In a normal year, my favorites have all stood the test of time on a map and thus earned favored status.
But 2021 hasn’t been much more normal than 2020 was. Actual map time has STILL been at a premium. And with one of the year’s sets not arriving until the week of Christmas for me, there’s certainly no way to properly rank my faves this time around.
So again, in addition to the usual F.U.N. criteria — Is this figure Fair, Useful and Nerdcore? — I’m also falling back on this question?:
“When I see this figure, do I immediately wish I had a team to fit it on?”
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In alphabetical order:
Captain Britain (House of X 053)
80 points / 30 points
Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a Charge piece. That’s never too scary at her cost. Her range is minimal, too.
Useful/Utility: But Exploit Weakness with Blades/Claws/Fangs is never bad, either. She brings more: Extra Leadership token removal for X-Men/Excalibur pals within 3 squares (her range). She can also tackle enemy Mystics without fear.
Nifty/Nerdcore: I just like the Captain Britain-y sculpt. I also love the SP, which only appears on her 80-cost:
PSIONIC ARMING SWORD Blades/Claws/Fangs. Once per turn, when Captain Britain uses it, you may choose to reduce the d6 roll by 1 or 2 (choose before rolling). If you do, decrease the target’s combat values by the same amount until your next turn.
This is the kind of tradeoff that makes for a great F.U.N. figure. And so she’s one of my favorites.
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The Commissioner (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 067)
50 points / 25 points
Friendly/Fellowship: He’s pretty meta but really only peak mean on a Secret Six team. Way less so at my preferred full cost. And he himself does little damage.
Useful/Utility: But it’s Rookie (Stealthy giant with 11AV PPB and Prob) who does the damage, isn’t it? And Commissioner’s SP to give a keyworded pal (such as Rookie) an extra attack. And then there’s his Improved Targeting: Outwit through Stealth. And then there’s his Underworld team ability. And then there’s his Leadership (and Enhancement off his top dials). And his +1 AV attacking foes with his keyword(s). And Mastermind to cover it all.
Nifty/Nerdcore: So I have a Commissioner Gordon collection that I needed him to complete. Sculptwise, it’s the blowing tie for me. Playwise, it’s the whole package.
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Dr. Poison (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 045)
40 points
Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a Stealth piece with no armor and OK range of 6. Aside from her Poison (natch), there’s nothing scary about her.
Useful/Utility: But she still brings a better-than-expected 3 damage. And there’s her ability to give Poison to a Sidekick for a turn. That would be pretty useless if she had to break theme to fit Sidekicks on board, but her Leadership (aside being useful in itself) generates the German Soldier, whose Toughness makes him an able deliveryman for the bad doctor’s poisonous experiments.
Nifty/Nerdcore: She’s a sneaky good little villainess and plays like one, with Mastermind and the power she’s named for.
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Harley Quinn (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 024)
50 points / 25 points
Friendly/Fellowship: A 0-range Charge Toughness piece is never that terrifying, especially at her 50-point level. And at half-price, she’s just Sidestepping, though she’s extra evasive with Wonder Woman Super Senses and a better fighter with CCE.
Useful/Utility: But at full cost, she’s a Prob Controller. Harley also literally bring the boys to the yard with Underworld team ability (if they’re cheaper and share her keywords, of course). But her best assets are her dial-long Quake and her “Oopsie” trait, which quasi-Incapacitates targets she misses.
Nifty/Nerdcore: And that image, of her enemies’ jaws dropping because her boobs popped out of her ill-fitting borrowed Wonder Woman bustier, is what makes this figure so F.U.N., even for Harley. She’s a joy to play, hit or miss.
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Lex Luthor (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 056)
50 points
Friendly/Fellowship: This was among 2021’s Worst list thanks to a rules change and other reasons. You can read there.
Useful/Utility: But Outwit is always useful, isn’t it? He’s also an Outwitter who, thanks to Mastermind —and— multiple STOP clicks, can’t be easily wiped off the map despite a short 4-click dial. Moreover, he brings in a pair of strong bystanders when he hits those STOPs: Bizarro (Impervious, 4 damage) then Green Light (Running Shot Penetrating Blast).
Nifty/Nerdcore: He’s the last major character from the classic Red Son Superman story to be clixed. And he’s well-designed to match those older (pre-Silver Age) figures while bringing something new to the map. It’s too bad about the rule change, but creative play can still call out his potential.
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Loki (Empyre 026)
60 points
Friendly/Fellowship: A no-move+attack Blades piece isn’t unfair at all. And with Stealth and Mystics, opponents can happily avoid him, probably, if they can tolerate his Probability Control.
Useful/Utility: There’s that Prob. And there’s also his Rally trait, which works on ALL attacks, for once. He can spend Rally dice to place himself 2 squares away and leave a doppelgänger Loki (also with BCF, also with Prob) where he was.
He’s also got a decently long dial, with Toughness on top and a Mind Control/Poison/Outwit stint mid-dial.
Nifty/Nerdcore: And then there’s that “Low Key” sculpt. This figure is pure F.U.N.
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Maggott (House of X 051)
40 points
Friendly/Fellowship: He’s got no printed move+attack, a lowish 10 AV and zero armor to protect his slim 5-click dial. He really is a pretty fair figure on the surface.
Useful/Utility: But his three traits tho. The first FREE generates one of his autonomous pogs, both of which have Charge, giving him an effective 15-square attack range. The second FREEly absorbs the pot back, saving it from retaliation of any sort. The third gives Maggott healing or Charge and +1 stats if the pog he just absorbed hit its target — and again, all for FREE, so it can happen in a single turn.
This is a meta piece, plain and simple. Low cost, near-full map reach, Prob.
Nifty/Nerdcore: One of the weirdest X-Men ever, it was a good move for the 2018 Worlds Teams champs to create this character. He’s a welcome addition to my Black Box collection of African-descended and Black-coded characters.
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Master Mold (WizKids MP20-001)
375 points / 200 points / 75 points / 25 points
Friendly/Fellowship: Though it has lots of armor and Outwit and the power to bring in more Sentinels, the lack of any real move+attack beyond Sidestep will leave opponents feeling relatively safe in the short term — especially if they don’t trigger his retaliation.
Useful/Utility: At top cost, he’s a lead attacker, of course, though the aforementioned lack of speed is a problem. 200 points is also strong, and at both those high point lines, it can turn its Factory Dial at will each turn to generate more Sentinel allies
That’s the real use of Master Mold: calling in more of the killer robots. Either the Leadership-generated mega 2×2 pogs it comes with or wait for the Factory to get to clicks 3 or higher to pop out Sentinels of wildly varied point costs. In turn, those Sentinels can advance the Factory dial to aid in generating ever more allies.
Nifty/Nerdcore: It’s a great update of the old Master Mold’s ability from 2012’s Galactic Guardians set. And I love things like this that make even older pieces work. My favorite level for him is 75 points for the best F.U.N. balance.
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Monica Rambeau (Empyre 041)
150 points / 50 points
Friendly/Fellowship: Despite her really cool SP, 150 is a LOT of points for a figure with just 3 printed damage on top, and at 50 she’s far from the most efficient. The SP also requires her to overextend more than the more traditional (and currently benched) Hypersonic Speed would’ve been. So she’s a fair piece.
Useful/Utility: Her SP is really good, though, giving her the power to phase through an enemy, then to safety, THEN roll to punch ’em in the face with CCE. She also has a trait giving a 50% chance at either flashing back to her original square or adding an action to the force whenever she uses Phasing or Running Shot. And neither can be Outwitted because she’s got Cosmic Energy.
Nifty/Nerdcore: I’m mad that once again, Monica hasn’t gotten either the Nextwave nor Ultimates keywords she deserves, keeping her from being played with those teams in proper theme. But she’s otherwise everything I want in the character.
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Multiple Man (X-Men Rise & Fall 007)
40 points / 10 points
Friendly/Fellowship: 2 damage is nothing to worry about on his top point level. Close Combat Expert makes the cheaper one a little more potent but it’s so much less survivable. He also isn’t a standard character, so he can’t use equipment.
Useful/Utility: He brings Leadership and a much longer dial at 40 points thanks to both his Toughness and his trait capping his health loss at 2. And that in turn activates his Dupe creation of a 0-point Multiple Man on click 9, which has Empower and Plasticity.
Suddenly that 2 damage becomes a 3 or 4!
Nifty/Nerdcore: Longtime Heroclixin’ readers will recall that Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) in 2011 and Multiple Man (Wolverine and the X-Men) in 2013 both topped my favorites but this version of the character may be the first to truly capture his powers.
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Onome (Empyre 015)
40 points
Friendly/Fellowship: She’s just a fragile Outwitter. Easy enough to avoid.
Useful/Utility: But she can Outwit TWICE. Or, if she’s on a themed team, Prob twice a turn. And her fellow Sidekicks can as well. Or Perplex twice, if they’ve got that power. Pretty useful girl.
Nifty/Nerdcore: I read her in the very short-lived Future Foundation comic and have been hoping for her intro to clix since. Speaking of that team …
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Rikki Barnes (Empyre 072)
75 points
Friendly/Fellowship: Though she has a nice range and can throw out a lot of attacks, she’s not doing much damage without trading off on that reach and frequency. She’s a chase that won’t have foes quaking.
Useful/Utility: But she does bring Quake to start. More to the point, she brings her “Dream of a Soldier” Speed SP:
POWER: In any order: Move, Make a close attack, Make a range attack. If she attacks, she uses her printed damage value.
She also has IT:Adjacency. So she could move in close, Quake (but only for 2 damage because the lime attack power would override the SP), then point-blank shoot a target who maybe was left adjacent. Next turn, punch again, shoot another target, then try breaking away to move. So much flex in this power!
She’s also got ESD + Toughness SP that boost the DV of adjacent allies if they’re off top click. Some Leadership, then Enhancement and an end click of penetrating damage with a reappearance of the Dream SP.
Speaking of last click, she is a tough KO because she revives based on the number of team abilities on the field (including her Team Player TA). So: minimum 1 heal and possibly up to full. (But never onto that great final click, though — too bad the trait didn’t read “all other characters” and not hers.)
Nifty/Nerdcore: I like the character from the very short-lived Future Foundation comic. But I fell in love with that SP from the start: It’s F.U.N. perfection.
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Sentinel (X-Men Rise & Fall 008)
25 points
Friendly/Fellowship: Even with Sidestep 6 range and Great Size, this 2 damage Incap piece isn’t going to trouble the other guy on sight.
Useful/Utility: But not having to build it on your force, is pretty useful. They can serve as extra taxis, too. And when KOed, they go to the Sideline to possibly respawn.
Nifty/Nerdcore: That trait wins it extra Nifty points.
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Teen Lantern (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035)
75 points / 30 points
Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a little poor offensively at either price and completely lacks defense abilities if anyone gets past her Barrier. She’s not scary.
Useful/Utility: But Prob through Barrier is pretty solid. She also carts teams with Green Lantern team ability and brings Police TA for some reason.
Nifty/Nerdcore: She kinda snuck onto this list by being a key member of the Juneteenth team and just being … adorable, kinda.
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T’Chaka II (Empyre 047b)
45 points
Friendly/Fellowship: Charge pieces aren’t usually terrifying.
Useful/Utility: But he’s also got Flurry, which is the MOST terrifying combo with Charge, especially with Blades/Claws/Fangs. Being Stealthy could keep him safe to get in position for a Charge, potentially. But his real use is to mess with enemy attack rolls:
DISTRACTING BANTER Once per turn, when an opposing character within range makes an attack, after all rerolls and die replacements, you may roll a d6 and subtract half the result before finalizing the attack roll.
Any hit less than +1 over the defense is gonna miss — and it needs to be +3 or more to guarantee a hit! T’Chaka also brings constant Leadership for a final bit of utility.
Nifty/Nerdcore: Thank goodness his trait is only once per turn. This is going to be the most hilariously annoying figure to play. I might need to track down the comics in which he appears so I can get his best jokes ready.
