***** Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) *****

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Comments

  • Thanos
    Thanos Posts: 722 Critical Contributor
    HoundofShadow said:
    From the first video, one cast of Behold does deal up to 81k damage. I think this guy just set a record for damage/ap.  :D

    Also, Hawkeye/CapWorth got taken down like cupcake. 
    Good luck finding and matching his Behold traps. Also, I had just as many matches against Hcap teams that didn't go so swimmingly.

  • Thanos
    Thanos Posts: 722 Critical Contributor
    In case you were wondering if he plays well with Bishop.....Yes, he does.


  • heybub
    heybub Posts: 290 Mover and Shaker
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?
  • Seasick Pirate
    Seasick Pirate Posts: 280 Mover and Shaker
    When I first saw his artwork, I was really hoping one of his abilities would be named “Sinister Arms” and use the same animation as Devil Dino.
  • atomzed
    atomzed Posts: 1,753 Chairperson of the Boards
    So his Behold traps must be specially matched to do damage? Not all traps?
  • Thanos
    Thanos Posts: 722 Critical Contributor
    edited January 2020
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close. PX is far better.
  • heybub
    heybub Posts: 290 Mover and Shaker
    Thanos said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close.
    Cool.  Im pulling for BRB, so I guess I will go for Prof X.
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,852 Chairperson of the Boards
    heybub said:
    Thanos said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close.
    Cool.  Im pulling for BRB, so I guess I will go for Prof X.
    I couldn't quite tell if that was a no or yes.  I'm guessing no.

    The big hits are nice as long as the traps end up on the right tiles.  And enemy SAPs end up on the right tiles. 

    Prof X is far better on defense than a guy who needs to match the right trap tiles, which the AI will only do accidentally.  Mr Sinister looks decent in the player's hands though.
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,852 Chairperson of the Boards
    ThaRoadWarrior said:
    See if you can find a Bishop team and a Worthy team. I’ll probably run him with Doom/X eventually. 
    I am curious how Sinister does vs Grittyshop.
  • Thanos
    Thanos Posts: 722 Critical Contributor
    atomzed said:
    So his Behold traps must be specially matched to do damage? Not all traps?
    Correct. Good luck finding them amongst all the other traps.

  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    I noticed that characters with "delayed" damage such as repeater or trap tiles are usually rated low, compared to characters with powers that deals damage immediately. Some might say JJ is good even though she lays trap tiles but the trap tiles she laid are predictable (laid on only three colours compared to six). If her trap tiles were to be laid in any of the six colours, I don't think she will be that impressive. Or imagine Prof X creating a 2-turn CD that deals damage after making a match-4 instead of dealing the damage immediately...

    I think Mr Sinister is good for slow game where you want to have fun crafting your own stories in matches. If we are talking about speed, meta, etc, obviously he's not the ideal candidates. 

    I think some ways to make matching his trap tiles easier could be putting more (certain coloured) special tiles  on the board so that his trap tiles are forced to be laid onto certain colours, changing colours of tiles etc. This would require someone good at board control to complement him.

    I think he's fun when you can let your imagination runs instead of worrying about speed.
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,852 Chairperson of the Boards
    HoundofShadow said:
    I noticed that characters with "delayed" damage such as repeater or trap tiles are usually rated low, compared to characters with powers that deals damage immediately. Some might say JJ is good even though she lays trap tiles but the trap tiles she laid are predictable (laid on only three colours compared to six). If her trap tiles were to be laid in any of the six colours, I don't think she will be that impressive. Or imagine Prof X creating a 2-turn CD that deals damage after making a match-4 instead of dealing the damage immediately...

    I think Mr Sinister is good for slow game where you want to have fun crafting your own stories in matches. If we are talking about speed, meta, etc, obviously he's not the ideal candidates. 

    I think some ways to make matching his trap tiles easier could be putting more (certain coloured) special tiles  on the board so that his trap tiles are forced to be laid onto certain colours, changing colours of tiles etc. This would require someone good at board control to complement him.

    I think he's fun when you can let your imagination runs instead of worrying about speed.
    No one said he wasn't good, or fun.  The devs obviously make choices with character designs, and designed their game around speed in terms of getting the best rewards, so of course players are always looking for fast characters.

    When you are talking about 5's you are talking about focusing resources.  Many (most) players can't chase all the 5's; some skip ones that are less impressive in favor of more meta ones.  etc.  Hoarding is the approach of lots of players in the 5 tier.

    Sinister is someone you can champ if you want but might want to leave at low levels....maybe you pull until BRB leaves then stop until Sinister leaves if he's champed, I don't know.  It's up to each player.

    I just don't see him as a character that you'd specifically whale or break a big hoard on, if you're a hoarder.  If you aren't interested in all the characters, you could probably mostly skip him if you wanted, and it wouldn't hurt your game much if at all.

    I do look forward to trying him out.  I'm glad to see any 5 that's fun, really.  Using Kingpin in the 5E today reminded me just how bad a 5 can be - he isn't fun to use at all.  I know Wasp is slightly worse, maybe, but he's just so bad.
  • heybub
    heybub Posts: 290 Mover and Shaker
    bluewolf said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close.
    Cool.  Im pulling for BRB, so I guess I will go for Prof X.
    I couldn't quite tell if that was a no or yes.  I'm guessing no.

    The big hits are nice as long as the traps end up on the right tiles.  And enemy SAPs end up on the right tiles. 

    Prof X is far better on defense than a guy who needs to match the right trap tiles, which the AI will only do accidentally.  Mr Sinister looks decent in the player's hands though.
    Sounds like PX is far better than Sinister, so I will pull now before PX leaves so I can max cover BRB and get Prof X.

    Still not sure why everyone is so high on PX.  Looks like all he does is extra damage on match 4/5.  Seems OK, but maybe I just need to see him in action to really appreciate him 
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    Prox X match-4 triggers often on defense and I'm not talking about not being able to see a match-4. I make a match-3, tiles fall in a way that becomes a match-4 on opponent turn often.

    Even though new 5* release were meant for higher level players, but I think there are other players in lower tiers who wouldn't mind using them. When I was in 2* land (even without rostered 5*), it's not uncommon to see 2* players with 5* rostered. A 1/1/1 5* characters might do nothing for 5* players, but let's not forget about the players in the lower tiers. They might be having fun pairing 5* with 2* or 3* characters.
  • LavaManLee
    LavaManLee Posts: 1,461 Chairperson of the Boards
    heybub said:
    bluewolf said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close.
    Cool.  Im pulling for BRB, so I guess I will go for Prof X.
    I couldn't quite tell if that was a no or yes.  I'm guessing no.

    The big hits are nice as long as the traps end up on the right tiles.  And enemy SAPs end up on the right tiles. 

    Prof X is far better on defense than a guy who needs to match the right trap tiles, which the AI will only do accidentally.  Mr Sinister looks decent in the player's hands though.
    Sounds like PX is far better than Sinister, so I will pull now before PX leaves so I can max cover BRB and get Prof X.

    Still not sure why everyone is so high on PX.  Looks like all he does is extra damage on match 4/5.  Seems OK, but maybe I just need to see him in action to really appreciate him 
    Sounds like you don't have 5X champed.  That's fine.  Let's just say that whether you enjoy PVE or PVP, you just let him sit in the background and do the damage without ever having to worry about him.  Especially if you have Thor/Okoye.  Any time tiles change, drop etc., Prof X just does his damage.  And if you have TU tiles, than Okoye and Prof X make it even worse.

    If you think Prof X isn't good, that's ok.  But trust me, on the right team, he is a killer good third member.
  • heybub
    heybub Posts: 290 Mover and Shaker
    LavaManLee said:
    heybub said:
    bluewolf said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos said:
    heybub said:
    Thanos, thanks for the vids.

    Looks  like he just  destroyed current LT trio...he doesnt look like a flub.

    Would you say he is a better pull than Prof X?

    Not even close.
    Cool.  Im pulling for BRB, so I guess I will go for Prof X.
    I couldn't quite tell if that was a no or yes.  I'm guessing no.

    The big hits are nice as long as the traps end up on the right tiles.  And enemy SAPs end up on the right tiles. 

    Prof X is far better on defense than a guy who needs to match the right trap tiles, which the AI will only do accidentally.  Mr Sinister looks decent in the player's hands though.
    Sounds like PX is far better than Sinister, so I will pull now before PX leaves so I can max cover BRB and get Prof X.

    Still not sure why everyone is so high on PX.  Looks like all he does is extra damage on match 4/5.  Seems OK, but maybe I just need to see him in action to really appreciate him 
    Sounds like you don't have 5X champed.  That's fine.  Let's just say that whether you enjoy PVE or PVP, you just let him sit in the background and do the damage without ever having to worry about him.  Especially if you have Thor/Okoye.  Any time tiles change, drop etc., Prof X just does his damage.  And if you have TU tiles, than Okoye and Prof X make it even worse.

    If you think Prof X isn't good, that's ok.  But trust me, on the right team, he is a killer good third member.
    None champed.  I just unloaded my CP hoard for BRB and maxed Thor and Hela.  I will finish BRB with LTs.  

    I do not have a single Okoye :(.  I have 1 cover of Kitty...so I are sub-meta.

  • Vhailorx
    Vhailorx Posts: 6,085 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited January 2020

    HoundofShadow said:
    I noticed that characters with "delayed" damage such as repeater or trap tiles are usually rated low, compared to characters with powers that deals damage immediately. Some might say JJ is good even though she lays trap tiles but the trap tiles she laid are predictable (laid on only three colours compared to six). If her trap tiles were to be laid in any of the six colours, I don't think she will be that impressive. Or imagine Prof X creating a 2-turn CD that deals damage after making a match-4 instead of dealing the damage immediately...

    I think Mr Sinister is good for slow game where you want to have fun crafting your own stories in matches. If we are talking about speed, meta, etc, obviously he's not the ideal candidates. 

    I think some ways to make matching his trap tiles easier could be putting more (certain coloured) special tiles  on the board so that his trap tiles are forced to be laid onto certain colours, changing colours of tiles etc. This would require someone good at board control to complement him.

    I think he's fun when you can let your imagination runs instead of worrying about speed.
    Slow, or random damage IS less valuable than direct damage.  Even Demi knows this, which is why trap tiles and CD powers have higher damage/AP output on average.

    As noted in this thread, sinister's ceiling is quite high. 81k for 8 AP is very very good. 

    But getting to that ceiling is very hard.  You must collect at least 8 blue AP.  Then you must proc the black or purple abilities at least two times.  THEN all 3 traps have to survive long enough to be matched away.  a lot can go wrong there.  And many times you will get something much closer to 25k damage for 8 AP in total over several turns.  Which sounds a lot more like GG's black. 

    Sinister is a high variance character.  High ceiling, but reasonably low floor.

    By contrast, then most popular characters tend to have high floors (and the meta characters have high floors and high ceilings).  BRB is hard to mess up.  You collect 6 blue and cast asap.  Then you either take a lot less damage, or generate a lot of blue and keep cycling.  Cast green as available.  Simple, effective, reliable.  Prof X and JJ both have some randomness with their passives, but they are also simple passives that even the ai can exploit (read as 'has defensive value').  Their floors are quite high, and you can almost always rely on them to contribute.

    This is important because MPQ emphasizes fast, consistent victory.  winning 5 straight PvP matches in 6 minutes is WAY better than going 4-1, or even 5-1 in 10 minutes.  Reliability is super important in high level play. 

  • Vhailorx
    Vhailorx Posts: 6,085 Chairperson of the Boards
    Thanos said:
    In case you were wondering if he plays well with Bishop.....Yes, he does.


    It's definitely a nice synergy.  I wonder how that team will work on defense, when the ai isnt smart enough to chase the trap tiles.
  • Vhailorx
    Vhailorx Posts: 6,085 Chairperson of the Boards
    HoundofShadow said


    Also, Hawkeye/CapWorth got taken down like cupcake. 
    Umm, strange did most of the work (though the DR from sinister was nice to eat the red damage from JJ).  And the first move was a match5, so worthy was more than half dead before the match really started.  This is not a great showcase of sinister dominating HE/worthy.
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm aware it showcases Dr Strange as the MVP rather.  :)

    I think characters like Mr Sinister makes players think harder on how to strategise compared to Thorokoye or Gritty. I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea but there are players who don't mind not winning X matches in Y minutes.

    For Sinister, with those challenges or weaknesses raised, I am already generating questions like:

    1) How can I protect my trap tiles?
    2) How can I make more trap tiles?
    3) How can I make matching trap tiles easier?
    4) Is flooding the board with (specific coloured) special tiles better?
    5) Do I get someone to change the board colour so that it gets dominated by a certain colour?
    6) Do I team him up with someone who can swap tiles like Coulson?
    7) How about I get Starlord to bring his trap tiles to the bottom?
    8) What about trying to fortify all the tiles on the board to see if his trap tiles activate twice if those match-3 are all fortified?

    Compared to Thorokoye, the strategy would be something like Okoye will tank and then collect as many team up ap as possible while Thor collects another 5ap every turn. Then, I fire powers. Rinse and repeat.

    I don't think MPQ has only one world, that is the speed world. I think it's a colourful world with different shades, where different players play differently. That's why we have different characters doing different things. 

    In this forum; however, the world is reduced to focus on speed.

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