The Ghost of Christmas Future Presents: Breaking News! Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati!! (Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas 2018!!)

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 / HypeFox / 1 Comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2018, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2018 can be found in our first post of the season, and Night 2 speculated on the next Star Trek set. And Night 3 looked at some of HypeFox’s favorite Golden Age pieces! Night 4 dropped yesterday and examined the lack of Fantastic Four in Clix for the last 6 years! Finally, Night 5 brought us a look at HypeFox’s favorite Sealed sets!]

Ho ho ho!!

Welcome to Night Six of the Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas!! Sorry we’re a little late tonight, but we got some hot off the presses news!

About a year after I called for Infinity Gem Equipment in my Irresponsible Speculation!! Preview of the Avengers: Infinity expansion… we’ll actually be getting just that!

That’s right–Wizkids announced another Avengers set for next year, and it’s gonna have some big hitters in it, with sub-themes including Wakanda itself, the Illuminati, The Cabal, The Elders of the Universe and possibly even the first Malibu character in Clix, Rune (who himself once went after the gems, which would make him a perfect inclusion here).

There will be 78 total figures in the set broken down thusly:

17 Commons (plus 1 Prime)
17 Uncommons (plus 1 Prime)
17 Rares (plus 1 Prime)
16 Super Rares (plus 1 Prime)
6 Chases
1 Ultra Chase
11 Equipment Objects (included with select figures in 5-Figure Boosters)

Never before Clix’d pieces include Astronomer, Challenger, Eitri, Enigma, Everett K. Ross, Kobik, Okoye, and as mentioned before, Rune.

Some of the equipment we’ll be getting includes the Cosmic Cube, The Infinity Gems and The Infinity Gauntlet.

Obviously we don’t know much more than that, but we can make some educated guesses based upon what we know from the comics! So let’s indulge in some quick…

IRRESPONSIBLE SPECULATION!!

One of the best Marvel covers of the last 10 years…

Speculation #1: The name of the set will be Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati.

Why is this important? Well, first of all, “Avengers Black Panther and the Illuminati” just sounds and looks like a weird run-on sentence. It’s kind of terrible, like someone just reciting stream-of-consciousness-style everything that they remembered from the set as a title. As a title, it means nothing because it COULD mean anything.

Now, Avengers: Black Panther and the Illuminati is a different story! That could have several distinct meanings!

Firstly, during Hickman’s run on New Avengers, the Illuminati took center stage. It basically could have been called Avengers: Illuminati. Currently, Black Panther is also maybe/kinda/sort of trying to reform the Illuminati as a more inclusive organization in his capacity as Avengers chairperson. This storyline may keep developing and even reach a crescendo just before or even during this set’s release in June.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Or by then Marvel may reboot everything for a tenth time in 5 years as no one is buying their books right now. Or any books really.]

Nice. Way to bring the mood down.

Annnnnnyhow… that colon may seem small, but it’s presence makes a huge difference in my opinion. Or maybe I’m just being anal about it.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Can’t both be true?]

Ahem.

Speculation #2: There’s 11 Equipment, and we may already know what 8 of them are…

Why is this important? They’ve already told us that the Cosmic Cube is being remade. That’s 1. The Infinity Gems are in this set (see next entry for what else this may tell us). That’s six more pieces right there, folks! They’re not going to make all the gems one collective piece of equipment, right? Especially since the other piece of equipment in the set they told us about is The Infinity Gauntlet!

So that means there’s just 3 unknown pieces of equipment out there! And we have six months to guess what they are!

Speculation #3: The Illuminati members from Hickman’s New Avengers run will be the Gem-bearers in this set (ie they will be the figures that the gems come with).

Why is this important? Because if my guess is correct, it tells us a lot about the roster for this set. That would mean new versions of Iron Man (w/ the Reality Gem), either Professor X or Beast (w/ the Mind Gem–in between the distribution of the gems and the start of the incursions, Professor X was murdered by Cyclops or something in AvX–I honestly could be conflating stories, here, but it’s not really that important), Namor (w/ the Time Gem), Black Bolt (w/ the Space Gem), Doctor Strange (w/ the Soul Gem) and… someone(?) with the Power Gem?

[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Honestly, the color assignment for the gems has been all screwed up ever since the MCU started, so I don’t always remember which was which when I’m reading the comics now. I’m pretty sure about the Soul, Reality and Mind; after that, I can never remember.]

See, that’s where the theory falls apart. Because in the comics, Reed Richards has the Power Gem at that point. And even though Disney’s acquisition of Fox should be finished by that point, it’s unclear (at best) whether Marvel will let Wizkids make any FF pieces by then (my best guess is no). Sooooo…

Okay, the Stranger is not an Elder of the Universe, but I don’t have time to look up other art for them.

Speculation #4: Speculation #3 is pure fanboy wish fulfillment horse dookie!

Why is this important? It’s really not. But in this Scenario, Wizkids will just make new versions of the Elders of the Universe (from whom Thanos stole the gems in the first place) and have THEM come with their respective gems. Plus we’re also getting… uh… Astromancer? No, Astronomer! That’s it!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Yeah, we’re HUGE Marvel Cosmic fans, and even we forgot this guy existed. But hey, in this Scenario, we’d get a new… Runner. Guy. Dude. Yaaay! Oh, $#!t, we might even get another Gardener! Actually… I’d potentially be excited for another Champion!]

Coloring. Fail.

Speculation #5: Wizkids wants this set to sell. Also, they’re not stupid.

Why is this important? Look, I’m not trying to worry anyone here who is huge fan of the Infinity Gems (like myself) and wants Wizkids to make them accessible, but whether it’s the Illuminati that comes with the Gems or the Elders of the Universe, I mean… there’s six Gems… and six Chase slots…

You do the math.

Speculation #6: Who is the Ultra-Chase?

Why is this important? History says it probably isn’t, as the previous two Ultra-Chases–while very powerful for their points–didn’t make a huge Meta impact. But with Black Panther wielding the Gauntlet during Secret Wars having already been Clix’d, I can think of a few possibilities:

–Captain America wielding the Infinity Gauntlet given to him by the Illuminati in New Avengers #’s 2-3 (or thereabouts).

–God Emperor Doom (also from Secret Wars–but this would be contingent on FF characters being available, which again seems unlikely)

–The aforementioned Rune, who, even as a Malibu character (Malibu comics was the independent publisher behind the Ultraverse, a pretty cool superhero universe that eventually ran out of money and was bought by Marvel in or about the late 90’s/early 2000’s) once held the Gauntlet for a brief moment before the Silver Surfer used the Power Cosmic to literally dismember Rune’s hand (as I recall–I could be misremembering something).

Rune was basically an evil space vampire who already had cosmically powered gems around his neck (the Star Stones–hey, maybe those are another piece of equipment in the set!), so of course he had to try and get a whole new set.

Look, it makes sense (kind of). He’s probably going to be the only Ultraverse character in the set, since the Ultraverse isn’t a listed sub-theme. I know Rune isn’t a popular or well-known character, but neither was the White Rabbit.

Now Wizkids could either make Rune (as he is or with the Star Stones equipment) the Ultra-Chase, or they could be reeeeeeeeeal evil and make Rune the Ultra-Chase… and have him come with the Infinity Gauntlet!

$500 Ultra-Chases anyone?

Yikes.

Okay, that’s it for tonight! Sorry we were a little late, but we’ll see you again tomorrow for more 12 Nights of Clix-Mas!!

The Ghost of Clix-Mas Future Presents: Star Trek: TNG: Irresponsible Speculation!! (Or, The Second Night of Clix-Mas 2018!!)

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 / HypeFox / 6 Comments

I am SO excited to see these characters Clix’d!! Well… most of them. Like at least one of the Crushers. Two Thirds of this set will be sooooo awesome!

So, who’s excited for a full, 5-figure Star Trek: TNG set?

Well, put your hands down, cuz it ain’t happening.

Instead, WizKids split the set in two. What’s more, they also decided to use a Gravity Feed distribution model AND delayed both parts until next year.

Way to stoke that Trek excitement WizKids!!

Anyway, this preview will now focus on the first set (Resistance is Futile), due (for now) in June of 2019.

Now, I’ve watched EVERY episode of TNG multiple times. Unfortunately for me, I’m old enough that when I was growing up, staying up to watch a double dose of TNG repeats airing on the local UHF station from 11:30pm-1:30am was the height of time-shifted entertainment (we’re talking ’92-’95-ish here). Those reruns are actually how I got into the show.

TNG remains my favorite version of Trek, so I had been imagining what my dream set would be for some time.

[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Eh, that could be a lie. Ask me on the right day and I’ll say DS9. Sisko was my always my favorite Captain, even if he was just a Commander for the first few seasons. He was a little more “man-of-action-y,” which led to more cool space battles, even if that wasn’t what Trek was ideally about.]

Now THAT is a tactical genius right there!

Now that we know what the rarity breakdown will be, I’m gonna try and get ultra-nerdy and come up with my ideal “Star Trek: Away Team: The Next Generation: Resistance Is Futile: Too Many Colons!” set!

Keep in mind, from the solicit we know that this first set will focus on Starfleet, Klingons, the Borg and Q Continuum as general themes.

Without further ado, here is my ideal Gravity Feed (sigh… ) Star Trek: Away Team: TNG set!

First…

9 COMMONS (PLUS 1 PRIME):

Wait, I don’t think all of these were generics…

001: Federation Security Officer— This piece would have the UFP TA, Sidestep with 1 Damage and RCE (“Set Phasers to Stun”) on the front end, Charge and 2 Damage on the back end. Four or five clicks. 50 Points or less.

002: Borg Drone– Five clicks for 50 points, although I would probably have 2 five click-dials and let the player choose which one they were fielding at the beginning of the game with a Trait that is literally called “Resistance is Futile.’

The first dial would be close-combat oriented; the second would be support-y.

Oh, and we’d probably need a Borg TA. Something really strong that represents their adaptability, particularly their shields.

“THE BORG: Once per turn, whenever a friendly character using this Team Ability is damaged by an opposing character’s attack, modify the Defense of all other friendly characters using this Team Ability by +1 until end of turn.”

Pulling… it… OFF!

003A: Borg Assimilator– Four clicks with the Borg TA and some sort of special Mind Control power that let them use one of a hit character’s printed powers when executing their Mind Control attack.

003B: Hugh– Hugh would be like a 75-100 Point Borg. I’m honestly not sure what power set I would give him (Shape Change? Support?) but he needs to be in this set!

004: Nurse Ogawa– Three Clicks with the UFP TA. Like 20 Points or so. She would have a Special Damage Power that reads “Second in Command of Sickbay: Support. Probability Control, but only to reroll rolls made while using the Support power.”

That wording gets a little clunky, but I think you get the gist.

Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra, bitches!

005: Tamarian First Officer– Because I don’t care what anybody says: “Darmok” was awesome, and it deserves a couple of references in this set. This guy would be 40-60 points with some B/C/F and Leadership mixed in (maybe even some Empower).

You can make a pretty strong argument that the Darmok characters are better thematic fits for the next TNG set, “To Boldly Go… ,” and you may be right. But they’re trying to jam all of the important Romulan, Ferengi, and Cardassian characters (and even freaking Armus, the oil slick that killed Tasha Yar) that appeared in TNG into that set, so I’m gonna put the Tamarians in this one.

006: Klingon Warrior– This would be your generic Klingon fighter. Think Asgardian Troll as far as the dial goes.

007: Ensign Wesley Crusher– <sigh> He has to be included. Look, I’m not trying to pile on–it’s kind of a cliche at this point to find Wesley a lil annoying–but he was an integral part of the show’s early seasons and frankly has to be in this set.

In his defense, his character got way less annoying when they actually put him in a uniform.

Anyway, this version would be pretty squishy but offer a pretty strong combination of Perplex and a conditional Outwit (“Non-commissioned Genius: Perplex. FREE: Choose a Team Ability possessed by an opposing character within range and line of fire. That character cannot use that Team Ability this turn.).

008: Amanda Rogers– If the Q Continuum is going to be a focus, I’d imagine they’re gonna put the only Q-kid from the series in here somewhere (probably not at Common, but that’s where I’m putting her!).

She would be more like 40 or like 90 points with some Support-y stuff up front, followed by a Stop click that activates her God Mode on her last two Clicks.

I also would not mind a Q Continuum Team Ability that mimicked the KC Team Ability (these are nigh-omnipotent beings after all).

Anyway, by putting her at Common, folks who pulled poorly would still have a good chance to get a higher point fig to build around.

009: Lt. Tasha Yar– Like 60 Points with alternating CCE and RCE. Basically a better-statted version of 001 Starfleet Security Officer.

AND NOW…

8 UNCOMMONS:

010: Lwaxana Troi– A squishy support piece that could use a Power Action to reduce your opponent’s Action Total by one on their next turn (representing her mental abilities and negotiating skills).

011: Ensign Ro Laren– Everyone’s favorite spunky, no-nonsense helmsperson who inexplicably turned down a regular role on DS9!

Standard UFP Team Ability with some sort of mechanic that allows her to shift her allegiances after being KO’d or down dial (when she brutally betrayed the Federation and joined the evil Maquis! Yes, I realize that’s not how it went down…).

012: Chief Miles O’Brien– He has to be a Taxi, right? Only he would use some sort of Special Phasing/TK combo.

013: Dr. Leah Brahms– She would give a bonus to movement for other friendly characters and a special stat bonus to Geordi!

014: Jack Crusher– Past keyword. UFP TA. Would probably give a stat boost to Wesley Crusher.

015: Dr. Katherine Pulaski– 45 Points. Support. UFP TA. Special Attack Power: “Beam Him Straight To Sickbay: POWER: Choose a friendly character with the Starfleet keyword that’s not not on their starting Click and give that character an Action Token. If you do, place that character in a square adjacent to Dr. Katherine Pulaski.

016: Gowron– Okay, they probably won’t put three Klingons in a row, but all three of these dudes are important Klingons in modern Trek lore.

017: K’mpec– The High Chancellor. He’d have Leadership that wouldn’t be adjacent-dependent for Klingons.

018: Duras– Would allow for Klingon/Romulon hybrid teams. Heck, I’d even bring back the Arch-Enemy ring for Duras and Worf!

PLUS… 9 RARES:

019: Lt. Commander Remmick– Think Brood Queen with all the power of Starfleet! this was one of the more disturbing storylines that Trek ever tried, even if they pulled the plug after two installments (what did ever happen to that signal Remmick sent at the end of “Conspiracy?”). I’d actually give him the Starfleet keyword and design a way for him to “infest” other characters with the Starfleet keyword–both friendly and opposing.

020: Worf-– 100 points. Kind of like a ranged Drax dial. Both Klingon and Starfleet keywords.

021: Captain Jean-Luc Picard– Title Character Picard!! This is where they should let their imaginations run wild!

I thought they were actually too restrained with the title characters from the Original Series Away Team set. I would rather see something that more easily affects the game board.

Like, what if Picard had the possibility to “promote” another piece with multiple starting lines up one dial (like when Mangog pulls the Odin sword?) as his ultimate? The possibilities are endless!

022: Kurn– Worf’s brother. Starts the whole “Sons of Mogh” storyline that results in Worf straight killing Duras for his crimes!

023: Professor Moriarty– The nemesis that Data accidentally creates on the Holodeck! Robot keyword, with lots of Perplex and Outwit! I’d even consider giving him a “Steal Your Transport” type of power like Nebula had back in the first GotG comics set!

024: Lt. Commander Riker– Clearly this will be the bearded version! I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an Uncommon in the second set, so that they can make a Prime Thomas Riker!

025: Lt. Commander Geordi Laforge– He should add +2 to friendly character’s Movement speed. Or maybe even give him a Special that says: “POWER: An adjacent character may use Running Shot or Charge as FREE this turn.” That would be pretty sick.

026: Q2– In the series, he restores Q’s powers in a Season 3 episode (a rather good one, too). How that translates into Clix, I don’t know. What I do know is that this guy would–like Q himself–having Living Tribunal-levels of power.

Maybe make him another silver bullet against Colossal Retaliators and/or Cosmic characters?

027: Lal– Data’s daughter! Again, Robot keyword. Should have a special Perplex for Data.

ALSO…

5 SUPER RARES (PLUS 1 PRIME!):

028: Tam Elbrun– Wow! This Betazed had crazy mental powers that eventually grew out of control. He can read pretty much everybody’s thoughts. How you express that in game could take several forms. He should definitely have a way to cancel opposing Shape Change or Super Senses.

029: Noonian Soong– Scientist keyword. He’s the old man who created both Data and Lore. He should be the Chase Agamotto of this set, really.

030: Berlinghoff Rasmussen– Time travelling crook! I would give him a Trait where he can roll for a different power each turn (representing the different items he steals).

031: Deanna Troi– Well… we know she’s in the set. I don’t see why she would be an SR, but I don’t know yet how they’re going to translate her empathy powers into actual Clix. Anyway, this is my irresponsible speculation, so I’ll put her where I want, dammit!

032A: Data– Think Prime Deathlok from Wolverine and the X-Men. Strong Robot with Outwit and high stats but his combat potential is held back by his credo to never murder.

032B: Lore– And then of course Lore would be the opposite, with lots of Outwit and Perplex, too.

I mean, Data and Lore have to be at least one set of the Primes, right? And given Lore’s later connection to the Borg (in Season 7, I believe), it only makes sense to make them the SR flipsides.

AND FINALLY… TWO CHASES!!

033: Locutus of Borg– Okay, if the SR Prime isn’t Lore, then it would have to be Locutus. But I think Picard really needs to show up in the Rare slot, so making Locutus a Chase seems like the only other option.

034: Q– So, I think there’s a good chance Q ends up as a Super Rare. They could actually make him the SR Chase with one version wearing the Farpoint gear, and the other version wearing a Starfleet uniform (or they could do the Deja Q powerless version that ran around telling people “to change the gravitational constant of the universe” to solve complex problems). But if he’s a Chase with Trelane or Mxyptzlk-like powers only with better stats, he will really drive sales of the set.

Okay! So, there’s my version of a kickass Star Trek Gravity Feed set, and there’s still plenty of great stuff like Armus and Guinan left for the next set! Come June, we’ll see how close I got.

What do you all want from a Star Trek: TNG Clix set? Post in the Comments below!

Eight Things I Want From Avengers: Infinity!! (Or, More Irresponsible Speculation!!)

March 11, 2018March 21, 2018 / HypeFox / 1 Comment

Image Credit: Adventures in Poor Taste

Hi There! It’s been awhile (well, we’ve been tweeting up a storm the last few months, but still!).

Fresh off getting my butt kicked at the Spring WKO (look, I’d write about Call-Ins ruining the game, but it’s been discussed to death and Wizkids apparently has market research to show that people like extra value inserted into packs via things like Equipment or ID Cards, so, they’re not going away anytime soon… ), today we’re starting to get ready for one of the biggest sets of the year.

Yup! We’re talkin’ Avengers: Infinity!

Spoilers won’t start for a little while yet, so now is the perfect time for some of our patented Irresponsible Speculation!!

Here are eight things I hope we’ll get in this set!

8. Fantastic Four Characters!!

Okay, I like the FF as much as anyone, but the two characters I’m really talking about here are Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom.

Unfortunately, both of these characters are probably still on the ban list until the Disney/Fox merger is complete (probably 16-24 months from now).

Still, Surfer (and, to a lesser extent, Doom) were big characters in the original Infinity Gauntlet (from which many of the characters in this set come), so their absence would definitely be missed.

Helicarrier

7. Helicarrier!!

C’mon, Wizkids! We want a Helicarrier already!

We know we’re getting vehicles in this set (Spider-Mobile!!); we know that at least one of those vehicles will be S.H.I.E.L.D.-related (Nick Fury’s flying car!); and you’ve even given us special Helicarrier maps in the past, so we know you guys are familiar with them!

Brainiac’s Skull Ship proves that you don’t mind making big ships, either! So the time has come for everyone’s favorite flying gunships to enter Heroclix!

Thanos Come and Get Me.jpg

6. Title Character Thanos!!

Of all the things on this list, this one might be the most likely.

The Title Character mechanic has been a lot of fun (and so far, not nearly as overpowered at it first might have seen, although Ninwashui and I still think Title Character Thor has a lot of untapped Meta possibilities), and Title Character Thanos would have the potential to be the coolest one yet (and this wouldn’t be a bad pose for his scuplt, either).

They wouldn’t necessarily have to give him the Infinity Gauntlet on this piece (although a Chase series of characters who have all wielded it at some point would be cool–hmmm, maybe there were really 9 Things I should have written about for this article), but Thanos is certainly deserving of the Title Character treatment considering he’s long been one of Marvel’s greatest villains.

Adam Warlock.jpg

5. Title Character Adam Warlock!!

And, in keeping with the recent trend of two Title Characters per set, who better for the second slot than Thanos’s greatest foil, Adam Warlock?

In addition to being one of my favorite characters, Adam Warlock was pretty much THE MAIN PROTAGONIST of Infinity Gauntlet (you can argue that Thanos was still the main character of the story; you can also argue that, from a certain point of view, Thanos was actually the protagonist in a weird way and Adam Warlock was the antagonist of the story, keeping Thanos from what he most desired–is it clear that I loved this story and have read and thought about it WAAAAY too much over the last 25 years?).

A Title Character Adam Warlock with the Infinity Watch keyword and some sort of Soul Stone Title Character ability would absolutely make my day!

Uatu

4. Updated Colossal Watcher!!

We haven’t gotten a Watcher since Galactic Guardians and this is the perfect time for an update!

I really liked the way the GG version played, which could fill different roles on your team for different point costs. Really, if they just updated the sculpt and Uatu’s stats, they could pretty much just release the last dial they made for him!

Infinity Gems.jpg

3. Infinity Gems!!

Look, we just got Equipment in Thor, and since then, virtually nothing. Give us some Infinity Gem Equipment inserts!!

This is almost too obvious of an idea for Wizkids to actually execute, but I would love to see it.

Who wouldn’t want to outfit their team of choice with the six Infinity Gems?

Oh, speaking of that…

Infinity Watch.jpg

2. Full Roster of the Infinity Watch!!

See that guy in the lower right corner? 12-year-old me remembers his name–Maxam! And for a time, he was an official member of the Infinity Watch–and he remains un-Clixed!

We know we’ll be getting some Infinity Watch pieces in this set, so it’s time for Wizkids to give us the WHOLE team! So yeah, we want Maxam, for sure, but the Galactic Guardians pieces haven’t aged well at all, so go ahead and give us updated versions of the entire team!

(For the record, that’d be Adam Warlock, Thanos, Drax, Maxam, Pip the Troll, Gamora and Moondragon.)

Galactus

1. Some form of Galactus!!

Yeah, he’s also tied up with the FF license Disney is trying to get back, but we’ve gotten a Zombie Galactus in the last few years, so he’s always a possiblity. But the unique nature of this set would allow them to give us a Modern Galactus that could be pulled right from a normal booster, something that’s never happened with a Galactus piece!

Okay, that’s my list! What’s on yours? Let me know in the Comments below!

The Ghost of Irresponsible Speculation Is Back With a Look at Modern Marvel/DC stories That Would Make Great Heroclix Sets!! (Or, The Ninth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

December 22, 2017December 21, 2017 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! On Night Four, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!! Then, the Ghost of Christmas Future gifted us some Irresponsible Speculation about IndyClix!! Later, the Ghost of Christmas Future came back and talked about licensed properties that would make great Clix sets! Then the Ghost of Christmas Present gave us a presentation of the Top Eleven most valuable Heroclix released this year! Finally, yesterday, the Ghost of Christmas Future published an editorial on the putrid state of Marvel’s publishing division and why that makes IndyClix sets even more important to Wizkids!]

Justice League: Trinity War showed how one plot line from the comics can form the backbone of a regular set release, not just Storyline OP’s.

Welcome to Night Nine of The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, our annual event where our little operation here tries to churn out fresh content for twelve straight nights!

After yesterday’s semi-editorial about the woeful state of Marvel publishing, I thought today would be a great day to look at three recent (read: published in the last five years) Marvel or DC stories that would form the basis for great Heroclix sets (or even just great sets in general)!

So without further ado, let’s dive right in!

1. DARK KNIGHT: METAL:

From the last five years?! How about a story that’s ONGOING RIGHT NOW! Now, Wizkids might have to make a slight title change for marketing purposes–maybe something like “Batman: Metal” or “Justice League: Metal,” although it’s not impossible that they’d be just fine with the name as is.

But this set would allow Wizkids to give us:

–All new versions of the Justice League;

–Cool, creepy generics like Jokerized Robins; more Court of Owls pieces;

–Alternate Earth versions of DC heroes and villains;

–Primes:

Common Prime: Jokerized Damien Wayne;

Uncommon Prime: Joker of Earth-22;

Rare Prime: The Superman of Earth-1 (renegade Superman who the Batman of that world killed by becoming the Devastator);

Super Rare Prime: Nightmaster;

–Chases:

The Dark Knights (The Red Death, The Devastator, The Drowned, The Dawnbreaker, The Merciless, The Murder Machine, The Batman Who Laughs) and Barbatos.

I think a set like this would have DC Heroclix fans really excited, and it would synergize well with this year’s Elseworlds and Harley Quinn sets!

2. TIME RUNS OUT:

This was the lead up to Secret Wars, but that encompasses like two or three years worth of comics!

–You’d have entire teams of alternate Earth Avengers you could draw from;

–Strange, never before seen POWERFUL generics like the Black Priests;

–Ultra powerful Chases like Doctor Strange as the leader of the Black Priests; a new Black Swan piece; Thanos leading the Cabal; and Doctor Doom as Rabum Alal.

All of which would lead us into…

3. SECRET WARS (2015):

This could even be a Storyline OP, right?

But we would get:

–The members of the 616 life rafts;

–The long awaited return of the Fantastic Four, although not quite as we remembered them;

–Any number of alternate versions of all of the Marvel Heroes and Villains–you could cherry pick from your favorite tie-in Battleworld series;

–A Colossal Thing as “The Wall!”

–More Thanos!

–A Chase Molecule Man, Chase Black Panther (with Infinity Gauntlet), or even…

–An Ultra-Chase God-Emperor Doom!!

So yeah, there are still plenty of other great stories from Marvel and DC out there for Heroclix to adapt!

Which ones would you like to see?

Sound off in the comments below!

Why IndyClix Matter!! (Or, The Ghost of Christmas Future Is Back With an Editorial!!) (Or OR The Eighth Night of Clix-Mas 2017!!)

December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Clix-Mas 2017, wherein we here at Critical Missives rather foolishly try to provide you with twelve different articles in twelve days, all brought to you by either the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, or the Ghost of Christmas Future! If you need to catch up with our intro to all of this, the first Night of Clix-Mas 2017 can be found right here! And we announced a new Holiday Scenario for our local venue on Night Two! And the Ghost of Christmas Past named a few of his favorite things from the past Clix year right here! On Night Four, the Ghost of Christmas Present left us his Top Ten Figures from Star Trek: Away Team!! Then, the Ghost of Christmas Future gifted us some Irresponsible Speculation about IndyClix!! Later, the Ghost of Christmas Future came back and talked about licensed properties that would make great Clix sets! And finally, the Ghost of Christmas Present gave us a presentation of the Top Eleven most valuable Heroclix released this year!]

And so we’ve made it to Night Eight, which means we’re two-thirds of the way through The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, 2017!!

So tonight at my local venue we were playing the Holiday Havoc Scenario (from Night Two) and in between rounds I was talking to one of our regular players about Marvel comics. It turns out that neither of us had read much from Marvel in the last two years (for me, nothing really since Secret Wars, which was, what, like 2015?). And the more people I asked, the more I got the same(ish) answer.

Now, I don’t want to get into any of the corporate politics at Marvel or why their books have pretty much gone off the rails in terms of sales–there are plenty of other outlets that have been covering Marvel’s ongoing publishing death spiral (and whether the recent ascendance of new Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski will turn things around) for the better part of a year.

Actual internal sales document from Marvel…

What I’m more interested in is the effect this fallow period might have on Heroclix. It’s tough to make a game based on a comic book license if the comics themselves have no following. And when you consider that Marvel sets make up the bulk of the Heroclix product line, this has the potential to become a huge issue.

Hell, Wizkids almost went out of their way this past year to create Marvel sets that had nothing to do with current or even rectent storylines in the comics. Let’s look at the Marvel set releases (minus the MCU sets which, obviously, were based on movies and not comics):

Deadpool and X-Force: Okay, this took from both old and somewhat recent Deadpool comics. Fair enough.

Avengers/Defenders War: Uhhhh… what? This story was decades old. And the main Sub-Theme, Marvel Knights, primarily–yet unofficially–revolved around all of the Marvel Netflix heroes.

What If… ?: Again, an older series about alternate versions of superheroes that I don’t think has been published by Marvel in years. There were a few newer figs (like the Young Avenger versions of the Runaways), but not many.

The Mighty Thor: Among all the classic Thor stuff, I think there were maybe five or six pieces pulled from the last three years worth of stories, like Jane Foster Thor, Angela Prime and Colossal Ms. Marvel, among others. Out of more than seventy pieces!

So what does all this have to do with Indy Clix? Well… I think this is part of the reason why Wizkids has been pursuing other licenses like TMNT and Star Trek. Furthermore, I think it’s at least part of the reason why those sets are all Modern Legal, where previous Indy sets like Kick-Ass 2 or Pacific Rim or Iron Maiden were not.

Could we ever get to a point where Wizkids is releasing mostly MCU, DC and Indy sets in a calendar year?

Heck, the fact that Star Trek: Away Team was a 5-figure booster set instead of a Gravity Feed was almost shocking! Could this have been a stealthy “proof of concept” for Wizkids to show that the game could survive without the need for strong Marvel-publishing-based sets?

Well… no. I think that’s all just conjecture that I made up literally while I was typing the last couple paragraphs.

But! I think Marvel’s sales numbers HAVE to be concerning to Wizkids. I think they welcome the fact that Infinity War is coming out next year and that they have a chance to again revisit some old cosmic Marvel stories from the 90’s as a result!

So that’s all I have for today. But I don’t want to be all doom and gloom–tomorrow we’ll look at a few Marvel and DC stories from the last 5 years that could be adapted into great Heroclix sets!

The Ghost of Christmas Future Is Back for More Irresponsible Speculation!! (Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas 2017!!)

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 / HypeFox / 2 Comments

Welcome back! It’s Night Six of The Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas, and we’re continuing yesterday’s Irresponsible Speculation by pondering which non-Marvel, non-DC licensed properties out there would make a great Heroclix expansion!

As always, we’ll start with the obvious…

Image Credit: geekgirl137 (@byntp137)

TRANSFORMERS:

Why It’d Work:

Giant robots in disguise? Hell yeah!

A Heroclix set based on the 80’s cartoon and toy line would kick serious butt. It would also tick all the boxes on the unofficial “Heroclix Licensed Property Checklist.”

–Property with large awareness and appeal to target audience;

–Long roster of BOTH heroes and villains from which to pull figures from;

–Plenty of characters with powers/abilities that would be easily adapted to the Heroclix format;

In fact, this is such a no-brainer THAT IT’S ALREADY BEEN DONE... sort of!

An amateur creator going by the handle “geekgirl137” actually created a whole Transformers Heroclix set and sent two bricks of it to the folks at HyperRPG’s “Indomitable” show! Check it out!

Will We Ever See It?

I’m inclined to say no, for three reasons.

First, I have no idea how much the Transformers license would be, but I’m guessing it might cost more than some of the other licensed properties out there. Also, part of the core business of Transformers is selling action figures, which isn’t in the same category as Heroclix, but isn’t that different at the end of the day.

Also, from a design standpoint, virtually every piece in the set would have the Robot keyword, which could technically lead to Themed Teams of figures that have no business being Themed together.

Finally, these characters are, for the most part, giant robots. Dramatizing that as an actual 3D sculpt that doesn’t look ridiculous next to normal Marvel and DC Clix yet still fits in a Gravity Feed or five figure Booster Pack is definitely going to be a logistical challenge.

G.I. Joe:

Why It’d Work:

The G.I. Joe universe is practically as close as one can get to Marvel or DC without actually being them. Plenty of great, colorful heroes and villains to bring into Heroclix, all with distinct abilities (read: power sets), iconic costumes and cool codenames. Duke, Flint, Gung Ho, Snake Eyes, Quick Kick, Scarlet, The Baroness, Destro, Cobra Commander… this set practically designs itself!

Will We Ever See It?

Look, we’ve gotten the Turtles already. One could argue that this would be the next logical step! While I doubt there’s anything in the works, I could definitely see this happening at some point.

STRANGER THINGS:

Why It’d Work:

Because it’s a hot, modern property!

Stranger Things doesn’t have the breadth of content that the previous two entries on this list have, but it certainly has enough to fill out, say, an 18 piece Gravity Feed set and a Starter.

If nothing else, this set would give us a great Map or two!

Will We Ever See It?

This would be really out of the box thinking. The folks in charge of Stranger Things have been licensing the bejeezus out of the property recently, but I don’t think this would interest Wizkids. Usually, when we see an unexpected property adapted in Heroclix, it’s a film (Kick-Ass 2, Pacific Rim), not a television series. Star Trek: Away Team is kind of an outlier in this regard.

Agree? Disagree? What properties would YOU like to see adapted by Wizkids? And would you like to see an expanded version of this article at a future date? Sound off in the comments below.

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more Clix-Mas goodness!!

The Ghost of Christmas Future is Back With Some Irresponsible Indy Speculation!! (Or, The Fifth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

So we’re always talking about what we’d like to see Wizkids do with their Marvel or DC licenses, but we never talk about the independent stuff they put out, and where we’d like to see them take those properties.

Well, not anymore! Today is all about what we want to see coming down the pike from Wizkids and their non-Marvel, non-DC releases!

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:

What We Want:

TMNT: The Movies Clix!!

This one is easy. They’ve almost done everything they can with the animated Turtles Clix, and I’m honestly not sure there’s a ton more to be mined from the comics, either.

But they could, like, TOTALLY squeeze two or three sets from the live-action Turtles movies! Who doesn’t want a vintage Vanilla Ice piece with some sort of “Ninja Rap” Damage Special, or a Megan Fox as April O’Neil figure (it would at least have to be better than her Megan Fox as Lilah from Jonah Hex piece, right?)?

Chances We’ll Actually Get It:

Honestly? Probably not good. From what I understand, this might be a bit of a licensing nightmare. It would be a license of several 20-25 year old properties that were themselves licensed products that were capitalizing on the success of an animated series that was itself licensed from an independent comicandnowmybrainhurts!!

Still, stranger things have happened…

STAR TREK:

What We Want:

Everyone wants original cast movie Clix or TNG clix. That would be fine with me. But I’d love a set that’s focused on all of the “Mirror Universe” characters that have floated in and out of Trek’s continuity!

Whether that means a whole set of Alternate Reality pieces (sort of a Star Trek version of the What If… ? or Elseworlds sets we just got) from throughout Trek’s history, or just a DS9 set with a “Mirror” Sub-Theme, those are the pieces that would have me reserving a Brick at my FLGS.

Chances We’ll Actually Get It:

It’s not impossible, but it’s probably years away. If Star Trek: Away Team sells well, we’ll probably see two or three more sets focused on the Original Cast and the TNG folks before they’d really consider making any DS9 characters (and with them, the DS9 “Mirror” characters).

Still, the fact that the Mirror folks have their own Team Ability is a good sign…

Heroclix UNDEAD (aka HORRORCLIX):

What We Want:

Undead was fun, but I want to see the full return of the Horrorclix brand!! I actually think they had the right idea when they started of mixing original properties with specially curated licensed releases, all under the Horroclix name.

Imagine a Horrorclix Buffy set, all designed with modern rules in mind, all Modern Age tournament legal. Or a re-release of a Colossal Cthulu, followed by Gravity Feed set of more Dead Presidents (like Zombie Lincoln).

This would be a great way for Wizkids to hit up popular licensed properties without having to commit to more than one or two sets at a time!

The possibilities are endless!

Chances We’ll Actually Get It:

Pretty dubious. I think Wizkids has become much more cautious when it comes to licensing other properties for Heroclix (which, by the way, isn’t necessarily a bad thing). That said, the idea of, say, going to Target to buy an Alien Queen sort of Raid Scenario for two or more players sounds like a lot of fun to me. But first we need to see if we’ll even be getting more Undead pieces!

Okay, that’s all for now folks! Come back and see us tomorrow, when we’ll talk about what properties Wizkids has never Clix’d but should seriously consider. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

But THIS… Does Put A Smile On My Face!! (Or, Let’s Talk About the Infinity War Trailer!!)

November 30, 2017 / HypeFox / 4 Comments

[EDITOR’S NOTE: We don’t do many trailer reactions on this site, primarily because we’re mostly about gaming in general, and Heroclix specifically. Also, while some folks manage to publish genuinely entertaining reaction videos on YouTube (The Ecomog #StruggleNation guys and Emergency Awesome are some of my personal faves), most are just schlubby guys staring slightly below the camera while shouting “Wow!” and “Oh S—!!” over and over again.

But while we are assembling our Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls Top Ten (I’ve heard some people call it “Joker’s Wild” with funner Primes and Chases, but really–no, wait, that’s pretty much it), I thought I’d break from tradition and embark on a little story time about why I wanted to talk about this particular trailer, what exactly seems to be going on with the movie’s story, and maybe even why the Colossal Thanos on the Throne of Death is the default masthead for this blog!

So, without further ado… on with the show!]

Marvel finally dropped a trailer for Infinity War today. This is the movie I’ve been waiting for ever since I was a little kid, and one that I never thought I’d ever get in my lifetime.

I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life. Grew up just outside of Detroit. For most of my childhood my family would drive up to Lexington, Michigan at least once during every summer month (after school had let out). Lexington was about 90 minutes away from Detroit, and my grandparents had a small cottage there near Lake Huron.

Now Lexington was (and pretty much still is) the epitome of a small, Midwestern town. It had a Main Street, a few restaurants, a General Store (where, after much petulant badgering, my grandmother would break down and buy me DuckTales stickers and baseball cards) and an indoor bazaar/flea market that, at least in my memory, was always filled to the brim with dusty, undiscovered treasures.

My father was never one to pass up a garage sale or a flea market, so whenever he would head into town, my brother and I always got up early to go with him, particularly because every time we went to that indoor market, someone would be selling… comic books.

In 1992, I was 11 years old, and while I had a general idea who Batman, Superman and Spider-Man were, I was really just discovering the broader range of comic book characters that were out there. That was also the time in my life when I had started earning my own money through delivering newspapers and mowing lawns, so it was not uncommon for me to hit the comic stands with $5, $10 or sometimes even $20 (for our younger readers, you’ll have to trust me–this seemed like a small FORTUNE to 11-year-old me!).

Now I always had to examine the covers of all the comics that were for sale, and my gosh, if I saw a cover advertising a guest appearance by another hero, well, that comic was probably going home with me (I mean, what’s better than getting TWO heroes for the price of one comic?!).

I think I still have this issue in my basement somewhere. It came out the same month as Infinity War #1, I think. And it had Daredevil AND Spider-Man!! 11-year-old me was most impressed.

Well, later on in the Summer of 1992, I saw this:

A double-sized comic that pretty much had ALL the heroes in the MCU. This blew my mind! I eagerly devoured all six issues of Infinity War; then, the following year, I did it all over again with the sequel, Infinity Crusade.

When I got a little older and I could drive myself to the local comic shop on Wednesdays after high school, I was able to track down bits and pieces of Thanos Quest and Infinity Gauntlet (but, frustratingly, never the whole thing–finding those issues, or even a TPB, became sort of my white whale. Especially because this was before eBay and Amazon).

But the ending of Infinity Gauntlet, where Adam Warlock had to sacrifice his peaceful afterlife in the Soul Gem to literally take on the responsibility of the entire universe while Thanos lost universal omnipotence but gained a mantle of inner peace stuck with me.

I can still quote the last line of Infinity Gauntlet decades later. “Somehow I feel that, in the long run, Thanos of Titan came out ahead in this particular deal.”

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Starlin does not get nearly enough credit for all the concepts and characters he introduced into the Marvel Universe. He has had a brilliant career, but he’s never mentioned in the same conversations as his contemporaries like Alan Moore and Frank Miller. Watchmen and DKR are brilliant, but Starlin did something arguably harder; he told an all-time great story that took place IN CONTINUITY. This is incredibly difficult to do. How many crossovers have come anywhere close to Infinity Gauntlet’s brilliance? Very few… And while we’re at it, when it comes to drawing Thanos, there’s Ron Lim, and then there’s everyone else. Period.]

It was such a powerful ending; I finally realized that sometimes the good guys don’t completely win, and sometimes the bad guys aren’t gonna get punished. And yet, from there, Thanos develops from a villain into more of an anti-hero who is eventually entrusted with the Reality Gem and actually helps save the universe during future Infinity catastrophes (and Keith Giffen even wrote a marvelously fun and complex Thanos 12-issue series back in 2003-2004 that continued this redemption arc in unexpected ways).

Fast forward to 2012. I can’t believe that Marvel movies that don’t have Spider-Man or an ‘X’ in the title are actually succeeding at the box office. My childhood is coming to life before my eyes. “Avengers” hits and its everything everyone wants it to be. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and nothing like it has ever been attempted at the level on which “Avengers” was executed. It’s a gigantic hit.

Also that year, I met a girl. My third date with her also happened to be my birthday. “Avengers” was our first date, and she’d been madly interrogating my friends in order to figure out what she should get me. Then, in front of a bunch of my family members who she’d only just met that night, my girlfriend handed me a gift bag. This is what was inside:

We were married in 2015.

Coincidentally, that was also an “Avengers” year.

I relate all this so that you know that when I hit “Play” on YouTube this morning to watch the “Avengers: Infinity War” trailer, I wasn’t just carrying 10 years of MCU movies with me; I was sitting there with memories of some of the happiest times in my life swimming around my head, waiting with giddy anticipation.

So you can probably guess that I liked it.

It could have been two minutes of a static, black screen and I would have called it “boldly understated” or something. But it wasn’t two minutes of a black screen. It was colorful; vibrant; thrilling; scary; nostalgic; bold; smart; new and surprising and familiar, all at the same time.

In two minutes and twenty-four seconds, this trailer brought together virtually every dangling thread from every Marvel movie in history. Somehow the writers have seamlessly blended the storylines of “Infinity Gauntlet” and “Infinity” (the talented Jonathan Hickman’s magnum opus from 2013) not only with each other but also woven them into the altogether different continuity of the MCU. This is such a complicated structural endeavor that it boggles the mind anyone would even attempt such a thing.

And that’s before you remember that Marvel can’t use the Fantastic Four, Galactus or the Silver Surfer (my God, Surfer was probably the fourth or fifth most important character IN Infinity Gauntlet!!) and that they are CHOOSING not to use Adam Warlock until the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie (or, at least, we assume this to be so).

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I feel like this hasn’t been discussed enough. Again, to make this clear… ADAM WARLOCK IS THE #$&^#(! PROTAGONIST OF INFINITY GAUNTLET!! This would be like a producer going up to Peter Jackson in 1997 and saying, “Look, we’re gonna give you a green light on this Lord of the Rings thing, but only if you lose those weird Hobbit characters. Especially that Frodo guy.“]

This should be an impossible task. But then you watch the trailer, and Black Panther says “Get this man a shield!” and Cap steps out of the shadows to help defend Wakanda against an Outrider invasion, and I’m about frothing at the mouth to find out the earliest date I can pre-order tickets for this movie.

It’s like Kevin Feige and the screenwriters had a workaround for everything.

WRITERS: “Uh, Infinity Gauntlet basically starts with Silver Surfer rushing to warn Earth after a run-in with Thanos and crashing into the Sanctum Sanctorum.

FEIGE: “And?”

WRITERS: “Annnd… we can’t use Silver Surfer.”

FEIGE: “Great. So, now the Hulk will be the one to crash into the Sanctum.”

WRITERS: “Uh… he’s not even in space.”

FEIGE: “He will be.”

Kevin Feige is an absolute stone cold gangster. I’m convinced of this. He saw the possibility for this whole cinematic universe when all anyone else saw was B- and C-list characters with no film potential at all. That’s what I love most about the MCU. Feige and his team just plow ahead.

–Don’t have the rights to Spider-Man or the X-Men? Guess what. We’re focusing exclusively on the Avengers. And we’re gonna do that so well that Sony will be begging us to take over Spidey from them.

–Natalie Portman doesn’t want to come back for Thor 3? Great. We’re not gonna set it on Earth anyway. We’re gonna get Tessa Thompson to play a Valkyrie and it’s going to get the best reviews of any of the Thor movies. Bye Felicia.

–Our original stars are now ten years older and want gobs of money? Great. We’re gonna give it to them for now, but we’re also going to create the next generation of heroes on screen to eventually replace them. And the audience is going to f-ing love every minute of it.

I’m amazed at how many times Marvel has reinvented what a “superhero movie” can be.

For all the reasons I just described, I loved, loved LOVED this trailer, and I can’t wait to take my wife to go and see it in a theater.

Look, I haven’t even really touched on the story of “Infinity” and how it relates to this production, but this probably isn’t going to be the last time I talk about this trailer or this movie, either. But I think I’ll leave it right here for now.

Excelsior.

Coming Up Next-er!! (Or, A Look at the Rest of Your Year!! Part 2: Wonder Woman, HorrorClix, ATA Rotations and More!!)

March 26, 2017 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: So, Preview Week was blown out by what was pretty much Southeastern Michigan’s worst windstorm in, well, a long time. I mean, we’ve had tornadoes come through and do less structural damage. It was insane. But, that said, we are trying again this week with a look at what’s coming up for Heroclix fans for the rest of the year. In Part 1, we took a look at the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 set.]

Welcome back!

We’re gonna cover a few upcoming Gravity Feed releases in about half the space as yesterday’s look at the new GotG Vol. 2 set, and for good reason.

We know next to nothing about either of them.

WONDER WOMAN:

What We Know:

Precious little. This SHOULD release in May of this year, although no exact date has been selected. It’s meant to coincide with Wonder Woman’s 75th Anniversary, and will probably be comic-based.

Unless it isn’t. In which case it may or may not be based on the movie that comes out on June 2nd.

We do know that the set is expected to have 16 total figures split between a Mass Market (Target) version and a Core Hobby (Comic Shop) edition, with 8 Commons across both and 4 exclusive Rare figures for each.

That’s about it for what we know.

What We Think We Know:

Uh… it revolves around Wonder Woman? Oh, and unlike Guardians, there probably won’t be any Chases.

It is actually astounding how LITTLE we know of this set, considering how imminent its release is. Some have said it’s actually going to vaguely tie in with the Wonder Woman movie. Some think it will revolve around a specific classic Wonder Woman story.

What We’re Guessing:

While either is possible, it seems at this point more likely that it will be a sort of “greatest hits” of characters from Wonder Woman’s 75-year history.

But we’ll have to wait til May to find out.

~~HOLLYWOOD~~ HEROCLIX: UNDEAD:

What We Know:

In June, it’s the return of HorrorClix… kind of!! 19 new figures in a Gravity Feed, running the horror gamut from generic ghosts, werewolves and demons to specific public domain scary folk like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The figure breakdown is 9 Commons, 8 Rares and 2 Chases.

What We Don’t Know:

There’s one main thing we don’t know for sure about this set: Will it be Modern Age? That’s the major question remaining about this set. If it is, I’d expect sales to be fairly steady. If not, this will end up on the same scrap heap as Kick-Ass 2.

What We’re Guessing:

I can’t imagine Wizkids releasing a non-Modern Age Gravity right in the middle of their 15th Anniversary summer, so I’m gonna guess that this will be Modern Age AND Modern Age relevant. Don’t sleep on the Undead!

Finally, let’s talk about the 2017 Rotations!

In addition to the all the sets rotating, Wizkids is dumping the ATA mechanic. As of June, all ATA’s will be Golden Age, and there are no plans to ever create more.

Or will there be?

Even though ATA’s as a mechanic are technically going away, to be honest, it feels more like they’re morphing.

As we’ve seen in the most recent Deadpool set, Wizkids is essentially keeping ATA’s around as static Traits that are common to a large portion of figures with a certain keyword (for example, many of the new X-Force pieces in Deadpool & X-Force have a Trait simply called “X-Force” that grants Stealth; Age of Ultron featured several characters with the “Mighty Avengers” Trait; etc.).

While I kind of like this idea, I want to see them take this mechanic even further, or even require Theme to activate, which would give greater incentive to play Themed Teams.

For example, an ATA Trait could read something like this:

“Themed Team–X-Force: If Cable is part of an X-Force Themed Team, he can use Stealth.”

Or you could even keep X-Force the way it is, but use Themed Teams to boost certain individual members, like so:

“Themed Team–X-Force: Cable can use Stealth. If he is part of an X-Force Themed Team, he can use also use Leadership, but he can only use it to remove tokens from characters with the X-Force keyword.” And so on.

So what do you guys think? Are you excited for Wonder Woman or Undead? What do you think about the (supposed) end of ATA’s?

Sound off in the Comments below! And keep an eye on this space for the next Preview article, the Deadpool & X-Force Top Ten AND the scenario for Month 3 of Heroclix: The Gathering!!

Welcome to Preview Week, Part 2!!

March 3, 2017 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to our first ever Preview Week, which is devoted to–you guessed it–Previews!! With Deadpool and X-Force dropping in one week, we’re gonna devote the next five days to taking a look at what’s gonna be coming our way this year–from DXF and beyond! Part 1 dropped two days ago and can be found here.]

Today we take a look at some of the interesting Rares and ~~Super Rares~~ from DXF!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: There’s just so much to talk about with the Rares that we’re gonna save Super Rares and Primes for tomorrow, followed by Chases and beyond in Part 4!]

Without further ado…

RARES:

DXF034A-C Deadpool — 75 Points — Rare: Wow–Deadpool in an ultra-supporty role? Whaa… ? Yup–it’s true. All three versions of this “Shifting Focus” sculpt have the same powers. They only differ in their main named Keyword and which Keyword their powers affect.

But they will all give you 4 Range, 3 Damage top dial, Phasing/Teleport, a limited Prob, a limited DOUBLE PERPLEX and Defend. And yes, you can shift to him AFTER making a ranged or close attack with some of his more offensive versions, then use his double Perp and Prob on his teammates. Awesomesauce.

DXF035 Howard the Duck — 50 Points — Rare: Look, everyone loves Howard the Duck, but there’s just not a ton to work with here. Sidestep, Stealth, minimal Damage Output and a Special Damage Power (We Can Do This the Wrong Way, or My Way!: At the beginning of your turn, choose a standard power that an adjacent friendly character can use. Until your next turn, all characters within 6 squares and line of fire of Howard the Duck can’t use the chosen power.) that might hurt you as much as it hurts your opponent, especially since ONE OF YOUR CHARACTERS HAS TO ALREADY HAVE THE POWER YOU WANT TO DISALLOW!!

He picks up a decent Incapacitate Special in the middle of his dial (Fowl-Mouthed!: Howard the Duck can use Incapacitate. When he does, he may target all adjacent opposing characters.), but it’s not enough to save this piece.

DXF039 Squirrel Girl — 85 Points — Rare: A close combat machine who is also a token generator, Squirrel Girl becomes more of a problem for your opponent as the game goes on.

With her first Trait (Chuk Chitty Chit Chit Chkk!: Give Squirrel Girl a free action when she has one action token and place a Squirrel bystander adjacent.), she can generate her own tie-up supporting figs and her third Trait (Fighting Squirrel Man!: Give Squirrel Girl a free action if there are 6 Squirrel bystanders on the map. Replace them with a Squirrel Man bystander in one of their squares.) lets her bring in what is essentially another Secondary Attacker (Squirrel Man).

DXF042 Boom-Boom — 60 Points — Rare: Running Shot mixed with an absolutely AWESOME Attack Special (3,2,1… Boom!: Boom-Boom can use Energy Explosion and Penetrating/Psychic Blast. When she makes a range attack and has no action tokens, modify her attack and damage values by +1.) makes Boom-Boom an extremely efficient Secondary Attacker.

DXF044 Shatterstar — 60 Points — Rare: Basically the close combat version of the Boom-Boom I just mentioned. He has Traited Sidestep and Toughness, and his Attack Special (Twin Blades: Shatterstar can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. When he does, once per turn he may reroll the d6.) lets him essentially Prob his Blades roll.

I would definitely say there’s some dark horse Meta potential with both Boom-Boom and Shatterstar as they’re both Secondary Attackers for Tertiary Attacker prices.

DXF046 Doop — 90 or 35 Points — Rare: I just played him at his 35 Point level at a Sealed last night and he was great. His Trait is long and wordy:

The Unimaginable Power of Doop: Give Doop a power action. Roll a d6 that can only be rerolled once per turn by removing a Headline token from him.
1-2 Moving Between Panels: Place Doop and all adjacent characters into any square adjacent to themselves.
3-4 Doop Space: All characters within 4 squares are placed adjacent to Doop.
5 Gleaming The Cosmic Cube: Choose a friendly character and it can use the Power Cosmic team ability until your next turn.
6 Hailstorm of Mjolnirs: Doop makes a range attack with a range value of 10 and Targeting: OO>. Instead of normal damage, each hit character and each character adjacent to 1 or more hit characters is dealt 3 damage.

And it’s totally usable at either point level. At 35 Points, he still comes with Sidestep, Invincible and Prob, which makes him nearly indispensable in a Sealed environment. In the Meta, I still prefer Spectre on his Tower Click for the same 35 Points, but it’s close, and Doop doesn’t break Theme on X-Force or X-Statix Builds.

The Con Exclusive is still better, but the more I play this Doop, the more useful he becomes.

Okay! That’s all our time for today, but keep watching this space for some standout Super Rares, Primes, Chases and more as we Preview the Deadpool & X-Force set–and beyond during Preview Week!

And finally, I want to once again give special thanks to Wizkids, Scott Porter, all the eagle-eyed folks in the HCRealms.com community (especially Jaysol for putting everything there together), the good people at Married With Clix and everyone else who’s helped spoil this set. This article wouldn’t have been possible without all of their hard work.

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