At last! The final of several posts reviewing Panthers once and future on these metrics:
- SMARTS: Outwit is his signature power.
- SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership is a must.
- SPEED: Needs Improved Movement:Elevated and good values or powers.
- STEALTH: ‘Nuff said.
- STRENGTH: Can he hit for 3-6 clicks on top dial?
- SURVIVABILITY: Damage reducers and good values.
2024 was a bonanza of Panther pieces — mostly falling short. What will be the THE KING’S VERDICT in 2025?
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Collector’s Trove 041 Black Panther
- SMARTS: No Outwit at all. Starts with Probability Control and gets Perplex soon after, though, so that’s good enough for B-
- SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership at all. F
- SPEED: He flies with Running Shot and then Hypersonic Speed. A
- STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
- STRENGTH: Running Shot+Pulse Wave used to be better with high damage. But PW paired with Force Blast is strong. And Blades comes later with HyperSpeed. A
- SURVIVABILITY: Mostly Invincible and Impervious (normal and on STOP) but with some reducer-free Super Senses. Cosmic Energy keeps him from being Outwitted. A-
THE KING’S VERDICT: Somehow not as good as the original Gauntlet Panther from 2018.
Collector’s Trove 041 Black Panther @50 points
- SMARTS: No Outwit at all and no Perplex this time, either. Prob comes soon but not to start. C+
- SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership at all. F
- SPEED: He flies with Hypersonic Speed. A
- STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A
- STRENGTH: Blades starts with Hypersonic Speed. A
- SURVIVABILITY: Impervious then reducer-free Super Senses. Cosmic Energy keeps him from being Outwitted at least. And leading with Shape Change is a strong deterrent. A-
THE KING’S VERDICT: And we were doing so well.
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Last two!
Warriors of Wakanda 001 Black Panther
- SMARTS: Outwit is present all dial long. A+
- SOVEREIGNTY: Leadership is on most clicks, and his can remove from non-adjacents, too. Also gives Wakanda TA to keyword fellows. A+
- SPEED: A few mid-dial clicks of Leap/Climb are not good enough here. C+
- STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A+
- STRENGTH: Charge+Blades for most of his long dial. A
- SURVIVABILITY: Starts with multiple clicks of Invulnerability. A
THE KING’S VERDICT: So close. But the lack of Improved Movement where it really counts is a killer. Not even starting with 3 Vibranium that can reroll his d6 rolls makes up for it.
Warriors of Wakanda 001 Black Panther @ 60 points
- SMARTS: A+
- SOVEREIGNTY: He doesn’t get the SP Leadership until back half. B+
- SPEED: Starts with the clicks of Leap/Climb, so that rates a slightly better grade here. B-
- STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A+
- STRENGTH: Missing Charge up top, but still has Blades for first few clicks. B
- SURVIVABILITY: No reducers, though his Senses SP deals damage on misses. D-
THE KING’S VERDICT: “Is this your king??” No it is not.
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Warriors of Wakanda 002 Black Panther
- SMARTS: No Outwit, just Perplex. B-
- SOVEREIGNTY: No Leadership. But she can spend Vibranium (and she starts with 2) to place friends 4 squares, so that’s good for a team. C+
- SPEED: Completely missing Improved Movement:Elevated. The Hypersonic Speed helps some. B-
- STEALTH: Wakanda TA. A+
- STRENGTH: HSS, Precision and Exploit Weakness on top dial is solid. A
- SURVIVABILITY: No reducers, just Senses. D
THE KING’S VERDICT: Shuri here (with same powers on both 100- and 60-point values) isn’t as good as her brother above. And we’ve established that HE isn’t that good.
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That’s a wrap on this loooonnnng survey of Black Panther pieces in HeroClix. And in the end: I was gonna close with a lengthy “by the numbers” kinda thing but I’m tired.
Number of total Panther dials (including half-dials):
84
Number with straight A grades:
0
Not ONE scored tops on every metric.
But here’s the honor roll of the best Panthers (ones that scored B or higher across the board):
- Black Panther 043b Black Panther 85 points
- Black Panther 100 Black Panther 65 points
- Black Panther 033 Black Panther @75 points
- Black Panther 033 Black Panther @50 points
- Fantastic Four 013a Black Panther
And a few more that had straight A’s except for one or two slots but are still among the very best Panthers out there:
- Secret Wars Battleworld 061 Black Panther
- Earth X 014 Black Panther
- Wakanda Hulkbuster
- Warriors of Wakanda 001 Black Panther
- Fantastic Four 013b Black Leopard
PHEW! That might be the last time I do a review series this big.
Time to get back to My Custom Mods or something