Month: July 2019

Heavy Is the Head That Wears the Crown!! (Or, an Article About My Experiences at the 2019 Summer Michigan Wizkids Open!!)

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment

So the newest Michigan Wizkids Open Champion has just been crowned, and the winner is… Me!!! It could be luck, it could be my awesome play, or it could just be because the Canadian nationals were on the same day and the normal Toronto crew was absent. But whatever way you slice it, I won and I’ll take it!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Clearly it was luck!! Just kidding. I kid… ]

But enough self aggrandizing for now, let me tell you about…

My Team

ABPI011 Ant-Man – (30 points) My second favorite member of the team. His defenses are top notch for his point cost and he made a wonderful secondary attacker with a surprising amount of KOs on the day, but the real reason to play him is his ability to make anyone else on my team small. This allowed for excellent mobility by letting any of the other three characters carry each other. My favorite move was shrinking and carrying a double-token-ed Kobik up to an opposing character and then having her use her cube to give that character an action token when they thought they were safe. It also solved a lot of line of sight issues by shrinking my guys to let Kobik or Hulk see who they needed to see.

ABPI014 Hulk – (125points) The damage dealer of the team, and also the damage absorbing member of the team. His 12 attack and 5 damage made opponents fearful, but it’s the amount of clicks of life he had combined with his healing that truly made him great. Several times during the day he hit for 5 and 6 damage (often while outwitting defense before the hit). And opponents hated how he just wouldn’t die. With reducers on every click an opponent would have to bring psychic blast, outwit, or the raw damage output of someone like Thanos to even have a shot at knocking out Hulk. He has 8 clicks of life and heals for 1 the turn after he’s hit. Opponents would end up having to effectively go through 10 or 11 clicks of life before they finally saw the Hulk be KOed. 

ABPI021 Ayo – (30 points) The easiest of my team to KO. She had some moments to shine and made a good piece to use carry others with Ant-Man around, but overall she paled in Comparison to Ant-Man and she was exactly the same amount of points. Her biggest blades roll all day was 3 points of damage.

ABPI069 Kobik – (100 points) The best member of my team. I’d read about her exploits at nationals this year, but I hadn’t ever played her or even seen her in person. She has a distinct learning curve, but once you get the hang of her she is everything they said she was. Whether it was using dual target mind control from 11 range, or taking away Power Cosmic AND Mystics TA, or giving someone an action token (and pushing damage) with her item – she was worth the the hype. I was not a believer before today, I am now.

ABPI069T Hi, I’m Kobik – (15 points) Kobik’s cosmic cube was the real star of the show. It’s what makes her so broken. All three options it provides are great and as free actions with no chance of having to roll dice to avoid taking damage (like both of the set’s gauntlets), there is no reason not to use this every turn. I now believe that this is the most powerful item in the set (and that’s really saying something).

Total: 300 points

The Games

I ended up going 6 and 1 for the day only losing versus a team featuring both the Thanos Ultra Chase and Taskmaster in round round 1. Five of the wins were 300 to 0 or 300 to 30 (losing only Ayo).

The Semifinals

Versus:

  • ABPI074 Thanos (160 points)
  • ABPI061 Taskmaster (100 points)
  • ABPI005 A.I.M. Red Squad (20 points)
  • ABPI007 Wakandan Scientist (15 points)
  • 295 points total

This was versus the same Thanos team that I had lost to 300 to 0 in round 1. I was determined not to make the same mistakes twice. He won map roll and we played on Amok Time. My team is close combat focused and on this map I was in danger of getting killed by ranged attacks before I ever got near his team. I courageously hid in a corner behind a pillar until he got to about mid map with only Kobik sticking out. I managed to land a dual target mind control when he got to within 11 of me, but missed with Thanos and had Skeet roll impervious against Taskmaster. On his turn he gave Taskmaster running shot and ridiculously modified stats and tried to attack Kobik. She hit shape change and he had no other targets. Then I sprang into action on my turn. Hulk was shrunk by ant man and carried up to Taskmaster by Kobik. Kobik used her item to give Taskmaster a second token so he couldn’t do anything the next turn. Ayo carried Ant Man up to base Thanos. Kobik gave both Thano’s TAs to Hulk so Thanos lost willpower. On my opponents turn he he could do anything with Taskmaster except chose combat reflexes. Thanos faced the decision of pushing to try to attack Ant-man because he already had one action token. He chose to pass the turn. On my next turn Hulk outwitted combat reflexes and brought taskmaster down to his last click. Then one of my 30 point attackers finished Taskmaster off. The rest of the game went well from there. Kobik eventually made it over to Thanos and kept adding action tokens every turn while simultaneously denying him willpower. The Hulk eventually killed everyone except Skreet (who was killed by a mind controlled Thanos). The game ended in a 300 to nothing victory.

The Finals

Versus:

  •  ABPI010 S.H.I.E.L.D. Diplomat (20 points)
  • ABPI011 Ant-Man (30 points)
  • ABPI012 Crystal (50 points)
  • ABPI021 Ayo (30 points)
  • ABPI022 A.I.M. White Squad (20 points)
  • ABPI041A Falcon (60 points)
  • ABPI056 Kang, the Conquerer (80 points)
  • 300 points total

This was another team I had played earlier in the day. Our first match was pretty even until Hulk KO’d his Ant-Man and I used his Ant-Man to turn the tide of the battle. He won Map Roll and we played on the Docks, which features a large Elevated Terrain feature in the middle. He advanced up and created a time portal before I could do anything, but once any of his guys got within 11 squares, Kobik started taking shots at them from range (Ignoring Elevated) with her dual target Mind Control. Unfortunately for me, that only resulted in Redwing hitting Falcon for 1.

The next turn my opponent had Falcon use Hypersonic Speed to attack Kobik. A miss. On my turn, Hulk charged out and knocked Falcon to his stop click. My opponent had been waiting for Hulk to come into range and on his turn he had Kang Teleport and then use Running Shot to get to the edge of the elevation and shoot Hulk for 4 Penetrating damage. Then Crystal flew in and used free action Quake to damage both my 30 point characters. By blocking the stairs, Kobik couldn’t get next to Kang and give him action tokens–a smart move on my opponents part!

The match remained close as Kang KO’d Hulk with only a few minutes remaining, and then Ayo immediately after. However, I responded next turn by KOing his Ant-Man and then (in the same turn) using that Ant-man (now friendly to my force) to KO Crystal. In the end I won 190 to 155. I lost Hulk and Ayo and he lost everyone except Kang and Ayo.

Conclusion

For my first WKO Event win, I received the following LE’s: Ambrose Chase, Reverse Flash, Flash, and Steve Trevor. I also pulled a Kobik today that I am going to use repeatedly until she is retired. And most importantly of all, I got sweet, sweet, bragging rights until the next WKO comes around.

See you then!!

Does anyone else remember the Rebirth set? (Or a top ten list of the best figures in Rebirth)

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment

So it’s been some time since the heavily anticipated Black Panther and the Illuminati set dropped, I thought I’d try something a little different. We totally missed publishing a top 10 for Rebirth due to reasons that don’t really matter to most of our Heroclix readers. So while you are spending countless hours thinking about who wears what piece of Infinity bling best,  here’s a little something to entertain you. Since this article is months late, lets skip the honorable mentions (Prez Rickard, Dolphin, Lex Luthor, Nightwing, Billy Batson) and just go right into the Top 10.

10. RE044 Shade, The Changing Girl (45 points) – She’s a one trick pony, but it’s a heck of a trick. Her special white power reads “SHE JUST KIND OF SHOWS UP: Phasing/Teleport, Plasticity. POWER: Place Shade, the Changing Girl in any square with an (unheld) object.” On turn 1 an opponent’s team is completely immune to any shenanigans, but there are no rules protecting objects on the field. So if you get the first turn you can teleport to the opposing team’s best equipment and sit on it. She has 6 clicks and traited shape change to (hopefully) survive the fury this will generate in your opponent. And if she’s backed up by her friends AIG025P Groot or TMTG006P Mangog, it may be better for your opponent to just let that equipment go.

9. RE013 Cyborg (75 points) – There’s no special trick or combo with this guy, he’s just really useful on the battle field and well rounded on both offense and defense. He’s a great secondary attacker that brings support options as well. There is something useful for him to do on every click. He’s the definitive version of the character for me. Did you hear that Wizkids? You got this one right, no need to make any more of him. (unless it’s the “Teen Titans go” version)

8.  RE031 Batman (85 Points) – It’s not very often you get an affordable playable figure with the Outsiders TA, but this one fits the bill. He will be completely untargetable at range on any map you’d likely ever choose to run him on. He’s not going to to be a big damage dealer with only 3 printed damage, but his combination of outwit, Outsiders TA, and double target incapacitate means that your opponent can’t just ignore him. This is a Batman that beckons opponents to follow him into the shadows. I really like that flavor.

7. RE001 Deathstroke (100 points) – This figure was the M.V.P. on many sealed teams during the Rebirth release tournament. He’s a great offensive figure with options to use both running shot and charge. Even better he’s got the ability to deal penetrating damage while using either one. His defense is nothing special, but the ability to heal two clicks after KOing an opposing figure should definitely come in handy.

6. RE068 Barbatos (200 points) – This is the only one of the Dark Knight Metal chases that I would run at full points. His ability to phase through walls and attack with Psychic Blast is just devastating on indoor maps or around terrain like the boxing ring. Especially if an opposing team can’t see through stealth to make any attacks in return. His special damage power is also ripe for abuse. It reads, “SO FALLS THE REALM OF LIGHT: Opposing characters within 6 squares that can use Outwit, Perplex or Support can use Battle Fury.” His biggest downfall is that he is a giant and thus can’t have equipment.

5. RE063E The Dawnbreaker (75 points) – He’s a capable secondary attacker and brings the monster keyword their best taxi ever thanks to his Green Lantern TA. His starting invincible and “WE WILL NOT HIDE IN THE SHADOWS ANYMORE” trait will *hopefully* keep him safe. But, the real reason to run him is “NIGHTMARE CONSTRUCTS: Barrier. Whenever an opposing character generates one or more bystanders, after resolutions you may generate the same bystander(s). These bystanders you generate modify combat values +1 this game and have [MAX 1].” Medusa hair bystanders, walking wood, Dawg, and Skreet are some of the competitive tokens out there that are seeing play on popular teams and now they can be your opponents Nightmare (see what I did there). 

4. RE037BE Black Adam (100 points) – To quote hcrealms user BionicBoy, “This is a highly effective and mobile starting line. Very easy to heal back up to full as well.” He got that right. This guy saw some tournament wins when he first debuted leading some JSA teams. Now that the Jokers wild set has retired from Modern he’s lost some tools, but he’s still an effective attacker and ID summoning virtuoso. The ability to move up to 8 and still summon an ID call in after that is unmatched in modern.

3. RE062E The Murder Machine (100 points) – Everyone knows about ADW Hawkeye and Earth X Vulture, here’s DCs version of those killing machines. The big difference with this guy is that he doesn’t to move after he attacks and kills something, so his next target better be nearby. What he gets in return are something the other two can’t boast – a defense that doesn’t wilt at the first sign of being attacked. He’s also got prob control and that big starting 4 damage to go along with his 7 range and improved targeting: blocking  terrain. His ability to use energy explosion and dual targets should not be overlooked because KOing even the weakest bystander will allow him to attack again.

2. RE055E Starfire (50 points) – Obviously this isn’t a very long dial, but her stop click will make the dial long enough that your opponent will likely aim for a better target. If you ignore her, you’ll face her running shot and pulse wave combo. If you don’t ignore her, you could land her on that stop click and face flurry with 4 damage! She also had Quintessence at 50 points before the Elders of the Universe came along and made that sort of thing seem normal. Look for her to be a popular second (or third) attacker on cosmic teams.

1. RE052E Mister Oz (40 points) – Part Unseen and part God of TK, Mister OZ gives your team unparalleled TK while simultaneously nerfing that same power for your opponent. If you’ve got an attacker without good movement abilities then this is your guy to fix that issue. And once your attacker makes it into battle, his 12 range prob control that sees through everything will help make sure the battle goes your way. Expect him to be a staple of cosmic teams for years to come.

 

More Avengers, Less Punctuation!! (Or, The Top Ten Figures in Avengers Black Panther and the Illuminati!!)

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment

Hello Again! Annnnnd, we’re back! Better late than never, right?

And we couldn’t have asked for a funner set with which to return to feature writing! Now we can continue our run as the most enjoyable Heroclix-focused gaming blog out there!

And our new reign is all thanks to this new expansion featuring our friend T’Challa and his Illuminati buddies!

Your Reign is Over.jpg

Okay, maybe “friend” was a strong term. Alright T’Challa, how about we just, like, surrender and go right into the article?

Then Lets Get This Started

Then it’s agreed!! So without further ado, let’s start with…

SOME NOTES ABOUT THE SET:

Thor Lightning

–I really think this is the most powerful set we’ve gotten since The Mighty Thor, which came out way back in, like, August of 2017.

Just like that set, this expansion has extremely powerful Chases, Equipment and Cosmic entities.

Personally, I love this stuff. I mean, who saw an Elders of the Universe Sub-Theme coming? Moreover, who thought these pieces would be so good. Which reminds me…

Elders of the Universe Banner

–The Elders of the Universe Sub-Theme is REALLY freaking good!!

Collector, Astronomer, Champion, Gardener, Trader, Voyager, Runner, Grandmaster, Challenger, Possessor… and I’m still probably forgetting a few. But they are ALL playable and several are downright META!!

The Finder

–The packs seem to be somewhat searchable! So far I’m 11 for 13 in picking packs with Equipment (including an Ultra-Chase Thanos!!)

But this isn’t a total neckbeard disaster like Trinity War was, because 2 of the Chases and the Super Rare Prime all come sans additional elements, so if you only go looking for packs with Equipment, you’ll never pull something like the Black Panther Chase. Speaking of…

Infinity Gauntlet

–The Chases aren’t tied together by any one Theme, really, except that they’re all pretty damn good (okay, Starbrand only shines in Limited, but still). Secret Wars: Battleworld was the same way. Still, I miss Themed Chases!

Why wouldn’t they have just shifted Starbrand and Black Panther to Battleworld and put Infinity Gauntlet Black Panther Chase in this set?

Anywhozl… let’s get on to some…

HONORABLE MENTIONS!!

Okay, I can go all day with Honorable Mentions (this set is REALLY deep), but, with apologies to figures like Challenger, Rune, Eitri and Prime Black Panther, I’m only going to talk about two pieces:

Voyager

2. ABPI017 Voyager — 50 Points — Common:

Okay, she should actually be higher on this list, because she is a Meta-level Taxi. But there’s so many great pieces in this set, so she’s going here!

But she starts with either Outwit or Perplex, the best Telekinesis Special (STRAINING MY POWERS OF TELEPORTATION: Telekinesis, but only to place characters. When Voyager uses it, neither she nor the target character’s square need line of fire to the destination square.) I’ve seen in a long time, Phasing/Teleport and the Power Cosmic TA.

Did I mention she only costs 50 Points?

Medusa

1. ABPI030 Medusa — 50 Points — Uncommon:

Here comes another solid Medusa dial!!

Her Trait (AN EXTENSION OF MYSELF: Living Hair has the printed combat values, and can use the standard powers, displayed on the dial of the character that generated it. Protected: Pulse Wave.) is her main reason for being here; if you play multiples of her, she can get scary in a heartbeat.

And if you have enough Empower on the board, watch out!!

 

AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…

Here are…

THE BEST TEN PIECES IN THE SET!!

 

Trader

10. ABPI05 Trader — 50 Points — Rare:

He’s cheap! He’s got Power Cosmic! He’s got Perplex!

I know, I know, 50 Points would be a bit much for JUST a Perplexer, but with Sidestep and Power Cosmic, it’s easier to move Trader where you need him each turn than some other supporting characters.

But he made the main list for one reason: his Attack Power (LET’S MAKE A TRADE: FREE: Choose an equipped character (friendly or opposing) within 3 squares and line of fire. If Trader is equipped, and both equipments have Equip: Any, those equipments are now equipped to the other character.), which can allow for all sorts of shenanigans!

Choose Pen/Psy and Outwit with a character equipped with the Infinity Gauntlet, then switch in, say, the Power Gem for even more damage! And guess what? You can then use the Infinity Gauntlet with the character who previously had the Power Gem!

And that’s just what you can do with friendly swaps! You can also use it defensively to take better stuff from your opponents! The possibilities are endless!

Yelena Belova

9. ABPI013B Black Widow — 30 Points — Common Prime:

Wow! I like her 60 Point line a lot too, but man, for 30 Points, you get an absolute toolbox of abilities at your disposal!

To wit:

She has Sidestep, she ignores Characters on movement, she has Traited Shape Change and Stealth, 10 Attack, 2 Damage and a Special Defensive Power (LETTING YOUR GUARD DOWN: Combat Reflexes. FREE: Choose an adjacent character and a standard defense power. Until your next turn, the chosen character can’t use the chosen defense power.).

That’s a lot of usability! Plus she’s a Wildcard!

Her only downside is a lack of decent keywords (Martial Artist is probably her best).

Doc Strange AbPI.jpg

8. ABPI053A Dr. Strange — 120 Points — Super Rare:

The bearer of the Soul Gem has a ton going for him.

Running Shot and Pen/Psy top dial. Mystics TA. A sweet Damage Special (WE MUST WORK TOGETHER: Perplex. When Dr. Strange uses it to target another friendly character, you may choose a standard damage power that character can use. Dr. Strange can use that power until your next turn.) that encourages thought in who you pair him with.

All in all, a really efficient supporting/Secondary Attacker piece!

Gary Frank Hulk

7. ABPI014 Hulk — 125 Points — Common:

This is the definitive “Peter David/Gary Frank-era” Hulk dials, and they just casually throw it on a Common Hulk?

We’ve got Charge (with Improved Movement: Blocking, so Barrier and Printed Walls mean nothing to him), 12 Attack with Super Strength, 18 Defense with Indomitable and Impervious and 5 (FIVE!) Damage top dial with Outwit!

He has one “drawback” Trait (WEAKENED BY RAGE: When Hulk takes damage from an attack, after resolutions give him a Rage token. Modify Hulk’s combat values by -X, where X is the number of Rage tokens. At the end of your turn, remove all Rage tokens and heal Hulk that many clicks.) that actually HELPS his survivability!

Yes, he doesn’t have any Outwit protection himself, and yes, he is a Close Combat piece, but man, there’s not much else you’d want. Pair him with a TK’er or a Vehicle and you’ve got a boatload of trouble for your opponent.

Black Panther incarnation

6. ABPI072 Black Panther — 85 Points– Chase:

The original Panther offers a TON of usefulness for his points. His only problem is that is top heavy and kind of a glass cannon; if you’re opponent can lay hands on him, he’s in trouble.

Luckily, that’s hard to do. If you win map, his main Trait (THE PANTHER GOD: Stealth. Opposing lines of fire can’t be drawn to Black Panther if he occupies printed hindering terrain. Protected: Pulse Wave.) should make even touching him darn near impossible (and of course he has Improved Movement: Hindering and Elevated)!

He starts with Hypersonic Speed, Precision Strike with a 12 Attack, 19 Defense with Super Senses and 3 Damage with Traited B/C/F (BEFORE HUMANS TOPPED THE FOOD CHAIN: Blades/Claws/Fangs. Opposing characters within 3 squares can’t use Blades/Claws/Fangs.) and Battle Fury to burn through Shape Change.

Yes, he’s only a close attacker, but he’s got some great potential damage output combined with some wonderful mobility and survivability!

As a special bonus, that B/C/F Trait kind of shuts down those SR Wolverine Call-Ins, too!

 

Chase Cap

5. ABPI071 Captain America — 150 Points — Chase:

This is a little bit of a cheat as well since I’m again counting the Chase Equipment that comes with him–The Infinity Gauntlet. But with his Infinity Gauntlet, Cap here has six Clicks that have to be gone through one by one since he has Power Cosmic, Invincible and a sweet defensive Trait (THE GEMS… THEY WANT TO BE TOGETHER: Barrier. Barrier as FREE, but only to generate 1 marker. Captain America can’t be healed and takes a maximum of 1 damage from an attack. Protected: Pulse Wave.) that makes it hard to target Steve, much less KO him.

His damage output isn’t huge, but if he hits, he can change the board with his Attack Special (PUSHING PLANETS AWAY: KNOCKBACK. When Captain America knocks a character back, add 10 to the amount of knock back.) that features a Knockback power like we’ve never seen (and props for being comic accurate!).

If you want an unkillable Call-In generator, call on Cap.

 

Taskmaster.jpg

4. ABPI061 Taskmaster — 100 Points — Super Rare:

100 Points for the most versatile piece in the set.

Taskmaster has the Wildcard TA, Indomitable, Sidestep, Toughness and Leadership top dial, plus his first Trait (JUST BECAUSE YOU HIRED ME, DOESN’T MAKE US FRIENDS: Taskmaster doesn’t count against themed teams.) ensures he’ll always fit on your team.

His second Trait (I MEMORIZED MOVES FROM DOZENS OF CHUMPS, TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!: FREE: Choose two: Charge, Flurry, Running Shot, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Incapacitate, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Precision Strike, Combat Reflexes, Energy Shield/Deflection, Close Combat Expert, Exploit Weakness, Ranged Combat Expert. Taskmaster can use the chosen powers until your next turn. This turn, characters targeted by Taskmaster with an attack can’t use the chosen powers until your next turn.) gives him access to almost any other power in the game that you might want. Hell, give him Iron Man’s Infinity Gauntlet and he literally WILL have access to any four powers in the game that you might want at any one time!

Someone is going to figure out how to exploit him because he’s basically designed to be exploited. He’s essentially a one-man Shifting Focus piece that plugs in to any Themed Team.

 

Kobik_(Earth-616)_from_Thunderbolts_Vol_3_1_001

3. ABPI069 Kobik — 115 Points — Chase:

If you like unkillable moving castles that let you Call-In almost any X-Men piece you want, meet your new best friend.

Outside of being hard to even hit, Kobik has a fun Trait that has the potential to wreck your opponent’s strategy so long as you construct the rest of your team correctly (REWRITE AFFILIATIONS: FREE: Choose both a friendly character and an opposing character with printed team abilities. Those characters can use the team abilities printed on the other character instead of their own printed team abilities until your next turn.).

She also has Power Cosmic, Perplex, Prob and an 8 Range, Shape Change, Super Senses and a 19 Defense on her first two Clicks. That is a LOT to get through!

On top of that, at 115 Points, she gets the best Cosmic Cube (FREE: Choose one: Place this character up to 3 squares away from its current square; -or- Until your next turn, [Improved Targeting: Elevated, Hindering] and modify range +2; –or– Give an action token to an adjacent opposing character. If you can’t, deal them 1 penetrating damage. Light Object.) and a once-per-game Sideline shenanigans Trait [REWRITE HISTORY: POWER: Once per game, choose an adjacent friendly character on their starting line and a characters on your sideline with the same name as the chosen character. If the first character is equal or more points than the second, replace the first character with the second on their starting line. (That character can’t have the same set symbol and collector number.)].

She has already started showing up as a Supporting Character/Call-In generator, and I don’t think she’s going away any time soon!

 

Collector.jpg

2. ABPI064 Collector — 55 Points — Super Rare:

55 Points gets you the Power Cosmic TA now?! Holy crap!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Hell, 50 Points gets you PC now. Look at Voyager!]

Oh, and it also gets you (usually) six clicks of life, 11 Attack with pretty much the best version of Incapacitate the game has ever seen (I FIND YOUR HAMMER VERY… UNIQUE: Incapacitate. When Collector uses it, instead of giving action tokens, after resolutions you may choose one Equipment-Object equipped to a hit character and unequip it. // FREE: Equip an unheld and unequipped opposing Equipment-Object within range and line of fire.) and a Trait that lets him take full advantage of it (MY COLLECTION GROWS: Collector can be equipped with any number of Equipment-Objects at the same time. Protected: Pulse Wave.)!

Get used to seeing this guy on Meta teams for the next two years…

 

Thanos Annihilation

1. ABPI074 Thanos — 160 Points — Ultra Chase:

Where to start with a figure that does virtually everything? First of all, he comes packing Skreet, who might be the best POG we’ve ever gotten.

Skreet

Skreet has Flying, Phasing/Teleport with 8 Movement, Pen/Psy with a 10 Attack and 4 Range, a 19 Defense (19!!) with Tiny Size and Impervious and a native 2 Damage with her lone Special Power (CHAOS MITE: Perplex, but only to target other characters. When Skreet uses it, she modifies a value +2 or -2 instead, then rolls a d6. [1-2]: The modifier becomes 0 instead.).

Yep! That’s right! Thanos comes with his own Tertiary Attacker WHO ALSO HAS THE BEST PERPLEX SPECIAL IN MODERN!!

And you know what? THAT’S NOT EVEN THE ONLY GAME ELEMENT HE COMES WITH!! Whaaa… ?!

Yup!

Thanos also comes with the little-known SEVENTH Infinity Gem—The Ego Gem–for free!! This Gem allows it’s bearer to collect other gems (thus getting around the “one Equipment at a time” rule) AND let’s it’s bearer increase any Combat Value by +1. So, basically, you have a Perplex even if someone somehow Outwits your Perplex.

Okay! Now that we’re like 5 paragraphs in, we can finally talk about what is actually on Thanos’s dial!

First of all, he’s rocking both the Power Cosmic and Mystics TA. Yeah–probably the two best TA’s in the game, and Thanos has both of them.

He starts with a 12 Attack and 4 Damage top dial, along with Sidestep and an 18 Defense with Invincible. His Damage Special (THE BIOLOGICAL APPLICATION OF COSMIC POWER: Perplex, but only to target other characters. When Thanos uses it to target a friendly character, that character can use [Power Cosmic] until your next turn. When Thanos uses it to target an opposing character, that character can’t use Willpower or PROTECTED: Outwit or Protected: Outwit until your next turn.) is flat-out amazing, and is one of the best Damage Specials in the game!

Starting on Click 2, Thanos’s Attack Special (GENOCIDE IS NOT WHAT MISTRESS DEATH DESIRES, BUT IT’S WHAT THE MAKER’S FOLLOWERS DESERVE: Precision Strike. FREE: Make an attack targeting an opposing character, but only if there’s another opposing character with the same name on the map. // When Thanos KO’s a character, after resolutions KO all bystanders generated by that character, then heal him 1 click for each bystander KO’d this way.) allows him to literally clear house if your opponent was careless enough to double stack characters on their team.

(And yes, if he’s your Primary Attacker, he can also bring in some heavy-hitting X-Men for Call-Ins!)

In Epic (400+) games, Thanos is an absolutely street sweeper!

But even in 300 Point games, he is an absolute force to be reckoned with.

And that’s why he’s number one on this list!