Talk:The Hood (Classic)/@comment-184.155.0.126-20170831092008

Oh my, I thought this comment section would have figured it out already.

Aside from the obvious uses like Galactus Hungers and a few choice self sacrifice combos, like with Sentry, it's well known that Robbins is not the bulkiest of units to keep front and center. But what he lacks in good sustainability is balanced by a crippling counter with a maxed Dormammu's Aid to any characters that have a lot of big AP cost powers, and characters that thrive on populating the board with their colors of choice. At the same time, the theft can bring life to game-ending powers on your own side much quicker, which can be a helpful speed boost if you're needing to use the same character multiple times without healing.

First rule, The Hood is shrewd and focuses on the long game. That means he can't reliably hinder the opponent's small AP moves (Gamora's Razor's Edge, Daken's Chemical Reaction, or Ares' Onslaught), and that goes double if they have any move that can strike your whole team. Criminals need to play it smart. If your opponent has a lot of passives, try someone else.

If we were speaking ideally, his best team would be with Grey Suit Widow and Iron Man Model 40. And here's why. Provided the levels are even (ideally maxed), Robbins would only find himself in front if a yellow or black match is made. This specific pool gives us not one, but FIVE active powers in the double digits, all of them devastating. Widow's Sniper Rifle, which should always be geared to hit the entire enemy team, Deceptive Tactics which can manually create 4-lines and crits, while also feeding Sniper Rifle, Iron Man's Unibeam, which is all but a one shot, and Balistic Salvo, which is yet ANOTHER full team hit. Iron Man M40's AP drain is also less of a concern when faced with an self feeding cycle of AP stealing.

Which this mix, Red and blues should be focused first which will keep Iron Man in front and fill the board with other colors to keep the steals going. If yellow and black build high enough and the opponent is being kept suitably quiet, recharge and intimidation can be used in succession to accelarate to a game ending situation as even a level 3 recharge will be fueling a unibeam, a ballistic salvo, and Widow's sniper rifle for two full team swipes and a tank buster clean up.

At best, Hood is meant to keep the enemy's big powers at bay. Being able to steal 4 or more for every plain 3 match they make can make long matches into assured victory, provided he's properly tanked. Anyone who can bring stuns that give free turns are also welcome (Gamora's Skull Cracker, Daredevil's Billy Club, Spiderman's All Tied Up) as it allows the stealing of extra AP. Bringing Hood along ensures that the enemy's power firing will be prolonged, so abilities that generate attack, strike, or protect tiles or self healing can make the gap monumentally difficult for the enemy to overcome.

Other uses can be exploited with Hood against non-matching minions. Simply matching the colors that the minions don't use can allow Robbins to slpw down the generation of cooldown tiles while gaining the free AP without the need to match, and leaving more tiles of those colors to match any that come close to finishing. Paired with Iron Fist and Doctor Strange, two characters who are already known for their power and overcoming minions, and the result can make such a powerful offense that even waves may not be able to compete efficiently.

The Hood is certainly not anyone's first choice for a roster's ringer, but that's not to say that he doesn't have his uses. Against characters who add specific power feeding color tiles to the board (Thor and Ragnarok, Cloak and Dagger) he can be paired with characters who use those colors in strong ways to pull out a serious damage edge, regardless of how little health he has