Dear MCOC Community,
It is with pleasure and gratitude to share my strategies and tips on how to get to Uncollected in 5 weeks, and Cavalier in 7 weeks, with not more than $140 out of my pocket. This is my Ultimate Updated Beginner's Guide 2022 Edition for MCOC. I say updated because sometime in late 2017, I posted a rather comprehensive beginner's guide that seemed to have been appreciated by some of you. I quit the game in mid-2020 and left my account with a trusted friend who helped grow it since. It was at around 1.5M Rating, Abyss Explored, and Completed 6.4 before I quit. I came back just in the middle of May this year. So I'm no newcomer to the game and I bring some of that old knowledge to what you're about to read, and I'm putting out there a very simple, effective, and efficient strategy on how you can advance to Uncollected and Cavalier sooner than later.
A quick disclaimer just to manage and set expectations. Because of my current situation where I have been able to work on a per-project from home basis, I have been able to dedicate around 13-15 hours to MCOC per day counting the actual hours of playtime. If you are not able to commit that much time to MCOC, no worries. If you follow the tips and strategies I will be sharing in this guide you will still be able to reach Uncollected and Cavalier sooner than later. It will probably not be as fast as I was able to but even playing 2-3 hours/day you can probably get to Uncollected in 9-10 weeks, and Cavalier probably in 16-17 weeks, which is still not so bad in the grand scheme of things. Since I was also gone for over two years I am not yet very familiar with the many changes that have happened in the game's meta, especially champ reworks (so forgive me if I'm often biased towards the old "beyond god tiers" I was familiar with back before I quit in 2020.
I will not get into exact numbers of anything that most beginner's guides usually have since I do not have time to work on an Excel spreadsheet to break down computations to the last unit of that resource. I have also been very fortunate to have been able to join a 55M retired veteran players alliance with an average member prestige of 10K while I was only 90K rating (hey I make the best effort to contribute as much as I can! Being part of this 55M alliance has been a great part of the reason why I was able to progress very fast as I can accumulate an average of 4.5K Glory per week via AQ (150-160M / Rank 2300-2400), Silver 2-3, 1 nonmandatory BG in AW.
Unlike the previous Beginner's Guide I posted here in the forums in 2017 which was in a Q&A format, this one I'm sharing now is straight forward tips and tricks.
You also need to have the Summoner Sigil to truly maximize, optimize, and apply what you will be reading in this guide. It is the Black ISO Market that will be your best friend when you will be needing those badly rank-up resources when you're out of Glory to purchase from the Glory Store. You can still somewhat progress rather quickly without spending a dime on this game but it will not be as quickly as being able to spend even $10/month. My fighting skills are probably 6/10 so I'm nowhere close to a god-tier player. I just study what's ahead very well and play as tactically as I can to avoid having to revive and heal as much as possible.
So without further delay, let's get right on to it!
I will be breaking down this guide into several distinct sections and you can read them in whatever order you want since the way I will write this is not necessarily in chronological order but as how my brain will try to extemporaneously send the information out of my fingers as I type (haha). You can completely skip Section 1 if you don't want to hear my story from Zero to Uncollected to Cavalier, and jump to the next section (2) but you'll miss out on my story of extreme luck in crystal openings 
The strategy I am providing is very unorthodox and might raise some eyebrows from the more conservative in the Community. But hey, it works!
1. You are under the mercy of the Gods of RNG (those who are luckier will get ahead faster than those who are not as lucky)
You will progress much faster if you have innate luck, slower if you don't.
Those who are very new to this game (less than 4 weeks old) must have started realizing that a huge part of a Summoner's progress in the Battlerealms is very dependent on the kind of luck you have. For example, if you have been playing for just a few days and luckily pull a 4* God Tier to Beyond God Tier Champ (e.g. Torch, Corvus, Ghost, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Doom, Void, etc.) from a premium crystal, you already own up to Act 3 with that just one champ at R3/R4 depending on your fighting skills. (For those unfamiliar with Champion Tier List, simply Google "MCOC Tier List 2022")
May 14 (Start of Account), Week 1-2 (Explore Act 1-3 in around 2 weeks).
Right off the bat, I was lucky on my first or second premium crystal pull, because I pulled a 4* Void. At even just R2 unduped, I was easily able to explore both Act 1 and Act 2 in around 3-4 days and started completing Act 3. By Day 14 I was able to save 300 units from playing arena and event quests milestones, I was able to pull a 5* Mojo from a grandmaster crystal. With R3 4* Void and R1 L25 5* Mojo unduped I was able to explore Act 3 in around 3 days.
After exploring Act 3, I saved almost 300 quest crystals and I was able to convert 200 quest crystals to 10 X full energy refills 2x back to back. The third conversion got me ISO 
Last week of May to mid-June, Week 3-4 (Explore Act 4, start Act 5).
I purchased the "Progression Crystal" (forgot exactly what it's called exactly - Progress Rewards for Summoner bundle) which gave you a 3* crystal when you reach L20, a 4* crystal when you reach level 30, a 5* crystal when you reach Level 40, when you reach Level 50, and a 6* crystal when you reach Level 60). When I reached Level 30 on around day 15 I pulled 4* Cosmic Ghost Rider, when I reached Level 40 on around Day 20 I pulled a 5* Nimrod from that crystal bundle (I even thought I pulled a garbage 5* champ since I had no idea what Nimrod's tier rating was. Nimrod was not yet around when I quit in 2020 so I was clueless about him). Needless to say, when I was able to R2/R3 Nimrod, I was able to explore Act 4 by Day 25. In between those days/weeks I pulled 4* Apocalypse and 4* CAPIW. These champs made exploring Act 4 a breeze.
From the AW Season rewards (Silver 2) I pulled a 5* Havoc and R3d him within the following week.
From the first to the second week of June I saved all resources to R4 Nimrod and R3 Havoc, and R5 my top 4* champs. On June 14 with 5* Nimrod at R4 and 5* Havoc at R3, and 4* CGR R5, 4* Apoc R5, 4* CAPIW R5 I was able to become Uncollected.
Mid-June to late June, Week 5 (Act 5.1 to Uncollected)
Sometime June 23 there was a compensation package for Carina that had a 5* Nexus crystal. I pulled a 5* Torch from it, and on June 24 there was a special Grandmaster Nexus bundle that came for those of us who were not yet Uncollected for $10. Sorry if I don't remember exactly but there were 2 Nexus Grandmaster Crystals in the bundle and some other stuff. I pulled 5* Doom and 5* Corvus Glaive back to back from those two Nexus Grandmaster crystals.
Late June to early July, Week 6 (Act 5.2 to Act 5.4 Completion)
I channeled all resources to R5 my first 5* Nimrod by the last week of June, R4 Sunspot, and R3 Torch. I marched with the three 5*s along with 4* R5 CGR and 4* R5 Apoc as backup all the way to Act 5.4 final boss Ultron and my Nimrod was MVP (Nimrod had an ability to stop the regen. The Ultron 5.4.6 fight cost me 2 L2 Revives.). From the Act 5 completion rewards I was able to pull a 5* Shang Chi.
I also took advantage of activating my 4* Apocalypse Horseman ability whenever there was a mutant opponent I knew I could beat. 5* Sunspot was truly more awesome with the Horseman synergy.
01 July to 08 July, Week 7 (Act 6.1.1 - 6.1.3)
The first week of July I, I purchased from the July 4 sales Uncollected Bundles: (2 x $30 Bundle, 2 x $10 Bundle, 4 x $5 Bundle). I had some nice pulls (5* Ghost, 5* Blade, 5* CAPIW, 5* Terrax, and 5* Tigra). I used all newly acquired and saved up rank up resources to R5 Sunspot and R5 Torch. Did Act 6.1.1 - 6.1.3. From the rewards, I pulled 5* Magneto and ranked him to 5 by July 8.
July 9, I marched from Act 6.1.3 - 6.1.6 to become Cavalier with four R5 5*s (Torch, Sunspot, Nimrod, and Magneto) and one R4 5*, Shang-Chi. Final boss 6.1.6 Sentinel fight cost around 400 units total (I used up all the saved revives and healing potions from the earlier fight).
2. Prioritizing Champs
If you want to truly progress as fast as possible you must only rank and level up the champs who will help you get to the next level/stage faster. The rating doesn't mean anything in this game except that it says how many champs you have or do not have. Someone who only has 300K rating but with 6 R5 5*s will clear more content than someone with 600K rating with only 3 R5 5*s. This is exactly the reason why and how I was able to rank up those champs I mentioned in Section 1. I have not ranked a single 1*, 2*, and only two 3*s because I needed them to complete some daily events. Of the 60 some 4*s I have, I only have 3 R5 4*s, 3 R4 4*s, 3 R3 4*s, 3 R2 4*s, the rest not even leveled beyond L1. Of my 33 5*s I have only ranked and leveled those who helped me reach Cavalier.
You need to put all the champs in your roster in a "rank up row" so that you know which champ to prioritize exactly.
Never rank or level 1*s, 2*s, and 3*s (unless you are planning to do the Variant quest that requires 1*s, 2*s, and 3*s) and even then you must only rank and level those champs that will help you in that Variant. You are wasting resources if you rank anything less than a 4*.
Rank only 4*s that will help you get through Act 4 and Act 5.
Rank only 5* that will help you get through Act 5 and Act 6/7.
Rank only 6*s that are the absolute best champs.
3. Managing your rank up and level up resources
ISO is the most difficult to get resources even with the ISO daily event. Once you start leveling 5*s, you need at least 10 days worth of 100%ing (Plus AUTO) the ISO daily quest to L65 an R5 from R4.
Gold is the second most difficult resource to get but if you do enough arena you can get enough gold from battlechips to achieve what I was able to accomplish.
Right from Day 1 you must already start saving resources for your first R2 4*. If you are unlucky with your pulls, you can rank your top 3* to R3 or R4 but not more than 1 3*. One god-tier 3* at R4 (2000+ Rating) will clear until the end of Act 2 and even help you do an initial Act 3 completion.
When you can R2/R3 your first 4* that one champ can help you explore Act 2 and complete most parts of Act 3.
When you already have at least 2 or 3 R5 4*s, begin saving up to R2/R3/R4 your first god-tier 5*. You stop ranking and leveling your 4*s (no matter how god tier) once you get your first God tier 5*. Remember you cannot bring 4*s and lower to Act 6 and 7.
You can get/purchase:
T1A from weekly T1A arena, converting 2 x T3B from Black ISO Market, doing the monthly event quests (normal, heroic, master), SA, AQ, events
T2A from AW Season Rewards, Act 4 Exploration, monthly event quest, AQ, converting from T5B to T2A from Black ISO Market
T4CC from saving T4CC frags and convert in Black ISO Market, AQ, AW season Rewards, doing monthly event quests
T5B converts T2A from Black ISO Market, AQ (weekly), Glory Store, doing monthly quests
Black ISO Market conversions are paramount to being able to progress faster than you would have been able to otherwise. These conversions allow you to allocate extra resources to the ones you don't have to meet the rank-up requirements of your key champs. For example, if you have 10 x T3B, you can get 5 x T1A from Black ISO Market Conversion. You need T1A when you R2-R5 a 5* and zero T3B.
Some notable things to mention from experience: Even an unduped single R5 L65 5* is almost the equivalent of four R5 maxed out 4*s in terms of getting through content in Act 5. A single R4 L55 5* can clear more content than 2-3 R5 maxed out 4*s.
Sections 2 and 3 are probably the most important of all the tips I will be writing in this Beginner's Guide. There is absolutely no way you will reach Uncollected or Cavalier in less than 2 months if you rank every champ you get because you will run out of resources when you finally need them for the champs that will help you.
4. The type of alliance you join contributes to at least 50% of your progress
Okay, so I might have been lucky to join a 55M rating alliance with a 10+K prestige. (The leader of my alliance is a friend I know in person). But this only reinforces how important your alliance is in how quickly you advance in the game. The amount of Glory you receive per week will determine how many rank-up resources you can purchase for your champs. I was 90K rating when I joined and the next member above me was over 1M rating (haha). But take note I was no slacker except in AW where I stuck around providing just energy to the other members for almost an entire season. AW is not mandatory in our alliance and all of the members are just chill because it is a retirement alliance. We run 5/4/3 AQ so I join Map 3 and do the best I can. I got called out once but when I finally had 3 x R5 5*s joining in AW nobody complained anymore. Half of the members in my alliance have at least 2-3 R3 6*s.
This means that you need to join an alliance where you are ideally the weakest member in the team but will also make the best effort to contribute as much as you can. You must join an ACTIVE non-competitive alliance similar to the one I joined until you are ready to go competitive (Gold 3 and above). The problem with being in a competitive alliance is that you will usually end up spending all your Glory on team revives during AQ and this will hurt your progress. You need to be mindful of not biting more than you can chew or else you will probably be kicked very quickly. Being the weakest means that if you are very active you will have the greatest benefits of the alliance rewards, especially in AQ and AW. While it will be very unlikely you will find an alliance that will be as considerate as mine, but a gap of around 200-300K rating from the next member of the team shouldn't be that unreasonable. But remember rating is not that important in this game. What ultimately matters is how much you will contribute to the alliance whether you are the strongest or weakest member.
Needless to say, it is of vital importance to participate in AQ regularly and AW at least 5x/season to qualify for AW season rewards. The rewards you will get in AQ, especially Glory will be the most important weekly reward for your progress. I get around 4500 Glory per week which allows me to get 10 x 18000 T2A shards = 5 T2As. 3 x T2A in Black ISO Market can convert to 1 T5B. That weekly 4500 Glory I get since my 10th day back in this game has been crucial to how I was able to make this kind of progress. But it only reinforces this Section 4 in terms of how critical your alliance is in terms of how quickly or slowly you will make progress in MCOC.
If the only alliance you can join is an alliance at your level of prestige, you have to make sure more than 3/4ths of the members are active otherwise you will be missing out on the alliance event rewards and the amount of Glory you will get from AQ will not be as much as a 100% active alliance.
If you feel that your alliance is not helping your progress then there is no shame in finding a better alliance. You heard me, it's nothing personal when you leave your alliance for a better alliance but make sure wherever you go next you will improve and try not to be a burden. Again, do not bite more than you can chew.
Always do your best and contribute as much as you can.
Weekly SA is important but not as important as the rewards from weekly AQ.
5. Be very mindful and careful on how you spend your hard-earned units
Units are the building block of this game. The more units you have (whether you grind for them or you pay for them with real money) you will advance sooner than later. If you have unlimited real money to spend on this game, you can get 100 Odins (or $10,000) and use one R4 or R5 5* to probably get you to Elder's Bane (100% Act 5 Exploration). 300,000 units will get you 3,000 team revives which is probably enough for a full Act 5 exploration with just a single R5 5*. But if your skills are terrible you might need more
But that hyperbolical example aside, if you can only spend minimally on this game (like the monthly Summoner Sigil and an occasional bundle during special months, holidays, events, etc) then you have to be very careful where your units go.
I strongly suggest that:
a. You spend your units to help you advance to the next stage. Yes, there is no shame in buying that revive, heal, boost potion to get to Uncollected and Cavalier. No shame at all. But so shameful if you spend 300 hard-earned units on a grandmaster crystal and pull a 3*.
b. You compute how many revives you typically need to clear a Chapter End / Act End boss. You save your units for that very specific purpose. This is the surest way that you will not end up regretting getting to a boss fight and need to exit the game with just a few hits left to beat it because you didn't have enough units for one revive potion
c. You only spend on Cavalier crystals NEVER on Grandmaster Crystals. Kabam has been kinder now and you can get Cavalier crystals even at Uncollected so just wait for it.
d. Do not spend units on hero shard deals but instead on rank-up deals.
e. Buy the units in the store deals only when there are bundles.
The only exception to this is if you don't have any champ worthy of ranking then you might want to gamble some units for a better champ. But I suggest that you just wait it out until you form enough fragments of 4*/5*/6* shards to pull one instead of spending units to fast track to your next 5* or 6* (unless you're just a few fragments away).
Unless your luck is extremely shot (which is unlikely because you will get a god-tier/beyond god-tier 5* one way or the other) use your units as stipulated above.
