who's worth leveling? c.mags or hulk?

Unknown

Help im transitioning now from 2* to 3*, i have some covers of c.mags and hulk, who's worthy of my precious iso? I can lvl 1 of them up to 100+..help..

stevenbrule

Magneto Nerf is coming up soon, so you may want to hold off on that for the time being.

Unknown

Who would the rest of your team be? That matters a lot. I have a lvl 108 hulk and while his health scares away a few retals if I ever chose to use him, his offense isn't great compared to my other options. I keep hearing mags is bad on defense, but I've never leveled mine due to the impending nerf so I can't say for sure.

All that said, while they both have positives and drawbacks, I think hulk is highly under rated and not in danger of being nerfed any time soon so I'm inclined to go with him if he fits your lineup OK.

HailMary

I'll echo the other requests for more roster information, though I'm not sure if it matters much. Pending that, let's assume you have the standard max-2* complement of OBW + Thor/Ares + C.Storm. This means you don't have any strong strike tile generators (Punisher, Patch, BP, Sentry).

In that case, CMags red is far less useful, and CMags no longer wins by a landslide. Who you should level depends on what your cover compositions are.

Hulk is a great defensive scarecrow if he's above, say, L115. His optimal build is 5/3/5, and he needs at least 4 black to be truly dangerous. You use him to soak up and reflect damage.

CMags is an offensive titan who may get declawed within a month. He's decent, but not great, on defense. Having played with a L141 4/4/5, 5/4/4, and 5/3/5 CMags, I can say that all three of those builds are good. 5 blue is clearly a game-changer (use it make more blue matches, not to actually create Protect tiles), while 5 purple creates one of the biggest nukes in the game. Red is less useful (but still okay) without strike tiles.

tl;dr - Hulk with 5 black is quite good. Unnerfed CMags (esp. with 5 blue) is miles better on offense, while being weaker on defense. If you fear the nerf and have at least 4 black in Hulk, level Hulk. Otherwise, if you have 5 blue in CMags, level CMags.

Unknown

stevenbrule wrote:

Magneto Nerf is coming up soon, so you may want to hold off on that for the time being.

I have heard this before. How do you know this?

HailMary

rooter wrote:

stevenbrule wrote:

Magneto Nerf is coming up soon, so you may want to hold off on that for the time being.

I have heard this before. How do you know this?

Ice stated, a couple of weeks ago, that CMags is next to be nerfed, and that his nerf would be soonish, but definitely not within a month (of that couple-weeks-ago comment).

HairyDave

I'm going to highjack the thread slightly because I'm in the same boat.

I've got no ISO store to speak of so this is more "who gets the love as it appears" but I can push both of them to 102 - Hulk is at 5/3/2 so he's not full scarecrow yet and CMags is 3/3/4 so not ideal either.

For both of them, their primary dance partners are going to be Punny (4/3/5 L128) and OBW (3/5/5 L85), with occasional appearances by Psyduck (4/4/2 L102) when Punny gets beaten up too much or I get bored.

I'm leaning towards Hulk because it's less ISO overall but I'm thinking I'll get more immediate impact out of boosting CMags for Magnetic Mayhem.

Unknown

HairyDave wrote:

I'm going to highjack the thread slightly because I'm in the same boat.

I've got no ISO store to speak of so this is more "who gets the love as it appears" but I can push both of them to 102 - Hulk is at 5/3/2 so he's not full scarecrow yet and CMags is 3/3/4 so not ideal either.

For both of them, their primary dance partners are going to be Punny (4/3/5 L128) and OBW (3/5/5 L85), with occasional appearances by Psyduck (4/4/2 L102) when Punny gets beaten up too much or I get bored.

I'm leaning towards Hulk because it's less ISO overall but I'm thinking I'll get more immediate impact out of boosting CMags for Magnetic Mayhem.

Hulk without 4 or 5 in black is kinda useless so I would save your ISO instead of spending it on him. Really he only shines if you can trigger his anger to generate cascades.

HailMary

HairyDave wrote:

I'm going to highjack the thread slightly because I'm in the same boat.

I've got no ISO store to speak of so this is more "who gets the love as it appears" but I can push both of them to 102 - Hulk is at 5/3/2 so he's not full scarecrow yet and CMags is 3/3/4 so not ideal either.

For both of them, their primary dance partners are going to be Punny (4/3/5 L128) and OBW (3/5/5 L85), with occasional appearances by Psyduck (4/4/2 L102) when Punny gets beaten up too much or I get bored.

I'm leaning towards Hulk because it's less ISO overall but I'm thinking I'll get more immediate impact out of boosting CMags for Magnetic Mayhem.

Honestly, I wouldn't level either of them, unbuffed, with those covers. Even a 5K (5 black) L102 Hulk isn't that scary. a 2K L102 Hulk would be significantly less scary than max OBW, Ares, or even Thor. 4P L102 CMags is decent -- I think I first soft-capped my CMags when he hit 3/2/5 -- but his nerf is coming in maybe a month.

Basically, if you can get 5/3/4 in Hulk by the time you have 130K+ Iso stored up, then go ahead and burst-level Hulk. Otherwise, for 2+featured PVPs, Punpun + OBW is scarier than Hulk with either of them. Leveling CMags would be useful for the current PVP, but since you don't have 50-70K Iso already on hand, I don't think just putting a handful of levels in CMags would do much good.

HairyDave

Cheers.

Stockpile it is then

Unknown

HairyDave wrote:

Cheers.

Stockpile it is then

But stockpile costs hp.....

Unknown

I heard also about the upcoming nerf for c mags but those 2 are my only high lvl 3* w/ decent cover..i play w/ obw/thor or ares..my hulk is 4/2/4 now currently lvl 77 and my c mags is also 4/2/4 now ( i got a 2 cover from the last event) currently lvl 53..actually my iso is almost 200k+..my other 3* w/ complete color covers are psyduck 2/1/3, dd 3/1/2 and patch 1/3/1..i have only 6 2* 85-ish..a.wolvi, c.storm, mnmags, ares and thor and obw..

HailMary

brytulok1272k wrote:

I heard also about the upcoming nerf for c mags but those 2 are my only high lvl 3* w/ decent cover..i play w/ obw/thor or ares..my hulk is 4/2/4 now currently lvl 77 and my c mags is also 4/2/4 now ( i got a 2 cover from the last event) currently lvl 53..actually my iso is almost 200k+..my other 3* w/ complete color covers are psyduck 2/1/3, dd 3/1/2 and patch 1/3/1..i have only 6 2* 85-ish..a.wolvi, c.storm, mnmags, ares and thor and obw..

6 L85's is more than enough. You have every high-tier 2*, so a 3* isn't going to help you in PVP unless it's above L100. Keep in mind that leveling a 3* from scratch to L141 requires 170K+ Iso, so once you've got a 3* past at/past 10 covers with a good cover distribution, that Iso stockpile will shrink very quickly.

Unknown

In short, level Hulk....

Long (and more useful) answer....

For PvP C.Mags is one of the weaker 3* heroes on defence, his long animations are generally more annoying than his abilities . Where he shines is on offence BUT he is TOTALLY dependent on strike tiles to shine. If you don't have a Laken, Patch, i guess Sentry or at a stretch Punisher to go with him he's a single target nuke (purple) and not much more. He is not a good 1st 3* to level as he stands.

Hulk on the other hand has arguably the shittiest red attack going but his green is decent enough and he is effective on offence AND defence (when you get enough black). Being a mass of health with a reactive ability like anger is a good deterrent (as much as anything is).

Then there is the BIG issue of C.Mags impending nerf. It's been on the cards for some time, IceX suggested a month or 2 when he did his Q&A and it might ruin the hero. Looking at prior nerfs only 1 hero ended up fairly balanced (A.Wolivie) one was left a bit too good (Thor) and the others were absolutely gutted. Latest nerf made spiderman almost unusably bad so I would NOT level a C.Mags in your position(s) til I knew what was coming. Picking him as your first levelled 3* is way too risky.

EDIT: Just to be clear i'm only saying I think Hulk is the best 3* to level first of your options. If I had a completely free choice of a 3* to level first my top 3 would be L.Thor (best 3* and by far the best 3* in isolation), then L.Daken (easy damage, saves on health packs, works GREAT with OBW cause of strikes and Espionage), then third choice Punisher (works with almost anyone else and solid hero (also good with OBW cause of strikes)).

Unknown

Hulk is so bad on offense. I don't like him at all.

CMags is nice and until he is nerfed you'll get a lot of mileage out of him i'd say.

But that's just my opinion.

How do you like Hulk in the current PvE that should be your way to decide it imo.

cmags buffed in pvp hulk in pve just try them both and make a decision

Unknown

bonfire01 wrote:

For PvP C.Mags is one of the weaker 3* heroes on defence, his long animations are generally more annoying than his abilities . Where he shines is on offence BUT he is TOTALLY dependent on strike tiles to shine. If you don't have a Laken, Patch, i guess Sentry or at a stretch Punisher to go with him he's a single target nuke (purple) and not much more. He is not a good 1st 3* to level as he stands.

I disagree, cMags is absolutely not dependent on strike tiles at all. Yes, they certainly help him, but he's in no way reliant on them. I run a 141 5/3/5 cMags with a 141 3/5/5 Thor and they work well together. I use cMags blue as an AP generator, creating critical tiles and clearing rows, while also being able to deal with enemy countdowns. If you play him right you can generate AP of all colours pretty quickly, which for someone like LT is a huge bonus.

Yes, cMags is awesome if I run him with my 141 Patch, but he's definitely not reliant on a strike tile generator to be effective. That being said, if I had the covers for him, I would certainly level Laken to 141 and pair him with cMags and Thor, so I'd get the best of all worlds.

Unknown

egal27 wrote:

Hulk is so bad on offense. I don't like him at all.

I wouldn't say Hulk is bad on offense exactly, it's just that there are a lot of characters with better use for green than Hulk. His ability to destroy some tiles and cause cascades is pretty useful. It is on defence where he shines though, especially with 5 black. Unless your opponent can put him away in one or two turns he's certainly going to be generating a lot of green which will likely cause a fair amount of damage against the enemy team when used.

Unknown

I still feel confused..hehe..i feel for cmags but im afraid of the coming nerf for him..but i like the anger of hulk..hmmmm...

Unknown

I'd say it depends on your MMR/target PVP scores aswell. Once you get beyond a certain point, there is no way to stop taking defensive losses. Although hulk may put those transitioning from 2* to 3* off of attacking you, anybody with an established 3* team will not blink at hulk - I see him as a gift because he will do no damage to me while I build up AP to kill him in one turn unless I am stupid enough to let him collect green at which point he does some menial damage. It is nice to get defensive wins but you have to continuously tank to be able to ensure this and even then once you reach 900 in PVP you will get hit hard and fast.
If you are planning to score >900 or dont want to tank then do not go with Hulk as you will not benefit from him as much as someone who will help you climb quickly before you shield up.

Unknown

Hmmm..but those two are my only high lvl 3* w/ 10 covers..if i lvl up c.mags, is it ok to pair him w/ obw? The fact that their colors are the same, is it ok? How about hulk? Is it ok to pair him w/ obw?

Unknown

DaveyPitch wrote:

bonfire01 wrote:

For PvP C.Mags is one of the weaker 3* heroes on defence, his long animations are generally more annoying than his abilities . Where he shines is on offence BUT he is TOTALLY dependent on strike tiles to shine. If you don't have a Laken, Patch, i guess Sentry or at a stretch Punisher to go with him he's a single target nuke (purple) and not much more. He is not a good 1st 3* to level as he stands.

I disagree, cMags is absolutely not dependent on strike tiles at all. Yes, they certainly help him, but he's in no way reliant on them. I run a 141 5/3/5 cMags with a 141 3/5/5 Thor and they work well together. I use cMags blue as an AP generator, creating critical tiles and clearing rows, while also being able to deal with enemy countdowns. If you play him right you can generate AP of all colours pretty quickly, which for someone like LT is a huge bonus.

Yes, cMags is awesome if I run him with my 141 Patch, but he's definitely not reliant on a strike tile generator to be effective. That being said, if I had the covers for him, I would certainly level Laken to 141 and pair him with cMags and Thor, so I'd get the best of all worlds.

2 words... too slow 8). C.Mags has long animations for everything including his blue although I agree you can generate AP of other colours (if the board cooperates. No guarantee of a 5 match let alone a straight 5 and 4 matches will reduce your stock of blue ap as you go along. Once you are matching away blues there will be less and less on the board making restocking them increasingly awkward.). Without strikes you're only really getting damage done unless you're making crit tiles and matching a pair of 3's to gain 1 blue AP and look to continue your turn isn't doing a great deal of damage and is eating up time.

From the point of view of trying to win a game quickly, making a 4 match with magneto's blue takes longer than making a match, letting the ai have a turn and making another match (if you're playing fast). So if you don't have strikes to be getting damage out of that time spent it's not great for higher point value PvP IMO. It does reduce damage taken in a match i'll admit but when shield hopping that's not my number 1 concern compared to speed of victory.

brytulok1272k wrote:

Hmmm..but those two are my only high lvl 3* w/ 10 covers..if i lvl up c.mags, is it ok to pair him w/ obw? The fact that their colors are the same, is it ok? How about hulk? Is it ok to pair him w/ obw?

Not really. OBW does pitiful damage without strike tiles + espionage and C.Mags only offers damage from MT (purple skill) unless you have strike tiles for his red and blue. That means your OBW + C.Mags team is heavily reliant on your featured hero for damage in PvP and since you don't have a bunch of decent 3* heroes that's not going to achieve much. I would prefer to use OBW + Ares over OBW + a 100 ish level C.Mags.

Incidentally C.Mags has low damage for purple so they actually only overlap on blue when it comes to tile damage.

My best piece of advice to you would be save your ISO and try to get covers for a more suitable 1st 3* hero. A 10 cover Hulk or Mags won't help you with gaining covers IMO as both are probably inferior to an 85 Ares for PvP alongside OBW. You're a bit beholden to luck or whatever they choose as a PvP reward but Punisher, L.Thor or L.Daken would be ideal. Even a Patch is a better fit with OBW as a first 3* than either of the heroes you're proposing because of strikes + espionage.

Eventually ISO becomes the biggest limiting factor to progress. I, personally, am missing 1 falcon cover, 6 HT covers and 5 sentry covers then all my 3* heroes would be 13/13. I have 2x141 heroes, a 120 then a bunch in the 90-110 region and downwards from there. ISO is precious so it might be worth holding on for the best possible use of yours.