Hello Champions, BananaCrapshoot here to bring you another article for The Side Scheme. As you probably know a bunch of content creators for the game are coming together for a collaborative effort and the focus is Klaw. So to kick off our part of #klawyourwaythroughmay I’m starting a new series Plan of Attack, what this series will be is a quick synopsis of the villain, what makes them unique or difficult, how they change from stage to stage and strategies or tips to be successful in your quest to thwart their schemes. The first one is obviously Klaw so let’s get started.
The Villain and Main Scheme:
Most people start their Marvel Champions journey with Rhino, once they figure him out they move on to the next villain in the core set, which for most people is Klaw.
Starting with stage 1, where you start in Rookie or Standard game modes. And Right off the bat on stage 1 we see his SCH of 2 and that is the same for stage 2 as well, his ATK of 0 with that forced interrupt, so he sees 2 boost cards each activation when attacking, this can be quite brutal and is definitely a big change in mechanics from the straightforward Rhino. He keeps this Forced Interrupt through stage 3, getting an additional 1 base ATK each stage. Also worth noting for clarification you have to declare if you are defending or using a blocker before the boost cards are revealed.
Moving to stage 2, where you end in standard or start in expert, we see he gets a base ATK of 1 and keeps that forced interrupt. The big change here is the side scheme The Immortal Klaw which has an acceleration icon, starts with 3 threat/player and gives klaw +10 health. This means on expert you are stating with 2 side schemes in play. The other being Defense Network which has a crisis icon and enters play with 2 threat on it plus an additional 1/player. Defense network isn’t that intimidating until you need to handle the main scheme but dealing with The Immortal Klaw is usually my top priority.
Stage 3 is where the last stage for expert mode, Klaw keeps his double boost cards for his ATK activations and gets a 3 SCH. Now he also starts with tough. The tough isn’t a big deal but that 3 SCH can be backbreaking if you advance Klaw to stage 3 without a handle on the board Starr and if there’s advances left in the encounter deck you could be looking at game over if you can’t take out Klaw.
For the main scheme you will see 1A puts Defense Network into play and 1B has first player discard cards until they get a minion, then that minion is put into play engaged with that player. Stage 2A does the same thing as 1B.
Klaw is really unique in his ability to cycle his Encounter deck, you start the game digging for minions and then Klaw gets 2 boost cards each ATK activation so he burns through that deck fast. Plan on dealing with acceleration tokens when you play Klaw. Klaw only has one more minion in his deck than Rhino but it feels like more due to the Weapons Runner boost effect which puts it into play with the player that activation, you already see more cards from his double boost and if you see Weapons Runner as an encounter card it surges.
The Gameplan:
Now that we know what Klaw does and how the game is going to start we can try to come up with a gameplan for dealing with Klaw. I will look at Rookie, Standard, and Expert starts. Giving a few suggestions or ideas on how to handle Klaw from the start of the game.
stage 1:
So Rookie only deals with stage 1 Klaw, so you will have 1 minion in play, Underground Distribtuon main scheme, and Defense Network Side Scheme.
You have some time here to set up and get going. Take care of defense network and manage scheme threat until you are ready to go off on Klaw. Handle minions as they come out. Nothing too crazy this stage.
stage 2:
You definitely want to get rid of the immortal klaw as fast as possible, next I’d take care of the minion if starting expert here. His average attack will be 3 here with potential max of 7. so keep that in mind when he attacks and try stay ready as much as you can going into encounter cards, or save an ally for encounter card attacks. He has stuff that will exhaust you or attack you with a kicker if it deals damage. You don’t have as much time to set up here as his double boost will hit harder and the immortal klaw if not removed speeds up his clock.
Stage 3:
Average ATK of 4 with max potential of 8 without upgrades. Hes gonna hit hard and fast here so you better be set up and ready to take him out in 2 turns or there’s a chance you will get behind here. His scheme of 3 is also huge if you hit the advance in a tight spot. I generally avoid minions unless they have guard when I’m on stage 3 as much as possible so I can take his health down fast.
General Tips:
Like all the scenarios cards that stun or confuse the villain are good, but especially stunning klaw, it saves you 2 cards an attack activation so you don’t see those acceleration tokens as fast.
Try and save an ally to block off an attack from an encounter card if you can. This avoids being exhausted or stunned by klaws vengeance and sonic converter.
The modular sets also greatly increase or reduce difficulty. Masters of Evil is recommended and is fine, and can get crazy in heroic with the minion swarms. Doomsday chair and power drain are also brutal combinations with Klaw.
I think that will do it for this one, just a general overview with some tips for taking on Klaw as we #klawyourwaythroughmay. Hope you enjoyed it or picked up an idea to use in your games. Stay Scheming Champions.