9. (tie)
Bizarro Green Arrow [Joker’s Wild 066]
WHY IT’S ONE OF THE BEST: He got this damage SP that saddles enemies targeting him with range -2 to either attack or damage, or -1 to both combat values. It’s literally “Bizarro Ranged Combat Expert,” guaranteeing no one willingly targets him from range. That’s where his trait comes in: “When an adjacent friendly character would be targeted by a ranged attack, Bizarro Green Arrow becomes the target instead even if he would be an illegal target.” So BGA camps behind the tentpole and effectively serves as preemptive Mastermind fodder for him/her.
BUT WHAT ABOUT FURY? He’s the strongest anti-Fury tech around, able to draw the spymaster’s fire from an adjacent friendly. Even though Balls can negate the Range Inexpert SP, the trait and STOP clicks will frustrate his efforts mightily.
WHY IT’S HERE ON THE LIST: Foes will try to close in to get around his talents, and his 1 damage isn’t going to cut it there despite an impressive 11 AV. But to the degree he can improve any force against shooters, he’s the No. 9 Top Ten figure in spite of almost no fighting contribution.
It’s bizarro, man.
But he’s not alone here. Behold Heroclixin’s first tie of 2016:
The Joker (The Joker’s Wild 060)
WHY IT’S ONE OF THE BEST: Instead of traditional KO clicks, he has a weird Escape token mechanic where he only costs 30, 40 or 50 points for three, four or five tokens, respectively. The short version is that he’s got to take 18 to 25 clicks of damage in order to be KO’d. On top of that, he has the ability to heal every round. The risk is that if he heals too much, he also loses Escape tokens. But with steady 17 DV and a trait granting Sidestep and Super Senses as well, it’s very easy for a savvy player to dance around this weakness and make this Joker essentially immortal — or, at least, a much, much, MUCH harder KO than a sub-50-point character ought to be.
He also has solid powers peppering his dial: Outwit on click 1, Running Shot/RCE on click 2, Plasticity+Poison on #3, and so on to Blades+EW on click 6.
BUT WHAT ABOUT FURY? With Joker being so low cost, Fury can’t level his most fearsome abilities against Mr. J here. And unlike any other figure in the game now, the cosmic spymaster has no ability to take one shot and make Joker useless to any degree. Even if Fury uses his not-outwit power to deny Joker a power, the psycho only has to roll for his heal-or-damage to get a completely different set. He’s a near-perfect foil to Nick.
WHY IT’S HERE ON THE LIST: He’s only got 1 printed damage, so his offensive capabilities are minimal on most clicks. But at 30 points, he’s not the fighter. He’s the one who bases. The one who takes Mastermind and loves it. The one who Outwits, who Poisons, who springs traps and doesn’t care. And that’s why he’s also Heroclixin’s No. 9 top figure of 2016.
Sceritz has a different point of view on what should be the No. 9 Clix of the year:
9. Klarion [World’s Finest 046]
“Did you build your team with all these awesome self-sufficient fighters and then remember the fact that your dice don’t always care how self-sufficient you think they are? For the low, low price of 70 pts., Klarion The Witch-Boy offers Prob, Perplex, and a Teekl familiar! Honestly, he’s an all-in-one package of combatant and support. He’s more than capable when it comes to positioning with Phasing, Stealth and Sidestep and furthermore, if you play your cards right, you have an effective attack range of 15 squares with Teekl who can use B/C/F with 11 attack and Klarion’s backup Prob! Deadly! On top of that, Teekl isn’t easy to kill. You get a Super Senses roll that basically succeeds on a 3-6, and not only is Klarion hard to deal with in stealth, his Mystics makes people think twice about trying to deal with it as opposed to one of those self-sufficient brawlers. This is 70 points you can’t go wrong with in any situation.”
Maybe we’ll agree on something in the No. 8 slot.
MAYBE