Author: ninwashui

Local Tournament Report – 4/23/14 Comics & More

/ ninwashui / 2 Comments
"Instant Karma's gonna get you Gonna knock you right on the head You better get yourself together Pretty soon you're gonna be dead..."

“Instant Karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead…” -A spell by John Lennon

 

The Format: AvX Month 3. Must use at least 1 figure from the starter. Other figures must share a keyword with the starter figure. 500 point modern. No relics, Colossals. You can use the Phoenix force resource and the three parts we’ve received so far (Colossus, Namor, Cyclops).

What I played:

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force (with Colossus, Namor, and Cyclops fragments)

AVX014 Magneto

WXM045 Phoenix (With Namor Fragment)

WXM038 Legion (With Cyclops Fragment)

Total = 500 Points

I finally did a build article and stuck to it! You can read about the strategy for my team “TK for the Win” here.

 

"Sure, I may not have Willpower, but--wait, I don't have Willpower? S#!tballs!"

“Sure, I may not have Willpower, but–wait, I don’t have Willpower? S#!tballs!”

Round 1:

Facing:

AVX001 Captain America

SLOSH005B Mon-El

IIM051 Iron Pharaoh (1500 BC)

Total = 485 Points

My opponent was new to our venue and thus didn’t know about the shared keyword being required. We played on a map similar to Wundagore Mountain [EDITOR’S NOTE: That would be the  Verkhoyansk Mountains Map]. As the armies closed in on each other I was up on elevated terrain in the center of the map. All three of his characters were grounded about a third of the way up. Iron Pharaoh’s falcon lagged behind. Captain America did a Running Shot up a stairs. He tried to target Legion, but I pointed out the stealth. He targeted Magneto and missed. He didn’t use the Pharaoh and Mon-el because they would take pushing damage. On my turn I struck back. Magneto did a Running Shot Pulse Wave for 4 penetrating damage (cap only has 5 range and was close). Then my opponent realized he hadn’t declared Energy Shield with Cap last turn. I offered to let him, but he declined. Phoenix used psychic blast for 4 damage on Cap and that was a KO.

Next turn Mon-el used Hypersonic speed and an object to attack Phoenix. She missed shape change. He hit his attack. She ignored the damage by hitting impervious. Iron Pharaoh had no move and attack so he just walked into a good shooting position. After KO-ing cap I had turned the dial once  and that granted my team sidestep. Phoenix pushed to do a Running Shot and hit Mon-el for 4. Then she used Sidestep to get back to Legion. Legion chose support and healed Phoenix back to her top click. Magneto pushed to Pulse Wave Iron Pharaoh for 4.

The remainder of his team was injured. Mon-el had no move and attack so he flew next to Legion and ended his turn. Legion choose Impervious and Phoenix was in a position to outwit Mon-el’s close combat expert. I cleared tokens. Mon-el decided not to push to have the possibility of doing 1 damage to Legion. The Pharaoh missed Magneto.

The following turn Magneto finished off the Pharaoh with another 4 damage pulse wave. Phoenix outwitted Mon-el’s defense and Legion used Close Combat Expert for the knockout punch.

My opponents team was interesting and I am sure his strategy had merits, but if I was playing that team I would have done a few things differently. I would have left the Pharaoh much farther away from the battle and waited for the Golden Falcon to be a factor. I also would have kept Mon-El directly behind Captain America as much as possible. Mon-el’s special defend along with Cap’s traited Energy Shield could have given cap a 21 defense versus range!

"I'm viable in the Meta. Y'know, If you just give me, like, three more powers. And some slightly better stats. And a resource. And Hope Summers."

“I am VIABLE in the Meta! …Y’know, If you just give me, like, three more powers. And some slightly better stats. And a resource. And a Hope Summers. Or Rachel Summers, or any of my sisters for that matter–you know what? I’m not viable in the Meta.”

 

Round 2:

Facing:

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force (with Colossus, Namor, and Cyclops fragments)

AVX009 Cyclops (With Namor Fragment)

AVX010 Emma Frost

AVX101 Cable (With Cyclops Fragment)

IH035 Wolverine

Total = 496 Points

This opponent started the match using Flight from the Phoenix shards to carry his forces around. When I pointed out that the Phoenix Shards only granted Flight and didn’t grant Carry, he realized his mistake. At that point he called the judge over and has his first game changed from a win to a loss. That feat of awesome honesty lost him the first game, but Karma (or luck, or divine intervention) made all my rolls go sour in game two.

So we started the game over and my opponent slowly walked his characters into corner down a 2 square wide hallway created by Elevated Terrain and left them bunched together. Due to my superior movement abilities, my team got the first opportunity to strike. I had Phoenix hit wolverine for 4 penetrating damage.  Magneto was then able to swing in and hit the entire opposing team with a 1 damage Pulse Wave. That was enough to KO Wolverine. Legion used Hypersonic and missed Cyclops’s practically naked 17 defense. Missing a 17 defense on an attack was going to happen several more times this game.

My opponent struck back. He outwitted Magneto’s defense, used Cable’s RCE and +1 attack from the Phoenix Force to spice up his attack to 12 and nailed Magneto for 4 damage. The rest of his team missed Magneto. He had rolled doubles so his resource gave him Sidestep.

Magneto ran back to Legion. Legion pushed to try a support roll, but rolled a 5. Phoenix cleared. My opponent’s team cleared. The next turn he used his 3(!) Outwits to remove all of Phoenix’s Defensive powers and hit her twice for a total of four damage(due to Invuln from the Colossus shard). On my turn my team scattered and tried to use elevated for cover.

Legion eventually did successfully heal Magneto, but only for 1 damage. Cable used Sidestep to fly up to elevated and get another hit in on Magneto. Phoenix had 3 non-penetrating damage showing and I knew that with Cable and Cyclops both having shard-granted Invuln, it wasn’t going to be a fun time taking them on. Still, I had Phoenix base them to save Magneto.

On the last turn before the judge called time Phoenix’s defense was Outwitted and Cyclops hit her for 3 damage and the KO. So I lost the game 70-160. HypeFox pointed out later that this shouldn’t have been a KO. I had forgotten about Phoenix’s shard-granted Invuln and taken too much damage. Karma, you can’t fight it.

 

"Cosplayers love me."

“Cosplayers love me.”

Round 3:

Facing:

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force (with Colossus, Namor, and Cyclops fragments)

FI031 Wolverine (With Namor Fragment)

WXM031 Gambit (With Colossus Fragment)

AVX009E Cyclops (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM063 Psylocke

WXM047B Jubilee

Total = 495 Points

This game was the polar opposite of game 2. I started out by taking the elevated center on the Limbo map. My opponent sent Gambit and Psylocke down the right edge of the map and the remaining characters went down the left hand side. With my move and attack advantage I realized it was going to take him two turns at least for his team from one side to help his team on the other side.

Magneto started with a Pulse Wave aimed at Gambit. Hit for 4 clicks. Phoenix pushed for a Running Shot and that KO’d Gambit. My resource switched to a pink movement power, so Phoenix was able to Sidestep back to adjacency with Legion. Legion choose Hypersonic speed and rolled a 6! He gained +1 to all stats and choose Battle Fury as his second power. He ran in, ignored Shape Change, hit Psylocke for 4 and moved next to Phoenix again.

On my opponent’s turn he cleared Psylocke, moved up Jubilee, marched Wolverine next to Magneto, and attacked Phoenix with Cyclops. She hit her Impervious roll and took one (due to Precision Strike). On my turn, every character I had was double tokened. I chose Impervious with Legion and rolled a 5, healing Phoenix of 1 damage. I cleared. Cyclops, Wolverine, and Jubilee were all double tokened. Psylocke was stuck in hindering and moved 3 steps closer to me. My opponent cleared.

On my turn Magneto executed a Running Shot Pulse Wave with which he hit all opposing characters except for Psylocke for 1. Then Phoenix hit Wolverine for 3 penetrating damage with Psychic Blast, which put the Canucklehead on his stop click. Legion finished him off with a 12 attack, 3 damage RCE (due to the Cyke Shard). After his attack Legion chose Impervious again and rolled a 5, which healed Phoenix to full.

On his last turn Cyclops attacked Phoenix and she rolled Shape Change. He switched to Magneto and missed. Psylocke cleared. On my turn Magneto used Pulse Wave on Cyclops hitting for 4. Phoenix pushed to finish him off. Legion chose Hypersonic Speed again and rolled another 6!. He chose Willpower as a second power. He used Hypersonic to range attack Psylocke and finished her off.

The match was complete blowout, but a lot of that was due to my lucky rolls as opposed to anything my opponent did wrong. I never missed, I was only hit for 1 damage, Phoenix kept making defensive rolls, and my Legion rolls of 5 and 6 were just statistically absurd. I guess Karma was swinging back the other way.

It was an unusual tournament and at the end I did take first place because everyone had at least one loss after 3 rounds.

What I learned:

"Great, I'll probably manifest, like, a dozen more personalities after this."

“Great, I’ll probably manifest, like, a dozen more personalities after this.”

  • WXM038 Legion Legion is definitely worth the points if you play him thinking that you will always be getting Battle fury, or Earthbound, or -2 attack. Until the last game those were literally the only personality quirks I got. If you can plan around those, this guy is the real deal. I ended up using Support, Perplex, Close Combat Expert, Hypersonic Speed, will power, Earthbound (so he could be carried), Battle Fury (to get around shape change) and Impervious (when I knew he was about to take a hit). The three times his savant trait (+1 to all stats AND choose a second power) came up this tournament were sweet. He was a lot of fun and I will want to use him again soon.
  • WXM045 Phoenix was extremely powerful with her running shot and psychic blast, but she seemed to miss a lot (10 starting attack). Also due to my poor rolling her defense was not as strong as it statistically should have been(until the last game). I think I hit Impervious or Shape Change twice all night. Her Outwit was key for me, but I never got to Outwit multiple powers with it. I would use her again.
  • AVX014 Magneto is still awesome. In the two tournaments I’ve used him in now he’s only been KOed once. (Damn you, Hawkeye!) He’s a defensive powerhouse. Just don’t roll low on his Running Shot Pulse Wave.
  • AVX101 Cable by himself isn’t a great figure. However if he’s given Sidestep, R.C.E., AND an opponent with a penchant for missing – he’s very good.
  • Game 2 I faced essentially naked 17 defenses and I kept rolling low. Karma…
  • The Phoenix force resource might be the most complicated game element we’ve gotten yet. Everyone who played it screwed up something about it at least once this tournament.

By your powers combined, I am… the Phoenix! (Or the Build 4/23/2014)

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment
Hmm... 5 people who have powers that combine into a powerful force. Where have I seen that before?

Hmm… 5 people who have powers that combine into a powerful force. Where have I seen that before?

 

Greetings true believers. (Stan Lee stole that from me.) This weeks “article” revolves around different team ideas I’m considering for this month’s AvX tournament at my local venue and copyright infringement. By which I mean, hopefully, the armies below might give you a good idea for your next tournament.

Now on with the show. (Wow that was a cool phrase. I’m an originator.)

The Format: AvX Month 3. 500 Points. You can use the Phoenix force resource and the three parts we’ve received so far (Colossus, Namor, Cyclops). If you need to know what they do look them up on HCrealms. If I told you that would take literally all the time I have to write the rest of this article. It’s not simple or easy to describe.

The Phoenix Force Resource: Through careful analysis, HypeFox and I have determined the best way to use the resource with the pieces we have. It’s the resource itself (12 points), all three fragments (3*3 = 9 points), and 2 assigned characters (2*3 = 6 points). That’s 27 total points. Why do it that way? Because if you leave the Colossus fragment on the resource the 2 assigned people get un-outwit-able (EDITOR’S NOTE: Just say “Unoutwittable.” There! I made it a word now! No more reaching for the “-” key!) poison, flight, and invulnerability! It’s the Invulnerability that makes it all worth it. There have been a lot of clix that are considered very good because of an of un-outwit-able defense on otherwise decent dials. For example SM058 Kal. This means that I have the Namor fragment (which grants nothing useful) and the Cyclops fragment (which grants RCE) to assign to each team I list below. I am also going to note this configuration of the phoenix force resource as “Standard Phoenix Force Resource“.

Now on with the teams!

 

Team 1: TK for the win.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

AVX014 Magneto

WXM045 Phoenix (With Namor Fragment)

WXM038 Legion (With Cyclops Fragment)

Total = 500 Points

The key to success with this team are the proper uses of the TK power and Legions trait. Legion was assigned the RCE fragment so that he can make a strong attack before using his trait to select a new power. That way you can avoid having your ranged attack canceled by rolling battle fury or the -2 to attack emotions. He also gets Invulnerability over all seven clicks to cover defense. That means you should be free to chose a good supporting (Perplex, Outwit, Probability Control), or healing (Regeneration, Support) power. You may have to choose a power (like Running Shot) before you make a successful attack, but want to avoid doing that as much as possible. That’s where Magneto’s TK comes in handy. If you can attack with him first and add a second token then he can TK Legion into battle and let Legion attack without having to use his trait. Remember also that even though all of your character’s fly, Legion can choose to gain Earthbound via his trait and then be carried.

To start the battle have Magneto, Phoenix, and Legion arranged in a straight horizontal line with Legion in the middle. Try to have no tokens on Legion and on one Magneto. If your opponent gets the drop on you then have Legion gain Support on your next turn via his trait and heal up your injured guys. If you get a chance at an opening shot, use Legion to TK Magneto into battle and have Magneto use Running Shot and Pulse Wave. If that’s a second token for Magneto have him use TK to pull a teammate up into battle. If you use TK on Phoenix, she can then use Running Shot and her 8 range to hit almost anywhere on the board. You could also pull Legion up to Magneto in case you need to use Support next turn.

 

Team 2: Revenge of the Nerfed X-Force.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

WXM042 Fantomex

WXM041 Spiral (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM018 Sunspot (With Namor Fragment)

AVX005R Wolverine

WXM010 Shatterstar

Total = 499 Points

I made an entire Revenge of the Nerfed article about the strategies for this team. You shouldn’t need any more explanation than that.

 

Team 3: I finally get to use Iron/Man Iron Patriot.

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force

AVXR101 Fragment – Cyclops

AVXR102 Fragment – Namor

AVXR100X Assigned Character

AVXR100X Assigned Character

IM3017E Iron Man and Iron Patriot (With Cyclops Fragment)

AVX012 Colossus (With Namor Fragment)

Total = 499 Points

Note that this team couldn’t quite fit in the Standard Phoenix Force Resource configuration. (1 point too much) I’ve been looking for a good way to use IM3017E Iron Man and Iron Patriot and this might be it. This team is pretty straightforward with a couple interesting synergies. First, when using a duo attack IM3017E Iron Man and Iron Patriot has a trait that says they get a standard attack and a ranged combat action. With their existing dial that didn’t mean too much, but add the Cyclops fragment to them and that ranged combat action is now RCE. The second interesting synergy is that both pieces in this army have 18 defense with defend. That means that while they are standing together they will each have 18 defense until after your opponent has damaged both of them.

 

Team 4: A balanced team.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

WXM046 Warlock (With Namor Fragment)

 AVX009 Cyclops (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM209 Jean Grey

M10A007 Storm

Total = 500 Points

The Idea here is simple. Warlock consistently uses his Perplex on himself to give himself 20 defense. That along with his Shape Change and Invulnerability should keep him safe as he makes a hell of a distraction for the other team up close by using Pulse Wave and Poison. Everyone else uses Jean Grey’s Enhancement to take good sized pot shots from range.

 

Team 5: The Dune Buggy of Death.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

AVX012 Colossus(With Namor Fragment)

WXM046 Warlock (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM033 Forge

WXM017 Jean Grey

Total = 496 Points

  • Step 1: choose Steal Energy or Precision Strike with Warlock’s “ANY SHAPE FOR ANY OCCASION” power.
  • Step 2: use Jean Grey to TK Warlock to a vertical axis containing multiple members of the opposing team within the next 11 squares. Elevated, hindering, and outdoor blocking terrain don’t matter because Warlock gets flying from the Phoenix force. If you’re indoors use Colossus to clear the walls away.
  • Step 3: transform to vehicle.
  • Step 4: Walk Forge and Colossus up to Warlock so they can be carried.
  • Step 5: Use the Perplex from Forge and Warlock to add to Warlock’s attack by 2 and his damage by 1. (you don’t want to miss)
  • Step 6: Ram! Move straight forward 11 spaces and make 1 close combat attack roll targeting everyone you pass through. Every hit person takes 5 damage!

When it’s your opponent’s turn Colossus’s 18 defend and Forge’s healing should be enough to protect Warlock from your opponents counterattack.

 

What will I play: It depends on several factors. I’m probably leaning most towards team 1 and 4. But if I sense an Iron Pharaoh, then I’ll go with team 2. Team 3 is probably more of a fun team. Team 5 would have worked as a complete surprise, but Hypefox is going to read this article before the tournament. I’ll post a my results in a week. Until then, “You stay classy San Diego.” (I swear that’s totally my phase.)

Revenge of the Nerfed…

/ ninwashui / 6 Comments
X-Force's teams haven't quite been as cool since the Watch List nerfs.

X-Force teams haven’t been quite as cool since the Watch List nerfs.

Everyone remembers WXM010 Shatterstar. No one uses him now because he had an awesome trait that was nerfed to heck. It was the exact same way with his teammate WXM041 Spiral. What if I told you there was a way to use them that would let you beat the well-nigh unstoppable IIM051 Iron Pharaoh (1500 BC) at his own game? If only I had thought of this team before my last game versus the Pharaoh.

The combo pieces are Shatterstar and WXM042 Fantomex. Just teleport Fantomex to the other side of the map and shoot Iron Pharaoh on like turn 3. There you win… Opps! I’m being told that won’t work at all. Fantomex is too many points for Shatterstar to teleport with and the watch list made it so anyone teleported can’t take a non-free action that same turn. Obviously none of this works and I should stop writing now… But wait, I’m still writing so I must know something.

Here’s the deal. It’s true you can’t teleport Fantomex, but nothing says you can’t teleport WXM042BT E.V.A.! So start on turn three with your characters un-tokened and together (because it takes Fantomex a turn to make an E.V.A). Have Shatterstar teleport and base Iron Pharaoh. Put E.V.A. in line of fire one square away. Try to position so you aren’t in the line of fire of the rest of the opposing team. E.V.A. can’t use a non free action that turn, but she can use her outwit to counter the Pharaoh’s defensive ability. Fantomex can now shoot through E.V.A using ranged combat expert to attack the Pharaoh with a 12 attack and hit for 4 damage (which is the sweet spot on the Pharaoh). But what if you miss your Alpha strike? That’s why I mentioned using Spiral earlier. Stand her next to Fantomex and use her probability control to get a second shot. The best part is that an opponent’s probability control is useless, because Fantomex will be well out of range. Include AVX005R Wolverine on your team to round it out to 396 points that can be used in the AvX event.

We’ve gone over what Fantomex and Shatterstar will be doing, but what about your other two characters? Well the same turn that Shatterstar teleports to the other side of the board Spiral should make a portal with one side under Wolverine so that he can use a free action to cross through it on his next turn and come out swinging. You’ll need to put the opposite end of the portal some place where your opponent either can’t move a character over the top of it (like deep in hindering), or where they won’t want to put a character (like adjacent to Shatterstar).

The turn following your Alpha Strike Wolverine and Shatterstar get their chance to chop your opponents to bits in close quarters. The turn after that Fantomex and Spiral will have cleared and can move into the fray via the spiral portal or by just using their advanced movement abilities. Hopefully by then your opponent won’t have much fight left in him.

This team can obviously be adapted to alpha strike any piece that’s necessary to your opponent’s game plan. SLOSH005B Mon-El and SLOSH048 Tellus come to mind as pieces to target, but just about any piece is vulnerable. Don’t try this on SLOSH039 Bizarro…

WizKids top executives initial reaction to the reveal of Toyman's dial...

This is what it looked like the last time someone used this plan on Bizarro…

You can change the team to 300 points by dropping Spiral and adding the X-Force ATA. You can also make it close to 500 by adding WXM011A Deathlok. Just like the  Iron Pharaoh combo team I posted here, to the best of my knowledge no one has thought of this combo at the time I published it. If you take this to your local venue it’s likely no one will see this coming. In fact, you might be underestimated by other players for using “nerfed” pieces. Good luck. If you use this team, leave a comment to let me know how you did.

Local Tournament Report – 3/27/14 Comics & More

/ ninwashui / 4 Comments
Magxorn

“I will bring you hope, old friend, and I ask only one thing in return – don’t get in my way.”

 

The Format: AvX Month 1. Must use at least 1 figure from the starter. Other figures must share a keyword with the starter figure. 400 point modern. No resources, relics, Colossals.

What I played:

AVX009E Cyclops

AVX010E Emma Frost

AVX014 Magneto

Total = 400 Points

Round 1: Facing AVX006E Scarlet Witch(with Secret Avengers ATA), IIM051 Iron Pharaoh (1500 BC), IIM040 Shaman, ASM017B Brother Voodoo, GG014A Astral Dr. Strange. This was HypeFox’s team. I had some foreknowledge of the team because we hade played together earlier in the week and I helped him make a decision on which characters to use. (Really I just felt bad for stomping him last week with my sealed team.) So I knew my chances weren’t great going in, but I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I knew my only chance was to get to the Iron Pharaoh in the first few turns. Otherwise he was going to get perplexed up and his stupid Falcon was going to just eat up my whole team. Hmm… I wonder where he got that idea? Was it here? My last minute decision to base my team around Magneto worked out better than I had planned. Even with no flight, Magneto’s TK helped me position my pieces fairly well and his pulse wave had the best chance of getting through well defended pieces like Scarlet Witch and Brother Voodoo. His traited Energy Shield made him one of the few pieces that could stand up well to a Falcon attack.

So the match starts with me walking around the mountain. I am halfway across the board when the real battle begins. Iron pharaoh is in his starting area. Scarlet Witch and Shaman are positioned apart about halfway to me. Astral Strange and Brother Voodoo come right up to my team and say hi (and block my way to getting to the other pieces.) All of my Characters have one token from walking to half map. First attack was Brother Voodoo missing Magneto. My response? I have Cyclops run up to him with a ranged attack that misses and then use a free action force blast that knocks voodoo into a wall for one. First blood goes to me. The bad news is that voodoo is on the other side of hindering terrain and now has stealth. No attack is possible for Magneto and I didn’t want to push Emma this early into the match.

Then the Golden Falcon catches up with me. Two perlexes to damage, an outwit from the Pharaoh and that’s a 1 hit KO to Cyclops. On the plus side that frees up some space for me to running shot pulse wave with Magneto next turn. I get a 5 and do 1 damage to Astral Strange and no one else is hit. In the following turns I slowly work Emma towards the Pharaoh through Her sidestep and finally Magneto’s free Action TK. Magneto continues to distract the rest of Hype’s team by dodging ranged attacks and in turn whiffing with a Pulse wave every turn. Emma gets to the Pharaoh and knocks him to Click 5, but the next turn Scarlet Witch gets through Emma’s defense and Emma is knocked to her last click. The following turn Magneto does another pulse wave damage to astral strange and finally KOs him. Everyone else was missed. Emma mind control’s the Pharaoh and uses him to do 3 to Scarlet Witch and then take one mystic back. Pharaoh then KOs Emma. Magneto finally hits on a Pulse wave and KOs Scarlet Witch. The round ends at that point. A win for Hypefox (200 to 113), but not the slaughter I thought it was going to be. Magneto had survived and was only on click 3 at the end of that game.

Round 2: Facing AVX015 Danger, WXM101 Colossus and Kitty Pryde, WXM203 Havok. (Starters sold out at my venue so my opponent wasn’t restricted to using a starter piece.) I’m not going to into the details of this match too much. My opponent was new to the game and didn’t have much experience on a map with elevation. So Wundagore mountain was very confusing. I ended up helping him with the rules and strategy regarding elevation. It’s not something I minded. We were all new to this game once. His strategy wasn’t the best that game, but in the end it didn’t really matter because his dice betrayed him until the match was all but decided. Emma and Scott each took a hit, but I didn’t lose any pieces. On the plus side, each time I play this opponent he has shown improvement.  He should take pride in that.

Round 3: Facing FFCW006 Scarlet Witch, CW049 Morgan Le Fay, AVX003E Thor, CW039 Hawkeye (with Great Lakes Avengers ATA). As the game starts I move to the high elevation on the center of the map carrying Emma. Cyclops starts up the mountain the long way. My opponent opens by TKing Thor to the edge of the mountain and having Thor do a running shot pulse wave targeting only Magneto.  He misses by one. I respond by outwitting Thor’s defense and having Magneto hit for 4 damage. Thor is on his last click. I choose not to push Emma. That might have been my big mistake. After that Morgan LeFey joins Thor my dice just go south. Thor stays alive on his last click for 30 minutes. Thor, Magneto, and Morgan LeFay just keep missing each other. On the other side of the map Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye are having no problem making Cyclops look foolish. I end up having him run away towards Magneto. I send in Emma. She gets a hit on Hawkeye and takes a Mystics damage. Then he uses incapacitate and pushes her. Now she is on an 8 attack value and can’t hit anything. It takes a while because of her defenses, but Hawkeye finally takes her out. On the other side of the map Thor is finally taken out and Cyclops is also KOed. Magneto and Morgan Lefay are left Heavily damaged. She flies next to Scarlet Witch and I go the rest of the game without being able to hit anyone. Because of Defend, Perplex, and Probability control I needed to roll two nines in a row just to do damage. After about 5 more turns Magneto is KOed.

What I learned

  • I hate Iron Pharaoh…
  • Magneto did really well for me tonight. I will field him again soon.
  • Emma Frost did decently, but she has a weakness to mystics damage and needs a taxi due to her lack of willpower.
  • Cyclops was always the first to be KOed. I won’t be looking to play him at the 100 point level again very soon. If I did a similar team again soon I would sub in 100 point Jean Grey or Tab app Wolverine.
  • I hate Iron Pharaoh…
  • I hate not flying…
  • Morgan LeFay is still cool.
  • I hate when my dice go cold… Thor’s 17 defense seemed like a million. Magneto’s Pulse wave couldn’t hit more that a 15 defense.
  • I hate Iron Pharaoh… (I really hate that guy. Where is a watch list when you need one?)

Local Tournament Report – 3/19/14 Comics & More

/ ninwashui / 2 Comments
That's why there's no Superman in this set.

That’s why there is no Superman in this set.

The Format: 400 SLoSH sealed. No outside anything.

What I played:

SLOSH003 Lightning Lad

SLOSH011 Sensor Girl

SLOSH024 Lex Luthor

SLOSH041 Universo

Total = 400 Points

Round 1: Facing SLOSH039 Bizarro (at 150 points) and SLOSH055 Validus.

The map we played on featured a large patch of elevated on the left side of the center of the map. My opponent was able to take up a position on the elevated terrain that wouldn’t let me get off a running shot with Luthor or Lightning Lad. I could try moving further towards his starting area, but he could also move closer to his starting area and nothing would change.

I knew my team was defensive minded. I put myself in a position near my starting area where Validus could charge my characters next turn and Bizarro might be 1 square out of range depending on what he randomly rolled at the start of his turn. It worked. Bizarro ended up on a charge click with low speed and couldn’t move and attack me in the same turn. Validus charged the front of my group which was Universo and Sensor girl. He asked what the defensive powers were on each and made the decision to attack Universo. I missed shape change. He attacked and rolled an 8. I used prob from Sensor Girl. He rolled a 7. Prob from Luthor (who could see Validus because he was a giant). He rolled a 4 which was a miss.

On my turn and based by both Valiudus and Bizarro, things weren’t looking great. Even less so when I realized he was going to Pulse wave my whole team for 2 damage as a free action the beginning of my next turn. Used Luther’s TA to outwit defense on Validus and Lightning Lad to RCE him from the back row for 4 damage (RCE for +1 damage and +1 attack). That softened him up, but I was still going to get pulse waved. At that point I remember my opponent telling me a story before the game that he played Validus once before and someone mind controlled him to just run away. He disliked Validus for that reason. I used Universo to pull exactly that trick again. Suddenly my 400 point team was just facing a 150 point Bizarro. Things were definitely looking up. Luthor did a running shot on Bizzaro and hit for 1 token worth of damage.

On my opponents turn he swung with Bizzaro. Facing two probs, he missed. Validus moved to charge range and stopped. On my turn I had my available guys take two more tokens off of Bizzarro. Bizarro and Validus cleared. Another outwit from Luthor and a attack from him and Lightning Lad finished Validus. Bizarro fell a few turns later after hitting Luthor with an RCE attack and knocking him to click 4.

Luck was on my side this match and Luthor was the only one hit with an attack.

Round 2: Facing Hypefox withSLOSH054 Persuader and SLOSH040 Emerald Empress.

This time I took the elevated patch in the middle, but HypeFox got off the first attacks. Emerald Empress flew in and hit everyone on my team with a 1 damage Pulse Wave that I can’t use prob on. Persuader charged Sensor Girl and rolled a 5, just missing. Luthor gets a Successful Psyblast off on Emerald Empress knocking her to click 3. Due to his traited combat reflexes I’m having a hard time hitting Persauder. That is until I roll a 2 which I prob and get a 4. I prob again and get a 12. Turning a crit miss into a crit hit really turns things around. Persuader does manage to quake my entire team off a building, but only Universo takes damage. Eventually Universo is KOed, but I take out Hypefox’s team with time to spare in the round. My defensive abilities and prob control really shine this battle.

Round 3: Facing SLOSH002 Saturn Girl, SLOSH012 Tyroc, SLOSH026 Mister Miracle, and SLOSH036 Glorith

My opponent and I met on the elevated terrain in the center of the map. I got off the first shots this time with Lightning lad and Luthor both targeting Saturn girl. Only Luthor ends up hitting. On my opponents turn he attacked with everyone available, but with my probs and defensive abilities he couldn’t touch me. Sensor girl even probed a stealthy Mister Miracle into missing. The next round I took out Saturn girl and damage Tyroc. The round after that Tyroc is KOed and the round after that Glorith goes down. He doesn’t touch me with a single attack.

With At least 30 minutes left in the round my opponent decides to forgo attacking for the rest of the game and starts what shall forever be referred to as the Mr. Miracle dance. I fire all out at the stealthy Mr. Miracle after having Universo and Sensor Girl combine to outwit his stealth with the Superman Enemy TA. If I hit he adds an action token. If I haven’t hit him last round and he has no tokens he runs to a different position. Over the next 30 minutes with my whole team firing, I manage to make Mr Miracle push only twice. At that point he picks up side step and can just start dancing over some blocking terrain and make it real hard for me to keep up. I finally get the bright idea to push lightning lad to get precision strike when the judge calls time.

I actually liked the Mr. Miracle dance on my opponent’s part. It turned what was otherwise a one sided match into something fun and challenging that I’m going to remember a lot longer than any of my other matches that night. Kudos to my opponent.

What I learned

  • The team I chose was possibly the best one I have ever fielded in a sealed event. I knew I wanted to use Universo and Luthor since I had named them some of the best characters in the set. Lightning Lad I liked for adding damage. Sensor Girl I threw in because the points fit. They worked together better than I ever dreamed. They were a defensive powerhouse with just enough damage to win.
  • Sensor Girl didn’t look like much when I added her to my team but she turned out to be my MVP. The ability to use prob on just about anyone near her regardless of how pieces were placed was just huge. She would target someone in stealth from behind two other pieces. Just ridiculous. She was a little short on offense, but exceptional in every other way. I will definitely look for a reason to play her again.
  • Luthor was the Glue holding the team together. His TA was incredibly useful since everyone else on the team was a wildcard. His 18 defend was just dominating when combined with his prob and Sensor Girl’s prob. Also at the time I didn’t realize his powers were uncounterable. He was great without even noticing that. I will definitely look for a reason to play him again.
  • Universo was everything I said he was in my set review article. Standing at the front of my team he was almost completely unhittable.
  • Lightning Lad was Lightning Lad. Exactly what you think he is. Decent for the points but there really is nothing new to learn about him.
  • Bizarro’s  only taking one damage at a time is really great. It took my whole 400 point team 3 rounds of focus fire to KO the 150 version of him. I would love a chance to use that character if I happen to get one. I see why he did well at a recent ROC.
  • Validus almost ate my team in match one. If not for Universo he would have done it. My opponent wasn’t thrilled with Validus and actually traded him to me at the end of the night. I would love to try him out myself except I traded him to Hypefox for FI029 Colossus that same night. If I happen across another one, I’m totally going to play him.
  • Mister Miracle won’t win you many matches with offense. But if you can get your opponent fixated with him, he makes a hell a distraction. If you aren’t adding tokens to him with useless actions like attacking, your opponent won’t be able to KO him before time is called.

Superman and His Amazing Friends? I don’t remember that cartoon… (Or a set review for SLoSH)

/ ninwashui / 6 Comments
I'm not even in this set, but I'm still in this article. Why? Because... I'm Batman!!!

I’m not even in this set, but I’m still in this article. Because… I’m Batman!!!

About the set:

I liked this set in terms of playability, but as far as big name characters it’s doesn’t have a lot. No Batman, no Wonder Woman, no Green Lantern, no Flash, and barely a Superman. A true title for this set would be Legions of Heroes, Villians, and Doom.

As for playability most of these figures aren’t going to completely change the meta, but they are all at least average. There aren’t many real stinkers. Even the generics (blight, daxamites, science police) are all pretty good. It should be fun for sealed play.

The chases are pretty cool and just like previous sets their all share the same trait. It’s an awesome trait designed to literally end the “Hammers raining from the sky” meta all by itself. You’ll want at least one in your collection for that cheesy guy that still plays the Book of the Skulls at your local venue.

The current meta:

In my listings below I judge the current meta based on what I’ve seen from recent tournament reports. (Mostly from the ROC) Unlike the last time I looked at the Meta, today’s Meta is wide open. There has been a movement away from resources, team bases, and colossal figures at tournament venues by player demand. That combined with the watch list changes has caused the field to be wide open. Brother Voodoo seems to be the consensus for the most powerful figure available, but beyond that there seem to be no other patterns in winning tournament teams. Almost anything has a shot now.

My 5 honorable mentions for best figures in the set:

5. SLOSH046 Superboy – This is a great figure that in another set would likely have made the top ten. What’s the problem? SLOSH005B Mon-El is in this set with the exact same point cost, almost the same keywords, and purpose on the battlefield. There just aren’t many times you’re going to reach for Superboy when you have Mon-El available. That’s also why you aren’t going to see another mention of SLOSH018 Ultra-Boy in this review.

4. SLOSH038 Black Manta – He’s probably not going to win the next ROC, but his trait is fun and it seems like a really good representation of the character. On the right map he’s literally invisible. On the wrong map he’ll look like a fish out of water.

3. SLOSH021 Wildfire – I loves me some stop clicks. Stop clicks with Regeneration are even better. Add Impervious to that same click and it’s just awesome. This is a tentpole that won’t be KOed without a fight. The only thing keeping him from making the top ten is that his combat values are low for his point cost.

2. SLOSH022 Gates – If you’re going to play the Legion of Super Heroes on your team then this answers the age old question of how to carry a bunch of flying characters. Even outside of this set he can carry any flyers you have. Green Lanterns – check. Kryptonians –check. Once his taxi usefulness is at an end he can be an effective tie up piece thanks to his high movement and defensive ability.

1. SLOSH041 Universo – He has an incredible array of defensive powers for his point cost. Unfortunately, his offense is only mind control. If you’re opponent is playing lots of small characters then this guy is great. If your opponent is playing 1 300 point character, then Universo’s usefulness will be limited.

The top ten figures from the SloSH set:

10. SLOSH201 Cosmic Boy – At 70 points Cosmic Boy can be a great support piece, but the real reason he made it to the top ten is his “welcome to the legion” trait. Suddenly all your wildcard pieces can gain almost any TA and not lose theme team. Try this: SLOSH201 Cosmic Boy + SLOSH005B Mon-El + TT001R Robin = 295 points of win. Batman, Superman, and Titans TA all together on a theme team!

9.  SLOSH037A The Riddler – You can leave this guy in your starting area if you wanted and he could irritate your opponent all game. He has stealth to keep him safe and smoke cloud to frustrate opponents. For 55 points his perplex anywhere power seems really good.

8. SLOSH049 Solomon Grundy – For 200 points you get one of the Hardest to KO figures we’ve ever seen. He’s essentially 11 click long (or more) with a stop click after click 8. He’s got super strength and outwit for his entire dial and invulnerability is his worst defensive power. If you give him a team that supports him well (aka a tker) then he can do quite well.

7. SLOSH027 Kalibak – Step 1 grab object. Step 2 clear tokens. Step 3 three teleport and hit opposing tent pole for 6 damage on the other side of the board! You’ll want to wait for good positioning so he doesn’t get piled on by the opposing team after teleporting, but this guy in the right circumstances can end a match very quickly.

6. SLOSH024 Lex Luthor – Back in 2002 CT043 Invisible Girl showed us that 18 defense with defend is a great thing to have. It’s still true today. Lex here is a capable attacker and makes a wonderful leader for just about any team of smaller characters. Probably the best Lex ever made.

5. SLOSH055E Validus – 12 Attack with 8 range, running shot, and psychic blast makes for a great ranged attacker. His defense isn’t great, but trait granted super strength and his crazy pulse-wave-every-turn trait make him just as deadly up close as he is at range.

4. SLOSH048 Tellus – This figure has good defenses, but the only reason to play him is his “LINK TELEPATHICALLY” trait. I’m not sure of the exact way to break it yet, but it seems like this is the best candidate in the set for a new watch list. Someone is going to figure out a way to make this trait unfair.

3. SLOSH057 Lydea Mallor – All of the chases are at least good. This one is the best. She’s a close combat attacker that resembles JL001 Batman, but she also flies and has that crazy trait that nerfs resources to uselessness. Oh and a fun stop click power at the end. I loves me some stop clicks (with regeneration and a built in escape mode).

2. SLOSH042E Helspont – This piece does everything well. 7 range and outwit for offense. Impervious, shape change, and self healing for defense. TK, leadership, and perplex for support. Just a really solid character.

1. SLOSH005B Mon-El – 12 attack, 10 range, hypersonic speed, super strength, 18 impervious/defend, Superman TA, Wildcard, 175 points. This is the best 175 point character I have ever seen. This is likely the best tent pole character under 200 that I have ever seen. 10 Range rarely show ups on modern figures under 200 points. The same thing with 12 attack (unless you’re batman, wolverine, or hawkeye). To have them both on the same figure is just awesome. Add in the defend that provides 19d to team mates and you’ve got a winner.

The five worst figures from the SloSH set:

5. SLOSH047A White Witch – 87 points for a character with that hardest promotion power power ever printed. I’ve rarely pulled off regular promotions, good luck with this. Her MYSTICAL ENERGY power is situational and in general your opponent can mostly ignore her and focus on your figures that actually do something.

4. SLOSH051 Takion – This character wields ultimate power… for 3 clicks. Then his dial turns into incompatible powers. Steal Energy and Energy Shield Deflection? That’s not a great combo.

3. SLOSH052 Highfather – His trait stopping the opponent’s highest cost character from attacking had better come in handy because he doesn’t offer much else. If an opponent’s best character is 100 points and you’re spending 130 points to stop it, then your opponent has the advantage. Plus you’ll have to leave him in the back, because one successful attack on him cancels his whole trait.

2. SLOSH037B Edward Nigma – A character’s normal version should not outshine its prime in usefulness. This one has that problem. His mind control is good, but he has to be within 6 to use it and with only shape change for defense he’s likely going to get shot up setting up his attack.

1. SLOSH050 Toyman – Attaching toys mostly provide defensive abilities, but that’s pointless because he has no offensive capabilities. Outwit is the limit of his support capabilities on click one. He’s 87 points for him and 1 attached toy, but his dial without a toy would be worth 40 points at best. He has mastermind, but you wouldn’t want to use it because any other figure you could put damage on is probably better. He’s completely ignorable in any real battle.

An Army of One… Hundred (or a look at replacement effects)

/ ninwashui / 2 Comments

Today’s article is meant to give you ideas when building your next force of  how to add a little versatility. The attributes I’m reviewing today are a great way to have your force adapt to the circumstances of a battle during the battle itself. A way to customize your forces to any given situation. I’ll be covering in this article Alter Ego, Revert, Split/Merge, Resurrection Effects, Battlefield Promotion, and Morph.

Do you think Clark changes clothes behind the Verizon cart at the mall now that phone booths are out of style?

Do you think Clark changes clothes behind the Verizon cart at the mall now that phone booths are out of style?

Alter Ego – AKA “I’m Batman”

Alter Egos may bring the least amount of customization to your force, but they are definitely still worth mentioning. The idea is that you get to choose between a (usually) low point civilian guise or change to a super hero of the exact same points. Some characters can have several super hero identities to choose from. But most of the time there are only two options, stay as a civilian or become your one super hero identity. Keep in mind at their low point cost, most of these guys are super for only about three clicks. Some of the Alter Ego pieces are pretty useful as just themselves (like CW010 Donald Blake). Some are just pieces you want to jog around in a circle until they push to their Alter Ego power (like IIM016 Pepper Potts). All of them offer you at least a little mid battle customization. For example, If you are playing CW010 Donald Blake and your main attacker is KOed then you’re going to want Thor to join the battle and you should push Donald to his alter Ego power.

ASM007 Johnny Blaze is a standout in this Category because if an opposing character sheds innocent blood in his presence they will immediately have the Spirit of Vengeance to reckon with. Similarly if you shoot at AVM013 Bruce Banner or IH202 Bruce Banner, it might be the “other guy” who spits out the bullet.

Here’s a listing of all the available Alter Ego figures in Modern:

  • IIM016 Pepper Potts
  • IIM017 Happy Hogan
  • BCTV002 Bruce Wayne
  • BCTV004 Dick Grayson
  • ASM007 Johnny Blaze
  • ASM036 Kaine
  • BM002 Bruce Wayne
  • BM027 Dick Grayson
  • BM102 Matches Malone
  • CW010 Donald Blake
  • CW011 Tony Stark
  • DKR003 Bruce Wayne
  • DKR202 Bruce Wayne
  • AVM013 Bruce Banner
  • AVM209 Tony Stark
  • IH002 Bruce Banner
  • IH202 Bruce Banner
"Opps. Time to Revert"

“Opps. Time to Revert”

Revert – AKA From Hero to Zero

Revert is similar to Alter Ego in that it gives you some extra options at the end of a powerful characters dial. Unlike Alter Ego instead of becoming a new character of the same points at the top of (usually short) dial, your usually trading down in points. So When 155 FI020 Red She-Hulk reverts on click 5 she becomes a FI006 Red She-Hulk on click 5 (with an attack and damage bonus due to the trait). Why would you do this? Well usually by the time a character gets to their revert clicks, they past the point of being really useful. There are also bonuses to reverting if you are playing one of “the mighty” or relics that come into play with “The Worthy”. With some characters only have one revert option in modern (Like FI025 Skirn) and some have an incredible amount (like FI030 Spider-Man). You can have veritable army of revert options figures waiting for you to choose from. You should also remember that reverted heroes can work with the duo “merge” power. For example, you could play IIM035 Dreadknight, revert him to CW039 Hawkeye, and combine him with FFCW005 Mockingbird to form CW054 Hawkeye and Mockingbird (likely healing Hawkeye in the process).

130 point SLOSH052 Highfather stands out in this category for being the only figure to revert to a higher point figure (175 point SLOSH051 Takion). FI020 Red She-Hulk and FI018 Iron
Fist both revert into characters that have the ability to heal back up to their top clicks (and keep the nice att/dam bonus). Probably the most versatile figure in this Category is FI031 Wolverine. His revert click is also a stop click with regeneration on it. Meaning that on your next turn you can regenerate and keep that figure in the battle or you can go to any one of his 9 different lower cost figures. You can even decide to revert to a more defensive figure as a free action (like TABM-004 Wolverine) after you fail a regeneration roll with FI031 Wolverine.

Here’s a listing of all the available figures with Revert in Modern:

  • SLOSH052 Highfather
  • IIM035 Dreadknight
  • FI016 Black Widow
  • FI017 Ms. Marvel
  • FI018 Iron Fist
  • FI019 Hawkeye
  • FI020 Red She-Hulk
  • FI021 Dr. Strange
  • FI022 Nerkkod
  • FI023 Mokk
  • FI024 Greithoth
  • FI025 Skirn
  • FI026 Kuurth
  • FI030 Spider-Man
  • FI031 Wolverine
  • FI032 Nul
  • FI033 Angrir
  • FI200 Skadi
"Robin I'll use my Dark costume to hide in the shadows. Use your costume to hide in that group of clowns."

“Robin I’ll use my Dark costume to hide in the shadows. Use your costume to hide… somewhere else.”

Split/Merge – AKA I’ll be there for you

“Merge” gives you the option of combining two smaller characters into a larger one with possibly a completely different power set. If you merge a damaged character with an undamaged character the new bigger character is undamaged. “Split” makes two smaller characters out of a large duo figure. This allows various combinations that can produce positive game effects for your team. You can split WXM101 Colossus and Kitty Pryde into WXM002 Colossus and WXM003 Shadowcat so that Shadowcat can taxi Colossus into battle. Then after Colossus takes a hit, merge them back into their duo figure for a quick heal. Another example is Splitting a mildly-injured CW059 Thor and Hercules into IH026 Hercules and CW010 Donald Blake and then using Donald Blake’s support to heal Hercules back to full health. The following turn you can merge into a full health duo again.

CW060 Avengers Prime really stands out in this category for being a 1-man-army, or a 3-man-army depending on how you look at it.

Here’s a listing of all the available figures with Split/Merge in Modern:

  • WKD-004 Superman and Superman
  • WKD-009 Superman and Wonder Woman
  • SLOSH053 Big Barda and Mr. Miracle
  • IIM043 Iron Man and War Machine
  • IIM044 Absorbing Man and Titania
  • IIM045 Sin and Crossbones
  • BCTV016 The Dynamic Duo
  • WXM053 Professor X and Magneto
  • WXM101 Colossus and Kitty Pryde
  • NML006 The Joker and Harley Quinn
  • IM3017 Iron Man and Iron Patriot
  • IM3018 Iron Man and War Machine
  • ASM044 Colleen Wing and Misty Knight (no split/merge possible currently)
  • ASM047 Man-Thing and Howard the Duck (no split/merge possible currently)
  • SOG103 Batman and Nightwing
  • BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl
  • JL52021 Fury
  • CW052 Lockjaw and Hairball (no split/merge possible currently)
  • CW053 Ant-Man and Wasp
  • CW054 Hawkeye and Mockingbird
  • CW055 Vision and Scarlet Witch
  • CW056 Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man
  • CW058 Dr. Doom and Kang
  • CW059 Thor and Hercules
  • CW060 Avengers Prime

Resurrection Effects – AKA Today is the Beginning of the Rest of Your Afterlife

"I feel fine. I think I will go for a walk now."

“I feel fine. I think I will go for a walk now.”

This category belongs almost exclusively to the past lives of Iron Man and SLOSH049 Solomon Grundy has just recently joined the party. How do you qualify? You need to have the  power to be KOed and come back different then you were before. WXM020 White King doesn’t qualify because he only comes back as the same punching bag he always was. The past life figures are all slightly different for a customizable response to your Opponent. Fighting monsters? Bring IIM054 Iron Slayer (1890s) into the fight. Need stealth? Come back as IIM056 Iron Soldier (1910s). Facing tough defense? Resurrect as IIM053 Iron Paladin (1400 AD). You get the idea.

Here’s a listing of all the available figures with Resurrection Effects in Modern:

  • SLOSH049 Solomon Grundy
  • IIM038 Iron Man
  • IIM052 Iron Viking (1000 AD)
  • IIM053 Iron Paladin (1400 AD)
  • IIM054 Iron Slayer (1890s)
  • IIM055 Iron Engine (1900s)
  • IIM056 Iron Soldier (1910s)
  • IIM201 Iron Man

Battlefield Promotion – AKA Stabbing Your Way to the Top

"Um, Yeah... I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday."

“Um, Yeah… I’m going to need you to come in on Saturday.”

The  Tenth Anniversary set introduced the idea of starting with rookie characters and upgrading them to their veteran selves through good game play. It’s an awesome thought to start with an 87 point rookie hulk and through great play (and lucky rolls) end up with a 350 point World Breaker. Some Promotions (like D10A021 Superman) are easier to attain than others (like M10A006 Marvel Girl). And some promotions just aren’t even worth it. I think 100 point D10A019E Martian Manhunter is actually worse than 90 point D10A003 John Jones. Remember that these recently promoted figures could qualify for a duo as well. If you promote 125 point TDW018 Thor into 200 point TDW001 Thor you could combine him with IH026 Hercules to make the 300 point CW059 Thor and Hercules duo (likely healing Thor in the process).

TDW018 Thor is real stand out figures in this category. He can be promoted by a single hit on an opposing character. That a pretty easy 75 point promotion. Similar TDW009 Algrim promotes simply by being hit. If they don’t want to hit him, he’s still really good for the points.

Here’s a listing of all the available figures with Battlefield Promotion in Modern:

  • TDW001 Thor
  • TDW009 Algrim
  • D10A001 Batman
  • D10A002 Wonder Woman
  • D10A003 John Jones
  • D10A005 Brainiac
  • D10A006 Batgirl
  • D10A008 Catwoman
  • D10A011 Green Lantern
  • D10A013 Lex Luthor
  • D10A014 Robin
  • D10A016 Blue Beetle
  • D10A018 The Flash
  • D10A021 Superman
  • M10A001 Captain America
  • M10A002 Hulk
  • M10A004 Green Goblin
  • M10A006 Marvel Girl
  • M10A007 Storm
  • M10A008 White Queen
  • M10A010 Weapon X
  • M10A011 The Thing
  • M10A012 Iron Man
  • M10A015 Magneto
  • M10A016 Thor
  • M10A017 Spider-Man
"I'm going to be a Master of Disguise. I'm going to be a Master of Disguise. I'm going to be..."

“I’m going to be a Master of Disguise. I’m going to be a Master of Disguise. I’m going to be…”

Morph – AKA The Masters of Disguise

These are the Cream of the crop when it comes to versatility. Most of them can take another form simply after a move action. Need stealth? Most of these have a stealth version. Close combat? Check. Ranged combat? Check. Their are a Swiss army knife on a dial.

Here’s a listing of all the available figures with Morph in Modern:

Shrinking Violet

  • SLOSH007 Shrinking Violet
  • SLOSH103 Shrinking Violet
  • SLOSH207 Shrinking Violet

Beast Boy

  • TT005B Beast Boy (In Gordanian Form)
  • TT021 Beast Boy (Tiger)
  • TT038 Changeling
  • BM005 Beast Boy (Dolphin)
  • BM019 Beast Boy (Pterodactyl)

Spider Man (75 points)

  • ASM050 Hornet
  • ASM051 Ricochet
  • ASM052 Dusk
  • ASM053 Prodigy
  • ASM201 Spider-Man

Spider Man (100 points)

  • ASM001A Spider-Man
  • ASM001B Spider-Man
  • ASM001C Spider-Man

Spider Man (125 points)

  • ASM024 Spider-Man
  • ASM054 Spider-Man
  • ASM055 Spider-Man
  • ASM056 Iron Spider
  • ASM057 Spider-Man

Punisher

  • IH010 Punisher
  • IH011 Punisher
  • IH023 Punisher

Hank Pym

  • CW014 Hank Pym
  • CW015 Ant-Man
  • CW016 Wasp
  • CW173 Ant-Man
  • CW200R Giant-Man

Sentry

  • CW035 Sentry
  • CW045 Void
  • CW057 Sentry and Void

Adam Warlock

  • GG010 Adam Warlock
  • GG020 Magus

Sample Armies

So now that I’ve listed all these great units in the article above, you might be wondering how you can use this information. Well, here’s some ideas.

The Easy to Promote Team

  • TDW018 Thor
  • TDW009 Algrim
  • TDW003B Dark Elf Soldier
  • (sideboarded) TDW001 Thor
  • (sideboarded) TDW008 Kurse
  • = 300 total points

Warrior theme team. Algrim taking one hit and Thor landing one hit might be enough to promote both of them into better figures. The “ramming” dark elf soldier makes a great distraction while you’re doing it.

The Dirty Tricks team

  • FI019 Hawkeye
  • FFCW005 Mockingbird
  • (sideboarded) CW054 Hawkeye and Mockingbird
  • CW033 Victoria Hand
  • CW173 Ant-Man
  • (sideboarded) CW014 Hank Pym
  • (sideboarded) CW015 Ant-Man
  • (sideboarded) CW016 Wasp
  • (sideboarded) CW200R Giant-Man
  • =300 Total Points

Avengers Theme team. Send Ant Man into the fray. When the opportunity arises go directly to giant man and stomp face. While that’s happening Victoria Hand and Mockingbird should help Hawkeye do as much damage from range as possible. Together they enhance his range +1 and his attack value +2. When Hawkeye takes enough damage to revert, do it and then immediately combine him into CW054 Hawkeye and Mockingbird.

An Army of One… Hundred

  • TT005B Beast Boy (In Gordanian Form)
  • (sideboarded) TT021 Beast Boy (Tiger)
  • (sideboarded) TT038 Changeling
  • (sideboarded) BM005 Beast Boy (Dolphin)
  • (sideboarded) BM019 Beast Boy (Pterodactyl)
  • (sideboarded) IH010 Punisher
  • (sideboarded) IH011 Punisher
  • IH023 Punisher
  • (sideboarded) CW014 Hank Pym
  • (sideboarded) CW015 Ant-Man
  • (sideboarded) CW016 Wasp
  • CW173 Ant-Man
  • (sideboarded) CW200R Giant-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM050 Hornet
  • (sideboarded) ASM051 Ricochet
  • ASM052 Dusk
  • (sideboarded) ASM053 Prodigy
  • (sideboarded) ASM201 Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM001A Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM001B Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM001C Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM024 Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM054 Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM055 Spider-Man
  • (sideboarded) ASM056 Iron Spider
  • (sideboarded) ASM057 Spider-Man
  • Book of Shadows with 6 hammers (24 points)
  • = 299 total points.

This is the grand daddy of them all when it comes to versatility. 26 total figures. 4 in play and a side board of 22 figures. You start with stealthy figures in play and then the sky is the limit from there. Your opponent will be super confused. You’ll be super confused. Switch all your figures every round just because you can! It will be beautiful chaos.

If you do play this 26 figure team, I have a word of warning for you. With all the setup, placement, and decision making you’ll need to do to really play this team well it’s likely the game will go to time after only a few rounds. Of course if the person sitting across from you is a brand new first time player, it may only be a one round game before time is called. Then your opponent will likely quit. Quit Heroclix. Quit gaming. Quit Life.

Play this team cautiously.

AVX – Who’s the best?

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I tried having everyone vote for their favorite, but after having to recount Florida three times I gave up.

I tried having everyone vote for their favorite, but after having to recount Florida three times I gave up.

With the latest organized play event AVX players have been given a choice of picking the Avengers or X-men starter to base their army around. Which one should you chose? Here’s a detailed breakdown of which one’s better.

Compatible figures:

  • X-men figures available in modern – 109
  • Avengers figures available in modern – 189
  • Sets with more X-men then Avengers – WatX, M10
  • Sets with more Avengers than X-men – Every other Marvel set in modern

Winner – Avengers

Power Level of Available Teammates (outside of the AVX Set):

  • Coolest mechanic available only to X-men – Teambases (Which probably won’t be allowed at your local venue.)
  • Cool Mechanic available only to Avengers – Morph/Past life. (Iron Man got a neat replacement effect in his set. Spider-man got a neat replacement effect in his set. Chaos War gave us Hank Pym.)
  • Best Support Figures for the X-men  – WXM040 Hope Summers, M10A006 Marvel Girl, FFGSX001 Professor X
  • Support Figures for the Avengers – IM3006 Tony Stark, CW010 Donald Blake, FFCW006R Scarlet Witch
  • Available X-men Primes – WXM037B Magneto, WXM047B Jubilee
  • Available Avengers Primes – IIM001B Silver Centurion, IIM029B War Machine, IIM041B Hyperion

Winner – Vampire Jubilee. Just kidding. Avengers take this category too.

 Top 3 Figures in the AVX Set:

Avengers

  1. AVX004 Spider-Man – Essentially this character has hypersonic speed with a 10 attack and 5 damage (including super strength). That’s really good for 125 points! The real story here is his defense which is the best of any figure in any set in his point range.
  2. AVX006E Scarlet Witch – 8 range, precision strike, probability control, perplex, and support. Support on a capable ranged attacker seems really good. She brings a lot to the table for her 100 point cost
  3. AVX003 Thor – Thor has a chance at penetrating ranged damage and a 12 starting attack. I will play that at every opportunity.

X-men

  1. AVX014 Magneto – For 200 points this guy is a worthy tent pole. If someone is going to take on Thor’s ranged attack value of 12, it should be this guy with his 20 ranged defense. If your opponent wants to close in Magneto can use Pulse Wave for full damage that bypasses defense. He just needs a 100 point close combat character to throw into the melee with his TK while he stays at range with his huge defense.
  2. AVX010E Emma Frost – This is a 100 point close combat character just begging to be thrown into the melee with TK. When it comes to her, everything is awesome. Outwit/Charge/and Exploit Weakness on offense. Impervious and Shape Change on defense. Even better she can’t have any of her powers countered. If you are good at rolling 5s and 6s she is going to stick around quite a while.
  3. AVX009E Cyclops – For 100 points this guy’s shoot through walls trick is really good. It’s even funnier when you outwit someone through 3 walls. He has close to no defense, but with the offense he brings for his point cost he might not need it.

Winner – Xmen. This was really close, but I think the top 3 X-men edge out the top 3 Avengers in AVX organized play. I think all the figures in the set are great for their point cost. The worst of the bunch are Iron Man and Namor. Besides those two, anyone else would be a great addition to a team.

All the Categories not related to Heroclix:

  • Best movie line for X-men: “Ok, you’re a D***”. (Wolverine proving his identity to Cyclops)
  • Best Movie line for Avengers: “We have a Hulk.” (Iron Man intimidating Loki)
  • Worst Movie moment for X-men: “Do you know what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning?” (Or really any scene in X-men 3)
  • Worst Movie moment for Avengers: Loki can’t mind control Tony Stark because his staff can’t hit the exact center of Tony’s chest.
  • Best Cartoon Series: X-men (mid 90s, not that crappy one where everyone is in high school again.)
  • Coolest Transportation: BlackBird (X-men)
  • Best Team to fight Dracula: Avengers (As seen in the Avengers assemble cartoon this year and fear itself.)
  • Coolest Movie moment: For shear wow factor, watching Wolverine pop his claws on screen for the first time ever was the best. The Avengers movie was better then X-men, but X-men had the best moment.

Winner – Xmen

Overall Winner

The X-men took two categories and the Avengers took two categories. Which means a tie. So the winner is… Whomever wins the popular vote in Florida. After their recount… Unless there’s another recount…

Local Tournament Report – 2/08/14 Comics & More

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You're going to need a bigger boat.

You’re going to need a bigger boat.

The Format: 600 point modern. Anything Goes. (Colossals. Team Bases. Resources. Human sacrifice. Dogs and Cats living together. Mass Hysteria.)

What I played:

WXMT004 New Mutants (full) 200pts.

WXM061 (Phoenix 5) Magik 295pts.

FFGSX001 Professor X 75pts.

FIR100C The Book of the Skull (complete) 30pts.

Total = 600 Points

Yes I realize this is different than what I posted I was going to play in my earlier article, but I felt two team bases as my “team” might be a bit too cheesy for my venue.

Round 1: Played against WXMT005 Shi’ar Imperial Guard and WXM052 Lilandra. Turn 1 I pop off Cannonball from my Team base and move Magik and Professor X 5 squares from the starting area into hammer dropping range. I roll the Team base Asset Dial and I have Magik showing (my team base gets prob). I have never played against the Shi’ar Team base before. Turn 1 my opponent uses “INTERPLANTARY JUMP” to beam himself across the board and base my team base. He then flurries for two six damage shots and does a close combat attack for 5 damage that misses. My team base takes 11 clicks of damage and is just about KOed. I used 3 probability controls and he only missed once. Immediately following that attack Lilandra recalls the team base back to her side of the board. It’s now essentially my 400 points vs. his 600 points and I haven’t even gotten to roll the dice to make an attack yet. Thankfully he can only interplanetary jump once, but the game continues to be lopsided. Phoenix 5 Magik does get in a nice opening hit with her high movement (12), running shot, and range (9). Eventually with the Imperial Guard’s 3 actions a turn she is knocked off her best clicks. At that point the Shi’ar are on click 7 and I have to figure out how to get through impervious with severely wounded (P5) Magik, Cannonball, a severely wounded Wolfsbane, and Professor X. My bright idea was to have Professor X mind control the team base and use it to attack Lilandra. I actually hit the team base, but I roll a 4 and miss Lilandra. The only person taking damage there was Professor X. (see my previous article “Power Placement” for why that’s funny.)

The Shi’ar team base is just ridiculous. I think we could have played this match 10 times and I would have lost at least 9 of those matches. In all his matches that day that player didn’t bother to use solo adventure, roll the asset dial, or even use Lilandra more than one time a match. On top of that, his dice were hot too. The only time he missed during our whole match was once in the first round onslaught. Ouch.

Round 2: Played against TTG001 Trigon and BM001R Batman. So this player snuck Batman around the side and sent Trigon right up the center. With Trigon’s 20 defense, Impervious, and Shape Change I knew it was going to take a lot to crack that first click. We each covered our approaches with free action barriers and Magik’s superior range and movement meant she got the first shot in. He rolled a 1 on shape change. I rolled an 11 to hit. He got a two on  impervious. And before he even got an attack off, he was on click 4. Then he got an attack and missed. Then Magik pushed and hit again. That’s pretty much how the entire match went. My dice never missed and his scored only one hit the entire match. Batman even whiffed twice with flurry.

He ended up getting two crit misses that match and I got two crit hits. I felt bad for him. I’ve been there. You can plan for a month and get the best figures available, but extremely bad dice versus very good dice is a loss every time. If we played again I feel my team would a slight edge in a matchup.

Round 3: Played against IG008C Thanos (Issue #3), (summoned) IG009 Terraxia, IIM038 Iron Man, IM3008 Aldrich Killian, FI301 Splitlip, FIR100C The Book of the Skull (complete). This was HypeFox’s team. In the beginning Splitlip gave him a hammer advantage. I think I equipped 3 by the time he had equipped 7. The real problem here is that he had one primary attacker (Thanos) and one real secondary attacker (Iron Man). I gained an advantage by using my free action barrier to wall off Iron Man so he couldn’t take a meaningful action most turns. Terraxia was eventually a problem, but her lack of improved movement or flight meant that by the time she got in position to attack me on my side of the board, Thanos was already KOed. Thanos was very good, but he was basically taking on my whole 600 team by his self. He had two probability controls targeted at him and that was just a lot to roll through. He did injure both a good amount, but the team base and (P5) Magik were too much to overcome. In the end it was a single target incapacitate from professor X that KOed him. (Again see “Power Placement” for why that’s funny.)

The turn Thanos was KOed Terraxia arrived on the scene. She missed an attack on Wolfsbane and then my assembled team focus fired on her. Dead Terrexia. Because of Iron Mans power I had to approach him if I wanted to hurt him. Once I could no longer barrier him into a closet it looked like he was go to KO CannonBall and Professor X. And then the Judge called time. Stealth Suit Iron Man is a pretty mean piece. If we played it out I would have KOed him, but I would have lost a few figures first.

What I learned:

  • How did wiz-kids think team bases were costed correctly before they were nerfed? Did they not test them? Even if you consider my lowly 200 point New Mutants team base, you’d be hard pressed to find a 200 point single-base figure that approached that power level. Team bases are just stupidly overpowered and he who plays the biggest one wins.
  • IIM038 Iron Man’s Stealth power is pretty cool. Combine that with flight and 7 range and you’ve got a very effective character for the points.
  • WXM071 Cannonball had a cool defensive power, but he didn’t really do anything offensively at all. Maybe he would have made a better impression in a less overpowered game, but I won’t be fielding him again any time soon.
  • WXMT004 New Mutants team base has a power called “Self Sacrifice for my friends”. There isn’t another power like it on any piece I can think of. Twice in game three Cannonball should have been KOed. Both times I used that power to not only save him, but heal him as well. That’s a lot of fun for 200 points.

What team would I play if I could go back and do it all over again?

A non Team-Base based team. Those things are still under-costed and just not that much fun to play. I’m a peanut base (or less) no resource kind of player. This anything goes format is interesting every once in a while, but for the most part anything you can pull out of a standard booster is useless in this format. That just doesn’t sit well with me.

Power Placement!! (Or, the 5 Worst Standard Powers in Heroclix!!)

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Sidekick!

Sidekick!

In Heroclix there are powers players seek out (outwit, perplex, impervious, etc…) because they are always good. This article isn’t about them. This is about the other guys. These powers need help to be competitive. Obvious penalty powers earthbound and battle fury were purposely ignored for this article. Here’s the worst powers in Heroclix and how I think they should be fixed. Here’s hoping they use my ideas in the next PAC.

5. Willpower – This power isn’t bad in and of itself, but seeing it on your dial means that character doesn’t really have a defensive ability. Apparently when that super hero goes to stop a mugger his battle plan involves taking a beating so the original victim has a chance to get away. The only hero I could think of that should be represented that way in heroclix is this guy. How to fix it: Characters that can use willpower can also use toughness on their first click. That makes sense comic wise with everyone you’d normally think of having willpower and it’s not broken for all the bigger characters with indomitable that would usually have toughness (or better) anyway. It’s not a huge change, but I think it can work.

4. Incapacitate – Using an action to essentially cost another figure a turn also shuts you down for that turn. So you’ve given an action token to an opposing figure and then action tokened your own at the same time. Assuming you and your opponent both spend the next turns resting those figures then it’s like you you’ve lost the advantage of being able to strike first and given that advantage to your opponent. Sure there are instances where your really low point character incapacitates the opposing teams tent pole, but those are few and far between. Multi-target ranged attacks help this power, but those mostly come on really high point figures that you need to be dealing damage. How to fix it: Characters using incapacitate on one target deal normal close combat or ranged combat attack damage when using incapacitate. Hitting multiple targets adds an action token, but deals no damage. No combining it with other powers.

3. Mind Control – How this power should work is you mind control your opponents best attacker and that guy turns and takes out the rest of the opposing team. What usually happens is that you get lucky and hit the huge first roll to take control of someone. Then you attack and roll a four… You need to make both rolls to do damage to anyone (other than yourself with feedback damage). A normal attack requires just one roll. How to fix it: Characters using Mind Control on one target give that target an action token when it’s hit. Hitting multiple targets lets you use mind control, but doesn’t add a token. So at least now hitting that first attack roll is rewarded with something. Additionally a character should only take feedback damage when trying to control more than one character.

2. Smoke Cloud – Imagine Batman in a movie running up near some gangsters. He stops to take a breather while the bad guys shoot at him. Then he drops a smoke cloud. Then the smoke clears and he walks off to tend to the bullet wounds he got while preparing the smoke that should have concealed him. Of course he could have thrown the smoke first and taken a breather. Then he approaches the gangsters a minute after the smoke clears and he still gets shot. This is not making for a great movie. I think the Heroclix designers also noticed this power needs help. The latest PAC gave it a bonus (it used to be worse) and the latest characters to come out with it (IIM Iron soldier, TT Robin, and AO Joker) have a modified version of the power that doesn’t suck. How to fix it: Smoke Cloud should have always been a free action. One character should be able to use it to cover their approach. You shouldn’t need a whole team of people with that power to use it effectively. As a downside you can’t use smoke cloud if you’ve attacked this turn and you can’t attack if you’ve used smoke cloud this turn. It should help movement only. If you attack you could be exposed.

1. Force Blast – It seems like it would be a nice enough power. Use a power action to knock back anyone basing you. But then you look at the fine print. Who can’t be knocked back? People bigger than your figure, or people with Charge, or people with Combat Reflexes. If someone is trying to base you to do damage how likely is it they have one of those powers? Pretty freaking likely. Like 90% of the close combat figures out there have one or more of those attributes. Maybe you’ll occasionally get a version of Wolverine with leap climb and toughness, but I’m having a hard time thinking of another close combat figure this power actually affects. It’s not like someone is going to run Hawkeye up to base you. Plus you’re probably better off doing damage than spending you’re whole turn trying to move someone away from you. How to fix it: This power should a be a free action. When used outside of a normal attack (IE rolling the d6) it should also produce knockback that can’t be ignored by anyone your size or smaller. As a slight downside you could say characters using force blast can’t use stealth until the start of their next turn (it’s not subtle). Yes this would mean that if you played a close combat attacker facing this power (that couldn’t just charge back the next turn) you might have to have one of your other figures help out. It might actually produce a situation where someone actually has to outwit force blast for like the first time ever. Wow.