On Saturday, after a LOT of indecision, I played the Perplex team. And was immediately dismayed to see my sole opponent Paul’s team:

Vet Supergirl (Origin) 232 + Fortitude 25

U Hellboy (Indy) 188

Sabbac 145

U Hercules 142

Power Man & Iron Fist 136

Ultra Boy 130

Strong Guy 124

Tempest 116

V Captain America (Ultimates) 103

Young Superman 100

Krypto 100

Namorita 98

Gamora 73

Karate Kid 63

Timber Wolf 60

Captain Mako 52

Bouncing Boy 50

V Katana 48

Kamandi 14

Ugh. Three Mystics, a Batman Ally, TWO sources of ANTI-Stealth and NINE wildcards to copy it all, making my own Bat-stealth nigh-useless. Paul won the map roll and picked an old one…a park with lots of hindering terrain, a lake in the center and one 4-square blocking terrain feature on my side. I used Infiltration and he played Deep Shadows. AAAGH! So much for my plan of bombarding from long range with Darkseid!

 

I fielded the Kinetic Accelerator and the Dynamostat (to give me extra Charging range and a bit more cover to hide behind, respectively). Paul had his own Accelerator and a Meteorite. Using the Avengers TA, he was able to move his entire team about mid-field, largely safe from any retaliation thanks to Deep Shadows’ cutting long ranges to just six and providing free hindering terrain for all the wildcards copying Batman Ally. I similarly set up my forces behind the blocking terrain. 

Paul moved Strong Guy in very close behind the blocking terrain, probably to serve as bait for Power Man & Iron Fist and Hercules (on the Accelerator, toting the Meteorite) waiting in the wings. I decided to spring the trap, Charging the Fortitude-equipped, double-Perplexed (thanks to Dr. Strange and Hulk) Wonder Woman to critically-hit Strong Guy with Exploit Weakness for 5 clicks into the lake. I followed up with a Running Shot from Dr. Doom to hit Gamora and leverage his Outwit to slow down Paul’s team. 

Wonder Woman got pretty surrounded and I had to send Hulk and Black Panther to help. But Panther took hits from Kamandi of all people, and Hulk got hit  really hard himself. That’s the bad news; the good is that this being a bizarro game, Hulk landed on his best clicks and Panther remained a great threat himself.

Dr. Doom, meanwhile, got further into enemy ground to hit Hercules hard. I made the error of not Outwitting Herc’s Super Strength or Charge because I’d flown beyond his range. Didn’t count on Hercules’ Speed Value getting Perplexed up by Tempest! Doom took a Meteorite to the chin and had to push to make a clutch breakaway roll (thank you, mid-dial Probability Control!) to escape.

On the other side of the field, Paul was repeatedly missing attacks with his big gun, Supergirl (she starts with a lowly 7 Attack Value in this format) against my higher defenses. Meanwhile I was biding my time to try for a single-target Pulse Wave with Black Bolt. Young Superman’s destruction of my Dynamostat ruined that plan, and Namorita’s Poison threatened to wreck him personally.

As time expired, it all came down to a breakaway roll to try a Running Shot Nova Blast with Black Bolt. I made both rolls, dealing 5 clicks to Hellboy, Namorita, Young Superman, Tempest, Timber Wolf and Karate Kid, KOing the last two for the only points in the official game. (We played out the rest of the game and I wiped his team, losing only Sinestro and the Nova Blast points.)

WIN/LOSS: 1-0.

Well, the team was held down by the Deep Shadows battlefield condition, but it still functioned all right. In fact, the card probably saved me from taking more of Ult. Captain America’s Outwit!

Keys to victory:

• Will Magnus & Platinum were crucial in the early game for the Defend power. 
• M+M Hulk is fantastic in this bizarro format. His early Perplex, Charge and Invulnerability make him a key attacker and supporter in one, and taking a bit of damage only makes him more terrifying. 
• Avengers Black Panther is good on every click, but with Lunge he’s even better. Here, he supported the team well with Outwit or Perplex in between his Lunge-enabled attacks, scoring a KO on Hercules. I will have to try this feat combo with him in normal games as well.
• Dr. Strange was here not only for his anti-Stealth trait “Eye of Agamotto” but for his immediate use of Perplex even in this bizarro format. Down the stretch, he became a much greater factor in the game.
• Wonder Woman IS a wonder. Battling Mystics actually works to her favor in this format, as she really does only get better.
• I really didn’t intend to ever use Nova Blast on Black Bolt. It’s really more of a psychological tactic to change the opponent’s game plan. But the feat works SO much better in the bizarro format that I frankly wonder that I ever doubted the idea. Deep Shadows actually helped me pull off the strike better than I might’ve otherwise. 

 

I really hated that I didn’t get to use my other, Charge-based team. At least, until I learned that my other venue was doing the same scenario! Come back tomorrow for how that went!