Yes, you read that right. Over at Nerds on Earth, we just did a 4-person draft of Marvel’s Avengers. Who would you pick for your ultimate 7-person team of one of the most iconic Superhero squads on this side of the Mississippi?
If you’re planning on drafting a team of Avengers with your friends, it’s incredibly important to lay down the ground rules. Over the course of comic book history, there are a ton of storylines and gray areas where anti-heroes took up the Avengers name without REALLY earning a spot on the team.
So, here are the rules of engagement to really spice up your Avengers Fantasy Draft!
Avengers Fantasy Draft Rules
- Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron are off-limits. The point of this rule is to think outside the box, beyond Cap and Iron Man. If the character appeared in either of those two movies, they’re off the table completely. Variant: Limit each squad to one such character.
- Snake Style Draft. In order to promote fairness in picking order, we did a snake draft. With four people, after the fourth person picks they get the first second-round selection. The pick order would be 1 (1), 2 (2), 3 (3), 4 (4), 5 (4), 6 (3), 7 (2), 8 (1), etc, where the number in parentheses is the player number.
- The Wikipedia list is a good starting point. It’s not all-inclusive (see rules 1 and 4).
- Any Secret Warriors team is off the books. Shhh. We can’t even talk about it.
Team Considerations
When you’re picking from a stable of incredible superheroes, you need to think about team needs. Just like drafting a sports team, there are certain roles that every team should fill. Sure, you can draft all Running Backs, but that’s not going to win you the ‘ship!
Here are a couple things to think about:
- Powers – Of course you want coverage in your powers! It’s nice to have some overlap, like multiple heroes with super-strength or flight, but what about those powers that really set heroes apart? Things like teleportation, elemental control, size manipulation – the more types of powers you have, the better equipped your team is to handle any situation.
- Leadership – Any team worth its salt needs a leader, someone to rally the troops when the going gets tough, and someone to call the shots. If you fill your team with too many Alphas, however, expect them to butt heads as they squabble amongst each other. They’re supposed to be fighting the Villains, not amongst themselves!
- Chemistry – Try and avoid any bad blood, and find relationships where the heroes have gelled well together in the past. There are a surprising number of connections throughout comics, and plenty of familial relationships as well. If two people don’t really get along, your locker room is going to be filled with negative energy. Especially if Hyperion is involved.
- Reach – The Avengers tackle all kinds of threats, so be aware of your reach. You’re looking for Street-level, Global-level, and Cosmic-level heroes that can handle any problem thrown their way. Gobble up those interceptions by expanding your reach!
- Connections – Similar to reach, knowledge of various topics can help your team solve complex problems or locate people to assist them. Having connections and experience is like having film the watch to gain the upper hand.
- Costumes – They say to never judge a book by its cover, but I know that I’ll pick comics to read solely based on the coolness of the superhero costumes therein. People are going to want merchandise with your logo on it, and you’ll have a hard time convincing me to buy a solid burnt orange hoodie. Sorry Cleveland.
- Bankroll – All that new tech and shiny uniforms won’t be possible without a substantial budget for your Equipment Manager. Somebody on the team, or close to them, needs to have some deep pockets to fund all of your adventures, on and off the field.
Our Results
So, how did our teams end up? Amazing. Of course, there were some reaches where heroes were taken way earlier than you might expect. But you’ll also see some splendid sleeper picks that nobody had on their draft boards. Let’s take a look at the pick order and the final teams:
Round 1
- Wolverine – Jaws
- Jack of Hearts – Abram
- Deadpool – Nash
- Tigra – Clave
Round 2
- Moondragon – Clave
- Rick Jones – Nash
- Hank Pym – Abram
- Beast – Jaws
Round 3
- Wonder Man – Jaws
- Mockingbird – Abram
- Living Lightning – Nash
- Black Knight – Clave
Round 4
- Spectrum (Monica Rambeau) – Clave
- Two Gun Kid – Nash
- Quasar – Abram
- Rogue – Jaws
Round 5
- Finesse – Jaws
- Blue Marvel – Abram
- Martinex – Nash
- Smasher – Clave
Round 6
- Sersi – Clave
- Yondu – Nash
- Voyager – Abram
- Hulkling – Jaws
Round 7
- Spider-Man – Jaws
- Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) – Abram
- Miles Morales – Nash
- Stingray – Clave
Final Fantasy Avenger Teams
Jaws of Life
- Wolverine
- Beast
- Wonder Man
- Rogue
- Finesse
- Hulkling
- Spider-Man
With Hulkling footing the bill of this X-cellent team, expect a lot of out-maneuvering and power-stealing a la Rogue’s ground-and-pound. Finesse is going to use the enemy’s best tricks against them with her incredible learning aptitude. Beast draws up the plays and Wolverine executes them sharply. Wonder Man is a trick play that you’ll never see coming. Plus, you’ll never be short of witty taglines and banter for your fans to adopt thanks to Spider-Man’s ever-moving mouth.
Gobblin’ Goblins
- Jack of Hearts
- Hank Pym
- Mockingbird
- Quasar
- Blue Marvel
- Voyager
- Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter)
This is a brainy bunch that will get up to all sorts of quantum shenanigans with Voyager and Hank Pym on board. Mockingbird lines up at QB to call the shots, while Blue Marvel is an unmatched bruiser. Quasar gives versatility in terms of cosmic aptitude, and Jack of Hearts is….well….a wild card. Spider-Woman rounds out the team with a collection of useful powers.
Bangers and Nash
- Deadpool
- Rick Jones
- Living Lightning
- Two Gun Kid
- Martinex
- Yondu
- Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
This lineup is absolutely wild, because it’s filled with All-Stars. Instead of limiting the number of egos in the locker room, we brought ALL of them in. Deadpool is the ultimate trash talker, backed up by Two Gun Kid’s ability to corral the defense. Living Lightning provides the shock and awe, while there’s never been a Guardian tandem like Martinex and Yondu. Miles will keep the team grounded in reality, snagging some amazing out-of-reach TDs. And Rick Jones has all of the halftime show entertainment covered, which will save millions every season.
Clave’s New Coast Avengers
- Tigra
- Moondragon
- Black Knight
- Spectrum
- Smasher
- Sersi
- Stingray
- She-Hulk – First Free Agent pick-up, and she’s a lawyer so not much we can do, legally speaking.
Obviously Tigra provides support on both sides of the ball as a backfield threat and a shutdown corner. Moondragon will be intercepting plays at the huddle, commandeering the defense. All of the chalkboard work is done by Black Knight, and just tell Smasher where to smash and she’s there. In case the fighting goes to the seas, Stingray is more than capable to steer the ship. Sersi has mastered the play-action, and Spectrum has the entire spectrum of energy covered.
Somewhere along the way, I completely lost track of my two distinct thoughtlines and began really leaning heavily into the football analogies, but the points all stand. If you’re going to have fun, you might as well have fun in a Lincoln.
We want to hear about your Fantasy Avengers drafts! Hit us up on the Nerds on Earth Twitter page and tell us your squad!