I really wanted to write about an all-monster theme team or something. But my new job has cut out a lot of the extra gaming I’ve gotten used to over the past several years, so I’ve had to settle for 2 out of 3:

Queen of Fables (Superman #049)

yeah, a chick with squid for legs? Pretty freakshow.

Zibarro (Superman #104)

Monster with the soul of a poet.

Star Boy (Superman #007)

That beard’s not scary at all.

300 points even once I added the 4-point Scorpio Key special object. Basic strat was to copy Queen’s Mystics TA and shut down enemy Speed powers with Star Boy’s wildcard and trait, respectively, carrying Zibarro.

FIRST MATCH was against Lenny’s 300-point All-Star Superman on the new Metropolis map. Oy.

Superman set up well beyond Star Boy’s speed range to kill his Hypersonic Speed and on this very wide open map I’d have no safe way of doing so. But I had to do something to keep Supes from  simply running the table. One mistake, and I was done. So here’s what I did:

• Star Boy moved within 9 squares of Superman, carrying Zibarro within 10 to Outwit Superman’s Indomitable.
• Moved Queen of Fables just in front of Superman to block Line of Fire to Zibarro to prevent the counter-Outwit.
• Copied Mystics with Star Boy.

Now I waited. Lenny’s a sharp player and he saw what I’d done to give him a number of bad choices:

• He’d have to push to hit either the Queen or Star Boy, and thus would take TWO clicks of damage for the effort.
• He’d also have to overextend and would be stranded by Star Boy’s trait…
• …even moreso if he tried instead to go after the non-Mystic target of Zibarro behind the others.

But it wasn’t great for me, either. Superman could easily KO Star Boy or Zibarro with one easy hit. And Queen of Fables would take EXTRA damage from the object Supes was carrying.

In the end, Superman Outwitted her Invulnerability and moved to HSS her with his heavy object. Shape Change failed and she got rocked for 8 unreduced clicks, landing her on her final click of life. Argh.

That move won me the game.

See, Queen of Fables gets a SP “I’m The Hero Of This Tale” where she gets Willpower and can copy an enemy’s attack and damage values + 1. With Superman stuck next to her, he was an easy, Outwitted target (after Zibarro scooted around her for LOF) to take 6 clicks in turn. So although Supes was able to take her out easily on his next opportunity, he was now weakened enough for Star Boy and Zibarro to knock him out.

SECOND MATCH was in the Fortress of Solitude against Paul’s Gangbuster, Lucy Lane and Cyborg Superman. This time I didn’t play quite as smart, moving Star Boy too close to Lucy and GB, who merely based him and beat him to KO.

Fortunately, I had Zibarro around to keep CyberSupes good and nerfed for Queen to pound. Between the two, I was able to emerge victorious for a wipeout, and the tournament win.