Solo vs Multi-Player w/ Data Analytics

By IceHot42, in Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Posted at
5 hours ago, IceHot42 said:

It is still appreciated.

I gave it a try myself last night. I do see how this combo could work (although I wasnt using pre-cons). It felt like it was working, but I think the combination of me being less experienced and possibly more unlucky got in my way.

I had a good opening hand for Hulk (marginal for Cappy) favoring Immovable Object. Third turn I was able to get Hawkeye out, but Ultron flipped Advanced and 2-boost which moved to Stage IIb fairly quickly. Hawkeye held serve and I was onto Squirrel Girl right behind. I had a decent board built: 2x Super Serums, Av Tower, Nick, Doreen, and Hawkeye ready to chump, plus a Brawn and Tigra. There was a decent amount of threat on stage IIb, but I was ready to move through that as long as I stayed in hero mode one more turn. Hulk soaked up his attack (the retaliate put Ultron in a range that was likely going to finish Ultron II next turn) and I blocked with Nick for Cappy. I still had blockers with a 4-Health Hulk, if I ran into Gang up or Assault. But instead Hulk flipped Caught off Guard (which I was) and that was the end of Hulk, which was followed by an Assault which was boosted by a Concussion blast into a Doreen block. With Cappy now at 2-health left that was more or less it.

Ill give it a go again soon. My son was up for trying Hawkeye and Jessica against Crossbones, so we will likely work through that again.

If I keep failing I will likely spin off a play-by-play thread and we can figure out where my choice need improvement. But as of right now my feeling is that you are just a bad barometer.

*checking my notes this was actually the first run we did against Ultron/Bomb Scare, hopefully I can get the matchup to a respectable 1-2 or 1-3.

I mean, if it were impossible for things to go belly up, it wouldn't be a game right? :D

A few suggestions for coping (especially in solo, two-handed):
1a) When possible, remember to take advantage of a lull and your heroes rest up time. Meaning, just because you 'can' stay in hero mode for one more round, doesn't necessarily mean you 'should'.
1b) When my only means of healing is Recovery, I like to plan to maximize the use of that stat. i.e. Bruce Banner recovers for 4, 6 with his lab. So once you've suffered more than 6 damage, it's probably a good idea to flip back and heal at the first opportunity. (Preferably on a turn where you don't 'need' to use Hulk's basic ATK/DEF, so that you aren't either pigeonholed into using it the next turn, possibly losing out on a Hulk Smash opportunity, or, more frustrating than losing an opportunity, drawing an Exhaustion, forcing you into remaining in Alter-Ego mode for a turn you didn't want to.)

2) Get a piece of paper and write down the upper and lower bounds of a villain's ATK/SCH outcomes. This way you can, at a glance, recognize how dangerously close to the villain advancing/defeating a hero. When I don't think about that factor, I find that I take risks I shouldn't have (because the odds were definitely not in my favor). But knowing that, in tandem with knowing the percentage of cards with boost outcomes, can help you make an informed decision on whether or not to risk it for the biscuit.

Posted at
17 hours ago, Derrault said:

I mean, if it were impossible for things to go belly up, it wouldn't be a game right? :D

A few suggestions for coping (especially in solo, two-handed):
1a) When possible, remember to take advantage of a lull and your heroes rest up time. Meaning, just because you 'can' stay in hero mode for one more round, doesn't necessarily mean you 'should'.
1b) When my only means of healing is Recovery, I like to plan to maximize the use of that stat. i.e. Bruce Banner recovers for 4, 6 with his lab. So once you've suffered more than 6 damage, it's probably a good idea to flip back and heal at the first opportunity. (Preferably on a turn where you don't 'need' to use Hulk's basic ATK/DEF, so that you aren't either pigeonholed into using it the next turn, possibly losing out on a Hulk Smash opportunity, or, more frustrating than losing an opportunity, drawing an Exhaustion, forcing you into remaining in Alter-Ego mode for a turn you didn't want to.)

2) Get a piece of paper and write down the upper and lower bounds of a villain's ATK/SCH outcomes. This way you can, at a glance, recognize how dangerously close to the villain advancing/defeating a hero. When I don't think about that factor, I find that I take risks I shouldn't have (because the odds were definitely not in my favor). But knowing that, in tandem with knowing the percentage of cards with boost outcomes, can help you make an informed decision on whether or not to risk it for the biscuit.

I'll just note that my google sheet has some calculations on boost value spread by scenario and module:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_7hNULvEo363mOEATd5QeGF9zJsjbaIcfkJOCpz6cSk/edit?usp=sharing

I might see about making a sheet which would calculate things based on drop downs...

Posted at

I ran Hulk/Cappy 3 more plays and was able to beat Ultron...so 1-2 two-handed solo (which isnt bad).

I can see where solo 2-handed is a slight bit easier than 2 view points that can fail to communicate a tactical play. Plus my son is real good at making sure I dont miss villain triggers.

Still It felt like two heroes (even 2-handed solo) was harder than true solo.

So for multi-player for now we are on to RotR which has been a lot of fun so far.

Ill probably run each Hero solo through RotR to see how far they get with only one free pass per scenario.

But this will be limited as my LotR campaign is firing back up tonight (it could take us a bit to finish HoN/Against the Shadow Block).

Posted at
19 hours ago, IceHot42 said:

Still It felt like two heroes (even 2-handed solo) was harder than true solo.

interesting line...I have personally found the opposite for the most part, with the following caveat; different scenarios scale differently. Example: I have run through Rise of Red Skull, first with Captain America/Black Widow because...they are Cap and BW v Red Skull. Crossbones was only scenario that was really problematic and even that was done with only low percentage chance (if he flopped back to back 3-pip cards).
also ran it with Hawkeye/Spiderwoman, and pretty much easy. But solo I cannot see how I could keep up with Crossbones' weapons...have to take him out super quick.

Tomorrow I am running it 6 player (both brothers, nephew, couple friends) and I ran all 6 through the scenarios to test it...with more players, Crossbones gets easier...but Taskmaster, Absorbing Man, Zola get harder. Red Skull was no challenge at all.

The point being...and this is not directed at you, I am just basing it on the thought...I think the scenarios actually scale differently for different numbers of players. Some are easier solo, some much more difficult. I also think certain cards are made stronger/weaker based on number of players. Black Widow spamming Pheromones in a solo buys you two turns of just 1 encounter card and threat....two player she buys a free turn for both....but get to 4 players, two people are still dealing with attack or threat.

At the same time, in solo her knocking 3-4 threat per turn with ease is extremely powerful...much less in a larger game. I find this relevant because the first consideration in any given turn is making sure I am not losing. So I deal with threat/HP issues first, then minions and last is attacking the villain as a general rule. This oft leads to the villain hanging out near max hp for much of the game and then being taken out in essentially two bursts. It does elongate the game, but I seldom threat out and seldom lose a hero.

For that approach, the game definitely scales. Rhino is no challenge at all with 2 or more heroes as it is quite easy to keep his threat under control. One player, an ill timed double Advance would suck but is so unlikely as to never happen. Conversely, Taskmaster spamming Side Schemes is extremely difficult solo/2-handed but much easier with more members.

TL:DR point; I find various scenarios scale differently, some being much more difficult solo and others much more difficult with more members

Posted at
On 9/16/2020 at 4:26 PM, Tonbo Karasu said:

I'll just note that my google sheet has some calculations on boost value spread by scenario and module:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_7hNULvEo363mOEATd5QeGF9zJsjbaIcfkJOCpz6cSk/edit?usp=sharing

I might see about making a sheet which would calculate things based on drop downs...

So, I've put in a tab called \ Scenario Numbers / which has drop downs to select the scenario and modules in column B. I don't know whether people viewing the shared document can change them. Would someone be able to check and tell me whether you can alter the scenario? If not, I'll need to work on how to make it available.

Posted at
On 9/18/2020 at 12:30 PM, darthweasel2 said:

... Crossbones

We are just starting RotR.

I think the scenarios actually scale differently for different numbers of players.

I would agree this particular comment was directed at Ultron Expert.

Rhino is no challenge at all with 2 or more...

The easy ones for us (multiplayer) so far have been Rhino, Risky Business, and Wrecking Crew.

Klaw feels about the same difficulty.

Ultron feels harder to me multiplayer.

Mutagen which is tough either way for me feels much harder solo.

Posted at
On 9/19/2020 at 3:25 AM, Tonbo Karasu said:

So, I've put in a tab called \ Scenario Numbers / which has drop downs to select the scenario and modules in column B. I don't know whether people viewing the shared document can change them. Would someone be able to check and tell me whether you can alter the scenario? If not, I'll need to work on how to make it available.

Not able to change them in view only, but I still love that sheet