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

Now that WizKids has released its errata list for Notorious (more on that later), it’s time for our regular review of the set’s legacy cards: a F.U.N. way to bring some old fan-favorites back into Modern/Silver play and rework some old figs that never really worked right before (or don’t anymore due to rule changes).

By set number:

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L020a CALENDAR MAN
(Streets of Gotham, 2013)

THEN: 210 points got you a Hypersonic brick who had to KO an enemy to be anything special: This alternate-universe Lex Luthor’s trait allowed him to take one of the victim’s powers. He also had Prob Control and a special Pulse Wave that forced hit targets to choose just ONE power they had; the rest got countered for a turn. But neither of those useful skills were top-dial and it wasn’t terribly hard to deal with his decidedly average stats. Only the one Mystical keyword.

NOW:  He still has the Mystics TA and adds Metropolis and Crime Syndicate keywords (even though he’s technically their enemy). He also still has to KO to activate his trait, but he has the option to boost one of his stats +1 for the rest of the game instead of picking the one of the victim’s powers — though he can choose both if the victim was more than his 150 points. His SP PW is now FREE if he moved this turn.

F.U.N.? This fig is pure F.U.N. with probably zero meta potential. Not having Outwit protection or Willpower is rough at his cost.

AM I GETTING THIS? I collect Lex Luthors so this was a lock to acquire even if it were bad.

THEN: With pretty average stats for 97 points, her claim to playability was Poison that also nerfed defense -1 to its victims. She also had a SP to POWER action deal no-roll-needed 1 penetrating damage to an adjacent foe. Hopefully her Stealth, Reflexes and wild card ability would be enough to save her long enough to get either off — IF she could get in close in the first place. Keywords: Martial Artist, Titans, Villains For Hire.

NOW: Still a wildcard, the now-50-point Assassin, League of Assassins, Martial Artist, Secret Six, and Secret Society of Super-Villains keyword villainess has The Target trait, a new trait granting Sidestep and 2-damage Poison, and her SP for Precision and nixes damage reduction entirely for a round when she damages an opponent.

F.U.N.? She’s a 100% meta-level piece.

AM I GETTING THIS? I had no real affinity for the character to track this piece down when it was new. So probably no.

Thanks to the set’s reveal in prerelease play at Worlds in Memphis earlier this month, we can share a complete downloadable PDF checklist!

Notorious (1)

Printing it will give you four for yourself or friends.

I was all set to fake-whine about going to Worlds this year. How I:

• Started Thursday with a thud by missing out on the pulp events and placed third or worse in every BR
• Failed on Friday by forgetting my clix supplies and led my Teams campaign to a sorry 1-2 finish before dropping but still missed the limited seating Silver event due to having to go back for the aforementioned clix supplies AND still got only third places in every BR — including the one with my only chase wish, Aquaman 😥 — and actually LOST my clix supplies at the end of the evening
• Sucked it on Saturday, not equaling the “at least one win in singles” goal that I met in 2022 OR having a winning record in the Theme event later AND missing all the BRs of the day
• And slipped up Sunday, just falling short of my goal to win a 209 Apocalypse in the X of Swords SLOP event.

And yeah, all that happened. But as the title said: I had a blast!

• Got all the buyables I wanted — and more. I really have to exercise more discipline next time.
• Even my one dead-last-place BR finish got me 2 SRs … I love Worlds.
• Oh, and how awesome was getting the first play time with a brand-new set? Not to mention sneak peeks at upcoming figs from Wheels of Vengeance. (A Blade on a motorcycle is coming! I wish I’d gotten a photo 🙁 )

• I was spared the grind of Pulp Worlds. I wasn’t ready at ALL.(Which meant more BRs)
• Being a longtime Legion of Super-Heroes fan (see my first-in-competitive Top 8 ROC win in 2014 with the Legion or search “Legion” on this site) I was really really happy to run a comic-accurate Legion of Super-Villains team in Teams Sealed! Went 1-2 but this pulp force was competitive.
• Speaking of Teams, here’s my roomie William K. Holland and my Georgia player friend Blant Archer!

• Someone found my troublesome dice+tokens baggie and I got it back!
• I got to meet Heroclixin’ board member Tereso’s friend Curtis, who said that commonality took a lot of the sting out of the loss I’d just dealt him using my comic-accurate team of The Ultimates (Blue Marvel, Monica Rambeau, Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Miss America).

• In fact, I got to put faces and fist bumps to SO many names I’ve liked and respected over these clix years, such as Joe Pangrazio, Azarith Stryffe, Devin Owens, Simeon Bruce and Antonio Clark, just to name a very few!

Seriously, when the biggest disappointment is winning ANOTHER Genesis grand prize, that’s a good weekend!

Years ago, I wrote a review of one of my favorite keywords:

You can read it here, if you like, but the game’s changed so much that most of those reviews don’t even apply anymore. In fact, I wrote and completed this article JUST before the 2023 rules shift, so I had to REwrite it, LOL. And THEN the Avengers team ability most of them share got rewritten. So it’s time for a new look — especially because nearly every one of the characters has been remade for Silver/Modern Age, with some additions.

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HULKLING (Empyre 001) 50 points and (Empyre 050) 175 points / 60 points

Though his Civil War incarnation is still one I’d reach for in a sufficiently sized Young Avengers force, at 80 points he’s just too costly. This new Teddy (Empyre 001) has a lot of what made that piece good in 2015 — protecting friends by giving them Mastermind, Charging hard with 11 AV (maybe 12 with Avengers TA), Shape Changing via Skrulls TA, Invulnerability — at a deep discount, just 50 points. And he thematically fits an earlier version of the character and team.

But Hulkling (Empyre 050) might be what you REALLY want to play. At either a hulking 175 points or a svelte 60, he’s Leadership material and brings the Star Sword in play: a SP Blades/Claws/Fangs that transports either hit foe or adjacent friend. He also is protected by Mastermind (instead of the other way around) and can generate generic Kree or Skrull Sidekicks (now that he’s emperor of both peoples). He’s also Cosmic Energized and a flier.

At full cost, he massively bolsters his Skrulls TA with printed Shape Change and is armored with Impervious.

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PATRIOT (Avengers Forever 009) 40 points

Grandson of the first — and Black — Captain America, the previous version from Civil War lost a lot of what made it special in 2016, so this latest version shaves down to 40 points — very close to the low cost of the original model in 2007’s Avengers — with Avengers TA, Defend and Leadership. All useful but nothing to write about.

That is, until you consider his team-up card that makes each Young Avenger a don’t-die piece:

“If three or more friendly characters with the Young Avengers keyword are on the map, the first time each friendly character would be KO’d, instead turn them to their last non-KO click, then roll a d6 and heal them equal to half the result.

Hey, it’s the “Living Legend” ability seen on some earlier Cap pieces. It’s a must-play on this force — making Patriot a must-play as well.

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STATURE (Avengers Forever 032) 50 points / 25 points

Daughter of Scott Lang, Ant-Man, she’s got a 50- and 25-point level. Both have  2 bolts, starting with Charge+Plasticity and a trait to become Tiny with 4 range RCE or giant with CCE. But caution: Once she picks, she can’t go regular size again for the rest of the game, having to swap between the extremes. Still, it’s an improvement over her just being a huge target all the time in sets past — and this version melds the best aspects of the old pieces (the attacking power of the 2016 model and the tie-up ability of the 2007 original). Like most of the theme, she’s got Avengers TA, too.

But maybe you want a slightly more modern option for Cassie here in the Avengers 60 set: Stinger 009

She’s always tiny, with Senses and traited Energy Shield/Deflection she can lend to other tiny figs.

*looks at other Young Avengers, who aren’t tiny*

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Beyond that, she’s just a weak Charge fig with some end-dial Pulse Wave, so there’s that.

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IRON LAD (Avengers Forever 025) 75 points / 50 points and VISION (Avengers Forever 024) 45 points

Iron Lad’s a young Kang from his pre-conquerer days, while Vision is “Jonas,” an AI copied from the memories of Iron Lad within the original Vision’s repaired body.

Where his earlier Vision incarnations were all overcosted and underpowered (and, being pre-card versions or from 2012’s Chaos War, technically not him), this one’s just 45 points, bringing Enhancement and, via a POWER action, two Empower-ing duplicates to aid the team. He’s still not offensively good, but you’re not paying for offense this time.

Previous Iron Lads ranged from terrible (2007’s) to just overpriced (and/or, again, not him in 2017). Today’s model is neither, showing up at either 75 or 50 points for Probability Control, Running Shot, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Willpower, Invulnerability, Super Senses, and even a Follow Up trait that gives him a FREE attack after another YA hits.

Both sport Avengers TA for a possible AV bonus.

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WICCAN (Empyre 021) 50 points

Being somehow the son of Scarlet Witch, with her reality-warping magic powers, even Wiccan’s earliest dial from 2007 is still useful in today’s game (for Golden Age, of course), but the 50-point Empyre version offers the best balance of cost effect and utility overall — Prob, Mystics, +1 DV for adjacent pals (if he, a wildcard, is using their team ability — most likely Avengers, for the AV boost), Penetrating/Psychic Blast. (Though we still kinda love the 90-pointer from Civil War best.)

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HAWKEYE (War of the Realms 012) 50 points

This socialite-turned-self-taught super-heroine has alternatively been either too weak (2008’s Secret Invasion) or too bloated and complicated to field (the 2017 LE, whose trait didn’t really work with Running Shot back then) or somehow both (2015’s Avengers Assemble … 86 points for 2 damage? No thanks). But in War of the Realms, she showed up fit at a cheaper-than-ever 50 points with actual offense (12 AV Penetrating/Psychic Blast) and a nifty and useful Running Shot+Sidestep combo SP. Avengers TA is icing on this fierce cupcake.

But if you want to stretch the YA theme into true MCU territory, there are some extra Kates to consider:

Kate Bishop (Marvel Studios Next Phase ) 40 points

Sporting little other than Stealth and Super Senses, she’s no good on a Young Avengers theme since there’s no other character on the team with the new Marksman keyword. But if you double up with another MSNP Kate, that doppelgänger gets Enhancement.

Kate Bishop (Marvel Studios Next Phase 203) 50 points

Also Stealthy, 10 more points and LE status buy this identically sculpted Ms. Bishop a lot more: IT:Characters, an attack SP allowing a no-cost range shot after she’s carried, and, late-dial, a damage SP granting her two of KNOCKBACK, EE or RCE. Oh and anti-Stealth Avengers Initiative TA, too!

For a bit of doggo cuteness, the Kate and Lucky (Marvel Studios Next Phase 065) chase offers wild card TA, Stealthy Shape Change, and attacks that trigger off a goofy Pizza mechanic. Not really worth the 50 points for Young Avengers.

But the real thing is SR Kate Bishop (Marvel Studios Next Phase 054). Another wild card, she sports a lot of Improved Targeting when she can station herself in a sniping spot to extend her already better-than-average 6 range to 8. A good 65 points by herself, she’s even better with Trick Arrows equipment she can add for 0 points. So even though this is properly a TV version of Kate, she’s actually closest to the comics version. If you can fit her on the force, do it.

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SPEED (Avengers Forever 010) 45 points

He’s speedy. And also somehow the son of Scarlet Witch. But his first run (in 2012’s Chaos War) was a stumble. Sure, he had the Hypersonic Speed, but with just 9 AV and 16 Super Senses and 2 damage, he didn’t do much with it or live long.

Now, though, he’s much more effective with 10AV (plus Avengers TA, which he didn’t have before) and 18DV Senses and 3 damage on his first and final clicks. The three in the middle aren’t so good, saddling him with a FREE place power but weaker defense (Willpower) and 2 damage. But at 45, he’s 10 points cheaper than the older model.

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LOKI (Empyre 026) 60 points

“Low Key” returns! He was an instant fave for Heroclixin‘ and we’re glad to see the de-aged trickster causing mischief again without the 115-point bloat of the first YA Loki or the Title Character intricacies of the second, also 60 points. Watch for those Rally dice rolls so you can multiply the Prob (and BCF) on the board for the team! He’s one of the few members without Avengers, sporting Mystics TA instead.

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MISS AMERICA (Avengers Forever 050) 50 points

I didn’t think they could top the old LE kicker of butts and the time-space fabric, and they haven’t — this one’s a much slimmer, simpler affair. At nearly halved cost, she literally hits only about half as hard. But she’s not the risk-it-all puncher anymore and is much more of a team player thanks to her Passenger:2 Hypersonic Speed. That could be super useful: Fly in carrying an Empower fig or two (like Vision’s dupes!), or evacuate an ally in trouble after she makes her (possibly Avengers TA-boosted) attack if she can break away. Or both!

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NOH-VARR (Avengers Forever 034) 50 points

A MUCH slimmed down redo of Web of Spider-Man’s original, he finally gets on the team. And he brings Perplex and Energy Explosion and Running Shot and later some Ranged Combat Expert and Regeneration.

But this last-click power, though:

 ALL ALONE ON AN ALIEN PLANET STOP. Invulnerability, Willpower. // After the resolution of any action, if Noh-Varr isn’t the only friendly character on the map, KO him. 

Wait what

Is that an auto-KO from a STOP click? (I was assured, yes it is)

Um OK

Wow

Noh-Varr might be the worst (which is in tune with the character, lore-wise.) BUT if played with the Patriot Team Up card, that suicidal STOP click won’t always kill him. So he might get some use out of it without being the last boy standing. He’s also a Team Player, so he can copy allies’ copyable TAs.

(Note: There’s also a discrepancy on his dial versus his card. Follow the dial, WizKids says.)

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PRODIGY (Avengers Forever 033) 35 points

Finally getting the keyword as well! He’s an Outwit or Perplex figure for the squad, but he needs to be really close to the action as the new, shorter minimum ranges for those powers make using them a little awkward. He has a die replacement Rally trait for friendlies’ d6 rolls (SSenses, Willpower, Impervious, BCF, to name a few) within 6 range and LOF (now that he’s gotten proper errata, because the printed card lacks the range number) he can copy a PAC power from an attacking enemy in the same LOF zone. Finally, in addition to Avengers TA, he has X-Men, which could aid his wildcard teammates Wiccan and Noh-Varr.

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And then there are some unexpected Young Avengers beyond the core team. These next three don’t appear in the comics rosters ever. But somehow they get the keyword now, I guess  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

REPTIL (Avengers Forever 023) 40 points

Sort of a remix of the Avengers Assemble original, but 30 points cheaper and with Avengers TA and the ability to switch forms on the fly (Flurry+Quake on 1, Charge+BCF on 2 and 3rd, HSS+Precision) instead of after KO. I like it, I guess.

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MS. MARVEL (Avengers Forever 035) 70 points / 35 points

I love Kamala Khan, so I’ll allow her on a new Young Avengers squad, I guess. And she’s actually a good piece: Impervious and Shape Changing with Rally dice replacement for enemies’ d6 rolls — no range needed, just LOF, and that Super Senses roll just FAILS — and the ability to change sizes, gaining certain powers or stats respectively, complete with the new Avengers TA. Just doesn’t quite fit thematically, yet.

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And then there’s a different Kamala…

MS. KANG (Avengers Forever 061) 50 points

She actually has better qualification for the YA keyword, being an alternate timeline amalgam of former member Kang The Conqueror — and anything can go in alternate timelines.

Playwise, she’s a F.U.N. TK, Prob and Outwit piece, able to make Coronal Echo pogs when she uses the blue damage power for even MORE Prob — pogs that also sacrifice to improve her Shape Change and help her avoid KO. She can’t be Outwitted because her TA is Cosmic Energy

Provisionally she could fit an “all timelines Young Avengers” team, thematically.

And then, in Marvel Studios Next Phase, there’s still MORE Kamala, this time the MCU version(s):

Ms. Marvel (Marvel Studios Next Phase 004) 35 points

Sporting IM:Elevated and a SP Barrier that, in conjunction with her Telekinesis, can also allow her to FREE hurl a piece of her Barrier at a target. Still very tricky to use since the Barrier could block her LOF if not placed carefully. Maybe better to use her as a rare TK and Barrier piece for Young Avengers keyword.

Ms. Marvel (Marvel Studios Next Phase 046), at 80 and 120 points, has the same ability as a trait, but it’s even harder for her to weaponize it. Probably too costly.

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Now here are a few more YAs who get the keyword who HAVE briefly been on the team in some capacity but are neither young nor Avengers, anymore.

Mostly.

I guess.

Most are Silver Age, but here’s one Modern:

SCARLET WITCH (War of the Realms 004) 30 points

Because she showed up in The Children’s Crusade YA series, she gets the keyword, I guess. Another Prob piece, but she also has TK and mega taxi for keyword pals, plus Avengers TA. Not a bad use of 30 points.

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KANG, THE CONQUEROR (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 050) 80 points

Wait what

Wasn’t he their first opponent?

But he did say “I loved being a Young Avenger,” so whatever

He’s another Running Shooter and Probber. He also sports Title Character privileges, making Time Portal markers he can use to teleport around and heal up.

No team affiliation. He’s for a weird time-twisted “every Young Avenger ever” kind of build.

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Similarly, here’s ENCHANTRESS (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 046), who was really actually only on a sort-of “Young Masters of Evil” team but she got the keyword anyway:

For the theme, play her on her lower dial, the 90-point one. She’s not actually Amora the Asgardian but … IDK … some human girl body swapping? It’s confusing. And anyway, she’s a very expensive Running Shot Mystics piece at 135 points, esp. since her SP Outwit/Prob/Perplex often only allows her to use one of those per turn.  Play her on an “every YA ever” squad and then only to fill points.

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And then back in Earth X, we got the 50-point SPIDER-GIRL (Earth X 001a)

…who ALSO isn’t a true YA, but instead a future timeline version from the M2 Avengers (a short-lived ’90s comic. She’s the only member to be clixed. Didn’t even get the Avengers TA, just the then-wildcard Spider-Man TA that now greatly boosts her Super Senses). She got mentioned among Heroclixin’s worst of her year because we dislike the Incapacitate power, but she got a boost with the 2021 ruleset.

Still, she should be the very last to add to the team because, as noted, she’s never been a member in any timeline.

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Finally, here’s one more that’s good: Hawkeye and Hawkeye (WizKids M23-002)

Technically only the Kate half is a Young Avenger. But they got the keyword and come with a ton of skills:

• Leadership. Kate was often unofficial co-leader with Patriot in the team’s early days.
• Starting Running Shot with 12 AV (plus Avengers and SHIELD TAs)
• IT:Characters, Adjacent, Hindering
• FREE elevation change within range and LOF via “Grapple Arrow” trait.
• A “duo” attack trait that can instead make a Kate Bishop pog which can A) use the powers of any click on the main dial and B) can effectively serve as both meat shield and armor for the main dial.

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One day I’ll run them in a Silver Age game and report how the team(s) did.

The WORST worst was 2022’s, which saw a bunch of pandemic-era sets fade to Silver without ever seeing Worlds competition. But here we are a year and some months later, seeing one set phasing out the VERY NEXT YEAR after its release.

I’m speaking of Disney Plus, of course. (Well, War of the Realms, too. But DISNEY PLUS.) The fact that it will have gotten two Worlds appearances softens the blow somewhat. And to be sure, the set has some VERY problematic pieces that have dominated the meta since their release.

• The Scarlet Witch 050. On the one hand, she’s the badass Wanda we’ve wanted since forever. On the other, that Rune is a major negative play experience for whoever faces her. And she’s already a top-notch piece without ever using it!
• Sakarrian Iron Man. Another chase fig, and one that’s just way too damn good. Virtually unkillable, he’d be playable at twice his 50-point cost. At least then he’d be worth the effort to KO him.
• The Vision 043b. A fearsome Super Rare prime that’s also overpowered even if costed accordingly at least.
• Cape of Levitation. This equip granting Sidestep, Plasticity AND Flight makes so much else in the game better. It’s gotta go.
• The Darkhold. Half the reason SWitch above is such a problem is this equip she gets for abso-FREAKING free.
• Agatha Harkness. With higher cost and no armor, she almost seems fair compared to SWitch. Almost. But she packs the same Darkhold and makes the same Rune and has FREE movement on top of it. Hell, you can play them together.
• Miss Minutes. OK I love her. But she can take Mission Points from a cute little gimmick to “You win/lose by Turn 3” so maybe it’s better she rotates now and becomes Silver Age’s problem to possibly ban.

So yeah. It’s the right move to shelve these after their two Worlds appearances. (This assumes rotation will be post-Worlds from now on. If WizKids switches back to midsummer retirement next year, Imma be upset.)

WHAT ALL’S LEAVING …

5-Figure Booster Sets (including Organized Play game elements and incentives associated with each set.)

• Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four. Released in the depths of the pandemic, this fantastically F.U.N. set is finally fading into the far-flung fields of Silver and Golden Age. More than any particular fig, it might be the map Aunt Petunia’s House that may be most missed from the meta … or maybe NOT because Door and Window terrain was confusing as heck.
• Marvel HeroClix Spider-Man and Venom Absolute Carnage. The last of the small-scale fig sets swings off the Modern stage. All-Black The Necrosword is the meta staple that’s done for in Modern.
• Marvel HeroClix House of X. The House has fallen. Maggott will have his last Modern meal.
• Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Future Foundation. This one was really too much Fantastic Four too soon. Doomswap and Molecule Man are of note here, along with equipment like Emotional Modifier, Silver Surfboard and Radioactive Clay
• DC Comics HeroClix Wonder Woman 80th. Between this and FFFF, was this when chase sets began grew to absolutely dominate the meta? The Commissioner, Scarab and especially Sky Tyrant just played havoc on competitive — not to mention the Lanterns and their constructs.
• Marvel HeroClix X-Men Rise and Fall. THE FALL OF X IS HERE. There’s not much to miss aside from Moira MacTaggart cheating out Rally dice and Mimic prime.
• Marvel HeroClix Avengers-Fantastic Four Empyre. All empires fade. And so Venom Magneto, the first mega-chase to hold sustained $200ish resell price and thus set off an ever-rising cost of competitive in clix, dips out of Modern.
• Marvel HeroClix War of the Realms. All wars end as well. Not much on the ridiculous meta level is being lost here.
• Marvel HeroClix Disney Plus. … gets minused. And we saw what was the reasons why, earlier.

Fast Forces Packs. Interestingly, there have been none of these made since. Could fast forces be facing a final retirement? Hopefully so? Because nothing has been very good in ANY of the following.

• Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Fast Forces
•  Marvel HeroClix Spider-Man and Venom Absolute Carnage Fast Forces
• Marvel HeroClix House of X Fast Forces
• Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Future Foundation Fast Forces
• Marvel HeroClix X-Men Rise and Fall Fast Forces
• Marvel HeroClix War of the Realms Fast Forces

Starter Sets. The deluxe miniature games starting with WW80 in 2021 aren’t listed here but are probably counted as part of their main set.

• Marvel HeroClix Battlegrounds: Avengers vs Masters of Evil. This, the first of the new-style starters, was actually the best overall IMO. Price point was just right. And the figs, though kinda way overcosted in retrospect, were still kinda neat. If only that one Iron Man had been error-free.

Micro Sets (including Organized Play game elements and incentives associated with each set)

• Marvel HeroClix Unpainted Deep Cuts: Fantastic Four. Geez. We’re losing a LOT of F4 in this rotation.
• Marvel HeroClix Eternals Movie. The redheaded stepchild of all rotating sets. (Except for the actual redheaded child, Sprite 021, whose saw some play in competitive.)
• Marvel HeroClix Fantastic Four Storyline OP. A LOT of F4. Like, this nixes nearly the whole keyword from Modern.

Convention Exclusives and Limited Edition Game Elements

• WK20-s001 Tire Stack
• WK20-s002 Barrel

These two are the only pre-pandemic things in this rotation.

But of course, Silver Age means there’s still a place in competitive for this stuff. Which means, maybe that much of it may continue to be problematic, since MAYBE none of it rises to the level of degeneracy seen in other banned elements in Silver.

We shall see…

Heroclixin’ board member and longtime friend Chadd comes to various Atlanta conventions once a year lately and we have taken to rooming together for big games.

GAME 1

RED & BLACK & BLUE: DEADPOOL VS. HARLEY QUINN

I forgot to take a full photo, so here’s the detailed 1000-point builds:

CHADD’S MAXIMUM EFFORT

• Deadpool (X of Swords 048) 40 points
• Deadpool (X-Men Rise and Fall 100) 60 points
• Deadpool, Marc WIth A Mouth 70 points
• Deadpool (Deadpool & X-Force 037a) 75 points
• Evil Deadpool 100 points
• Deadpool (Deadpool 101) 130 points
• Deadpool (Deadpool 019a) 135 points
• Deadpool (Empyre 063) 175 points
• Deadpool and Bob 200 points
• Mjolnir (Hammer of Thor s101) 0 points

vs. MY GANG OF HARLEYS

• Harley Quinn (WW80) @ 50 points
• Harley Quinn (DC21-004) 45 points
• Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series 014) 65 points
• Harley Quinn (Batman Team Up 008) 50 points
• Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 017) 75 points
• Dr. Holly Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 033) 35 points
• The Harlequin (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 100) 40 points
• Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 026) 40 points
• Legacy Harley & Ivy (BTU L058) 75 points
• Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 059a) 200 points
• Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043a) 50 points
• Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043b) 50 points
• Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 049) 60 points
• Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series ) 60 points
• Harley Quinn (The Flash 046) @ 50 points
• Location Bonus: My Babies Need Their Space 5 points

Chadd took an early lead because I neglected to use Harley & Ivy’s FREE Smoke Cloud to hide other Harleys from an alpha strike. Then Deadpool & Bob Super Sensed out of my counterattack. Then I completely failed a Pulse Wave attempt with prime Harley. I was losing pretty much the whole time until I finally got Red Lantern Harley and legacy Harley & Ivy into position while Title Harley called out her Gang of Harley pogs to finish off Bob and Evil DP for the win.

RESULT: HARLEY HAMMER TIME!

GAME 2

GANG WAR: GOTHAM UNDERWORLD VS. SINISTER SEVENTEEN

My team was made up of:

• The original Sinister Six from the 1960s comics (Kraven, Doc Ock, Vulture, Mysterio, original Electro and Sandman)
• Beetle’s Sinister Syndicate from the mid-1980s (with Rhino, Speed Demon, Boomerang and Hydro-Man)
• Iron Spider’s 21st-century version of the Six (Davis plus Spot, Hobgoblin, chick Electro, mom Bombshell and Sandman doing double duty here)

all hired by the Kingpin for this GANG WAR

Got a photo for this one because I did.

Chadd planned to rush me with Clayfaces (each kitted out with Entangle feats) and keep me futilely flailing at them. But PLOT TWIST! I had a lot of Improved Movement and immediately left the ‘Faces in the dust, setting them up for Electro’s repeated Pulse Waves while the others set up to get Joker, who was using the team-up card to give all Batman Enemy characters the Mystics team ability.

I still nearly lost the game when I forgot to use Spot’s Outwit to stop Killer Croc’s Charge. Also got lucky with a miss against Vulture.

Though I failed almost every single Leadership roll — despite having 5 figs with the power on the force, I maybe succeeded 3 times total all game — I finally got through various Barriers and outdoor blocking to one-turn Joker, after which Chadd conceded.

RESULT: SYNDICATE TAKES OVER GOTHAM

GAME 3

SCOOBY GANG MEETS BATMAN AND ROBIN TO SOLVE THE CASE OF SCOOBY MONSTERS

So I decided to get these chases because nostalgia:

Chadd remembers the Scooby Doo series better than I do and came up with a team of monsters inspired by the cartoon (JL King Shark for the shark god, Zzzax for the electric giant, Sabretooth for the cat people, etc.).

…and Chadd demanded I play the Scooby chases along with a Batman and Robin. I agreed with one condition: to add Ace The Bathound, which I’d finally gotten.

I thought the Scoobys would do OK, but I was not expecting the dominance that happened. Chadd did, though. We still had fun, especially with me playing classic Scooby background music as we went.

RESULT: DARN THOSE MEDDLING KIDS AND CAPED CRUSADERS

GAME 4:

HORSEMEN VS. THE HORDES OF ARRAKO

Now this one mattered to me a little more because

1. I gifted Chadd with a Genesis 210 fig and it would be SOMEWHAT galling to lose to that fig and more importantly
2. prime Isca the Unbeaten’s record was at stake — I’ve never lost a game with her.

I’d also tried out these Arrako pieces before and BOY are they awkward to field. I had to do a trial run on my kitchen table just to get a feel for how to play the squad I settled on:

• Annihilation (X of Swords 059) 70 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Light of Galador)
• Bei the Blood Moon (X of Swords 046) @ 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
• Famine  (X of Swords SLOP 041) @ 50 points
• Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 35 points +Sword Bearer 5 (Warlock)
• Isca the Unbeaten (X of Swords 021b) +Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
• Khora of the Burning Heart (X of Swords) 65 points
• Pogg Ur-Pogg (X of Swords SLOP 208) @ 170 points + Starlight Sword (for free because it’s him)
• Redroot the Forest (X of Swords 056) 60 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Pogg Ur-Pogg)
• Solem (X of Swords SLOP 018) + Sword Bearer 5 (Muramasa Blade s002)
• Summoner  (X of Swords 055) 120 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Godkiller)
• Tarn the Uncaring (X of Swords SLOP 033) @125 points
• The White Sword (X of Swords 058) 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Purity)

Chadd used Horsemen:

• Apocalypse (X of Swords 057) 195 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
• Death (X of Swords 026) + Sword Bearer 5 (Black Bone of Amduat)
• Famine (X of Swords SLOP 204) @ 75 points
• Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 295 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
• Mr. Sinister (X of Swords 044) + Protected 8
• Mr. Sinister (X of Swords SLOP 030) + Entangle 8 + Camouflage 8
• Pestilence (X of Swords SLOP 202) + Armor Piercing 10
• War (X of Swords 025) + Sword Bearer 5 (Vermillion)

On the Fiefdom of Amenth map, I sent Annihilation’s Daemon pogs to start. But Pestilence’s Armor Piercing got through even their Invincible. However, there’s no end to the the Daemon horde, so I could keep flooding them out while keeping most of the squad, including the colossal Pogg who was shielded by a water terrain I added, safe and still offensive. When I ended War after her unsuccessful attack, Chadd conceded rather than get swarmed by my Arakkan horde.

RESULT: ARAKKO IS NOT FOR THE WEAK — OR THOSE WHO CONCEDE

GAME 5

CHADD’S OBSESSION vs. THE ULTIMATES

This one was personal. Years ago in the Before Times, I’d played Chadd with one of my favorite comic teams, the Ultimates:

Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Miss America and Monica Rambeau.

I can’t recall what Chadd played, but it was some force that had no business making short work of my Carol Danvers. And then Chadd RAN before we could finish the game!

He actually had a dinner appointment. But it FELT like he was running

Anyway, the characters had all been remade at least once, and nearly all were much better:

• Black Panther (Captain America and the Avengers 037a) @ 85 points + Skybreaker sword 10 points
• Blue Marvel (Avengers Forever) @ 150 points
• Captain Marvel (Captain America and the Avengers 054) @ 150 points
• Miss America (Avengers Forever) 50 points
• Monica Rambeau (Empyre) @ 150 points

For his part, Chadd was playing favorites himself: Redheads!

• Daphne (Batman Team Up 010) 50 points + Utility Belt 10
• Hope Summers (X of Swords) @40 points
• Jean Grey (X of Swords 029) — 35 points
• Lady Phoenix @ 125 points
• Mary Jane (War of the Realms) @ 60 points
• Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points
• Mjolnir relic — 0 points

I lost Monica really early after being drawn out to try KOing Mary Jane, who was rolling for the Mjolnir relic. But while Captain Marvel wore Phoenix down with free damage, Blue Marvel slipped to the back line to start wreaking havoc with his Pulse Wave. I was on the way to a big win when Chadd requested a do-over: He’d overlooked a token-removal trait that would have kept me from getting the momentum I’d needed. I agreed.

But Chadd made the same error of trying to give MJ Mjolnir and this time, I did NOT overextend.

RESULT: Chadd conceded too quickly when his attacks on Carol — who was already working on Phoenix — failed and he didn’t think to simply Outwit Carol’s speed power to stop me.

RESULT: ULTIMATE REDEMPTION

GAME 6

THE CHARLIE

This was the classic Charlie “Rockman” Cates scenario: Seven figs, all in differing point brackets, sit on the sideline. The cheapest fig starts first. When it heals or takes damage, immediately roll d6 and replace it with the corresponding fig on the sideline.

I brought two teams: one full of Sentinels and the other giant-woman-themed. Chadd used a team full of Jeans

• Jean Grey (Empyre 010) 30 points
• Jean Grey (Hellfire Gala) @45 points
• Jean Grey (Xavier’s School 065) @90 points
• Phoenix (WizKids M19-015) 100 points
• Phoenix (Uncanny X-Men 053a) 140 points
• Lady Phoenix @ 175 points
• Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points

and chose to face the giants.

• Giganta (WW80 037b) @25 points
• Stature (Avenger Forever) @ 50 points
• Giganta (HQGG 052) @90 points
• Giganta (WW80 037a) @100 points
• Power Girl (Rebirth 022) @ 115 points
• Giant-Girl (Avengers Infinity G001) @200 points
• Ms. Marvel (The Mighty Thor G005) @250 points

It was a disaster … FOR ME

The plan he’d had for Con Phoenix, to sit and enjoy 22 DV with Prob Control forever, finally was foolproof in this 1v1 scenario. My giant women had no chance.

I should’ve gone with the Sentinels. Still probably would have lost but at least it woulda been a fight!

RESULT: FINALLY a win for Chadd in the end! 

———

It’s always a good time playing these games. Looking forward to his next visit, DragonCon 2024, for more. And yes, we’re already planning them.

It’s taken me a while to write on this, but here we go. You can get all the meta news and who won elsewhere.

DAY ONE:

TRACY BROCK MEMORIAL EVENT

Tourney organizers came up with a wild sealed event.

I was supposed to be on a team with ROC founder Howard Brock (Tracy was his wife) and Scott Porter himself. But our communications got screwed and I thought Howard had gotten Scott to take my slot in the team, not that I was the 2nd and Scott was the third member! I had already joined another team in the meantime.

Howard says, “You owe me a team-up!” Yes sir, that I do! But I feel like I would’ve dragged his team down this night, because I did not do well.

As one of the longest-term players of our team I took the old-school stuff:

• Experienced Shadowcat (X-Plosion 035)
• Experienced Iceman (X-Plosion 038)
• Veteran Clayface (CD 039)
• Spider-Man (TabApp M-008)
• Calendar Man

Went 1-2. In Round 1, I completely overlooked Calendar Man’s Prob and that likely cost me the first game. I gave up the third round to Jay Major — our first time playing each other! — on a bad last-minute fielder’s choice of a move.

DAY TWO:

SCOTT PORTER VS THE WAREHOUSE

So it was supposed to start 11 a.m. but WizKids be WizKidsing and the product was late. Hung out with former ROC head judge and fast friend Jay Solomon and Emily “Queen of the North” Michele and our new friend Steven, with whom I did a sealed battle royal while waiting for the FedEx truck. I finished dead last place because somehow with three Leadership pieces on my team I only rolled it successfully once all game. (Had like 13 rally dice on Hobgoblin, though. Didn’t use any of them.)

Finally the Avengers60 boosters came. And I was one of the few people who did not mulligan my team, since I pulled SRs in both packs. My team:

But … I went just 1-4 in the Swiss rounds following. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

DAY THREE:

SILVER AGE

I fielded a new version of the Juneteenth team from 2021:

XOS Bishop @ 80 with SVAC Pumpkin Bombs 5

• Dr. Claire Finn 25
• Duke Thomas 35
• Maggott 40
• Micron 50
• Teen Lantern @ 30 with Green Lantern Ring 0
• Tempo 35

= 300 points.

• Sideline: Black Manta, Black Vulcan, Sentinel, Skull Spy

Went 1-3. Barely lost the first round vs. prime Vision and Mud Man (maybe forgot my sideline TroubAlert), made an unfortunate fielder’s choice against an Agatha/Scarlet Witch team that was also very close to a victory, got a solid win vs. Otherworld Jubilee (opponent waited to transform her, so I closed in and kept her Outwitted while avoiding/healing from GP Apocalypse attacks and KOing his support) but was thoroughly trounced by Hulk and Mad Jim Jaspers shenanigans in the final round.

DAY FOUR:

SILVER WORLDS!

After the staggering lack of success this weekend, I questioned if I even wanted to play the final event. But I got talked into it.

There’s a degenerate Mission Point team in Silver Age involving LE Titano, legacy Leech, Miss Minutes and like 10 Ayos. I will never play such a team. But it was a starting place for a Mission-driven squad:

• Titano (wkD17-G001p)
• legacy Leech
• Miss Minutes
• Ayo (ABPI 021) @ 20 points x2
• Indigo-1 (BTU ) 60
• Red X
• Kingpin (SMBA 037b) @ 35 points
• Superman (JLU 018) @ 10 points

My goal, aside from winning, was to break my previous record of Mission Points scored: 13.

Went 0-5. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I scored 18 MPs in the last round, and with literally 20 more seconds of time, I would have won the game outright.

——

The weekend wasn’t complete failure. I played a few Battle Royals and won a few, winning Scott pogs — both Porter and Cramton — and other prizes.

Oh, and of course I got to meet Scott Porter, who really is a friendly, regular kinda fella. Who’s nerdy enough to play HeroClix.

“Hey, I have that shirt!” he said, pointing to my Final Fantasy VII-inspired garb, before going into a short speech about who’s the most important character in FF7.

MEGA-NERD.

I almost forgot about this.

Avengers60thchecklist

Download and print. There’s four in the file.

Avengers 60 is in pre-release phase as this publishes. But thanks to the PRE-prerelease at HeroClix for Huntington’s in Huntsville about a month back, we have gotten a look at the entire set earlier than usual — including the legacy cards! So here’s our customary review.

——

In principle, legacy cards are a F.U.N. way to bring some old pieces back into Modern/Silver play, rework some old figs that never really worked right before — or don’t anymore due to rule changes).

In practice? Well, let’s see.

As usual, we’ll look back at what this figure used to do THEN when it was new, before looking how it’s updated NOW and considering if it’s F.U.N. But starting this set, I’m getting personal and talk about ME: Do I even want this one?

By set number:

———

L003 Ant-Man
(Age of Ultron, 2015)

Longtime friend and Heroclixin’ board member Lenny likes to play massive themed battles with me, and has done so for years.

• 2011: For Asgard
• 2019: JLA vs Avengers
• 2020: Guardians of the Galaxy against Inhumans
• 2021: Hulk vs. Thing
• And For Asgard AGAIN in 2021!

Those are just the ones I’ve written about in Heroclixin’. There are probably a dozen more undocumented. But this one is about to be: just not as exhaustively as some in the past.

This one is the third of our Avengers/Masters of Evil battles.

I’m not listing all the figures. Just gonna let the photo do the typing.

We opted for Silver Age to cut down on the sheer size of the pool of figs. But I wanted to play as close to a perfect Highlander corps of Master of Evil as possible (with some multiples of Ultron, because, y’know, Ultron, and a quartet of Vulturions) and that build came to 3,200 points.

For his part, building a similarly sized, similarly Highlander’d Avengers squad was super-easy.

I chose the map Bank Heist from Superior Spider-Man. I had a plan. Several, actually.

PLAN A: PLAY NEW FIGS

New to this MoE squad and to any build at all were the starter set Hydro-Man and Shocker. No matter what, I wanted to get them into the action.

Hydro-Man got TKed and Perplexed so he could use his trait to sweep away Lenny’s elevated terrain at earliest opportunity. But he was also the earliest casualty of the match.

As for Shocker? We’ll get to him.

Result: MIXED

PLAN B: WRECKER

Wrecker 043b was my prime, replacing Diablo from a previous massive Masters team. Goal was to possibly win on Mission Points with his Wrecking Crew pogs. But I misread the text (I didn’t realize EACH pog could score the points every turn) and didn’t deploy the Crew at the right portion of the field, so they weren’t able to smash many walls before the battlefield got too clogged for them to freely move. Result: FAIL

PLAN 3: ULTRON MISSION Infinity

Ultron Infinity can score Mission Points, too. But Lenny cannily put the Infinity tokens on characters who either weren’t going to be accessible, or needed the “get out of damage free” card it offers.

It was ultimately a moot point: The only target of opportunity was Captain America 056, who was protected by Stealth most of the time — and Ultron Infinity’s MP trait doesn’t work with his Energy Explosion (because both EE and this are “instead of normal damage” effects … gotta choose one). Worse, I forgot to keep Ultron in Stealth always (ALWAYS!!!) so he got one-turned right after the Doctor Octopus 046 he was hiding behind did.

That was a really bad round.

Result: robotic FAILURE

PLAN 4: OTHER ULTRON MISSION

Ultron 053a sent Ultron Drone pogs to the starting area to score Mission Points that way. The trouble was that the field was again too crowded for the non-flying Drones to reach the back field without dying. I also lacked actions to do so (even with 10 or 11! They go fast in this format) until very late in the game.

Between all three Mission Point sources, I got 10 MPs overall. If I’d played it better, I might’ve gotten as close as 15 to REALLY press the issue.

Result: MIXED

PLAN F.U.N.: RECRUIT NEW MASTERS

This was actually my primary goal today, though. I opted to only play one version of Helmut Zemo on the team, leaving off the, ahem, superior Superior Foes of Spider-Man model (who gives all MoE and T-Bolts +1 AV and Sidestep) or the Captain America & the Avengers Zemo (who can give the whole team any copyable Marvel team ability with each Leadership roll) or the OTHER CAAV Zemo (who can give the team the ENEMY’S TAs for a turn).

No, instead I used the WOTR recruiter Zemo, with the aim of recruiting some very specific characters from my Sideline:

• legacy Black Knight L006 in place of original villain Black Knight 046
• Atlas 063 to replace Power Man 014

A few more, too, but these were the main ones. That meant I was happy to play Black Knight and Power Man aggressively even if they got KOed. I *wanted* them to be KOed.

Which led to the first great moment of the game.

After the swift exit of HM, I set up for Black Knight to Pulse Wave a good portion of the pieces that had killed HM — including pogs Redwing and Alicia Masters, denying their usual extra effects upon dying. Rolled doubles, too, so most of the dozen enemies went flying with knock back and took more damage from walls.

Lenny said that was his lowlight moment of the game.

Also got Atlas into the match after Power Man took a dive

ALAS, THE BEST LAID PLANS…

But none of this really mattered because with Avengers, Lenny had three huge advantages that amounted to the equivalent of CHEAT CODES in a game this size.

CHEAT CODE 1: BLACK WIDOW 017

Invalidating my meager Prob if I rolled too low or he rolled too high, chase Black Widow’s “Patience” trait really scales up in a game this size where she can completely safely hide in the back yet have a super-powerful global effect. Strong in 300 builds, it’s insurmountable in 10x the build.

CHEAT CODE 2: MILES AND MILES OF SENSES ROLLS

Even worse. I lost so many attacks on characters who don’t have Super Senses and me without enough Outwit to spread around. At least half the evade attempts were successful.

CHEAT CODE 3: ANTI-VENOM

He has Support as FREE, which is really really effective with no roll needed to succeed. So even that early Pulse Wave was invalidated on a pair of foes.

In the end, 10+ hours later with a dinner break in there, we wrapped with a score of 1175 to 950 in favor of the Avengers.

But even though the day was generally a losing effort, I had some more successes.

First there was Blackheath, who cheated death not once but TWICE needing a 1 roll to survive. Best showing ever for the piece.

Then there was Shocker. In last turn, I got him to where he could Force Blast and nix Thor’s defenses for the turn and set up the god of thunder to fall in that last turn.

And unlike my sparring partner, I actually moved nearly all my pieces!

UNLIKE THE COWARDLY AVENGERS