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…