Longtime readers know that one of Heroclixin’s favorite themes is teams of all-Black characters and a standing goal of mine is to build a competitive one.

Ambrose Chase (WizKids DP19-005) @ 90 points. Support and range attacker.
Ayo (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 021) @ 20 points. Leadership, equipper.
Dr. Claire Finn (The Orville 003) 25 points. Medic, mobility.
Duke Thomas (Rebirth 011a) 35 points. Support.
Maggott (House of X 051) 40 points. Melee attacker and support.
Micron (Justice League Unlimited 059b) 40 points. Melee attacker and support.
Teen Lantern (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035) @30 points. Taxi, support, range attacker.
Spectral (Mandarin Ring) (MP19-s104) 5 points
Spin (Mandarin Ring) (MP19-s103) 5 points

SIDELINE: Black Manta (Justice League Unlimited 068), Black Vulcan (Justice League Unlimited 072)

Yes, it’s All-Black Everything, with all starting and Sideline characters either African or African-descended. Only Dr. Finn’s frequent patient, the Lt. Yaphit pog, comes along to the cookout.

THE PLAN: Using Yaphit and Ayo, Ambrose gets Spectral since its Precision Strike now works with his multiple targeting “Probabalistic Bullet Swarm” while non-combatant Dr. Finn gets Spin. Beyond that, everything depends on my opponent because I am a reactive player by style. But Yaphit potentially giving the whole team Sidestep is pretty key.

I’d given an Ayo-less version of this team a bye-round test run against a solid Apocalypse (HoX 059b)-led Horseman themed force of Wolverine (HoX 022), Xorn (HoX 029a) and Rogue (HoX 036) to a victory. But on this Juneteenth at a different venue, I had a chance to play it under actual tourney conditions.

 

ROUND ONE opponent: returning player Luke
He had a hastily built team of WW80 Harley Quinn*, Ferdinand, and starter set versions of Wonder Girl, Medusa, Miss Martian and Circe (and maybe one other piece I can’t recall). I spent much of this game teaching Luke the basics again, suggesting moves for him and somewhat inadvertently hurting my own squad. But he also made moves that turned out to be very key counters to my efforts.

For example, using an Invulnerable Mystics character to block for softer teammates completely stymied my Maggott bystander attacks, forcing me to rely on a much less efficient Outwit+Poison tactic. I also misplaced Yaphit badly and lost him to an easy shot. But this was a also a chance for me to ease into my team’s workings and I still won with a KO of Miss Martian and her 40 points, losing none of my own. 1-0.

 

ROUND TWO opponent: Chris’s DEVOURER OF WORLDS

He brought Galactus (WizKids M-G001) at 250 points with Dr. Doom (Fantastic Four 021) at 45 points for Enhancement. He won the Utopia map, which gave me some indoor terrain in which to hide, but that wasn’t a long-term strat due to big G’s Elemental Converter making the edges deadly.

Ambrose took big damage early, forcing him to try for healing. Had to overextend to attack Galactus (missing probs) but started landing Empowered hits to wear him down with my action advantage to wipe with 295 points against a loss of just 30. Good result in a strong stress test of my team losing an attacker early on and still being able to bring the pain. 2-0. 
ROUND THREE opponent: JON’s Celebrity

Superman (JLU 035) with a Soul Gem led Blackbeard and Mary Jane Watson (SVAC) on my map of Latveria: A poor choice due to no elevated terrain that Ambrose could exploit. Jon trusted Blackbeard’s full complement of Paparazzi to Mastermind to while Superman staged for later.

Poison from Meany cleared the pogs, allowing short work on Blackbeard. Got lucky on an evasion from Supes when I burned a needed action and wasn’t able to effectively put him down. Still had the game in hand by last action, 90-25.

3-0 on the day, but only second place due to lower points scored in Round 1. The winner had a force that might have ruined mine: a Spider-Man Family theme with Spidey 1776, whose anti-Leadership and autonomous zone is a solid counter to my pogs, which I would need to deal with the Weapon H also on that force. I might need to call out that player for a match.

 

BY PIECE:

Ambrose Chase: Interestingly, though he’s a third of the team, he’s not really been a lead attacker in any of these games. Instead he hung back using Perplex or Outwit and, occasionally, his 3-square Prob. But he’s a favorite and way better on his top dial than his 60-point line, so until this squad needs 30-40 points of room, he remains this expensive 2nd shooter.

Ayo: Leadership was ABSOLUTELY NEEDED for this team, even though her Wakanda and Warrior keywords match NO ONE and she’s the cheapest on the force except the pogs. But she’s worth the risk for both that extra action and the extra ease of Turn 1 equipping.

Dr. Claire Finn: She proved her worth with the Round 2 heals of Ambrose, that got him back to the supporting clicks the team needed. Her equipping the Spin ring also made mobility simple at key moments. And of course, her Lt. Yaphit does so much by giving anyone Sidestep.

Duke Thomas: Probably the safer tactic would’ve been to keep him way in the back for the +1 AV for swarming melee, but adding his Empower to the front lines’ fighters was way too tempting and useful.

Maggott: Effectively the lead attacker, though he doesn’t actually do much attacking; it’s his pogs Eany (via Exploit Weakness) and Meany (Poison) who did all the work. Also Prob.

Micron: On a team full of key players, this prime was maybe the most key with his Empower to aid the other punchers, his Enhancement pumping the range shots and his own CCE making him the other lead attacker. So versatile, with his ability to attack after a quasi-carry or to retaliate when an ally is KOed.

Teen Lantern: Not only does she literally carry the whole team with Green Lantern TA and bring Prob and range to the table (though her puny 2 damage needs Micron’s Enhancement to work), but her PD TA came in handy, as did her FREE Barrier (when I remembered to use it).

SIDELINERS
I actually forgot to activate Black Manta’s “Let’s Cause Trouble!” trait. But I did NOT forget Black Vulcan’s TroubAlert, bringing him in to put in work (though he eventually self-KO’d on three straight rolls)

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Looking forward to trying this team out further in future competitive events.