One of the most asked questions in Marvel Contest of Champions is, “Which Champ should I rank up?” I see this question asked in my alliance, in forums, and in global chat on a daily basis. It’s great to get someone else’s opinion and although your alliance definitely wants your roster to progress, everyone has a different opinion and style of play. Overall, you’re going to make the final decision, so I’ve provided six steps to help you pull the trigger.
Step 1:Test Run Your Potential Champs
Before you buy a car you take it out on a test drive, right?
So, why would you rank-up a champ without taking them for a quick spin in Realm of Legends or Story Quest? When you take a test run w/ one of your potential rank-ups you’ll discover whether you actually enjoy their fighting style, specials, passive abilities, etc. In my opinion this is the most important factor when deciding who to rank-up. After all, this is a game, so have fun, and level-up champs you actually like using.
Step 2: Understand Your Champ’s Abilities
You will start to discover your champions strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and abilities once you complete Step 1. Chances are, you will only scratch the surface on your test run, especially if you picked up a newer champ (2019+), since Kabam loaded them w/ more abilities. I wouldn’t spend too much time trying to understand all the Kabamspeak when you peruse the champs info. Instead, hit-up YouTube and enter in the search bar {Your Champion + MCOC + Gameplay}. This should lead you to a multitude of resources, but Seatin & Lagacy will likely provide the most helpful game play review.
Step 3: Discover What You’re Missing
Understanding what you currently lack in your line-up is vital. For instance, if you already ranked-up three 5* Skill Champs, and your choices are between another 5* Skill or a 5* Cosmic, maybe lean towards the Cosmic. If your 5* Cosmic is total garbage, then it’s probably not worth using resources to rank a champ you won’t be using. After all, patience is a virtue.
Another scenario is whether your squad is missing an offensive or defensive piece. If you have a team that is geared towards finishing story or kicking a$& in AW/AQ, BUT your AW defense unit is pretty weaksauce, I think you should consider selecting a defensive champ over an offensive champ. When you have a solid defensive unit you elevate your alliance, and yourself, when you pick-up that AW Victory. Plus, collecting defense kills during war is pretty satisfying.
Step 4: Ensure Your Masteries Align w/ The Champ
Let’s say you are choosing between a champion that has high Crits vs. a champ that regenerates when their health falls below 30%. If you have maxed out Precision + Cruelty, but have zero mastery points in Recovery, then you should 100% be leaning towards leveling-up your high Crit champ.
Personally, I had to choose between a 5* Gwenpool and a 5* Luke Cage to build up my offensive team. Since I maxed out Deep Wounds, and one of Gwenie’s regular abilities is Bleed it was an easy choice selecting her. Plus, I loved her fighting style, understood her abilities, and I didn’t have any 5* Skills champs at R4.
Step 5: Lean Towards Higher Star Champs
I say this with trepidation, but if you are on the fence between a weaker 5* champ and a stronger 4* champ, I believe you should level-up the 5* champ. There are so many variables to consider, like where you are in the story, the strength of your current team, if you are heavy into grinding arena, etc. The fact is, 6* and 5* champs are the future and they will give your team a much higher PI, they will hit harder, provide higher points in Arena, and offer a tougher defender for your opponents in war.
Unless you have one of these champions or Seatin’s Meme Tier, I’d say you’re pretty safe ranking up a higher star champ over the lower star champs. Overall, you’ll get a much better ROI when you invest in your 5*/6* champs vs. your 4* champs and below.
Step 6: Do You Have Rank-Up Resources
This isn’t as important of a step, since you can always farm and grind for resources to rank your champ. However, sometimes you will have more rank-up resources for one champ vs. the other champ. As an example, say you’ve stockpiled Gold, Mutant Iso and T4 Mutant Catalysts and you’re able to take your Mutant Champ up two levels. Your other choice is a Mystic Champ and you’re only able to take them up one level. Well, you might want to consider the Mutant Champ, but again, only rely on this step if you are struggling to make a final decision.
Rank-Up Guide Conclusion
I can’t stress enough that Steps 1 and 2 will be your best friend in helping you make a final decision on which MCOC Champ to Rank-Up. For the longest time, I have avoided ranking up Luke Cage since he was buffed and deemed a legit champ. Why you ask? Because I just don’t enjoy using him in arena, story, or war. Even though Seatin has him in the High-Demi God Tier and my alliance keeps nagging me to rank him up, I recently chose to rank-up Guilly instead. Before that, I chose Green Goblin over Luke Cage. I get that LC is a better champ, I just enjoy using a Guilly A LOT more, and GG is a stronger defender than LC (IF GG is on the right node).
Overall, this is a game and you should have fun playing it, so my biggest recommendation is, rank up a champion you legitimately enjoy using. It will make grinding quests, story, and all the BS Kabam will throw at you along the way, MUCH easier to manage.
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