« IPW Feature: Deadpool/Chris/Dante Team Analysis and Breakdown Part One »

Like guns, swords, bazookas and more guns? Then you will love this article. In a four part segment, I'll be breaking down the dynamic of a current team I'm playing, with this article being focused on teams and each subsequent part outlining the utility of a specific character. Though the article will be spotlighting a specific team, I want to urge people to read on even if you don't share a common character preference, as you might find useful tips in creating a team or simple things you need to keep in mind when searching for a compatible trio.

As the title suggests, I will be explaining the team consisting of Deadpool “type y” on point, Chris “type b” as my utility character, and Dante “type a” as my anchor. Later, I will go on to what this means and why I choose them. For now I want to explain the reasoning behind this team's construction, starting with the point character.

Deadpool, you're the star of the show!

Ah, the life of a point character; the face of the team, first name on the marquee. Deadpool featuring Chris & Dante. He gets all the praise and all the fame. Well... not exactly (sorry, Wade).

Though the point character is a vital and impacting position, it is by no means the most important. So why is he there? Isn't a point character just your favorite character? Well, it can be, but in this case Chris is my favorite character. So maybe it's really the character you are best with? Maybe, but Dante is by far the character I’ve invested the most time with. So then, what is the point of a point character? Whether personal preference or reaction to your meta game there is no wrong answer, but to put this in the scope of competitive play, there is a best answer. A point character is chosen simply because it is the most successful in that position.. Duh!

Now that may seem like an incredibly easy problem to solve when making your team, but alas, it is no easy task. Let's skip all the soul searching I did to even find my team and just move to to the point where I'm looking at my characters, wondering where I should put them. WARNING: this part gets a little heavy, so bear with me. What I want to do here is show the three basic structures the team can take and the benefits and downfalls they achieve in doing so. (Teams optimized by avoiding putting Chris or Deadpool as anchor if possible)

Order - Chris/Deadpool/Dante

So first I want to look at the order of Chris  “gunfire” as point, Deadpool “trigger happy” as my utility and Dante “jam session” as anchor. The theory with this construction is simple: Chris, who is a heavy zoner (zoning character) with low mobility, will benefit the most from having two assists from the beginning of the match. In theory, at least.

So here is an early video of me playing against none other than Haunts in a small set. What we see is a mixture of variables affecting my team's synergy and effectiveness. This is a drastic example as I was still learning Chris, but the point is illustrated clearly. First of all, I think one of the most important variables affecting the success of this team construction is the meta game, or my area's meta game to be more precise. Weighing this variable and practically applying adjustments is quite easy; as I stated earlier, Chris is a heavy zoner with very low mobility and is fairly slow. Now, let's match him up against what would be his potentially bad match-ups. Here I will assume that fast characters with high mobility will be his bad match-ups, as this has been the case in the past for these character archetypes (this is debatable, I know, but it's merely to express a point).

Bad match-ups for Chris -

Wolverine
X-23
Storm
Dante
Magneto
Zero

Here are a few of what I would consider to be bad match-ups for Chris (for now), especially at the start of the match when Chris needs to hustle for space, while the quicker characters start so close to him that mounting an offense is merely a dash away. What you probably are noticing is what I have also found: most of these characters tend to be point characters as well! Although Chris can potentially kill all of them in one combo, landing any hit on these speedy characters, never mind getting room to pull out the artillery, is a hefty chore. The residual effect of this, also demonstrating the poor synergy, is that when and if Chris dies, then Deadpool is entering the battle with only Dante's “Jam session” as his helper assist. Deadpool's strong points are greatly complimented with a ground based projectile that can fill the lower horizon of the screen while, interestingly enough, Chris does not! I find that the weakest point of Chris' zoning game is the upper opposite corner where "Trigger happy" or "Jam session" can compensate (I will go into much more detail on the character specific articles). The strong points of this team are visible when you can get room to force your pace and game plan but, ultimately, this was a failed experiment, yet much was learned from the endeavor nonetheless.

Order - Dante/Chris/Deadpool

Now this order makes a little more sense. We can see that Dante is heading up the front lines against all these other powerful point characters. Though it may be too soon for talks about rankings within the game, I think it is pretty safe to say Dante is the best, if not one of the few vying for that spot. Dante is a specialist in exploiting your opponent's team's weakness. I don't think he excels at zoning or rush down like other characters, but he is so versatile that it only takes a few slight adjustments in his game plan to make any match a winning one. So why does he not work as a point character? He does, in fact. He's an amazing on point, as a utility character and anchor as well! What is more important here is how his position in relation to the rest of the team affects your success.


Unlike Chris, Dante is well-prepared for the initial flow of a match and does fine against all potential point characters. In this construction we have to look at internal variables affecting synergy and not external variables like the meta game. What this basically means is weighing the possible outcomes of a match and how that affects my teams viability, while also looking at how the team benefits from this construction versus other ones. For starters, let's look at the most basic outcomes of a match that are unfavorable, but unavoidable. The most common being, Dante gets critically wounded or killed early, leaving Chris and Deadpool to fight off my opponent's team. This is not a position that this team can handle well, as Chris and Deadpool are slower, methodical characters that strive on positioning.

This drops me into my opponent's hands, who now has momentum, position, and even the risk/reward is in his favor with the luxury of having three characters versus my two. More importantly, as the situation may turn more dire, is that neither Chris nor Deadpool truly becomes a threat in level 3 X-Factor.  Granted, Deadpool does get his Quick Work loop that leads to 100% damage on any character and Chris similarly can just do a basic combo that will K.O most characters. The problem here is that getting your opponent into a position where they will get hit by these devastating combo's is incredibly hard, and suddenly shifting you character's strong point into their weakness (zoning to rush down) is a risky move. Lesson learned: if possible, don't rely on zoning characters to make a comeback.

Final Order – Deadpool/Chris/Dante

Finally, the long journey has come to an end. And what separates this construction apart from the others? Let's look at some of the glaring issues the other team orders had through the lens of this construction. The first hurdle is getting past those pesky point characters. Where Chris failed to enforce his will, Deadpool seems to manage far better. His general speed, mobility and benefit from assists allow him to offset the dreaded first second of the match that all zoning characters fear. With the pace set and Deadpool keeping the opponent full screen, this team can finally play its game

Not all matches go as planned, though. Where Dante can be a devastating point character, losing him would have crippled my team. Here is another reason why the current construction has such high synergy. If Deadpool happens to get bopped by a Wolverine or Magnus, all is not lost. Chris as an auxiliary zoner to Deadpool gives me another chance to fight back. I also believe that Dante's “Jam session” assist compliments Chris as much as any assist could in the game. If anything, Chris will be equipped with a strong assist and meter to use, making any fight winnable. Ah, but there is one more hurdle.

It's all up to you, Dante! A terrible position that neither player looks forward to, Dante is the soul survivor and has level three X-factor to lean on. Dante by himself is a complete monster and perhaps the strongest character on the team. Given the situation where X-factor is at his disposal, he is even more fearsome. Cleaning up a whole team with just Dante is not only a possibility, it seems to be quite common.

While the final construction picks up the slack of the previous builds, I can also see its faults. The team can not cleanly DHC in and out of each other which can put me in vulnerable positions. Then there is having Chris come in right after Deadpool, which can result in two similar characters facing similar bad match ups. I did look at these faults and weighed them versus its gains, where I concluded that the current construction is the most viable for competitive play.

So with my closing thoughts, I want to comment on team synergy and what it really means. Many players seem to incorrectly use DHC's synonymously with team synergy, when it is merely a variable to keep in mind. Of course it is a nice perk to be able to DHC in and out of your characters. Now, with the advent of exploits creating a DHC that does critical damage in only two supers, players are quick to design a team around this,  but it does not necessarily mean your team has high synergy.  If  an    X-23/Wesker player does not have the proper tools to approach a Deadpool player, then it seems like their options and versatility are low. Synergy is all the variables that aid your team in succeeding as one cohesive unit. It's simple to design a team with easy DHC capability, but what I would urge you to do is look to the theory of how a team succeeds and practically apply it to team construction. Try it out!

NEXT EPISODE: Spotlight - Deadpool