Yeah I use Wanda too but my Cyclops is only 2/2/2 so I have been using Riri - it is OK but a 5* partner is better.
The Mystique and Magneto team was used a very, very long time ago, when Mystique’s black was a high-damage power that could kill anybody in 2 or 3 casts. I guess it still is, depending on what level of enemies you’re fighting!
In a bad board SC can lose his combo. It usually happens. However if he collected a good amount of red and purple in 2 turns he can be at 10 combo in front of a shacking knees foes.
He can regain all the health losed too. So depending on the foes what he truly needs is protection on early turns. If he is boosted then he doesn’t really need anyone so you are free to try any team.
As a 4* player you can set up his winfinite with Hulkbuster, Riri, and Nightcrawler. Hulkbuster might be the best as he uses blue to create red tiles and black to convert to red ap. I like him with Nightcrawler as NC can winfinite on his own with a purple heavy board, but can also feed red and blue if necessary with BAMF!. Iceman can also convert purple ap to blue tiles, taking the place of 2* Magneto, if you need to feed any of these.
I’ve been using Odin/Heimdall with him, because once you fortify enough tiles, my 1/3/1 Shang Chi becomes a 5/5/5 and it works pretty well. It’s been…maybe since my 5/x/x Thor that i bothered to run a un-covered 5* unironically like that? I really like Shang-Chi, I’m looking forward to getting him done once Odin rotates out and I can unload my LTs on him.
I had a retal in sim for a team consisting of Alligator Loki, Shang-Chi, and 2* Mags. I sorely wanted there to be a “props” button so that I could let the other player know that I really enjoyed seeing that team.
Alligator Loki + Shang-Chi is legit, I run Shang-Chi/Cyclops/Alligator Loki on challenge nodes and win easily.
[Grampa mode ON]
It is similar but what made Charlies work is that ProfX also generated AP passively on a match5 on the team strongest color, that was the key to make the team winfinite. Wanda was there to get the ball rolling and BW to make the match-5s. A very important point was that ProfX had to be underlevelled so purple was the strongest color in the team.
I think the first real winfinite, if my memory doesnt fail me, was pre-nerfed 3 Magneto and his blue power, that allowed him to place two blue tiles for 5 blue. He also had a very cheap 3AP red that created cascades that helped getting more blue when the board was uncoperative. I think he was probably the single best char that has ever been released in this game!!! (Pre nerfed 3 Spidey is also up there, but now we have chars that cant be stunned).
Pre-nerf Ragnarok had two 3AP powers that created cascades, so it was very easy for him to fire his powers 3-4 times in a row, but I would not call him winfinite (but he was so good that he had to be nerfed too).
These two worked on their own, with no help from anybody (very different than Charlies Angels or BRB/Polaris/4hanos), and they were THE meta until they were nerfed.
I only have about 13 LL left. I pulled most of my LL tokens after SC hit. I didn’t have the best luck. I have about 800 cp left after my last hoard break.
Both Shuri and Heimdall are soft-capped.
Shuri and Heimdall have the ability to reduce AP costs of friendly powers based on number of fortified tiles. Running them with Shang-Chi can get his active powers down to 3AP fast. If you go into a match with +2 AP in purple and red, it’s even faster.
I missed the synergy between them but now that I read this it will help a lot. I will try it out with Hulkbuster in the Strange Sights. Thanks
I stole the idea from someone in the Shang-Chi character thread! That thread is full of fun teams to try out with him.
Oh, that is delightful!
This. And his winfinite is (almost) a sure-fire baby-5* player’s key to placement in CL10 PvE.
Good explanation. It also is slower than expected to attempt, at least for me, because it takes me a while to study the board and calculate how tiles will drop. That said, I don’t have him champed yet – and just got my second purple cover – so I don’t know how the charged tile dynamic will work yet. But trust me: I’m excited to find out. Soon.
I’ve to wait till late November to champ Shang Chi. Hopefully, I’m not late to the party. 
Don’t forget that if you guys have Odin + fort-spammer, or Black Bolt, you can get that Shang-chi 5/5/5 preview. Actually there may be some kind of good Bolt synergy with all that tile charging, I’ll have to think about it some.
You can’t really lose but I think it depends on if you mainly play PvE or also play PvP heavily.
For PvE players I believe Shang Chi is the superior choice as he can basically winfinite with many different character combos and is a true healer. There is not a traditional node that you can’t be with him unless it is the Kaecilius node or other different type of node. He is also a winfinite in PvP but maybe a big liability on PvP defense if that matters. You do though have to put some thought into his play and matches may take slightly longer, so not everyone will like his play style.
If you are PvP player, I think BRB is probably the better choice since he is still better all around and of course he offers you a very specific winifite combo as well. I think Shang Chi teams in PvP are a liability since he is a terrible AI controlled character on defense and is probably less optimal than BRB who can pair well with several PvP teams.
The caveat may be if you are a PvP wins player, not focused on score/shielding, then I think SC is actually the better option as who cares if you get hit a lot on defense if you are only shooting for total wins.
I have my SC at 5/1/1 and I pair him with wounded 5* Thor and 5* Doom and that combo works out very well. I also have 5* Cyclops but I actually like the above pair better as Doom slows down opponents gathering black and yellow, which are colors I am ignoring as I collect SC combos. So don’t think that you have to have one specific character to pair with SC as I can see him working with anyone who offers board shake (which is quite a few characters). I would also say that now is the easiest opportunity to get SC since he is in latest tokens.
I have both at comparable levels and I use SC WAY more often than BRB. His winifinte is much faster & lots of partners to pair with.
Personally I avoid 5* Wanda since once you get winfinite going, she doesn’t contribute anything. Anyone with a Start of Turn, CD, or repeater becomes dead weigh pretty quick.
3* or 5* Storm work well to cause cascades & generate AP, and cover the 3 colors SC is missing. In pick 3 I add in Onslaught for his active in blue to change tile colors & have a little more control, plus a little ping damage & cascades when you match 4.
I think SC is a little more challenging, but much more enjoyable to play. I don’t do serious pvp, so wins are more important to me than defense, so my views are biased in that regard.
I really like how you broke this down, and just to add on slightly:
If your goal is to earn placement, in either PvP or PvE, then Beta Ray Bill is the better choice. Shang-Chi is slow compared to the top characters, and he’s bad on defense, which hurts him in both competitive PvE and PvP. Beta Ray Bill is significantly faster, since he generates AP for his own powers, and he’s MUCH better on defense.
If your goal is to reach progression in either mode, then Shang-Chi is the better choice. (If this is your goal, I actually think that Shang-Chi is the single best 5* to help you reach it.) He can beat literally anything that the game can throw at you, once you’ve had some practice with him. He’s not ever going to be fast enough to get you placement, but if that’s not something you care about then it’s not a downside. He can also help you reach PvP progression, because he can punch way above your level to take down high-point teams that would normally be too difficult.