Had a series of “Breakfast Club” games where no one could share keywords. By team:
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Captain America (Chaos War 203) rolled a lot of Leadership and made some attacks. Aside from the stellar Rare from 2011’s Captain America set, this piece might be the most Cap-like of them all and may well be my first choice to represent the character in future games.

Despite being a crook, Hired Goon (Batman 203) benefited greatly from Cap’s Leadership (“He was in ‘Nam” was the brilliantly F.U.N. explanation given by my opponent in the match) and scored some great shots with his Ranged Combat Expertise.

Blue Beetle (DC 10th Anniversary 009) was the Goon’s Boss, but he was better used for Running Shots to Pulse Wave, having ended up on that power combo thanks to Mystics damage. It worked. Never had to use his self Prob Control. I like this Reyes kid. Eventually I want to run a team of Hispanics like him…

…and fellow hero of the Latin persuasion, The Question (Streets 015b), who I used correctly this time. Her free little Smoke Cloud was super for the stealthy Hired Goon, and Probability Control is always welcome (on my team).

Ensign Anton Chekov (Star Trek Away Team 007b) supplied plenty of Telekinesis. I may have forgotten to use his Tricorder SP to expose a Stealthy target, though. Useful and Nifty enough to make my eventual Russian team.

Bofur the Dwarf (Hobbit 014) rounded out this force. With TK to help his low Speed, Bofur did his share of leadoff fighting. He’s better played in a crowd with his 17 Defend, though.

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There was a shortened match in which I used some archers.
Arsenal (Streets 045) did nothing, really, as all targets were too far away to even so much as use Outsiders on. But I was prepared to do just that against a Utility Belt-equipped opponent. It’s the one thing he’s really good for.

Green Arrow (New 52 Justice League 007) also did nothing for the same reasons as Arsenal above, having to hide behind a League of Assassins member to avoid being possibly one-shot by ReMAC. It worked, but time ran out before I could force my opponent from his hiding spot with the long-range RCE of Manticore.

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A third “Breakfast Club” team:
Frost Giant Champion (Avengers Movie 031) kept an enemy Psychic Blaster ineffective thanks to his Battle Fury-endowing SP, and dealt a great deal of the KOs of my game.

Frank Drake (Amazing Spider-Man 013a) also was able to fully nerf that target with his double Outwit against mystics and monsters. He happily fits two of the F.U.N. theme teams I’ll be highlighting in an upcoming regular feature.

Godiva (Batman 029) took so long to get into the action, the fight was basically over. I almost pushed her just to see what she’d do, but decided against it with only one target at the time.

Even without Thanos to give her Perplex, Terraxia (Infinity Gauntlet 009) works out as a solid brick. Can’t imagine playing her again without her “pa” though.

At first, I thought Batman (Batman 053a) was just a pale weak shadow of a certain Caped Crusader (his prime version). But in practice, using his Flock of Bats gave him some nice Poison tricks (during beginning phase, free action detach Grey Flock, free action Outwit defenses, then free action Poison = WINNING). He’s also a decently powered piece besides, and well-priced. This Batman’s gone from the “I’ma trade/sell him soon as I play him” to “I’d like to run this piece again!”

The next day, I played an even larger version of the Breakfast Club theme:

Ezio Auditore de Firenze (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 001) didn’t do a whole lot despite his solid stats and powers. Still, he’s the only one of the set I wanted, so I’ll try his out again. Sometime.

Catwoman (Batman 204) was part of my main offense. Too bad no one fielded a relic in this friendly little game. Despite the fact that I played her with the following piece to take advantage of her Support trait, it never came into play.

Batman (Streets of Gotham 052) anchored the team early on, but he wound up falling apart and leaving me in dead last place. The black BatGhost is too soft for his cost. But he’s destined for a future team for sure.

Rhino (Amazing Spider-Man 204) was played with the understanding that “along the path” meant he could hit squares adjacent to his path, but in retrospect, I see we played it wrong. But I still might consider him over the more costly (and effective) main set Rhino to save the 30-plus points because he’s Indomitable and can more easily set up his straight-line Charges.

Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Man 027) worked well to evacuate Rhino to heal him after his crit miss, then to draw fire from him. This is a good piece. I want to mod one into her original Araña costume.

Bifur The Dwarf (Hobbit 010), another rare Dwarf with range, managed to contribute a bit with Running Shot and Incap (though I really should have just used his 2 damage instead of pushing the target because A) The target only had Toughness so the net damage would be the same and B) I rolled a crit hit). Nothing really distinctive about him otherwise, though.

I was far too overconfident with Speed (Chaos War 021) and got him good and KO’d early on. He’s for Young Avengers teams only. And who knows when I’ll play them again? They need their leader Patriot redone.

Johnny Blaze (Amazing Spider-Man 007) was played even more recklessly. NEVER PUSH HIM, no matter how enticing that shotgun power seems, unless you’re guaranteed to get penetrating damage out a landed hit.

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All right. There’s one more week of Figure Flush to go. But next week is the beginning of another month, meaning it’s time for another Top Ten. What’ll it be of? Stay tuned.