List of Featured 5* Essentials

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ Tips and Guides
1

List of Essential 5 Stars for Reference

Venom Bomb (9/21/17)

5-Star: Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2)

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 (9/25/17)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Latest

Hearts of Darkness (9/28/17) - 4 Day Variant

5-Star: Doctor Octopus (Classic)

Latest

Webbed Wonder (10/2/17) - 3 Day Variant

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

Honor Among Thieves (10/8/17)

5-Star: Silver Surfer

Classic

Simulator (10/12/17) - 3 Day, X-Men Variant

5-Star: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Latest

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (10/15/17)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

The Hunt - 3 Day Variant (10/19/17)

5-Star: Doctor Octopus (Classic)

Latest

Thick as Thieves (10/22/17)

5-Star: Black Bolt

Classic

*** Heroes for Hire store starts selling 5 Stars***

Meet Rocket & Groot - 3 Day Variant (10/26/17)

5-Star: Green Goblin

Classic

Venom Bomb (10/29/17)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Latest

Enemy of the State (11/2/17)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

Strange Sights (11/9/17)

5-Star: Gambit (Classic)

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 (11/12/17)

5-Star: Iron Man (Mark XLVI)

Classic

Hearts of Darkness (11/16/17)

5-Star: Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2)

Classic

Webbed Wonder (11/19/17)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Latest

The Hulk (11/23/17)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

Honor Among Thieves - 4 Day Variant (11/30/17)

5-Star: Gambit (Classic)

Latest

Simulator (12/4/17)

5-Star: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

Classic

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (12/7/17)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Back in Black)

Classic

The Hunt (12/11/17)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

Thick as Thieves (12/17/17)

5-Star: Thor (Gladiator)

Latest

Meet Rocket & Groot - 3 Day Variant (12/21/17)

5-Star: Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)

Classic

Venom Bomb - 4 Day Variant (12/24/17)

5-Star: The Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Classic

Enemy of the State (12/28/17)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 - 4 Day Variant (1/4/18)

5-Star: Gambit (Classic)

Latest

Strange Sights (1/8/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

Hearts of Darkness - 4 Day Variant (1/11/18)

5-Star: Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme)

Classic

Webbed Wonder - 3 Day Variant (1/15/18)

5-Star: Jean Grey (Phoenix)

Classic

Honor Among Thieves - 4 Day Variant (1/18/18)

5-Star: Thor (Gladiator)

Latest

Simulator (1/22/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (1/28/18)

5-Star: Gambit (Classic)

Latest

Thick as Thieves (2/1/18)

5-Star: Steve Rogers (First Avenger)

Classic

The Hunt (2/5/18)

5-Star: Wolverine (Old Man Logan)

Classic

Fight for Wakanda - 3 Day Version (2/8/18)

5-Star: Thor (Gladiator)

Latest

Venom Bomb (2/11/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

Meet Rocket & Groot (2/18/18)

5-Star: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)

Latest

Fight for Wakanda - 4 Day Variant (2/22/18)

5-Star: Black Panther (Civil War)

Classic

Prodigal Sun (2/26/18)

5-Star: Thanos (The Mad Titan)

Classic

Strange Sights (3/5/18)

5-Star: Thor (Gladiator)

Latest

Hearts of Darkness (3/11/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

Webbed Wonder - 3 Day Variant (3/15/18)

5-Star: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)

Latest

*** Classic 5 Stars begin to repeat ***

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (3/18/18)

5-Star: Silver Surfer

Classic

Simulator (3/22/18)

5-Star: Doctor Octopus (Classic)

Classic

Thick as Thieves (3/25/18)

5-Star: Thor (Gladiator)

Latest

Venom Bomb (3/29/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

The Hunt (4/2/18)

5-Star: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)

Latest

Meet Rocket & Groot - 4 Day Variant (4/8/18)

5-Star: Black Bolt

Classic

Fight for Wakanda (4/12/18)

5-Star: Green Goblin

Classic

Simulator (4/16/18)

5-Star: Jessica Jones

Latest

Webbed Wonder (4/22/18)

5-Star: Archangel

Latest

Hearts of Darkness (4/26/18)

5-Star: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)

Latest

Honor Among Thieves 4-Day Variant (4/29/18)

5-Star: Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2)

Classic

Strange Sights (5/3/18)

5-Star: Iron Man (Mark XLVI)

Classic

Thick as Thieves (5/6/18)

5-Star: Jessica Jones

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 - 3 Day Variant (5/10/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

Fight for Wakanda (5/13/18)

5-Star: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)

Latest

Venom Bomb (5/20/18)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Classic

Meet Rocket & Groot (5/24/18)

5-Star: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

Classic

Webbed Wonder (5/28/18)

5-Star: Jessica Jones

Latest

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (6/3/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

The Hunt - 3 Day Variant (6/7/18)

5-Star: Okoye

Latest

Hearts of Darkness (6/10/18)

5-Star: Spider-Man (Back in Black)

Classic

Honor Among Thieves - 4 Day Variant (6/17/18)

5-Star: Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)

Classic

Simulator (6/21/18)

5-Star: Jessica Jones

Latest

Thick as Thieves (6/24/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 - 4 Day Variant (7/1/18)

5-Star: Okoye

Latest

Strange Sights (7/5/18)

5-Star: The Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Classic

Venom Bomb (7/8/18)

5-Star: Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Classic

Meet Rocket & Groot (7/15/18)

5-Star: Jessica Jones

Latest

Deadpool Vs. MPQ (7/19/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

Simulator (7/23/18)

5-Star: Wasp (Hope Van Dyne)

Latest

The Hunt (7/26/18) - 3 Day Variant

5-Star: Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme)

Classic

Honor Among Thieves - 4 Day Variant (8/2/18)

5-Star: Okoye

Latest

Unstable Iso-8 (8/6/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

Thick as Thieves (8/12/18)

5-Star: Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)

Classic

Venom Bomb (8/16/18)

5-Star: Wasp (Hope Van Dyne)

Latest

Webbed Wonder (8/20/18)

5-Star: Captain America (Infinity War)

Latest

Strange Sights (8/23/18)

5-Star: Okoye

Latest

The Hunt - 4 Day Variant (8/26/18)

5-Star: Wolverine (Old Man Logan)

Classic

Meet Rocket & Groot - 4 Day Variant (9/2/18)

5-Star: Captain America (First Avenger)

Classic

Hearts of Darkness - 4 Day Variant (9/6/18)

5-Star: Loki (God of Mischief)

Latest

Simulator - 3 Day Variant (9/10/18)

5-Star: Wasp (Hope Van Dyne)

Latest

The Hulk - 7 Day Event (9/13/18)

5-Star: Okoye

Latest
5-Star Last Time Appearances
Jean Grey (Phoenix) 15-Jan 1
Gambit (Classic) 28-Jan 4
Black Panther (Civil War) 22-Feb 1
Thanos (The Mad Titan) 26-Feb 1
Silver Surfer 18-Mar 2
Doctor Octopus (Classic) 22-Mar 3
Thor (Gladiator) 25-Mar 5
Black Bolt 8-Apr 2
Green Goblin 12-Apr 2
Archangel 22-Apr 6
Star-Lord (Awesome Mix Volume 2) 29-Apr 3
Iron Man (Mark XLVI) 3-May 2
Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) 13-May 5
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) 20-May 5
Hawkeye (Clint Barton) 24-May 2
Spider-Man (Back in Black) 10-Jun 2
The Hulk (Bruce Banner) 5-Jul 2
Daredevil (Matt Murdock) 8-Jul 7
Jessica Jones 15-Jul 5
Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme) 26-Jul 2
Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) 12-Aug 3
Captain America (Infinity War) 20-Aug 6
Wolverine (Old Man Logan) 26-Aug 2
Steve Rogers (First Avenger) 2-Sep 2
Wasp (Hope Van Dyne) 10-Sep 3
Okoye 13-Sep 5
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Thanks for putting this together. Looks like Black Panther and Thanos are the only Classics who haven’t had a turn yet. Once they’re featured, it will be interesting to see what the order will be.

I’m curious if they’ll feature the 5*s who began the cycle as Latests (Doc Ock to Gambit, who will be in Classics by that point) or if they’ll go back to Surfer and work the other ones in at later points. Or if they’ll go back to Surfer at all.

I’m also curious how they’ll treat the featured cover in the HfH store for Doc Ock through Gambit. My 5pidey is 5/5/1, and I’m pretty sure his last time being featured as a Latest, his green cover was available. I’m really hoping they don’t start over at the top for him the first time he’s featured as a Classic.

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Updated as of 2/19/2018
*Also updated to show when the required 5 star was available to purchase from the Heroes for Hire store.

4

Updated 3/1/2018

5

Updated 3/18/2018
Looks like Surfer is 1st repeated Classic. Makes some sense as he was the first Classic essential 5* back on October 8th, but the Latest essentials that came before him are now Classics. So in other words, no idea how the order will play out.

6

It’s also Worth noting that Surfer’s Heroes for Hire cover was red, his second color, despite not being offered as a HfH Before. No problem for me as I could use both blue and red for Surfer and can use black but not green for Black Bolt (who should be up next), but it’s still a deviation from what could be expected.

Also, the first Classic essential was Star-Lord, but he was already featured a second time due to an oversight so he shouldn’t be featured this round.

7

Sneak peak got updated and next up is doc ock. Did they just skip Peter Parker and Daredevil? Makes no sense at all

8

I Think it makes sense if you look at the latest date the character was essential:

Doc Ock was last essential Before Black Bolt was, so it only makes sense he comes first. Next two Classics should be Black Bolt and Green Goblin if they stick to this order.

9

There… much better. Stupid forum formatting.

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I love this thread and that it’s being kept up to date as a resource for players.

I might recommend that it isn’t really necessary to list the characters as “5 Star: xxxxxxx” since the thread title makes it clear that we are looking at 5 Star essentials. Maybe moving forward just use the character name.

Thank you!

11

Updated 4/2/2018. Worth noting (correct me if I’m wrong) that when Thor was essential in the Thick as Thieves (3/25/18) event he was in Latest packs but was bumped to Classics before it ended to make room for Jessica

12

That’s been par for the course really - I Think Spider-man, Daredevil and Gambit all Went Classic while offered as a Latest fivestar in Heroes for Hire. Got to squeeze the juice…

13

I took this list and moved / modified it into a google Docs Sheet - I haven’t added the dates in yet.

I added future predictions of the classic covers up to the end of the second run. I stuck with a Latest, Latest, Latest, Classic, Classic order as I saw no discernable pattern.

Open editing is available for now.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JqSiIBgRXBkeX9miZutn4UYMcuGOM7C-5Zra0XRkVXk/edit#gid=0

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A few comments:

This was Black Bolt’s first time in the HfH store, so it’s not surprising they Went with the first color. The real head scratcher is why they offered a red cover for Silver Surfer, but I suppose they forgot Surfer hadn’t had an offer Before and assumed red was due. I suspect the next offer for Surfer will be for his blue instead.

Star-Lord’s last run as a Classic essential was Before Peter Parker’s last run as a Latest essential, so if Star-Lord is featured again, he will be Before Peter Parker. However, since he was mistakenly featured twice already Star-Lord may be skipped in this cycle.

I don’t want to mess with a document I am not familiar with, so I am posting my feedback here instead.

15

Thanks, Quebbster…I made a couple of changes based on your comments. I guess we’ll see how the covers fall as the months roll on.

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Update 4/28/2018

17

I see I was wrong about Star-Lord being skipped as a fivestar essential this time. He was also featured a bit out of order since Iron Man should be up first, but that may be due to it being Honor Among Thieves running. I assume Iron Man is up next.

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One theory as to why 5SL was run now is because they wanted to make 4SL the reward for HaT and making both 4SL and 5SL essential would not work well for the next event. There is an order of a sort for the 4E, mostly based on how long it’s been since they were essential.

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Updated 5/26/2018

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If you haven’t figured this out, the pattern that has appeared for running “new Classics” is as follows: They will be inserted based on the last time they were run as Latest essentials into the Classic order.

So the Classic order that is left in this run should be:

BSSM
Black Widow
Banner
*Daredevil
Strange
Phoenix
*Gambit
Cap FA
OML
BPanther
Thanos

Since Thor and Archangel both ran as Latest after the first Classic run ended, then I guess we have to assume that they won’t appear in Classics for a while. About 4 months before the current run ends, then about another 4-5 months before they rotate in.

HFH for DD should be green next. HFH for Gambit should be red next. This is based on the fact that they both ran 4 times in the HFH store previously and they progress the color once each time (normally).