No. 7

Batman [Gotham City 001]

As Batman figs go, this one is fairly standard, stats- and powers-wise: Running Shot. 11 AV. Toughness. Perplex. What makes it the No. 7 HeroClix of the year is the trait, Utility Belt:

UTILITY BELT: At the beginning of the game, choose a standard attack or damage power that Batman does not possess somewhere on his dial; Batman can use that power this game.

So, no picking Perplex or Prob Control or Outwit. That only leaves a bunch of options to address threats and opportunities based on the force he’s facing:

• Blades/Claws/Fangs for a 66% shot at higher melee damage
• Energy Explosion, which works well with his two arrows
• Pulse Wave, great for dealing with Mystics and armor and, well, ANYTHING
• Quake, if he foresees a need to hit a bunch of foes up close
• Super Strength, if he foresees a need to hit one foe up close really hard — or to be able to set down his own portable hindering terrain
• Incapacitate, which, while available to him, is a bit of a waste as we’ll see
• Penetrating/Psychic Blast, for dealing with armor, but with his lowish damage, perhaps…
• …Precision Strike is the better anti-armor choice as it also deals with the Masterminds and Super Sensing targets he might face
• Smoke Cloud for if he wants to blunt the AV of the enemy for his team’s sake — not to mention the cover it gives a Bat Ally like himself
• Poison, if he sees some soft-skinned melee attackers/tieups in his future
• Steal Energy for that second wind against the melee fighters who’ll get to him in his Stealthed position
• Battle Fury for that corner case of a match where he’s dealing with anti-Stealth Mind Control or a team full of Stealthed Shape Changers
• Exploit Weakness when a punchout with armored foes looks inevitable

Or he can choose based on his own team’s build to best support it:

• Telekinesis for his team’s mobility
• Ranged Combat Expert for extra firepower once in position
• Support to fill a combat medic role
• Enhancement for his team’s firepower
• Shape Change to add some added protection other than Bat-Stealth
• Close Combat Expert to shore up that low damage
• Empower to shore up allies’ punching power
• Leadership for the benefit of a swarm team

As if that sort of flexibility weren’t enough, he also has a SP granting Incapacitate — which is why it shouldn’t ever be chosen via Utility Belt — that can be used for free when he’s got no tokens. That won’t be often, as he’s got Indom and at 115 points he’s not likely to be idle. But it’s a nice option for him to potentially dump two tokens on a foe in a single turn by using the free Incap then doing a regular Incap action later in the turn.

As we harped on a bit, his damage is a bit low, starting and staying at just 2, and this along with his price keeps him on the lower end of the Top Ten. But with so many ways to work around it, this dark knight detective is truly ready for anything and rates as Heroclixin’s No. 7 clix of 2013.

Next to all that…

…how does Omen [Teen Titans 053] manage to tie?

By cheating.

Omen’s SPs don’t care about line of fire. So she can not only Mind Control you from behind a wall of meat shields (whom she can Mastermind damage to), but she can knock down a stat -2 before or after or instead of. (So there’s that corner case where the normally stealthy Bats might actually want Battle Fury to stop her from taking control of his head.)

She’s a wild card and Incap piece and, if you don’t mind adding 2 whole  points, she can use the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. ATA to get a quasi-phasing movement ability going.

Once the enemy actually claws its way in close to her and manages to get her to mid-dial, she’s got Willpower and Steal Energy to maybe heal a bit (although with only 1 damage, it’s iffy whether she can hit hard enough to do so). Probably more important to the team during her late dial is her Prob Control.

Like Batman, her low damage output for the cost keeps her from rising closer to the top. But Omen has the potential to warp a game well beyond what anyone can prepare for, earning a share of the No. 7 spot on Heroclixin’s Top Ten of 2013.

Honorable Mention

Bat-Mite [WizKids D-010], even with his ability to place his Idol and give it a free attack made more risky post-Watch List, is still worth the 65 points. 1) He’s a 10-range Stealthed PC and Outwitter. 2) He can cut off attacks against him or his Idol just by trying to shoot ’em with Incap. 3) His successful Super Senses gets him out of adjacency for free. Paired with the right Idol (i.e., one that can take getting an inopportune click of unavoidable hurt), the little pest is still quite viable.

Cyclops [Avengers Vs. X-Men] can Outwit through walls, then shoot you through them. He can shoot you when you base him. He can shoot others while based. And you can’t dodge the damage or shirk the damage or nullify the damage. He’s got better Leadership than most. If he weren’t so soft and expensive for his short dial[s], he’d have maybe blasted his way onto the Top Ten proper. As it is, look for him to blast his way through AvX in Q1 2014.

No. 8

Shatterstar [WATX 010]

A late addition to the Watch List this past autumn, ‘Star got a deserved look and erratum. His trait, “X-Portal,” allows him to teleport anywhere on the map, once per game, and bring a cheaper friend along. While his 73-point cost ostensibly serves as a limit to abuse, the reality of Vehicles and pilots allow him to essentially cart MUCH more than his points for either a next-turn attack or an instant evac.

Even without the trait, Shatterstar is a prim0 piece. He bears the Charge+Flurry+Blades combo with 17 Combat Reflexes DV, making him one of the game’s very best in melee combat.

With his ability to change the positioning game with a single move and to survive and thrive in close combat, Shatterstar ranks No. 8 in 2013’s Top Ten.

Honorable Mention:

Alyosha Kraven [ASM] singlehandedly makes Animal teams relevant. He’s only relegated to HM status because he’s essentially relegated to Animal teams to be more than just an above average 2nd attacker, extra pog character Gulyadkin notwithstanding.

Fantomex [WATX 042] is another fig that brings an extra “piece” on the team for free. The Frenchman doesn’t quite rate the list because he’s so many fragile points and very dependent on range, which is a rather short 5.

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Next: An harbinger of dark nights to come?

No. 9 [tie]

Justice League [Teen Titans T002r]
Trinity of Sin [WizKids D-T001e]
Shi’ar Imperial Guard team base [WATX T005e]

Prior to the Watch List changes, these team bases were the nigh-unbeatable monsters of HeroClix; they simply couldn’t lose unless a team was built to beat them because they could deal more damage output than anything else in the game within 3 turns of game start.

Now they’re actually reasonable to face. And still quite good. Each, at their 200- to 300-build levels, still get two actions via Working Together, and each still has high damage. Each can still nearly double their effective team build total by mid-game via the Solo Adventure mechanic. And each bears an opening-click Asset Dial ability that’s worth never rolling from. Combined, these three still represent the best team bases of the lot.

The three are tied because each has a minor weakness that keeps it from standing above the other two.

• Justice League has the longest effective range of 10 with Sharpshooter, immunity to Outwit, Shape Change and Super Senses, team abilities granting Stealth and anti-Stealth, and the highest AV of all. BUT…the immunity to Outwit only works when the whole team’s on the base and is lost when Solo Adventure is used.
• Trinity of Sin has Quintessence, double-hurting Mystics, Mind Control, Poison, Outwit and Probability Control. A Solo Adventure only costs them the double Mystics damage-dealing and gains them the abilities of the removed member to nerf the enemies’ use of Outwit, Perplex or Prob, respectively. But TrinSin’s weakness is very thin armor in the form of just two clicks of Toughness and nothing else.
• Shi’ar Imerial Guard boasts the ability to alpha strike from almost anywhere on the map and deal out Flurry damage. It also has the  Power Cosmic TA, loses nothing with Solo Adventures and has the longest dial of the three. But its starting AV is also the lowest.

Each of these pieces is strong enough to handle almost any team it faces, even after losing much of their old power, and so share the No. 9 slot among the 10 best clix 2013 had to offer.

Honorable Mention

War Machine [IIM 029b], like the team bases, is a tentpole designed not to be utterly outactioned. First, it’s got its “Alpha Strike” SP that grants two actions for the price of two tokens — easy enough to swallow thanks to Indomitable. Better still is WM’s trait “Retaliatory Strike,” that allows a free action ranged shot when foes take shots at him in between his turns. So in effect, WM’s still getting about the same number of actions as 2 or 3 foes — and as many attacks/actions as the team bases at the same cost get. The piece suffers, though, from lacking their sheer amount of extras — the TAs, the extra life, etc.

New Mutants [WATX T004] also lacks the firepower of the big team bases, with only one action and not starting on a good Asset ability. But it’s better built for the Solo Adventure ability than most, and the power to force action tokens on foes with each KO can swing games its way.

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Next: Another x-citing entry!

10

Iron Fist [Fear Itself 007]

For melee combat, there’s almost no clix better for the cost. It’s his Improved Movement that sets him apart: He can Charge through shrubs, blowing right by characters, and over hills with ease. Once in base, he’s guarded by Combat Reflexes and Super Senses.

He’s also a candidate for several good ATAs. Foremost is Heroes For Hire, which works very well for a close combat specialist like himself. Next in line is the cheaper and copyable Defenders ATA, which allows him to chain his excellent AV to other Defenders and wildcards. And, of course, he’s an Avenger now, which qualifies him for all their ATAs, most notably Secret Avengers for Outwit protection and Avengers Response Unit to nudge his and friends’ AV even higher when in close quarters.

Iron Fist would be higher if he had Willpower like his Secret Invasion predecessor. But the vast increase in his moving attack prowess more than makes up for the loss. One of the game’s very best secondary attackers, the immortal Iron Fist is hereby further immortalized as Heroclixin’s 10th best fig of 2013.

Honorable Mentions

Batgirl [No Man’s Land 002]: In an earlier draft, SHE was the #10 and Iron Fist was the HM. But while her Batman Ally TA gives her cover and she’s got the superb Charge+Flurry combo, in practice her AV is just a stitch too low and her mobility pales next to Fist’s. Still, she’s got a little more going for her down-dial than he does — hello, free Incap/Force Blast-lite SP —and she’s a little cheaper, to boot.

Skadi’s Warbot [Fear Itself]: Thirty seems a lot to pay for a pog. But it’s an Invulnerable one with the stats of a leading attacker that delivers penetrating damage. Worth. Every. Point.

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Tomorrow is the first actual tie of the list. It’s gonna be crowded.