Heroclixin' ...it's all about F.U.N.

No. 3

Son of the Serpent [Avengers Assemble 004]

Running Shot with 9 AV and 1 damage isn’t worth the 33 points, not even with Ranged Combat Expert. Good thing he’s got this trait to help:

Wait. So you have to run at least two of these losers. And only one can make the actual attack at a time; the other needs to make the power action to activate the bonuses. Hope you have enough actions for all this — and that you have a target with enough same-colored slots to make the attack worth making.

But you probably just actually wasted those 66 or more points.

No. 4

Vision [Avengers Age of Ultron 011]

He starts with Phasing, Super Senses and Outwit — not a terrible combo. Although one kinda wishes that, for 100 points, he had some actual offense such as Running Shot.

Or range at all.

But Vision has 0 range. So to do any fighting, he’s got to Phase his soft Super Sense-protected synthetic bod right on the enemy and hope he can use Indom to fight back next turn.

However, with just 17 DV, he’s likely to get hit, hard. That lands him on his back half-dial, which sports Plasticity, Invincible and Perplex. All of which are FAR more useful than the opening clicks. But at this point, he’s well on his way to being knocked out.

Paying a 100 points for a tie-up figure that doesn’t BECOME a tie-up figure until it’s been hit hard is a great tactic in team building used by no successful player ever.

No. 5

Nightmask [Avengers Assemble 054]

His powers really aren’t in the right spots to be useful at all. I mean, sure, he starts kinda OK with Perplex and Running Shot and Precision Strike. And if he’s facing Armor or Robots or Vehicles, his traited Mind Control gets a boost. But he costs a hefty 120 points for stats and powers found on much less expensive figs.

What’s packing on the points is this strong-sounding SP:

…but it doesn’t appear until mid-dial, then goes away until late dial. And with a lack of reducers except for a bit of late-dial Toughness, he may not survive long enough to use either that power or the temporary stat bump he gets when wounded.

If he started with his Energy Portals, he’d be an OK fig. But he’s a decidedly mediocre piece that somehow costs the same as Heroclixin’s No. 1, Nick Fury. What the actual hell…

Cart him the hell outta here

No. 6

Hawkeye [Avengers Assemble 002] 

Turn 1: get Aim token.

Turn 2: Clear.

Turn 3: Hope there’s a target that’s in Running Shot range that’s behind elevated OR outdoor blocking. NOT both. OR that you’re on a wide-open map for the 14-range option.

And that his 5-click life hasn’t exhausted.

Lacking the starting Willpower to immediately use that Aim token to attack is a serious handicap. And building up more is useless because ALL are used to get just ONE effect. After two superb Hawkeye versions in the movie sets, this one is trash.

No, he’s not OK. Not running him is the right thing to do.

No. 7 [tie]

War Machine [Age of Ultron 026]

With the ability to pick any one of his attack powers — Pulse Wave, Precision Strike, Energy Explosion or Penetrating/Psychic Blast — at any time on his first several clicks, he looks really good on paper.

On an actual map, though? Not so much. Here’s why:

• He’s got just 17 DV
• with a single click of Impervious
• no Indomitable
• and just 7 range.
• That means he’s going to be easily based by enemy tie-up, making his Energy Shield/Deflection trait utterly useless.
• Worse still, when thus based, his range powers are almost completely shut down because he lacks Sharpshooter.

So, realistically, he’s going to get a single shot with his SP granting Prob Control when he targets multiples. Then he gets based, utterly out-actioned and ends up being a 200-point gift for your opponent.

Pretty bad. But we noted another that seemed just as terrible for a similar amount of points:

Ex Nihilo [Avengers Assemble 056]

He appears to have great potential for his ability to bomb anywhere on the map, to create extra hindering terrain and to deal no-roll-needed damage to those in and near hindering. But then you look closer.

The bomb has a delay. Unless timed just right, the enemy will scatter before taking the damage. Oh and it hurts friends, too.

He makes the hindering with one SP but the one that allows the “attacks from hindering” only shows up later, and sporadically. And when it does…

…he’s probably lost all his armor. Seriously, he’s nearly 200 points for just three front loaded clicks of Invincible and Invuln. ahead of five soft clicks of Barrier, Defend and Regeneration.

No matter which you run, this is the likely result. Please play responsibly.

No. 8

Blue Marvel [Age of Ultron 048]

What’s not to like about a Stealth-busting Power Cosmic Hypersonic brick with 11 AV Super Strength and 4 damage, you ask?

Click No. 3. has 9 AV. No 230-point clix should be stuck with a 9 AV on click no. 3, and none do in Modern Age* — except him.

Starting with just 17 DV Impervious means Blue Marvel will easily land on that bad click above with 2 penetrating damage or the average 4 damage hit.

He’s saddled with three clicks of 2 damage — or less! In fact, he’s one of just three figs in Modern Age over 220 points that has any clicks of 1 damage.

He has a trait, “Mighty Avengers,” that can boost his DV when those who share the trait are within 4 squares.

Not one figure exists with the trait that fit with him on a 300-point team.

No. 8 worst figure of 2015.

*(Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends have a 9 AV on click 3 but it has a SP granting RCE and CCE. Alpha Class Sentinel has 8 AV on its Defense dial.)

No. 9

Firebird [Avengers Assemble 011]

She appears to start out fine with Running Shot and Probability Control and Sharpshooter with Poison. Super Senses isn’t the best defense, but it’s OK. Click 2 looks even better as the Poison and Senses tag out for Pulse Wave and Energy Shield/Deflection.

Then click 3 happens. The 10 AV drops to 9 Poison and she’s stuck with Battle Fury, making the Sharpshooter ability useless.

Click 4 is little improvement as she’s Earthbound/Neutralized — making Sharpshooting impossible AGAIN. Pulse Wave is cold comfort.

Click 5 doubles up on BOTH “penalty powers.” There’s Regeneration, but odds are she heals to one of those terrible clicks above.

Her last click brings back the Running Shot+PW+Prob combo along with Regen. So which do you choose? Fighting as long as her paltry 15 DV holds out? Or pray for more time with Regen?

It all begs the question: How the hell does a dial with this much Battle Fury AND Earthbound still run over 100 points? Unbelievable.

Filthy.

No. 10

Viper [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD 045]

Like the Test Subjects mentioned last time, Viper here suffers from randomness. Though she has a good chance of landing on the ever-useful Perplex or Outwit, she still has a 33% shot at getting stuck with Mind Control which, at her paltry 4 range and with her lack of Willpower, may not do the most good.

She’s a backfield supporter with unreliable traited powers but she’s got the actual dial of a close combat fighter with alternating Flurry and Plasticity with a midrun of Poison. But her defenses are unremarkable Toughness and then, two clicks of Energy Shield/Deflection.

What? And this 5-click mess is an entire 100 points?

No wonder she was shot.

In the modern game of HeroClix, there are no terrible dials anymore, really. Not the way there used to be.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few stinkers made. For the next few days, Heroclixin will look at the bottom of the barrel and make its picks for the least playable figs of 2015.  Let’s start with the ones that weren’t the worst ever, just the worst except the VERY worst.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Arcade [Avengers Assemble 044] is straight god mode when you can win map and run him on Murderworld. But the plain fact is that you have to build your team to account for the map loss as well. Just so hard. And not worth it.

Test Subject [Avengers Age of Ultron 004] — So what could be a nice cheap little filler is ruined by the inability to plan at all for the random dials. There are far, FAR better choices for LESS points.

Wraith [Superman/Wonder Woman 051] — For 175, you want more than Toughness. But that’s all you get, even if it is traited. The Absorption ability can’t keep up with the damage he’ll take.

Dr. Light [Trinity War 007a] — There are better Enhancers and shooters to be had for the points. So USE those points for those pieces.

Signalman [Trinity War] — Actually not so terrible — IF you run him with other Mind Control pieces. But alone, he’s going to have to push to get to anything useful. Maybe he’ll get one Outwit before he’s pasted. Or maybe you just don’t field him at all. For Secret Society of Super-Villain keyword themed teams ONLY.

Blight [Trinity War 060] — Terrible range and no moving attack until mid-dial means he’s almost as bad as they come in his weight class. Almost.

Stay tuned this coming week for at least 10 of the worst figs you could’ve played last year.

No. 1

Nick Fury [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD 056]

Heroclixin’ calls this the “easy mode” figure of the meta game right now. Here’s why:

• A titanic 9 range.
• That sees through hindering.
• And over buildings.
• And characters.
• That works with his better-than-Outwit SP to deny use of powers or abilities.
• And his Probability Control from the same SP to force rerolls of your dice.
• From the safety of Stealth [in addition to the aforementioned seeing through all that other stuff]
• Also with Shape Change. TRAITED.
• Which also gives him +1 attack and damage — PENETRATING — against the highest cost enemy.

His only weaknesses are that walls/blocking terrain cut off his view and he has a short 6-click dial for his 120 points. But with his ability to make much of any outdoor map a total killbox and lacking so much as a single bad click and being able to singlehandedly take on any of the other figures on this Top Ten series…he’s Heroclixin’s No. 1 HeroClix of 2015.

OK, we’re taking a short breather before our next Top Ten list: The most awful figures of 2015.