Continuing to countdown the Top Ten most F.U.N. Modern Age Monsters in Heroclixin’s estimation.

#7

Vermin (Web of Spider-Man #036)

At the cheap cost of 43 points, you get a Charging, Super-Sensing, Blades/Claws/Fanging, free-damage-to-folks-in-hindering (thanks to his Rat Army SP on click #2 and on) solid AV 3rd-stringer. He’s a piece that  WoS Nightcrawler players MUST respect. If Vermin had higher defense, he’d be mean. As is, he’s just F.U.N.

Despite his small cost, I don’t really consider him filler. That honor goes to the next on the list:

#6

Moloid (Secret Invasion #002)

At 15 points, these lil’ guys are THE filler pieces to make your Monster team themed. But you really should save at least 30 points on your team to get at least two or more on to use their swarm-friendly SPs to carry each other and get AV bonuses when trying to overwhelm a weakened (or damage-reducerless) enemy.

Of course, the MOST F.U.N. thing to do is to run a bunch of them.

Moloids are pretty mindless, though. Monsters need one who’s considerably more mindFUL:

#5

Zibarro (Superman #104)

54 points buys you the cheapest by far starting Outwit amongst Monsters, and the only one available in Modern Age. Better still: he’s got it with Superman Ally TA to see the Stealthy (look out, Nightcrawler!) and move through hindering terrain unhindered. And being a boot speed character, he can get carried by one of the few Monster fliers around (say, Man-Bat Assassin) to do his Outwitting — and negating the usual Carry penalty with his Special Power.

Later in his dial, he becomes a bit of an offensive threat with Willpower and Exploit Weakness to clean up after the bruisers have worn a target down. He’s not gonna win games by himself at all and isn’t too hard to counter. But he brings a unique set of tools for Monsters to maraud with, and thus makes the list.

On the complete opposite end of the scale from the dwarfish Moloids and normal-sized Zibarro, we see the sometimes-disputed monarch of Planet X…

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#4

Groot (Web of Spider-Man #049)

"I AM GROOT!!!"

Although his printed cost is 152, he’s really 157 thanks to his essential 5-point ATA, Guardians of the Galaxy, which prevents his powers from being countered. This keeps his Super Strength, Shape Change and 18 DV Invulnerability usable against most threats. More importantly, if he does get shot up from range before he can slowly lumber into reach to hit someone with the object he should be holding, chances are he’ll drop the object in his own square and can then heal for free while on the hindering terrain it creates.

Mid-dial, Groot reveals hidden genius via Outwit before hitting his immobile but utterly mighty Colossal clicks. And he gets a shot at healing with Regen on his end-dial.

Groot’s slow speed is his biggest downfall (especially with him being one of the very few Monster taxis — the penalty makes that bit of utility practically useless) and keeps him from placing higher on the list. But as longtime Heroclixin’ readers know, he’s definitely a favorite in these parts.

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Regular readers will note I did four installments instead of the usual two-a-day. That’s because tomorrow, I’m posting another extra-large edition of Token-Totin’ focusing on some of the more freakish sculpts in Heroclix! Then join us Friday for Heroclixin’s top three Modern Age Monsters!

It’s that time of month again (no, not the full moon), when Heroclixin’ counts down the top ten Heroclix whatever. With the Halloweenish theme of October, we’re looking at Monsters! The ground rules are a little different this month, though: where I usually rank them according to strict playability, this time the focus is on F.U.N.

For me, Halloween is about the fun factor, not the fear. (It’s about the only redeeming quality of the holiday, IMO. But that’s a subject for another blog.)

In case you’re new to Heroclixin’, here’s what F.U.N. means:

F = The character is good for Friendly play. It’s probably not going to make most opposing players’ hearts sink with dread to see it across the table from them. That said…

U = Utility. The character isn’t automatic KO fodder, either. Played well and on the right team, this piece can compete with anyone.

N = Above all, this character is Nifty for some reason other than pure game effectiveness or popularity.

So that’s the criteria. And believe me, that made this Top Ten one of the hardest I’ve ever done! In fact, I totally wasn’t able to narrow it down to ten at all. So I refocused the countdown:

Heroclixin’s Top Ten MODERN AGE Monsters

OK, now that I could work with. With no further ado, here’s

#10

Atrocitus (DC75th Anniversary #042)

The stuff I wrote about him in January — his great numbers, his indomitability, and his anti-defenses abilities — all still applies. He’s also still SO expensive; he almost got squeezed out of the running (like his setmate Doomsday (#056) does at even 57 points higher). But for high-point Monster builds, he’s one I’m liable to try to fit on.

That is, until I consider the next freak of the week…

#9

Morlun (Web of Spider-Man #052)

Besides being well-dressed, this vampire-ish beast one-ups Atrocitus by being Impervious and taxiable. Moreover, his Steal Energy trait, Indomitable, and even his late Regeneration conspire to make him a tough KO. He’s still expensive, but 180 beats 202. Can’t forget his SP that helps him chase down the enemy he wounded.

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#8

Ulik (Hammer of Thor #021)

At a comparatively svelte 118 points, Ulik sports excellent AV, high damage numbers and a defensive power that’s Outwit- and Pulse Wave-proof. He can deal out clicks upon clicks of Super Strength and Close Combat Expert beating while only taking a single click of damage from enemy attacks at a time. If only his actual defensive numbers were any good, so enemy attacks would actually miss him from time to time…he’d be higher on the list. Run him with his minion, the 40-point Rock Troll, to help block and/or draw fire.

Regular readers will note I did three installments instead of the usual two-a-day. That’s because tomorrow and Thursday, I’m posting extra-large editions of Token-Totin’ focusing on some of the most monstrous sculpts in Heroclix! The countdown to Halloween is on!