Alliance War Defense Teams

Intro

Preparing War Defenses is not always an easy task, especially if we’re talking about competitive War Alliances. We always need to consider having a proper balance. Focusing solely on either Defense or Offense might work for you, but it might hurt your Alliance as a whole, especially when you’re not utilizing your roster to it’s full potential. Doing that is not easy, especially nowadays when a lot of War-specific teams are incredible on both – Offense and Defense. However, that mustn’t stop us from trying!

On this page, we will provide a list of the Best War Defense teams you can have while also maintaining a healthy chunk of your roster for offensive purposes.

War Season – Frightful Fight

Every 3-4 Months, we get a new War Season that aims to refresh the War a little by changing some Room Rules and providing various defensive and/or offensive bonuses to specific teams or for certain Traits.

The current season, “Frightful Fight,” begins on November 30th and introduces changes to the cohesion of defensive teams. Specifically, the teams: Thunderbolt, Astral, Starjammer, Insidious Six, and Infestation will receive a +30% bonus to their stats when all members are present. So this Season we expect a bunch of Thunderbolt, Astral, Starjammer, Insidious Six, and Infestation teams in defense, but complete teams, not combined with other characters.

Meanwhile, the teams: Liberty, A-Force, Mighty Avenger, Undying and Secret Warrior will gain a +30% bonus to their stats while attacking, regardless of whether the full team is present. This means you can mix characters from these teams with plug-and-play characters and they can still benefit from the bonuses.

This distinction reduces the complexity of theory-crafting, as the specified teams in many cases will be fully intact in Defense to receive their bonuses and will not be mixed with additional plug-and-play characters. Consequently, this greatly simplifies the situation for attackers.

Regarding Global Rules:

On Turn, apply Assist Now to a random BRIMSTONE ally. Brimstone, which is already the strongest War team in the game, will become even stronger with this buff, as they’ll be able to assist each other (as long as the opponent doesn’t prevent Assists, of course).

Rule for an Upcoming war team.

Rule for an Upcoming defending War team. 

+20% Primary Stats to DEFENDING INSIDIOUS SIX and Upcoming team allies. Insidious Six and one more new team (which hasn’t been revealed yet) will get an additional 20% stat bonus when used on defense. This means Insidious Six will be the only defensive team that, when used in full, can have a total of +50% to their stats.

All teams we use on offense will get +20% Primary Stats, so expect easier wins and potentially a more complete cleanup of opposing Helcarriers.

Each new Season or team released can shake up War, so the list will continue to improve as time goes by.

Immortal Weapon

Characters left-to-right:

• Steel Serpent
• Lady Bullseye
• Sword Master
• Iron Fist (WWII)
• Iron Fist

Immortal Weapon is a team specialized for Raids, but they can also find value as a War defensive team. They offer excellent healing and sustain, along with top-tier mitigation.

Strengths – They do have a strong advantage: On Spawn, they gain both Safeguard and Immunity. This combo makes it much harder for many faster teams to eliminate them easily, even if those teams usually rely on quick control. All things considered, Immortal Weapon is a solid defensive option for War.

Weakeness – Their main drawback is their Speed, which means War-specialized teams or faster teams with good control can potentially defeat them. They prevent opponents from passively increasing their Speed stat, but they can’t stop enemies from manipulating the Speed Bar—either their own or their opponents’. This means they’re still vulnerable to Speed Bar manipulation, so you shouldn’t expect too much from them in that regard.

Replacements – You can swap out one character—usually Iron Fist (WWII)—and replace him with a strong plug-and-play character to further strengthen the team. For example, pairing them with Mephisto can also give the team a significant power boost.

Brimstone

Characters left-to-right:

• Living Mummy
• Strange (Heartless)
• Daimon Hellstrom
• Elsa Bloodstone
• Hellcat

Brimstone is currently the strongest War team in the game. They have excellent stats and top-tier abilities that are significantly enhanced in War. The team can be used both offensively and defensively and is capable of defeating almost any opponent.

Strengths – Brimstone prevents enemies from filling their own Speed Bar or reducing your team’s Speed Bar. Additionally, opponents cannot increase their Speed Stat, cannot assist, cannot gain Deathproof, and cannot get Speed Up. The whole team has incredible damage potential, with passively increased Speed, Crit Chance, and Crit Damage. On top of that, Daimon and Hellcat are extremely fast characters, so they will take turns before most other characters in the game. Their abilities are specifically designed to counter almost all of the strongest War opponents. You don’t even need to bring all five Brimstone characters to receive their bonuses—just four are enough. Currently, there is no stronger War team than Brimstone.

Weakeness – However, despite all their strengths, Brimstone has one very obvious weakness: they cannot prevent enemies from reducing their Speed Stat. This makes Emma Frost especially effective against them, since she can reduce the entire team’s Speed by 10%. Certain teams featuring Emma Frost can defeat Brimstone. Also, Daimon Hellstrom needs to take the first turn to use his Ultimate and remove two positive effects from all enemies (countering Safeguard). If any opponent plays before him, he won’t be able to do this, so there are ways to beat this seemingly unbeatable team.

Replacements – To solve this issue, you can swap out Elsa Bloodstone for Apocalypse. Apocalypse prevents enemies from reducing your team’s Speed Stat, effectively covering Brimstone’s only major weakness. This creates a very strong War defense team that can potentially secure you a win. If opponents attack this team with a full Brimstone squad, it all comes down to luck—whichever Daimon takes the first turn will likely decide the outcome.

In summary, Brimstone is a powerhouse War team with only a few counters. By adding Apocalypse, you cover their biggest weakness and create a formidable War defense.

Insidious Six

Characters left-to-right:

• Scorpion
• Superior Spider-Man
• Hobgoblin

The Insidious Six are very powerful characters, especially considering they belong to the Sinister Six group. To create the best synergy, you should add one Superior Six character—such as Green Goblin (Classic), Vulture, Spider-Slayer, or Lizard—since Superior Spider-Man already has the Superior Six tag. By including one Superior Six character, you can also add an additional Sinister Six member to form an excellent defensive team. For example, adding Green Goblin (Classic) and Vulture would give the team strong synergy.

While many players will utilize this team offensively, it is also a great option for defense.

Strengths – They are a fast team capable of dealing massive damage and applying constant passive damage, while also healing themselves and filling their Speed Bar. They are particularly difficult to face because they can quickly inflict a large number of debuffs and heavy damage on their opponents.

Weakeness – They cannot prevent opponents from increasing their Speed Stat or Speed Bar, so teams with this ability will be able to act before them and control the match. While this team does have Immunity on Spawn—which makes it harder for opponents to apply debuffs at first—they lack additional protection. Removing Immunity from enemies is usually not a big challenge. For this reason, it’s a good idea to add Kraven the Hunter, who is also a Superior Six member and provides Safeguard to all allies on Spawn, as well as Doctor Octopus, who can further boost the team’s Health.

Replacements – Since there are only three of them, there’s no need to replace anyone. Instead, you should simply add some Superior or Sinister Six characters to the team, as mentioned earlier. This way, you strengthen the team while keeping the core members intact.

Hellfire Club

Characters left-to-right:

• Sebastian Shaw
• Emma Frost
• Azazel
• Madelyne Pryor
• Rachel Summers

The Hellfire Club team is highly specialized for Raids, with Azazel and Rachel Summers being particularly effective in Cosmic Crucible. Emma Frost and Madelyne Pryor have specific bonuses in War Defense, making them a frequent choice for defensive setups in War.

Strengths – Sebastian Shaw provides robust protection and mitigation for the team, starting battles with Taunt and Charged status. While Charged, his mitigation is significantly enhanced, offering strong defense for the rest of the team. Emma Frost passively reduces the Speed stat of all opponents, while Azazel boosts his own Speed Bar at the start of the battle and can reduce the opposing team’s Speed Bar. The team is capable of dealing massive damage and has Drain mechanics, allowing them to heal when inflicting damage.

Rachel Summers counters enemy Support characters by preventing them from spawning with Immunity or filling their Speed Bar. She also blocks enemy Protectors from gaining Immunity and Safeguard on spawn. Additionally, Rachel passively attacks enemies with Stun or Speed Up during their turn, flipping three positive effects into negative ones. When any opponent gains Slow, Rachel applies Trauma and reduces their Speed Bar, making her a significant threat.

Weakeness – The primary drawback of the Hellfire Club is the lack of an exceptionally fast character in the team. Opponents who can act first and successfully control them have a good chance of defeating them. Another critical factor is ensuring that Azazel’s Speed Bar increase can be prevented by the opposing team.

Replacements – One member of the team can be replaced without losing all bonuses, making a strong plug-and-play character a valuable addition. In such cases, players often choose to remove Madelyne Pryor, though Emma Frost is sometimes substituted out as she is highly useful in offensive strategies. In that case, we could add Dormammu to the team (to grant them revive and disrupt the offensive strategy of attackers) or Cosmic Ghost Rider, who would prevent opponents from applying negative effects to the team and reduce their damage. Additionally, a Mythic character like Mephisto or Super Skrull could also be included in this team.

Fantastic Four (MCU)

Characters left-to-right:

• Franklin Richards
• Human Torch
• The Thing
• Invisible Woman (MCU)
• Mister Fantastic (MCU)

The Fantastic Four (MCU) is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, teams in the MSF game. They specialize in Arena but are also among the top teams for Crucible and War. Some players use them offensively in War, while others prefer them as a defensive option.

Strengths – Their strength lies in several factors: they boast massive damage output and start every battle protected by Mister Fantastic (MCU), who spawns with Taunt, 4 Deathproof stacks, and Safeguard. Franklin Richards significantly boosts the already impressive Speed of the entire team, while Invisible Woman delivers high damage capable of one-shotting many opponents. Human Torch assists all his Fantastic Four (MCU) allies, and The Thing passively increases his Speed Bar at the beginning of the fight, allowing him to act first and control the most dangerous enemy using his Ultimate ability. Additionally, their mitigation is excellent, primarily thanks to Mister Fantastic (MCU), and their sustain is strong since they gain extra Ability Energy, enabling frequent use of their abilities. In addition to all the mentioned abilities, this team can apply a particularly troublesome debuff called Silence. They also possess a Battlefield Effect that Franklin can apply to the enemy’s side of the battlefield, preventing opponents from assisting each other. In the Arena, this Battlefield Effect is even stronger, but its ability to block enemy assistance is highly valuable in War as well.

Weakeness – However, their main weakness is their inability to prevent opponents from filling their Speed Bar. Certain teams that can boost their own Speed Bar while simultaneously hindering The Thing’s Speed Bar increase can defeat them.

Replacements – To address this weakness, players often swap out one or two members of the team and add some of the strongest characters in the game (such as Professor Xavier) to create a War META Defense team. The Fantastic Four (MCU) only require three members to function effectively, so it’s common to see them paired defensively without The Thing or Human Torch, but alongside Professor Xavier, Nightcrawler, Odin, or Knull. A recommended pairing is with Professor Xavier and Nightcrawler, as Nightcrawler’s Passive negates negative Speed effects applied by characters like Emma Frost, while Professor Xavier’s Passive prevents opponents from filling their Speed Bar until he takes a turn. Franklin Richards further ensures that opponents cannot boost their Speed stats, making this combination one of the most challenging defenses to overcome.

Accursed

Characters left-to-right:

• Juggernaut
• Mordo
• Hellverine
• Satana
• The Hood

The Accursed team is primarily specialized for Crucible battles, but they are often encountered as a War defensive team.

Strengths – They are an intriguing group, starting the fight with Juggernaut’s Taunt, which provides a layer of protection. Additionally, thanks to Satana, they benefit from enhanced mitigation. While they are relatively slow, once they get their turn, they can wreak havoc on opponents by dealing massive damage and applying a variety of useful debuffs.

Weakeness – However, their lack of speed is their greatest weakness. They are vulnerable to fast teams or those capable of filling their Speed Bar, applying Speed Up, or controlling the Accursed team early in the fight. Any team with these capabilities can counter them effectively.

Replacements – To maximize the team’s potential, only four Accursed characters are needed to activate all team bonuses. This allows room for one strong plug-and-play character to be added. Azazel, who has the Accursed tag, is an excellent choice for inclusion. He boosts the team’s speed by filling his own Speed Bar at the start of battle and reducing the opponents’ Speed Bar with his abilities, narrowing the speed gap significantly. Another strong addition is Cosmic Ghost Rider, whose Passive ability prevents opponents from applying negative effects to the team in most cases and reduces incoming damage.

Thunderbolt

Characters left-to-right:

• Songbird
• Taskmaster
• Victoria Hand
• Ghost
• Hyperion

The Thunderbolt team has bonuses in Alliance War Season 9, making them effective when used offensively. However, some players might opt to deploy them defensively. Although they are primarily designed for raid situations, utilizing the full team yields beneficial bonuses.

Strengths – Their greatest strength lies in their cohesion as a complete unit. When all five characters are present, they cannot be affected by Ability Block or Trauma until it’s Songbird’s turn. They excel in damage output and boast strong mitigation through passive healing. Additionally, they can increase their own Speed Bar while reducing that of opponents, inflicting Ability Block and Blind on multiple enemies. These attributes place them in a formidable position for both offensive and defensive strategies. Their post-Ares statistics elevate their effectiveness above many other teams.

Weakeness – Conversely, their greatest weakness mirrors their greatest strength: they lose significant effectiveness when not deployed as a full team. Combining them with certain strong plug-and-play characters is generally unwise. Teams or characters that can negate Speed Bar manipulation in War will find it relatively easy to defeat the Thunderbolts.

Starjammer

Characters left-to-right:

• Rocket Racoon
• Havok
• Howard the Duck
• Lilandra
• Groot

The Starjammers will be the only defensive team in War Season 9 to receive a 50% stat bonus. When the full team is used, they are often seen as a defensive option. Since Starjammer characters are highly effective for the Xavier Saga, some players may upgrade them to Gear Tier 20, resulting in Overpower level 11 being present in some cases. This usually depends on a player’s progress in the Xavier Saga, but don’t be surprised if you encounter such powerful Starjammers in War.

Strengths – Their main strength lies in the damage they can deal and the control they can exert. When we attack them, if we are careless and do not control them in time, they can cause us significant problems.

Weakeness – Overall, they are considered an average War team. Without any War bonuses, they are not particularly fast, do not have any protection at start, and can be vulnerable to control effects. Despite their significant defensive power in War Season 9, many other teams will still be able to defeat them.

Replacements – Due to their strong synergy when all five characters are together, it’s uncommon to see them paired with plug-and-play characters. However, some players might combine them with Dormammu for additional sustain through his Revive ability. Alternatively, they could be paired with a pre-Taunt protector to shield them and buy time for their moves. In that case, Havok can be dropped (and paired with other X-Men characters) or Rocket Raccoon can be dropped.

Liberty

Characters left-to-right:

• Patriot
• Peggy Carter
• Falcon (Joaquin)
• War Machine
• Captain America (Sam)

Liberty can be utilized effectively in both defense and offense, as their bonuses are largely tied to War. They represent a formidable force, making it challenging for opponents to defeat them. When deployed in an attack, Liberty can overcome a variety of defensive combinations.

Strengths – Their greatest asset is the Taunt mechanic, which grants them various bonuses while imposing disadvantages on their opponents. This allows them to choose their target at any moment during the fight—you cannot shield yourself from them using a protector or Stealth. The high damage output, combined with their solid Speed mechanic, means that they can eliminate an opponent’s key character before it has a chance to take action. Against Liberty, having a Speed Bar manipulation is not beneficial for opponents until Falcon Joaquin’s turn to play, and subsequent Slow applications from Peggy, ensures that opponents will struggle to fill their Speed Bars, except through default means.

Weakeness – When facing teams that gain Speed Up on Spawn or are able to act before Liberty, the latter may struggle to make an impact. Liberty primarily gains crucial buffs after one of their opponents has acted. Additionally, they receive the Safeguard buff only after Falcon (Joaquin) plays. Therefore, teams that can bypass Liberty and apply their effects first have a viable chance of winning. It’s important to note that Liberty characters are relatively squishy, given that they are a post-Ares team with significantly increased stats. If opponents successfully apply Defense Down to them, they can be easily defeated. Since Liberty does not have permanent kill capabilities, opponents who can withstand their initial attacks or who have means of revival can also pose significant challenges.

Replacements – Liberty excels as a cohesive unit, so there is no need to remove any members of the team for plug-and-play characters. If a substitution is contemplated, War Machine would be the first to go. While this may result in a loss of his solid damage output and the 20% reduction of Max Barrier to opponents, a replacement could potentially provide a different advantage. One compelling combination involves using Ultimus, who can boost the Speed Bar since all opponents have Taunt. Mephisto is also a noteworthy option to pair with a strong War team.

Alpha Flight

Characters left-to-right:

• Northstar
• Sunfire
• Guardian
• Wolverine
• Sasquatch

Alpha Flight is one of a few teams that have bonus tricks specifically for War Defense, and they can be pretty great on defense, especially if paired up with a strong plug-and-play character (Super Skrull, Mephisto, etc). On their own AF is less impressive as time goes by, either because their base stats do not compare with the newer teams or because we already have easy counters for them (think 4 Out Of Time characters without Black Knight or Illuminati with Captain Britain, etc). That’s why it’s important to refresh the team by adding a strong plug-and-play, which can force your enemy to go for an overpowered counter, or can even get you a win.

Strengths – A healthy amount of Positive Effects on Spawn, including Safeguard and Taunt on Sasquatch. Increased base Speed (by +25% from Northstar Passive). Prevents enemies from gaining Charged and reducing the Speed Bar of Alpha Flight members. Can quickly apply Trauma to all enemies and flip their positive effects.

Weakeness – Do not have Immunity on Spawn, which makes them vulnerable to attacks from faster enemies. Even with the increased Base Speed, there are still teams that will go before AF and that allows them to take control of the battle. Another big weakness is that once the team gets 1 Exhausted, they lose most of their defensive tricks, so the following attack on them will be much more effective.

Replacements – characters like Wolverine and Sunfire can easily be replaced. However, they both have useful Passives, so who gets replaced depends on who we are adding. Super Skrull and Mephisto are 2 popular picks to use with AF. Super Skrull prevents the use of simpler counters like Out Of Time and Illuminati. Mephisto can be good because Northstar prevents Charged, Odin can have more trouble than usual, clearing this in a one-shot.

Astral

Characters left-to-right:

• Ancient One
• Doctor Strange
• Moondragon
• Shadow King
• Emma Frost (X-Men)

Astral is one of the teams with higher base stats, and they also have some War-specific bonuses, even if most of those are locked behind Awakened Abilities. Since the team was made with Battleworld in mind, they are extremely durable and can overcome a lot of challenges, which allows them to often get surprise victories. They can work well for offensive purposes as well.

Strengths – high base stats, as well as high damage output and sustain. The team Spawns with Safeguard and can prolong their positive effects. Disrupted, if applied, gets flipped to Immunity. Doctor Strange’s readiness to Revive fallen allies and his Passive healing and Deflects often allow him to get to his turn. Shadow King’s Possessed mechanic, which can be transferred to his Astral allies if Shadow King dies. Shadow King’s ability to reduce the duration of negative effects on his team (essentially clearing even Trauma). Wong minion that can be summoned by Strange.

Weakness – No Immunity on Spawn and no Speed advantages early on, which can allow the enemy to control the flow of the battle. If Shadow King is eliminated quickly (before using his Ultimate) and you can keep maintaining Ability Block or Stun on Doctor Strange, it’ll not be too complicated to defeat them. Teams like Illuminati (with Captain Britain) can accomplish such a task, nonetheless, it can still be tricky, and bad rng can ruin the counter, which makes Astral such a good defensive team.

Replacements – Most often, we can drop Moondragon, the others provide extremely valuable Passives to the team. If the new characters have high yellow/red stars (Emma, Ancient One, Shadow King), we can use Mephisto here instead of Moondragon. Otherwise, it’s not exactly recommended since Strange won’t be able to revive his allies with Mephisto around. Other alternatives that can be used here are Ares, Super Skrull, Black Knight, Cosmic Ghost Rider, or even America Chavez (to get that early Speed Bar boost)

Annihilators

Characters left-to-right:

• Gladiator
• Ultimus
• Thanos (Endgame)
• Silver Surffer
• Gorr

Annihilators can be a great defensive team as they have a balanced core – great defense from Gladiator and an impressive offense from Thanos (Endgame) and Gorr. Ultimus and Silver Surfer also have their specific uses, which can be valuable on occasion.

Strengths – Impressive Taunt/Safeguard/Immunity combo from Gladiator on Spawn. immunity to Exposed and Vulnerable while Gladiator is at 50%+ Max Health. Thanos’s ability to clear enemy Safeguard. Gorr’s Charged passive attacks and the ability to clear enemy-side Battlefield effects. Ultimus Speed Bar boosts when the enemy Taunts, and Speed Bar boosts to his team on kill. Higher base stats.

Weakness – No steady healing/clearing negative effects, they do not gain a lot of positive effects, and gaining Immunity is often left to chance (since Gladiator needs to use his Special when he has lower than 50% max health to apply Immunity to the team). Their speed is average.

Replacements – Silver Surfer is often lacking; he can clear Immunity or Charged from his enemies, and after a few turns, he gets a decent speed boost so he can take more turns, but this doesn’t make up for what the team is lacking and as such, he’s the first to be replaced. Ultimus can be quite good in certain situations, which can even make him a good option as a plug-and-play in other teams, so we might often find Annhilator teams with only 3 core members (Gladiator, Gorr, Thanos) and 2 plug-and-play characters. Mythics can be a great addition (Skrull, Mephisto, Dormammu, Doom, etc), we can also use Ares or America Chavez here. Characters that can steadily heal/clear negative effects can also serve a purpose here as a plug-and-play.

Mercs For Money

Characters left-to-right:

• Pandapool
• Old Man Logan
• Deadpool
• Deathpool
• Daken

While the Mercs For Money team is one of the best War Offense teams, they can also be pretty fierce on Defense. They do not possess impressive stats like the latest teams, but the tenacity of Old Man Logan (easily one of the best MSF characters) allows them to shine still.

Strengths – Old Man Logan. Incredible resilience that is showcased through constant revives from Pandapool/Deadpool. Quick access to Safeguard/Immunity, which they can gain shortly after Spawning from Pandapool, who gains bonus Speed bar on Spawn. Bonus Speed bar that Daken gains if enemies go into Stealth.

Weakness – Permakill abilities will quickly disrupt their constant revives. Stopping Speed Bar gain on Spawn leaves them virtually defenseless (either with New Avengers, Zombie Scarlet Witch, etc) Comparatively lower stats, newer teams can eliminate Old Man Logan even if he has buffs.

Mercs For Money mostly work great as they are, replacing even one character will result in Pandapool taking longer to get to his turn, which will leave the team unprotected.

Out Of Time

Characters left-to-right:

• Captain Carter
• Cosmic Ghost Rider
• Starbrand
• Captain America
• Black Knight

Out Of Time is an incredibly balanced team for War, at least they were when they came out. The increase in base stats that the newer teams experienced caused Out Of Time to fall lower in the ranks than they deserved. However, even now, OOT can be a great defensive team, albeit most often, you will find only pieces of them used as plug-and-play characters

Strengths – Black Knight’s Counters and Taunt on Spawn. Cosmic Ghost Rider’s massive reduction to the Focus of all enemies (until Cosmic GR takes his first turn). Immunity on Spawn from Starbrand. Incredible support from Captain Carter and timely Taunts from Captain America.

Weakness – enemies that clear Charged. Low-ish base stats by modern standards. No Safeguard on Spawn, and average Speed. Not a huge offensive output, especially if we remove Black Knight from the equation.

This team works well as a unit, but Black Knight’s value as a plug-and-play is much more relevant. Without Black Knight the team won’t have enough offensive output to be considered a danger nowadays, so even using Mythics here as a replacement for BK can be considered wasteful as they have better uses elsewhere. However, if your Alliance isn’t hugely competitive in War, OOT can still serve as a good defense.

Orchis

Characters left-to-right:

• Sentinel
• Lady Deathstrike
• Scientist Supreme
• Omega Sentinel
• Nimrod

Strengths – Orchis main strength is in their strategy – they can start the battle early on by applying Slow (and other negative effects) to their enemies while applying Speed Up to themselves. And after that, they can bombard them with high-damage attacks from Nimrod, Lady Deathstrike, and Omega Sentinel. Scientist Supreme provides a ton of support by generating energy, healing, and clearing negative effects. Sentinel also provides a lot of protection by summoning minions (one will Spawn with Taunt when the battle starts) and applying Safeguard once he takes his first turn. All Basic attacks (excluding Sentinel) are unavoidable. The team also has some Revives, although not extremely reliable ones.

Weakness – No Safeguard on Spawn and a Taunt on minion characters allows enemies to quickly destroy the minion and then focus on other members. Blocking Speed Bar gain on Spawn prevents Orchis from getting their early advantage, which can result in them feeling slow-ish.

New Avengers

Characters left-to-right:

• Ronin
• Mockingbird
• Agent Coulson
• The Thing
• Tigra

The New Avengers were supposed to become a new Defensive Meta team. However, shortly after they were announced, we got word that War Defense restrictions would be removed and that abilities would function identically both for Offense and Defense. This changed the team’s perception to a much more favorable one as the team is incredibly strong in War, and if all of their tricks were locked behind defense, none could really enjoy those.

Despite their weaknesses, this team can still take out much stronger teams due to the huge amount of control they have, especially when it comes to Speed Bar manipulation, which Mockingbird and Coulson can use to control the flow.

Strengths – Prevention of Speed Bar gain on Spawn. Increased Speed stat for the whole team (+35% from Ronin). Immunity on Spawn. Quick Trauma+Stun from Thing. Speed Bar reduction from Mockingbird. Passive Blind on targets that get revived. A lot of Evades and minions to focus the fire on themselves. Considerable damage output from Tigra.

Weakness – No Safeguard or Defense Up on Spawn, comparatively low health, can be easily defeated by unavoidable attacks. Even the damage output from Tigra/Ronin is starting to become lackluster due to the fact that newer teams have that much more Health.

New Avengers have essential parts of their abilities locked behind having 3 or more New Avenger allies, so not a lot of replacements can be easily made. The Thing is the only one that can be dropped without doing too much harm. We’ll lose the quick Stun+Trauma that he can apply early on, but if we replace him with a good utility character or a better damage-dealer, it can work out well.

X-Treme X-Men

Characters left-to-right:

• Forge
• Nightcrawler
• Cyclops
• Gambit
• Sunspot

X-Treme X-Men are slowly getting to the end of their life cycle, but they can still be fairly hard to defeat, especially if we mix some other mutants with them as well.

Strengths – Speed: Nightcrawler is fast and can start the fight by slightly filling the Speed Bar of his X-Men allies. Later on, Gambit can apply Speed Up to all X-Men allies as well. Decent damage output from Nightcrawler’s Ultimate, as well as constant attacks from Gambit. Decent support from Forge, who can also revive a fallen X-Treme X-Men ally. A decent amount of positive effects, including a steady supply of Evades from Gambit.

Weakness – No real Protectors on the team who can take a hit. Long cooldown on Forge’s Revive. Base stats start to become lackluster compared to newer teams

Replacements – One of the best replacements for this team is Rogue, using her instead of Sunspot will allow the team to survive for much longer as she can Taunt after her first turn and can be hard to get through due to a lot of positive effects. Losing Sunspot means that we’ll lose energy generation on Spawn (only valuable for subsequent attacks if Sunspot got some Charges) and a boost to damage, but keeping Cyclops on the team is more relevant as he will generate Speed Bar for Forge once an X-Men ally dies, which can allow Forge to Revive them or clear negative effects.

Spider-Society

Characters left-to-right:

• Peni Parker
• Spider-Man (Noir)
• Ghost-Spider
• Spider-Man (Pavitr)
• Peter B. Parker

Spider-Society is a well-rounded team that has a decent amount of damage as well as an incredible amount of support and healing. All of that made them a great Raid team when they released, as well as a capable team for all other game modes.

Strengths – Passively clearing Vulnerable, constant Healing from Peter B. Speed: Pavitr starts with Speed Up, and after his first turn, he can apply Speed Up to 3 more allies. A wealth of positive effects. Constant attacks from Noir and Ghost-Spider. Decent damage potential from Peni Parker and Spider-Man (Pavitr)

Weakness – Lack of Safeguard or of ways to apply Trauma (outside of Raids). No Protector to Taunt, and no way to Revive fallen teammates (other than Noir’s self-revive). Base stats start to seem average when compared to newer teams.

Replacements – The 2 characters who can be replaced without causing too many problems for the team are Spider-Man (Noir) and Ghost-Spider. Noir is mostly a damage dealer, but he can take a lot of bonus turns so his damage output can be pretty good. We can always swap him out and use someone better. Ghost-Spider has some control over the battlefield with Slows/Ability Blocks, plus she can also passively attack enemies, meaning that her damage output is not meaningless. If we think about utility, we can use Black Cat, Spider-Weaver, any pre-taunt Protectors, or Mythics.

Infestation

Characters left-to-right:

• Ant-Man
• Swarm
• Spider-Man (Big Time)
• Black Widow
• Yellowjacket

The Infestation team is solely good for one thing – War Defense. Most of that comes from Spider-Man (Big Time) and his Charged mechanic. The issue is that nowadays, we have plenty of ways of clearing Charged and that the stats of this team are starting to drop below average, so this team won’t stay in the spotlight for too long, but it can still be one of the 10 defensive teams in your arsenal.

Strengths – Spider-Man (Big Time): the Charged he gains on Spawn (only on War Defense) allows Big Time to apply Disrupted and Trauma to all enemies early on, he also Spawns with Speed Up, so he will promptly get to use his first turn. The team will also have Immunity on Spawn, and Black Widow can apply a few Speed Ups as well. Hitting Big Time also results in a Speed Bar boost to his Infestation allies. Constant Assists from Black Widow and Ant-Man

Weakness – Only 1 Charged possible per War for Big Time, so once he loses it, the team can be easily defeated. The stats are below average. The damage output is not substantial enough. No effective healing, no revive, and no Protectors.

Replacements – No real replacements can exist for the team since Big Time requires all of his teammates to be present, or he won’t be able to gain Charged on Spawn.

Scorpion’s addition to the MSF game provides some reinforcement for the Infestation team due to his Infestation tag. He can be used as a replacement for Swarm or Yellowjacket in the lineup. However, his impact is limited since he is slow and his bonuses don’t significantly benefit the team. Essentially, if opponents manage to neutralize Spider-Man (Big Time) early in the fight, the Infestation team is likely to lose regardless of whether Scorpion is included or not.

Hive-Mind

Characters left-to-right:

• Void Knight
• Gwenom
• Venom
• Carnage
• Red Goblin

Another Raid team that makes an appearance on the War Defense list – Hive-Mind.

Strengths – Early Ultimate from Void Knight, which can cluster enemies all together. Speed Bar snowball effect that can occur once enemies start dropping below 25% Max Health (Carnage Passive), decent damage output from Red Goblin and Gwenom. Clearing negative effects (Red Goblin). A single-use Revive from Red Goblin’s Charge. Ability to apply a decent amount of negative effects. Stuns from Gwenom and spreading negative effects from Carnage and Venom.

Weakness – Even with Void Knight Speed Bar boost, he still isn’t very fast. If the enemy takes the first turn before Void Knight, he can shut down Void Knight, the other Hive-Mind members are also not as fast. The damage output is average, and if even one enemy doesn’t drop below 25% quickly, the Hive-Mind team won’t gain momentum. Not a lot of protection in terms of buffs; the team is exposed to negative effects early in the battle and if the enemy clears the Charged from Red Goblin, the team also loses the Revive.

Replacements – most of the time Venom ends up being useless, so for quick War battles, it is best to replace him with a strong plug-and-play. Some good considerations include Cosmic Ghost Rider, Ares, pre-taunt protectors (including Black Knight), etc. America Chavez can also be good if placed between Void Knight and Red Goblin.

Knull, along with Gorr, can be an excellent addition to this team as they will passively enhance Speed and Damage. Not to mention all the other benefits Knull brings. Gorr, being a fast character, can cause chaos among opponents. In this case, we will remove Venom and Gwenom.

Immortal X-Men

Characters left-to-right:

• Jean Grey
• Polaris
• Cable
• Beast
• Storm

While this team doesn’t shine too brightly on War Defense, they can still be a good candidate for a B-tier defense for a couple of reasons, but mainly because they are a newer team with high base stats and old teams that can’t keep up can easily lose from an Ult by Storm, or Jean.

Strengths – High Offensive potential, high base stats, Speed Up early in the battle, good sustain by Beast, frequent Assists, unavoidable attacks.

Weakness – Slow-ish start and not a lot of protection on Spawn, no Taunters or Revives.

Replacements – Because this team shines the most in Crucible, on War Defense, they can be subpar and are only recommended if you still have slots to fill but don’t want to take away from your offense. If underestimated, the team can easily get a surprise win with a decisive attack due to the advantage in stats. Since we don’t need to worry about synergy too much, we can easily replace Polaris and/or Cable (Cable can also be good as a plug for other offensive teams) and use other plug-and-play characters here. A pre-taunt protector can be a good idea to buy time for Jean and Storm to use their Ults. Mythic characters are also a good option.

Cabal+

Characters left-to-right:

• Namor
• Leader
• Iron Patriot

Cabal is a 3-member team but they can be quite versatile since they work well with other villain characters, too. This allows them to be a decent defensive or even offensive option. as long as they are paired with the right king of characters

Strengths – Mass Speed bar rewind, Vulnerable on enemies on Spawn, Safeguard on Spawm, ability to gain Speed Up consistently. Constant Assists, incredible support, and good healing from The Leader. Versatility due to being able to work well with all villain characters

Weakness – On their own, their biggest weakness is being Slow. They need a fast Villain character to Crit, only after that does Cabal gain Speed Up. No revives and no Taunts

Additions – any fast Villain can be a good addition to the team, especially if that Villain can Crit early on. (Kang, Black Cat, Vulture, Baron Zemo, etc) In some cases Ultimus, Doctor Doom, and Dormammu can also be great assets.
Having a protector on the team to avert fire until Cabal gets going can also be crucial.

Nightstalkers

Characters left-to-right:

• Agatha Harkness
• Blade
• Oath
• Moon Knight
• Man-Thing

The Nightstalker team is one of the newest Raid teams, and it is often the case that Raid teams are used for War Defense. We can still do that however, in the case of Nightstalkers, they might be slightly better served for Offense due to the way Oath’s Passive works (gains bonus Speed bar only on Offense).

Strengths – High damage output, decent base Speed (increased from Man-Thing’s Passive), high base stats, and great sustain from Agatha Harkness. pre-taunt on Spawn for additional protection. Ability to passively flip Offense Down and Slow into Offense Up and Speed Up. Exposed effect from Oath that can reduce the duration of positive effects (essentially clearing Safeguard). Permakill and Unavoidable attacks from Blade and Speed Bar reductions. Energy generation on enemy Death

Weakness – No Safeguard or Trauma (outside of Raids), extremely susceptible to losing mirror matches (due to Oath Speed Bar generation only on Offense). No Revives and not a lot of protective buffs early in the battle. Susceptible to Disrupted (prevents passively flipping Slow and Offense down)

Replacements – Moon Knight has some value as his damage output is fairly decent, and he can take extra turns due to the ability to generate a bonus Speed bar for himself. However, if we need to add someone else, Moon Knight is the first to be dropped. Due to the high damage potential and Speed of the team, they can be effectively paired with Mephisto, which can even allow them to defeat some Odin squads (if those are slower in comparison). Ares is also a good option since he’ll strip enemies of their buffs, meaning they’ll receive full damage once Nightstalkers attack.

Illuminati

Characters left-to-right:

• Captain Britain
• Black Bolt
• Black Panther (Shuri)
• Mister Fantastic
• Hank Pym

Illuminati can also be quite good on Offense because of their Speed Up, they can often gain the upper hand before any enemies take any turns. The team will work okay without Captain Britain (using Iron Man instead), they will lose a lot of control and sustain, but will still be fast. Iron Man can also be used instead of Black Bolt of Mister Fantastic in cases where we might need more Ability Energy.

Strengths – Speed Up on Spawn from Hank Pym is the biggest strength of the Illuminati. This allows them to quickly gain control of the battle using Shuri and Captain Britain (Ability Blocks and Stuns). Early Safeguard. Incredible sustain from Hank Pym and Captain Britain. Constant Assists, permakill attacks from Black Bolt.

Weakness – Inability to apply Speed Up (after the initial Speed Up on Spawn expires), no Revives, average Health and Defense by modern standards. Limited access to Captain Britain on release.

Replacements – We can afford to lose Black Bolt and Mister Fantastic in some cases. However, the replacement needs to be worthwhile – a Hero character and a quick character, or they must serve a specific purpose. Those situations can be rare, so mostly, the Illuminati are left unchanged.

Superior Six

Characters left-to-right:

• Lizard
• Doctor Octopus
• Kraven
• Green Goblin (Classic)
• Spider-Slayer

Superior Six team has a versatility to them that not all teams can even dream about, mainly because Superior Six characters also share the Sinister Six traits, which allows them to easily interchange characters between teams and still maintain integrity and power. Due to this, the team is most often left for Offense since they have utility like preventing Immunity on Spawn (if they use Mysterio) or preventing Speed Up on Spawn (if they are using Vulture).

Strengths – Great protection from Lizard and Sustain from Doc Oc. Safeguard on Spawn from Kraven. Green Goblin’s Charged mechanic, which can passively damage enemies. A way to quickly apply Trauma to all enemies (conditionally, if they lose all buffs) A minion who can generate ability energy. Incredible flexibility due to being able to use Sinister Six characters, which can add a lot of control to their arsenal (using Vulture, Mysterio, etc)

Weakness – Average stats, which can result in a subpar offense/damage output. Slow-ish start (if they don’t steal Speed Up with Vulture, they can feel sluggish)

Replacements – The core of the team most often should be Kraven, Green Goblin (Classic), and Doctor Octopus. Sometimes, Kraven is replaced by Lizard, and the 4/5th members include Mysterio (prevents Immunity on Spawn and can mass Blind enemies) and Vulture (steals Speed Up on Spawn, can rewind, decent damage). In terms of other replacements – we can also sometimes use Shocker to give a huge Speed Bar boost to Lizard.

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