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Welcome again to F.U.N. Friday, where I share team builds that are Friendly yet Useful and, above all, Nifty.

Once I got Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, the Super Rare duo from The Brave And The Bold set, and  The Holiday Killer from same, I was finally able to build a decent Batman Enemy-centric team for a 700-point Modern Age tournament:

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy 175
The Joker (Arkham Asylum) 97
The Penguin (Arkham Asylum) 70
Firefly 68
Harvey Dent (Arkham Asylum) 67
Edward Nigma 60
The Holiday Killer 43
Catwoman (Batman Alpha) 40
Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40
Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40

= 700 points.

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Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy 175

They’re quite pushable, gaining Perplex and Stealth on their 2nd click, so I won’t shy away from using Running Shot to gain a bit of initiative in offense. Harley’s super-Outwit makes me almost hope they get hit.

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The Joker (Arkham Asylum) 97

His 11 AV isn’t quite as vital anymore for Batman Enemy teams now that wild cards can loan the team their attack values again. He’s also pretty fragile, with zero defenses outside of Stealth and a little Probability Control. But his 8 range is key in damage-dealing, and he has some help on this team, namely:

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The Penguin (Arkham Asylum) 70

17 Defend and flying really helps the mostly ground-pounding Batfoes. Heck, to the degree that Penguin takes enemy fire instead of more threatening targets makes him worth every point.

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Firefly 68

The other flyer of the crew and the most mobile attacker, Firefly gains a lot when teamed with better Batman Enemies and an Enhancer or two.

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Harvey Dent (Arkham Asylum) 67

Stealthy Outwitting Willpower with Flurry. Any questions?

Well, there’s also his singular ability, on this team, to not be forced to cluster with the rest to be most effective. Makes him a fine tie-up piece or hidden supporter with equal ability.

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Edward Nigma 60

Most put him on the team for his ability to allow a teammate to act turn after turn, but that power was barely used in my games. No, he was instrumental for his Outwit and especially his Enhancement, which made a threat out of so much else on this team.

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The Holiday Killer 43

Stealthy Outwit to start, a simple push to 11AV to share with other Batfoes and another 8-ranged threat for under 50 points. Even with the short dial, what’s not to like?

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Catwoman (Batman Alpha) 40

Long-lived tie-up piece that’s pushable to much better clicks. Better still, she was ripe for taking theme-PC tokens or Mastermind damage at any time.

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Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40
Not really the best choice to double up, still they’re quite useful on this force. Batman Enemy and E.Nigma’s Enhancement turn them into threats instead of just Mastermind fodder, and their self-Perplex SP offers a third method of improving their combat ability. Still, for half the cost the normal AA Street Thug works nearly as well. In a future run, I’ll just go with a single Henchman and fill out with Thugs.

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"You WILL obey me...!"

I recently got a Watchmen Collector’s Set in a great trade. And because I like to play all my pieces at least once, I decided to use this team of no-good criminals in a 200-point tournament recently:

Moloch the Mystic 79
Knot Top Leader 37
Larry & Mike 33
Knot Top 25
Knot Top 25
= 199 points.

Each character possesses the Underworld team ability, giving each member the Carry ability to ferry fellow members. In addition to that key bit of mobility, my main tactic and attacker is Moloch and his Mind Control. Finally, the Stealthy Knot Tops would be a decent close-ranged threat.

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FIRST ROUND

was vs. Josh’s Red Arrow, Green Arrow (DC 75th Anniversary), and E Green Arrow (Cosmic Justice).

TURNING POINTS

  • He won the initiative roll and chose the Crater map. That gave him a shooting gallery against my mostly low-range team.
  • Having missed my need-to-hit Mind Controls against enemy archers, I opted to make a retreat using the Underworld TA, making sure to move the Knot Top 10 squares away from the Green Arrow with 9 range perched in Stealth.

    But then.

    …I placed the Knot Top’s passenger, Moloch, exactly 9 squares away from Green Arrow…just within my enemy’s range…

    …despite the fact that Moloch has 10 RANGE. Terrible, terrible square miscount. A turn later, Moloch was KOed and so was my chance of an improbable win.

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SECOND ROUND

vs. Charlie’s Iron Widow, Doombot 5359, and Guardsman.

TURNING POINTS

  • Knot Top Leader managed to survive an early hit. He’d heal up with the Vine and return to contribute to the end-game by Underworld-carrying Moloch around.
  • Charlie rolled increasingly badly toward the end-game, giving my last two pieces not only a chance against the stronger Iron Widow but, eventually, a victory.

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THIRD ROUND

vs. Chris’s LE Clint Barton (Ultimates), U Nick Fury (Classics), V Black Widow (Classics).

TURNING POINTS

  • The Graveyard map was key for me, as the special squares kept key piece Moloch hidden even from the Ultimates. That gave Moloch the chance to Mind Control from relative safety.
  • Better still, his being able to MC enemy Ultimates gave my team a way to deal with the Stealth on Chris’s team. Thanks, Chris, for fielding that team. (Little did you know it was actually Moloch’s idea.)

After the first mega User Error’d round, I thought I was in for an 0-3 day. But I actually clawed out a 2-1 record. Good showing for the bad guys.

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I thought I had this feature all set to click and publish, but I forgot all the pictures and I’m away from the home computer.

It’s not a “My Custom Mods” feature without the pictures.

Similarly, I seem to have not uploaded photos for the Token-Totin’ feature, so even that usual Tuesday offering will be missing, too.

Hopefully I can redeem myself with a New Comic Day Battle report tomorrow. Pray for me, y’all. :)

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"Atlanta, Georgia!!! Are you ready to RAWK?!!?"

Wow! It’s been nearly a solid month since my last F.U.N. feature? That shouldn’t happen.

As a refresher, the F.U.N. acronym stands for figures and teams that are:

  • Friendly: Not built to win at all costs, thus squeezing any enjoyment out of the game either for the opponent being crushed or for myself if the team still somehow fails due to terrible dice results.
  • Useful: Not built to lose, either. This team or figure’s got something going for it.
  • Neat: There’s some quality about the team or figure that’s interesting or unique or goofy or whatever.

Anyway, since young guest reviewer Morrison did the Armor keyword this week, I thought I’d sort of tie into the week’s theme with a F.U.N. review of the character Armor from the new Giant-Size X-Men set!
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One of the newest X-Men, young Hisako isn’t going to win games by her 66-point self. With no Charge or range, her fighting ability on the Heroclix field looks pretty limited. And she’s got an activation click holding her back as well; she’s not contributing much at all to the game until at least turn 2.

All this makes her a Friendly piece, I guess. What’s Useful about her, though? Plenty.

  • She has the X-Men TA and keyword. This makes her a natural to team-up with characters whom she can X-heal and thus push to her own better clicks.
  • She’s got 18 Defend on her 2nd click via a Special Power. That’s super-useful for most of her X-pals.
  • She’s got Impervious, too.
  • AND Super Strength. AND Blades/Claws/Fangs. She can actually fight up close.

All this can lead to some Neat combos, including these:

  • She’s a great tagalong for either of the new Wolverine figures, whose 17 DV can benefit from her boost.
  • She’s an excellent “ball” for Mutations and Monsters Colosuss’s “Fastball Special” SP on her first click. The damage will put her on Impervious so she can pretty safely tie up Colossus’ target. (Heck, she’s even good for the original (and horrible) Fastball Special feat. But you should never use that. N-E-V-E-R.)
  • She’s a great bodyguard for the new Professor X, whose 16 DV is a bit fragile.
  • At 66 points, she makes for very solid Mastermind fodder. And again, the 18 Defend is helpful to those characters as well.
  • If you resist pushing her immediately, she’s a good piece to use as an X-Men TA battery for allies who need to push. They get healed and she gets to her best clicks (which, again, is good for the ally, too).
  • Try her on Teen themes as well. I keep wanting to team her up with Legionnaires or Impulse (DC 75th).

Armor can just plain make your team better. But she’s become one of my new favorites because she does all that by not being overbearing, and she’s a neat character with a neat sculpt.

And, I admit, I have a weakness in Heroclix for using young female characters to beat up brawny opponents double or more their point cost.

Have a great weekend of Heroclixin’!

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Finally, Morrison finishes off his look at the Armor keyword with the heaviest of the metalheads:

Tentpoles

Kurse


Class – High point brick

Kurse right here is tie-up piece numero uno. He’s quite pushable, meaning Shellhead is excellent for this guy. With 3 clicks of Regeneration, he will land and will probably stay on Regen for at least 1 turn, so the Automatic Regeneration feat should help you stay on the useful clicks.

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Destroyer

IZ MOVEE STAR! WIF FUZZY BUNNEE SLIPPERZ!

Class – High Point Bruiser & Corner Stone

Destroyer reminds me rather pleasantly of Hammer of Thor Ultron: similar Charge, high attack, long range, and high damage. Not necessarily the most synergistic combination, but still brutally effective from all directions. Pack along some peons to make full use of his Life-Force Possession SP later in his dial.

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AV Iron Man

Class – Corner stone

Personally, I never was able to use him to any real effect, but if played better than I did, he can be quite useful. His dial is similar to, but less effective than HoT Beta-Ray Bill’s. But this guy offers Ultimates TA and eventually Outwit. Use that 10 range and 12 speed to steer clear from reprisals and outwiters. Between flight and Ultimates, make sure always to have hindering between this guy and the enemy; he needs the defense boost.

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SI Iron Man


Class– Corner Stone

A much more effective Iron Man comes with your choice of a combo better than Impervious or Invulnerability, and in both instances you still get Perplex. Every click offers something useful. Stark doesn’t go down swinging unless his friends are packing some attack boosts, so Recharge might help him stay top dial, with Perplex, Outwit, and 11 attack.

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V Steel

Class – high point bruiser

In many ways, Steel is even better than the aforementioned SI Iron Man. He still packs Outwit, his attack never drops to the 8 of his predecessor, his ending defense is 17 rather than 15, and 1 more click of 4 damage (Steel’s damage never drops to a 2 either). Many would complain about his lack of Running Shot, but his speed is decent, and unlike most of the other figures in this review, he is absolutely equally useful in close and range. His dial also reminds me of Destroyer’s. Note that Steel comes at a lower cost than either Iron Man or Destroyer. With his sturdy and consistent dial, this is certainly one figure made to proclaim “Leeerrrooooy Jeeeenkins!” with.

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WoS Iron Man

 

Class – High point corner stone

Iron Man is similar to SI’s Iron Man, except he trades Avengers for the more useful S.H.I.E.L.D. TA. This character is a lot more straightforward to use:

  • fly around
  • shoot
  • get shot at
  • shoot again (for 6 or 5 damage with Ranged Combat Expert)
  • get shot at again
  • clear
  • get shot at
  • get rid of the chump who has come to base him (with free Force Blast)
  • Outwit somebody and shoot

…and repeat these last couple of steps until he gets KO’ed (in virtually every game he will, 202 points is a huge target, and the middle to end dial is soft). But in this time Tony should have made at least 4 attacks, for a total of 15 damage. Indomitable should help to make sure that he can pop off his attacks. The worst aspect of the figure is his sculpt.

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Iron Man / War Machine


Class – High point corner stone

The most expensive figure with the Armor keyword, but Tony and Rhodes sure do deliver: only 2 clicks of defense less than 18, 3 clicks of 4 damage and outwit, starting 12 attack, and attack that never goes below 9 (SI and WoS Iron Man take note). If you can alpha strike on his first click (Tony can bring along his Mandroid friends from S.H.I.E.L.D.), you can deal 16 damage with 1 figure in 1 turn. If the game allows feats, IM/WM demands Power Barrage, which gives them a third attack with each attack after you set up.

(Actually, it doesn’t. The feat doesn’t work with Duo Attack, and because they don’t actually possess the prerequisite powers on their Attack SP — they only use them — Power Barrage is only good for them on their first three and dead-last clicks. — Editor RKJS.)

Running Shot, Indomitable, Outwit, Duo Attack, high attack, and high damage is almost the perfect combo. With any three turns, you should be able to deal at least 11 damage. Then middle dial, Tony and James pump up offensively with duo-compatible Psychic Blast and Ranged Combat Expert, meaning that in 1 turn mid dial, they could deal 9 damage or 5 penetrating damage, or 5 raw and 2 penetrating damage.

(Again, not exactly. You can only pick one of those powers for the attack(s); you don’t get to use RCE for one attack and PB for the 2nd, but RCE for both, one or none. Same for PB [or Incap, but who’s really gonna pick that?] — Editor RKJS)

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That does it for Morrison’s look at the Armor keyword. I’d like to thank him for allowing me to post these here on my site. Here’s hoping he’ll try his hand at this again in the future!

As for Heroclixin’, I may start a little offshoot of my Friday F.U.N. feature that focuses on individual characters over full-blown teams, but I’ll probably take a break and start that next week.

Speaking of next week,  Monday is the beginning of the end: the last few of My Custom Mods. There’s less than 5 left (which is why I’ve been dragging my feet on updates to that feature — I’m running out of material)!

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With peons and backups out of the way, Morrison’s ready to get fitted for the real heavy metal.

Corner Stone Pieces

FCBD Iron Man

Class– Primary/Secondary Attacker

You might point out that he does not have Armor keyword. But dear reader, each of the other figures with the same sculpt have Armor, as do the other Iron Man figures with Scientist, Avengers, S.H.E.I.L.D., which this guy has. [So there! — Editor RKJS]

For a while, this guy, SI Spidey, and Namor were my go-to Avengers team. This guy excels especially in low point games where you might not face Outwit, but will face high-ish damage. That makes his “Invincible” SP stand out. After a couple of shots he’ll go down fast, but with a 10 range, copyable S.H.I.E.L.D. TA, and Running Shot, you should be able to stay decently away from the fighting. That 11 attack can go a long way.

(On the theme of considering his lack of Armor keyword, if several Colossus pieces can have Armor, then this guy and August General in Iron should have the keyword as well.)

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Box


Class – secondary attacker, support

Box isn’t the best by any stretch, but he was an early favorite figure of mine (my usual team back then was Box, Hood, and Rampaging Hulk). He suffers from Alpha Flight syndrome (low attack for the points). But with natural 3 damage, and 18 defense, you only really ever need his opening Perplex to boost his attack or reduce opposing defense. His giant SP can be potentially useful. His consistent damage reducers and innate nanobots SP keep him in the game longer.

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Annihilus


Class– Corner Stone

Psychic Blast, Running Shot, 10 range, and 4 damage for a good figure does make. Mid-dial Regeneration could profoundly help you, especially if he has Automatic Regeneration, but the Running Shot + Pulse Wave combo might be even better if you are positioned correctly.

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AV Spider-Man

Class – secondary Attacker

This Spider-Man is quite possibly one of the best secondary attackers in the game. His first click is certainly formidable, with 11 attack with Super Strength and Outwit. But it’s the second and third clicks that especially stand out. With double targets his “Webbing” SP impedes your opponent tremendously. Shape Change also comes in handy in lieu of the later WOS Spidey’s Super – Duper senses.

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Iron Widow

Class– Corner Stone

This dial has three distinct phases: three first 3 clicks (aggressive attack), middle 2 (Outwitting sniper), and the final 2 (penetrating sniper). 4 clicks of Mastermind may not seem useful, but as good as those clicks are, it is a wise investment to protect these clicks (see the first section). Make full use of her Ultimates TA. For feats, consider Contingency Plan, as late dial stat-boosting will certainly come in handy.

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E & V War Machine

HoT War Machine


Class – Primary Attacker/Cornerstone

Considering the age of 2 of these 3 pieces, all are phenomenal. The experienced Armor Wars version  is a solid investment for slightly more than 1/3 of a conventional build total. EE and 8 double target range makes the Vet the perfect piece to push and heal with Recharge. For 13 pts more, the FCBD War Machine brings three clicks of natural 4 damage, for s total of 5 clicks capable of dealing more than 3 damage. The reason these figures are so affordably priced is that their defensive numbers are somewhat low, but each flouts near dials full of damage reducers. These low point values ensure that Rhodes will have friends to draw fire and support. Truly stellar pieces.

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OK, there’s the mid-range suits of Armor settled with. Thursday, Morrison assesses the top-of-the-line of metallic face-kicking fashion.

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Yesterday, we saw Morrison’s analysis of the cheapest Armor figs, important for filling out build points for this keyword full of pricey pieces. Now he moves on to the next set of suits.

Secondary Attackers

Scorpion


Class – Close Combat

In reality, there are better expenditures of 62 pts, but he does one thing very well: Quake. This makes Scorpion invaluable as a support for your larger, ranged-based (non-Sharpshooter) figures; if your main attacker gets based by some weaker tie-up pieces you can keep this guy near so he can either make one strike to get rid of the offender, or move away a large # of opposing figures from adjacency.

Sinister Syndicate TA can come in handy with wild cards. He’s a little soft to use full-out, but Lunge makes him a bit more maneuverable, and Nanobots gives him a little extra life.

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Mach-3

Mach-4

LE Abner Jenkins


Class– Ranged harassment/secondary attack

While not great by today’s standards, each of these three has its merits.

Mach-3 is decently cheap on his own and really demands one of 2 options: either give him the Recharge and Not So Special feats or, for the same 8-point cost, give him the Thunderbolts ATA. Mach-4 brings better speed, better starting attack, and dual target EE and Incapacitate. Consider playing him with Nanobots and Not So Special; he needs both to be more playable. Finally, ole honest Abe provides a slightly different tool set, namely Leadership for your peons, dual target Incap and Force Blast to deal with pesky interlopers. However, he needs more feats to perform his best: NSS, Nanobots, and the missing ingredient: Stunning Blow, which gives him a lot of additional use of that dual target Incap.

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NGN Spider-Man

Class – Secondary Attacker/support

While a little bit over-priced for what he does, Armored Spiderman (Sinister #217) brings a lot to the table. Outwit is always useful. He can also pull a handy combo to bypass his low damage: begin a Running Shot, pick up a heavy object, and chuck that sucker. People always forget that you can do this, so it catches them by surprise. His wild card ability can be quite advantageous, especially when Petey is on the same team as…

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AA Batman

Class– Secondary Attacker/Taxi

Besides having one of the most epic sculpts in the game (IMHO), Terry is hardly a slouch. Batman Ally is one of the most useful team abilities. Between his (10 base move) Charge, Super Strength, and In Contact With Bruce Wayne SP, he could conceivably, if not frequently, attack against no defensive power, for 4 damage, with a 10 attack, from just as far as his range could ping from. His excellent move and flight ability helps get him and his friends positioned how you want. Truly a great addition to any Armor, Future, Gotham, or Teen team.

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Batman (“AzBats”)

Class– Primary/Secondary Attacker

For 90 points, perma-Stealth demands your opponents base this guy, which means that on every click Az-Bats can break Impervious on every click, or you can use Perplex to help your teammates. Besides, his Gotham City teammates are typically a hearty bunch.

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That’s it for Morrison’s pick of secondary (but not necessarily second-rate) Armor figs. Tomorrow he weighs in on heavier metal. Tune in!

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Hello, Heroclixin’ readers!

I’m sort of bailing on the Top Ten week of articles for March. I have one all ready to go, but really wanted to save it as an evergreen. Conversely, I felt it was way too soon to do a Top Ten of Giant-Size X-Men. Look for that one after Easter.

Fortunately, I have some friends. :) Say hi to Morrison, a skilled young player who, inspired by myself and other Heroclix writer/reviewer, decided to pen an exhaustive review of  the Armor keyword. he wasn’t able to post it on HCRealms like he hoped, so he offered it to me. I gladly accepted. I love to see the young do ambitious things.

Let’s suit up!

Morrison’s Best of Armor Review

Hello HCRealms, this is ThatGuyoverthere. I was inspired by Saturnflight’s series of best of articles, so I thought I would try to do something similar. Between the units section and my personal memories (I got into heroclix around the tail-end of the Avengers expansion). I hope you enjoy my review of a generic keyword.

Support/Lowpoint filler

Stingray


Class: Peon

For 30 pts you get a highly mobile (dolphin speed and leap/climb) figure who gets free movement. Also you get 6 range, a 9 attack, 5 clicks, and two clicks of 18 defense at range. At a trim 29 pts, Stingray brings a lot to the table and is a great for Avengers and Scientist theme teams.

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E & V Beetle


Class: support, tertiary attacker

Beetle is going to be a tough sell, but he does have some benefits. Both pieces are decently mobile with 9 speed running shot. Both have decently useful team abilities for either other characters (the Vet’s Sinister Syndicate) or to push repeatedly (via the Exp’s Masters of Evil) to his primary use: Probability Control. Few Armor characters have probcontrol, and this is certainly the cheapest you’re going to get (the only other figures with Armor and prob are various 150+pts Dr. Dooms and Monarch).

In short, for 60-80 pts, you get a figure that could be used as a first strike then to be relegated to mastermind fodder to get to your prob.

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Guardsman

Class – Mobile blocking terrain/peon

At around 30 pts, 5 clicks, 4 with Toughness, is a pretty deep dial. With 6 range, flight, and decent movement, you can be pretty annoying with this figure by blocking line of fire. Once again, very good mastermind fodder. With S.H.I.E.L.D. TA, keep him near your main attacker to pump range or damage as needed.

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Doombot 3095

Doombot 5953

Sooo generic I almost didn’t add a pic.


Class – Peon and Useful Peon respectively

At 30 pts, wildcard + Willpower = tie-up piece. He is also decent as Mastermind fodder and can shoot if necessary.

At 40 pts however, you get a very good support piece. He has 8 range and Energy Explosion, which can annoy opponents unfamiliar with this unassuming package. Toughness extends the dial some. But the coup de grace is his Enhancement, which makes him a suberp support piece for bigger hitters. If you land on his last click, you should use this bot either as blocking terrain or MM fodder; he can’t really be good for anything else then. Minions of Doom helps your larger investments become more cost effective.

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R Mandroid Armor

Class – support

And finally: Mandroid Armor. While certainly a sufferer of early dial syndrome, he offers two things: S.H.I.E.L.D. TA, which is always useful, and INCREDIBLY cheap TK. With the full REV+LE having only 1 click of TK each, stick with this guy: cheap is what you want here.

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Tomorrow, we’ll see what Morrison has to say about Secondary Attackers in the Armor wars. Check him out!

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All three versions of Ares have Super Strength. All three can hold their object tokens, too.

The newest:

Wedge it like so. You'll have to bend the token a little bit to make it work.

 

Marvel’s Ares, from the AVENGERS set, also holds up:

A bit more tenuous...but he's got it.

 

And, of course, the original Legacy Unique:

I had to Photoshop again, 'cause I've never owned this piece. But it definitely works.

Sorry for the late, late update. I’d hoped to have a new battle report tomorrow, but will be too busy. Stay tuned, though, for March’s Top Ten list…though it too will be a bit late, coming in the first week of April.

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I pulled this 297-point one-woman army in a sealed tournament this weekend. So I just had to play her.

Phoenix (Giant-Size X-Men) 297

= 297 points. My strategy: to simply Hypersonic hit-and-run until nothing’s left. Simple but hard to do when the opponent has at least 3 actions to my 1.

FIRST ROUND I faced Jay’s Skullbuster, Domino, and Caliban on his choice of the Bridge map. This map’s elevated terrain on the ends is my potentially insurmountable advantage; Jay’s two Stealthy characters and just as many with penetrating damage powers are his.

TURNING POINTS

  • I miss my first four attempts to hit Skullbuster, whose Penetrating/Psychic Blast can ruin my day in a hurry. The last miss leaves me completely exposed.
  • Skullbuster doesn’t miss. Without the ability to run to safety and still fight, Phoenix is eventually completely overwhelmed, especially when Regeneration rolls completely fail.

0-1. My mistake was attempting to hit and run on my last miss against Skullbuster, knowing I couldn’t get to safety. I should have moved in for a close-range hit and then remained in base contact to prevent the easy Running Shot Psychic Blast, instead forcing the breakaway attempt.

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SECOND ROUND was against Sammy, a very young player running SR Archangel, Wolverine and Skullbuster on the Tank map. He’s not nearly as good a player yet, and despite an opening-attack critical miss on my part, I cruise to an easy wipeout. 1-1.

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FINAL ROUND was on the School Ruins — my choice — against Paul’s Emma Frost, Stryfe and Beast.

TURNING POINTS

  • I picked this map for thematic reasons and for the walls. But Paul had picked this map in both matches, and knew how to play it perfectly, stationing the Stealthy Stryfe in position to TK Emma from hiding in a corner to wherever she needed to be to best Psychic Blast Phoenix off her game.  Plus, there was absolutely no way I could get to either enemy without being open to a massive counterattack.
  • I set up too close and got hit first, negating my hit & run ability and getting attacked 3 times for every one time I could hit back.
  • And unfortunately, about 75% of my attacks weren’t hits. I did more damage to Beast with Poison and his own pushing than anything.
  • Though I managed to escape a couple of times with Regeneration rolls and her own self-reviving ability, a final terribly-timed critical miss stranded me in the middle of a HSS attack without damage reducers, enabling even the near-dead Emma to take Phoenix out. Unbelievable…and not comic-accurate at all.

Then again, as I quipped in my loss: "Phoenix always dies."

I think it’s a guarantee…tentpole forces lose if they miss more than three times before taking out any opponents. But there was nearly as much user error as poor dice rolling. My biggest mistake in this match was playing my opponent’s game instead of changing the game. I should have HSS-shot out the wall Emma was hiding behind…that would have left me with enough spare movement to get to a defensible position that would still grant attack opportunites.

This has me hot to try her out again, to redeem my losses! PHOENIX WILL RISE AGAIN!!!