Tuesday Tips: Great player combos in OverDrive

Hello and Welcome to Tactics Tuesday!

This is the number one place to find the tips and tricks to master your favourite Mantic system. Hopefully over the coming weeks you will learn how to deal with that one pesky unit that has been giving you trouble or find some insight into better ways to play and enjoy your most loved game.

With the Bulk Grogan Memorial Trophy OverDrive tournament coming up at Mantic HQ this Saturday, we thought it would be the perfect time to give aspiring coaches some hints and tips for some top notch player combos in the game. And no, this isn’t a way for Rob to put his fellow competitors off the scent so he can win the tournament. Absolutely not. No way.

SKARATHRON AND KARADON

Skarathron is currently one of the few players with a ranged attack built into their profile. Although not the most powerful attack, Skarathron’s ranged attack is perfect for causing small amounts of damage and turning your opponent in the direction you want. Side note: it’s worth using the Dead Eye Coach Ability when you’ve selected Skarathron, as it negates the -1 modifier for moving or turning before making a ranged attack.

If you’ve caused some damage on an opponent then Karadon becomes all the more deadly, thanks to his Blood in the Water! OverDrive ability. This is because once triggered, Karadon gets a +2 modifier on Slams against injured players. So, not only have you caused damage with Skarathron but, hopefully, you’ve turned your foe so that Karadon will be slamming from behind too. Nasty!

SYNECHDOCHE AND THE SPAWN

Movement and placement is absolutely key in OverDrive, particularly in the standard game mode, so having two players on your side that can mess with your opponent’s positioning is a great way to ruin their best laid plans. What’s more, Synechdoche and The Spawn both move the opponent in slightly different ways. The Spawn will pull them out of position, while Synechdoche will push them backward.

Don’t forget that Synechdoche’s Push ability can also be used to move friendly Players around the arena. This is particularly useful if you have slow characters, like Dozer or Brank that may have been passed the bomb and are out of range of an enemy to try and pass it on. Synechdoche can Push them into range and catch your opposing coach out! So, although we’ve specifically chosen The Spawn as a good combo, you could add Dozer and Brank to the list of potential partners for Synechdoche.

TIGRAX AND DOZER

Admittedly, this may seem like an odd combo but bear with us. Dozer is an extremely reliable Player when it comes to damage output, thanks to her 3+ Strength stat. Plus, combined with her Teleport ability, she doesn’t have to worry too much about getting bogged down by opposing Threat Hexes. Meanwhile, Tigrax is good at finishing off Players that only have a couple of health points left. So, the plan with these two would be to get stuck in with Dozer, while Tigrax hangs around the edges of the board away from danger. Once Dozer has weakened the enemy, quickly pop Tigrax’s Stalk token on them before closing in for the kill. Rinse and repeat. Of course, you could also exchange Dozer for Brank, who also has a similar amount of damage output but isn’t a super cool teleporting space turtle.

GNAW AND SHADOW

This combo is about surprising your opponent with unexpected sources of damage. Typically you’ll find that Coaches often focus their efforts to take out players like Karadon, Dozer or Brank because they pose such a threat when it comes to Slamming. As a result, the likes of Gnaw and Shadow with their 5+ Strength are dismissed as potential Slamming threats… but that would be a mistake. Both Gnaw and Shadow have OverDrive abilities with the potential to cause hefty damage. First up Shadow turns a Dodge into an attack, which is great considering that Shadow has a 3+ Agility stat… giving them an ‘attack’ that goes toe-to-toe with tanks like Brank and Dozer. Even better, Shadow has ALL the rules to help boost their Dodges, including Nimble (re-roll one die) and Duck and Weave (gain +1 die). Unless you’re getting Slammed from behind or have opposing threat hexes around you, that means Shadow is rolling a tasty four dice.

Meanwhile, Gnaw turns an Evade into an attack with her Tail Whip! OverDrive because for each success she rolls, she causes a Wound – and the opposition can do nothing about it *insert evil laugh*. What’s more, if you want to make Gnaw’s OverDrive even more deadly you can opt for the Run for It! Coach Ability, which grants an additional die on Evade tests – so Gnaw will be rolling up to four dice on a 3+. Just imagine the look on your rival coach’s face as Gnaw suddenly takes out a big hitter.

Make sure you stay tuned to Mantic’s various social media accounts on Saturday (January 29^th) to see if any of these combos make an appearance in the inaugural Bulk Grogan Memorial Trophy tournament. Wow, that’s a mouthful.