In the modern game of HeroClix, there are no terrible dials anymore, really. Not the way there used to be.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t still a few stinkers made. For the next week or so, Heroclixin’ — yours truly Rurouni KJS and new collaborator Sceritz — will look at the bottom of the barrel and make our picks for the least playable figs of 2016. But first, here are a few that didn’t quite bottom out enough to rate as the worst of the bad:

 

Occultist [World’s Finest 012]

You shouldn’t expect much for 20 points, and his pokey 6 or lower speed and three clicks of health are fitting of his price point. Heck, his Willpower and Exploit Weakness almost look good. But his SP requires an adjacent ally to get hit and hurt for him to truly pull his weight. Not sure if this is worth the points and the price of, y’know, starting to LOSE.

Black Panther  [Captain America: Civil War 013]

He has a nifty SP nixing LOF to him beyond his printed 3 range and also granting Sidestep, forcing foes to get close.

But that’s when the trouble starts.

He only has Super Senses for 17 defense, no Willpower to truly leverage the SP, and he loses the SP quickly. Traited Precision Strike frees up the attack slot for, say, Blades — which doesn’t show till click 2. So you’re basically running an 80-point Outwit or Perplex piece with a mishmash of extra powers and modest stats. Not so kingly.

Prism [Uncanny X-Men 013]

A piece with super-low DV and a SP that opponent won’t want to counter because it can cause insta-KO. The only reason he doesn’t rate among the very worst is this convo between me and Sceritz:

Sceritz: You’ll spend all that time trying to get him in position or whatever and screw yourself over and then get him blasted xD
Rurouni KJS: Gotta use him as meat shield against range. Make sure he can’t be knocked back LOL
S: I suppose that could be useful
R: That and the Enhance is his ONLY use
S: I think my brain is trying push all the other things I could use 35 points for out of my head
S: or rather I need to push those things out of my head
R: Nah
R: Those other 35-pointers are part of the reason these are the worst

So I talked him off the worst list. But………he’s still bad.

Killer Moth [Joker’s Wild 035]

65 points for Running Shot, 9 AV Incap. For some reason, he ramps to 10 AV mid-dial. Damage fluctuates from 2 to 1 and back. For 65 points.

But almost ANYTHING is a better use of 65 points

Looker [Joker’s Wild 37b]

Usually, primes are supposed to be stronger than other figures. But so not with this 100-point, five-click pile of nothing but TK, really. Sure, she can Steal Energy to more powerful clicks past her starting line, but with only 8 Charge, 10 AV and no Willpower, she’s going to have a lot of trouble getting to and staying on those sweet spots. LOOK AWAY.

So much for the almost-worst of 2016. On to the list of the actual worst of 2016’s figs. Stay tuned