Here's the scenario:
- 500pt build, team ability teams, unrestricted.
- Teams are made up of named characters, not generics, with no repeats. (no SHIELD, Hydra, Morlocks, Serpent Society, or Skrulls).
- The team must have an ability of its own, so no Spidey- or Doom-only teams.
- Entire team must share a team symbol (or be an appropriate wildcard).
- A wildcard of the same character may be used to substitute for a true member of the desired team if points are an issue (for example, substitution of e. Klaw for v. Klaw on a MoE team, or v. Sandman for e. Sandman on a SinSyn team is okay).
- Wildcards may be used as filler if no true team member will fill out the points to 500, but only one wildcard is allowed per team, and the character must be someone who might join or affiliate with that team (Taskmaster would NOT join the X-men, etc.).

That enough restrictions for you? Anyway, I'm just looking at options of what might be the most fun team to play. I was going to make it easy on myself and pick Ultimate X team, since I'm limited on the just the few figures they have available to use:

v. Colossus - 125
v. Wolverine - 83
v. Cyclops - 69
v. Marvel Girl - 65
e. Beast - 61
v. Storm - 56
+ (Univ.Starter) Spider-Man - 40
= 499pts

Ult. X also has the nice advantage in this scenario of being able to use the team ability to great effect. However, there aren't very many figures to use with 5 activations per turn....

Anyway, what would you go with?

U Silver Surfer 173
E Dr. Strange 71
E Beast 59
E Hellcat 38
E Iceman 36
E Hulk 117
Mary Jane Pog (patsy's a model, she's a model, they could hang out)

You have to include all the defenders to even approach a 500pt team, which is sad. GIVE ME NAMOR!

Typically I'd put Moondragon and Univ Spidey in instead of Hulk, but that wouldn't work for your restrictions, though it works thematically.

Yep, that's the only way to do Defenders 500 style. ...And I agree on Moondragon, too bad she doesn't have a team symbol (Defenders would have been cool, Spidey even better). Think we'll ever see Valkyrie or Gargoyle?

Okay, here's another fairly new team with limited figs to work with, the Ultimates:

u. Thor, 186
v. Captain America, 103
e. Hawkeye, 60
v. Black Wido, 59 (or better yet Natasha Romanova, 62)
v. (CM) Spider-Man, 88
= 496pts (or 499 if you have the above LE)

This one's a bit more difficult to put together, since so many Ultimates are high-point characters. I didn't include Ult. Hulk because without range, he doesn't make much use of the team ability. I skipped Ult. Iron Man because, in my humble opinion, he does not live up to his point value (at least compared to Thor). Great team ability... hopefully there'll be a bit more to choose from in the next set. Hmm... still not settled on a choice yet... let's see what else we can come up with....

Heres my 500pt Avenger Team,


(V) Captain America - IC
(V) Scarlet Witch
(V) She - Hulk
(U) Quasar
(U) Wasp
(U) Vision

_____________
500 Points

As I love Sinister Syndicate, I would probably go with this:
E Rhino - 108
E Sandman - 79
E Kraven - 72
V Electro - 55
E CT Doctor Octopus OR R Mysterio - 44
V Bullseye - 43
E Hobgoblin - 39
E Calypso - 38
E Vulture - 20

Total 498

- Foe Hunter: An Avengers team with only 6 characters, one of which is Scarlet Witch? How does it do? So many choices for Avengers... I'll have to come back to that.

Rules update: It appears that you can Wildcard substitute as much as you want (e. Klaw and e. Ultron would both be acceptable for a MoE team), but you can have only one extra wildcard on the team beyond those.

- Quebbster: I like your force, but based on the above clarification, I would make a SinSyn team like this:

(listed in order of highest attack value)
v. Taskmaster, 75
v. Bullseye, 43
v. Sandman, 106
e. Kraven, 72
v. Electro, 55
(Univ.Starter) Hobgoblin, 39
v. Calypso, 46
r. Mysterio, 44
e. Vulture, 20
= 500pts

To me, Taskmaster's a great wildcard for the team ability because of his 12 attack(not to mention 'plex, BCF, double-Incap, & late dial Outwit). Sandman beats out Rhino for the team's brick because of his higher att. & def., plus a range option (more double-Incap). I like using the v. Calypso for her sweet-spot click of TK and PC. I do like the CT Doc Ock, but with 5 actions/turn & only 9 characters, the team won't need his Leadership.

Okay, just to throw the option out there, how about the FF? I think many would make a (turtlish?) team like this:

v. Mr. Fantastic, 113
e. Thing, 110
e. She-Hulk, 110
v. Human Torch, 73
u. Medusa, 57
r. Invisible Girl, 37
= 500pts

(or, if you agree that Medusa is a waste of points)

v. Thing, 134
v. Mr. F., 113
e. She-Hulk, 110
v. H. Torch, 73,
r. Invis.Girl, 37,
e. Black Cat, 32
= 499pts

Personally, I'd want one of Sue's flying versions since the team has limited mobility... maybe I'll come up with something else....

Basically, I'm hoping to look at a good force from each available Team ability, then compare and make a decision as to what would work best. Thanks for any help!

Heres my X-men team.

Cyclops vet - 78
Psylocke exp - 39
Storm vet - 52
Wolverine exp (universe) - 41
Beast vet - 80
Gambit exp - 44
Nightcrawler - 83
Shadowcat exp - 33
Jean Grey vet - 50

Exactly 500 points and Ive used it to win once.

Here's my first team...

THE FANTASTIC FOUR (or SEVEN)

Doombot (Experienced): 33 points
Human Torch (Experienced): 59 points
Invisible Girl (Experienced): 57 points
Medusa (Unique): 57 points
Mister Fantastic (Experienced): 74 points
She-Hulk (Experienced): 110 points
The Thing (Experienced): 110 points

TOTAL POINT VALUE: 500 points

or...

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!!

Black Panther (Rookie): 27 points
Captain America (Veteran): 62 points
Hawkeye (Veteran): 64 points
Hercules (Veteran): 83 points
Scarlet Witch (Veteran): 40 points
Thor (Veteran): 187 points
Wasp (Veteran): 37 points

TOTAL POINT VALUE: 500 points

- four_winds: Nice X-men, nothing wrong with having 2 Support pieces, not bad at all.

- JGrim: Unfortunately, Doombots are considered generic and not allowed. (Which is too bad, I wouldn't mind a representation of HERBIE on the team, y'know?) On the Avengers, I think with all the free moves I'd like to make a swarm team with smaller-cost characters, but yours is cool. (More than one player out there still uses v. Scarlet Witch, ay? I'm impressed.)

Another option for FF:

v. Thing, 134
e. She-Hulk, 110
v. Invis.Woman, 80
v. Torch, 73
r. Mr. F., 48
pog Alicia Masters, 5 (PLEASE kill me & heal my teammates! PLEASE?!)
v. (IC) Daredevil, 50
= 500pts

ScholarX,

Doom was considered a member of the Fantastic Four during John Byrne's run on the book. Which is why I used the Doombot. And, as per your rules...

"Wildcards may be used as filler if no true team member will fill out the points to 500, but only one wildcard is allowed per team, and the character must be someone who might join or affiliate with that team (Taskmaster would NOT join the X-men, etc.)."

Hence the use of the Doombot to represent Doctor Doom...

scholarx: While I do like taskmaster, I prefer the Experienced version - the Veteran just has too much of a glass jaw for my taste. The E's mastermind allows him to stick around for a loong time. But alas, the only good mastermind fodder for him in SinSyn is E Mr Hyde... So I think I'll pass.
I would probably use the V sandman and calypso if I had'em, but alas, I don't... also "only one wildcard is allowed per team" - Sandman and taskmaster makes two.
I totally agree that Ock's leadership is superfluos, but I didn't choose him for that, but for his Willpower and Leap/Climp - he is primarily intended as a secondary attacker/medic hunter.

JGrim, Quebbster - thanks much for your input.

Quickly, to clarify:
- Doombots can't be used because they're considered generic. To follow your John Byrne storyline reasoning, you'd have to use a version of Doctor Doom himself, not a 'bot representation of him. Unfortunately, the archenemy bases would prohibit use of Reed at the same time.
- Wildcard substitutes aren't limited... so if a proper team member (e. Sandman) has a wildcard version you prefer (v. Sandman), you can use it, AND still have one non-substitute wildcard on the team - so Taskmaster and the v.sub Sandman on the team is alright.

Okay, didn't like the F4 team with Daredevil, so I put together this final revamp:

e. Thing, 110
e. She-Hulk, 110
v. Torch, 73
e. Invis.Woman, 57
u. Medusa, 57
r. Mr. F., 48
pog Alicia Masters, 5
(Univ. Starter) Spidey, 40
= 500pts

I've never used a pog before, on F4 it might be fun. ...And wow, Spidey sure gets around, huh?

Okay, how about the Avengers swarm (no character over 100pts):

v. Hercules, 83
v. Captain America, 62
u. Sersi, 76
e. Meteorite, 75
v. Hawkeye, 64
v. Scarlet Witch, 40
e. Moon Knight, 27
r. Hellcat, 27
r. Black Panther, 27
(Univ. Starter) Wasp, 19
= 500pts

So far, this is the front runner as to what I'd like to play... it just seems like it would be a blast.