The X-Men have been defending a world that hates and fears them for years, but the establishment of the nation of Krakoa has added all new responsibilities to their plate. They still protect a world that hates and fears them, battling many of the same threats they always have, but they now have to contend with all new threats. The X-Men are operating on a scale they never have before, and it’s led to some mistakes.
The X-Men have access to the most powerful mutants on Earth and beyond. They may seem to have the game beat, but there are still many ways they can improve their tactics which will make their lives much easier in the long run.
10/10 They Need To Stop Depending On Resurrection
Krakoa has brought seismic changes to the X-Men’s status quo. The one that has been the most useful for them is Krakoan resurrection. This has taken away the sting of death from the team, as frontline mutants get bumped to the top of the resurrection queue. It’s made them the envy of the world, but it’s also become a crutch that they need to forget about.
That’s not to say they need to stop using resurrection, but they have to stop depending on it. It does have drawbacks, especially since memory back-ups mean they forget valuable mission knowledge when they resurrect, making second attempts just as fatal. Resurrection is useful, but it’s become too much of a fallback option.
9/10 The X-Men Should Recruit Among The Arakkii
The mutants of Arakko spent millennia battling the demons of Amenth. They’re a martial people and the Krakoans bringing them this dimension, transforming Mars into Arakko, and giving them a new home was a big decision. As of now, Arakko and Krakoa are separate in most ways, with some Krakoans serving as leaders of the Arakkii, but only if they earn it.
Conversely, there are very few Arakkii on Earth working with Krakoa. These mutants are warriors through and through; bringing more of them into the X-Men and related teams would be a very smart move. They’d bring something new to the team and be a big surprise for the enemies of mutantkind.
8/10 They Need To Be More Proactive
Krakoa was born in the fires of the destroyed the Orchis Mother Mold. The X-Men took the initiative and attacked the Orchis Forge, their chief weapons production facility that orbited the sun. It seemed like a bold new era where the X-Men would be proactive in the defense of their home. However, that affair has been an outlier.
Orchis has been working behind the scenes to destroy Krakoa and break its power since the beginning of the nation. The X-Men have intel on Orchis and its bases, yet they let them operate. Krakoa has multiple teams that they can use to root out Orchis and turn the tables on their enemies.
7/10 They Don’t Train Together Nearly As Much As They Should
The Danger Room is the coolest Marvel training facility, using everything from holograms to robots to weapons embedded in the floors and walls to test the X-Men. Krakoa also has its own training facilities that can match the Danger Room, yet the various X-Men teams rarely actually use them. Beyond X-Force using the Shadow Room to wargame missions, the teams barely train.
Training together again would make a big difference. Firestar is an X-Man now, but she’s rarely been a member of the team. She doesn’t know how they work together. Going back to a rigorous training regimen would make the X-Men better.
6/10 They Need To Call Up More Members From The Old Feeder Teams
The New Mutants are experienced heroes, having fought and trained since they were teenagers. The Generation X heroes are great as well, and the New X-Men kids are somehow still in training, yet they’ve been through terrible things. Synch, Magik, Sunspot, Cannonball, Wolverine, and Warpath have all been X-Men, but they’re just scratching the surface.
There are so many great mutants that don’t get a chance on the big teams. Most of the New Mutants are still New Mutants, and the Gen X and New X-Men are either nowhere to be found or still training. The X-Men need to take advantage of all of this unused talent.
5/10 They Need To Change Up Leadership
The X-Men have some amazing leaders, led by Cyclops. He’s the perfect mutant soldier and the Captain America of the X-Men. Storm has proven to be a consistently brilliant leader. Wolverine and Jean Grey have both led successful teams. However, these mutants are always the ones leading the X-Men.
These are all great commanders, but they don’t really bring anything new to the table. Rogue, Gambit, Cannonball, Cable, Psylocke, and Captain Avalon have all led teams, but they’re nowhere to be found in positions of command. Changing things up at the top is just as important as anywhere else.
4/10 The Team Needs To Take Advantage Of Their Omegas More
Omega class X-Men are the most powerful mutants. They’ve shown that by working together, they can take a world that never had life before and make it fertile. Mutants like Proteus and Monarch can recreate reality around them. Magneto controls electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. That’s just scraping the surface.
The X-Men right now have Omegas like Jean Grey and Iceman, but the team can use Omegas in mission-specific ways. Krakoa has access to the most powerful beings in the universe. Having more of accessible by the X-Men needs to happen.
3/10 The Captains Should Lead Their Own Teams
The Captains of Krakoa are basically the Krakoan Joint Chiefs of Staff. They are the best of the best, and they make the military choices for the various teams of X-Men. However, the core team boasts two of them: Cyclops and Magik. Bishop is part of the Marauders, as is Psylocke. This is a waste of the best talent.
Each one of them should have their own team of X-Men, doing what they do best. Putting them on the same teams is a short-sighted idea, especially since both the Marauders and X-Men aren’t actually based on Krakoa and have their own missions to deal with. It’s a foolish way to deploy the most important mutants.
2/10 The Best Fighters Aren’t X-Men And Need To Be
The X-Men is home to amazing fighters. In theory, at least. Sure, the Wolverines, Daken, Nightcrawler, and more are all ostensibly X-Men, but none of them are on the X-Men. The current roster does have Magik, but other than that, it’s mostly energy-using X-Men. The X-Men are the tip of the Krakoan spear, and they need the best fighters in the world.
Logan is on X-Force, but he’s been known to work well on multiple teams. Laura is with the X-Terminators, which doesn’t even seem like an official team. Nightcrawler, Daken, Silver Samurai, Gorgon, and more are all either on other teams or doing nothing. The X-Men need more of these members on the front lines.
1/10 The Split Team Format Works Best
The X-Men Blue and Gold are legends. The team split paid off for the X-Men, creating two powerful groups that could deal with threats. Krakoa has sort of done this with teams like X-Force and the New Mutants out there, but the X-Men are the main line of Krakoa’s defense. They’re the public face of the nation, but they could do better.
Having more than one official X-Men team would double the ways they could deal with threats. The Cyclops-led team is great, but having a second one closer to Krakoa or one that deals with other parts of the world would be ideal. The X-Men are flexible, and having more than one team could show that better.
