Marvel Knockout Quarter-Final 1: Defenders vs Guardians of the Galaxy

There's blood on the ice, and everyone wants the Zamboni!

Defenders vs Guardians of the Galaxy

They don't fool me. 

They don't have masks on, people tell me. Look, Jonah, it's what you've been asking for all along - a simple bit of honesty from these people. Let's see their true faces, you say, and now they're finally doing it! Surely, time to celebrate!

Groot, Gamora, Luke Cage - sure, not a pantelone amongst them. Just look at the company they’re keeping though. Speaks volumes, doesn’t it? The true masks are on their hearts, friends, and I for one won’t be fooled by a fair face.

Are you going to tell me that raccoon isn’t always masked? Or that Ghost Rider didn’t take his big reveal a little too far?

--- J. Jonah Jameson

Defenders

The first team to qualify (and one of only three that I, Stylus, still command - my win record in the qualifiers was not good) are back: Ghost Rider, Luke Cage, Daredevil and Moon Knight. Their affiliation ability rewards close-quarters action, so I'll have to get in there and mix it up.

Tactics are: Cover Me, Mystic Ward, Street Smarts, Highway to Hell and Deal with the Devil

Guardians of the Galaxy

Nebula is on the bench this time, as the Threat Level has dropped to 15. So we're back to the core team: Groot, Rocket, Gamora, Star-Lord and Drax. Once again commanded by Pootle. I've added a few comments as we go in bold.

Tactics are: Crew of the Milano, Galaxy’s Greatest, Daughters of Thanos, Deadly Duo, We Are Groot

Deployment

I'm randomising the crises as much as possible, but we're coming back around to some favourites. Our first crisis is Research Station Attacked! - which was last seen with the Defenders. You have to secure (but can't pick up) the researcher token in the centre - if you are securing it, you gain 2VP and can move it a little way across the board. If you get the researcher close enough to the Evac objective (we each have one on our respective far sides of the board), it's worth a bonus 1VP.

To balance it out, the other crisis is one the Guardians succeeded with: Infinity Formula Goes Missing! - a straightforward secure objective mission, with the added bonus of some extra power. 

The three heavy hitters - Gamora, Groot and Drax - take up a central position facing the scientist.

Star-Lord takes up a supervising role from the top of the building to the right.

Rocket sneaks around the generators to the left, ready to rush an Infinity Cannister. 

This deployment surprised Stylus slightly as Rocket is vulnerable by himself, but can force Groot to take hits if he's nearby. My thinking is that I can emphasise my superiority in numbers by splitting up and keeping Rocket at the back (with his very long ranged gun); let's see how that works out!

Directly opposite are Daredevil and Ghost Rider.

Luke Cage and Moon Knight take up positions on the other flank.

Round 1

The first turn starts cautiously, with Moon Knight and Star-Lord tentatively taking up positions on their respective Infinity Canisters.

Daredevil swings over to lie in ambush for Rocket, who grabs his Infinity Cannister and clips a wound off ol' hornhead. Going back to my deployment notes, I was somewhat perturbed to see Daredevil get so close immediately - I'd assumed he'd hang back on the Infinity Cannister nearest his deployment zone: gulp!

And then caution is thrown to the wind somewhat. Neither side wants to give up the points to be had for the scientist, so Gamora, Drax, Groot, Ghost Rider and Luke Cage all scramble in to claim him. 

The Guardians win out, by weight of numbers, but things could get spicy in the next turn.

And so, with the Scientist secured, the Guardians take an early lead in VP. They also elect not to move the Scientist to their Exac token, since moving to escort him there would take up valuable actions that could be better used to punch things.

Defenders 1 : 4 Guardians of the Galaxy

Round 2

The second round immediately kicks off with Ghost Rider tearing across the battlefield to pick on Rocket (I had memories of what he was capable of, so want to take advantage of catching him without his arboreal bodyguard). Sure enough, Rocket is dazed with a single strike of the Chains of Damnation, with the Flames of Hell putting some hurt on Groot for good measure. 

In response, Gamora and Groot start battering Luke Cage, who remains on his feet with enough power to launch a Sweet Christmas attack on Drax and daze him too!

With two Guardians down in quick succession, the Defenders make a play to get hold of the Scientist. Daredevil's baton hook can't move Gamora, but Moon Knight sprints over to push her away with his Avatar of Khonshu.

Having seen the rest of his team do the hard work, Star-Lord jets in to take the last wound of Cage and daze him with his Element Gun.

That last action took the Scientist out of the Defenders' control. In fact, it was only Daredevil's Infinity Cannister that claimed any points this round. 

It's not usual to be so low-scoring, and it's about to get wild.

Defenders 2 : 4 Guardians of the Galaxy

Round 3

Sensing extinction is imminent, Rocket hits Moon Knight with is Hadron Enforcer, then teams up with Groot for their rightly-feared Deadly Duo attack. 

Spraying everywhere, Rocket blasts, Luke Cage, Moon Knight and then Daredevil - but then the Man Without Fear uses his power to strike back at his assailant. Groot is now close enough to take the hit on Rocket's behalf, but may regret it when he gets dazed himself! I forgot about Daredevil's Man Without Fear ability; I'd've been much better off just spending the power elsewhere.

Once again robbed of his bodyguard, Rocket is easy pickings for Ghost Rider, who KOs him and moves back into the centre melee.

Needing to even the scales, Gamora cuts loose on Daredevil, and dazes him with her Cosmic Assassin ability, before turning the riposte on Moon Knight. Cage intervenes to take the hit, but can't afford to do so a second time, and Gamora dazes Moon Knight too! That's two characters down before they could activate, and the impetus is back with the plucky heroes.

Things are going bad for the Defenders, and it proves to be only a few stops more to worse. Drax clobbers Luke Cage, knocking him out of the game, then Star-Lord unleashes Full Auto on Ghost Rider, dazing him too. That's the whole team!

The Guardians rack up another two points for securing the Scientist, but it doesn't feel like this one is getting decided on VP.

Defenders 2 : 6 Guardians of the Galaxy

Round 4

Bouncing back to his feet, Daredevil jumps into the fray and uses Devil's Deliverance (aka That Corridor Scene). Lashing out at everyone, with increased attacks for additional enemies, he KOs Drax and dazes Gamora. He would have taken out Groot too, but the tree has the ability to heal his own wounds, which has infuriatingly brought him back from the brink a few times.

Ghost Rider then gets into the action and hits Star-Lord with a Penance Stare that dazes him too. That's two of the three remaining Guardians dazed, and no-one securing any objectives (are we even still counting the VP?)

Defenders 2 : 6 Guardians of the Galaxy

Round 5

Crucially, it's the Guardians who start proceedings, and with his customary battle-cry of I Am Groot, Groot smashes down Ghost Rider. 

It's at this point I make the potentially unwise decision to play the Deal With The Devil card that allows Ghost Rider to possesses any allied character - in this case, Daredevil. I think Daredevil might have been more valuable as a final character - but that card was too cool not to use.

One possession later and the newly-reborn Ghost Rider takes another swing at Groot and then tears off to grab an Infinity Cannister and stay out of range of reprisals. Gamora and Star-Lord eschew pursuit and grab a couple of Infinity Cannisters too, so there's actually some points on the board!

Defenders 3 : 10 Guardians of the Galaxy

Round 6

It's all over bar the screeching tyres, so Ghost Rider cruises back in to KO Groot (finally!) and take control of the Scientist (a little too late).

With the clock run out, the Guardians take a convincing - and fairly bloody - win into the semi-finals.

Defenders 5 : 12 Guardians of the Galaxy

Back at the Bullpen

Yikes, that was some rough stuff! My battle plan was to secure the Scientist at all costs, and it turns out Pootle had the same idea and neither one of us was prepared to give ground. It would be interesting to see how it would have turned out if one player had gone for the Cannisters instead (three of them would be the same as a Scientist on the Evac site), but it became a huge melee in the most unusual game I've played so far.

I watched the Defenders' last outing against Kraken's Sinister Six a few weeks ago (playing the same capture-the-scientist scenario) and saw how important it was to grab the Doc (not that one); as I was starting with five heroes to Stylus's four, I thought I'd see if I could use my big three to muscle him off. I am intrigued to think what would have happened if Stylus had changed plan when he saw me crowding the centre and picked off the Infinity Cannisters, but this way was fun!

I thought I was doing well with some early bouts, especially as Cage and Daredevil are both good brawlers. Ultimately, I think what tipped it against me is that Gamora, Drax and Groot are pretty good at fisticuffs too, and with Groot's regrowth ability, I was on the losing side of that attrition.

I really thought I was in trouble on turn 2 when Rocket and Drax were dazed with relative ease. The former was my fault from deployment and I definitely made a mistake in splitting Rocket and Groot; I knew he wouldn't be long for the game by that point. Fortunately despite losing Groot before he activated in turn 3, I somehow managed to daze the entirety of the Defenders team. One thing we talked about here was that I had the opportunity to daze Moon Knight at the end of turn 2 but decided to focus on Cage instead and leave Moon Knight (on only 1 or 2 stamina) for later. This was a good move as he'd already activated in turn 2, but then proved an easy kill at the top of turn 3, which preventing him activating at all that turn. One thing I'm really loving about MCP is the tactics about deciding which characters to activate first.

Great fun though and, though I'll miss the Defenders, I'm glad we'll get to see more of the Guardians in the future.

Absolutely, that was a really fun game. I really thought I'd be up against it in this game, so was very surprised to come away with the win. Stylus had said in our previous game that despite appearances, games are won or lost on playing the objectives, so it's nice to prove him wrong on occasion! Thanks again for hosting.

...

They say they’re here to guard us, but first chance they get, they tear down the defences. Say what you like about them, at least Cage and his pals were Earthers. Who asked these intergalactic interlopers to butt in anyway?

I might not shed a tear nor send a wreath, but the Bugle blows last post for the Devil of Hells Kitchen, bludgeoned down by costumed freaks. As ye reap, so shall ye sow!

J. Jonah Jameson