In a normal year, my favorites have all stood the test of time on a map and thus earned favored status.

But 2021 hasn’t been much more normal than 2020 was. Actual map time has STILL been at a premium. And with one of the year’s sets not arriving until the week of Christmas for me, there’s certainly no way to properly rank my faves this time around.

So again, in addition to the usual F.U.N. criteria — Is this figure Fair, Useful and Nerdcore? — I’m also falling back on this question?:

“When I see this figure, do I immediately wish I had a team to fit it on?”

——————

In alphabetical order:

Captain Britain (House of X 053)

80 points  / 30 points

Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a Charge piece. That’s never too scary at her cost. Her range is minimal, too.

Useful/Utility: But Exploit Weakness with Blades/Claws/Fangs is never bad, either. She brings more: Extra Leadership token removal for X-Men/Excalibur pals within 3 squares (her range). She can also tackle enemy Mystics without fear.

Nifty/Nerdcore: I just like the Captain Britain-y sculpt. I also love the SP, which only appears on her 80-cost:

PSIONIC ARMING SWORD Blades/Claws/Fangs. Once per turn, when Captain Britain uses it, you may choose to reduce the d6 roll by 1 or 2 (choose before rolling). If you do, decrease the target’s combat values by the same amount until your next turn.

This is the kind of tradeoff that makes for a great F.U.N. figure. And so she’s one of my favorites.

———

The Commissioner (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 067)

50 points / 25 points

Friendly/Fellowship: He’s pretty meta but really only peak mean on a Secret Six team. Way less so at my preferred full cost. And he himself does little damage.

Useful/Utility: But it’s Rookie (Stealthy giant with 11AV PPB and Prob) who does the damage, isn’t it? And Commissioner’s SP to give a keyworded pal (such as Rookie) an extra attack. And then there’s his Improved Targeting: Outwit through Stealth. And then there’s his Underworld team ability. And then there’s his Leadership (and Enhancement off his top dials). And his +1 AV attacking foes with his keyword(s). And Mastermind to cover it all.

Nifty/Nerdcore: So I have a Commissioner Gordon collection that I needed him to complete. Sculptwise, it’s the blowing tie for me. Playwise, it’s the whole package.

———

Dr. Poison (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 045)

40 points

Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a Stealth piece with no armor and OK range of 6. Aside from her Poison (natch), there’s nothing scary about her.

Useful/Utility: But she still brings a better-than-expected 3 damage. And there’s her ability to give Poison to a Sidekick for a turn. That would be pretty useless if she had to break theme to fit Sidekicks on board, but her Leadership (aside being useful in itself) generates the German Soldier, whose Toughness makes him an able deliveryman for the bad doctor’s poisonous experiments.

Nifty/Nerdcore: She’s a sneaky good little villainess and plays like one, with Mastermind and the power she’s named for.

———

Harley Quinn (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 024)

50 points / 25 points

Friendly/Fellowship: A 0-range Charge Toughness piece is never that terrifying, especially at her 50-point level. And at half-price, she’s just Sidestepping, though she’s extra evasive with Wonder Woman Super Senses and a better fighter with CCE.

Useful/Utility: But at full cost, she’s a Prob Controller. Harley also literally bring the boys to the yard with Underworld team ability (if they’re cheaper and share her keywords, of course). But her best assets are her dial-long Quake and her “Oopsie” trait, which quasi-Incapacitates targets she misses.

Nifty/Nerdcore: And that image, of her enemies’ jaws dropping because her boobs popped out of her ill-fitting borrowed Wonder Woman bustier, is what makes this figure so F.U.N., even for Harley. She’s a joy to play, hit or miss.

———

Lex Luthor (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 056)

50 points

Friendly/Fellowship: This was among 2021’s Worst list thanks to a rules change and other reasons. You can read there.

Useful/Utility: But Outwit is always useful, isn’t it? He’s also an Outwitter who, thanks to Mastermind —and— multiple STOP clicks, can’t be easily wiped off the map despite a short 4-click dial. Moreover, he brings in a pair of strong bystanders when he hits those STOPs: Bizarro (Impervious, 4 damage) then Green Light (Running Shot Penetrating Blast).

Nifty/Nerdcore: He’s the last major character from the classic Red Son Superman story to be clixed. And he’s well-designed to match those older (pre-Silver Age) figures while bringing something new to the map. It’s too bad about the rule change, but creative play can still call out his potential.

———

Loki (Empyre 026) 

60 points

Friendly/Fellowship: A no-move+attack Blades piece isn’t unfair at all. And with Stealth and Mystics, opponents can happily avoid him, probably, if they can tolerate his Probability Control.

Useful/Utility: There’s that Prob. And there’s also his Rally trait, which works on ALL attacks, for once. He can spend Rally dice to place himself 2 squares away and leave a doppelgänger Loki (also with BCF, also with Prob) where he was.

He’s also got a decently long dial, with Toughness on top and a Mind Control/Poison/Outwit stint mid-dial.

Nifty/Nerdcore: And then there’s that “Low Key” sculpt. This figure is pure F.U.N.

———

Maggott (House of X 051)

40 points

Friendly/Fellowship: He’s got no printed move+attack, a lowish 10 AV and zero armor to protect his slim 5-click dial. He really is a pretty fair figure on the surface.

Useful/Utility: But his three traits tho. The first FREE generates one of his autonomous pogs, both of which have Charge, giving him an effective 15-square attack range. The second FREEly absorbs the pot back, saving it from retaliation of any sort. The third gives Maggott healing or Charge and +1 stats if the pog he just absorbed hit its target — and again, all for FREE, so it can happen in a single turn.

This is a meta piece, plain and simple. Low cost, near-full map reach, Prob.

Nifty/Nerdcore: One of the weirdest X-Men ever, it was a good move for the 2018 Worlds Teams champs to create this character. He’s a welcome addition to my Black Box collection of African-descended and Black-coded characters.

———

Master Mold (WizKids MP20-001)

375 points / 200 points / 75 points / 25 points

Friendly/Fellowship: Though it has lots of armor and Outwit and the power to bring in more Sentinels, the lack of any real move+attack beyond Sidestep will leave opponents feeling relatively safe in the short term — especially if they don’t trigger his retaliation.

Useful/Utility: At top cost, he’s a lead attacker, of course, though the aforementioned lack of speed is a problem. 200 points is also strong, and at both those high point lines, it can turn its Factory Dial at will each turn to generate more Sentinel allies

That’s the real use of Master Mold: calling in more of the killer robots. Either the Leadership-generated mega 2×2 pogs it comes with or wait for the Factory to get to clicks 3 or higher to pop out Sentinels of wildly varied point costs. In turn, those Sentinels can advance the Factory dial to aid in generating ever more allies.

Nifty/Nerdcore: It’s a great update of the old Master Mold’s ability from 2012’s Galactic Guardians set. And I love things like this that make even older pieces work. My favorite level for him is 75 points for the best F.U.N. balance.

———

Monica Rambeau (Empyre 041)

 150 points / 50 points

Friendly/Fellowship: Despite her really cool SP, 150 is a LOT of points for a figure with just 3 printed damage on top, and at 50 she’s far from the most efficient. The SP also requires her to overextend more than the more traditional (and currently benched) Hypersonic Speed would’ve been. So she’s a fair piece.

Useful/Utility: Her SP is really good, though, giving her the power to phase through an enemy, then to safety, THEN roll to punch ’em in the face with CCE. She also has a trait giving a 50% chance at either flashing back to her original square or adding an action to the force whenever she uses Phasing or Running Shot. And neither can be Outwitted because she’s got Cosmic Energy.

Nifty/Nerdcore: I’m mad that once again, Monica hasn’t gotten either the Nextwave nor Ultimates keywords she deserves, keeping her from being played with those teams in proper theme. But she’s otherwise everything I want in the character.

———

Multiple Man (X-Men Rise & Fall 007)

40 points / 10 points

Friendly/Fellowship: 2 damage is nothing to worry about on his top point level. Close Combat Expert makes the cheaper one a little more potent but it’s so much less survivable. He also isn’t a standard character, so he can’t use equipment.

Useful/Utility: He brings Leadership and a much longer dial at 40 points thanks to both his Toughness and his trait capping his health loss at 2. And that in turn activates his Dupe creation of a 0-point Multiple Man on click 9, which has Empower and Plasticity.

Suddenly that 2 damage becomes a 3 or 4!

Nifty/Nerdcore: Longtime Heroclixin’ readers will recall that Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) in 2011 and Multiple Man (Wolverine and the X-Men) in 2013 both topped my favorites but this version of the character may be the first to truly capture his powers.

———

Onome (Empyre 015)

40 points

Friendly/Fellowship: She’s just a fragile Outwitter. Easy enough to avoid.

Useful/Utility: But she can Outwit TWICE. Or, if she’s on a themed team, Prob twice a turn. And her fellow Sidekicks can as well. Or Perplex twice, if they’ve got that power. Pretty useful girl.

Nifty/Nerdcore: I read her in the very short-lived Future Foundation comic and have been hoping for her intro to clix since. Speaking of that team …

———

Rikki Barnes (Empyre 072)

 75 points

Friendly/Fellowship: Though she has a nice range and can throw out a lot of attacks, she’s not doing much damage without trading off on that reach and frequency. She’s a chase that won’t have foes quaking.

Useful/Utility: But she does bring Quake to start. More to the point, she brings her “Dream of a Soldier” Speed SP:

POWER: In any order: Move, Make a close attack, Make a range attack. If she attacks, she uses her printed damage value.

She also has IT:Adjacency. So she could move in close, Quake (but only for 2 damage because the lime attack power would override the SP), then point-blank shoot a target who maybe was left adjacent. Next turn, punch again, shoot another target, then try breaking away to move. So much flex in this power!

She’s also got ESD + Toughness SP that boost the DV of adjacent allies if they’re off top click. Some Leadership, then Enhancement and an end click of penetrating damage with a reappearance of the Dream SP.

Speaking of last click, she is a tough KO because she revives based on the number of team abilities on the field (including her Team Player TA). So: minimum 1 heal and possibly up to full. (But never onto that great final click, though — too bad the trait didn’t read “all other characters” and not hers.)

Nifty/Nerdcore: I like the character from the very short-lived Future Foundation comic. But I fell in love with that SP from the start: It’s F.U.N. perfection.

———

Sentinel (X-Men Rise & Fall 008)

25 points

Friendly/Fellowship: Even with Sidestep 6 range and Great Size, this 2 damage Incap piece isn’t going to trouble the other guy on sight.

Useful/Utility: But not having to build it on your force, is pretty useful. They can serve as extra taxis, too. And when KOed, they go to the Sideline to possibly respawn.

Nifty/Nerdcore: That trait wins it extra Nifty points.

———

Teen Lantern (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035)

75 points / 30 points

Friendly/Fellowship: She’s a little poor offensively at either price and completely lacks defense abilities if anyone gets past her Barrier. She’s not scary.

Useful/Utility: But Prob through Barrier is pretty solid. She also carts teams with Green Lantern team ability and brings Police TA for some reason.

Nifty/Nerdcore: She kinda snuck onto this list by being a key member of the Juneteenth team and just being … adorable, kinda.

———

T’Chaka II (Empyre 047b)

 45 points

Friendly/Fellowship: Charge pieces aren’t usually terrifying.

Useful/Utility: But he’s also got Flurry, which is the MOST terrifying combo with Charge, especially with Blades/Claws/Fangs. Being Stealthy could keep him safe to get in position for a Charge, potentially. But his real use is to mess with enemy attack rolls:

DISTRACTING BANTER Once per turn, when an opposing character within range makes an attack, after all rerolls and die replacements, you may roll a d6 and subtract half the result before finalizing the attack roll.

Any hit less than +1 over the defense is gonna miss — and it needs to be +3 or more to guarantee a hit! T’Chaka also brings constant Leadership for a final bit of utility.

Nifty/Nerdcore: Thank goodness his trait is only once per turn. This is going to be the most hilariously annoying figure to play. I might need to track down the comics in which he appears so I can get his best jokes ready.

F.U.N.!

Another year has ended. And like the unprecedented one before it, 2021 has been … something.

These clix are also something … you probably don’t want to play.

———

10th worst

Rogue (Empyre 104a) 40 points

She’s not entirely terrible, just sooooooooo underwhelming compared to …

… well …

… ANY other 40-point piece in the game today. And especially with 30 points being the ridiculously meta price of the best figs in the game right now.

This “shugah” ain’t sweet.

 ———

9th worst

 

8th worst

German Soldier (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 003) 20 points

9 AV Energy Explosion and Toughness. Ummm, OK. The best thing about him is he’s a Sidekick. I guess they didn’t want to design GOOD Nazi generics.

Speaking of Sidekicks…

———

I started to make this next slot a catchall for the Future Foundation set Sidekicks: They just can’t do anything, I thought. But that wasn’t really true across the board. Paying 20 points or less for dials full of

• Outwit (Leech) or
• TK (Franklin) or
• Perplex (Valeria) or
• Leadership (Bentley-23)
• or even Mind Control+Incap (Artie) are each useful, even aside from Captain-granted abilities.

These … are not.

7th worst (tie)

Mik (Future Foundation 011) 10 points

Stealth Exploit Weakness? Like, why?

Tong (Future Foundation 026) 15 points

Makes her sibs better but only for a fleeting moment, when all four are on the board (including the Turg bystander).

——

Korr (Future Foundation 038) 25 points

Utterly useless w/o Turg yet the costliest of them all.

Altogether, they’re just 50 points, but are you ever going to have the actions to use them? And let’s not forget you have to spend MORE points on Captains to make them minimally playable. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Leave them in the subterranean depths of your tackle box.

6th worst (tie)

• Alex: Force Blast and Telekinesis
• Julie: Hypersonic and Energy Shield/Deflection
• Jack: Sidestep and Close Combat Expert
• Katie: Energy Explosion and Exploit Weakness

4th worst

3rd worst

 

RALLY (5): Opposing Attack Rolls. When an adjacent friendly character would take damage from an attack, you may remove Darwin’s RALLY die to instead deal 1 unavoidable damage to Darwin.

2nd worst

WORST worst

 

Cardinal (House of X 043) 50 points

He’s bad in so many ways.

• He got hit by the loss of Perplexed damage in the 2021 rules rewrite.
• 0 damage.
• 0 range 9 AV Incapacitate.
• He also has an alternate dial that can actually fight. But…
• …he needs to watch his teammates take damage from attacks (i.e., losing) to MAYBE activate that dial.
• … because he has to build up tokens and then roll high enough with the free action.
• And if that weren’t bad enough, he self-harms once he activates unless he hits attacks every turn.
• And with him being a melee fighter who’s likely been hanging back, that might be hard to do.
• Did I mention he has old-style Colossal Stamina? So while he can push himself for those hits, he’s still damaging himself to do it.

It’s actually 100% accurate. But also kinda 100% bad.

After monthslong delay, EMPYRE is finally out there in the wild. So it’s time for our customary checklist. As a bonus, there’s a mini checklist for the recently released Eternals gravity feed set as well.

EmpyreCHECKLIST

Three copies of each checklist per letter-sized sheet. Download, print and enjoy.

So we’ve finally gotten a look at the new Powers and Abilities card coming with the Empyre mini game/starter set. WizKids made a few minor fixes after the overhaul earlier this year.

CHARGE

Now allows a CLOSE as FREE -or- a basic close attack. The global ban on any FREE action being done more than once made this simple power hard to use in certain cases. It’s now fixed.

RUNNING SHOT

See Charge but for RANGE and ranged attacks.

PULSE WAVE

The WW80 PAC version had some incomplete language that raised questions. Back in spring:

PULSE WAVE — RANGE: Halve range, [Improved Targeting: Characters, Adjacent]. Other characters within range can’t use powers or abilities (for this action). Make a range attack targeting all other characters within range and line of fire, including at least 1 opposing character, using printed defense values for each targeted character. If 1+ characters were targeted, each hit character is dealt 1 damage instead.

“Instead” … of WHAT? What is that word even DOING there if there’s no other condition where the power would do anything else “instead”?

Now it’s been properly worded to end with “instead of normal damage.”

Still really kinda bad now, but at least it makes proper sense.

QUAKE

It loses the ability to do a quasi-single-target attack, something that had kinda carried over from 2017 rules into 2021’s version.

PASSENGER: 0

This is a new rule blocking anyone with this from carrying.

———

There were a few other things, but they are simply changes in wording, same effect.

Looking to improve these without adding a ton of new rules and wording. The game’s gotten more streamlined; let’s keep it that way.

1/29/2022 EDIT: I’ve decided to pin this post for a while. The more I think about these changes, the more I really, REALLY want to see them — ESPECIALLY the following:

LEAP/CLIMB

It’s currently slightly OK in tandem with other moving powers like Charge or Sidestep. But by itself? Nearly useless. The 2021 rules also stripped L/C of its breakaway bonuses. So let’s give the orange Speed power something quasi-movement-related.

• HEROCLIXIN’S CHANGE (in italics): Improved Movement: Elevated, Outdoor Blocking, Adjacency. When this character attacks or is attacked, after resolutions you may place it in an adjacent square.

Like a lo-fi version of the old Vault feat card pictured but useful for offense AND defense. And it sort of gives the breakaway ability back!

EARTHBOUND/NEUTRALIZED

This “power” used to be useful for designing figs who have to activate their powers. But now there are some older pieces that simply CAN’T activate. Also, E/N is supposed to be a character in a weakened state. But simply not being able to use Improved Targeting or Movement — which many figs don’t have at all — isn’t quite universal enough.

• HEROCLIXIN’S CHANGE: This character can’t use Improved Movement or Improved Targeting abilities. When this character is given a second action token, deal it 1 unavoidable damage.

This change gives it some bite back while allowing some Golden Age figs to be playable again and offering designers a tool for dial manipulation.

PULSE WAVE

So the yellow attack power was INTENDED to be an omni-directional blast that couldn’t be avoided, but essentially for light damage. However, it eventually became an “easy mode” way to do big damage. Now it’s nigh-useless for the risk.

• HEROCLIXIN’S CHANGE: RANGE: Halve range, Improved Targeting: Characters, Adjacency. Other characters within range can’t use powers or abilities (for this action). Make a range attack targeting all other characters within range and line of fire, including at least 1 opposing character, using printed defense values for each targeted character. Each hit character is dealt 2 damage instead of normal damage.

This makes PW worth using even against a solo target without devolving it back to Easy Mode and makes it really worth the risk when using it against a swarm — while also extra-discouraging using it against your own people.

SUPER STRENGTH

This used to be a key power. Now it’s the worst, thanks to:

1. the loss of knock back damage
2. the loss of heavy object damage
3. the loss of the Hypersonic Speed + object attack combo

Honestly, all these losses are good for the game. There was once a time you needed a whole chart to figure out who could hold any of FOUR different kinds of objects and how FAR you could throw each and how much damage each could do in close or at range because it was different based on what the object was and if it was thrown or not … GAAHHHH.

But Super Strength, which is THE super power in comics, is now an utter shadow of its old self.

• HEROCLIXIN’S CHANGE: KNOCKBACK during close attacks. This character can pick up (and hold) heavy objects. +1 damage dealt during Object Actions.

Heroclixin’ also wouldn’t mind Super Strength allowing better carry abilities, but we’re looking to add as little as possible to the wording and mechanics.

INCAPACITATE

It was ALMOST good enough for its cost before. But the 2021 rules made it bad now with no pushing or ability to affect two-tokened targets. And although there are some powerful corner-case applications for Incap, we of Heroclixin’ still believe it needs this boost.

• HEROCLIXIN’S CHANGE: When this character makes an attack, instead of normal damage, you may give each hit character an action token. Those characters can’t be given FREE actions their next turn.

We’ve been pushing for this change for about a decade. It only makes sense!

———

Hopefully in a year or two, we can see some or all of these changes in the game.

Originally slated for a June release, X-Men: Rise And Fall got caught up in the shipping delays that affected the whole world. (Long story. One to be told on a less F.U.N. website than ours.) But finally, it’s coming — maybe as early as today (Aug. 11, 2021)! And here’s a checklist!

XMenRiseAndFallchecklist

Download, print and enjoy!

After looking at how all my old favorites improve (or don’t) under the brand new ruleset, I decided to look more closely at some pieces I might actually realistically play this year compared to, say, Flashpoint Aquaman (No. 98 of 125-plus).

Absorbing Man (Captain America and the Avengers 073) 100 points

The Atom (Justice League Unlimited 059a) 40 points

Black Cat (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 005) 40 points

WHAT’S BETTER? No pushing! Her SP combining Leap/Climb and Sidestep really can improve her mobility as an Underworld taxi, as the former allows her to easily traverse elevations with the latter.

WHAT’S WORSE? Her Stealth is a little vulnerable to Outwit now.

WHAT’S NEXT? I tend to squeeze her on teams to fill out points because she’s a keyword cheater.

—————————

Black Widow (Black Widow Movie 100) 75 points

Bombshell (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 009) 40 points

Bombshell (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 025) 60 points

WHAT’S BETTER? They both start with Willpower, which could be cool, and pushing is no longer a concern. Mama Shell (025) ends with RCE for a little boost there.

WHAT’S WORSE? Their tandem Pulse Wave, tho. And especially 009’s Perplex can’t boost her 2 damage.

WHAT’S NEXT? Probably putting them on a “Sinister Sixteen” theme I have brewing.

—————————

Human Torch (Fantastic Four 038) 40 points

Ironheart (Captain America and the Avengers 056) 85 points

Jolt (Captain America and the Avengers 031a) 25 points

WHAT’S BETTER? She doesn’t push so she might actually get that Flurry off sometime.

WHAT’S WORSE? Losing Reflexes’ knockback immunity could make it harder to get that Flurry off sometimes.

WHAT’S NEXT? Trying to get her on a Thunderbolts team to Flurry sometime.

—————————

Micron (Justice League Unlimited 059b) 50 points

Quake (Captain America and the Avengers 010) 65 points

WHAT’S BETTER? Look who’s not pushing anymore! Plus there’s middial CCE and late Willpower.

WHAT’S WORSE? Nothing. She’s great.

WHAT’S NEXT? I once had a Directors of SHIELD theme of her, the Furys, Coulson, Iron Man and a few others. I should rebuild it.

—————————

Red Guardian (Black Widow Movie 016) 75 points

Reed Richards, Fixer Of Universes (Fantastic Four 056) 60 points

WHAT’S BETTER? Nothing.

WHAT’S WORSE? Perplex is nerfed.

WHAT’S NEXT?  I’ve had a standing “Council of Reeds” team build for the past eight years. Of course he’s on it.

—————————

Spider-Hamurai (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 066) 60 points

Spider-Man (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 054) 60 points

WHAT’S BETTER? Perplex … on his J. Jonah Jameson pog that can’t target his damage values anymore.

WHAT’S WORSE? Until we got the Comprehensive Rulebook for the 2021 overhaul, I was afraid that his ability to multitarget a bunch of foes had gotten nerfed. But no, he still doesn’t have to split his damage the way multi-bolt attackers do. So he’s still fine.

WHAT’S NEXT? Unsure, but he’s the first Spidey I reach for when considering the character.

—————————

Spot (Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage 042) 50 points

Sue Storm (Fantastic Four 062) 100 points

WHAT’S BETTER? Hey, she can plant her Barrier on terrain now and maybe Outwit a Stealther.

WHAT’S WORSE? But her Perplex, Telekinesis and Incap are all worse.

WHAT’S NEXT? That Sue team of all Sue Storm-Richardses that no one will see coming because she’s invisible.

—————————

Superman (Justice League Unlimited 105) 125 points / 60 points

WHAT’S BETTER? Almost everything. He can now knock back most opponents, so he’ll get more attack opportunities with his opening HSS and traited Super Strength. On clicks 2-5, he has CCE for higher AV and damage with some Precision to boot. He just becomes fantastically more playable in 2021 than before.

WHAT’S WORSE? Invincible is a little worse, as is Super Strength.

WHAT’S NEXT? I had this pandemic-era plan to pit my collection of Lex Luthors against an equal build of Superman figs. So this’ll be on that squad for sure.

 

—————————

Ultron (Avengers Vs. Masters of Evil Battlegrounds 110b) 100 points

Vixen (Justice League Unlimited 015) 75 points

WHAT’S BETTER? She can pick CCE for every turn on offense now to good effect, bolstering her EW on click 1 to a staggering 4 damage, her Flurry on clicks 3-4, her BCF on click 5.

WHAT’S WORSE? Her Willpower is thoroughly useless now. But she’d really rather select an actual defense anyway for her non-attacking rounds such as Invulnerability, Reflexes or Senses.

WHAT’S NEXT? Not sure, but I can’t wait for it.

—————————

 What favorite figures of yours from 2020 or earlier got boosted or nerfed by the 2021 rules? Post in the comments!

My longtime clix buddy Lenny and I periodically have big matches between themed forces — Avengers vs. JLA, Guardians of the Galaxy vs. Inhumans, Marvel Knights vs. The Hand, Asgard vs. enemies of the Golden Realm, what have you.

But I pulled Dr. Thing and the Thing Legacy card, making my Thing team complete. And Lenny loves Hulks, so back in March …

Hulk (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati) 125 points…Professor Hulk.

Hulk (Earth X 055) 150 points…Big Baby Hulk.

Hulk (Fantastic Four Fast Forces 002) 75 points…Gray Hulk.

Hulk (Fantastic Four 056) 150 points…Cho Hulk.

Immortal Hulk (Captain America and The Avengers) 100 points.

Maestro (Secret Wars: Battleworld 028) 175 points.

Red Hulk ((Fantastic Four 010) 75 points.

She-Hulk (Future Foundation 006) 75 points

She-Hulk (Secret Wars: Battleworld 023a) 80 points

She-Hulk (Secret Wars: Battleworld 100) 90 points

Worldbreaker (Secret Wars: Battleworld 013) 100 points

VS. my

The Thing (Future Foundation 003) 30 points…Skrull

The Thing (Future Foundation Fast Forces 003) 50 points…Thing in a black jumper.

The Thing (Future Foundation 020) 60 points…Captain Thing

The Thing (Future Foundation L038) 140 points…Legacy Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four 004) 40 points…OG Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four 020) 50 points…Red Pants Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four 036) 75 points…Married Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four 049) 50 points…Dad Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four Cosmic Clash 003) 100 points…Starter Thing

The Thing (Fantastic Four Deep Cuts 003) 75 points…Deep Cuts Thing

Ms. Thing (Future Foundation 022) 75 points

Blackbeard (Future Foundation 052) 90 points

Dr. Thing (Future Foundation 066) 150 points

She-Thing (Fantastic Four 012) 40 points

She-Thing (Fantastic Four 028) 75 points…of the Frightful Four

She-Thing (Fantastic Four Fast Forces 006) 75 points

Thing Robot (Future Foundation 009) 20 points

Both teams matched exactly 1195 points!!!

He won map: It was a ROC map. Little blocking, elevated with puddles of water to hinder. Sucked for me.

He split on two sides of the elevated, teaming Red, Gray and Professor Hulks on one and Big Baby Hulk, She-Hulk and Cho Hulk on the other. I avoided Baby, who was both too dangerous and would yield a lot of Vengeance for Immortal if I contended with him. So I set up a crowd to rush the multicolored Hulks, blocking access with Thing Robot.

…which got one-shot when Immortal Banner Outwit its defense and She-Hulk Charged in for 4. Gray Hulk also attacked but missed. Prof Hulk moved to an OK Outwit position and Red Hulk Charged in to protect him.

Granted these new targets, I began to counterattack, taking on both Red and Gray for decent damage — KOing the latter — and going around the end to punch up Professor Hulk with the black-suited Fast Forces Thing to get the Prof off his dangerous Outwit clicks, with Ms. Thing there to serve as bodyguard.

TEMPERS FLARE

Lenny got angry, as he often does, with my timely good rolls, saying, “You’re winning from luck, not skill!”

This was a rare time I snapped back: “Don’t disrespect my skill!” I had a plan and was putting it in action.

BUT… my boast aside, I was definitely was not playing my best game so far.

SMASHING FAILS

• I had no Prob Control apart from Ms. Thing’s “reroll a 4” trait that had already saved my orange bacon twice already. So why did I think it wise to march her where Immortal Hulk could Outwit her defense and get her one-turned by Amadeus, She-Hulk and Worldbreaker?
• I let black suit Thing (and, by extension, Ms. Thing) get Charged on multiple times without a roll because I forgot this trait:

• Based by two strong bruisers, he got KO’d in short order.
• A few turns later, Dr. Thing got some strong licks in. But I neglected to Sidestep him away, overconfident in his defenses, and almost got one-turned by Cho’s Flurry.
• And my dice rolls aren’t nearly as lucky as Lenny thinks. Legacy Thing failed every attack in the first half of the game, getting beaten off his shiny new version of “Had Enough Clobberin’ Yet?”
• Two crit misses against LE She-Hulk — without her even having to use Prob!
• And my setup had the field so crowded that I couldn’t truly swarm with my superior numbers just yet.

Despite all that failing and flailing … I’m a skilled player most days. And this was no exception, leading to these TURNING POINTS

CLOBBERIN’ TIMES

• Dad Thing’s Defend kept most of the front line Things safe from much of the counterattacks and his -2 suPerplex kept Baby Hulk well in check.
• I’d carefully held Newlywed Thing back until there were Hulks aplenty, then moved him forward to give nearly the whole team Empower, so although the Things missed as much as they hit, they were hitting HARD.
• Did I say they missed? Actually they often hit but Lenny landed EIGHT STRAIGHT IMPERVIOUS ROLLS with FFFF She-Hulk — with more than a couple of straight missed attacks to boot! The silver lining was that Immortal Hulk got no Vengeance at all out of it because I’d skillfully prevented him any LOF to targets when possible.
• Cosmic Clash Thing was also held back for an opportune moment to attack with his version of colossal retaliation. Even though he crit missed the attack against SWB She-Hulk, he served his secondary purpose of blocking her from using her Prob Control.
• All this took attention from my real plan: for Frightful Four She-Thing to make her L/C attack to KO the Bruce bystander and remove Big Baby as a threat (though, even so neutered, he was able to finish off Dr. Thing).
• From there, the rest of the game was contending with a fully activated but hopelessly outnumbered Immortal Hulk, who smashed a couple of Things before getting clobbered in COMPLETELY COMIC ACCURATE FASHION with this SP:

It was worth losing an additional 75 points to win like this.

Last Things standing:

By piece:

Hulk (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 014) 

As a Hulk with Outwit, this was one of the pieces I was worried about. He’s also got a dynamite 12 AV with 5 damage. I had to watch carefully: Would Lenny use him as a frontline SMASH piece, or hold him back to nix my defenses? He kinda chose neither and I made him pay for it, focusing much of my early efforts on the Professor’s vulnerabilities.

Hulk (Earth X 055) 

This was the Hulk I feared most. Not only was he the strongest on the board, but fighting the giant in the sight of Immortal Hulk would make that character much more dangerous later. So when Lenny split up his force, I opted to avoid Big Baby Hulk as long as possible while biding my time to threaten or eliminate Bruce in the starting area.

Hulk (Fantastic Four Fast Forces 002) 

With ol’ Fixit here having Underworld TA and only 10 AV, Lenny should have used Gray Hulk here more for his taxi skills than as an attacker.

Hulk (Fantastic Four 056)

I was relieved that Cho Hulk here was hanging around with Big Baby so I didn’t have to deal with his potential multi-Outwit. This is a scary piece whose line of fire I wanted to block as long as possible.

Immortal Hulk (Captain America and The Avengers) 

But of course the scariest piece on the board really is this one. I chose a lot of my targets to deny him LOF so he would not gain Vengeance tokens until it was too late. But just him as an Outwitter was enough to decimate Things in the early going.

Maestro (Secret Wars: Battleworld 028) 

Invincible and armed with his own Perplex, old Hulk here was Lenny’s choice as frontline fighter. Given his +2 Perplex on Battleworlders, it may have been better to use him as support instead and then as cleanup hitter. But it’s hard to fault the strategy he picked because it was absolutely working for several rounds.

Red Hulk ((Fantastic Four 010) 

Lenny made a good move Charging in and tying up my frontline Things with this Poison piece, forcing me to deal with him quickly and completely to get at my real target, Professor Hulk. But he pushed to do so and forgot he was a Team Player. Could’ve used Underworld, maybe, or copied Fantastic Four for potential healing.

She-Hulk (Future Foundation 006) 

EIGHT.

STRAIGHT.

IMPERVIOUS ROLLS.

She-Hulk (Secret Wars: Battleworld 023a) 

 Not only bringing Probability Control but range attack (SP Energy Explosion) to the field, this chick was a problem. Also a wild card, but she was not really played to those strengths … and didn’t need to be.

She-Hulk (Secret Wars: Battleworld 100) 

She was a rude surprise, Perplexing and punching for big damage. IIRC, she might’ve been able to finish Dr. Thing sooner had Lenny remembered to consider knockback.

Worldbreaker (Secret Wars: Battleworld 013) 

Put in work as a secondary fighter, but this was probably better suited for the Hulks’ front line, getting boosted by the above She-Hulk’s and Maestro’s Perplexes for only the risk of 100 points.

The Thing (Future Foundation 003) 

Skrull Thing’s chief purpose was to be Blackbeard’s bodyguard as Mastermind fodder. But he actually served more as a late-game fighter.

The Thing (Future Foundation Fast Forces 003) 

As noted in the battle report, I misplayed his 1-in-6 chance of denying close combat.

The Thing (Future Foundation 020)

With no Sidekicks, this Captain felt slightly superfluous. But these Captain pieces have very long dials for their cost.

The Thing (Future Foundation L038) 

I can’t believe I forgot to yell “What a revoltin’ development” at all the misses this piece made in the early going. But after getting some key Fantastic Four heals later to get back to his Clobberin’ SP, boy did he throw hands, spinning Immortal Hulk almost through one of his whole dials.

The Thing (Fantastic Four 004) 

So cheap but such good AV. Somehow he lived to the game’s end thanks to his low cost and his Shape Change. I should have used him as a frontline fighter more.

The Thing (Fantastic Four 020) 

I would not have thought his defense would actually hold up as well as it did. But between a successful Imperv roll here, a deterred attack there (because he deals penetrating on a good Imperv roll) and the F4 TA, he was one of the last standing despite being the first into the fray.

The Thing (Fantastic Four 036) 

One of the linchpins of the whole team, he not only brought wifey Alicia to be a potential (though never successful) medic for the wounded, but his Empower-granting to the other Fantastic Four Things (nearly all of them) made the Things a match for the more powerful Hulks.

The Thing (Fantastic Four 049)

The other team linchpin, Dad Thing was my sole support power of Perplex for the whole game. That 19 Defend really saved my bacon against Maestro’s 12 AV. His kids Chuck and Buzz also served well, even though the latter took an early KO.

The Thing (Fantastic Four Cosmic Clash 003) 

My secret weapon with his “clobberin’ retaliation.”

The Thing (Fantastic Four Deep Cuts 003)

With a simple, straightforward dial, he was quite the cleanup hitter when I finally got him into the mix.

Ms. Thing (Future Foundation 022) 

My one source of rerolls but a victim of overconfidence in her long dial — that and the fact that she was one of the only Things able to get past the hindering and water terrain to where I thought she needed to go.

Blackbeard (Future Foundation 052) 

I kinda used him just for his Leadership and nothing else for most of the game, trying to keep him in water. Kind of a waste. But the Leadership was nice.

Dr. Thing (Future Foundation 066) 

He did OK and would have done better had I been a little more careful.

She-Thing (Fantastic Four 012) 

I had a plan to use her “Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation” trait to reposition Maestro from his fairly well-protected spot, but she failed with her meager 10 AV. Still a neat trick.

She-Thing (Fantastic Four 028) 

My other secret weapon with her L/C attack. Hits surprisingly hard and shines on a force where she’s a secondary attacker.

She-Thing (Fantastic Four Fast Forces 006)

Though not terribly mobile with only Sidestep, she’s so resistant to damage that she was a natural choice to lead the front line — especially with her potential +3 to either attack or damage via SP CCE.

Thing Robot (Future Foundation 009) 

The poor first victim. Next time it needs to have help to at least serve as F4 TA healer when it falls. And speaking of F4 TA, that really was a big factor down the stretch.

We plan to do a rematch sometime (probably after Empyre gives us at least one more new Thing), which will shift a LOT of factors in this punch-up! For example, Big Baby Hulk, who previously had to concern himself with pushing damage, won’t have that problem. The hindering terrain that slowed many of the Things won’t be an issue. Perplex to damage will be impossible, forcing the Hulks to focus on other tactics to overwhelm the Things.

It’s gonna be another SMASH!