Finally, it’s time for my favorite Top Ten list of these annual new year retrospectives: My Top Ten Faves of the past year! As in previous installments I’ll hit the following talking points:
- Why I like this figure and would like to play it every weekend
- Why I don’t actually play this figure every weekend
- When and how I’m planning to play this figure, possibly this weekend
And also as before, I open this feature with a figure released in the prior year that came out too late to make the list it might’ve belonged to:
LEX LUTHOR (Superman Fast Forces 004)
The greatest criminal scientist of the DC Universe and sworn enemy of Superman!
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WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK:
I love that Lex as jailbird was finally represented in HeroClix in the full Superman set. But like his archfoe, Lex was based on his All-Star Superman version and thus saddled with a Superman-level powered “stop” click to represent his electric-chair-activated super serum in that storyline.
But that’s not the mainstream Universe Lex. He’d NEVER let himself actually lose a death penalty trial. 
Anyway, I was even gladder to see a more normal, less apocalyptic Lex in this 50-point model. He’s a better fit for teams and plays much like this ultimate schemer ought to:
- Allying with others (using his Calculator wild card status) whom he might use to defeat Superman by using Enhancement to help them shoot, or Perplexing other stats as needed);
- Staying in the shadows (via Stealth);
- and, best of all, using Mastermind to turn on his temporary allies to save himself in classic Lex fashion, regardless of their cost if they don’t have more than 100 points on him.
I like this sort of finesse piece.
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WHY I DON’T:
His super-Mastermind requires him to be using the same TA. That rules out a lot of characters, and he’s only as good as his team. He’s also been a bit overshadowed by Lex Luthor (10th Anniversary 020), an even better representation of the character at his at-large strongest.
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I’M NEXT PLAYING HIM ON:
Either a Legion of Doom team or a team of all Lex Luthors:
Justice League Lex 161
Orange Lantern Lex 160
Alex Luthor 113
Force Field Lex 160
All-Star Lex 107
and this Lex to make a 751-point team to fill out with ATAs, feats and/or Resources.
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Join Heroclixin’ in Valentine’s week for more figures I loved in 2012.