Time to return to the review series! Was 2024 finally the Year of the Panther, with a whole doggone set branded with his name?

 

• SMARTS:  Outwit. Will he (or she) have this signature power?
• SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership? The Black Panther is a ruler.
• SPEED:  Improved Movement:Elevated and good values?
• STEALTH: …should not be a question mark anymore, because of the brand-new for 2024 Wakanda TA.
• STRENGTH: Can he hit for 3-6 clicks on top dial?
• SURVIVABILITY: Damage reducers and good values?

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2024

Marvel Iconix MICN013 Wakanda Hulkbuster

• SMARTS: Outwit to start — and a speed SP limiting foes to one FREE action a turn. A+
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. F
• SPEED: Just Charge, but Great Size (for the IM:Elevated and Giant Reach) make up for the mediocre speed. B+
• STEALTH: The new Wakanda team ability = Stealth. A+
• STRENGTH: Giant Reach+Charge+Flurry 4 damage. Also Super Strength. And 4 range! A+
• SURVIVABILITY: Invincible. Then Impervious. Then Invulnerability. Plus Senses all along. Can also generate a last-click BP upon KO. A+

THE KING’S VERDICT: Technically, anyone can wear this Hulkbuster suit, so perhaps I *could* forgive the lack of Leadership that keeps this 125-point piece from being a best-ever BP dial. But of course, that it’s a variant keeps it from being definitive. Then there’s the 70-point version:

Marvel Iconix MICN013V Wakanda Hulkbuster @70 points

• SMARTS: Loses the anti-FREE action SP and the Outwit for Perplex. B-
• SOVEREIGNTY: F
• SPEED: B+
• STEALTH: A
• STRENGTH: Poison+Quake is his new starting SP. It also tokens hit characters, so it’s maybe not the worst downgrade. B-
• SURVIVABILITY: Impervious is fine. SP Invulnerability nerfs adjacent foes’ AV and DV. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: Not as good but OK IMO.

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Black Panther 001 Black Panther

• SMARTS: No Outwit or anything. F
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership or anything. F
• SPEED: Hypersonic Speed with IM:Characters isn’t ideal — he should run up walls — but it’s not too bad. B+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Full dial Exploit is solid. Also Charge Blades on end dial. A
• SURVIVABILITY: No reducers. Super Senses that knocks back is his only trick. C

THE KING’S VERDICT: “Is this your king?” No he is not. OK for an 001 common, though, at full 75 points.

Black Panther 001 Black Panther @45 points

• SMARTS:  F
• SOVEREIGNTY:  F
• SPEED: HyperSpeed for just first click. Not ideal, but not too bad. B
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: A
• SURVIVABILITY: No reducers. Super Senses that knocks back is his only trick. C

THE KING’S VERDICT: He’s better at this price point. Still just OK and nowhere near definitive.

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Black Panther 002 Black Panther

• SMARTS: She’s got the Outwit! And Perplex later. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership as trait — with a DV boost if it hits! A+
• SPEED: Has the IM:Elevated —and— IM:Characters which both balance her kinda poor 8 Charge. B+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Charge Blades. A
• SURVIVABILITY: No reducers. D

THE KING’S VERDICT: Shuri here is a better Panther in the common slots than her big brother. Play them together to reflect that time she was queen of Wakanda while he was king of the dead in the Necropolis.

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Black Panther 017 Black Panther 45 points

• SMARTS: No Outwit again?? Geez. F
• SOVEREIGNTY: SP Leadership all dial long that not only works on 4-6, but removes tokens from ALL Wakandans in 4 squares on a 6 roll. He can also POWER generate Wakandans under 25 points if a friendly got KO’d last turn. A+
• SPEED: No Improved Movement. D
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Sidestep and no attack ability to start instead of Charge+Blades (click 2-3). Flurry+Precision comes on clicks 4-5, which may be too late. C+
• SURVIVABILITY: A dial of Toughness, though, means he might see those later clicks if the enemy comes for him. B

THE KING’S VERDICT: Not so good. He’s only 45 points so at least he’s not overpriced.

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Black Panther 020 Vibranium Man 125 points

• SMARTS: No Outwit or anything. F
• SOVEREIGNTY: …or Leadership. At least he contributes to the initial Vibranium sideline pool like many figs do in this set. D+
• SPEED: Leap/Climb with Running Shot or Charge is more than good enough. Having the Wall-Crawler trait to FREE place on different elevation within 4 = A+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Penetrating/Psychic Blast first half of dial. Blades with Flurry on back. A
• SURVIVABILITY: Invincible to start, then Toughness then nothing. Spider-Fam TA. He can self-heal if there’s Vibranium on the sideline. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: An alternate T’Challa where he became sorta Spider-Man instead of Panther somehow. 125 is pricey, though.

Black Panther 020 Vibranium Man @ 60 points

• SMARTS: F
• SOVEREIGNTY:  D+
• SPEED: Only Charge on this line. Having the Wall-Crawler trait and its Leap/Climb helps maintain the A
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Charge+Blades+Exploit to start with Flurry on back. A
• SURVIVABILITY: Only Toughness then nothing but Spider-Fam TA and self-healing. B

THE KING’S VERDICT: Not definitive, of course. But a surprisingly worthy interdimensional T’Challa.

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Black Panther 033 Black Panther 75 points

• SMARTS: Outwit tops his dial for several clicks. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: His Leadership is traited — and he doesn’t need to be adjacent to Wakandans if Queen Storm is on map. He also Enhancements all Wakandans on the map when she’s on it, too. A+
• SPEED: A solid 10 with Charge and IM:Elevated. B+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Unfortunately, he’s only got Precision to start with his Charge and 0 range — he needs Queen Storm’s Empower to hit hard. Close Combat Expert shows when he loses Outwit. B-
• SURVIVABILITY: Plenty of Toughness on top and between the soft Senses clicks. More to the point: He has self-healing if his chosen keyword ally is on the map. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: This isn’t absolutely definitive (see the need for his bride Storm) but he’s one of the best Panthers we’ve seen. But if you drop him from 75 to his 50-point level?

Black Panther 033 Black Panther @50 points

• SMARTS: Outwit still tops his dial, though it doesn’t last. A-
• SOVEREIGNTY:  A+
• SPEED: 8 Charge and IM:Elevated is OK. B
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Still Precision to start but the rest is Blades. B
• SURVIVABILITY: Toughness on top. That healing could help — or hurt,  because it’s not optional. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: Not too bad! This might be my preferred level for him.

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Black Panther 043a Black Panther 75 points

• SMARTS: Several starting clicks of Outwit. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. But he grants keyword allies the Wakanda TA and adds to the Vibranium pool, at least. C-
• SPEED: Lack of IM:Elevated is a serious blot on his claim to the throne. C
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: 12 AV Blades with Charge is great, but he can FREE make Vibranium Weapons for +1 damage. Also he can get Flurry or a FREE range shot via Vibranium. Finally, a low roll on BCF gains him more Vibranium. A+
• SURVIVABILITY: Starts with Toughness and has Super Senses on trait — with a bonus to the roll if he targeted the attacker since last turn. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: Pretty darn good in some ways but UGH WHY DOES HE MISS SO HARD ON TWO METRICS.

Black Panther 043a Black Panther @40 points

• SMARTS: Loses Outwit, has Perplex instead. B-
• SOVEREIGNTY: C-
• SPEED: His speed value drops. C-
• STEALTH:  A
• STRENGTH: Drops to 11 AV. A
• SURVIVABILITY: No more Toughness. C

THE KING’S VERDICT: Just 40 points, so a drop is expected. It didn’t need to be THIS much.

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Black Panther 043b Black Panther 85 points

• SMARTS: A couple clicks of Outwit to start, then switches to the ever-useful Prob Control, which he rarely gets. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership on 4-6 that adds sideline Vibranium that he can use to save an ally from KO. A+
• SPEED: Good 10 speed Charge with IM:Elevated/outdoor blocking/characters. He also can move between or after Flurries if he hits. A+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: His Charge+Flurry is nice, but Precision Strike instead of Blades on those opening clicks is a weakness (though he gets BCF later). B+
• SURVIVABILITY: Starts with Invulnerability, and can reduce damage further with Vibranium or when he switches to Reflexes — as well as use it to save himself from KO. Traited Super Senses, too. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: A rare BP that scored higher than “C” on EVERY metric — and an “A” in all but one. It’s problematic that he needs lot of Vibranium (that he might not get). And he’s not quite able to reliably solo foes in his weight class (without help). And the prime slot has lots of competition. But he’s one of the best Panthers to date.

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Black Panther 051 Phoenix Force Black Panther 175 points

• SMARTS: Outwit doesn’t appear until mid-dial. B-
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. F
• SPEED: Hypersonic Speed for several clicks. He’s a flier. A
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: HyperSpeed then Charge+Blades (with a +1 from middial on) and he deals “splash” damage with his starting SP BCF. A+
• SURVIVABILITY: Impervious into SP Invulnerability, when he potentially heals on a high BCF or breakaway roll. Reduces penetrating anyway. His SP BCF also gives Poison — a further layer of defense against based foes. A+

THE KING’S VERDICT: Pity about that Leadership and the late Outwit. But this, a T’Challa temporarily given the Phoenix power (because he’s the host she actually wants before settling for Echo), is not intended to be a definitive BP.

Black Panther 051 Phoenix Force Black Panther @100 points

• SMARTS: Outwit is top-dial this level. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. F
• SPEED:  He’s a flier but no Hypersonic. A-
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Normal Charge+Blades. The SP BCF shows up late dial. A
• SURVIVABILITY: One click of Impervious into the SP Invulnerability, A+

THE KING’S VERDICT: Both dials are also immune to Perplex. Not bad. But not the best.

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Black Panther 099 Black Panther 70 points

• SMARTS: Starts with some Outwit, ends with some Perplex. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. F
• SPEED: No Improved Movement. (Sidestep+Charge SP is a good combo, though. D+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: When he hits, he can auto-nix a standard power both on the target and the whole enemy squad. But a dial full of Incapacitate means he can’t leverage it much alone. B+
  
• SURVIVABILITY: Toughness for most of dial. B

THE KING’S VERDICT: Someone said his dial is worth a lot fewer points and they’re right. Though he could surprise.

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Black Panther 100 Black Panther 65 points

• SMARTS: Outwit to start. A
• SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership on trait. He also grants theme teams Wakanda TA when they’re in hindering. A+
• SPEED: His Charge speed is mediocre but he has the requisite IM:Elevated. B
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Charge+Flurry+Blades mean massive damage. Lack of range is the only drawback. A-
• SURVIVABILITY: Invulnerability, Toughness throughout. A

THE KING’S VERDICT: This Panther does nothing fancy and yet is one of the best ever.

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Black Panther 102 Black Panther 65 points

• SMARTS: Outwit on middial. B
• SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. F
• SPEED: Hypersonic Speed + IM:Elevated is very good. A+
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
• STRENGTH: Exploit Weakness+Blades with HyperSpeed? Yes, please. A+
• SURVIVABILITY: No armor at all. Depends on Super Senses and STOP Regen. C

THE KING’S VERDICT: The missing Leadership and armor keep Shuri from the upper echelons of Pantherhood.

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Black Panther L058 Black Panther 30 points

• SMARTS: Has full-dial access to the power. Better still is his ability to block access to 2 enemy Sideline effects from game start. A+
• SOVEREIGNTY: SP Leadership. With a Vibranium, he can untoken any friendly for FREE. A+
• SPEED: Plasticity but nothing else. C-. 
• STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A.
• STRENGTH: Offensively very weak. D
• SURVIVABILITY: No armor, only Mastermind. D 

THE KING’S VERDICT: This is still one of my least favorite Panthers, but there’s no denying his meta worthiness. I just wish he’d kept the original’s +1 AV to Wakandans!

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Whew, that was a lot of Pantherness! One more installment left.