Who do you put in Reserve?

[Jesse]

I've been reading a lot of different posts and ideas on which character to put in reserve based on specials, abilities to play while in reserve and defense.

Out of curiosity who do you play in Reserve when you build a deck?

Some of my most commons are:

Hawkeye
Spider-Woman

[Jack]

After I started using Marvels, Silver Sable has become a common occurrence in my decks, particularly the IQ one:


Having the ability to throw out 6F teamworks is pretty awesome as well as having the defense that Spider-Woman provides.

[breadmaster]

another popular one with marvels is dr strange (omni 1-6 avoid)

ususally, people put characters in reserve because they can either play cards from there, or you want to protect them for later in the game (perhaps they only have 1 special you're using)

[steve2275]

theres also the preferance of specials

[Jesse]

ususally, people put characters in reserve because they can either play cards from there, or you want to protect them for later in the game (perhaps they only have 1 special you're using)

Typically my prefernce is to have someone in reserve that can attack i.e. Hawkeye. I play a lot of fighting teams so he gets to be my backup quite a bit. I usually only go to Spider-Woman when I am playing a spidey team and want a little reserve defense.

The main reason I posted the question, is I am pretty set in my ways of Hawkeye as my #1 go to guy, but since I am building decks/teams for friends to learn and play with me I dont want to "screw" them over by putting a character in reserve that can't do anything. I'm trying to build decks as close to equivalent in ability as I can (at least in the beginning).....

[gameplan.exe]

I don't typically build decks to fill roles (so much as story-related themes), but when I do, it looks much like the above (cheap, with Specials to play from Reserve). The other way I use my Reserve is usually a back up for stats w/their best Special. Also, the right pairing of Events can get my Reserve into the mix well.

Here are some typical Reserve characters I use to fill the latter role, who have no playable cards from Reserve (which isn't the norm, necessarily):

Magneto - Expensive, but great stat-backing. Also handy to have that 11 late in the game. Also, if you're only looking to back up the 8E, you can use his 3stat character on the ultra-cheap!

Maverick - Fairly cheap, as far as lv.8 Fighters are concerned. I like to pair him with his BG Special and the HELLFIRE CLUB ATTACKED Event to either get the Special into play, or simply to kill him instead of a Front Line character.

The Morlocks - not the best price (19), but a dual grid gives back up to Energy Teamworks. Also, using their DQ Special late in the game can be an instant KO.

Quicksilver - as a dual grid, he get's good stat backing even though he's a max-7 grid. also, he's an 18, freeing up a point on the Front. I usually play with just his 11 attack, but when using The Marvels, his CA Special can be an instant KO on a few people late in the game!

Robin - another dual grid, 18, like Quicksilver. His best Special is his JA card, one of the absolute best Specials to have in the Power Pack.
(If you're playing with The MARVELS, Angel can fill this role too, although his dual grid variants are more expensive, at 20).

With any of the max-8 characters, I like to use the Events which let the Reserve character defend the Front Line with Power cards. It essentially makes all of your Front Line a max-8 for defense for 1 battle. I also like to use the Events which move the Reserve to the Front Line for a battle.

[Nate Grey]

I've been reading a lot of different posts and ideas on which character to put in reserve based on specials, abilities to play while in reserve and defense.

Out of curiosity who do you play in Reserve when you build a deck?

Some of my most commons are:

Hawkeye
Spider-Woman

Those two are also the most common with us, especially since we don't play with The Marvels set of cards that were never released.

I was recently checking out Deathbird as a good reserve in a fighting team if one of your front-line characters has a low fighting stat since she can defend front line characters from the back (while that said front line character gets the Super Soldier Serum).

Also I think I recall someone using 3-stat Galactus in reserve to defend Dazzler in the front line since her Inherent lets her be defended using Power Cards from whoever is in reserve (not just Galactus of course). Seems like she'd fit into any non-Energy team if that's the case (and maybe throw her a stat-boosting Artifact just in case there is no longer a reserve character).

[steve2275]

i'm a quicksilver up front kind of guy

[Jesse]

Those two are also the most common with us, especially since we don't play with The Marvels set of cards that were never released.

I was recently checking out Deathbird as a good reserve in a fighting team if one of your front-line characters has a low fighting stat since she can defend front line characters from the back (while that said front line character gets the Super Soldier Serum).

Also I think I recall someone using 3-stat Galactus in reserve to defend Dazzler in the front line since her Inherent lets her be defended using Power Cards from whoever is in reserve (not just Galactus of course). Seems like she'd fit into any non-Energy team if that's the case (and maybe throw her a stat-boosting Artifact just in case there is no longer a reserve character).
[/quote]

When I play I don't use the marvels either. I will definitely look into Deathbird and I do like the thought of Galactus on a Dazzler team (never even thought about him/her combo). sounds pretty interesting.

[gameplan.exe]

I have made good use of Deathbird in my "Gambit & the X-Ternals" team, which has Jubilee, Gambit, and Starjammers up front.

Also, I've never put Galactus behind Dazzler, but I have put Sunfire behind her on a team with Storm & Banshee up front, specifically so she could be defended by the lv.5 Fighting Powercards and the lv.4 Intellect Powercards that the deck had. She has a lot of potential to go on a non-Energy team because of her I.A. - in fact, I saw her on a pretty good Fighting team from some one around here... Breadmaster, was it?

Also, regarding Quicksilver - as good as his other attack cards are, for me, he always seems to be on teams with better front line characters... although, I'm trying to work out a deck right now with him up front to make special use of his DG-Special 

[mattkoz]

This is a good thread. Like some others here, since I only play recreationally, I try to build my teams in a theme rather than just for tournament-style strategy. This leads to a variety of reserve heroes, but not necessarily any that are particularly effective in that role.

I'd be interested to continue hearing strategies especially for non-traditional reserve characters. I usually will make a team and put the 3 with the most useful/plentiful specials in front and put someone with a high attack OPD in reserve.

It seems with non-actionable reserve characters (i.e., without a special or inherent that allows them to do something back there), one of your best bets is to stash a low stat count character back there and load up on your front three.

Cards placed to the reserve count for duplication, right?

[gameplan.exe]

Cards placed to the reserve count for duplication, right?

Not when they're already placed, unless something allows them to be played.

So, for example, if you have a lv.7 Fighting Power card placed to Deathbird in Reserve, and you draw a lv.7 in a subsequent hand, it's a duplicate, since Deathbird can play the Power card from Reserve to defend the Front Line (same as Polaris, but for attacking with E Power cards).
However, if you have a lv.7 Fighting Power card placed to, say, Deadpool in Reserve, and you draw a lv.7 in a subsequent hand, it's not considered a duplicate to the 7 that's stashed on Deadpool, since he has no way to use it in the current hand.

But, if you draw two lv.7 Power cards, you're not able to place one to reserve and keep the other. They're considered duplicates before you're given the opportunity to stash one of them on the Reserve
(although, in my circle, we allow the stashing without the duplicate processing. It's how we learned and we like it that way. The net effect doesn't seem too much different, either).

[mattkoz]

Thanks for clearing that up. Seems like placing a power card to reserve could be useful in a hand that you might plan to concede. Of course, if it's too obvious then your opponent might bet big.

[steve2275]

http://overpower.ca/cards/specials/104.png

dont forget cards like that

[mattkoz]

http://overpower.ca/cards/specials/104.png

dont forget cards like that

Interesting. So that card has to be played in battle, and then the extra placing can begin after the next draw. You could line up a few good cards placed so that the battle that Banshee moves up is set up for a big venture bet.

The process to place the sufficient number of cards to make that strategy work might not be worth the benefit though.