Welcome again to heroclixin’s photographic record of Super Strength figs that can physically hold object tokens on their sculpts somehow. Today’s subject is one from my new phone:
The Weaponer of Qward [War of Light] has a tenuous hold, leaning the token on his hammer and shield as shown.
More pix from Deadpool are trapped on my old cellphone, perhaps forever. Heroclixin’ may have to find a workaround, as zombie Juggernaut photo ops are few and far between.
Finally, the retirement list is official, with the following sets rotating to Golden Age in July:
And now Heroclixin’ laments the 10 figs we’re sorry we didn’t play more
Superman [Justice League New 52 001]
This Superman released in late August 2012 was a refreshing change from the point-and-click common one from a year earlier, in that it really plays more like a Superman should. It was also a new costumed variety for my “Kal’s Closet — What The Well-Dressed Superman Is Wearing This Season” collection of all the Superman outfits. But it was overshadowed by the identical-looking 125-point Fast Forces one and by later Supermen with costs less awkward than its 204.
Ant-Man & Wasp [Chaos War]
At 168 points, this Tiny Size duo … really … WASN’T so tiny-sized. And so they rarely made it onto teams. Then came this new power called Precision Strike, which drastically cuts into their effectiveness since most of their worth is based on attack evasion. So it feels as though their time has come and gone, like bugs in the wintertime. Except that now it’s summer.
Gabe Jones [Avengers Movie]
His SP granting him the equivalent of the Grenade trait ability looked great, especially for his inexpensive 45 points. His trait, though, sort of required him to be played with a Captain America to get the most out of him, and he was constantly being squeezed off teams for flashier figs. Plus, his keywords were a bit limiting.
Agent Coulson [Avengers Movie]
His ability to effectively be untargetable by costly enemy tentpoles looked meta-worthy, and his being a Perplex piece helped his cause a lot as well. So what happened? Why didn’t Coulson get run like every month or so? Heroclixin’ thinks it was the SHIELD keyword that did him in — there just weren’t enough favorites in the theme to build teams for Coulson to join. And by the time there were, there were better choices.
Mr. Sinister [Chaos War]
Such a great ability to turn X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants into themed teams of Marauders was undermined by A) His appropriately high 225 cost and B) the existence of characters that Heroclixin’ prefers that don’t fit the keyword/team ability requirements for the arch villain’s trait or who mess up the points.
Speed [Chaos War]
As happy as Heroclixin’ was to see the Young Avengers team completed at last with this fig’s release, we’re not sure we ever actually saw said figure on the field outside of sealed events. We certainly haven’t run the Young Avengers in years, because those characters and dials, never very good to begin with, have aged HORRIBLY. So it’s no surprise that Speed was little played in Modern Age. Not certain Golden will be much kinder…
Swamp Thing [Superman]
On paper, his ability to warp through and Poison from printed hindering looked like so much effective fun. On the actual paper of a MAP, it worked out a lot less well thanks to a lot of hindering-light fields and his total lack of moving attack powers and a surprisingly soft defense for a nearly 150-point character. A tentpole he’s not. And yet, Heroclixin’ wishes he’d seen the field more in Modern Age.
Crystal [Chaos War]
Despite being one of Heroclixin’s Top Ten faves of 2012, Crystal almost never got played. Perhaps it was because we don’t care much for Inhumans. Maybe it was due to her slightly less-efficient cost of 105 — why play her when one more point gets you CW Hawkeye with Thunderbolts ATA? Or maybe it’s ’cause she’s a ginger. Whatever the reason, she remained on the shelf a lot more than I ever intended. A LOT MORE
Lyra [Incredible Hulk]
Oh, for some Willpower to make this fig work, because she does not push well at ALL. That’s why I almost never played her, but I always WANTED to anyway. Sure, I know I could give her a Resource to overcome her weaknesses, but Heroclixin’ has always found that distasteful.
———
So much retirement, then. It’s nice to see the broken garbage rotate out and sad to see some standbys meet restrictions. Keeps the game fresh, I think. And there’s always the mercurial “Silver Age” that welcomes all figs.
Finally, the retirement list is official, with the following sets rotating to Golden Age in July:
——
Today, Heroclixin’ lists:
Sharon Carter (Chaos War)
Yes, she was on the “We’ll Miss Her” list. But that’s because she was on a Comic Accurate™ Secret Avengers First Lineup team. We will NOT miss her giving Stealth to non-Avenger “Avengers” like Sentry & Void.
Hulk (Incredible Hulk 001)
“Hulk the WEAKEST one there is!” Honestly, this was one of the biggest Hulk letdowns in a game history FILLED with them. Aside from his decent Alter Ego start click, there was no reason to play this Hulk, ever. And since said alter ego Bruce Banner is completely unplayable himself (one starting Outwit with 4-range Energy Explosion for 55 points? No thanks), there really is no reason to play this Hulk.
Ever.
Lt. Gordon (Dark Knight Rises)
Oh, the shenanigans made possible with this poorly balanced piece. Here’s what Heroclixin’ wrote about him back in 2012: “To be both character-accurate and game-balanced, [his “Get These Men Into Position!” SP] should’ve been limited to less-expensive Police-keyworded characters.” BATMAN DON’T TAKE ORDERS FROM GORDON.
Enchantress (New 52)
#$%#@% you and and your stupid reversed keywords.
Superman (Superman 001)
The point-and-click piece for the masses, his time has come and now gone for good…BYE
Astral Dr. Strange (Galactic Guardians)
These little guys didn’t seem so bad at the time, being essentially conduits for a less-effective version of GSX Professor X. But a lot of shenanigans have entered the game since Galactic Guardians, and the Astrals exploit a lot of it. Time for them to dissipate into the ether.
Scarlet Witch (Chaos War)
Got real weary of seeing this chick on every competitive team for the past two years. Making such an ultimate support piece a non-Unique fig in a Fast Forces wasn’t a super move. HEX HER AWAY NOW
Mole Man (Galactic Guardians)
Friendly Mind Control. Who knew it could get this bad? Another fig that needed to be Unique. It’s pieces like this one that make Heroclixin’ call for a standard counter to free actions — an Incapacitate update.
Thanos (Galactic Guardians 049)
The ultimate cowardly douchebag piece. “Hey, I get a Turn 2 Alpha Strike AND a killbox in one fell swoop? YES I AM TEH MOST L33T PWNZR IN HEROCLIX”
Go away forever.
___
And these two weren’t figures, but deserve the dishonor of mention today:
Gamma Bomb (Incredible Hulk)
The turtle/killboxer’s dream object, despite its utility against turtles. “I will sit just outside the blast area and laugh at your attempts to defuse the bomb and shoot at you when you try.”
Infinity Gauntlet
We hated you then, Anti-Love Glove. And even though you’re downright balanced now, we still hate you. If only because of what you spawned.
Actually, no. We hate you on basic principle
Finally, the retirement list is official, with the following sets rotating to Golden Age in July:
——
Heroclixin’ devotes this post to:
AIM Agent/AIM Renegade (Incredible Hulk 003 and 017)
The beekeeper-looking terrorists were great cheap fillers for Scientist teams. I guess they’ve got replacements in, say, the Weapon X Scientist pieces from Deadpool set. But the A.I.M. keyword will miss its rank and file for a while in the Modern Age.
Lex Luthor (SUPERMAN: Battle for Smallville)
A Top Ten favorite from 2011 (sorta in a late kinda way), this 50-pointer was my Lex of choice before the game brought us suitably battle-suited — and far more expensive — versions in DC 10th and SLOSH.
Hulk (Avengers Movie 202)
The first truly great Hulk piece goes the way of the dinosaur. Thankfully, there’s the Worldbreaker to give Hulk fans a Modern option. But we’ll never forget your smashing ways, movie Hulk!
Lobo (Superman)
Sure, there’s Lil’ Lobo in rotation for another year, but that kid’s a pale imitation of the Main Man. We’ll miss this top-rate rendition of the intergalactic bounty hunter — and his little dog, too.
Miranda Tate (Dark Knight Rises)
A Top Ten favorite from 2012, she was only occasionally played but remains a lock on my non-costumed “plainclothes” teams. Really sad that Marion Cotillard is relegated to Golden Age games now, where she’s liable to be crowded off said teams by the mighty Crispus Allen, who’s king of the plainclothes team.
Sharon Carter (Chaos War)
She’s a lock on the Secret Avengers first lineup team and now, like her beau Steve Rogers (Captain America 031), is gone to the retirement home.
Sun Boy (Superman)
As noted in Heroclixin’s F.U.N. Focus on the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dirk here filled a crucial need for the team: that of a mobile, affordable ranged attacker. Even after the huge infusion of goodness for the team in its own set, Sun Boy was STILL the best available. Now, this sun is setting. And we’re sad.
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians)
This actually goes for all the Nova Corps making its exit…just before it was to get some new blood in the new kid Nova making his debut in Guardians of the Galaxy. They just hatin’ on Richard Rider some more. 🙂
Giant-Man (Chaos War)
One of that year’s Top Ten favorites, this small step for WizKids is a giant loss for Heroclixin’.
Mera (Justice League New 52)
Atlantis’ source of much-needed TK mobility just dried up in Modern Age, right when the team finally looked to become somewhat competitive. They’re so scared of the fish men invading the surface again!
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It’s not ALL gloom, though. Be here next time for Heroclixin’s 10 figs and stuff we can’t wait to get the [expletive] out our LIFE
Finally, the retirement list is official, with the following sets rotating to Golden Age in July:
——
Surprisingly, it looks like certain Convention Exclusives were spared the axe this time around. Which is good, since none are terribly game-breaking and it takes forever to get one anyway.
Anyway, Heroclixin’ is going to devote the next few posts to:
Keep an eye out!
So I was at a small convention waiting for players to show for the HeroClix event I was running. But none did because they had other events to attend that were probably more appealing.
Determined not to waste the time entirely, I made six teams from the unplayed Deadpool pieces I’d recently acquired and set up three separate games.
200 points
Outlaw (Deadpool 021)
Agent X (Deadpool 001)
Blind Al (Deadpool 018)
= 181 points
vs.
Arnim Zola (Deadpool 054)
Spider-Bot Mark 1 (Deadpool 099a) x 2
Spider-Bot Mark 2 (Deadpool 099b)
Rocket Turret (Bioshock Infinite)
= 200 points
After some initial misfortune, the Agency X team swept the Robots after Arnim Zola’s Running Shot Pulse Wave try crit-failed. The Spider-Bots couldn’t catch up quick enough to help. Both the Agency fighters were solid. Blind Al was completely stuck in the starting area and unable to do anything. At. ALL.
300 points
Misty Knight (Deadpool 009)
Colleen Wing (Deadpool 008)
Humbug (Deadpool 010)
Black Cat (Deadpool 023)
+ Heroes For Hire ATA for all
= 297 points
vs.
Vamp (Deadpool 017)
Paladin (Deadpool 030) + Heroes For Hire ATA
Black Widow (Winter Soldier 102)
Secret Empire Agent (Deadpool 004) x 2
= 296 points
The Heroes for Hire squeaked out a win, but only just. If Humbug is hit at all in this game, it’s a loss.
400 points
Deadpool (Deadpool 101)
Kidpool (Deadpool 022)
Siryn (Deadpool 028)
Hope Summers (AvX 016)
= 398 points
vs.
Black Talon (Deadpool 043)
Headpool (Deadpool 002)
Des Feral Imp (Yugioh 004)
Grasshopper (Deadfall 042)
Anaconda (Deadpool 013)
Weapon X Scientist (Deadpool 007a)
Bilbo Baggins (Desolation of Smaug 101)
= 389 points
The swarm nearly took out the Deadpool team, with the LE being the last standing on his very late dial.
By piece:
200 points
Outlaw (Deadpool 021) is a right nice cowgirl of a figure. I may run her again in the future.
Agent X (Deadpool 001) is OK, but I don’t see myself fielding him again.
Blind Al (Deadpool 018) requires either a Deadpool teammate or a turtle team to function. She could make a “plainclothes” team going forward.
Arnim Zola (Deadpool 054) was useful for his Gwen Stacy clones. I want to run him on a team built around him.
Spider-Bot Mark 1 (Deadpool 099a) and Spider-Bot Mark 2 (Deadpool 099b) both move too slowly to work without a lot of help. They need to always be hitching rides with close combat/tie-up pieces. Defend might be their best friend.
Rocket Turret (Bioshock Infinite) is too easily shut down by basing. Much better on paper than in practice.
300 points
Misty Knight (Deadpool 009) was cumbersome at first because her early team role seemed to be as a Leadership one. Later, she was better in the fight.
Despite solid attack ability, Colleen Wing (Deadpool 008) needed Heroes For Hire ATA to really be effective.
Humbug (Deadpool 010) was the secret winner thanks to his ability to flush folks into the open and use P/PB.
Black Cat (Deadpool 023), as the PC piece, saved an early hit from happening. Always worth it.
Vamp (Deadpool 017) leeched powers continually to strong effect. This is a piece that should not exist for as few points as it does.
Paladin (Deadpool 030) is pretty OK. He’ll be on a future H4H team.
Black Widow (Winter Soldier 102) suffered when I forgot her ability to push during melee attacks; she might’ve been able to pre-empt the strike that took her right out of the fight.
Secret Empire Agent (Deadpool 004) was the last standing on his team. Shape Change is a good power. 🙂 Sadly, it takes a bunch of them with the Number One fig to get the best out of these mooks.
400 points
Deadpool (Deadpool 101) wound up being the last standing in this fight. His heal trait is like reverse Mystics and ridiculous fun…for him.
Kidpool (Deadpool 022) is a tiny beast that, short of the Outwit I was able to level against him, could have taken half the enemy by himself.
Siryn (Deadpool 028) was unlucky in her Pulse Wave attempts. Too bad.
Similarly, Hope Summers (AvX 016) just got overwhelmed despite having some fine powers to leech at her disposal. It was a bad night to be a ginger on this map.
Black Talon (Deadpool 043) got one-shot by Kidpool before ever getting to chicken-strut his stuff.
Headpool (Deadpool 002) is a great tie-up piece.
Des Feral Imp (Yugioh 004) is nice cheap melee fighter.
Grasshopper (Deadpool 042) may be one of the best early-game tie-ups in the game.
Anaconda (Deadpool 013) is too costly to be a great tie-up piece, but it’s a strong secondary role for this bruiser. With her ranged Plasticity, she can exert some serious board control.
Weapon X Scientist (Deadpool 007a) was key to pushing the enemy to the brink in this game, with his Weapon X-focused Outwit.
On a team with no relics or team abilities, Bilbo Baggins (Desolation of Smaug 101) was largely deadweight apart from needed Perplex.
So a little while back (y’know, when I used to update this blog every other day back in April), I had a Top Ten list of changes the game needs:
We got three of them when Highfather, Arwen and Tellus got Watch-Listed a couple of weeks ago, with the decision being made today.
Each change actually went a little further than Heroclixin’s recommendations. Our change to Highfather would have kept intact his Pact trait’s ability to massively slow down OMAs, Arwen’s trait would be more potent for its once-per-game use, and Tellus would only have one or the other restriction — keyword or range — instead of both. But Heroclixin’ is perfectly OK with the adjustments, as the errata introduce some actual risk-to-reward balance in using each piece.
Now…what should replace those three on a NEW Top Ten list? Heroclixin’ wants your input!
My unplanned-for break continues.
But the good news is that part of it has been spent getting my new computer set up. My awesome little brother hooked me up with his old iMac to replace my ancient PowerMac. And it’s unbelievable how much faster working on this website is now compared to before!
The bad news is trying to find all my old files in the hot mess created during the export of my old partitioned hard drive to the newer one. That’s gonna take some time. (I really, really, REALLY hope that long series I wrote for an early summer release isn’t gone for good…)
But you didn’t visit here to here me whine or crow about stuff. You need a pocket checklist to keep track of all the new Deadpool HeroClix you got in May.
So here ya go. DeadpoolPocketCHECKLIST
Enjoy!
It’s been a little while since the last bonafide Heroclixin’ update, it’s true. Ye olde blogger has been a bit bogged down in minor RL annoyances compounded with viewing old movies and TV shows on DVD — and, of course, playing actual games of HeroClix. Planning to get things back in gear in May. Thanks for visiting in the meantime; I’ll make sure to always post at least one new item a week at minimum if at all possible, no matter how tired I am.
Lately, I’ve been doing a fair amount of Figure Flush. Look for an update this coming week featuring my take on ‘clix fielded for the first time.
There was an interesting thread on HCRealms yesterday titled: “How do you ‘Clix?” It was really asking about other fans’ buying habits.
Here’s how I do.
