Good grief, it’s almost April. Time to wrap this up!

#7

Black Widow (Captain America 006)

WHY I WANT TO PLAY HER EVERY WEEK:

Not only is she a favorite comics character of mine — particularly since the 1999 miniseries from which the above art comes from — but it’s the first time she’s really been made well. Sure, there was the adequate Ultimates version, but that’s all she was…adequate. And barely, at that.

Now we have a Widow that embodies what makes her a winning character: that she combines the best of spandex-clad superhero and James Bondian superspy tropes. Her perma-Stealth trait frees up her dial for important powers like Running Shot and Leap/Climb, and her offensive numbers are solid. Most importantly, she’s loaded with useful keywords, especially Thunderbolts, qualifying her for the excellent ATA.

WHY I DON’T:

Her defense numbers are a little low for her high 85-point cost…which is actually 93 points, because I’m almost always going to run the 8-point T-Bolts ATA on her. For that price, I need her stats to be a little bit higher, yo.

It doesn’t help that she has competition in Black Widow (#206); for only 60 points, you get a solidly useful version whose only drawbacks are lower damage potential, limited keywords and just not being as good as the other. But at 25 points cheaper, whaddayawant?

I’M PLAYING HER NEXT:

On any Thunderbolts or Spy or Marvel Knights team, she’s a lock (unless I’m using the new ATA on the latter — it’s just so wasted on her). And probably regardless of what the upcoming Avengers Movie set(s) do with the Widow, I’m probably sticking with this version for my inevitable “movie Avengers” theme team. But the team I most want her on is a Secret Avengers build, one better than those I’ve played failed with in the past.