero luck for me right now.

I think he is a blast with kitty and Logan. 3 cheap powers on yellow, red, and green. Only one cast of any of those starts the buff train. Kitty only needs 2 specials to start buffing with 2 xmen partners.

Tony_Foot

I skipped Iceman as his game style isn't for me. I plan to then open on Prox and the next two.

I have Storm but only ever use her with Gambit and Bolt on her required node. Even when boosted it's then easier to ignore her and run Kitty Hela team or Thor Okoye. I really like her skill set but for me she runs into the problem that other charged tile users have, the enemy get the benefit too. Too often I have been burnt with the AI racking up AP off my charged tiles, the risk isn't worth it.

Looking forward to having Prof on my roster, carnage not so much. Hoping for a strong third or yet again I'm getting two duffers to get the one I want.

ThaRoadWarrior

Is 5torm any good with worthy cap? Since he punishes enemies for matching charge tiles I’m curious if that happens fast enough to matter.

Daredevil217

Tony_Foot said:

I really like her skill set but for me she runs into the problem that other charged tile users have, the enemy get the benefit too. Too often I have been burnt with the AI racking up AP off my charged tiles, the risk isn't worth it.

Looking forward to having Prof on my roster, carnage not so much. Hoping for a strong third or yet again I'm getting two duffers to get the one I want.

I actually don’t have this problem with her.  Unlike say, Cable, she gets first dibs on the charged tiles. So if she puts the black tile in a place that’s matchable I grab it, if not I leave it. The AI might cascade into a charged tile but I benefit way way more than them when running Storm to the point where it isn’t a risk; but rather an advantage. With Gambit I cast red as many times as I can, yellow as many times as I can, and green as many times as I can. After I’ve exhausted those powers and filled up my AP pools, I destroy all the charged tiles with black and leave nothing for the AI to grab. She’s better designed than most charged tile users. 

Polares

I want ProfX, but I still dont have enough CPs/LTs so my plan is to go for him just before he leaves Latest LTs. If the new char after "Carnage" is bad and I have enough Cps (which probably I won't) I would open by then, but I doubt this will happen.

Bobby and Storm and decent and I like the stun mechanic on Bobby but I think I would probably wait even If I had enough CPs.

Sm0keyJ0e

Storm's black does the same AOE as Thor's green with 5 charged tiles out. Kinda tough to do with Storm alone unless you also have 9 yellow, but rather easy with Bolt or Gambit as a partner. But this is a one-and-done AOE--you cannot save up 18 black and double fire it like Thor's green. So I tend to use her AOE nuke as a finishing move.

Incidentally, getting 8 charged tiles out when firing it makes it one of the best nukes per AP in the game. Again, as a partner of Gambit, this isn't that hard. Gambit red + Storm yellow is likely to get you 8 charged tiles. Alternatively two casts of Gambit red will likely do it as well. The interesting mechanic with Gambit as a partner is his red casts will always hit hard immediately and always net 6 black ap on first cast, meaning you only need one more black match before just letting Storm charge the rest while you collect red or yellow. I tend to try and grab that black match on my first move and then focus elsewhere while she charges the rest of the field of blacks knowing I will get what I need once I fire Gambit red.

ThaRoadWarrior

OJSP said:

ThaRoadWarrior said:

Is 5torm any good with worthy cap? Since he punishes enemies for matching charge tiles I’m curious if that happens fast enough to matter.

Not if Cap is simply countering the match and the 3rd character in the team doesn't have any powers that utilises the expiring CD mechanics. His CDs might make some random matches, but they're not usually enough to fuel his red or blue powers.

It seems like it would be less about exploiting the CDs directly, and more about the board-flooding you get. The times I've gone up against him, I end up with a red/blue board pretty quick. I'm imagining 5torm/Profe$$or/WCap would be a pretty reliable N-Match machine. Alternatively subbing in Iceman for Profe$$or seems like a good way to prevent the board from drying up on that blue stun.

Bowgentle

Your unboosted cap will be dead in 5 moves.
Cap brings nothing if you can't exploit the CD mechanic.

ThaRoadWarrior

I'm pretty far from having a useable WCap anyway - at 0/1/3 this is all bench-playing on my part. 

But WCap does more than just eat the damage from the charge tile - he does passive clap-back damage for every charge tile matched by an opponent - sort of the charged-tile version of Countdown for What. I was more referring to exploiting that here in the context of 5torm creating charge tiles for both sides. But the damage probably doesn't become meaningful unless you have Okoye as the third. 

Using Iceman as the third, i wonder how survivable he'd be - he does 35% damage reduction on his own, and Iceman can skim another 2400-ish damage off the top if you have Team Up AP in the bank. I'll try it when my roster allows, see how it goes I guess.

Bowgentle

BlackBoltRocks said:

@Daredevil217 to build on this topic. For those who have a champed Storm, would you recommend continuing to pull and get more Storm covers, or hoard until Carnage replaces her?

Have you seen the numbers of Carnage?

Pull now and hoard through him.