The #6 WINNER:

PHASING/TELEPORT

It’s become a move action, not a power action, so it works with “free move” team abilities like Avengers and Top Cow. And it’s GX Leech-proof, too! This simple change is nothing but positive and wins this super-mobile power a #6 berth.

The #6 LOSER:

WILD CARDS

Whereas wild cards used to be able to switch team abilities with every little action, they’ve gradually been scaled back from that extreme flexibility to their 2011 reality: now switching TAs is a free action. (Fortunately, it’s an exception to the new “once-per-turn” rule governing free actions.) That means there’ll be no switching from Batman Ally to JSA to Mystics during others’ turns…they’re stuck with the last one they picked on their turn! Pick carefully.

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The #5 WINNER?

CLOSE COMBAT EXPERT

It finally works alongside Super Strength now; if you’re holding an object and you use CCE, the object boosts your damage, too.

It’s gonna be pretty situational, since most characters with Super Strength+CCE will likely have used their object in a Charge or HSS maneuver already, and it’s subject to the Rule of Three. But in those instances when, say, BD Aquaman is based before he can move in (to prevent him from using Move And Attack, for example), he can hit ’em for 6 clicks — one more than he’d have done otherwise. Nice, simple upgrade.

The #5 LOSER?

TELEKINESIS

Wait…wasn’t this a winner, a few days back? Yes..but for all its boosts, TK got a lot of drawbacks as well.

• The TKer needs line of fire to the destination…period! Before, the TK’d figure didn’t block LOF for the TKer, but now they can’t be in the way. This leaves the TKer more open than ever to getting the power countered, or simply being shot off the TK clicks.
• Likewise, the TKee has to have line of fire to the destination. No more TKing from behind meat shields or blocking terrain/walls, again making it easier for enemy Outwitters or shooters to mess up your catapult plans.
• And, like always, the line of fire between the TKer and TKee must be clear.

This triangle of clear LOF makes many current TK maneuvers impossible. No more TKing around corners or from the middle of a rooftop to the ground below; it’s got to be a straight-line shot like every other LOF-based ability. Positioning and placement will be more important than ever.

This extreme loss of flexibility makes TK the mid-point loser of 2011.