Saying that the Age of Apocalypse event changed the face of Marvel Strike Force wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The event is still ongoing, and its effects can be felt throughout the game.
Naturally, the main prize of the event is Apocalypse himself, being the result of several lengthy in-game challenges. But we could argue that the Four Horsemen that you empower on the road to unlocking Apocalypse are more impactful than the First Mutant.
By unlocking the full power of Morgan Le Fay, Rogue, Red Hulk, and Archangel, players gain access to incredibly mighty teams led by these legendaries. Let’s go over each Horsemen team in Marvel Strike Force and outline where they may be most useful.
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Related: Marvel Strike Force Tier List
Age of Apocalypse and the Horsemen Teams
Darkhold
With the powerful Controller Morgan Le Fay, the Darkhold team represents a significant asset in most game modes. The team consists of Le Fay, Scarlet Witch, Wong, Strange (Heartless), and Agatha Harkness, with each member fulfilling their role to perfection.
Le Fay afflicts enemies with stacks of debuffs, boosts the team, and disrupts the battle’s natural turn order. Agatha Harkness also wreaks havoc on enemies, particularly with her Ultimate, which starts fully charged. Strange (Heartless) is a Blaster that hits like a truck, and Wong may be one of the best Protectors in the game, at least in the confines of this team.
In terms of use, Darkhold is often promoted as an Arena team. Although the team is formidable in that mode, that’s probably more due to its overall power than because Darkhold is an Arena-specific setup. In fact, out of all team members, only Morgan Le Fay has specific Arena buffs within her Passive, granting better Barriers in this game mode.
Darkhold is more often – and more successfully – used in Alliance War and, to some extent, Cosmic Crucible. The team is incredibly potent in these modes, although it might have more promise in offense than defense.
Unlimited X-Men
With the Protector Rogue at the helm, the Unlimited X-Men team can seem downright impenetrable. This team is something of a mashup of X-Men characters that includes Sunfire, Gambit, Fantomex, and Dazzler.
Unlimited X-Men are among the Marvel Strike Force teams that follow a relatively new trend: Having two characters with Taunt, one as the primary protector and the other to take over if the first’s health drops too much. Fantomex is the second character here with the Taunt ability. Since Gambit grants Rogue Invisibility if she falls under 50% health, the additional Taunt can come in quite handy.
Unlike Darkhold, the Unlimited X-Men team is clearly profiled for one game mode from the start. Namely, all characters except Fantomex receive significant bonuses in Cosmic Crucible. Since this team can perform well under AI control, Unlimited X-Men most often finds its place in defense. Additionally, the team is quite challenging in War defense, especially if your Unlimited X-Men are maxed out.
Gamma
Gamma is one of the most notorious teams in Marvel Strike Force, and for a good reason. Red Hulk, the team’s Brawler leader, is, pure and simple, scary. And when he’s backed by Hulk, Abomination, Brawn, and She-Hulk, the entire team becomes a nightmare.
If you’ve got Hulk at a decent level, he can prove neigh-unkillable as he is one of the game’s greatest Protectors while dealing insane amounts of damage at the same time. Abomination drains health from opponents constantly, granting the rest of the Gamma team the same ability. Brawn is a masterful healer, while She-Hulk transfers debuffs to enemies when fully charged and can serve as a secondary tank.
Since Red Hulk is capable of standing out from a crowd as powerful as this, it’s obvious how much potential this Horsemen has. Under his leadership, the Gamma team can dominate any other in Alliance War, whether on offense or defense. The team is useful in Cosmic Crucible, too, although it will be more effective on defense.
Death Seed
The central figure of the Death Seed team is Archangel, a Blaster with some serious firepower. Accompanied by Dark Beast, Nemesis, Psylocke, and Magneto, this Horsemen has the bragging rights of being in the only team with two Legendaries.
Dark Beast is an extremely capable Controller who can inflict Ability Block, Bleed, and more negative effects while healing his allies. As a Support character, Nemesis reinforces his team while worsening the debuffs on enemies, while Psylocke clears the positives from the opponents and the negatives from Death Seed.
Magneto is particularly interesting since he doubles both as the team’s second Legendary and Controller. His Ultimate, ready from the start of the battle, casts Blind on all enemies. Even if Magneto did nothing else throughout the match, this would be enough to justify his position in Death Seed. Lastly, Archangel brings the entire team together, with his abilities to clear debuffs from every Death Seed member and cause Bleed on multiple enemies (with his Basic attack, no less).
Death Seed is, interestingly, a Raid team through and through. This doesn’t mean the team will disappoint you in other modes. Rather, it will deliver a satisfactory performance in Alliance War, but Raids is where Death Seed will truly shine. On the other hand, you could use the team in Cosmic Crucible, even though it will rarely be the optimal choice for either attack or defense.
Apocalypse & the Four Horsemen
Finally, we come to the ultimate matchup in which all Horsemen leave their respective teams and join their true leader, Apocalypse. This team has been highly anticipated ever since the Apocalypse Saga was announced in Marvel Strike Force, and it didn’t disappoint.
All of the Horsemen – Morgan Le Fay, Rogue, Red Hulk, and Archangel – have Passives that refer to this team and Apocalypse. They’ll smash their way through most defenses, being especially efficient in Arena. Depending on the opposing team, the Apocalypse team can dominate War and Crucible battles. However, don’t expect too much of them when going against dedicated War or Crucible teams. Apocalypse may still give some trouble even to those teams, but can lose due to specialization.
Although Horsemen teams have been around for some time now, they’re still far from old news. After all, the Marvel Strike Force website still has a dedicated section for the Apocalypse Saga. Understanding how to use these potent teams will give you an edge in most game modes, with each team leading you to victory in its own field. While Marvel Strike Force has been pushing out five new characters per month for a while now, Apocalypse and the Horsemen are still well-worth farming.
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Marvel Strike Force Horsemen Teams: A Thorough Look