Need advice: Shang-Chi or BRB?

Akoni

I'm trying to decide which is better to favorite: Shang-Chi (2/1/1) or BRB (1.2.3). With SC, I plan on running him with Cyclop5 (1/2/5) and 5Witch (soft capped). I use BRB mostly with Polaris. It will be awhile before SC is greatly useful since I will need to also build Cyclop5. BRB, however, is currently useful and will only get better.

I do not plan on champing any of my 5* yet due to MMR. Okay, that's a lie. I'm iso broke and the little iso I get goes toward my farm at 2* and 3*, as well as the few unclamped 4* I have left. I need to figure out which 5* is more worth it so I can select my 5* and 4* to favorite for shards.

Any advice?

Anon

Both are great. I'd give the edge to BRB though and also sharget Throg.

HoundofShadow

1. Winfinite team variety

BRB/Polaris is a winfinite + stun machine.
Shang Chi is also a winfinite machine. Unlike BRB, he's not stuck with just one character to create winfinite. When you can go winfinite, you don't need stun.

SC: 1 BRB: 0

2. Tanking/True Heal
Since both SC and BRB is likely to tank, SC gets the upperhand because he can true heal anywhere in the game. You can attach support to true heal BRB in pves though.

SC: 1 BRB: 0

3. Damage potential
Shang Chi easily wins hands down.

SC: 1 BRB: 0

4. Feeder
It will be a long time before we see SC gets feeder and BRB already has a feeder.

SC: 0 BRB: 1

5. Ease of use
SC: 0 BRB:1

6. Challenge Nodes
I used BRB/Polaris to complete challenge node before. It works but it's pretty slow. If Carbage, Kraven or Medusa etc. is in challenge nodes, you might have some problem with BRB/Polaris.

For Shang Chi, he doesn't create special tiles. All he has is match damage, Combo Points and charged tiles. So, he has fewer weaknesses, compared to team BRB/Polaris.

SC: 1 BRB: 0


Have you used up your first 10 rounds of 5* shards from milestones? How's your milestones that give 5* shards look like?

If I were you, I'll favourite SC and 4* Throg. Then, I'll wait for BRB to pop in special store and use cp to complete him. You can do the reverse for Shang Chi actually. 

Both are great but both has different playstyles. So, ultimately, it depends on your playstyle. I chose SC because apart from the above reasons, I like characters with tiles manipulation/destruction ability.

Akoni

I'm currently waiting to claim 220 5* shards from promoting 4* 80 times. I've decide not to claim it until I decide between SC and BRB. I plan on pulling for SC with the tiny hoard I have remaining. I may wait until Gamora hits before I pull for SC, though just to get a cover or two of Gamora. I actually like her, but not nearly as much as SC.

Daredevil217

Is Shang a faster winfinite than BRB for challenge nodes?

My SC only has one cover, so I can’t winfinite with him yet, but am curious. My fear would be if you break the combo, do you wipe? BRB/Polaris is foolproof once it’s going. If SC is faster, who are his best pick 2 and pick 3 partners for speed?

BlackBoltRocks

Daredevil217 said:

If SC is faster, who are his best pick 2 and pick 3 partners for speed?

If we're talking solely about challenge nodes: Wanda is practically a must-have, reducing damage taken and generating pink or red tiles for Shang. The third member is variable: it can be Thor for boardshake and Red AP generation, Odin to absorb hits, Black Bolt or Storm for their charged tiles. In the current Wakanda Forever, I've been using Shang/Electro/Thor to wipe the challenge nodes. Granted, both Shang and Electro are boosted, so that definitely helps, but I find it's faster than my usual Icethorkoye.

ThaRoadWarrior

In addition to absorbing hits, Odin can make your SC 5/5/5 for you regardless of your natural cover stack. He actually works quite well between Odin and Heimdall in my experience. As for OP’s Dilemma - you’ll get BRB faster simply because he has a feeder and SC currently does not. BRB has a lot of utility, but I wonder how much in an unchamped state?

DAZ0273

I would go with BRB simply because he is effective both on offence and defence. Shang Chi is a one man wrecking crew but he is vulnerable to bad board situations. Also - flying battleship, 'Nuff said.

Sekilicious

I know people are saying that BRB is more accessible because of Throg, but isn’t SC more because he is still in LL? Just curious.

I love SC when he gets going he is a one man wrecking crew. But one BRB’s winfinites has a 1* character who only needs 6ap to get going so is much more reliable in my experience. Of course, mine are both are both pathetically undercovered so champed might be different.

DAZ0273

Sekilicious said:

I know people are saying that BRB is more accessible because of Throg, but isn’t SC more because he is still in LL? Just curious.

I love SC when he gets going he is a one man wrecking crew. But one BRB’s winfinites has a 1* character who only needs 6ap to get going so is much more reliable in my experience. Of course, mine are both are both pathetically undercovered so champed might be different.

Both are still RNG but I guess people view shards as a safe bet and players on the forums tend to prefer to rely on that method in my observation. Of course getting Throg to the point where he spits out covers and shards is a long process also requiring cover acquisition whereas with luck you could bag yourself a champed Shang-Chi in the next month or 2 - I am certainly trying my best to do so!

Srheer0

Any advice?

In my experience of doing pvp to 900 points and scl9 in pve. BRB is more reliable and Shang is more fun.  

BRB more reliable because of his synnergy with polaris. So all you do is match protect tiles to get him rolling. With shang you have to match red or purple tiles.  

It's likely that BRB shows up in a special store within the next 12 months. Shang is possible, but not super likely. 

ThaRoadWarrior

Depends on your resource intake. Shang-Chi is in latest for…a month and a half maybe? Definitely try your luck, but if you aren’t pulling down the kind of cp and LTs it takes to get him, he will fall into Classic undercovered. It’ll absolutely be faster to shard Throg to BRB than to direct 5* shard 4-5 or more covers of SC.

MegaBee

Do you have Shuri and/or Heimdall rostered?

Bad

You have few covers of both.
What I would do is to favor SC until he takes his leave. That way you can try to make a good cover arrange for the future. 
BRB is a classic and you will always have time to buid him.
Many players want to pair SC with with cyclops or KM: the truth is he doesn't need any match damager multiplier at all.
To have someone changing the board or giving protection, that is actually what he needs the most.

ThaRoadWarrior

You pair him with Sighclops to generate a board full of red on green, and to shuffle the board on yellow, not necessarily to increase his match damage. but that's neither here nor there re: that advice.

JangoLore

Can someone provide more description of Shang-Chi's winfinite capability?  I heard mention of using him with 3*switch/2*mags but could not figure out how to make it work.  BRB's is clear because of his getting additional AP from placing and destroying shield tiles.  

dianetics

Shang chi requires active board manipulation. Brb requires passive board manipulation.

for sc you need to force matches in red and purple to continue the combo 

entrailbucket

JangoLore said:

Can someone provide more description of Shang-Chi's winfinite capability?  I heard mention of using him with 3*switch/2*mags but could not figure out how to make it work.  BRB's is clear because of his getting additional AP from placing and destroying shield tiles.  

Shang-Chi's red and purple powers have to be used very strategically to make cascades of red or purple matches.  It's not easy.  If you're good at it, you can use those powers over and over again in an infinite turn that lasts until the enemy is all dead.

It's not easy to explain but if you check out some videos you'll get the idea.  If you're good at using 2* Magneto to make cascades, it's a similar thing.

ThaRoadWarrior

JangoLore said:

Can someone provide more description of Shang-Chi's winfinite capability?  I heard mention of using him with 3*switch/2*mags but could not figure out how to make it work.  BRB's is clear because of his getting additional AP from placing and destroying shield tiles.  

3* Switch makes purple, often match 4/5 on her CD, and she can pick up AP for you on her green, which gives you a lot more options for collecting the red/purple you need for Shang-Chi to stay doing his powers. Magneto can actively place 3 blue tiles if you have the purple which then add some additional red to the board, so you again have some agency over what the board is doing. Then Shang-Chi, depending on your build, has a Bullseye-like ability to knock out precise tiles on red as well as his targeted critical dropper on purple. Once you have enough points in the bank, his purple will also charge a bunch of tiles around itself before resolving a cascade, which will give you 3x ap per charge tile matched. So ideally you want to be utilizing all those powers to keep him flush with red and purple, but it's a very active, attention demanding winfinite compared to some.

DAZ0273

The concept isn't enormously removed from the old Charlie's Angels winfinite where Switch made cascades and fed Widow purple to make match 5's that triggered Prof X I don't think.

The Winfinite that was used that I first heard about it though was Mystique and Mags but it presumably functions in a similar way. Not tried either to be fair.

ThaRoadWarrior

Mystique adds a bunch of purple to the board on blue, which can play nicely with 2* magneto, but it also adds black which nobody on this team wants much of. As a 5* player, I like him with Wanda/Onslaught or Wanda/Sighclops. Use your first 3 purple to set Wanda going making whatever color you think most valuable at the start of the turn - either red, purple, or perhaps counterintuitively green to feed Cyclops's red generation engine + stun.