C3G Strategy - January 2018

C3G Strategy Guide
Mephisto
Author: Ronin

Analyzed Statistics

Left Box Breakdown
Species – Demon (Synergy)
Uniqueness – Event Hero (Synergy)
Class – Hell Lord (Synergy)
Personality – Manipulative
Size/Height – Medium 6

Being a demon and a Hell lord grants Mephisto some very mild synergy, but the most important thing in Mephisto’s left box is his event hero status. Being an event hero earns Mephisto a lot of handy immunities. The two big ones, built into event hero status, are that he can’t be automatically destroyed by special powers (taking 4 wounds instead) and that an opponent can’t use any special power to take control of him.

Mephisto is also immune to many offensive powers that specifically call out unique or common figures. The downside of event hero status is that Mephisto is left out of many strong synergy powers that only loop in unique heroes. For instance, Mephisto can’t benefit from the leadership of Captain America, Star-Lord, or Red Skull.

Statistics Breakdown
Life – 9
Move – 6
Range – 6
Attack – 6
Defense – 6
Points – 800

Mephisto has unquestionably solid stats, albeit at a very hefty price tag. There are harder hitters in C3G, but Mephisto’s still tough enough to tango with just about any partner. This is especially true once you start looking at his special powers, which we’ll do immediately.

Powers Breakdown

Deal with the Devil
Start the game with 4 red Deal Markers on this card. When an opponent’s Unique Hero that does not have the Valiant personality would be destroyed, if there is a Deal Marker on this card, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 6 or higher, instead remove all Wound Markers from that Hero’s card and place a Deal Marker from this card on that Hero’s card. Androids, Constructs, and Undead are not affected by this special power.

This is the centerpiece of Mephisto’s card, but obviously it doesn’t seem all that great on its own. Deciding to heal up an enemy hero instead of destroying it typically requires a strong incentive and it’s the other powers on this card that provide that.

Blood Contract
When Mephisto would receive one or more wounds, you may instead destroy a Hero with one of your Deal Markers on its card.

All right, so here’s the first, marginal benefit of making a deal with an opponent’s hero: you can use those heroes to extend Mephisto’s life. The opportunity to do this won’t generally justify a deal all on its own, but you might make a deal with a very wimpy hero (a Hydra Bob or an Ant-Man type) with this option specifically in mind. Mephisto is almost certainly the centerpiece of his army, and keeping a weak enemy figure in the game isn’t a high price to pay for building a safety net for Mephisto.

Time to Collect
Before placing Order Markers at the start of a round, you may choose a Hero with one of your Deal Markers on its card. Take control of the chosen Hero and that Hero’s Army Card. For that round, before taking a turn with Mephisto, you may take a turn with the chosen Hero, adding 1 to the chosen Hero’s Attack number. At the end of the round, destroy the chosen Hero.

Now this is the real show-stopper, the centerpiece part deux. Being able to take control of an opponent’s hero as a bonding partner for Mephisto, and then kill them off at the end of the round, lends a little more weight to keeping them alive with a deal. Fielding Mephisto largely involves managing your use of deal markers and Collect-ions.

One thing to keep in mind is that Time to Collect takes permanent control; if you’re up against a figure that can come back from destruction, make sure to target that figure for a deal if you can. Once you collect, and after the figure is destroyed, it will stay in your army instead of popping back up in your opponent’s. Most figures with resurrection powers are undead, and therefore cannot be chosen for a Deal with the Devil, but there are exceptions, like Doomsday.

Super Strength

One of the most widely held special powers in C3G. It provides a handful of immunities, but it isn’t rich fodder for discussion.


In-Depth Analysis

So how can you be a good debt collector?

The big, obvious risk you need to manage is that a hero you make a deal with gets to stay in the game longer and possibly hurt you. You don’t want to keep a real threat in the game for too long, so if you decide to make a deal with a figure like Omni-Man, you’re going to want to collect on that deal before Omni-Man starts cudgeling your figures to death. This is particularly true if Mephisto is not the whole of your army. Mephisto always has the contingency of protecting himself by invoking Blood Contract and destroying the figure he made a deal with, but he can’t protect his allies in the same way. Be wary of whether you might be putting friendly figures at risk.

So be shrewd about making those deals, because they can be very rewarding when you make them carefully. Go for those heavy hitters, but only when you know you can collect in a timely fashion. Multi-attackers that can really leverage the attack boost from Time to Collect (and give you some extra efficiency) are nice to get your hands on as well. And, as briefly touched on before, you might make a deal with a weaker figure in order to keep Mephisto safe. He’s an 800 point event hero that probably has most of your order markers, so protecting your investment isn’t a bad idea.

Building an army around Mephisto can be tricky—because he has very little direct synergy, he’s ineligible for a lot of go-to generalist synergy, and he’s such a pricey figure that he’s going to be a pretty big chunk of the army all by himself, if not the entire army. A good pairing for Mephisto is any unit that can make a run on the enemy by itself and crack some skulls (or, if you’ve got the space in your army, a few units that can do that together). Mephisto likes a good first strike buddy for a couple of reasons. The first is that it softens up the enemy so you can get those deal markers out faster. The second is that if your other figure(s) go down before Mephisto, then there’s less risk in making deals.

There is one notable figure that Mephisto has direct synergy with, and that figure is Baron Mordo. Mephisto and Mordo don’t get along perfectly, because they both have powers that want order markers in order to leverage taking control of enemy figures. Baron Mordo’s Dark Arts Empowerment does let him benefit somewhat from your order markers with Mephisto, though. That, combined with Mordo’s extra power at the beginning of the round and his durability, makes him a decent first strike unit for your Mephisto build. Mordo also has another niche synergy with Mephisto: Mordo can change the personality of an opponent’s unique hero to hypnotized, rendering a valiant hero vulnerable to Deal with the Devil.

For more information, check out the Book of Mephisto.

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