He’s smilin’ for a reason.
GIANT REACH
For some reason, WizKids didn’t want giants to use their hands. First, they could only Carry when they had zero tokens. Then, only on move actions. Now, Giants can finally Carry without restriction, just as fliers and Transporters can. They also still ignore Plasticity, and so are among the very few characters who retain great mobility against that improved power.
A big loser in 2011, Giant Reach has grown into the #8 Winner in 2013.
___
A shooting power takes a bit of a slide:
Energy Explosion
In times past, on occasion, a character with Energy Explosion might be willing to take a shot at an enemy cluster based by an ally because A) the power could be angled to avoid dealing much damage to the friendly and B) it was only 1 damage anyway.
Now, though, EE has the potential to do GREAT harm with its splash damage to your friendly, possibly precluding you from using the power at all. And don’t even THINK about it if you’re a multi-target Sharpshooter trying to use it at point-blank range.
Despite the fact that it WILL show on the Winners’ list, the orange attack power is also the #8 Loser of 2013.
___
The #7 Winner is:
SUPER STRENGTH
It’s another power that’s needed a fix, as the very number of objects available to use for attacks has greatly shrunk in the modern game from a guaranteed six to as few as none.
The 2013 ruleset does nothing to fix that, unfortunately. What it does do is allow Super Strong figs to use their muscles for something other than smashing boulders: Now objects can be put down upon movement.
It’s a small change with great implications for the game:
- It’s a new way other than Telekinesis to move objects around.
- It’s more helpful to the team, situationally. Superman might be toting an ultra heavy object and can now carry Batman and place the detective and the object in the same square for — voila! — instant Stealthed meat shield.
The only drawback is that objects can’t be grabbed and dropped in the same turn. But it’s still enough to make Super Strength the #7 Winner in 2013.
___
For every winner, there’s a Loser:
COMBAT REFLEXES
Once upon a time, Combat Reflexes was one of the more useless powers in all of HeroClix. All it did was allow its owner to take knock back from hits that normally didn’t cause it. But you had to declare you were taking that option before you got hit. Or was it AFTER you got hit, but before taking the damage? And did you have to still have Combat Reflexes in order to take the knock back after declaring you were going to use it?
None of this was ever very clear, so for the first few years the light-green defense power was only valued for its immunity to knock back damage. Then it got its upgrade in 2006 to grant +2 DV in close combat and became great.
But that original voluntary knock back thing remained, though rarely used because it required good dial memorization to know when suddenly NOT tying up an opponent is the best policy.
Anyway, it’s gone, replaced with a blanket immunity to knock back. And while that seems like another upgrade, it really is a loss, as evidenced by a character like Star-Lord (Hammer of Thor 025). There were a few times that, knowing he’s about to lose CR and end up in Stealth, I’d opt to take the knock back and lay into targets with his Ranged Combat Expert later from the cover of hindering terrain.
Not possible anymore. Combat Reflexes is the #7 Loser come June 2013.