NoMoreSWitch

The WORST worst was 2022’s, which saw a bunch of pandemic-era sets fade to Silver without ever seeing Worlds competition. But here we are a year and some months later, seeing one set phasing out the VERY NEXT YEAR after its release.

I’m speaking of Disney Plus, of course. (Well, War of the Realms, too. But DISNEY PLUS.) The fact that it will have gotten two Worlds appearances softens the blow somewhat. And to be sure, the set has some VERY problematic pieces that have dominated the meta since their release.

  • The Scarlet Witch 050. On the one hand, she’s the badass Wanda we’ve wanted since forever. On the other, that Rune is a major negative play experience for whoever faces her. And she’s already a top-notch piece without ever using it!
  • Sakarrian Iron Man. Another chase fig, and one that’s just way too damn good. Virtually unkillable, he’d be playable at twice his 50-point cost. At least then he’d be worth the effort to KO him.
  • The Vision 043b. A fearsome Super Rare prime that’s also overpowered even if costed accordingly at least.
  • Cape of Levitation. This equip granting Sidestep, Plasticity AND Flight makes so much else in the game better. It’s gotta go.
  • The Darkhold. Half the reason SWitch above is such a problem is this equip she gets for abso-FREAKING free.
  • Agatha Harkness. With higher cost and no armor, she almost seems fair compared to SWitch. Almost. But she packs the same Darkhold and makes the same Rune and has FREE movement on top of it. Hell, you can play them together.
  • Miss Minutes. OK I love her. But she can take Mission Points from a cute little gimmick to “You win/lose by Turn 3” so maybe it’s better she rotates now and becomes Silver Age’s problem to possibly ban.

So yeah. It’s the right move to shelve these after their two Worlds appearances. (This assumes rotation will be post-Worlds from now on. If WizKids switches back to midsummer retirement next year, Imma be upset.)

 

WHAT ALL’S LEAVING …

5-Figure Booster Sets (including Organized Play game elements and incentives associated with each set.)

  • Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four. Released in the depths of the pandemic, this fantastically F.U.N. set is finally fading into the far-flung fields of Silver and Golden Age. More than any particular fig, it might be the map Aunt Petunia’s House that may be most missed from the meta … or maybe NOT because Door and Window terrain was confusing as heck.
  • Marvel HeroClix Spider-Man and Venom Absolute Carnage. The last of the small-scale fig sets swings off the Modern stage. All-Black The Necrosword is the meta staple that’s done for in Modern.
  • Marvel HeroClix House of X. The House has fallen. Maggott will have his last Modern meal.
  • Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Future Foundation. This one was really too much Fantastic Four too soon. Doomswap and Molecule Man are of note here, along with equipment like Emotional Modifier, Silver Surfboard and Radioactive Clay
  • DC Comics HeroClix Wonder Woman 80th. Between this and FFFF, was this when chase sets began grew to absolutely dominate the meta? The Commissioner, Scarab and especially Sky Tyrant just played havoc on competitive — not to mention the Lanterns and their constructs.
  • Marvel HeroClix X-Men Rise and Fall. THE FALL OF X IS HERE. There’s not much to miss aside from Moira MacTaggart cheating out Rally dice and Mimic prime.
  • Marvel HeroClix Avengers-Fantastic Four Empyre. All empires fade. And so Venom Magneto, the first mega-chase to hold sustained $200ish resell price and thus set off an ever-rising cost of competitive in clix, dips out of Modern.
  • Marvel HeroClix War of the Realms. All wars end as well. Not much on the ridiculous meta level is being lost here.
  • Marvel HeroClix Disney Plus. … gets minused. And we saw what was the reasons why, earlier.

Fast Forces Packs. Interestingly, there have been none of these made since. Could fast forces be facing a final retirement? Hopefully so? Because nothing has been very good in ANY of the following.

  • Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Fast Forces
  •  Marvel HeroClix Spider-Man and Venom Absolute Carnage Fast Forces
  • Marvel HeroClix House of X Fast Forces
  • Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Future Foundation Fast Forces
  • Marvel HeroClix X-Men Rise and Fall Fast Forces
  • Marvel HeroClix War of the Realms Fast Forces

Starter Sets. The deluxe miniature games starting with WW80 in 2021 aren’t listed here but are probably counted as part of their main set.

  • Marvel HeroClix Battlegrounds: Avengers vs Masters of Evil. This, the first of the new-style starters, was actually the best overall IMO. Price point was just right. And the figs, though kinda way overcosted in retrospect, were still kinda neat. If only that one Iron Man had been error-free.

Micro Sets (including Organized Play game elements and incentives associated with each set)

  • Marvel HeroClix Unpainted Deep Cuts: Fantastic Four. Geez. We’re losing a LOT of F4 in this rotation.
  • Marvel HeroClix Eternals Movie. The redheaded stepchild of all rotating sets. (Except for the actual redheaded child, Sprite 021, whose saw some play in competitive.)
  • Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Storyline OP. A LOT of F4. Like, this nixes nearly the whole keyword from Modern.

Convention Exclusives and Limited Edition Game Elements

  • WK20-s001 Tire Stack
  • WK20-s002 Barrel

These two are the only pre-pandemic things in this rotation.

But of course, Silver Age means there’s still a place in competitive for this stuff. Which means, maybe that much of it may continue to be problematic, since MAYBE none of it rises to the level of degeneracy seen in other banned elements in Silver.

We shall see…

Heroclixin’ board member and longtime friend Chadd comes to various Atlanta conventions once a year lately and we have taken to rooming together for big games.

IMG_0608

GAME 1

RED & BLACK & BLUE: DEADPOOL VS. HARLEY QUINN

I forgot to take a full photo, so here’s the detailed 1000-point builds:

CHADD’S MAXIMUM EFFORT

  • Deadpool (X of Swords 048) 40 points
  • Deadpool (X-Men Rise and Fall 100) 60 points
  • Deadpool, Marc WIth A Mouth 70 points
  • Deadpool (Deadpool & X-Force 037a) 75 points
  • Evil Deadpool 100 points
  • Deadpool (Deadpool 101) 130 points
  • Deadpool (Deadpool 019a) 135 points
  • Deadpool (Empyre 063) 175 points
  • Deadpool and Bob 200 points
  • Mjolnir (Hammer of Thor s101) 0 points

 

vs. MY GANG OF HARLEYS

  • Harley Quinn (WW80) @ 50 points
  • Harley Quinn (DC21-004) 45 points
  • Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series 014) 65 points
  • Harley Quinn (Batman Team Up 008) 50 points
  • Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 017) 75 points
  • Dr. Holly Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 033) 35 points
  • The Harlequin (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 100) 40 points
  • Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 026) 40 points
  • Legacy Harley & Ivy (BTU L058) 75 points
  • Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 059a) 200 points
  • Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043a) 50 points
  • Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043b) 50 points
  • Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 049) 60 points
  • Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series ) 60 points
  • Harley Quinn (The Flash 046) @ 50 points
  • Location Bonus: My Babies Need Their Space 5 points

 

Chadd took an early lead because I neglected to use Harley & Ivy’s FREE Smoke Cloud to hide other Harleys from an alpha strike. Then Deadpool & Bob Super Sensed out of my counterattack. Then I completely failed a Pulse Wave attempt with prime Harley. I was losing pretty much the whole time until I finally got Red Lantern Harley and legacy Harley & Ivy into position while Title Harley called out her Gang of Harley pogs to finish off Bob and Evil DP for the win.

RESULT: HARLEY HAMMER TIME!

 

GAME 2

GANG WAR: GOTHAM UNDERWORLD VS. SINISTER SEVENTEEN

My team was made up of:

  • The original Sinister Six from the 1960s comics (Kraven, Doc Ock, Vulture, Mysterio, original Electro and Sandman)
  • Beetle’s Sinister Syndicate from the mid-1980s (with Rhino, Speed Demon, Boomerang and Hydro-Man)
  • Iron Spider’s 21st-century version of the Six (Davis plus Spot, Hobgoblin, chick Electro, mom Bombshell and Sandman doing double duty here)

all hired by the Kingpin for this GANG WAR

Got a photo for this one because I did.

SyndicateVSGotham

Chadd planned to rush me with Clayfaces (each kitted out with Entangle feats) and keep me futilely flailing at them. But PLOT TWIST! I had a lot of Improved Movement and immediately left the ‘Faces in the dust, setting them up for Electro’s repeated Pulse Waves while the others set up to get Joker, who was using the team-up card to give all Batman Enemy characters the Mystics team ability.

I still nearly lost the game when I forgot to use Spot’s Outwit to stop Killer Croc’s Charge. Also got lucky with a miss against Vulture.

Though I failed almost every single Leadership roll — despite having 5 figs with the power on the force, I maybe succeeded 3 times total all game — I finally got through various Barriers and outdoor blocking to one-turn Joker, after which Chadd conceded.

RESULT: SYNDICATE TAKES OVER GOTHAM

 

GAME 3

SCOOBY GANG MEETS BATMAN AND ROBIN TO SOLVE THE CASE OF SCOOBY MONSTERS

So I decided to get these chases because nostalgia:

ScoobyChases

Chadd remembers the Scooby Doo series better than I do and came up with a team of monsters inspired by the cartoon (JL King Shark for the shark god, Zzzax for the electric giant, Sabretooth for the cat people, etc.).

…and Chadd demanded I play the Scooby chases along with a Batman and Robin. I agreed with one condition: to add Ace The Bathound, which I’d finally gotten.

ScoobyVSMonsters

I thought the Scoobys would do OK, but I was not expecting the dominance that happened. Chadd did, though. We still had fun, especially with me playing classic Scooby background music as we went.

RESULT: DARN THOSE MEDDLING KIDS AND CAPED CRUSADERS

 

GAME 4:

HORSEMEN VS. THE HORDES OF ARRAKO

Now this one mattered to me a little more because

  1. I gifted Chadd with a Genesis 210 fig and it would be SOMEWHAT galling to lose to that fig and more importantly
  2. prime Isca the Unbeaten’s record was at stake — I’ve never lost a game with her.

I’d also tried out these Arrako pieces before and BOY are they awkward to field. I had to do a trial run on my kitchen table just to get a feel for how to play the squad I settled on:

  • Annihilation (X of Swords 059) 70 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Light of Galador)
  • Bei the Blood Moon (X of Swords 046) @ 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
  • Famine  (X of Swords SLOP 041) @ 50 points
  • Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 35 points +Sword Bearer 5 (Warlock)
  • Isca the Unbeaten (X of Swords 021b) +Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
  • Khora of the Burning Heart (X of Swords) 65 points
  • Pogg Ur-Pogg (X of Swords SLOP 208) @ 170 points + Starlight Sword (for free because it’s him)
  • Redroot the Forest (X of Swords 056) 60 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Pogg Ur-Pogg)
  • Solem (X of Swords SLOP 018) + Sword Bearer 5 (Muramasa Blade s002)
  • Summoner  (X of Swords 055) 120 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Godkiller)
  • Tarn the Uncaring (X of Swords SLOP 033) @125 points
  • The White Sword (X of Swords 058) 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Purity)

Chadd used Horsemen:

  • Apocalypse (X of Swords 057) 195 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
  • Death (X of Swords 026) + Sword Bearer 5 (Black Bone of Amduat)
  • Famine (X of Swords SLOP 204) @ 75 points
  • Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 295 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
  • Mr. Sinister (X of Swords 044) + Protected 8
  • Mr. Sinister (X of Swords SLOP 030) + Entangle 8 + Camouflage 8
  • Pestilence (X of Swords SLOP 202) + Armor Piercing 10
  • War (X of Swords 025) + Sword Bearer 5 (Vermillion)

On the Fiefdom of Amenth map, I sent Annihilation’s Daemon pogs to start. But Pestilence’s Armor Piercing got through even their Invincible. However, there’s no end to the the Daemon horde, so I could keep flooding them out while keeping most of the squad, including the colossal Pogg who was shielded by a water terrain I added, safe and still offensive. When I ended War after her unsuccessful attack, Chadd conceded rather than get swarmed by my Arakkan horde.

RESULT: ARAKKO IS NOT FOR THE WEAK — OR THOSE WHO CONCEDE

 

GAME 5

CHADD’S OBSESSION vs. THE ULTIMATES

This one was personal. Years ago in the Before Times, I’d played Chadd with one of my favorite comic teams, the Ultimates:

Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Miss America and Monica Rambeau.

I can’t recall what Chadd played, but it was some force that had no business making short work of my Carol Danvers. And then Chadd RAN before we could finish the game!

He actually had a dinner appointment. But it FELT like he was running

Anyway, the characters had all been remade at least once, and nearly all were much better:

  • Black Panther (Captain America and the Avengers 037a) @ 85 points + Skybreaker sword 10 points
  • Blue Marvel (Avengers Forever) @ 150 points
  • Captain Marvel (Captain America and the Avengers 054) @ 150 points
  • Miss America (Avengers Forever) 50 points
  • Monica Rambeau (Empyre) @ 150 points

For his part, Chadd was playing favorites himself: Redheads!

  • Daphne (Batman Team Up 010) 50 points + Utility Belt 10
  • Hope Summers (X of Swords) @40 points
  • Jean Grey (X of Swords 029) — 35 points
  • Lady Phoenix @ 125 points
  • Mary Jane (War of the Realms) @ 60 points
  • Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points
  • Mjolnir relic — 0 points

IMG_0583

I lost Monica really early after being drawn out to try KOing Mary Jane, who was rolling for the Mjolnir relic. But while Captain Marvel wore Phoenix down with free damage, Blue Marvel slipped to the back line to start wreaking havoc with his Pulse Wave. I was on the way to a big win when Chadd requested a do-over: He’d overlooked a token-removal trait that would have kept me from getting the momentum I’d needed. I agreed.

But Chadd made the same error of trying to give MJ Mjolnir and this time, I did NOT overextend.

RESULT: Chadd conceded too quickly when his attacks on Carol — who was already working on Phoenix — failed and he didn’t think to simply Outwit Carol’s speed power to stop me.

RESULT: ULTIMATE REDEMPTION

 

GAME 6

THE CHARLIE

This was the classic Charlie “Rockman” Cates scenario: Seven figs, all in differing point brackets, sit on the sideline. The cheapest fig starts first. When it heals or takes damage, immediately roll d6 and replace it with the corresponding fig on the sideline.

I brought two teams: one full of Sentinels and the other giant-woman-themed. Chadd used a team full of Jeans

  • Jean Grey (Empyre 010) 30 points
  • Jean Grey (Hellfire Gala) @45 points
  • Jean Grey (Xavier’s School 065) @90 points
  • Phoenix (WizKids M19-015) 100 points
  • Phoenix (Uncanny X-Men 053a) 140 points
  • Lady Phoenix @ 175 points
  • Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points

and chose to face the giants.

  • Giganta (WW80 037b) @25 points
  • Stature (Avenger Forever) @ 50 points
  • Giganta (HQGG 052) @90 points
  • Giganta (WW80 037a) @100 points
  • Power Girl (Rebirth 022) @ 115 points
  • Giant-Girl (Avengers Infinity G001) @200 points
  • Ms. Marvel (The Mighty Thor G005) @250 points

It was a disaster … FOR ME

The plan he’d had for Con Phoenix, to sit and enjoy 22 DV with Prob Control forever, finally was foolproof in this 1v1 scenario. My giant women had no chance.

I should’ve gone with the Sentinels. Still probably would have lost but at least it woulda been a fight!

RESULT: FINALLY a win for Chadd in the end! 

———

It’s always a good time playing these games. Looking forward to his next visit, DragonCon 2024, for more. And yes, we’re already planning them.

It’s taken me a while to write on this, but here we go. You can get all the meta news and who won elsewhere.

Tracy Brock

 

DAY ONE:

TRACY BROCK MEMORIAL EVENT

Tourney organizers came up with a wild sealed event.

Tracy Brock Memorial Team Sealed 2023

I was supposed to be on a team with ROC founder Howard Brock (Tracy was his wife) and Scott Porter himself. But our communications got screwed and I thought Howard had gotten Scott to take my slot in the team, not that I was the 2nd and Scott was the third member! I had already joined another team in the meantime.

Howard says, “You owe me a team-up!” Yes sir, that I do! But I feel like I would’ve dragged his team down this night, because I did not do well.

As one of the longest-term players of our team I took the old-school stuff:

  • Experienced Shadowcat (X-Plosion 035)
  • Experienced Iceman (X-Plosion 038)
  • Veteran Clayface (CD 039)
  • Spider-Man (TabApp M-008)
  • Calendar Man

Went 1-2. In Round 1, I completely overlooked Calendar Man’s Prob and that likely cost me the first game. I gave up the third round to Jay Major — our first time playing each other! — on a bad last-minute fielder’s choice of a move.

 

DAY TWO:

SCOTT PORTER VS THE WAREHOUSE

So it was supposed to start 11 a.m. but WizKids be WizKidsing and the product was late. Hung out with former ROC head judge and fast friend Jay Solomon and Emily “Queen of the North” Michele and our new friend Steven, with whom I did a sealed battle royal while waiting for the FedEx truck. I finished dead last place because somehow with three Leadership pieces on my team I only rolled it successfully once all game. (Had like 13 rally dice on Hobgoblin, though. Didn’t use any of them.)

Finally the Avengers60 boosters came. And I was one of the few people who did not mulligan my team, since I pulled SRs in both packs. My team:

Sealed 60th

But … I went just 1-4 in the Swiss rounds following. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

DAY THREE:

SILVER AGE

I fielded a new version of the Juneteenth team from 2021:

Silver Team Worlds

XOS Bishop @ 80 with SVAC Pumpkin Bombs 5

  • Dr. Claire Finn 25
  • Duke Thomas 35
  • Maggott 40
  • Micron 50
  • Teen Lantern @ 30 with Green Lantern Ring 0
  • Tempo 35

= 300 points.

  • Sideline: Black Manta, Black Vulcan, Sentinel, Skull Spy

Went 1-3. Barely lost the first round vs. prime Vision and Mud Man (maybe forgot my sideline TroubAlert), made an unfortunate fielder’s choice against an Agatha/Scarlet Witch team that was also very close to a victory, got a solid win vs. Otherworld Jubilee (opponent waited to transform her, so I closed in and kept her Outwitted while avoiding/healing from GP Apocalypse attacks and KOing his support) but was thoroughly trounced by Hulk and Mad Jim Jaspers shenanigans in the final round.

 

DAY FOUR:

SILVER WORLDS!

After the staggering lack of success this weekend, I questioned if I even wanted to play the final event. But I got talked into it.

There’s a degenerate Mission Point team in Silver Age involving LE Titano, legacy Leech, Miss Minutes and like 10 Ayos. I will never play such a team. But it was a starting place for a Mission-driven squad:

  • Titano (wkD17-G001p)
  • legacy Leech
  • Miss Minutes
  • Ayo (ABPI 021) @ 20 points x2
  • Indigo-1 (BTU ) 60
  • Red X
  • Kingpin (SMBA 037b) @ 35 points
  • Superman (JLU 018) @ 10 points

My goal, aside from winning, was to break my previous record of Mission Points scored: 13.

Went 0-5. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I scored 18 MPs in the last round, and with literally 20 more seconds of time, I would have won the game outright.

——

The weekend wasn’t complete failure. I played a few Battle Royals and won a few, winning Scott pogs — both Porter and Cramton — and other prizes.

Oh, and of course I got to meet Scott Porter, who really is a friendly, regular kinda fella. Who’s nerdy enough to play HeroClix.

Rurouni and Scott Porter

“Hey, I have that shirt!” he said, pointing to my Final Fantasy VII-inspired garb, before going into a short speech about who’s the most important character in FF7.

MEGA-NERD.

 

 

Avengers 60 is in pre-release phase as this publishes. But thanks to the PRE-prerelease at HeroClix for Huntington’s in Huntsville about a month back, we have gotten a look at the entire set earlier than usual — including the legacy cards! So here’s our customary review.

——

In principle, legacy cards are a F.U.N. way to bring some old pieces back into Modern/Silver play, rework some old figs that never really worked right before — or don’t anymore due to rule changes).

In practice? Well, let’s see.

As usual, we’ll look back at what this figure used to do THEN when it was new, before looking how it’s updated NOW and considering if it’s F.U.N. But starting this set, I’m getting personal and talk about ME: Do I even want this one?

By set number:

———

L003 Ant-Man
(Age of Ultron, 2015)

aou003r

THEN: With pretty average stats for both his 100- and 50-point cost, AOU Ant-Man’s value came from his SP giving him Charge (good with his printed Exploit), Sidestep and Stealth — along with the power to make an adjacent normal-sized pal into a giant or a fellow tiny for a turn. Also, back then Tiny Size figs were allowed to be carried along with a standard passenger. Finally, he had the “Morph: Many Identities” trait shared with nearly a dozen other Hank Pym characters in that set, where he could swap in and out with the Pyms. Not bad for Avengers and Scientist themes.

NOW: He cuts both price lines in half — but it’s no longer morphin’ time, as that complex trait is lost. Instead he gets “Shrink Out of the Way,” a Sideline trait that swaps him in the place of a Wasp, Hank Pym or Giant-Man thatwould be KO’d. His SP is unchanged because it was great already. He adds Illuminati to his keywords. It must also be mentioned here that he still has the Avengers team ability, which gets a massive upgrade in this set: Instead of just +1 to MOVE (as the TA has been since 2017) or MOVEs not counting against actions (as when this fig was new in 2015), at game’s start, you can pick an enemy team ability and get a +1 AV when targeting that TA.

F.U.N.? It will depend on if any of his alter egos are competitive. But from where I’m sitting, he looks like big F.U.N. for such a little guy.

AM I GETTING THIS? I still have a couple of these figs and Ant-Man is one of the characters I want to collect every version of. So yes.

———

L008b Ms. Marvel
(Secret Invasion, 2008)

si008b

THEN: Once upon a time, in the pre-NECA days, she ruled the meta with her Exfiltration SP: Hypersonic Speed, Stealth and Plasticity with 4 printed damage, Super Strength and then-default-10-range Outwit. Though she cratered a lot if hit just once, getting that hit was tough because in 2008, Stealth was VERY difficult to handle and HSS even more so — automatic breakaway. Skrulls team ability was icing on her 168-point cake.

NOW: Keeping her original Skrulls and Spy keywords, her cost dips slightly to a more-Modern-friendly 145. Her already near-perfect SP gets upgraded to add Close Combat Expert to aid her no-longer-adequate AV. Her new trait “Emotional Manipulation” serves that end as well, forcing her adjacent foes’ DV to match her own middling values, which really fits her new super-cheap 50-point starting line with Charge, 8 AV Quake, 15 DV Toughness and Perplex.

F.U.N.? Sometimes you can go home again, and that’s what happens here with ol’ Ms. Skrull-vel. So much of what made her good is gone and even this card’s tweaks can’t bring back her past meta glory. Which is OK with us because we’re all about F.U.N. here.

BUT AM I GETTING THIS? I certainly have 1 or 2 of her. Carol Danvers isn’t one of my “every version” characters, though, so the only reason I’ll track this down is to make my Skrull collection complete.

*looks at otherwise complete Skrull collection*

Which, uh … I guess I WILL be tracking it down.

———

L030 Wasp
(Chaos War, 2012)

cw030

THEN: Her being able to Incap AND deal a little penetrating damage AND possible push-damage was OK, a rare workaround against the Mystics team ability, even at her weighty 77 cost. That cost was actually useful since she had Leadership and back then it only worked on a successful roll to give the extra action and remove an action token from a cheaper adjacent fig — one that could, like with Ant-Man above, carry both her and another ally. She actually saw some high-level play in the world championships that year.

NOW: Her price plummets to just 40 — her stats have not aged well and she loses a trick or two to changed game mechanics (along with the Lady Liberators keyword the original one paired with Avengers. She’s a Celebrity instead now). Her Incap SP now deals bonus penetrating damage for each action token on the target(s). Her Leadership is better than ever, though, and the new Avengers TA will help a lot.

F.U.N.? Invincible didn’t exist when the original made its splash, and Incapacitate lost all its damage capacity in 2021, so her Incap-plus-penetrating skills aren’t as dangerous as in 2012. But she’s gonna be F.U.N. to field.

AM I GETTING THIS? See Ant-Man. I collect Wasps and have this piece. So yes.

———

L033 Hulk
(Avengers Assemble, 2015)

avas033

THEN: .One of several giant-sized Hulk figs, this 185-point monster wound up being a major letdown for several reasons. A) That cost puts him well into the upper third of Hulks, but B) his offense is poor with just 10 AV, despite a Flurry SP that also gave him Quake as FREE after a Leap/Climb MOVE. C) Unlike many Hulks, his abilities don’t ramp up very well until near end-dial. But by then you’re D) looking at avoiding KO, hoping against hope that he can land on 2 tokens so he can FREE turn to click 11, his “Banner” click that’s a once per game get outta jail free maneuver. The click had Stealth, Outwit and Perplex and also was a semi-difficult KO. But he was then nearly 2/3 of your team doing virtually nothing. And E) subsequent attacks on him tended to land him on 16 DV clicks that were easily pierced to score him soon after. Keywords: Avengers, Brute, Scientist.

NOW: In addition to adding Defenders, Illuminati and Monster keywords, this legacy addresses each of the above issues. A) His new cost is a much more palatable 100 to match his still-barely-adequate 10 AV which is nevertheless B) much more effective thanks to new SP Charge+Flurry+Plasticity compared with his old light-damage Quake. C) He still doesn’t ramp up so well, but he’s less likely to skip his good end-dial now that his trait is reworked to go straight to click 11 instead of KO. D) That Stealth Banner click adds Prob Control and SAFEGAURD: Outwit to the mix. Finally, E) hitting him here lands him on click 4 — no more goofy calculations — one with a 17 DV instead of 16, and with his Charge+Flurry SP so he can readily start smashing again. Defenders TA alongside his original Avengers symbol rounds out the upgrades, giving him a chance to share a higher defense in either state.

F.U.N.? This is a prime example of a great legacy treatment to repair an old dial that was never allowed to shine. Smashingly F.U.N.

AM I GETTING THIS? As one of the few who kinda liked the original version, yes, I’m excited to get this card. I also collect Hulks when I can, though I don’t chase this theme down the way I do many others.

———

L040 Captain America
(Captain America, 2011)

ca040

THEN: One of the best sculpts ever, peanut Cap here was otherwise a slightly unwieldy piece. An 83-point Charge fig, he also had, via trait, Running Shot, two targets (but dealt 3 damage to both) and Energy Shield/Deflection while holding his detachable Shield. But after doing that range attack, he had to go PICK IT UP (with traited Super Strength that he could ONLY use to hold the Shield) from next to one of the targets. I guess this rookie Steve Rogers hadn’t yet figured how to rebound the shield back to him; his keywords reflect WWII-era Cap (All-Winners Squad, Avengers, Howling Commandos, Invaders, Past, Soldier).

NOW: His rewritten first trait just gives him the Shield token to +1 all his stats until he FREE places it in a square in 4 range and LOF. Then his rewritten second trait allows him to close attack from that square for some possible around-corner shots with traited Flurry and Giant Reach:2. He gets his Shield token back automatically at the beginning of the next turn. With his cost cut to 50, of course he’s got some losses: his old Running Shot and range attacks, his old ESD, his old All-Winners Squad keyword. (He gets Defenders instead, to FINALLY match up with his original Defenders team symbol — which is joined by Avengers TA too.)

F.U.N.? Sure as Cap salutes the flag. This is a good pick for a legacy, as the original fig, if played with today’s ruleset, would barely function.

AM I GETTING THIS? Maybe eventually —especially since I have a pair of the originals — but I don’t need it.

———

L042 Iron Doom
(Invincible Iron Man, 2013)

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THEN: For 200 points, he kept any other cheaper fig on the map from using Leadership or Mastermind; meanwhile, he got use of both, along with Super Senses. His other SP granted Perplex and Outwit, the latter of which he had a 50% shot of using without needing range or LOF. Beyond those, he was an OK Running Shot piece to start, with Impervious/Invulnerability down the line. A wildcard, he really depended on fellows to truly work. Keywords: Armor, Mystical, Ruler, Scientist, Weapon X.

NOW: 75 points cheaper, he gets a new trait that lessens enemy healing in his range. His old Mastermind SP drops the Senses and Leadership while adding Invincible and Shape Change for a greater focus on defense — especially with it being Pulse Wave- and Outwit-proof. His other SP allows his Perplex and Outwit to last until the power’s gone or he uses it again. He loses the Mystical keyword but picks up Exiles, and Minions of Doom is no longer a wildcard TA.

F.U.N.? This old Super Rare was paradoxically a little too top-heavy to really work but also too strong with his global effect. Now he feels like a proper piece.

AM I GETTING THIS? No. It’s one of the rare instances that I’ve never owned the piece. There was a time when I had to have each new variation of Stark Industries armor (do a search on this site of “Iron Campaign” to see how far back that goes!) but that impulse was broken about a year before this set was released.

———

L043 Iron Man and War Machine
(Invincible Iron Man, 2013)

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THEN: This iconic duo started with Running Shot and had Duo Attack, naturally, but what made them special was their “Reactor Full-Power” trait that allowed them to take an action as FREE when they had two tokens (but not two turns in a row). Mid-dial, they gained a SP granting FREE Duo Attack after a MOVE. 9 range and 3 bolts with Improved Targeting: Hindering rounded out this surprisingly simple dial for 265 points. No TA and minimal keywords: Armor, Avengers, Stark Industries.

NOW: They weigh only 180 points, adding the improved Avengers TA and new keywords Celebrity, Illuminati, Scientist and Soldier. They also lose their old built-in Duo Attack and their old Reactor trait is now 3-6 Willpower that heals them. The SP is now Hypersonic Speed with a FREE attack after. They get a brand-new trait: unOutwittable ESD. Finally, in place of an old, complex mechanic Duos had called Split, this pair — and other legacy duos — get the ability to be “replaced” upon KO by an Iron Man and a War Machine of a combined 180 points or less, healed to their respective last three clicks. 

F.U.N.? Not the first pairing of Tony Stark and James Rhodes, it was the last as WizKids backed off from doing Duo figs in the years since. It’s nice to see them return to the field.

AM I GETTING THIS? I 100% am. It’s a new version of Rhodes and the “Black Box” is one theme I WILL still prioritize completing.

———

L049 Thor Odinson
(The Mighty Thor, 2017)

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THEN: I‘ll just let Sceritz from 2017 do the talking:

I am hardly upset about this dial being a hefty 175 points for the potential that it brings to the table. It feels almost wrong at this point not to play an him on an Asgardian theme because what he brings to the potential is just that staggering. His dial starts with a 19 Invincible, worthy of a god of thunder and when you think he’s finally down and out, his dial ends with another 19! You aren’t going to be safe with a few good hits. If you’re going after him, you need to go hard.

At the same time, I think his dial is fair. It isn’t exactly easy to build around 175 points in most formats, and you’ll have to make sure you back him up with some pretty decent support. So it’s likely he will be your main attacker. Either that, or you’re going to forgo some of your other utility for the sake of raw aggression with the use of his “Bring the Lightning” for extra attacks or “Restore the Lost Asgardians” to bring in others Asgardians to attack for you.

But here’s the other deal… if you choose to play the long game, as Odinson’s deep dial is surely capable of, then you may have a chance to trade in 8 Plot Points for “God of Thunder,” which forces opponents to gain two action tokens whenever they would receive action tokens, severely hindering their game. If you can land this with enough time left on the clock, you just might have that match in the bag.

With the ability to deal massive damage, bring other Asgardians into the fray and a dial that make opponents think twice about attacking, I think this is the Thor I was waiting for.

NOW: No longer a Title Character with those complicated Plot Points, he’s barely discounted to 160 points and just gets a pair of new traits. But it’s easy to see why he’s almost the same price: The first trait lets him FREE Pulse Wave from a square he just RANGE Destroyed and his other trait tokens all enemies in his 7 range when he clears HIS tokens — no attack roll or even LOF needed. He gains the Deity keyword along with his old Asgardian, Avengers and Warrior ones, and he’s got Avengers TA, too, instead of being teamless.

F.U.N.? Another reason for legacy figs, it seems, is to reimagine some without the cumbersome mechanics — in this case Title Character — that they were created with, making for a much more streamlined — and F.U.N. — play experience.

AM I GETTING THIS? Thor is one of those characters I absolutely do NOT need each version of. I have the figure, so I’ll be pleased if I pull the card, but I won’t chase the legacy down until I have others first.

———

L056 Squirrel Girl
(Captain America, 2011)

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THEN: Squirrel Girl was a game changer, being one of the first bystander generators for All-you-can-beat Tie-up/Mastermind fodder. Cheap tie-up pieces have always been a gameplay staple, and she was a never-ending supply of such with her ability to repeatedly spawn Monkey Joes to lock down enemies. She also served as good tie-up in her own right, with Reflexes and, with M.Joe attached, Super Senses.

NOW: Such pog farms aren’t as special, so she drops from 59 points to 35. Instead of the Leap/Climbing Monkey Joe, she generates his Hypersonic and Precision Striking successor, Tippy Toe — this time as FREE instead of as POWER, and she gets +1 to her stats when T.Toe isn’t on the map.

In fact, what once took two traits to do is now combined into one, so her other trait is brand new: Support and she can heal a patient next to Tippy Toe for nice long-range medic action. Her original Animal and Great Lakes Avengers keywords are joined by A.I.M., Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D. — along with the new-and-improved Avengers TA.

F.U.N.? Taking an old piece that introduced a then-new mechanic and streamlining it is a good choice for legacy-ing. Peak F.U.N.

AM I GETTING THIS? Yes, eventually. I like the Great Lakes Avengers and came around to liking this character as well. She’s low priority, though.

———

L060 Avengers Prime
(Chaos War, 2012)

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THEN: Adapted from an old Heroclixin’ article about Duo figs:

At a staggering 400 points, this duo trio figure was by far one of the priciest clix ever. That bought a LOT of damage potential, much of it through Duo Attack. After an opening salvo with Running Shot thanks to the Iron Man-themed Speed SP (which also had Perplex and RCE), one best used the same power to Perplex the trio’s damage  +1 (possible at the time) to then deal out a possible 11 CLICKS in the followup Duo Attack.

But this dial had a lot of mostly wasted points on myriad abilities that couldn’t be used in combination, sometimes not even through the “Trio Attack” trait, which was a double power action granting any combo of CLOSE or RANGE for 3 single-target attacks. Keywords were Avengers, Armor, Asgardian and Soldier. Avengers TA, of course.

NOW: No longer 400 and 300 points, the trio can actually fit a team at full dial — 300. First SP is now Running Shot and Sidestep, plus a FREE attack — potentially devastating with printed 6 damage. At 180 points, they start on click 4 with the Attack SP: Energy Explosion, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Precision Strike and Quake — powers that either didn’t exist back then or didn’t work together like today. Click 5 reveals the damage SP “Forever Fight As One”: STOP, but only the first time this power is revealed each turn. Avengers Prime can reduce penetrating damage. Finally, they have the same “split into multiple figs” ability as a Iron Man & War Machine above, just with Steve, Tony and Thor.  Keywords expand to include Deity , Past and Stark Industries.

F.U.N.? Normally we hate the idea of chases being remade as legacies. The original pieces are rare enough! But this one is more iconic than most, and more importantly, it never quite worked right as designed. So most of the F.U.N. will be in getting to effectively field this crew on a team at last.

AM I GETTING THIS? No. I never got the fig and I don’t need it, so it’ll be trade bait for me.

———

L086 Nick Fury
(Clobberin’ Time, 2003)

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THEN: The very first of many Furies, he was Unique — the equivalent of Super Rares the pre-card era. Essentially a Stealth Leadership piece who, if targeted and hit, shifted into a mid-dial Running Shooter and Outwit figure, late-dial he’d stay alive with Mastermind. At 62 points, he was probably the most expensive fig on a SHIELD team (though keywords didn’t yet exist — he and other other figs got them retroactively in 2007).

NOW: He slims down to 40 points, which, given his still-putrid combat values, some think is overcosted. But they’re wrong because A) He’s got traited Perplex and Leadership, the former of which is strong with his 6 range (likely longer if he has a SHILED TA teammate adjacent) and the latter keeps enemy teams from adding actions when he rolls it on his first two clicks. B) He’s 7 clicks deep so they CAN’T one-shot him and he stays useful all dial long. And C) if they try to KO him, that’s leaving 260 points of the rest of your team alone. SHIELD TA, of course and keywords are Politician, S.H.I.E.L.D., Soldier and Spy.

F.U.N.? This is a sneaky good redesign that, while not meta, is gonna be better than people think.

AM I GETTING THIS? Yes. I have a small case in my closet called “Box of Fury” full of this character.

———

L096 Loki
(Mutant Mayhem, 2004)

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THEN: Another first, this one of the god of lies. He was a wildcard with a really good 12 AV Psychic Blast but hobbled with Phasing and middling DV (though with Batman TA to copy, he could stay real safe in hindering and cover a lot of area with 8 range and 2 bolts. Probability Control, too, then Outwit, then Perplex.

NOW: He’s cut nearly in half from 160 to just 85 points but gets gains, no losses. First: Mystic TA. Second: IT:Hindering. Third are two traits: one granting Sidestep, Stealth, Shape Change, Super Senses AND +1 whenever he rolls a single d6; the other Mind Control with +1 AV for each token on the target. Fourth: new Cabal and Ruler keywords to go with Asgardian, Deity and Mystical.

F.U.N.? Well, OK, he has ONE loss — he’s no longer a wildcard and is stuck with the relatively less useful and situational Minions of Doom TA. But this is as solid a representation of the Asgardian trickster as exists in Heroclix. F.U.N. times ahead.

AM I GETTING THIS? I collect Loki figures for those Asgard Wars that Heroclixin’ board member Lenny and I have all the time. So of course.

———

L135 Ultron
(Infinity Challenge, 2002)

Ultron 135

THEN: Appearing the very first HeroClix set, Veteran Ultron was fearsome with an opening 14 AV and Energy Explosion. Paired with an Enhancement piece (which once boosted EE damage), he could do massive harm to clustered foes from afar with his 3 bolts and 10 range. No moving attack wasn’t an issue because figs could attack after being carried. Alas, he was saddled an equally massive 188 price point, largely due to the Masters of Evil team ability, which used to add a lot of cost — but with him being a ranged attacker, it did him almost no good. See, the original MOE TA allowed members to make Autonomous close attacks if and ONLY if 2+ members were next to an enemy. And although Ultron’s Invulnerability was the best defense available, it was easily negated by enemy Outwit (also from 10 range) — which became much more dangerous when the rules barred non-free actions after carry. Really, he was outshined in nearly respect by his Experienced counterpart, a wildcard and 49 points cheaper.

NOW: He’s only 38 points cheaper, and the MOE TA is once again no good for a range fighter like himself. But that’s where the downgrades end. UPGRADE 1: He adds Cosmic Energy TA, so Outwit is no longer of any concern. UPGRADE 2: Traited Mastermind that treats any teammate with “Ultron” in the name as adjacent. UPGRADE 3: Same trait lets him use any standard power those other Ultrons can use, such as the moving attack powers he once lacked. UPGRADE 4: Same trait allows him to draw LOF from any of those Ultrons (though his range is 3 when he does that). UPGRADE 5: Trait Leadership that can generate Ultron Drone (Avengers 60 013) in addition to usual effect. UPGRADE 6: A final trait to reduce penetrating damage and heal up to 3 when another Ultron is KO’d.

F.U.N.? From a game balance perspective? Not in the slightest, as he might be immortal. Did WK learn nothing from colossal legacy Apocalypse about the dangers of making long-range Mastermind? From an Ultron fan perspective, this is going to be GREAT fun.

AM I GETTING THIS? Ab-so-LUTE-ly, though it may take a while. I have a complete set of Ultrons. In spite of the fact that they keep making chase-level rarity versions of him, I keep either pulling them or finding them online for WAY cheaper than I ever expected.

———

L208 General Thunderbolt Ross
(Incredible Hulk, 2011)

ih208

THEN: Starting with Leadership and low AV, he had to push to click 2 to be interesting. There he gained this SP “Call in the Air Strike”: Once per game, he could double power action and range attack any square on the map with 11 AV, dealing 3 to the hit target in that square and 2 plus knock back to everyone in the surrounding squares, as well as destroying all the walls and blocking next to/in that square. Thankfully, it didn’t work with Enhancement. But it was an absolute silver bullet against whatever turtling nuisance the rest of your team couldn’t get to. Often worth the 55 points.

After shooting his air strike wad, he could Alter Ego into Red Hulk (Incredible Hulk 210), a 2-click Flurrying, Poisonous, Invulnerable Hulk with SP 4 range. But because it was a power action, this Hulk was tokened and often unable to act enough to be effective.

NOW: With pushing rules gone, his Air Strike SP has become a “when this click is revealed by an opposing attack” meaning Ross can’t just hide in the corner and attack mid-game. This general now has to be on the front line and has to be hit. The good news is it triggers with each revealed click and the timing is like Mystics, so even if he’s one-shot, the power goes off once for each of his clicks with that SP, dealing 1 penetrating to the attacker and its adjacent friends. Enemy better hope they all have Invincible.  His Alter Ego SP is now a FREE that permanently swaps in a Red Hulk pog with Charge, Poison, Impervious and Outwit.

F.U.N.? Kinda like a mega-Mystics piece, but hard to use to full effect, as his clicks 2-3 have Enhancement he might never see. He’s only 45 points this go-’round. F.U.N. enough, maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AM I GETTING THIS? Maybe? I don’t need it, but I have the figure. So why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

———

 As always, we hope all these cards will be readily available. And I hope you’ve enjoyed these reviews!

Longtime friend and Heroclixin’ board member Lenny likes to play massive themed battles with me, and has done so for years.

Those are just the ones I’ve written about in Heroclixin’. There are probably a dozen more undocumented. But this one is about to be: just not as exhaustively as some in the past.

This one is the third of our Avengers/Masters of Evil battles.

 

I’m not listing all the figures. Just gonna let the photo do the typing.

MASTERS v Avengers

We opted for Silver Age to cut down on the sheer size of the pool of figs. But I wanted to play as close to a perfect Highlander corps of Master of Evil as possible (with some multiples of Ultron, because, y’know, Ultron, and a quartet of Vulturions) and that build came to 3,200 points.

For his part, building a similarly sized, similarly Highlander’d Avengers squad was super-easy.

I chose the map Bank Heist from Superior Spider-Man. I had a plan. Several, actually.

 

PLAN A: PLAY NEW FIGS

New to this MoE squad and to any build at all were the starter set Hydro-Man and Shocker. No matter what, I wanted to get them into the action.

Hydro-Man got TKed and Perplexed so he could use his trait to sweep away Lenny’s elevated terrain at earliest opportunity. But he was also the earliest casualty of the match.

As for Shocker? We’ll get to him.

Result: MIXED

 

PLAN B: WRECKER

Wrecker 043b was my prime, replacing Diablo from a previous massive Masters team. Goal was to possibly win on Mission Points with his Wrecking Crew pogs. But I misread the text (I didn’t realize EACH pog could score the points every turn) and didn’t deploy the Crew at the right portion of the field, so they weren’t able to smash many walls before the battlefield got too clogged for them to freely move. Result: FAIL

 

PLAN 3: ULTRON MISSION Infinity

Ultron Infinity can score Mission Points, too. But Lenny cannily put the Infinity tokens on characters who either weren’t going to be accessible, or needed the “get out of damage free” card it offers.

It was ultimately a moot point: The only target of opportunity was Captain America 056, who was protected by Stealth most of the time — and Ultron Infinity’s MP trait doesn’t work with his Energy Explosion (because both EE and this are “instead of normal damage” effects … gotta choose one). Worse, I forgot to keep Ultron in Stealth always (ALWAYS!!!) so he got one-turned right after the Doctor Octopus 046 he was hiding behind did.

That was a really bad round.

Result: robotic FAILURE

 

PLAN 4: OTHER ULTRON MISSION

Ultron 053a sent Ultron Drone pogs to the starting area to score Mission Points that way. The trouble was that the field was again too crowded for the non-flying Drones to reach the back field without dying. I also lacked actions to do so (even with 10 or 11! They go fast in this format) until very late in the game.

Between all three Mission Point sources, I got 10 MPs overall. If I’d played it better, I might’ve gotten as close as 15 to REALLY press the issue.

Result: MIXED

 

PLAN F.U.N.: RECRUIT NEW MASTERS

This was actually my primary goal today, though. I opted to only play one version of Helmut Zemo on the team, leaving off the, ahem, superior Superior Foes of Spider-Man model (who gives all MoE and T-Bolts +1 AV and Sidestep) or the Captain America & the Avengers Zemo (who can give the whole team any copyable Marvel team ability with each Leadership roll) or the OTHER CAAV Zemo (who can give the team the ENEMY’S TAs for a turn).

No, instead I used the WOTR recruiter Zemo, with the aim of recruiting some very specific characters from my Sideline:

  • legacy Black Knight L006 in place of original villain Black Knight 046
  • Atlas 063 to replace Power Man 014

A few more, too, but these were the main ones. That meant I was happy to play Black Knight and Power Man aggressively even if they got KOed. I *wanted* them to be KOed.

Which led to the first great moment of the game.

After the swift exit of HM, I set up for Black Knight to Pulse Wave a good portion of the pieces that had killed HM — including pogs Redwing and Alicia Masters, denying their usual extra effects upon dying. Rolled doubles, too, so most of the dozen enemies went flying with knock back and took more damage from walls.

Lenny said that was his lowlight moment of the game.

Also got Atlas into the match after Power Man took a dive

 

ALAS, THE BEST LAID PLANS…

But none of this really mattered because with Avengers, Lenny had three huge advantages that amounted to the equivalent of CHEAT CODES in a game this size.

CHEAT CODE 1: BLACK WIDOW 017

Invalidating my meager Prob if I rolled too low or he rolled too high, chase Black Widow’s “Patience” trait really scales up in a game this size where she can completely safely hide in the back yet have a super-powerful global effect. Strong in 300 builds, it’s insurmountable in 10x the build.

CHEAT CODE 2: MILES AND MILES OF SENSES ROLLS

Even worse. I lost so many attacks on characters who don’t have Super Senses and me without enough Outwit to spread around. At least half the evade attempts were successful.

CHEAT CODE 3: ANTI-VENOM

He has Support as FREE, which is really really effective with no roll needed to succeed. So even that early Pulse Wave was invalidated on a pair of foes.

In the end, 10+ hours later with a dinner break in there, we wrapped with a score of 1175 to 950 in favor of the Avengers.

But even though the day was generally a losing effort, I had some more successes.

First there was Blackheath, who cheated death not once but TWICE needing a 1 roll to survive. Best showing ever for the piece.

Then there was Shocker. In last turn, I got him to where he could Force Blast and nix Thor’s defenses for the turn and set up the god of thunder to fall in that last turn.

And unlike my sparring partner, I actually moved nearly all my pieces!

MASTERS v Avengers 2

UNLIKE THE COWARDLY AVENGERS

 

HeroClix_SpiderMan-BeyondAmazing_01_logo
Here we are again with another pocket checklist for the latest set:

Screen Shot 2023-03-28 at 9.37.54 PM

(Don’t download this. It’s just a tiny pic of the 10-inch-deep real one)

“But wait,” someone is saying. “Why are you bothering with this, now that WizKids actually made its own checklist again, at last?

SMBAofficialchecklist

It’s a nice little bonus for folks who buy a booster box (as are the hint cards for newer players or those who don’t think of combos)

But mine:

  1. are larger
  2. but still pocket-sized
  3. have space to check off pieces
  4. include point costs
  5. list more figures and elements

So I’m gonna keep doing them, even as I applaud WizKids’ efforts.

Now if we could just get that collation improved and quality control in place…

 

Here’s the link to the full-sized Heroclixin’ checklists:

 

 

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In the Before Times, I’d made a trip to HeroClix Worlds Championship in Memphis. Wrote about it here. But this one was for real, for all four days, with me entering actual events and things!

 

FIRST THING: BATTLE ROYALS

Some players get salty at pulling a nice figure in their draft but not getting to keep it. But man, I love these. It’s getting to PLAY that piece that I like best. And if I play well enough? I *do* get to keep it.

I also like being able to fight for the right to take that best-thing-on-the-board. And Worlds is THEEE BEST venue to do it, because WizKids adds lots to the prize pool.

I walked off with a chase Apocalypse. Totally worth skipping the Silver Age event I’d originally planned to play.

 

SECOND THING: TEAMS

I was there with a couple of other Georgia boys, Matthew and Phillip, me being the third and final member of the team. Here’s how Teams works:

The three of you pay for a brick. Build three 300-point forces from the contents.

Matt used the Cap Britain Rogue prime and Phil and I talked him into adding Monarch. Phillip made a S.W.O.R.D. team. I built this from our remaining X-Men:

Cyclops (X of Swords 021) 35. Recruiter, Leadership.
Dani Moonstar (X of Swords 009) 50. High AV triple Mind Control
Gorgon (X of Swords 014) @35 + Sword Bearer 5. I forget which sword, though. Outwit.
Hope Summers  (X of Swords 052) @100. Main attacker … in theory.
Peeper  (X of Swords 018) 25. For range boost and Empower.
Storm  (X of Swords 001) 45 + Sword Bearer 5. I forget which sword, though. Perplex and FREE Force Blast

= 300 points

with Recruiter trait sideliners Bishop, Cable, Colossus, Cypher, Honey Badger, Iceman, Lockheed and one other I can’t quite recall

We got off to a hot start, going 3-0. But I didn’t win another single game. I’d been so concerned with the Sideline that I didn’t realize Hope was seriously lacking the powers she needed to be the lead attacker instead of a 100-point support fig. (If I did it again, I’d drop Gorgon, Peeper and both sword equips to fit on Cable at full points. Now THAT pair could fight!)

 

THIRD THING: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

So you had to have one character representing each.

Tinker = Scientist keyword. Phastos (Eternals 020).
Tailor = Celebrity keyword. Captain America (Disney Plus 056) @125
Soldier = Soldier keyword. Rikki Barnes (Empyre 072).
Spy = Spy keyword. WOTR chase Black Widow (War of the Realms 057).

Silly me, I actually stuck to just four characters. But the scenario was a requirement, not a limitation, so at 400 points, players were able to fit, say, legacy Thanos onto the TTSS minimums, sooo … I faced that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I still won a match. And none of the 3 rounds was a blowout, though the second saw the most 1’s I have EVER seen in a HeroClix game. Nearly every attack had a 1. A Plasticity character needed FOUR ROLLS (that’s three straight Probs) to get a breakaway. That’s how wild it was.

My Teams captain Matt wound up placing first. While others were cheesing it up with meta team + TTSS stuff, he won out with a much more in-the-spirit force.

 

FOURTH: Worlds!

So this year, Worlds Championship was an open event. No WKO points were required to play; just having them would earn you a bye from the first round.

Somehow, I actually had WKO points! (Probably left over from a top 16 finish from late 2019 or early 2020 … I forget.) But I was here to play, not win, so I skipped the bye.

See, I had a dream.

Because a thing I decided to do early on in this hobby was to build a competitive team composed solely of Black characters. When I started, back in 2005-2006, that was an impossibility. But by 2017, I totally did it. I would’ve taken that force to Worlds. I made my friends playtest their best squads against it.

Well, this time I was —AT— Worlds and this was my shot.

Captain America (Disney Plus ) @125. Hyperspeedy big hitter, Defender, anti-Stealth, plus Outwit pog.
Monica Rambeau (Empyre 041) @ 50. Range sniper and esp. Leadership.
Maggott (House of X 050). Prob Control and Eany/Meany alpha striker.
The Watcher (Disney Plus 101b) 40. TK, Defend and Outwit
Teen Lantern (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035) @ 30. Mega taxi, free mini Barrier, Prob and, with Pumpkin Bombs, an attack role.
Emotional Modifier 10. Vital anti-Thanos tech
Pumpkin Bombs 5. For Teen Lantern.

= 300 POINTS OF BLACK CHARACTERS FOR ALL-BLACK-EVERYTHING SQUAD.

Round 1 I lost to a Thanos + Collector + Molecule Man + something else I can’t recall build in Round 1 on my Void map. I was always going to be at a disadvantage in this matchup, especially since this was before Thanos’ big errata. (He’d already gotten his Mind Gem errata.) But a fielder’s choice move on my part put me on my back foot almost immediately: Wanting to get in better position for attacks, I Sidestepped Maggott away from the squad and didn’t move Cap with him. But I’d overlooked the damage boost Thanos got from Collector and because Mag lost the Toughness from Cap, he was one-shot. That left me without the extra firepower I needed when, later, I easily broke the Barrier that Thanos hid behind and brought him to my team to pounce upon DESPITE his use of Doom’s Time Platform to try to escape Cap.

At least I scored the Time Platform! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Round 2: I faced the following X-men swap force on Otherworld:

Venom Magneto 35
Jubilee (House of X 054) 50
Venom Wolverine 75
Deadpool (X of Swords 048) 40
Cypher (X of Swords 002) 25
Hope Summers (X of Swords 052) 40
Multiple Man (Rise & Fall) x3 10
Lockheed and Jonathan pogs

This was a foreboding match, because that Jubilee has great advantages on that map. But this time, everything went right for me.

  1. My opponent made a minor error, not placing Deadpool in the center of his formation.
  2. That freed me to try being aggressive instead of just waiting for the Jubilee assault or needing to equip the Emotional Modifier (which was really just anti-Thanos tech tbh)
  3.  And here’s how one small change can make a big difference: After a playtest match ahead of Worlds, I got the idea of equipping Teen Lantern with the Pumpkin Bombs, giving her Energy Explosion and the ability to smash walls like Barrier. That latter skill had already paid off in the previous match vs. Thanos; this time it was the EE that showed its worth.
  4. Between all my force landing most of their attacks, I scored KOs of Wolvie, Mags, the pogs and at least a pair of Multiple Men for a decisive victory.

Got my one win in Worlds with this F.U.N. Black team — BUCKET LIST ITEM CHECKED. I dropped and went to do the next thing:

 

FIFTH THING: X of Swords Organized Play Worlds Event

This was an event where all three Months are played in a row.

First pod was F.U.N.! I drafted Captain Britain and managed a 2nd place win to walk away with her.

Second pod was wack; none of us opened a single SR. But I won a Mojo prize.

Third pod slipped away from me. I really wanted that Pestilence SR! But I placed high enough overall on the leaderboard to get the Genesis grand prize I wanted.

 

 

SIXTH THING: Pauper

I’d also wanted to go All Black Everything in this format, but the team was too weak. So I did this instead:

Blade (War of the Realms 013)
T’Challa Star-Lord (Disney Plus 025) @100
Skinny Steve Rogers  (Disney Plus 002)
Storm  (X of Swords 001) 
Summoner (X of Swords 110b) 
The Watcher (Disney Plus 101b)

= 300 points of PAUPER (almost) ALL-BLACK EVERYTHING

Round 1 was vs Dennis, a Mexican player (whose teammate went all the way to winning Worlds!) fielding Jean, Cyclops, Magik, Peepers x2, Roulette, Danger Room Mystique, Cypher and Dazzler. I had the worst luck, rolling snakes on a T’Challa PW and missing a needed Flurry with Blade later — both attacks that would have turned the game well in my favor against a strong opponent.

Round 2 I faced a GOTG theme of THREE Novas and Rocket Raccoon and one other I can’t recall on my Aunt Petunia map. The Novas put me on my heels fast, but Summoner’s ranged Poison turned the tables, scoring me the needed KOs.

Round 3, though, was my first-ever actual match against Phoenix Nest leader, ROC Hall of Famer and longtime long-distance clix pal Edward Shelton! We had a great time and I learned a lot just playing him, even as I dealt him a loss (though he’d decided to play aggro because we were both out of the running to win it all and it was time to have F.U.N. instead of him Barriering up). He surprised me with an easy one-shot of Summoner while I got him with Storm’s directional FREE knock back skills.

Afterward, he convinced me into swapping in a character so I could rebuild my pauper team into an All Black Everything version after all. But that’s a future post.

——

And that there is a summarized version of my Worlds 2022 trip. I had a blast and am definitely considering a return this year in 2023. Regarding that: This spring, WizKids announced it’s not doing its annual rotation of sets from Modern until after Worlds this year! So mayyyybe that means I might try out that All Black Everything team again — this time for a REAL run at a championship.

That would require a LOT MORE practice on my part. *ponders*

Welcome back to a regular feature: looking at how legacy cards might be a F.U.N. way to bring some old pieces back into Modern/Silver play or rework some old figs that never really worked right before (or don’t anymore due to rule changes).

Or, possibly, ruin them.

Here’s the latest batch, from the first Marvel set of 2023 — and the first to rock the new 2023 rules — Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing. We’ll look at what the original figure did, then at what’s new, and wrap with our opinion on it all and whether it’s F.U.N. (Fair, Useful, Nifty) … or nah.

———

L001 SPIDER-MAN
(Secret Invasion, 2008)

It's like a toy found in a "Happy Meal."

THEN: “McSpidey” had the silliest-looking sculpt for the character in history — one that yours truly had to adjust. But he was a pretty decent piece to play, with SP Flurry that, IF he hit both shots, could quasi-Incap the second attack instead of damaging — which was better when Incap could deal pushing damage and was an important way of getting around the Mystics team ability. But lacking Charge or other moving attack, he was really dependent on Telekinesis to get to use this SP. Being a wild card, he needed teammates for best effect, anyway.

NOW: Along with a point shaving from 50 to 40, he gets the Charge the old one needed via trait and part of his old SP is essentially moved into the trait as well — this time, simplified to give a hit target a token. BUT he loses Flurry entirely. His new SP is Super Strength and Precision Strike. And with the changes in the Spider-Man Ally team ability, he’s no longer a wild card. Same keywords as before: Avengers , Fantastic Four , Reporter , Scientist — but adds Spider-Man Family, which didn’t exist in 2008.

F.U.N.? This piece is iconic for all the wrong reasons, but it’s nice to see it return and made playable again, though the loss of Flurry is a blow for sure. Not meta by any stretch, it’s pure F.U.N.

———

L013 STILT-MAN
(Superior Foes of Spider-Man, 2016)

sfsm013

THEN: One of the goofiest villains in Marvel clix, this piece brought some unique tricks to the field and ended up our top F.U.N. fig of 2016. What we said then:

At normal height, he’s a Quake+Force Blast piece that can take one solid hit for the team thanks to his trait that allows him to drop a Leg Extension and take a max of 1 damage (and maybe none). As a giant, he can survive such hits at least twice and gains Giant Reach to make his Quake power much more effective (and also become a taxi). But it’s as a colossal that he can use his Colossal Retaliation SP, making him a deterrent to enemy attacks along with even further Giant Reach range.

NOW: Instead of having to add Extensions in construction at a cost of +5 each to his old 50 price, he gets them free (as tokens) via Rally dice — though he starts with a couple anyway. Each Extension token can absorb a click of damage he would normally take; this even works against penetrating and unavoidable damage! Another trait makes him giant if he has 2 Extensions, colossal with 4, and 6+ boosts all his combat values. His new SP is a new version of his Colossal Retaliation (when he’s colossal) that, like the old version, isn’t barred if another pal retaliates or is placed first. Same keywords (Armor, Sinister Syndicate) and team ability as before.

F.U.N.? That Stilt-Man grows during the game rather than shrinks is a really F.U.N. and character accurate new approach to his design. It also serves to balance him a bit so he isn’t the usual Negative Play Experience retaliation piece and allows him to fit onto teams better. But … WHAT’S HIS ACTUAL POINT COST? Because 49 — a WHOLE SOLITARY POINT below before — seems like a typo. (As of the original 3/19/2023 publication of this article, no errata for Wilbur here was issued.)

———

L039a CLOAK & DAGGER
(Secret Invasion, 2008)

 

si039

 

THEN: The inseparable ebony and ivory couple were one of a number of duo figs from WK, starting with a Phasing+Stealth SP — neither of which worked well with their Transporter ability (Hypersonic Speed-lite and Passenger:1). Later in their 8-click dial, they traded opening Penetrating/Psychic Blast for penetrating Energy Explosion — which also didn’t work with Transporter. And anyway, Transporter was -2 attack, so it was marginally better to hang in hindering and shoot from 6 range and hope their 9 or 8 AV could land while their Energy Shield/Deflection or Super Senses or Willpower could hold defensively.

NOW: They get a lot of boosts. First, they swap Transporter symbol for Wing. Next, they get Improved Targeting: Hindering, which is key for their new trait “Light of Hope to the Innocent, Dark Justice to the Guilty.” It boosts their AV +2 when they attack targets hiding in hindering and boosts their own DV +2 when they’re in clear terrain. Their still-Stealthy speed SP swaps in Hypersonic Speed for the old Phasing, and if they hit a solo enemy in hindering, that enemy can’t be targeted by its allies — not for Perplex, Support, Prob, ANYTHING — for a turn. C+D’s later SP combos EE with Precision Strike, healing them 1 if they KO a foe (but only if the duo’s in clear terrain). Retaining their old wild card status via Team Player TA while keeping the new Spidey TA, they also add the keywordsDark X-Men, X-Men and, for some reason, Sinister Syndicate to their original Marvel Knights and New Warriors ones. All this with a point shaving from 109 points down to just 65.

F.U.N.? OK, I have to mention that this legacy card highlights one of the many flaws with the new card design, as it has THE ENTIRELY WRONG FIGURE in the illustration. But this is an otherwise perfectly F.U.N. pick for a legacy that takes an old classic that never quite worked right and makes it a little more viable.

———

L039b PETER THE HUNTER
(What If, 2017)

 

 

wi039

THEN:  At the start of the game, this weird alternate version of Peter Parker could spawn four semi-autonomous Kraven family bystanders that carried each other and had a range of useful powers. For 90 points, he was interesting to play aggressively, since he could heal to top dial and avoid being KOed if he racked up his own KOs of enemies 50 points or higher. Or, alternately, you could stash him on the Sideline and replace an in-game Spider-Man or Kraven the Hunter.

NOW: Each of his pogs are generated one at a time as FREE, and they don’t get their semi-autonomy or Carry skills. He also drops his SIDELINE ACTIVE trait and his heal-via-KOs trait. All this loss leads to his cost plummeting to 50. His gains? He adds Spider-Man Ally and Sinister Syndicate TAs — where before he had none — and the Syndicate keyword as well to his original Animal, SpideyFam and Warrior keywords. And his new “Please End This” trait allows him to rack up Mission Points every turn equal to his Trophy tokens. But…

F.U.N.? …Oh, the new card design strikes again: Petey here is missing a whole trait that tells how he even GETS Trophy tokens. The designers got so concerned with non-essential stuff like the (too-large) picture and the WHOLLY UNNECESSARY DIAL on the (front of the) card (instead of the back where it belongs), they overlooked ACTUAL VITAL info like this.

(Errata that finally published 3/16/2023 reads: “KILLED MY GREATEST ENEMIES… AND CLOSE FRIENDS: When Peter the Hunter or a Kravinoff bystander KO’s an opposing character, after resolutions turn Peter the Hunter to click #1 and give him a Trophy token. // When Peter the Hunter would be KO’d, you may instead remove a Trophy token and turn him to his last non-KO click. Protected: Pulse Wave.” But it never should have been necessary … and it’s the worst errata this game has ever needed.)

———

L040 SPIDER-MAN
(Ultimates, 2004)

ul042

THEN: Leap/Climb used to be handed out like candy to Spider-Man figs — bad-tasting candy. But at least Backpack Spidey here was inexpensive: just 31 points! Super Senses could protect him while he waited to push and hit with the heavy object he was likely holding. Later, the 15-point Pounce feat made him a more potent threat.

NOW: They gave him the wild card status this Rookie version needed to be as playable as the Veteran from the set. He also gets a trait allowing him to gain one of a themed team’s keywords and join up to not break theme. Finally, he has trait Perplex that, if he targets an enemy, allows him to copy the target’s printed AV and DV until the next turn … soooo mayyyybe he can survive that turn waiting to hit with the object or terrain he’s holding.

F.U.N.? While it’s great that he can cheat onto themed teams with ease, since those themed teams aren’t as important anymore, he doesn’t seem super for being basically the same cost as before. (I wonder why they didn’t pick the 042 Veteran version, which was one of my favorites of 2004’s figures, instead.)

———

L048 FROG-MAN
(Superior Foes of Spider-Man, 2016)

sfsm048

THEN: An old favorite of this site. Here’s what we said about Froggy then:

His trait to deal himself free horizontal or vertical 4-square knock back can lengthen his already impressive 10 Leap/Climb, and careful positioning can enable him to deal free knock back to friend and foe alike. That enemy [shooter] perched on the roof turning the map into his personal killbox? Send Frog-Man next to him with L/C, then knock the sniper to the ground!

NOW: He gets Sidestep that lets him knock back an enemy in a direction of his choice afterward. Also, via the same trait, he and adjacent pals can’t be knocked back. A second trait gives him Force Blast, both normal and as FREE, along with a rider that lets him token up a character who didn’t get knocked the usual full 3 squares. He adds the Armor and Avengers keywords to his original Spider-Man Family and also gets the Spider-Man TA where he once had none. Now costs 30 points, down from 35.

F.U.N.? With knockback becoming dangerous again, this piece is suddenly meta again — and in a much more aggressive way than ever. We object to this on character grounds as well because there’s no way Eugene Patillo should be this good.

———

 

L058 MORLUN
(Superior Foes of Spider-Man, 2016)

 

sfsm058

THEN: Back in 2016, this big boy was a 200-point vampire piece, starting on click 4 of his -click life and Stealing Energy with attacks. But with only Charge to move and attack and no protection against Outwit or penetrating damage, all too often he’d get dropped before he could meaningfully inflict his Slash marker on a hit target — his not-top-dial SP allowing him to pursue Animal or Spider Family notwithstanding.

NOW:  The Slash mechanic is gone and he no longer gets extra healing from Animal or SpiderFam targets. Instead, he has Poison via trait and heals whenever he damages with it, similar to his Steal Energy. And he gives hit foes Imprint tokens, which allow him, via his rewritten SP, to be FREE placed next to that target. Said SP also has Phasing and Plasticity. But it’s still not top-dial and ideally, you’ll never see it. His keywords (Keywords: Animal, Brute, Cosmic, Monster, Mystical) are unchanged.

F.U.N.? It’s definitely a Fair piece, but Useful? Not really, even at his slimmed-down 150 points. With just Charge to start and no defense against Outwit or penetrating damage across most of his dial, he still might not ever work.

———

L087 CARNAGE
(Ultimates, 2004)

ul087

 

THEN: The very first iteration of Carnage was also the worst ever. At a fairly weighty 87 points, he lacked moving attack powers and depended on Leap/Climb to get in position — or the help of a Telekinesis ally (or the Pounce feat, a set later). At least he had BCF for solid damage potential, and his Toughness to take a light hit. (Back then, Perplex didn’t work on your own defense.) Later Incap did nothing but probably bloat his cost some 20 points, I reckon. No team ability, either.

NOW: Kletus here gets Spider-Man TA, to start. Trait #1, “Now It’s a Party!” gives him +1 AV and DV for each adjacent foe and he can attack them ALL at once — with separate Blades rolls if he’s using that power. His other trait gives Steal Energy that heals off each hurt character instead just a blanket 1 healing.

F.U.N.? That Incap in the middle still does him no favors, but at 50 points, he’s pretty OK to field on your Monster and Symbiote teams (though he loses his old Brute and Martial Artist keywords — neither of which quite fit him, IMO).

———

L088 SPIDER-MAN
(Clobbering’ Time, 2003)

 

ct088

THEN: Uniques like this were the early game’s version of Super Rare figures. But they weren’t always very good. Even at the time, this six-armed Spider-Man was terrible: No moving attack, just Leap/Climb. Single-target Incap. A poor 4 range. Weak 16 or lower DV … without even Super Senses to help on the back half of his 8-click life. Flurry shows up there but his AV sinks to 8 and below, not even good for the lower stats of the day. Two clicks of Outwit wrap things up, but 6 AV and 12 DV — and lacking even the usual wild card TA to help him — make it nothing but a signal that his 67 points are ripe to take.

NOW: He gets a trait or two to make him playable at last. First is “Becoming More of a Monster,” which gives Steal Energy and allows him to roll FOUR dice instead of 2 in attacks, and use the best two for the result — AFTER Prob Controls and dice replacements.  Then he’s got “Don’t Look at Me!,” a Shape Change that allows him to place in an adjacent square after resolutions. Tops it all off with Improved Movement: Elevated and addition of the Spider-Man Ally TA to give him an extra layer of rollout potential.

F.U.N.? He’s still not good, but at just 40 points, he can afford to be just OK. Writing this convinced me to seek this old figure out — and add it to Monster and Spider-Man Family keyword teams.

———

L096 SPIDER-MAN
(Fantastic Forces, 2005)

ff096

THEN: Another Unique from the early game, this first iteration of Miguel O’Hara was not great: No moving attack, just Leap/Climb that wasn’t even good with the Pounce feat because he had Blades/Claws/Fangs, which wasn’t compatible.  A poor 4 range with Incap later, and without Super Senses to help on the back half of his 8-click life. Two clicks of Outwit wrap things up, but 7 AV and 14 DV make it a signal that his 92 points are ripe to take. But at least this time he had the usual wild card TA to maybe help him Outwit from 10 squares away — and the Willpower to help him run to cover.

NOW: No longer a wild card, this 65-point redo has a couple of new traits. First is one that gives him Vision tokens when he’s damaged by an enemy. He can spend them all the first time he faces KO and heal the amount. His other trait is Prob Control that he can use as many additional times as he has Vision tokens — and immediately boosts all his stats until his next turn, helping his poor old combat values. Keeps his old Exiles, Future and Scientist keywords and adds Spider-Man Family.

F.U.N.? This is a not-bad update. It’s a pure F.U.N. card for a deserving top-tier sculpt.

———

LG004 CARNAGE
(The Mighty Thor, 2017)

tmtG004

THEN: One of the set’s many colossal booster pulls, this retaliation piece became an absolute meta game staple. Forget his higher costs of 300 or 200 or 100* points: For just 10, he could FREE ‘port across the board via Colossal Retaliation and attack  opponents, then spawn a Symbiote pog just as annoying as he was for free, without condition. It was gross and made sightings of this huge piece in multiples commonplace at competitive events.

* (Well, OK, his 100+ point levels were also kinda playable because, unlike nearly every other retaliator, he also had Colossal Retaliation on his top dials instead of just the end. Again, gross. AND with “Planet of the Symbiotes” he could pay a few points extra in construction to START with the pog(s). SUPER gross.)

NOW:  “Planet of the Symbiotes” now nerfs enemy Super Senses -1 — even after he’s KO’d, if he’s 225, 125 or 75 points. But he still does it even at 10 points. Speaking of that price point — because it’s THE price point — his retaliation SP now gives Blades/Claws/Fangs — which he HAS to use during his retal maneuver now. But if he hits with it, he can HEAL HALF THE BCF ROLL PAST HIS START LINE. And his other SP, “Colossal Indifference,” is still a STOP click — but no longer prevents him from normal attacking smaller foes. He gains the new Symbiote keyword along with his old Monster and Maximum Carnage keywords.

F.U.N.? The one nod to possible balance is that he no longer generates a Symbiote during Colossal Retaliation. He’s good enough by himself. But Clixed Off podcaster Daniel Powell assured me that this new version is even better than the old, which is why the card and figure was commanding such high prices during prerelease. This Carnage is NOT F.U.N. He’s gonna be a problem.

———

Sigh. Legacy cards are always such a mixed bag.

rock-lee-gifs

Back in 2021’s rules overhaul — less than two years ago! — we looked at each power and how each lost or won something. And we found that the streamlining back then felt like weights coming off.

Although this year’s version isn’t quite as massive, it’s still significant and no power will be unaffected. So let’s take a deeper look at each change.

kitty pryde

SPEED POWERS

FLURRY:

BUFFED in 2021, it neither gains nor loses much now other than possible interaction with Quake.

Still F.U.N.? Yes — and possibly more relevant in a more melee-focused game.

————————————

LEAP/CLIMB:

NERFED in 2021 and still bad today. In fact, with the new elevation movement rules, it loses EVEN MORE of what little makes the power special.

Still F.U.N.? Nope. L/C continues to be one of the more unexciting PAC powers in existence, and really needs our F.U.N. Fix for it: “If this character attacks or is attacked, after resolutions you may place it in an adjacent square.”

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PHASING/TELEPORT:

It retains its minor boost from two years ago, where just having the power means easier breakaway from Plasticity, even if you’re not activating it.

Still F.U.N.? Yes. Phasing remains perfect — and with more cramped maps, it might be more important that ever.

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EARTHBOUND/NEUTRALIZED: No change.

Still F.U.N.? No,, it still needs our F.U.N. Fix — “Deal this character 1 unavoidable damage when it gets a 2nd action token” — but it remains what it it’s supposed to be: weakness.

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CHARGE:

BUFFED in 2021 by new combos and multi-targets but NERFED by loss of knockback immunity, it should get a lot better with smaller maps, elevation rules and new interactions with Super Strength. New Telekinesis ranges might hamper it, though.

Still F.U.N.?  It’s legit my favorite of the move and attack powers.

————————————

MIND CONTROL:

In 2021 it was BUFFED by minimum range increase from 4 to 6, but that’s been completely reversed. The controlled character also loses Quake as a potential power to use.

Still F.U.N.?  Every time I use this power and any of the 3+ rolls fail, I say “THIS IS WHY I HATE MIND CONTROL” but the power is actually OK as is.

————————————

PLASTICITY:

It got a needed NERF in 2021, but a surprising, hidden boost against giants, who still need a 6 to break away from it instead of the normal 3-6 roll.

Still F.U.N.?  Plasticity is just about where it should be.

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FORCE BLAST:

It got a big BUFF in 2021 by getting a new minimum range of 6 instead of adjacency; now it’s NERFED to just 4. But it gets a HUGE boost with the return of knockback damage.

Still F.U.N.?  I’m looking forward to using Force Blast more than ever. It’s still situational, but with knockback damage returning and few figs immune to knockback now, on smaller maps, this power is finally worth using.

————————————

SIDESTEP:

New elevation rules make for a massive mobility BUFF in 2023.

Still F.U.N.? Still possibly the best standard power in game. But it loses some F.U.N. factor for us because while scaling a building wall as FREE (thanks to new movement rules) is semi-apropos for a superhero, it maybe ought not to be with a mere celeb like Mary Jane Watson. But there have been weirder things in HeroClix over the past 20 years… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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HYPERSONIC SPEED:

Though BUFFED in 2021 by a host of new power combos, it loses one of them — Quake — and it likes the extra reach granted by TK more than most powers.

Still F.U.N.? Yes, still one of the best. Just a little worse now.

————————————

STEALTH:

It got NERFED in 2021 by green terrain changes and non-effect vs. adjacent foes. It’s also harder to use with heavy object terrain no longer hindering line of fire.

Still F.U.N.? Yeah, it’s OK. About in line with how it should be.

————————————

RUNNING SHOT:

Mildly BUFFED in 2021 and tweaked to grant a basic attack option a while later, it gets some new interactions with Super Strength, of all things. It loses a bit with TK being reined in, but smaller maps mean it’s got better reach than ever.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Still one of the best powers.

 

Wolverine_Jackman

ATTACK POWERS

 

BLADES/CLAWS/FANGS:

It retains all the BUFFs it got in 2021. Also of course combos with Charge, which gains some prominence.

Still F.U.N.? Yup

————————————

ENERGY EXPLOSION:

In 2021, its new combos with Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Precision Strike made us nervous. In practice, the combos came up so infrequently that we think our worries were overblown.

Still F.U.N.? Sure

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PULSE WAVE:

Heavily NERFED in 2021 to only deal 1 damage ever, this year it gets a further streamlining: 4 range. Overall, this is a hefty boost to the power: low range PW gets more reach and Perplex, when used with care, can still modify it. Meanwhile, certain characters with SP “Pulse Wave with a range of X” can now use it at that full range, no more halving required!

We should also mention the unexpected BUFF PW got in ’21 that it keeps today: Any power cut off by being in range of the power — not hit, not targeted/targetable, just in range — has its duration ended. So a Pulse Waver can nullify a ton of Outwits just by using it.

Still F.U.N.? Heroclixin’ was split before, but I’m sold on the power as it is now. It would be nice to add our F.U.N. Fix to make it do 2 damage always, but it’s a low priority change — and might be too much, honestly.

————————————

QUAKE:

Last time, it was BUFFED by tons of new combos while it was NERFED by loss of knockback damage. Today, it gets a big BUFF by being a new way to wreck terrain —especially walls — and by the return of knock back damage. It loses a step as it returns to being a dedicated CLOSE action, so it no longer activates with any close attack, like those granted by Hypersonic Speed.

F.U.N. or nah? On balance, this is a big upgrade and looks more F.U.N. than ever.

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SUPER STRENGTH:

The victim of near-constant NERFING across the years since 2017, this power gets massively BUFFED this year.

  • Its KNOCKBACK matters much more with KB damage.
  • New terrain rules give it many more weapons at hand, and with much greater damage potential.
  • It is also a solid utility power with Telekinesis taking a step back.
  • It’s a needed hard counter to Barrier.

F.U.N. or nah? The worst standard attack power in HeroClix finally is looking good again.

————————————

INCAPACITATE:

It was heavily NERFED in 2021, and despite working in more combos…

…Nah. Just nah

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PENETRATING/PSYCHIC BLAST:

BUFFED in 2021. No change.

Still F.U.N.? Still good.

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SMOKE CLOUD:

It was NERFED by the hindering movement removal in 2021. Now it loses the BUFF it got then with the general return to 4 minimum range.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Still situational unless it’s a FREE version. Hard power to balance.

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PRECISION STRIKE:

BUFFED by loss of single target restriction in 2021

Still F.U.N. or nah? An important power to keep around, with Super Senses’ growing prominence.

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POISON: No change in 2021. Still F.U.N. in 2023.

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STEAL ENERGY:

No change in 2021, but it takes a mild hit in 2023 with the new rule on resolving simultaneous actions/effects. Before, the active player decided all the orders of those effects. But now the active player has to resolve theirs first. Specifically, now they can’t choose to take the Mystics damage first and then heal with Steal Energy, because as the active player they HAVE to use their effect (Steal Energy) before the other player resolves their effect (Mystics).

Still F.U.N. or nah? This loss of a workaround vs. Mystics is a mild disappointment.

————————————

TELEKINESIS:

NERFED in 2021, losing its attack options. This time, it gets some of its might back, with the return of RANGE attacks using terrain! But its reach is sharply curtailed, down to just 4, making it less useful for deployment. Also, with the single-row start zones, TK lanes are a little more difficult to easily get. BUT! The old “No TK after being TK’d” restriction is gone, so that could make up for the shorter reach.

Still F.U.N. or nah? I got my Darth Vader TK back.

 

WWdodgeSuperSenses

DEFENSE POWERS

SUPER SENSES:

It got NERFED by Precision Strike being usable with multiple targets again in 2021. This time it gets a mild boost, thanks to the new order of actions making it usable with Mastermind: Before, the active player — the attacker — got to force you, the defender, to choose either Senses or Mastermind if your fig had both. Now you can try your d6 roll before dumping the attack on a teammate.

Still F.U.N.? As ever!

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TOUGHNESS:

NERFED two years ago, today it’s unchanged.

Still F.U.N. or nah? This armor power regains relevance as a defense against knockback harm.

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DEFEND:

No change then or now — though we maybe should’ve noted in 2021 that increased frequency of knockback made it a little less reliable.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Knockback damage is a real potential counter to this power, though not a hard counter.

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COMBAT REFLEXES:

It was NERFED by loss of knockback immunity in 2021. With the return of knockback damage, that’s a further ding to the power.

Still F.U.N. or nah?  I was glad the immunity was gone then and I feel OK about it now even though the power’s a little worse for it.

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ENERGY SHIELD/DEFLECTION:

No change. But knockback damage makes it less reliable as a defense at range.

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BARRIER:

It got BUFFED in 2021 — maybe too much. This year, it’s mega-NERFED now that the minimum range is reeled back to 4 and it can be wrecked by Quake, Super Strength and Telekinesis.

Still F.U.N. or nah? In ’21, we thought Barrier would need a hard counter of some sort. This is a F.U.N. one that will make the power much less game-stopping.

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MASTERMIND:

No change in 2021, but now it gets new interaction if you also have Super Senses, thanks to the order of resolutions.

Still F.U.N.? MM might need a hard counter again, eventually — other than Energy Explosion or Outwit or Pulse Wave. Actually, maybe that’s enough ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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WILLPOWER:

BUFFEDin ’21, it holds fast.

Still F.U.N.? Yes! Might be my fave of all the power upgrades from then.

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INVINCIBLE:

It got NERFED by the loss of the 3 damage cap and then benched. It’s back now.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Yep.

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IMPERVIOUS:

NERFED since 2021 because penetrating damage got so common that it might as well not exist.

Still F.U.N. or nah? With Invincible unbenched, this power can be great again.

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REGENERATION:

BUFFED in 2021. No change today.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Yes!

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INVULNERABILITY:See Impervious

F.U.N. or nah? See Impervious

 

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DAMAGE POWERS

 

RANGED COMBAT EXPERT:

BUFFED in 2021; unchanged today

Still F.U.N.

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BATTLE FURY:

BUFFED in 2021 by new immunity to anything similar to Incap, it now gets a massive upgrade by being able to make RANGE Terrain actions.

Still F.U.N.? For a power that classically was supposed to be a drawback, it’s gotten some wonderfully thematic boosts across the years.

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SUPPORT:

It got no change two years ago, but this year it’s COMPLETELY different, working on a single d6 roll like Regen. Gone is the quasi-attack roll (with its possibility of failure) and the requirements to not be adjacent to enemies. While all that represents a massive BUFF to the power, it’s NERFED in that the old minimum 2 healing is gone and the maximum is now capped at 3 instead of a possible 4

Still F.U.N.? Heck, more F.U.N. than ever.

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EXPLOIT WEAKNESS:

In ’21, it was BUFFED by new combos with HSS and Quake and more. It retains them.

Still F.U.N. or nah?  It gains even more prominence with Charge getting more opportunities.

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ENHANCEMENT:

BUFFED in 2021 by change to Perplex and combos with Range Destroy actions.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Yep.

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PROBABILITY CONTROL:

It got no change in ’21, but today it’s NERFED by the minimum 4 range down from 6, making it riskier to use against enemies. But it gets an effective BUFF with the end of theme teams — it’s becoming a must-add to your team now.

Still F.U.N.? On balance, probably yes.

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SHAPE CHANGE:

No change to the power itself either last time or now. But it takes a hit with Battle Fury able to ignore it from range now via terrain actions.

Still F.U.N.? Yes. It’s a very effective attack and damage deterrent.

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CLOSE COMBAT EXPERT:

It got majorly BUFFED in 2021 and stays good.

Still F.U.N.? Indeed.

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EMPOWER:

BUFFED by change to Perplex and combos with Close Destroy actions in 2021.

Still F.U.N.? For sure.

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PERPLEX:

NERFED in 2021, now it’s further weakened by the minimum range rule.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Having to be much closer to the action could make life dangerous for Perplexers going forward. It remains my favorite support-style power, though … for now.

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OUTWIT:

Two years ago, it got BUFFED by the change in Stealth to be targetable by adjacent characters. Now it’s NERFED by the minimum 4 range.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Back in 2013, when Outwit, Prob. Control and Perplex got their former 10-square reach slashed to just 6, Outwit suffered the most. That’s about to repeat. It’s still a great power, but it’s SO much more dangerous to use unless you have good natural range.

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LEADERSHIP:

No change then or now.

Still F.U.N. or nah? Due to the slimmed-down starting areas, teams will need the extra actions to position.

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And some other PAC stuff:

INHERENT ABILITIES

 

CARRY: 

BUFFED in 2021. No real change today.

Still F.U.N. or nah?  Mega-Carry figs (3 or more passengers) get a little stymied by the slimmer start areas. Otherwise still OK.

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OBJECT ACTIONS:

NERFED by loss of heavy damage in ’21, they’re rebranded as Terrain Actions and are much more powerful — and complicated. (They’re also nerfed by loss of default 6 range down to 4.)

F.U.N. or nah? TBH, it’s adding way too much complexity in a game they’re otherwise streamlining. We’re also concerned about the availability of terrain objects to include on the force. Will they be in boosters? Or only in $70+ starter sets? Prizes? Unknown. But the renewed relevance of Super Strength might make it worth it all.

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DESTROY ACTIONS:

NERFED because some terrain will require higher than 3 damage to wreck.

F.U.N. or nah? There’s that complexity again. We’ll see if it’s too much or just right.

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IMPROVED MOVEMENT: ELEVATED:

Not really a nerf to figs that can already use it, but a big boost to normal boot speed characters as a whole.

F.U.N. or nah? It’s kinda dumb on one level (hey … PUN!) that the likes of J. Jonah Jameson can suddenly scale walls. But … this is a SUPERHERO game and one less impediment to play is one less impediment to play.

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IMPROVED MOVEMENT: DESTROY BLOCKING:

BUFFED this year to function like you probably thought it should. Until now, the Rule of Occupancy kept characters with this IM from stopping in the blocking they were destroying..

F.U.N. or nah? I liked that there was one defense against IM:Destroy, but it was a bigger pain to explain why.

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SWIM:

In 2021, it was BUFFED to make them invisible to range beyond 4 squares when in water. Now, with so many minimum ranges shrinking, this may not be much of a boon after all.

F.U.N. or nah? Jury’s still out.

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TEAM ABILITIES

BUFFED

SPIDER-MAN: No longer a basic wild card team ability, so these characters aren’t dependent on teammates to use it.

S.H.I.E.L.D.: Though the TA gets no actual change, shorter maps and ranges in general will make its worth rise.

MYSTICS: The changed order of effects means sometimes Mystics will work better. But…

 

NERFED

MYSTICS: …sometimes, the changed order of effects means Mystics might work a little less effectively.

SPIDER-MAN: No longer a wild card team ability, so these characters lose their versatility.

SUPERMAN ENEMY: Because Outwit is worse, this is worse if you have less than 5 range.

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OTHER ABILITIES

THEMED TEAMS: They got a bunch of buffs in 2021. But now virtually ALL those boosts are gone: only a static +3 to map roll if you have a themed team. Moreover, winning the initiative no longer gains you map choice and going first.

F.U.N. or nah? We think they went way too far with this change. Themed Team Probability Control was popular and, IMO at least, finally somewhat in proper balance and streamlined. (I still recall a loss from the early days — we’re talking before this blog’s 2009 launch! — where a single, game-wrecking attack got theme probbed like 5 times into a hit.) And while the old map bonus roll was overcomplicated, it just needed to follow a version of the rule of three: +1 to the roll, up to a max of 3. Simple.

The upside?

Now my “BIG BRIGHT YELLOW BOOTS” themed team is JUST AS VIABLE as any keyword themed team!!!!!!

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