AW Defense - Team Counters

Intro & War Superiority Complex

The most wanted information in Marvel Strike Force is what are counters for War Defensives team. When you choose a team that should challenge the existing defense you don’t want to know which team has the highest win percentage – instead, you want to know what team from your roster can beat the defense most efficiently. Most importantly, you want to know what alternate options in addition to well-known counters are.

Following the success of the Knowhere Siege and Secret Strike, Alliance War is receiving its latest War Event – Superiority Complex. The biggest change this time is the buffs to the Rebirth team on Defense that will limit the Counters available for that team. Spider-Verse characters will also receive some boosts but not as impactful so the counters will mainly remain unchanged.

Explanation

The names of the teams for which I will suggest counters will be highlighted in Info Boxes. Below you will see the list of viable counters. At the Top of the page, you have a list of Teams and with a simple click on the team’s name, you will be instantly transferred to their list of counters with a brief explanation for each counter. Next to each counter team, you will see a symbol that represents possible Punch Ups.

Here is the list of symbols:

10% Punch Down – ▼
Even match up – ⊜
5% Punch Up – ▲
10% Punch Up – ▲▲
20%+ Punch Up – ▲▲▲

Hero Asgardian

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲
Unlimited X-Man ▲
Rebirth ⊜
Masters of Evil ▼▼
Infinity Watch ▼▼▼
Ravager ▼▼▼

Eternal synergy is the best counter for them. Ikaris’s Ultimate literally made them harmless to the point where you can use only Sersi and Ikaris alone to deal with them. Hero Asgardians don’t have an answer to Eternals and the possible punch-up is insane – Ikaris and Sersi at 350k strong can practically eliminate 1 million Hero Asgardians team all by themself.

Weapon X is another hard counter for Hero Asgardians. Trauma from OR’s Ultimate fully negates Valkyrie’s passive, so insane punch-ups are possible.

Aside from Eternals, existing Horseman teams can also easily beat HA. Unlimited X-Men in particular, as long as you incapacitate Thor with Rogue.

Hero Asgardians (+Vahl and Beta Ray Bill)

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Eternals + Loki ▲▲▲
Undying + Sylvie + Loki (Teen) ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Tangled Web + Doctor Doom/Dormammu ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Tangled Web + Spider-Man (Miles) + Quicksilver/Silver Surfer ▲
Underworld ▼
Undying trio ▲▲▲

The first 3 teams won’t have any trouble dealing with this new Hero Asgardian variation, the general advice here is to target Vahl and take them out as quickly as possible.

Eternals + Loki is another counter that should be pretty easy. Loki will allow Sersi to go first and weaken the enemies, after that use Loki’s special on Valkyrie and when Ikaris uses his Ult he should be able to hit twice and clear the field. Sometimes Vahl can survive and get Safeguard, in that case just wait till they take a turn and after that use Sersi’s Special to Stun them and after that, it should be easy to finish the fight.

Undying + Sylvie + Loki (Teen). Start with Zombie Iron Man’s Special on Vahl. When you get to Hela’s turn ignore her Ult. For now, use her Special on Beta Ray Bill. (After being hit by Zim Vahl usually attacks Valkyrie and if you use Hela’s Ult now it can kill Valkyrie and trigger her Passive, which would have cleared all the debuffs you just spread with Hela) After a couple turns Valkyrie will be killed by a friendly attack and that won’t trigger her Passive, at this point you can use Hela’s ult to spread the Debuffs and focus fire on Vahl.

With War Dogs, start by using Nakia’s Special ability on Beta Ray to apply Disrupted. After that go all-in on Vahl. You may be able to take Vahl out before anyone else takes a turn, or shortly after with the help of Nakia’s pings. Once Vahl is gone War Dogs have enough sustain to outlast their opponents so it’ll be easy to win, just focus on Thor and Mighty Thor.

Tangled Web trio with the help of Doom or Dormammu can serve as a reliable counter. Start with 2099 Ult, as usual, then Stun Vahl with Weaver and apply Disrupted with Noir’s Ult on Beta Ray. If Disrupted didn’t land you can either Stun Beta with Dormammu or apply Disrupted with Doom’s Basic Ability. When you get to Weaver’s second turn use her Basic on Vahl. (Special ability can kill someone else by accident and trigger Valkyrie’s Passive). At this point Vahl should be either gone or hanging by a thread, so finishing them with Dormammu or Doom’s Ultimates won’t be an issue.

Weapon X – start with Omega Red’s Special on Vahl to apply Ability Block, and use Sabretooth’s Ultimate on Beta Ray to apply Disrupted. After this just go all-in on Vahl and the win will be yours.

Tangled Web + Miles Morales + Silver Surfer or Quicksilver. – Start with 2099’s and Weaver’s Ultimates on Vahl. After that apply Disrupted with Noir on Beta Ray Bill, if that doesn’t land use Spider-Man (Miles) Ultimate on Beta to apply Disrupted. But if Noir succeded, then use Miles’s Special on Valkyrie. After that remove the charges from Thor with either Quicksilver or Silver Surfer and focus on Vahl. Use Weaver’s Basic attack on her second turn, not Special. Finish Vahl, and after that the rest of the fight.

Darkhold can simply brute-force this fight, even on some punch-ups, just focus on Vahl. Underworld is in a similar situation, although for them to successfully brute-force you should be slightly punching down.

Astonishing X-Men

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
Tangled Web ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Rebirth ▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
Bionic Avengers ▲▲
Ravager ▲
Dark Hunters ▲▲
Black Order ▲▲▲
Shadowland ▲
Astonishing X-Men ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Astonishing X-Men can be an exceedingly difficult opponent if you let them kill any of your team members. It is best to avoid teams with summons when fighting them.

Black Order is an obvious answer for them – Thanos plays first allowing you to quickly transfer your targeting from Bishop to Beast while his special fully counters Beast’s ultimate. Regardless of RNG, you can allow yourself a huge punch-up with BO against Axemen.

I am fully against using Unlimited X-Men against Axmen neither in War nor CC, but they are the team that can grant you the greatest punch-up. For example, if your Uxmen are 400k strong you can freely engage 1 million strong Axmen. Having that in mind, it was important to pinpoint them as counters.

In AW, Shadowland is the team that fully counters Axmen. They can control the battle by placing Abi Block on Beast and quickly removing Jubilee with Elektra’s ultimate.

Bionic Avengers is a natural counter for Axmen. They cannot be killed easily with Axmen’s initial burst, and they can fully take out Jubilee and Beast from the battle. With Bionics against Axmen, punch-ups from 300k to even 500k are possible, as long as your Hulkbuster is decent.

Bifrost

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Eternals + Loki ▲▲▲
Undying + Sylvie + Loki (Teen) ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
Tangled Web + Doctor Doom/Dormammu ▲▲▲
Tangled Web + Spider-Man (Miles) + Quicksilver/Silver Surfer ▲▲▲
Tangled Web + 2 ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
Bionic Avengers ▼
Masters of Evil ▼
Rebirth ▼
New Warriors ▼
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Without their Raid Benefits the full Bifrost team is not a good option for War Defense(it’s better to combine Vahl and Beta Ray with Hero Asgardians)

All you have to do is to get rid of Vahl as quickly as possible, In some instances that is easy, but in others (like with War Dogs or Tangled Web trio) you should try to disrupt Beta Ray. so that he doesn’t Taunt.

Bionic Avengers

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
New Warriors (full) ⊜
Rebirth ▲
Invaders ▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲▲
Ravager ▲
Dark Hunters ▲
X-Factor + Baron Zemo ⊜
Bionic Avengers ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Even though Bionic Avengers are considerably less powerful outside of Raids, their synergy and their kit can be extremely dangerous in both War and CC. Knowing how to deal with them without using META teams will definitely be important in the days to come.

Infinity Watch is an obvious solution for Bionic Avengers. Infinity Watch starts with Immunity meaning that they will be fully safe from any Ability Block Bionic Avengers has to offer.

Unlimited X-Men is another logical solution. Being able to fully cripple Viv Vision at the start of combat, makes Bionic Avengers harmless against Rogue and the company.

Weapon X will beat Bionic Avengers with their own weapon – Omega Red will use Ability Block against main Bionic threats making them helpless (especially in AW). Bionic Avengers is a new synergy and there are definitely more teams that can deal with them and save you the teams I already proposed for other enemies.

X-Factor with Baron Zemo should be able to counter Bionic Avengers. Zemo will initiate a fight by clearing Defense Up from all enemies and by picking who should be Ability Blocked (Deathlok). After that, use Shatterstar’s Special to apply Defense Down and try to kill Viv Vision before she even gets a turn. If you succeed in that, you should eliminate Deathlok next and you are good to go.

A mirror match-up is a viable option against BA, but it’s not really recommended. It’s gonna be a coin flip as to whose Viv Vision goes first and that can decide the outcome of the fight. For that reason go for a mirror match only if it’s a punch-across or a slight Punch Up.

The Punch Up depends on the strength of the enemy Hulkbuster. Maximized Hullkbuster grants an insane amount of HP to BA, and you cannot eliminate main targets fast enough so you can take control of the battle. If Hulkbaster is low you can afford significant Punch Up, if not do not risk.

Black Order

Knowhere ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲
Deathseed ▲
Underworld ▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Black Order ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Brotherhood + Doctor Doom

Secret Avengers + Kestrel ▲▲
Ravagers + Emma Frost ⊜
Uncanny X-Men ⊜
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
Rebirth ▲
Invaders ▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲▲
Dark Hunters ▲

When dealing with DD, the most important thing is to place Ability Block on him and kill him before he can use his ultimate (Ability Block prevents him from triggering his passive that activates his ultimate instantly).

When DD is with Brotherhood, Magneto’s initial Blind and Blob’s Taunt prevent most teams from controlling Doctor Doom with Ability Block, so the secret is to cleanse that Blind before you are about to place Ability Block and remove Taunt from Blob.

Secret Avengers and Kestrel are easy picks. As long as you initiate a fight with Sam Wilson’s special, Maria Hill will cleanse Blind on her first turn allowing Sharon to place Ability Block on Doctor Doom. In the meantime, Kestrel will deal with Blob.

Ravagers are an ideal team for countering Brotherhood + DD. You must use Emma instead of Stitcher or Bruiser to grant yourself cleansing, though. Ravagers don’t have Ability Block, but T’Challa can steal Ability Energy from Doctor Doom, delaying his ultimate long enough for you to deal with the rest of the enemies.

Original or Uncanny X-Men are logical counters to Brotherhood, but the presence of DD can fully change the outcome. That is why it is important to be patient and not over-damage Doctor Doom before your allies are fully charged and ready to bring annihilation.

Darkhold +Apocalypse

Knowhere ▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲
GAMMA ▲▲
Undying+Apocalypse+Dormammu+Kang ▲▲▲
Undying trio + 2 ▲▲▲
Deathseed +Apocalypse ▼
A-Force ⊜
Underworld ⊜
Dormhold ▼▼ (only if Wong or Agatha has the lowest damage on the team)
Uxmen+Kang ▼▼▼

GAMMA is the ultimate War Offense option at the moment. They are quite capable of dealing with anything AW Defense has to offer. However, Apocalypse will place Safeguard on 4 members of the team (except the one with the lowest Defense) and Red Hulk’s ultimate will not flip their buffs. Gamma will win nonetheless, but usual punch-ups are no longer possible against this Apoc/DH synergy.

Underworld is an ideal counter for this team (as for most of the others in WAR except GAMMA). However, in order to succeed, they need to be strong enough to match the current power of most Darkhold Defenses. Not many players can afford that, at the moment.

Dormhold is quite capable to oppose DH+Apoc. They will have Revive (that can’t be jeopardized) and even Dormammu is not even near Apoc, he has everything to assure the victory. Nonetheless, to be sure, you will need an advantage in power.

If you place Kang instead of Sunfire or Fantomex, your Rogue will play first. Placing her special on MLF (or Wang – there is a debate about who is a better target for Rogue’s special outside of CC) should be enough for Victory. At some point, APocalypse will kill her with his empowered Basic, but the rest of the team with the help of Kang should be enough for a win because Rogue will be alive enough to use both special and ultimate abilities.

When you combine Undying (hard counter for DH) with Dormammu, Apocalypse, and add Kang to ensure everything will be placed before enemy APocalypse can play, there is really not much that needs to be explained. You can replace Dormammu with Baron Zemo (who needs to be Skirmisher and at least even with enemy Apoc power) to have the same results in WAR against this defensive set-up.

Dormammu+Eternals+Tangled Web

GAMMA ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Dormhold ▲▲
Darkhold ⊜
Apocalypse+TW ▲▲
Weapon X ⊜
TW+Nova+Undying ▲▲▲
Underworld ▼
Undying trio + 2 ▲▲▲

Darkhold / Dormhold

GAMMA ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲
A-Force ▲
Dormhold ▲
Darkhold (without Scarlet Witch) + Emma/Loki/Cable ▼
Darkhold ▼▼
Weapon X ⊜

GAMMA is the ultimate War Offense option at the moment. They are quite capable of dealing with anything AW Defense has to offer. Darkhold/Dormhold is no exception.

The Underworld team in War is quite capable of countering Darkhold. Mr. Negative can place Ability Block on the desired target (Wong or Morgan Le Fay) before they can lay after which Taskmaster will place mass Blind. Green Goblin is your solution for targets in stealth. This team can easily beat Darkhold but your moves must be clinically precise and focused on the right targets.

Darkhod / Dormhold is a current META for all game features and not only for Arena. To beat them you must use their duplicate. Keep in mind that players who unlocked new levels for MLF do not necessarily need Dormammu to beat Dormhold – they can do it with full Darkhold. There are several rules though.

The Undying duo is a hard counter for Darkhold. Against Dormhold it is best that they are supported by Dormammu. It is important to say that they can beat Dormhold even without Dormammu (due to ZIM’s ability to prevent Revives) but the punch-up cannot be as high as usual. I usually support the Undying duo with Baron Zemo and Loki but any other combination on your mind will do just fine.

Agatha’s basic is assisted by two team members in Arena (MLF and Scarlet Witch should be those two members) and by only one in other features (MLF). Fully maximized Morgan Le Fay doesn’t need Skirmisher for placing ultimate therefore it is best to equip her with a Striker. It is mandatory that Agatha’s ultimate is on level 7.

It is important to say that an easy answer for Darkhold/Dormhold is Darkhold without Scarlet Witch and with a character who can grant your MLF to play first (Emma/Loki/Cable). You cannot expect a high punch-up but, in this matter, any punch-up is ok as long as you deal with Darkhold/Dormhold in a single battle.

Weapon X can beat the defending Darkhold / Dormhold in War. However, there cannot be any punch-up if you wanna succeed.

The tactic to beat Dormhold with WX in Alliance War is kinda tricky – you cannot do it in the first attempt due to the fact that you can’t prevent Wong from taunting which will be your doom in the end. To prevent that you must send a sacrifice team (I am using X-Force because they play first in War and Deadpool removes debuffs passively).

When you send a sacrifice team against Dormhold you must reduce Dormammu’s HP as much as you can, and you must survive until Wong is about to use his ultimate.

At the moment he starts executing ultimate you should pause the game and wait for the battle to pass. After the fight is over unpause the game and enter with Weapon X. MLF will not have ultimate, same as Agatha and Wong.

You will not be able to place Ability Block on Dormammu, but you can prevent MLF from granting free turns to her team. After that with your Skirmishers remove Immunity from Dormammu and use Omega Red’s ultimate on him as the primary target.

Once you kill Dormammu the rest should be easy. Unfortunately, there cannot be a significant punch-up here. Even though Dormhold will not have the most important CDs, Agatha’s passive can make your life miserable, especially if Dormammu is not down soon enough.

Death Seed

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
Undying+TW+Rhino ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Darkhold+Rhino (instead of Scarlet Witch) ▲▲
Black Order▲
Darkhold ▲
Infinity Watch ▲

Weapon X can easily deal with Deathseed. Omega Red will play first which will allow you to Ability Block Magneto and control the fight. After that focus on Dark Beast, killing him first is essential.

Underworld are well suited as a counter here, as long as your Taskmaster is the strongest in the team. His Ultimate is unavoidable so you can use it even with a Blind on, so target Dark Beast and fire away. Green Goblin’s Special is also Unavoidable so use that too. Summon more Bodyguards with Kingpin, apply counters with Nobu, and start using Basic attacks on Dark Beast. Taskmaster will keep assisting so Dark Beast should be dead soon. After that just take out all the others. With a pretty strong Taskmaster, you could do big punch-ups.

Unlimited X-Men can easily counter Death Seed. Dazzler will flip Blind immediately, so you’ll just have to use Rogue’s Special on Archangel and Ability Block Psylocke with Gambit. After that, you should have enough damage to take them out quickly.

Death Seed works great as a Death Seed counter. Both Magneto’s will land the blinds since that attack is unavoidable, but enemy AI will always use Archangel’s Ultimate ability first. If you use AA’s Special Ability, it will cleanse the blinds, allowing you to start dismantling the enemy team. As usual, take out Dark Beast first.

Black Order after the recent rework can now slightly Punch Up on Death Seed. Thanos will go first and spread all his Positive Effects, including Immunity, to everyone so Magneto’s Blind won’t stick. After that, you should focus on taking out Dark Beast.

Dormammu + Heroes for Hire

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Apoc+Undying+Kestrel+1 ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
Darkhold ▼▼▼
Darkhold+Apoc/Dorm ▼
Apocalypse+Undying+2 Tangled Web ▲▲
Dark Hunters + Dormammu ⊜
Underworld + Dormammu ▲
Tangled Web+Quicksilver+Dormammu+1 ▲ – Captain Kuba’s solution-tested and confirmed!
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Weapon X is the only original pre-made that is a true counter for Dorm/H4H in War. Generally, you cannot expect the same punch-up as against H4H without Dormammu, but you can afford 100k-200k punch-ups. The only thing you should care about is that Misty Knight does not target Omega Red with her abilities.

Undying+TW is a brutal combination. However, they alone cannot beat H4H, nor H4H+Dorm for that matter because they don’t have enough sustain to survive prolonged battles against H4H who are always in advance due to constant buffs and constant healing. However, if you replace [Noir] with Apocalypse you will get the needed edge to prevail. Considerable punch-up is possible, but you must be clinically accurate with your decisions. That means, that your team must have Immunity before Dormammu Stun and that you mustn’t allow Misty Knight to control the narrative with her Ability Blocks and stuns.

As long as Omega Red doesn’t have the highest damage and HP you will have no problems whatsoever. Taking down Dormammu right after Shang Chi is mandatory, therefore it is best to use Omega’s ultimate on him and Stun him with Silver Samurai while focusing on Shang Chi in the meantime as usual.

Dark Hunters with Dormammu is another viable way of dealing with Dorm/H4H. You cannot afford any punch-up whatsoever and you must be careful since Morbius’s initial Blind will not affect Dormammu. Having toons with Skirmisher of high level can help you remove initial buffs on Dormammu, after which you can take control of the battle and hopefully prevail before the time is off.

Underworld is the new Offensive option that counters AW META’s defense. Even improved Nobu is still almost harmless and can easily be replaced by Dormammu. If you do so, you will have everything at your disposal to challenge Dormammu+H4H.

Dormammu + Young Avengers

GAMMA ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Undying+3 ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
Unlimited X- men ▲
Deathseed+Dorm/Apoc ▲
Weapon X (Alliance War) ▲
Darkhold/Dormhold ▲▲▲
Underworld + Dormammu ⊜
Apoc+TW+Quicksilver ▲▲
Eternals+TW ▲▲
Wardogs ⊜
Undying trio ▲▲▲

The combination of Dormammu and Young Avengers is pretty common nowadays. In Alliance War, Weapon X is the most justified counter for them if you have Dark Hunters to deal with H4H. The tactic is easy – initiate a fight with Abi Block on Squirrel Girl while putting the rest of the Focus on Dormammu.

If you have high-level Skirmishers in the team, you will remove Dormammu’s buffs in the process. Once, Omega Red is ready for its ultimate, target Dormammu (who would die soon after it) and transfer your focus to Squirrel Girl. Next in the line is Kate Bishop and you are good to go.

Darkhold with MLF passive level 6 can easily deal with Dorm/YA. Keep Squirrel Girl controlled by Agatha’s Stun in the first turn and Scarlet Witch’s ultimate and focus on Dormammu. You should not have any difficulties and you can allow yourself a punch-up of at least 100k. If you use Dormhold, a punch-up can be significantly higher, and the strategy is the same. You will not have Stun prolonged, but hey there is your Dormammu to say a few things to YA.

Underworld is a natural counter for Young Avengers. If they are boosted by Dormammu, the only thing you need to do is to add Dormammu to the Underworld.

Dormammu + Hero Asgardian

GAMMA ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Eternals+Inhumans ▲▲
Wardogs ⊜
Weapon X ▲
Underworld ▲
Undying+TW ▲▲
Darkhold ⊜
Dormhold ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

With the introduction of Hero Asgardians, many players tried to find a way to boost them up by replacing Heimdall. The most powerful replacement is obviously Dormammu. Not only that he will Revive fallen Asgardians, but Valkyrie’s passive will affect also the character that is revived making your killing order significantly trickier.

The best way to deal with them is to combine Eternals with Black Bolt, Yo-Yo, and Crystal. Inhumans’ stats are mediocre now, but Yo-Yo’s presence will significantly increase sustain of your Eternals giving Ikaris enough time to survive and use his ultimate for the second time.

The presence of Crystal grants healing to your Inhumans while Eternals are doing the job and BB is here only to exploit his passive and finish out enemies earlier. Dormammu’s Resistance is insane, therefore, you cannot expect the usual punch-up with Eternals against Hero Asgardians but as long as the odds are not unreal, you should have nothing to worry.

Weapon X in War is capable of miracles because its kit allows you to do almost anything. Your main focus should be taking down Dormammu as soon as possible, after which you should prevail on pure strength. Depending on the enemy’s strength, the initial Abi Block from Omega Red should be focused on either Valkyrie or Sif depending on your ISO-8 class.

If you can remove Taunt from Sif easily with Skirmisher, use Ability Block on Valkyrie, if not prevent Sif from Taunt. Everything else is straightforward – Kill Dormammu, then Valkyrie, then everyone else.

Eternals +3

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲ (if Eternals are without Apocalypse)
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ⊜
Darkhold ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
Eternals + Loki + Emma Frost + 1 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

The natural counter for Eternals is Darkhold. Agatha can fully neutralize Sersi and Ikaris so Darkhold can beat Eternals with a great punch-up. Even combinations that allow Ikaris and Sersi to play first are fully harmless against Darkhold even in the Arena.

Infinity Watch is another clean counter for Eternals if they are fighting outside of the Arena. Safeguard on start neutralizes Ikaris ultimate and Infinity Watch prevails on a pure consistency of synergy and sustain. Depending on the Eternals setup, there can be a punch-up or not. If Morgan Le Fay is with Eternals things can become tricky at best.

A duplicate team is always a counter because AI cannot fully take advantage of character abilities. However, to be sure that your Eternals will be victorious make sure that they will play first by adding Loki and Emma into the equation.

Weapon X is one of the best teams for War and as such, they are quite capable of dealing with even Eternals in AW. It is not the happiest match-up, but they can do it if there is no other solution.

Gamma Team

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Undying Trio ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲
GAMMA Team ▲

Heroes for Hire

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲
Apoc+Undying+Kestrel+1 ▲▲▲
Apoc+Undying+Vahl+Loki ▲▲▲ – Brak21 CWI counter.
Tangled Web+Quicksilver+Silver Surfer+1(Emma/NF/Cable/RedGuardian..) ▲ – Captain Kuba’s solution-tested and confirmed!
Undying/Quicksilver/Kestrel/Loki ▲▲ – (Zombie Iron Man special on Shang-Chi, spread debuffs with Hela’s Ult, Quicksilver special on either Collen or Misty, knock out Shang)
Weapon X ▲▲
Darkhold ▼▼▼
Darkhold+Apoc/Dorm ▼
Dark Hunters ▲
Apocalypse+Undying+2 Tangled Web ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▼▼▼
Underworld ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Dark Hunters and Weapon X are natural counters for H4H in AW. While Weapon X can allow themself a great punch-up if Omega Red is not the character with the highest HP in the teams, Dark Hunters must be of similar strength if they wanna have a chance to win.

Beating H4H with 8W in WAR can be extremely tricky. What you need to do is to give Skirmisher ISO-8 to Adam Warlock and to make sure that he will place Disrupt on Luke Cage when using his special. As long as you are focusing on Shang Chi and prevent Luke Cage from Taunting you have a real chance to achieve a win. As soon as you kill Shang Chi, I honestly suggest you turn on auto-combat because that is the only way to win on time.

Underworld is a new WAR counter for AW META defense. in War, they will place Trauma, Heal Block, and Blind the entire enemy team, which should be more than enough for everything H4H has to offer. In addition, Green Goblin will prevent them from reviving when needed. If Shang Chi resisted Ability Block, the outcome of the battle will not be so certain.

Infestation

Knowhere ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲
Kang/Tangled Web/Yo-Yo/Daredevil ▲
Tangled Web/Kang/Emma Frost/ +1 ⊜
Infinity Watch ▼▼▼

So far, Knowhere is the only team that can easily counter Infestation in War. That may soon change with the arrival of the Secret Defenders team and the addition of the fifth Member to A-Force, when we have a chance to test them we will update this list.

Infinity Watch spawns with Safeguard and Immunity, which allows them to survive the Spider-Man (Big Time) Ult and remain functional, after that your goal is to get rid of Spider-Man (Big Time) as fast as possible. Even then, it’s recommended that you punch down with this team.

Tangled Web/Kang/Emma Frost, the only way this counter works is if you can eliminate Spider-Man (Big Time) before he takes a single turn. For that, you need to use Kang’s basic on Spider-Man. This may not be usable once Spider-Man has a lot of Yellow Stars, depending on your Kang.

Underworld can punch up against Infestation, as long as Spider-Man (Big Time) isn’t too strong. If your Taskmaster is pretty big he should be able to eliminate Spidy with his Ult and after that the fight is easy.

Kang with Tangled Web, Yo-Yo, and Daredevil can do some punch-ups on Infestation. Spider-Man 2099 will take the first turn and flip some buffs, if Immunity is flipped on Big Time you can Stun him with Weaver, but more often that won’t happen so instead just target Black Widow, Yellowjacket, or Swarm depending on who’s bigger. The trick here is that Big Time will apply Trauma and Blind to the 2 fastest opponents, and going by their Stats, Yo-Yo and Daredevil will be the fastest(Daredevil’s Passive needs to be maxed). This will allow your Kang and Weaver to freely attack, even if they will have Offense Down. You will have to take out everyone else first, starting with Yellowjacket and Swarm, and leave Big Time for last, make sure not to hit him by accident, or else he will fill the Speed Bar for his allies and that can mess you up.

Infestation is a relatively new team and there are bound to be other counters in the future, as soon as we find more we will update the list.

Infinity Watch

Darkhold/Dormhold ▲▲▲
Apoc+Eternals ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Apoc+Deathseed ▲▲
Apoc+Unlimited X-Men ▲▲
Apoc+TW ▲▲
Apoc+A-Force ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Even though Infinity Watch is not a Horseman team they are still a formidable foe whose only real counter is Darkhold and themselves.

Apocalypse will remove the initial Safeguard from 8W – everything else is easy because Ikaris will be in a position to flip 8Ws buffs and after that, they will be literally harmless. Do not let Moondragon change the tide with her opening – just annihilate her asap.

Countering Infinity Watch with Infinity Watch is probably the most justified and safest option. To be honest, the majority of players are fully experienced and learned how to counter 8W with 8W while they were Arena META and all of them know that significant punch-up is possible.

To beat Infinity Watch with Infinity Watch you must focus on Moondragon first and Phyle-Vell second while trying to place Stun with your Adam Warlock before the enemy does the same. Keep in mind that Gamora is fully resistant to Defense Down so do not try to soften her – just try to control her with Slow and Stun.

In AW, Weapon X is another answer for IW. Omega Red and the company fully negate their assists and as soon as Safeguard and Immunity are off, Infinity Watch has no means to answer them. That is why it is important to be patient with Weapon X and wait until the right moment to place Omega Red’s debuffs salvo.

Inhumans + Silver Surfer + Agent Coulson

Uncanny X-Man ▲▲
X-Factor + Baron Zemo ▲
Shadowland ▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
New Warriors (full) ▲▲▲
Rebirth ▲▲▲
Invaders ▲▲▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲▲▲
Ravager ▲
Dark Hunters ▲
Bionic Avengers ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

This combination is a common enemy in War. It utilizes Coulson’s immunity in AW Defense with Silver Surfers sustain that is boosted by Yo-Yo.

Magik and Phoenix can easily deal with this combo because they don’t have an option to remove Storm’s debuffs and penetrate the Uncanny X-Men Barrier.

X-Factor and Baron Zemo is another simple solution for this team. Baron Zemo will initiate the combat by removing Immunity from enemies before placing Ability Block on either SS or Crystal.

In Alliance War, Shadowland has all answers needed for this synergy. They will play first and easily prevail.

Invaders

Eternals+(New Warriors or Jubilee, Bishop, Beast or Inhumans) ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
Secret Avengers+TW ▲
Black Order ▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▼
New Warriors (full) ▲▲▲
Invaders ▲
Masters of Evil ▼
Infinity Watch ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Ivvaders’ greatest strength in Raids is their main weakness in WAR. Nick Fury’s adds and their strength that gives you a crucial advantage against most teams make INvaders an easy target for those who can flip buffs and profit on fast kills.

Eternals and Deathseed are fine examples. Not only that Ikaris will flip all those death proofs but he will kill ads and follow up with another AOE before Sersi does hers. After that, everything is easy as long as you focus on NF and IF to prevent them from healing the team.

For Deathseed it is not that easy to win against Invaders like against other teams with summons because of death proofs that protect NF adds from instant death. However, you have plenty of options at your disposal as long as you are careful and make sure that start killing those ads.

Using Underworld against Invaders may be overkill, but I think it is a legitimate counter considering the average strength of UNderworld in most of the rosters. However, if Underworld is fully maximized to challenge H4H and DH then you should not use them against Invaders.

Any efficient combination of Tangled Web and other characters is good enough against Invaders. In my opinion, 3 Secret Avengers are perfect for the task.

Black Order’s kit allows them to be efficient against Invaders, especially in the Knowhere Siege event. However, they don’t have their stats doubled outside defense and their original stats are considerably lower than Invaders’ so considerable punch down is needed for a certain win.

Characters like Black Bolt or Deathpool who follow up after kills are always welcomed against summoner teams. However, the strength of NF ads doesn’t allow Symbiotes to be effective as well. The only way to profit from Symbiotes is to add Carange or Scream to Eternals alongside Anti-Venom and SMS.

Marauder + Emma Frost

Underworld ▲▲▲
Undying ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
TW+Secret Avengers ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲
Secret Avengers + Kestrel ▲
Infinity Watch ▲
Black Order ▲
Masters of Evil ▼
Rebirth ▼▼
New Warriors (full) ▼▼▼
Ravagers ▼▼
X-Factor +Kestrel ▼▼
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Underworld and Undying will easily deal with Emarauders. Their kit is much stronger so the only question of it is justified to use them against those evil mutants.

X-Factor is the obvious answer for them if the 5th member is Kestrel, she will prevent Mister Sinister from making clones and she will exploit Multiple Man summons’ attacks against targets with Defense Down.

Many players prefer to combine Kestrel with Secret Avengers due to Sharon’s passive. This team with the addition of Nick Fury is more than capable of beating Emarauders. Kestrel will prevent Mister Sinister from cloning while summons from Maria Hill and Nick Fury will do the rest while attacking an enemy with Defense Down.

Black Order is a team that can deal with Emarauders. The trick is to wait with Thanos’s special until Emma uses her special. That way you will flip Immunity and Defense Up on enemies as well as every other buff they have. When that happens, you can turn on the auto-combat.

In Alliance War Offense, Ravagers and Shadowland have answers for everything Emarauders can bring. Those two teams are specialized in War, but they can’t do much outside of it.

Underworld is a justified counter to Emarauders. Taskmaster’s and Mr. Negative’s kit together will tear apart Emarauders with an insane punch-up.

Mercenary Team variations

X-Force ▲
Black Order ▲▲
Unlimited X-Man ▲▲▲
Eternals + Loki +2 ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
New Warriors (full) ▲
Rebirth ▲▲
Invaders ▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
A-Force ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

X-Force is a natural counter for the Mercenary team in War. Their kit is made so they can prevent Mercenary Riot Guard from using Taunt and Taskmaster from executing ultimate on start. After those two things are done dealing with Mercenaries is easy regardless of team composition.

Black Order is the team that can easily survive the initial Mercenary combo and flips their advantages into their doom. Thanos special is the answer for all debuffs caused by Mercenaries at the start and all protection they are relying on. As long as Thanos’ focus is high enough to flip buffs on Mercenaries you can afford almost any punch-up.

Unlimited X-Men and Eternals will probably make overkill when facing a Mercenary team, but frankly, with them, you don’t have to worry about Mercenary strength because you can afford insane punch-ups.

Masters of Evil

Tangled Web + Undying ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲
Rebirth ▲
Invaders ▲▲▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Masters of Evil are indeed a totally different team in CC and in other features. However, their strength outside CC should not be underestimated. The synergy between Absorbing Man, Kang, and Titania is insanely powerful for all game features. Absorbing Man kit will force you to focus your attacks on him and with every attack, your characters will get slow and buff Absorbing Man with additional Defense Up. Only this will be an unsolvable problem for most of the teams and we didn’t mention any of Master’s of Evil insane attacking capabilities yet.

To counter this team, the strategy is simple – you need to place Disrupt+Trauma on Absorbing Man or to place Ability Block while removing Taunt in the process. When you do that you will have to kill Kang fast and deal with the rest of the team. It is sufficient to say that Ultron will not be your first priority and that he will build his permanent turn rotation unopposed.

Possible justified counters are obvious. Eternals and Tangled Web have everything required to avoid being stuck by Absorbing Man. Infinity Watch has Immunity on start that will protect them from Slow and they will easily prevail after initial difficulties. War Dogs is one of my favorite teams. Their WAR mechanic allows you to challenge literally every team if you are aware of their potential and if you built their ISO-8 properly. However, unlike other META, War Dogs need precise and clinical decisions depending on the situation and power of enemies they are facing (knowing who can be killed on start is the difference between win and lose).

New Avengers + Apocalypse

Gamma + Apoc ▲▲
New Avengers + Apoc ▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲
Undying+Tangled+Apoc ▲▲
Gamma ▲
War Dogs ⊜
Undying trio + 2 ▲▲▲

New Avengers are still pretty new and in the process of being released so this team is incomplete. Right now you can see variations of it like the one above 4 New Avengers (without Tigra) + Apocalypse. Testing is still ongoing, more counters soon.

You should win if you use Black Panther’s (1MM) Ultimate on Apocalypse to get the Safeguard and clear out the New Avengers first.

New Avengers

Knowhere ▲▲
Apocalypse + ▲▲
New Avengers ▼
P.E.G.A.S.U.S. ▼
Undying trio ▼▼
Darkhold ▼▼▼
Gamma ▼▼▼
Infinity Watch ▼▼▼

New Warriors

Dark-Hunters ▲▲
Shadowland (War) ▼▼
Astonishing X-Men ▼▼
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Eternals + 3 ▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
Black Order ▲▲
New Warriors (full) ▲
Masters of Evil ▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

New Warriors are usually combined with Eternals for offensive purposes since there are only three of them and only 2 Eternals and they synergize perfectly. However, many players decide to put New Warriors in Defense combining them with other Mystics such as Silver Surfer, Supernaturals, etc …

The natural counter for them as long as they are not with Eternals are Dark Hunters and Shadowland (only in War). They will prevent Cloak from controlling the battle and they have enough self-healing to survive New Warriors’ initial burst.

Astonishing X-Men is another pick against New Warriors. Beast provides them with full cleansing after being hit by Cloak’s ultimate and Jubilee/Bishop synergy will tear apart New Warriors after that.

X-Factor may not be as effective as previous teams but if they are combined with SS, Zemo, or Kestrel they will have no problems against New Warriors.

P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

A-Force ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders (without Photon) ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Sinister Six (Doc, Goblin (Classic), Vulture, Mysterio +) ▲
Infinity Watch ▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲
Black Order ⊜
Hero Asgardians + Vahl/Beta Ray ⊜
Death Seed ▼▼
Masters Of Evil ▼▼

Pym Tech

Brotherhood ▲▲▲
Web Warriors ▲▲▲
Black Order▲▲▲
A.I.M. ▲▲
don’t use other teams if isn’t necessary!

Pym Tech is not even near META, but they can be a problem for some really strong teams due to their evade mechanics and incredible damage output granted to Yellow Jacket + Ghost. Nonetheless countering them is easy and it can be done with teams that are not considered as first offensive options at the moment.

Brotherhood is a natural counter to Pym Tech. Mass Blind on start and constant removal of Pym Tech’s buffs make things really easy for Magneto and the company. You can afford some punch-ups with them but with limitations. The only thing you need to do is to use Magneto’s special on Ghost.

When a team is dependent on Evade the obvious answer for them is a team that is stronger and depends on Evade/Dodge. Web Warriors fulfills those requirements in full.

A-Force is probably underrated in my guides, but they are more than capable of annihilating Pym Tech with even a double punch-up.

A.I.M. is almost forgotten as an offensive option but if you have them and need to battle with Pym Tech, they are an ideal pick. Pym Tech has no means to remove debuffs, so A.I.M.’s main strength will remain unopposed and good enough for an easy win with a considerable punch-up.

Rebirth

Superiority Complex counters:

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲
Weapon X ▲

Secret Avengers + Nick Fury + Kestrel

Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲
Astonishing X-Men ▼▼▼
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲
Underworld ▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲
New Warriors (full) ▼
Rebirth ▼
Invaders ▼
Masters of Evil ▼
Infinity Watch ▲
A-Force+ Apocalypse/DoctorDoom/Dormammu/Quicksilver ▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Secret Avengers synergize perfectly with Skil Heroes, therefore Kestrel and Nick Fury are logical choices for assembling a dangerous Defensive set-up. Unfortunately, this team has a lot of summons that are Ikaris’s best friends

. Having summons on the battlefield grants Ikaris’s ultimate to always land twice making it possible that any combination with Eternals can obliterate the Secret Avenger team with a punch-up that can be doubled or even tripled.

In short, when you see Secret Avengers with Nick Fury just use your 2 Eternals regardless of their strength and you will win.

For all other teams, Secret Avengers will pose an unsolvable enigma that can be beaten only by META teams. Having that in mind, the most justified options are Weapon X and Infinity Watch which will prevail on a bare strength.

On normal occasions, teams that have a lot of summons are easy prey for Axmen and Symbiotes. SA can easily deal with Symbiotes regardless of power and they can easily beat Axemen in Offense (just avoid summoning).

However, Axmen who are attacking will not have problems with SA because they will get initial feed on Nikc’s minions that will buy them enough time to cripple the enemy before they can pose threat. Unfortunately, with Axmen you cannot expect wins if punch-up is significant (50k+).

Secret Defenders

Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Apocalypse + Eternals + 2 ▲▲
Apocalypse + Darkhold ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲

Sinister Six with Dr. Octopus

Gamma ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲
Eternals ▲▲

Symbiotes

Web Warriors ▲▲▲
Brotherhood ▲▲
Secret Avenger + Kestrel ▲▲▲
Shadowland ▲
Bionic Avengers ▲▲▲
Rebirth ▲▲▲
Do not use other teams!

Most of the veteran players have Symbiotes fully maximized and when they decide to put them in Defense it is always annoying to spend META teams on them. To avoid doing that, there are two quite simple solutions – Web Warriors and Brotherhood.

Both teams can grant you an insane punch-up and you will not be bothered if you spend any of them against Symbiotes.

SA with Kestrel can also grant you a similar punch-up due to Maria Hill and her cleansing. Even her summons will not be a liability since they will help Kestrel to exploit Defense Down on Symbiotes making it impossible for them to heal fast enough.

Shadowland can fight with Symbiotes with ease. You cannot expect the same available punch-up as with previous teams but their initial burst grants you the possibility to kill Anti-Venom fast after which, everything is just a matter of time. As long as Night Nurse’s ultimate is on level 7, you have nothing to fear because Symbiotes’ debuffs will be your advantage on NN’s turn.

Tangled Web + Dormammu + America Chavez

A-Force + Dr. Doom ▲
Infinity Watch ▼
Undying + Tangled Web / New Warriors ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Apoc+QS/Kang+Eternals ▲▲
Darkhold/Dormhold ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men+Kang ▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Apoc+Deathseed ▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

This team is interesting because people combined America Chavez with Thangeld Web, so there will be a speed increase for the main characters.
I am not justifying breaking Young Avengers to create something like this, but more than a few players are doing it, so we will show teams who can beat this War Defense combination.

A Force is a strong team for AW Offense and with Doom added to them, they are more than capable of winning against this opponent. Dr. Doom Basic will never miss, same as Doombots. Nico Minoru Passive will synergize well with Jesica Jones, which will be one of the keys to the victory.

Infinity Watch needs to be a bit stronger to be able to win. IW also has some always-hitting attacks, and more importantly, they start combat with Safeguard and Immunity.

Undying is best to pair up with TW or NW because both teams have three members, which is ideal. You will not break any other existing team. Iron Man Zombie and Hela are a powerhouse for War Offense, and they will win easily with anyone on their side. Just be sure to place Ability Block on the right opponent (Spider Weaver) and spread it with Hela Ultimate.

Gamma is Gamma – the best War team in the game. Play smartly, and do not waste some of your powerful abilities if Weaver has Charged – you will win.

Underworld is the top team for War Offense. Place Abi Block with Mister Negative on Spider Weaver – If you can do that, victory is near. If you can’t – you will still win, but with a little more effort. Taskmaster will create chaos on the enemy team with his ultimate. After that, everything is easy.

Uncanny X-Men

X-Factor + Kestrel ▲
Ravagers ▲
Shadowland ▲
Bionic Avengers ▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Rebirth ▲
New Warriors ▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Undying ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Infinity watch ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

X-Factor + Kestrel, Ravagers, and Shadowland can oppose Phoenix and the company, by preventing their most important abilities. If Magik is not allowed to charge up Storm and Cyclops, and if you can control Phoneix when she is reborn, the odds are in your favor.

Keep in mind, that Magik will grant Phoenix additional Revive, so eliminating Magik should be your priority in a kill rotation.

If the first options fail or aren’t strong enough any of the Meta teams will be able to deal with them.

Underworld

Gamma ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Knowhere ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Infinity Watch ▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Black Order ▲
Deathseed ▼
Unlimited X-Men ▼▼▼
Darkhold ▼▼▼
Undying + Eternals ▲
Any Apocalypse team AAA (hard counter) ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Underworld is a fantastic team in War Offense, but at the same time, they can be a tricky opponent in Defense too. Most of them have additional bonuses just for Offense, but Taskmaster has everything in Warr generally. Not just in Offense but in Defense as well. That makes it hard for them to beat opponents, and I will present you some of the teams which can take them down.

Gama is the best War team in general, but at the same time, you will need to have them strongly built up for this matchup. If you can survive their initial burst and use Ultimate with Red Hulk – victory is yours. It will not be a big problem for the Green-Red War squad.

Unlimited X-Man should be able to win, but I am not 100% sure. Mainly because we didn’t have a chance to test them versus Underworld (Mister Negative is still not farmable in the game, and 99% of players keep the Underworld team for Attack). I think they can prevail over initial damage and debuffs from Underworld.

The Darkhold can only defeat them to the extent that they are significantly stronger. Be careful not to spend Specials or Ultimates when your characters are Blind.

Apocalypse is the hard counter for Underworld because, with his Passive, he will negate Mister Negative’s first hit so that he won’t be able to Ability Block anyone. Taskmaster and his Blinds are worthless against Apocalypse. That’s it.

Death Seed can win if you play smart. With Archangel, you should use a Special at the start after Magneto’s Ultimate and get rid of all the negatives the team has. As you kill the minions, you will take away their speed passively – way to win.

Unlimited X-Men

Gamma ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Undying+Apoc ▲▲▲
Deathseed+Apoc ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men+ Emma ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
TW+Apoc ▲▲
Apoc + Eternals + Cable + Sylvie ▲▲▲
Darkhold +Red Guardian/Drax/Bishop(instead of Scarlet Witch) ▲▲
Darkhold ▲
Black Order ▲▲
Apocalypse + Eternals + Cable + Sylvie ▲▲▲
Infinity Watch ▼▼
Undying trio ▲▲▲

The Unlimiteds were heavily buffed in the Secret Strike War Season (like all other Mutant teams). But it certainly won’t be a problem for all META teams.

Infinity Watch start with Safeguard and Immunity, which nullifies Rogue’s Special ability. That opens a possibility to prevail on pure strength, but you cannot expect a big punch-up with them against Uxmen.

Death Seed + Apoc will deal with them as long as you start the fight with Magneto’s Special on Rogue.

Uxmen are fully vulnerable against the Undying duo. It is not even needed to bring anyone else but Hela and ZIM and you can afford ridiculous punch-ups

With War Dogs against Uxmen in War, the only thing you need to do is to use Nakia’s special on Rogue, and focus the initial burst on her – she will have Disrupt, therefore, she will not enter Stealth and you will kill her. After that just turn on auto-combat!

Eternals+Apocalypse+Cable+Sylvie. Cable will give you enough Speed Bar that it will allow you to go before Rogue does. And with Apoc on the field, Unlimited won’t get Safeguard on Spawn, so Ikaris will be able to flip the buffs, and Apoc can Ability Block Rogue shortly after. After that just stun Gambit with Sylvie and it’s a win.

Basically, any Apocalypse team can easily handle Unlimited X-Men.

Maybe the best option against Uxmen is a duplicate team boosted with Emma Frost. With Emma Frost, your Rogue will play first and neutralize an enemy Rogue and her special. It is questionable who should be replaced with Emma, but Sunfire or Fantomex are the usual candidates. it depends on who is the weakest.

Darkhold will be able to deal with Unlimited, even if Rogue targets someone important with her Special. They have enough sutain to outlast them. But if you want to make your task easier you can bring in a pre-Taunter like Drax or Red Guardian. This way your options for punch-ups can increase.

Wakandan (original)

Eternals + 3 ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Knowhere ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders + 1 ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
Undying+3 ▲▲
Undying + Tangled Web + Emma ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲▲
Deathseed ▲▲▲
TW+Secret Avengers ▲▲
Infinity Watch ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Bionic Avengers ▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
New Warriors (full) ▲
Rebirth ▲
Masters of Evil ▲
Any Apocalypse team ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

If you run into Wakanda in the War, you will have significantly more teams that can successfully solve them (compared to squads capable of beating War Dogs in defense). They are slower and more automatically controllable. The recipe is the same as against War Dogs – control Shuri and Okoye.

If you’re attacking them with Death Seed Magneto Ultimate on start – Blind will help you overwhelm their initial burst. After that, focus on Okoye, then Shuri… Easy.

Underworld is an overpowered offensive team and a very effective counter to a Wakanda or War Dog team. Only two key characters, Mister Negative and Taskmaster, will play first and thus torment the opponents. A literal double punch-up is possible.

War Dog

Knowhere ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Gamma ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders + 1 ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Undying + Tangled Web + Emma ▲▲▲
Any Apocalypse team ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Death Seed ▲▲
Darkhold ▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
A-Force ▲▲▲
War Dogs ▲▲
Masters of Evil ▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

War Dogs is a specialized War Offense team, so you won’t see them on defense too often. However, sometimes that will be the case. They are not half as strong in defense as in Offense, so they will be easy prey for many.

We don’t recommend using META War teams against them (of course) because that would be a waste. But you can get them in a mirror match, MoEs can be solution vs. War Dogs (especially if you have powerful Kang), and Unlimited is a good choice.

The key in every fight is to control Shuri (Ability Block) so they don’t get buffed and Okoye (Stun). Once you do that, this fight is a breeze. And all the mentioned teams are able to do it. If you are fighting a mirror match, focus on Okoye at the start.

If you’re attacking them with Death Seed Magneto Ultimate on start – Blind will help you overwhelm their initial burst. After that, focus on Okoye, then Shuri… Easy.

Underworld is an overpowered offensive team and a very effective counter to a Wakanda or War Dog team. Because two key characters, Mister Negative and Taskmaster, will play first and thus torment the opponents. A literal double punch-up is possible.

Weapon X

Underworld ▲▲▲
Knowhere ▲▲▲
Gamma ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
A-Force ▲▲
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲
Secret Defenders + 1 ▲▲▲
Undying + Tangled Web ▲▲
Apocalypse + Eternals + 2 ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲
Darkhold/Dormhold ⊜
Unlimited X-Men+Red Guardian/Drax ⊜
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Weapon X is one of the best War teams, and their ruling quality is that they have the same bonuses in attack and Defense. Unlikely some other excellent War teams that have bonuses just in one segment of this mode, this team can be equally lethal in both. It is always better to use them in Offense because we do not trust AI enough, but sometimes we can see them in Defense. For those reasons, we picked up some teams who can beat them.

Gamma is the best team in the game for War by far. They can beat anyone, so Weapon X, same as all other teams, does not have a chance versus them.

Tangled Web trio plus the Undying duo will comfortably wipe the floor with Weapon X, but they can have some problems if Omega Red (who will play first) attacks Spider Weaver at the start of the combat. You can still win if that happens, but it will be trickier.

A mirror match is always a solution because we play better than AI :). If your Omega Red is playing the first target opponent Omega Red, focus on him with other characters and try to turn rewind Silver Samurai (with Lady Deathstike). After OR is out of combat, everything is easy. Focus on SS, and after him, do whatever you like. A smart move is to put your Omega Red in the corner.

I had my doubts if I should put Darkhold/Dormhold in the list of justified counters against WX, but since there are only 3 possible options at the moment the decision was obvious even though the RNG will decide the outcome in the end. The chance that OR will put Abi Block on Wong is only 20%. That should be enough for you to consider using DH, especially if there are other teams that can be only beaten with Gamma, Undying or WX.

The crucial thing when attacking is to avoid Omega Red Ability Block + Trauma on the essential character. That’s why we see attacking combinations with Drax/Red Guardian, which will attract the initial Omega Red attack due to the pre-Taunt. Control Omega Red and you will win.

Web Warriors

Kestrel + X-Factor/Secret Avengers/Invaders ▲▲▲
Rebirth ▲▲
Bionic Avengers ▲▲▲
Uncanny X-Men ▲
Dark Hunters ▲▲▲
New Warriors ▲▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲▲
Do not use other teams!

Web-Warriors can be seen in opposing defenses, but they pose almost no threat to attackers. Use the Bionic Avengers, which, due to unavoidable attacks, can destroy this defense without any problems. Huge Punch-Ups are possible.

Web Warriors can be a formidable opponent but there are several teams that can help you not use META teams against them.

Kestrel is a Hero who is a nightmare for Web Warriors. Her passive attacks will destroy Web Warriors one by one. It is not important whether you use X-Factor or Secret Avengers with her, you will be able to beat Web Warriors whose strength is doubled compared to yours.

The obvious counter for the team that fully relies on Dodge is the team whose attacks cannot be dodged. With the recent update, we got such a team. Bionic Avengers will almost fully ignore Web Warriors’ dodge potential making them easy targets, even if the punch-up is very high.

Uncanny X-Men with Magik is another team that is a natural counter to Web Warriors. Ghost’s passive will always target Phoenix, allowing her to quickly summon Dark Phoenix while all her allies are alive and fully charged. Once that happens, there is nothing that can save Web Warriors from Dark Phoenix, Cyclops, and Storm’s AOEs. A significant punch-up is possible when using this team against WW.

In War, Dark Hunters and Weapon X should be used against some more important enemies than WW, but outside of War, those two teams can easily deal with them. WW entirely relies on Dodge so picking teams that will be unaffected by their Dodge Chance (Dark Hunters and Weapon X) is an obvious solution.

Young Avenger + Dormammu

Gamma ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Knowhere ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders + 1 ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Darkhold/Dormhold ▲
Eternals + Tangled Web ▲▲
Tangled Web + Secret Avengers ▲▲
Undying + Tangled Web + Emma ▲▲▲
Apocalypse + any Horsemen team ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

This is where things get a little more interesting, as Dormammu will give “new life” to his team members. Tangled Web Duo can solve that problem. As long as Spider-Man 2099 can remove initial buffs from Dormammu, Spider Weaver should use her Ultimate on him. After that, everything is significantly favorable for us. Get rid of Dormammu ASAP, and try to kill the Young Avengers with the Weaver because they won’t be able to be resurrected if she does a fatal blow. If you use the Undying duo with them, it will make the fight easier.

Apocalypse will destroy this defense, but we do not recommend that – it is better to save him for a stronger defensive team.

Young Avenger

Undying + Tangled Web + Emma ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
A-Force ▲▲▲
Weapon X ▲▲
Unlimited X-Men ▲▲▲
New Avengers ▲▲▲
Underworld ▲▲▲
GAMMA ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Knowhere ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Secret Defenders ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
Deathseed ▲▲
Darkhold/Dormhold ▲▲▲ (hard counter)
TW+Secret Avengers ▲▲
Eternals+TW ▲▲▲
Masters of Evil ▲▲
Apocalypse + any Horsemen team ▲▲▲
Undying trio ▲▲▲

Young Avengers form a powerful team. It is sufficient to say that Infinity Watch cannot beat them in War to understand that they are extremely strong and dangerous. Even outside of War, unlike many specialized War teams, the Young Avengers save most of their War synergy so beating them in Cosmic Crucible is not an easy task, on contrary.

The secret when fighting Young Avengers is to prevent Squirrel Girl from healing while controlling Kate Bishop’s turns.

One of the teams that are fully equipped to deal with them is Darkhold. They are natural counters for Young Avengers. MLF will initiate a fight with permanent Abi Block on Kate Bishop, while Agatha can stun Squirrel Girl before she starts to heal her allies. You can afford significant punch-ups without fear of losing.

Young Avengers have no answer to the Undying duo as well. Once Hela spread ZIM’s debuffs, there is nothing YA can do. Possible punch-ups are broken and you don’t need anyone else but Hela and ZIM.

Unlimited X-Men is another natural counter. Rogue will fully incapacitate Squirrel Girl at the start and Gambit will do the rest. The only thing you need to do is to save Dazzler’s ultimate if Gambit is somehow Blinded by Kate Bishop. A huge punch-up is possible.

In War, Weapon X is a viable solution for YA. The importance of YA is high enough to justify using Weapon X against them in war. Omega Red’s passive will place Trauma and Heal Block on start, which will fully neutralize Squirrel Girl. The rest is easy. Unfortunately, outside of War that will not be possible.

The most important member of the Young Avengers is Squirrel Girl, and she should be paid the most attention. All the mentioned teams are able to control her very well (with Stun or Ability Block). After her, focus on Kate Bishop and Echo.

Conclusion

The list of Counters we provided will be updated and improved constantly. At the moment we have only the most important Defense Teams mentioned, but as time passes, we will add all teams along with their counters (including teams that are specifically meant only for offense).

If you have your insights and ideas, please share them with us so we can make the best possible list of Counters. The idea is to present teams that can win with the greatest Punch up, so everyone can make their roster effective.

With every new update, this list will be improved and increased. Do not hesitate to contact us and help us in our goal to make MSF easily playable for the entire community. Thank you in advance!