Ascended Winners and Losers

Glockoma

Preface: this thread might be better suited until all characters are eligible, but we just got Polaris eligible so let’s just go with it

Like weekly Fantasy Football matches, each batch of ascended characters has had those we’ve speculated to be amazing picks that throw up a goose egg, or those that have gone relatively unnoticed until we saw them shine seemingly out of nowhere. (Coulson for sure)

Nerfs, buffs, or even just a numbers game, ascended characters have turned rosters on their heads. I’ve read some posts pining to “un-ascend” to former glory while others are completely baffled by how broken the new addition might be.

So, thoughts?
It could be based off or prior reputation, just being old and knocking the dust off, or plain old happy to have some modern health to compete with a cool new costume; I just wanted to start a small thread amongst the community for their picks of the:

3 Overall Winners and 3 Overall Losers in this new era. LFG!!

ThaRoadWarrior

So I haven’t tested all mine out, but offhand my three winners are:

1. Coulson by a country mile
2. Chavez
3. Rogue | Carol | Nico are all right around this bucket.

Losers:
1. Ghost Rider - penance stare got pretty lame
2. Valkyrie - usable, but her thresholds are very high when she is on par with other 5s
3.Flaptain (I guess he really just didn’t win, he didn’t get worse or anything)

rainkingucd

Winners:
1. Coulson by an urban kilometer
2. 1* Yelena
3. Karnak / Ghost / any match damage boosted as they were good, but now start so much higher and then increase from there

Losers:
1. Ghost Rider
2. Peggy
3. Valkyrie/Thing/Deadpool due to the massive threshold increases. Still usable, just a shame

dramatist

I just like that the meta is getting more interesting with the ascended 4*s.

They also make Boss events even easier.

Bowgentle

It's just a shame they take forever to level.
Unless you buy the helpful offers, of course.

MegaBee

Coulson, Coulson, Coulson

Omegased

I'm very keen to get my hands on a 1star 5juggs - I think he'll be a beast.

Tiger_Wong

Big Winners

Rogue (one of the best tanks in the game now. Really good AP generator)
Karnak (of all the match damage monsters, after turn 4, he’s the monster of all monsters)
Ghost (just a level below Karnak but you don’t have to wait until turn 5)
Coulson (a menace)
Drax (like Coulson except he doesn’t make CDs.)
America Chavez (everything the 4* was but at 5* levels. Awesome)
Juggernaut (a better Ph5 Colossus)
Kate Bishop (try to find someone whose active powers hit harder. I’ll wait)
Mockingbird (an underrated character in 4* land, now with the 5s, she’s a really good AP generator and her red hits obscenely hard)
Nico Minoru (the new best tile buffer in 5* land.)
Northstar (best black power in the game. Hits very hard and gives you a match 8 on activation and potentially a match 8 on the next turn.)
Polaris (see America Chavez)
Red Hulk (unlike the other damage thresholders, RH’s is exploitable. Still a green killer and his green hits hard too)
Sabretooth (as long Polaris exists, there will be a place for sabretooth. He hits sneaky hard too)
Talos (might be the best AP thief along with a match damage bonus AND a cheap stun? He’s really a great character)
Throg (gives great help to other charged tile characters not named FosThor. Also low key helps some airborne characters)
Wiccan (great AP generator)
Emma Frost (has really good, useful kit that translates well after ascension)
Totally Awesome Hulk (holy **** his green hits hard)
Captain Marvel (see Polaris. Her yellow is one of a kind and still has a great kit.)
Blob (good luck damaging this dude and his team. Might have the best jump in front mechanic)

Losers

Thing (tough to activate his damage threshold now. His powers are pricey and do only “ok” damage for their cost
Mr Fantastic (his kit didn’t change at all, except damage-wise. Which means he still sucks)
Peggy Carter (damage is good but her yellow and blue were nerfed)
1* Black Widow (her powers are hella pricey and honestly feel wrong)
Cloak & Dagger (not a big jump in damage. And their yellow/black tile generating was nerfed from 4 to 3)
Dazzler (not a big jump in damage. I guess her strikes are strong but….. I don’t see a use for her and her **** kit)
Elektra (her purple has a fantastic SAP steal and enhance power. But you can only convert 2 now. And the damage on her other powers is borderline pitiful and seem to have missed the ascension bus)
Ghost Rider (arguably the best black punisher power was nerfed to hell. And his damage didn’t get a big jump too.)
Sam Wilson (I mean….. his kit didn’t improve enough to matter imo)
Valkyrie (a great damage threshold character as a 4, now her thresholds are just too high to exploit)

Winners

Pretty much everybody else. But there are some characters I don’t know about and do t have ascended yet like ikaris and Kate pryde.

MoosePrime

@Tiger_Wong said:
Cloak & Dagger (not a big jump in damage. And their yellow/black tile generating was nerfed from 4 to 3)
Elektra (her purple has a fantastic SAP steal and enhance power. But you can only convert 2 now. And the damage on her other powers is borderline pitiful and seem to have missed the ascension bus)

These numbers aren't changes. Cloak & Dagger always only generated 3 of either color. Elektra always only converted 2 tiles.

LavaManLee

Haven't used my Ascended Coulson yet, and don't see him at all in PVP, so is he a menace now in PVE? Is he faster than the current meta or just better than what he was?

Bowgentle

Nope he's not faster in PVE.
Much better than what he was, though.
I mean, there might be a meta pve team with him but I don't think anyone found it yet.

Glockoma

@LavaManLee said:
Haven't used my Ascended Coulson yet, and don't see him at all in PVP, so is he a menace now in PVE? Is he faster than the current meta or just better than what he was?

Off-season and Polaris just became eligible. She’s likely going to be the most ascended 4* because of how dominant she was in her prior tier; people strived to max her out before entering 5* land. So mostly overshadowing. Most folks are running the boosted BRB with her right now.

But Coulson arguably made the largest jump from being bound to the hips of Hawkeye and Gamora to commanding stand alone stature. Dudes’ cd tile proc from 1 to 5 for every ally power fire is insane. Not to mention he has a good kit for 5* land with some board control.

So far, he is my 1 on 1 overall winner.

IrisRyu

A few honorable mentions, I didn’t see previously listed.

WINNERS
Cosmo: Only at 450, but his powers scaled up well and he can be used in either a charged or fortified tile based team. It’s early days, but he looks to be one to target for ascension.
Lockjaw: His blue (any option) hits very hard and his passive damage on enemy SAP tile matches/charged tiles will make him one of the more valuable support characters, I think.
Lokigator: His powers scaled up very nicely and he will be the terror of Shang/Mighty Thor teams when boosted. I’ll give him a shot with Mighty Thor in the new season to see if he’s at all viable unboosted.
Melinda May: Mine is “only” in the 460’s and she’s already passively healing for over 10K and mitigates enemy damage post-stun by close to 9K. She will be a defensive nightmare at higher levels.
Quake: She now has the best AOE damage mitigation in the game. At 475 she blocks more AOE damage than a 550 Electro and her green looks to have the highest team damage output of any of the green AOE powers (KK5, Crystal, etc.). Quake’s green costs a few more AP, so the additional damage makes sense.
Shuri: I’m sure smarter players than me already knew this, but I thought Shuri only cheapened power costs. Turns out she also has a passive that deals damage when you match a fortified tile. Boosted she should be doing upwards of 20K damage per fortified tile. Perhaps there is a viable fortified tile meta?
X-23: Boosted in Lost in Time she true heals for upwards of 19K per red, green or purple match and her purple trap tile does close to 150K damage, if matched by the enemy, and approx. 100k, if you match it. A win.

Losers:
Puck: Yep, he still sucks ascended.

TBD:
Abomination: Mine is only baby-champed at 460, but he’s already at over 100K HP. Will that additional health make him a more reliable reviver at higher levels? The jury is out, but I suspect, yes.
Mantis: Her sleep tiles do roughly 10K damage to stunned enemies and she burst heals for over 20K, but her green repeater tile also heals the targeted enemy for over 22K every three turns. Damage at the 5* tier should be able to outpace that healing, but I haven’t played her yet to see how it works in practice.
Moondragon: Her powers look to do less raw damage than other ascended 4’s (a tradeoff for the partial damage immunity and increased match damage, I guess), so she’s kind of just been a punching bag with iHulk so far. I expect her utility to increase with Polaris.
Professor X: He works as expected and at 475, he does 26,238 passive damage on a match 5 and improves special tiles by as much as 1673, if invisible. Nice, but I don’t see myself using him.
Teen Jean: Haven’t played her yet, but she looks strong. Jean does 10K passive damage on a match 5 and her AOE is in the 17K range and creates 1,000-strength SAP tiles. Should be very annoying when boosted.

BriMan2222

Is Ascended Shuri the partner Heimdal has been waiting for?

ThaRoadWarrior

Not as much as I’d have like her to be, but I haven’t put ascended Panther on the other side yet. That team in pick 3 even when two were 4* would hit really hard. All those board shape characters struggle against Jane though.

Tiger_Wong

@BriMan2222 said:
Is Ascended Shuri the partner Heimdal has been waiting for?

JMO but I still think the one for Heimdall will be Prowler when he gets ascensionable.

dianetics

@Tiger_Wong said:

@BriMan2222 said:
Is Ascended Shuri the partner Heimdal has been waiting for?

JMO but I still think the one for Heimdall will be Prowler when he gets ascensionable.

Of the 4*s Prowler, Lizard, Shuri, Black Cat, Vulture, and Throg were all viable partners when I was using Heimdal a lot. You can probably add Ikaris to the list as well.

ThaRoadWarrior

Black Panther and Emma Frost do fort spam as well. he would probably be pretty wild with Coulson and Hawkeye in pick3 now too. Pretty much maximum overlap on colors, but the AP earn and passive cd creation/fortification should do what you want there.

dianetics

His best partners are not only fortifiers, but characters that do things while being airborne or returning from airborne. 4* Throg and Vulture become a legit terror and my best team when I transitioned.
Because, he can send them airborne every turn and can heal himself every turn. Vulture starts nuking the enemy team with his green.
Heimdall has a lot of viable teams now that 4s can be ascended.

jp1

Ascended and boosted Main Event Hulk’s yellow does like 32 team damage. That’s not a typo…32.

This has to be a bug. The power description of him without the boost lists it at 2588, which is still awful, but not a 1* level power.

Tony_Foot

Good there has to be some negative to him having twice the health of the current boosted 5*'s! Going to start ascending early and forget the extra rewards just to take advantage of this complete cluster ****.