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#2

EE

 ENERGY EXPLOSION!

Hard to use, hard to explain, and hard to justify ever using on any click that could shoot out a wall instead, Energy Explosion has long been one of those stepchildren of attack powers. For while it was potentially powerful against multiple hit targets, getting that shot was usually difficult and not worth the trouble if even +1 damage got you to 3 damage or better. And if you had a SP or trait granting you some other ranged combat action power, like Penetrating/Psychic Blast or Pulse Wave? Fuggedaboudit; you’re using one of those two 90% of the time.

The 2013 ruleset addresses all that in the following ways:

  • EE is no longer a ranged combat action, but activates when one is made, more like Blades/Claws/Fangs. So just as Exploit Weakness + BCF = possible 6 penetrating damage, so does PPB + EE = penetrating “splash” damage.
  • Instead of dealing damage to the “splashed” characters based on “number of hits,” which was sometimes powerful but super-complicated, it’s based on the shooter’s number of targets. This is a vast upgrade because a 3-target EE shooter no longer has to fire at a big cluster of targets to deal the big splash damage.

To illustrate: In the past, Lightning Lord could target Ult. Cap, Arachne and Bucky Cap and deal damage via EE accordingly…
EEillustrationOLD

Moon Knight, who’d normally be untargetable thanks to Stealth, and Spymaster take some heavier damage due to being adjacent to two hit targets. But by and large, most are only scratched (and Aquaman, who’s got Invulnerability, isn’t even tickled).

Now, with the 2013 rules, Lightning Lord deals EE damage like this:
EEillustrationNEW

Whoa, that’s a BIG DIFFERENCE! Good thing ol’ L.L. only has a 9 AV, huh?

Oh, he’s a wild card? Copying Batman Enemy? With Joker As Sgt. on his 11 — or 12 — AV click?

This explosive leap in usefulness makes the orange attack power the #2 Winner of 2013.

___

Speaking of leaping:

spiderman2600_(11)

LEAP/CLIMB.

Once the darling power of cheap tie-up figs everywhere, the king of mobility has lost its automatic break away might, only granting the +2 to the roll. It also lost the “Improved Movement: Characters” bit that would allow it to slip past enemy lines with ease. Most of the time, the Leap/Climb piece won’t have trouble doing so, but Plasticity (and certain other SPs and abilities) will trip it up.

Though still plenty useful, Leap/Climb is the #2 Loser in 2013, because the orange speed power is so much less than what it was.

________

And now: the NUMBER ONES!

Flash+Tarpit

PLASTICITY!

It was long one of the lamest of all powers. Sure, it worked great at tie-up against most opponents, and helped minimize its users’ vulnerability to tie-up. But there were nearly 800 dials with Leap/Climb; nearly 300 with Hypersonic Speed and close to 650 with Phasing/Teleport. Once you add the Improved Movement pieces and the Giants and Colossals, you’ve got a full third of all characters in the game ABSOLUTELY IGNORING an opponent’s Plasticity.

So two of those powers/abilities were stripped of their automatic breakaway skills. That still left another third or more of all characters in HeroClix able to freely move around Plasticity via Flight or some other ability. That’s where Plasticity’s true upgrade comes in: the ability to gum up its surrounding squares for movement. Suddenly:

  • Hypersonic Speed characters with zero range can’t hit and run, or even run up and hit.
  • Leap/Climbers can’t bypass Plasticity to the rear guard.
  • Neither can fliers.
  • Or even colossals!

Plasticity doesn’t do squat against Phasing/Teleport (it ignores characters for movement) or vehicles (same) or certain types of Improved Movement. But the blue Speed power has been fantastically upgraded and will have a far greater impact on the game than ever before. It’s easily the #1 Winner in HeroClix’s 2013 rules revision.

And the #1 loser:

Flash trips

HYPERSONIC SPEED.

Although HSS has been nerfed a couple of times (full range to half; option 2 gone), it remained the one power that truly had no hard counter the way nearly every other power did…until now.

Losing automatic break away was the first blow, with HSS instead getting a +2 to the roll instead. But the changes to Plasticity make that a true hard counter to the brown speed power if its user has 0 range.

So say goodbye to the days when a HSS figure could easily and merrily stay just out of reach in the late game if you didn’t have Outwit to stop it. Now all you have to do is base the speedster, and you might have a chance at a fight.

It’s still pretty much the best power in the game, but it’s also pretty much the #1 Loser in 2013 because it’s gone from being as close to an auto-win standard power as exists in the game to merely being the best.

____

That’s it! I, for one, am very much looking forward to these changes, which will tip the balance a bit more to the melee end of things while not invalidating the power of range. And, of course, there are the brand-new PAC powers of Sidestep, Precision Strike, Invincible and Empower!

But that’s ahead in June. For now, I’m off to go see Iron Man 3. Have F.U.N. clixin’!

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#4

lukeoutthewindow

FORCE BLAST

There were fewer powers less useful than Force Blast, before. Though occasionally good for stopping a tie-up threat or dealing easy knockback — and knockback damage — to a properly positioned high-DV, unarmored target, for the most part the purple Speed power was just so much wasted points in the slot. Usually, your power action was better spent doing something else — ANYTHING else.

But in 2013, Force Blast now has a passive effect — its user’s hits can always generate knockback, if they like. So that enemy shooter you just hit can get shoved out of retaliation range. Or that fig that had your buddy tied up gets pushed away.

Such a simple, elegant upgrade to a power that needed one makes Force Blast a welcome #4 Winner in Summer 2013.

It’s not alone in the slot, though.

(tie)

ironfists

RANGED COMBAT EXPERT / CLOSE COMBAT EXPERT

Hardly useless, the pair still get an upgrade from merely dealing +2 damage to getting the option to modify AV +2 instead, or granting +1 to both stats. Putting the “expert” in these powers rates a shared spot in the #4 Winner’s spot.

___

The #4 Losers also tie.

pippinpalantir

PROBABILITY CONTROL.

One of the three “free-range” supporting powers, Prob Control now finds its effect hacked from the old default 10 squares to six, or whatever its user’s range is, whichever is higher. Whoops, it just got a lot harder for the likes of John Constantine or Destiny to affect the game from the safety of the back field. And with PC’s outsized effect on HeroClix games, these characters will be taking more fire than before.

There’s no rerolling this result: Probability Control will be the #4 Loser in HeroClix this summer.

(tie)

PERPLEX

Another of the three “free-range” powers, Perplex also finds its effect hacked from the old default 10 squares to six, or whatever its user’s range is, whichever is higher. That’s actually sort of good news, as a fellow Perplexer might be able to buff your range to get to ‘Plex a target — or use one of the other powers affected by this new rule.

But this is still a heck of a blow to this most versatile of supporting powers. No amount of modifiers keeps Perplex from sharing the #4 Loser slot in 2013.

Jokersane

_____ 

#3 in the “Win” column:

profXmobile

MIND CONTROL

This power has needed an upgrade for a while, appearing among the ten powers/abilities/rules needing a change about this time last year. My suggestions went a bit too far (3-die roll and ignore hindering terrain for LOF). I didn’t even consider the worst aspect of Mind Control: that after all those die rolls the power needs to be effective, you’re still taking automatic damage for controlling anything more than a peon. If you’re dealing with a tentpole, or worse, a colossal, you could very well hurt yourself badly for very little return.

(Case in point: I once tried to use Mouth of Sauron to MC colossal Thanos in a last-ditch effort to turn the game for my cause. Mouth succeeded; Thanos did not. Mouth was instantly KO’d by the unavoidable damage.)

Well, Mind Control has improved in a big way. First: it’s more flexible, being a combat action instead of a power action and thus making it compatible with Running Shot or Charge (in those cases where game effects allow these Speed Powers to coexist). Second: up to 150 points can be MC’d safely, and Third: only one click of damage is dealt for higher costs.

Mind Control is still an iffy power for its expense (you still have to land the attack, then possibly have to break away the target from its erstwhile allies, or land an attack on same, then take your feedback damage at worst and your action token at the very least). But it’s a darn sight better than it was and so is the #3 Winner in 2013.

___

The Loser is also mental.

OUTWIT

One of the three “free-range” powers like Probability Control and Perplex, Outwit also finds its effect hacked from the old default 10 squares to six, or whatever its user’s range is, whichever is higher. And it’s worse for Outwit than for the others because while they can sit in relative safety in the rear guard rerolling allies’ attacks and boosting their stats, the Outwitter has to get the enemy in range, leaving the Outwitter itself far more vulnerable to attack.

BP beatup

Outwit is so much more dangerous to use now that it’s the biggest loser of the “OPP” triptych, and the #3 Loser of all.

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SMOKE CLOUD

Like a number of other powers, Smoke Cloud paled next to more aggressive ones because burning a power action and getting a token was so not worth it, even if the cost of the actual power was low. Increasingly, the only time the purple attack power was really useful was when it was a free action.

Now, though, its versatility is greatly increased with a minimum 4 range, 6 tokens available instead of 4 and, most importantly, its ability to -1 the attack value of anyone occupying it. Nice!

More squares of smoke at greater range enables greater flexibility to block Charging lanes against grounded foes, and it’s a way to nerf a bunch of enemies at once.

Smoke Cloud still isn’t going to be a marquee power, but it is definitely improved enough to be the #6 Winner in 2013, along with…

(tie)

Quaked

QUAKE

Similarly, Quake got a simplifying boost across the board: it always knocks back 2 squares, regardless of damage taken by the target. So where this power was once completely useless against targets Invulnerable or better, it now can knock those types away on any successful hit. Very nice way of thwarting  potential melee attacks or Poisonings next turn.

The new situationally defensive uses of this 100% positive change make the light green attack power shares the #6 spot among 2013’s Winners.

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The #6 Loser:

MULTIATTACK

While powerful, the rarely-given-out Multiattack was held back by A) only appearing on colossals costing well beyond the 300-point standard build total, B) not being paired with the best powers like Hypersonic Speed and, to wit, C) colossals being generally too big to effectively use the dreaded hit-and-run speed power to do the “run” half.

Then came Sentry & Void — a 300-point, single-based character with the Multiattack ability and, top-dial, Hypersonic Speed. With this tentpole able to strike first at the opposing starting area FROM his starting area, it revealed that perhaps Multiattack needed to be reined in a little bit.

Consequently, in 2013 Multiattack loses the ability to use the same action twice.

Multiattack: a colossal Loser in 2013 at #6.

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On to the top five!

BL incap

INCAPACITATE

It’s always been overcosted, but in recent years Incap has been particularly pointless. Of the 1,400 dials in Modern Age, almost HALF are resistant to Incapacitate by bearing some combination of Battle Fury, Willpower, Indomitable or Power Cosmic/Quintessence.

The other half can just pay 10 or 40 points to use the Utility Belt or Infinity Gauntlet resources, respectively to get Willpower. :/

Now, though, all that Willpower can make those figs extra-vulnerable to Incap: when targeting foes with two tokens, the light-blue attack power now deals 1 penetrating damage.

This simple upgrade singlehandedly puts teeth into Incapacitate, making it the #5 Winner in the 2013 rules.

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The  big Loser at #5?

Galactusfalls

COLOSSALS

The biggest of the big didn’t actually get any rule changes in 2013. That’s the problem.

A fair number of changes affect them negatively. Their Colossal Stamina, which allows them to act even with two tokens, leaves them newly vulnerable to Incapacitate now. Also, its ability to automatically break away and use “Improved Movement: Squares with Opposing Characters” no longer works against Plasticity. Finally, the changes to Multiattack hurts colossals almost exclusively.

That’s a lot of downgrades for even these generally overpowered monstrosities, making the fist damage symbol the #5 Loser in 2013.

 

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He's smilin' for a reason.

He’s smilin’ for a reason.

GIANT REACH

For some reason, WizKids didn’t want giants to use their hands. First, they could only Carry when they had zero tokens. Then, only on move actions. Now, Giants can finally Carry without restriction, just as fliers and Transporters can. They also still ignore Plasticity, and so are among the very few characters who retain great mobility against that improved power.

A big loser in 2011, Giant Reach has grown into the #8 Winner in 2013.

 ___

A shooting power takes a bit of a slide:

nohands

Energy Explosion

In times past, on occasion, a character with Energy Explosion might be willing to take a shot at an enemy cluster based by an ally because A) the power could be angled to avoid dealing much damage to the friendly and B) it was only 1 damage anyway.

Now, though, EE has the potential to do GREAT harm with its splash damage to your friendly, possibly precluding you from using the power at all. And don’t even THINK about it if you’re a multi-target Sharpshooter trying to use it at point-blank range.

Despite the fact that it WILL show on the Winners’ list, the orange attack power is also the #8 Loser of 2013.

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The #7 Winner is:

SSsetdown

SUPER STRENGTH

It’s another power that’s needed a fix, as the very number of objects available to use for attacks has greatly shrunk in the modern game from a guaranteed six to as few as none.

The 2013 ruleset does nothing to fix that, unfortunately. What it does do is allow Super Strong figs to use their muscles for something other than smashing boulders: Now objects can be put down upon movement.

It’s a small change with great implications for the game:

  • It’s a new way other than Telekinesis to move objects around.
  • It’s more helpful to the team, situationally. Superman might be toting an ultra heavy object and can now carry Batman and place the detective and the object in the same square for — voila! — instant Stealthed meat shield.

The only drawback is that objects can’t be grabbed and dropped in the same turn. But it’s still enough to make Super Strength the #7 Winner in 2013.

___

For every winner, there’s a Loser:

falling on butt

COMBAT REFLEXES

Once upon a time, Combat Reflexes was one of the more useless powers in all of HeroClix. All it did was allow its owner to take knock back from hits that normally didn’t cause it. But you had to declare you were taking that option before you got hit. Or was it AFTER you got hit, but before taking the damage? And did you have to still have Combat Reflexes in order to take the knock back after declaring you were going to use it?

None of this was ever very clear, so for the first few years the light-green defense power was only valued for its immunity to knock back damage. Then it got its upgrade in 2006 to grant +2 DV in close combat and became great.

But that original voluntary knock back thing remained, though rarely used because it required good dial memorization to know when suddenly NOT tying up an opponent is the best policy.

Anyway, it’s gone, replaced with a blanket immunity to knock back. And while that seems like another upgrade, it really is a loss, as evidenced by a character like Star-Lord (Hammer of Thor 025). There were a few times that, knowing he’s about to lose CR and end up in Stealth, I’d opt to take the knock back and lay into targets with his Ranged Combat Expert later from the cover of hindering terrain.

Not possible anymore. Combat Reflexes is the #7 Loser come June 2013.

 

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2013RULESlogo

Another spring in Heroclix, another new rulebook. Last year’s update merely tweaked a few things besides adding the then-new Split and Merge mechanics, compared to 2011’s overhaul.

2013’s making that overhaul look like a cosmetic makeover. There are definite winners and losers again this year. For the next four days, Heroclixin’ will highlight two winners and two losers.

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At  #10, we start with the least of the winners:

cryHavok

PULSE WAVE

Reworded last year to finally ignore even hindering terrain for the attack, HeroClix’s ultimate solvent ran into a stumbling block when the wording allowed a couple of ATAs to hide from the yellow attack power in plain sight!

Now Pulse Wave has been rewritten to work as it should — ignoring everything except walls and elevated and blocking terrain — making it the #10 Winner of 2013. Barely a winner, true, but one nonetheless.

And speaking of blocking terrain:

(tie)

Barrier

The wall-building power gets an upgrade to minimum 4 range, regardless of the character’s actual range value. But even this 100% positive upgrade only shares the #10 spot because fewer than two dozen characters benefit; the rest of the 300 or so characters with Barrier all have greater than 3 range.

___

The tiniest Loser:

SmokePP

SMOKE CLOUD

Before, sitting in a Smoke Cloud only gave you a +1 DV from ranged attacks. But now, unless you’re a Superman Ally or something or can use Smoke Cloud yourself, getting that +1 means also getting a -1 to your attack value.

Putting the cloud between you and the enemy is no help, either — now THEY have the +1 DV against YOUR shots, too.

It’s not a big deal at all for actual Smoke Cloud users. But it’s just enough of an impediment for the rest of the team to get Smoke Cloud on the list as the #10 Loser in the 2013 rules revision.

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A notch higher on the Winners’ list is:

iron horse stance

COMBAT REFLEXES

It used to be able to take voluntary knock back. This was a very double-edged ability, as using the option made the character now vulnerable to ranged attacks, perhaps. Now, it’s just immune to knock back. It’s an upgrade that makes Combat Reflexes a #9 Winner in 2013, sharing the slot with…

(tie)

atatatata

Flurry / Hypersonic Speed

If you lost either of these powers in mid-action (due to, say, Mystics, Steal Energy or snake eyes) you used to be SOL. But now you’re allowed to make the second hit or run the heck away anyway. That’s a WIN for two of the best offensive Speed powers in the game to share the #9 spot. EDIT: And we may as well add Duo Attack here, too, as it got the same minor upgrade.

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Climbing down the Losers’ ladder:

SStrnerf

SUPER STRENGTH

The green attack power lost the ability to do +2 damage against objects and terrain. It was hardly ever used, but this represents a downgrade, making Super Strength the #9 Loser come June 2013.

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denied

number 3:

SENTRY AND VOID (Chaos War  057) LOSES THE “AVENGERS” KEYWORD

When these two are merged like this, not only do the Avengers fight HIM, but even the likes of LOKI fight him. Absolutely should NOT have the keyword, for any reason. Worse still, the Avengers keyword is the best in the game already.

_

number 2:

ENCHANTRESS (New 53 Justice League 016) GETS ALL HER KEYWORDS ON HER 50-POINT STARTING LINE, NOT THE 250-POINT ONE

Ditto for this crazed chick. The Enchantress who actually works with Shadowpact and the Justice League (Dark, see number 5 from yesterday’s post) and Suicide Squad was the relatively low-powered June Moon. The 250-point powerhouse was the Justice League (Dark)’s FIRST VILLAIN. WHY DOES SHE HAVE THE STUPID KEYWORD?!?!?? Especially with a trait that helps her FIGHT the Justice League?

Rrrrrrrrgh! I’m convinced that those keywords were supposed to only work on her 50-point line. But WK screwed it up.

Which brings us to the number 1:

SUPERMAN (Crisis 105) COSTS 283 POINTS, NOT 238

You can’t tell me there’s really a 79-point difference between this chase and its 317-point, LESS-POWERFUL sculpt-mate for having just three less power slots. The Superman Ally TA CAN’T cost that much more than the Hypertime TA. This was a mistake and should be fixed on the card and the clix.

But it won’t be. So I’m done whining this month.

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NEXT MONTH: I’ll have a real Top Ten (the one I intended for this month but ran out of time to finish it, especially since one of the previewed Fear Itself pieces looked to shatter the lineup … until I learned it was fake). TOMORROW: Figure Flush finally finished.

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GrumpyCatvsObama

number 6:

EVERY FIGURE WITH BOTH THE “GOTHAM CITY” KEYWORD AND THE BATMAN ENEMY TEAM OR CALCULATOR OR INJUSTICE LEAGUE TEAM ABILITIES GETS THE “GOTHAM UNDERWORLD” KEYWORD INSTEAD OF THE “GOTHAM CITY” KEYWORD

It was always ridiculous that Joker could “theme up” with Batman and Robin…JASON TODD Robin. It would be great if that stupidity were permanently reversed the way the old Thunderbolt feat abuse was. As far as I can tell, the only figure that would be adversely affected is Hitman no longer being able to theme up with the Bat Fam. Which would crush the playing dreams of no one ever.

_

number 5:

ALL ALTER EGO CHARACTERS IN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD AND WEB OF SPIDER-MAN GET AN ERRATA SO THEY DON’T TAKE PUSHING DAMAGE TO USE THE POWER — LIKE ALL THE ALTER EGOS AFTER THEM

Unlike 90% of all HeroClix players, I’ve actually tried to play these pieces and found that the inability to push to the AE figure made them highly unplayable. The new lot are much better.

So why not just make it a global change for Alter Ego powers? Sure, it’d be a big clustergropefest to errata all those character cards for the 10% of all HeroClix players who even care. But so what?

_

number 4:

“JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK” IS A KEYWORD

It somewhat incenses me that this super-niche team that most of the real Justice League don’t even know about is, for keyword purposes, practically invited to the satellite Watchtower for snacks. Conversely, how’s the glow-in-the-dark Green Lantern get to use the JL Dark ATA? It’s ridiculous. The team should be its own thing with its own ATA.

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NEXT: The “never ever ever ever” wish list continues.

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We-Are-Never-Ever-Getting-Back-Together-Lyric-Video-YouTube….getting these changes in HeroClix.

number 9:

THE CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES OF 2012 WILL NEVER BE WIDELY AVAILABLE BEFORE THEY’RE RETIRED

This wish is lower on the list not because I don’t really really want it but because it’s not really THAT far outside the realms of possibility. But if nothing’s been announced by now, I don’t think it’s happening.

A sub-wish of mine is that the Con Exclusives from 2011-12 are NEVER retired. They’re so difficult to acquire that it’d be a shame to ever not be able to play them. And they’re not game-breaking at all, either. But I’m not expecting it.

_

number 8:

AUTOPILOT VEHICLES WILL NEVER BE DISALLOWED FROM USING FEATS, RESOURCES, RELICS AND THE LIKE

Vehicles already get a HUGE discount in the point formula, able to have long, long dials for very low cost. They can move freely, immune to tie-up. They can keep a key figure on your team safe as its pilot. They can carry multiple figures that usually can’t be carried, with no speed penalty.

And I know HeroClix doesn’t always make real-world or even comic-book world sense. But VEHICLES ARE NOT PEOPLE. They can’t pick up and wear a Nova Helmet. They can’t wield the Infinity Gems. They aren’t capable of superheroic feats.

They’re just dumb machines — with NO HANDS. Which leads to my sub-wish under this heading: That the Autopilot mechanic for Vehicles just goes away (except as a specific trait for certain “smart” vehicles like the Batmobile).

_

number 7:

NO NEW MECHANICS/SALES SCHEMES IN HEROCLIX FOR AT LEAST A FULL TWELVE MONTHS

Since January 2012, we’ve gotten:

Ships

Resource Dials

Relics on the dial (on the Infinity Gauntlet figures)

Replacement Figures

Team Packs

Mass Market Exclusive blind boosters

Characters only found in Fast Forces/Starter/Con Exclusive/Strategy Game form

Tab-Apps

Vehicles

Wild Dials

And now, the imminent introduction of Team Bases and the sealed-only Fear Itself set, all on top of expanded use of Alter Ego, Morph and Battlefield Promotion mechanics.

There are more than enough mechanics in the game. And there’s no need to do any more.

But I know I’m spitting in the wind, here.

____

NEXT: The “never ever ever ever” wish list continues.

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2006040418101823_20060404_Tuen Mun Trail Sunset-053
Easter Sunday is wrapping up as I write this. It’s a day when we Christians celebrate the greatest change point in human history: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It transformed disciples on the run into apostles who shook the world and began a faith that, among other things, ended the slave trade in its regions (eventually).
What’s it got to do with Heroclixin’? Well, it’s a change that was, humanly speaking, impossible. And there are some changes in HeroClix I’d like to see that are as impossible in their way, too.

I may want these changes in the game, but I will probably never, ever see them.

This is different from the Top Ten Needed Changes article from late 2011. Those are fixes that not only are simple and would enhance the game, but also have been at least partially implemented (see Outsiders TA and, to an extent, Event Dials).

I’m also not talking of things that aren’t quite right now that could easily — and likely will — be changed within the next few months, such as making “assassin” a generic keyword or a Heroes For Hire ATA or finally getting more clix versions of Generation X.

 

No, I’m talking stuff that’s pipe dream material, that would involve radical shifts in the point formula or wholesale errata on multiple character cards or entire keywords — things just short of the idea of one perfect man taking on the sin of the entire world.
In short, these changes in HeroClix would require no less than God Himself to make reality. And this game frankly isn’t that high on His priority list.

And here’s number 10:

MIND CONTROL WILL NEVER BE CHANGED TO A 3d6 ROLL.

This was a proposed fix in the Needed Changes article because, thanks to all the myriad ways that the expensive cyan speed power can fail, Mind Control is almost never a better choice to use instead of a standard attack unless the MCer is really weak on damage. The fact that so frequently, now, Mind Control is customized in special powers and traits only underscores the standard power’s uselessness.

But the emergence of prime figure Brother Voodoo puts the kibosh on this. Being able to attempt a MC every single turn is plenty good enough, especially as his brand of the power is the ONLY option he has to use it. The ability to roll three dice and then pick the best two would utterly break the character and, by extension, quite possibly the game.

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NEXT: The “never ever ever ever” wish list grows.

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A fellow poster on HCRealms started a thread about figures we love, but forgot thanks to all the new hotness. That revived this idea for a Top Ten I had while doing my list of favorites of 2012: listing my faves for all the years prior to 2010, the first year I tallied.

I started playing the game in spring 2005, only becoming a regular tournament-goer around late summer that year. So I can’t really do a top list earlier than 2006.

To wit, here are my favorites HeroClix of 2006.

10 Experienced Invincible (Invincible)

iv001

The original HeroClix version of Black Adam had just retired, so this Indy piece was one of the new close combat lightweight Hypersonic bricks of the moment. Only having the single top click of the power kept this teen more of a finesse piece than one might expect. This clix made me a bit of a fan of the comic.

9  Unique Black Bolt (Sinister)

sn096

It might surprise readers that I nearly passed on Sinister entirely. But it’s true: I used to be a bit more competitive-minded than I am now, and this summer 2006 set didn’t fill the bill. I only really wanted one piece: Black Bolt, for his supreme Running Shot + Pulse Wave skills.

In practice, though, BB was one of the biggest finesse pieces in the game’s history, what with his soft Defend top-dial and cratering mid-dial followed by a end clicks AV upswing. He was ultimately limited to fun themes such as my pre-keywords Illuminati theme.

He’s now permanently shelved in favor of the 2011 versions. But for 2006, this piece was one of my faves.

8 Experienced Captain Marvel (Supernova)

sv080

This version of Genis-Vell had one of the more unpredictable dials in the game. Starting with an Earthbound,  0 damage Close Combat Expert click (in his Rick Jones form), I’d most often use Protected to push him to his run-and-gun Captain Marvel clicks. But once he gets hit hard through his Invulnerability, then the fun really begins:

  • BAD: A high-Speed Mind Control click #5 with 15 DV Super Senses that begs to be pushed or healed off of.
  • BETTER: A high-AV Pulse Wave click #6 that’s HALF the Speed of the previous one. But it’s a Tough one with slightly better DV.
  • BEST: Stealth, Outwit, Psychic Blast and ESD on click #7. I won games by landing on this one.

Great F.U.N. and still my favorite version of Genis-Vell by far.

7 Experienced Multiple Man (Sinister)

sn050

Madrox the Multiple Man became a minor favorite in his early-’90s X-Factor days, so I was glad to see his five dials (REV, pog, LE) in HeroClix. Of them, the Exp. was the best with his Perplex skills making the others better in turn.  To date, I still have more of these than the others.

6 Limited Edition Iron Man (Supernova)

sv217

It seems hard to imagine now, but there was a time in HeroClix when Iron Man was not very well represented at all in the game. His clix were either poor and overcosted (X-Plosion REV) or mediocre and glass-jawed (Armor Wars REV) or a costly one-click-wondrous Unique (Ultimates).

This, the classic mid-1980s “new-look” Silver Centurion armor, was the first really good Iron Man, even holding up mostly in today’s Stark suit wars.

5 Veteran Kang the Conqueror (Supernova)

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I was quite angered to not pull a single version of Kang in my Supernova brick. In addition to being a fan of the character (after his starring role in the great Avengers Forever mini), the dial was amazing, starting with a then-and-still-staggering 13 AV Running Shot with 4 damage Perplex. Very top-loaded at 199 points but with a super sculpt, this is still the Kang I want to run most.

4 Experienced Dr. Mid-Nite (Collateral Damage)

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I was even more angered not to pull a single Dr. Mid-Nite in my first-ever brick purchase, Collateral Damage. The Exp. finally gave me that Willpowered medic that I’d envied others fielding (in the form of Jane Foster), and one that was actually superior. Being a JSA fan and completist at the time, the good doctor was a shoo-in for this list even if he’s not quite good enough to make the Top Medics one anymore.

3 Experienced Umbra (Collateral Damage)

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I still am a Legion of Super-Heroes completist. But man, was that team just north of unplayable — until this blue lady came along. With her 17 Defend and Stealth, she could nudge the then-extant LSHers’ DVs from their starting highs of 16 or 15 (seriously, there was only ONE other member with 17 DV!!) to the then-above-average 17 and make them playable. She stayed relevant when the team’s roster beefed up in 2007, especially the Exp.

She’s now obsolete with better choices out there to back up the Legion (and with the banning of the old Fantastic Four ATA feat) but she’ll always be a favorite of mine.

2 Unique Crimson Avenger (Collateral Damage)

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She fit two completist themes in my collection — JSA and black person — but she was also a surprisingly playable piece, the kind of under-the-radar fig that would come to dominate my less-than-optimizing team builds. Double target, 8 range Psychic Blast gave way to Range Combat Expert to Psychic Blast again, all with a rock-steady 9 AV. Phase her in, push to attack (making certain a JSAer is there to keep her DV up) and then Regen from the last click back up to maybe the 2nd. Love her still and would play her more if she had more than just the Mystical keyword.

 1 Atom Smasher (Giants)

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This fig is the reason I still play HeroClix.

I was just a little into the game with Fantastic Forces and Armor Wars, only being willing to attend my local venue but opting not to go with fellow players to big prereleases or buying bricks or anything. But I liked the giant mechanic, flawed though it was at the time, and Atom Smasher was one of my favorite DC characters.

So when his mug was confirmed for the Giants collector set, which you could only get by buying brick of Collateral Damage, I was all in from that point forward.

The figure turned out OK, too. He has a better Speed value with Charge than many other giants, and solid combat values, too. JSA TA helps him weather the many ranged shots he takes, and while his mid-dial AV slumps badly, he ends with a super spike that’s made him a 97-point legend in the annals of my HC play.

I don’t often play a JSA team anymore, even in Golden Age, but when I do, I’m playing Atom Smasher.