Gritty (plus gamora) in CL10 challenge nodes (strat discussion thread)

Vhailorx

So today (or tomorrow if you are slice 4/5) is a Gritty-in-the-challenge-node day. Rejoice!  Most of us get to remember the smallest taste of Boss Rush or the first run of Galactus when we were supposed to lose.

By the third clear, Grocket spawns with 7x ~2700 strength strike tiles (thanks gamora!), and kitty adds ~9300 damage every turn.  That means that, starting on turn 1, the ai does ~28k damage + base match damage (less any strikes that you can match away on your first move).  And the damage only cranks up from there.

how many reliable strategies are there to deal with that type of damage output? I can definitely think of a few:

(1) BSSM with 5 purple covers trivializes just about any strike-centric PVE threat.  But good luck getting him if you weren't a 5* player in early 2016.

(2) Having the featured 5* at 500+.  I don't have that experience myself, but I have played these nodes with a featured 5* boosted @560, and even though gritty can chew threw 150k health in a few turns (or one really bad cascade), but just having a meatshield that can last a few rounds is often enough to get some strategy working, at least for clears 3 and 4. 

(4) 550 thorkoye?  I assume they can brute force this node in the same way that a 450 thorkoye can brute force gritty  with decent success up to about level 515 or so.

(5) whales (via a hidden 3dp or a teamup)

(6) invisibility (and deny green to prevent grocket's hard-to-avoid aoe), but this is VERY slow.  maybe this will be Onslaight's niche use?

(7) a 550 Hawkeye, giving him enough health to tank a round or two and get the coulson/gamora stunlock engine started

Anything else?  I don't think there are any other good stunlock teams that can tank that kind of damage (ice is the only decent stunner in 5* land, but he is better at disabling a single dangerous opponent, rather than 2 or 3.  Are there any DR teams that will work (ice + sinister + juggs?).

Edits:

(8) IH + vulture + 3rd wheel for extra black.

(9) sacrificial GED

TPF Alexis

Thorkoye/Sabretooth is the only way I've had any success there. Even then, it's pretty luck-dependent, but if you can take out at least two Strikes on the first Turn, it's probably winnable. Boosting yellow/red and Team-Up helps, but it's still hit or miss.

DyingLegend

I think the devs make these teams to troll us. In regular PVP the answer is easy. 

Skip

For teams that can fight them, maybe we overlook Prowler or Sabertooth, but you'll need a luckily board. Apocalypse can tank and using Okoye to boost Saber tooth, I mean maybe, but one cascade and it's all over. 

HoundofShadow

Domino/Vulture/iHulk 
Thorokoye/Iceman with + 3 blue ap boost

bluewolf

HoundofShadow said:

Domino/Vulture/iHulk 
Thorokoye/Iceman with + 3 blue ap boost

So you personally successfully used ThorkIce on this node for 4 clears?

Because I can't see that working too well.....

VulHulk is a decent thought.  Boost black.  Domino will die very quickly, especially unboosted.

DyingLegend

HoundofShadow said:

Domino/Vulture/iHulk 
Thorokoye/Iceman with + 3 blue ap boost

I see the merit of the first team. Basically build as much black quick before Ihulk kills domino. 

This team, while the match just took a while, was able to win on the first go (4th completion) as Vulture just stayed airborne the entire time slowly chipping away, while Ihulk just keeps ramping up. My Ihulk was only 390. 

Daredevil217

I used Thorkoye/BSSM for opening clears. I think Spidey/DD could work if you can flip the tiles to friendly after boosting just like in PVP. I just don’t know who a good third would be. 

HoundofShadow

Thorokoye/Iceman is known as the MVP of challenge nodes and I didn't personally test it. However, the top player(s) posting in reddit tested it. Again, levels of characters might make some difference.

The first team was something already well know when iHulk was out because we were thinking how to increase the longevity of his teammates and I simply throw in Domino to help Vulture stays airborne as long as possible. Challenge node means you are going to use healthpacks anyway.

bluewolf

HoundofShadow said:

Thorokoye/Iceman is known as the MVP of challenge nodes and I didn't personally test it. However, the top player(s) posting in reddit tested it. Again, levels of characters might make some difference.

The first team was something already well know when iHulk was out because we were thinking how to increase the longevity of his teammates and I simply throw in Domino to help Vulture stays airborne as long as possible. Challenge node means you are going to use healthpacks anyway.

Thorkoye Iceman works in a lot of nodes, but when the AI has that much dmg out of the gate, you can't control them.

There are a number of Carnage nodes that are the same way, and you generally either go for a Worthy permastun team or you lose.

This applies to smaller champ teams....maybe 550 players have a different approach.

Kross

As was said before, IHulk-ture. It would probably take forever but as long as Vulture can take flight you would eventually win. 

slow

The problem is that I am having headaches now after completed all 4 clears. I remember previously I'm having the same issue as well for an event (I guess the same 1). Health issue is also a matter if playing a game would resulted this. Probably will do CL9 next time. However, as much as I like this game I am hoping it to close down permanently. Can't quit, yet hoping them to stop forever. How is competitive players (top 20) coping this I wonder? I am doing top 50~100 already feeling unwell. Do they (top players) really play by themselves or have partners? Curious to know how they coping along.

loslupus

I got 7 wins with BSSM&Thorkoye, but not without boosts. And MBW team-up. And luck. Especially in the later fights, lots of luck. If enemy gets bad cascade you're knee-deep in trouble

Previously I've used Thorkoye99 with Wong on SM2099, but you need even more luck with that. Basically you need to take out lots of strikes and get lots of blue and team-up tiles during the first two matches. And hope that Wong removes strikes, when you use a power. And it won't hurt if Okoye's Royal Talon Figther deals damage to enemy team as well.

Based on DD217's advice I would try boosted BP5 with DD/BSSM. Once DD steals some strikes you're bound to deal some nasty damage.

Maybe devs should swap Gamora for Carnage5 for even more fun and challenge...

Vhailorx

Daredevil217 said:

I used Thorkoye/BSSM for opening clears. I think Spidey/DD could work if you can flip the tiles to friendly after boosting just like in PVP. I just don’t know who a good third would be. 

Switch is my usual 3rd when I am absolutely determined to steal tiles with DD.  But that doesn't leave much margin for error if gamora gets a stun off. 

Gritty + Carnage (5*) would put out even more damage via carnage's automatic attack tiles and extra turns, and would preserve a serious AP denial challenge, since 6 red is probably a team wipe (6 blue was actually not all that bad with gamora this time around if you were using boosted BP; she only had 3 covers, so she wasn't stunning two opponents with each cast).

As for any discussion of Thorkoye + iceman, if only someone had made a list of possible strategies and mentioned that Iceman is not the best stunlock option here because he can really only lockdown a single opponent each turn (and then only with decent board luck).  and his DR can't really keep up with 30-50k per round. I think that's why using gamora or spider-gwen is probably the way to go for stunlock when you need to lock down the whole enemy team.

Reecoh

Using 5* Doom as an early sacrifice with your choice of 2 others might buy you some time as long you can keep them from dropping more tiles.

TPF Alexis

TPF Alexis said:

Thorkoye/Sabretooth is the only way I've had any success there. Even then, it's pretty luck-dependent, but if you can take out at least two Strikes on the first Turn, it's probably winnable. Boosting yellow/red and Team-Up helps, but it's still hit or miss.

I managed four Clears with these guys. Took six tries, which is actually a better ratio than I expected. It becomes more and more of a gamble on a good opening board each time the scaling goes up, tho.

Vhailorx

TPF Alexis said:

TPF Alexis said:

Thorkoye/Sabretooth is the only way I've had any success there. Even then, it's pretty luck-dependent, but if you can take out at least two Strikes on the first Turn, it's probably winnable. Boosting yellow/red and Team-Up helps, but it's still hit or miss.

I managed four Clears with these guys. Took six tries, which is actually a better ratio than I expected. It becomes more and more of a gamble on a good opening board each time the scaling goes up, tho.

Yeah, the gap between a relatively easy victory and a total wipeout by turn 4 is extremely thin on the later clears, especially with sabretooth.  if you can match one or two strikes right away, and THEN get the sabretooth boardshake to knock out a few more, you can prevent kitty from ever getting going and bring the damage down to something that okoye can survive for a few turns.  If that happens, then your prospects are pretty good (unless the ai stumbles into some blue for gamora).  but that's entirely board-dependent, and if you can't do that, or the ai gets a few cascade matches instead, it's likely to be a total party kill.

BigSoftieFF

First time this event ran with a C node I used Thorkoye/Sabretooth. I did as well this time until I remember that I just champed BSSM 😀

halirin

I think I used coulhawk and worthy. Or maybe BP, Hawkeye, worthy. I don't remember it being too impossible. I guess it's possible I didn't get full clears after I got progression done.