The Merc with a Mouth has taken over Marvel Strike Force in a new update deployed to coincide with the release of Deadpool 2 and I couldn’t be more excited. Truth be told, I’m not a huge Deadpool fan, he’s great in small doses, but I’ve got to say both the new content and the character have been on point.
Like Thanos, Deadpool is unlocked through a combination of a new event and special raid. The Thanos event was merely OK, but Deadpool’s was absolutely hilarious, with solid writing that really nailed the antics and fourth wall shattering commentary you’d expect to find from DP.
The new raid also benefits from lessons the developers have learned from the implementation of the Thanos raid. This time the raid only comes in two configurations, Spicy (lower level) and En Fuego (for max level) and it’s only available from Thursday-Sunday. One thing that sucked about the Thanos raid was having to run two raids daily, so I’m glad for the limited schedule. The raid is pretty amusing, too. Naturally, all the boss fights are Deadpool, but you also have Cable show up to help out sometimes, which offers many opportunities to preview his awesome kit. Cable will also be available to unlock as a permanent addition to your roster via a Blitz (ugh!) launching sometime today, so be on the lookout for that.
Speaking of kits, let’s take a look at both Cable and Deadpool.
Players were hoping for a Blaster, but alas, Deadpool joins the roster as a Brawler, though he’s also got the Mercenary and Mutant (Deadpool is not a mutant) tags. Both tags are useful, however, as Cable’s passive offers bonuses to Mutant characters (and we’ll get into how important this is a bit later) and the Mercenary tag allows Deadpool to fit on fun Merc teams with Kingpin, but more importantly, it means he can be used for the new Payday (Gold) flash event that’s running right now (and we expect will return regularly).
Deadpool’s kit lends him to more of a PvE focus, but I expect him to find a solid place in PvP as well. Many of Deadpool’s abilities grant bonuses for hitting minions and he’s also got access to plenty of regeneration and even passive debuff cleansing in his kit. Despite his low defenses, Deadpool is built for drawn out fights, which makes him excellent for raids.
Pool’s also got a new chain mechanic on one of his abilities. Typically, a chain attack will move from one target to the next, but Deadpool’s ability is tagged “Rebound Chain” which means he can bounce back between the same few targets if there are fewer targets on the field, making his chain capabilities much more potent when you’re able to hit a pair of targets repeatedly.
The minion bonuses and regeneration aren’t super useful for PvP due to the fast nature of PvP fights, but the rebound chaining and Deadpool’s unique execute ability means he’s likely to find a place in the meta. Using one of his abilities, Deadpool can target the lowest health member of the enemy team, even through taunt, which I expect to be a strong asset in PvP. This ability hits like a truck, too. He may seem like a PvE character at first glance, but don’t sleep on DP in PvP.
Cable, on the other hand, did come in as a Blaster, so those of us able to snag him will be able to rejoice being able to use him in the pesky Blaster Challenge. He’s also Cosmic, which is always a plus. Cable’s a bit harder to place right now since he’s not out just yet, but he has the potential to be hugely effective in PvP. While he’s a bit slow himself, Cable can manipulate turn meters, which tends to be a huge deal in these sorts of games, particularly in PvP. He grants all allies a turn meter boost on spawn and can reduce enemy turn meters by 50% and 10% for adjacent targets with one of his abilities.
His Mutant bonus comes in through his passive, which grants a 30% chance to give Mutant allies Counter on turn (20% for everyone else). This is where Deadpool’s Mutant tag becomes relevant.
The thing with Cable & Deadpool is that they are “buddy” characters. If you run one, you’re likely to want to run the other on the same team. Cable’s ultimate ability, Psychic Surge, gains an assist from Deadpool for an extra damage boost when he’s on the team, but more importantly, if this ability kills the target it refills both Cable AND Deadpool’s turn meters by 70%.
Personally, I’m pretty excited to have both these characters on my team. I’m not sure if they’ll make it to my A team, but they’ll for sure be on my B team. For one, I’m a sucker for any Mutants added to the roster and I’ve always loved Cable in particular, so I’ll be glad to have him. Deadpool will for sure make my B team on raids, but I also just really enjoy playing him. His ability animations are absolutely hilarious (as you would expect) and his kit is simply fun to use. Sure, the mouth on the Merc with a Mouth can be grating, but thankfully characters don’t talk in MSF, so I won’t find myself annoyed using him.
What’s your take on all the new Deadpool content? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
