“Ummm… what’s the twist? The one African American dude? Wait, is this album cover inadvertently racist?”
Welcome Back!
A couple months ago, we evaluated all the Modern Age Chase-level rarity pieces and chose what we thought were the Top Ten, then came up with armies that included each figure as an example of what you could do with them. It was a fun exercise that allowed us to publish numerous pictures of Ninwashui as a drunk kitty, but it was also immediately invalidated within a week of its publication by the release of the War of Light Wave 1 spoilers and the coming of the Entities (Chase figures that basically act like resources without actually BEING a resource–sorry M10 Iron Man!).
Well, now that we’re on the cusp of Month 3 of War of Light, we finally have the spoiled dials for the second wave of Entities (so called because they all share the named “Entity” keyword), and we can actually evaluate each Entity against its peers! We’re not doing armies today, just because this article would easily top 6000 words if we did. Also, Ninwashui is now a drunk raccoon, so I have to dig up all new photos. Next time, I promise.
“This’ll be published in 3D, right? Otherwise we’re all just gonna look silly!”
A couple final notes before we get started:
–The Chases are extremely rare (seems to be roughly 2 Chases for every 3 Bricks of War of Light) which has only caused their value to skyrocket–most will run you $100 or more (as of this writing, that is). With Month 3 about to start at many venues, the Wave 2 boosters will be arriving this month–and with them, 5 new Entities (4 Chases and 1 Super Rare–more on that in a little bit though).
–What makes these figures so valuable is their shared Trait (ENTITY POSSESSION: When Proselyte would be KO’d or, if you pay 25 points when building your force, place Proselyte on another friendly character’s card if that character is 25 points or more, has the “fist” or “sharpshooter” symbol, the “shield” or “indomitable” symbol, and the “tiny” or “burst” symbol. That character has [Insert Entity’s name here]‘s keywords and can use the Possessed ability with this character as the Possessor. When that character is KO’d, Proselyte is removed from the game.).
That’s a lot of words, but I bolded the relevant points. What is the Possessed ability? Why, I have it right here (POSSESSED: Click the Possessor’s dial to the same click number as this character and change it during the game in the same way that this character’s dial changes. At the beginning of each of your turns or after this character takes or is healed of damage and actions resolve, you may choose 1 power showing on one Possessor’s dial and 1 combat value on one Possessor’s dial higher than this character’s printed combat value. This character can use that power and modifies that combat value by +1 until your next turn or until it is healed or takes damage. If the Possessor is turned to a KO click, it is removed from the game immediately.)!
Essentially what this means is that you can take virtually any substantial figure in the game (as long as it’s at least 25 points and, like, not a Duo, Giant or Colossal) and give them limited access each turn to a very powerful Entity dial–and this is in addition to any resources you might be playing. This can make even 2 or 3 star figures ridiculously good very quickly.
–Each Entity can be fielded as a figure on its own, but most are pretty middling when played normally. The cheapest is 150 (Entity). The most expensive is 250 (Parallax–which makes sense, given all the trouble he’s caused in the comics). Black Hand (expensive, but his dial is long and effective, and he has Running Shot–not all Entities have a top dial move-and-attack), Ophidian (at least starts with some Sidestep, decent Range, and his top dial Outwit Special is just about the best version of Outwit in Modern Age right now), Entity (because he’s cheap-ish) and Predator (10 Range 2 Bolt Energy Explosion; 18 with ES/D if your opponent wants to retaliate) are all, at the very least, INTERESTING if you’re looking to play an Entity normally. The rest are a tougher sell.
Ion’s Trait (I AM ION, INCARNATION OF THE CORPS: Characters using the Possessed ability while Ion is the Possessor may choose to modify 2 combat values from Ion instead of 1 and may use 2 powers from Ion instead of 1.) straight up tells you, “You’re an idiot if you don’t play Ion as a Possessor,” right there on his card. Parallax is solid from his second click on, but he costs 250 points–the same as Parallax Hal Jordan (which clearly means that there should be a 0-point Hal Jordan out there somewhere that I can play…), who’s easier to build an effective team around. Butcher is a great close combat piece; unfortunately he doesn’t get Quintessence until halfway down his dial, so a team that uses him as the focal point might get out-actioned pretty quickly–and that’s if he doesn’t get lit up on his approach, which is very possible considering he doesn’t really have any native attack avoidance (Stealth, Super Senses, Shape Change, etc.). Adara doesn’t have enough offense to justify being your main piece. And I’m sorry, but you’re not building a 300 point team around Proselyte. You’re just not.
For these reasons, we’re strictly going to be evaluating the Entity’s based on the usefulness while using the ENTITY POSSESSION power.
–Nekron IS an Entity–but he doesn’t have the Possession Trait (well, on one of his dials he can kinda sorta Possess himself–not at the table, Carlos!–by allowing himself access to the powers on his other dials). Therefore, we’ll not be discussing him here today, although I’m sure his time will come! Alrighty!
–As always, figures will be rated on a scale of 1-5 Oxygen Filtration Masks. Why Oxygen Filtration Masks? Because it worked so well for our Guardians of the Galaxy Movie set review, that’s why! But having said that, ALL the Entities are pretty damn good relative to other pieces. But, as stated before, we’re measuring the best of the best here, so those are some pretty high standards!
Okay! I think we’re done with the preliminaries. Here, then, is:
Straight, With CHASEr 2: Electric Bugaloo!! Evaluating Legal Entities!!
“If there’s one thing in this universe that just personifies ‘compassion,’ it’s gotta be an ethereal mass of pulsing purple tentacles!”
9. WOL064P Proselyte – Indigo Tribe Entity: You’re playing War of Light with Wave 2 boosters, you’ve never pulled an Entity before, and you’re just praying to all that’s holy that today is your lucky day. You pop open your first booster, pull it out, and discover that you’ve just gotten Proselyte. The good news? You now have an Entity! The bad news? You’ve got the worst one!
The biggest thing Proselyte gives you top dial is Perplex. Not a “only to increase combat values” type of Perplex but an honest to goodness actual Perplex. Outside of War of Light Sealed play, though, Perplex is, frankly, one of the easiest top dial abilities to give a character. For 5 more points, you can play a complete Book of the Skull (which starts out giving one of your Hammer wielders Perplex) or a complete Power Plant (which may not grant Perplex specifically, but is still a damn good resource and grants a ton of powers on its own!). Comparing Entities to Resources isn’t exactly a 1 t0 1 comparison, but if I’m investing 25 points to boost one of my figures, I want a little more than just access to Perplex and +1 Damage (the usefulness of the stat modifiers depends so heavily on which figure you’re Possessing, but frankly, all of Proselyte’s starting stats suck except for Damage and Movement. Even its Range–just a 5–is really poor).
If you don’t want Perplex, your other choices are Plasticity (useful occasionally), Super Strength (half the figures who’d benefit from Super Strength already have it!) or Toughness (the worst damage absorption power). On Click 2, Proselyte picks up a mildly interesting Movement Special (CHANNEL THE LIGHT OF THE OTHER CORPS: Give Proselyte a free action and choose a color that isn’t brown, black, grey or pink. Proselyte can use a standard power of the chosen color until your next turn.), but it’s not until you get to Click 3 and Proselyte’s Damage Special (HEART OF COMPASSION: Friendly figures that can use Support may do so even if an opposing figure is adjacent to the friendly figure or the target. When they do modify the result of the 2d6 roll by +2 and don’t subtract 2 from the d6 roll.) that you start to see what the developers intended for this piece: Healing.
But even this epiphany raises as many questions as it answers. First, Proselyte does not have a native Support power (look again–his Special reads “friendly figures that CAN USE SUPPORT… “); you can give the Possessed character Support with Channel the Light of the Other Corps… BUT THEN YOU CAN’T USE HEART OF COMPASSION! It’s a Catch 22, which leaves you with just two choices that I can think of to remedy the situation.
First, you can play A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SUPPORT-POSSESSING FIGURE TO BE YOUR HEALER. This is the easiest way to go, although it’s also the most points-intensive way to go, since it involves adding a whole other figure to your force than you may have wished to field (and at this point you can almost throw Theme out the window, unless you want to pay ANOTHER 25 points for ANOTHER Entity to possess the healer you just added to your team, and dammit, before you know it, it’s Turtles all the way down).
Your second choice is to play Proselyte on a figure who already has Support. Easy enough, right? Nope–you have to make sure that the base figure has Support ON CLICK 3! Top dial or even second Click Support does you no good if you want to boost it with Heart of Compassion.
I mean, I suppose Proselyte is useful in supercharging a medic piece in a 400+ point game as long as you’re fielding a bunch of $100+ Entities; outside of that specific circumstance, I have to say, as Entities go, Proselyte is by far the worst.
GRADE: 1 and 1/2 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $103.50 to $149.99 (I’m not Nostradamus, but I guarantee you this will come down. You can practically get Parallax for $150. If you have a Proselyte and are thinking of selling, now would be the time, buckaroo!)
8. WOL066P Butcher – Red Lantern Corps Entity: The Red Lantern Entity has a top dial 5 Damage and 12 Attack Value, so right off the bat there will probably be a decent stat buff for most characters there. But he’s number 8 on this list because he offers almost nothing in terms of selectable powers–especially in the beginning. Butcher is one of the only Entities who doesn’t offer a power in all four slots top dial.
He starts off with Charge, Toughness and a Damage Special (HEAT OF RAGE: Once per turn, a friendly character may reroll the d6 roll for Blades/Claws/Fangs.) that really only works if you’ve built a whole team of B/C/F’ers. And if you’ve built a team of close combatants, I’m guessing most will already come equipped with Charge and/or Toughness (at least), so his Damage Special almost by default becomes the only power worth taking. I know there are some Red Lanterns out there with B/C/F, so army construction is key when using a piece like Butcher.
If you possess a character with a long dial (and/or if you have him possess the Rookie dial of a piece), Butcher starts to shine a little, offering Flurry, B/C/F, Combat Reflexes and Exploit Weakness. Unfortunately, you have to get to, like, click 9 for most of those powers to show up.
Butcher’s better than Proselyte, but that’s damning with faint praise.
GRADE: 2 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $125-$185 (Again, I don’t think the Butcher is sustainable around that level, so I’d recommend trading him for a more useful Entity or selling him!)
“I am not a Yu-Gi-Oh!, mortal!”
7. WOL068P Predator – Star Sapphires Entity: Now we are starting to get into the truly useful Entities. Stats-wise, Predator’s top dial is top notch, offering (among other numbers) 10 Range, 18 Defense and 4 Damage. Most characters you’ll want to play with Predator should be able to buff ONE of those stats. And while Predator doesn’t offer any Specials at the beginning, it does give you the option of picking from 4 powers, all of them useful: Sidestep, Energy Explosion, Energy Shield/Deflection or Shape Change.
Further down Predator’s dial comes a Click 4 Movement Special (COSMIC LOVE: Predator can use Shape Change, the Quintessence and Mystics team ability.), and Click 6 brings a truly bonkers Damage Special (POWER OF LOVE: All characters within range can use Mind Control.), which is great if you’re trying to create mass chaos during endgame scenarios.
Predator is not as game-changing as some of the other Entities, but it offers solid options in every slot and is definitely worth the 25 points it takes to field it. Predator is also a great choice if you’re putting together a Meta team and need that second or third Entity to form a Theme Team.
GRADE: 3 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $150-$199 (All of these Wave 2 Entities will depreciate slightly, but I expect Predator to hold its value AT LEAST as well as Butcher and Proselyte)
“William Hand of Earth. Your mother is calling.”
6. WOL061P Entity – White Lantern Corps Entity: Top dial, Entity’s stats aren’t overwhelming; 8 Range, 10 Movement, 18 Defense and 4 Damage should let you pump up something. But Entity offers a couple EXTREMELY useful powers on Click 1. Probability Control is one of the best powers in the game, and Entity’s Movement Special (FLOW OF LIFE: At the beginning of your turn, you may heal one adjacent character without the Black Lantern Corps keyword 1 click.) is extraordinary in its ability to heal without a die roll. Sorta like Forge’s mechanical healing ability, but it works on everyone (well, everyone who’s not a Black Lantern).
Also of interest are Clicks 4 and 8, which grant a Special Stop Click (COSMIC LIFE: Entity can use Regeneration and the Quintessence team ability. When turning the dial, if this click is revealed due to damage taken from an opponent’s attack, stop turning the dial. This power can’t be ignored.). Unfortunately, the Stop part of the Stop Click won’t really do you any good, but being able to pick up Regeneration on Click 4 just might save the day. The fact that you ignore pushing damage and become un-Outwittable on the Click is also a bonus.
And, at the end of the day, Entity IS the White Lantern Entity, which really makes him a must play for White Lantern teams (that is, as with all of these pieces, assuming that you ever GET one, of course).
GRADE: 3 and 1/2 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $71-$130 (He may come down a little bit, at least until someone finds some way to completely abuse his healing power.)
“Do not fear, mortal, all is welllll–holy $#!#! Is that blood?! Oh hell no!! Adara out!”
5. WOL067P Adara – Blue Lantern Corps Entity: The ultimate support Entity! Top dial, Adara gives a character your choice of Telekinesis, Defend (with an 18 Defense that goes to 19 on the second Click) or Probability Control. Basically, with Adara, you get access to the full Scarlet.
Alright!
(Author’s Note: Nope! Not even a little bit what I meant by “access to the full Scarlet!” More than a little disturbing that you had THAT photo ready to go.)
(Author’s Note: There we go!)
Okay, sorry about that. My editor was a little quick on the “Scarlet” trigger there. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah–so Adara basically turns any eligible character you want in FFCW006 Scarlet Witch. Only for 25 points instead of 75. And you get Adara’s neat little Defend trick on top of everything else (which has already been put to Meta use in many recent ROC’s by having Adara Possess Despotellis). Adara’s early placement and defense shenanigans give way mid-dial to a Special Attack power (SURGE OF HOPE: Friendly characters who can use Empower or Enhancement treat other friendly characters within 3 squares and line of fire of that character as adjacent for the purposes of those powers.) that starts pumping up your team’s offensive capabilities too.
Adara’s only negative–and it’s really only a negative when compared to the other Entities–is that her best Special (COSMIC HOPE: Adora can use Perplex, but only to increase combat values. Adora can use the Quintessence team ability.) doesn’t show up until Click 7. Otherwise, Adara is a proven commodity that can boost the effectiveness of just about any character.
GRADE: 4 and 1/2 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $71.00 + (Despite Adara’s ROC success, the price tag has not moved much. Your guess is as good as mine, but if you’re saving up for an Entity, Adara for somewhere around $70-$90 certainly seems to make A LOT more sense than, say, $150 for Proselyte or $185 for Butcher.)
Creepy? Sure, but this would just be an average Tuesday night for the Joker. Just sayin’.
4. WOL060P Black Hand – Black Lantern Corps Entity: What?! An Entity that’s not a Chase? Sweet! Finally! Now I don’t have to pay $80 just to–what? He’s already going for like $120? Sigh…
Anyway, Black Hand here offers four great powers at the top of his dial for you to choose from. Got a big hitter who’s stuck with, say, no move-and-attack? Black Hand can give him Running Shot. Do you have a ranged attacker you like who just has Pulse Wave even though you need to reach out and touch someone with a full range attack? Black Hand can grant Penetrating/Psychic Blast! Hard to hit piece that has Super Senses or ES/D but no dampeners? Yup, Black Hand can enable Invulnerability. Or, if you’re just trying to counterattack after your opponent misses, try Black Hand’s Damage Special (DESPAIR OF THE BLACKEST NIGHT: When an opposing character misses an attack, choose an opposing character within 10 squares and line of fire and modify that character’s defense value by -1 until the end of your next turn.) on for size.
On his second Click (and every even Click thereafter), Black Hand turns into a Black Lantern Corps enabler. His Movement (OBLIVION OF DEATH: When a friendly character with the Black Lantern Corps keyword is healed because an opposing character is KO’d, increase the healing by 1.) and Attack (DEATH: Black Hand can use Steal Energy. When an opposing character is KO’d, heal Black Hand of 1 damage.) Specials puts the swarming and healing capabilities of every Black Lantern into overdrive. You can really start to turn the tide of a game when your entire army heals 2 Clicks every time you KO an opposing figure (“Okay, I just took out one of your Warbot POG’s, and I have four Black Lanterns, so that kill will net me… 8 clicks of healing! And, every character I have is back to top dial!“).
The final thing that must be noted about Black Hand: He himself can be Possessed! He’s the only Entity that doesn’t have the Giant Damage Symbol, so you can run him as a normal figure and have another Entity Possess him! None of the other Entities can do that. And with 10 Clicks of life, Black Hand can definitely get the most out of a Possessor’s dial!
GRADE: 4 and 1/2 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $82-$110 (As more become available, this price will drop some; as Black Hand is damn good, and an Entity, I don’t expect it to drop much.)
3. WOL063P Ophidian – Orange Lantern Corps Entity: And now we’re closing in on the best of the best. Top dial, Ophidian can grant you your choice of: Sidestep; Pulse Wave; Invulnerability; or a sick version of Outwit (DESIRE OF GREED: Ophidian can use Outwit. When it does it can use the countered power or ability for as long as it’s countered.). Click 2 brings (COSMIC GREED: Ophidian can use Barrier, Plasticity, and the Quintessence team ability.) and Shape Change (Shape Change! Good Lord, I love Shape Change. I have a Larfleeze because of the Shape Change Ophidian granted my Red Lantern Superboy Prime–y’know what? For more details about how I exchanged my moral compass and good manners for a WOL Month 1 tourney win, click here!).
When you get closer to the mid-dial, Ophidian also offers Hypersonic Speed. If you don’t know why that’s good, this may not be the blog for you! At the end of the day, Ophidian is another Entity who’s ROC-certified. Like DJ Khaled, all he does is win!
GRADE: 4 and 1/2 Oxygen Filtration Masks!
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $71-$130. (And worth every penny!)
“Obviously, the embodiment of Will is a floating space shark fish. In space. With crazy, shimmery fins. What the $@#& were YOU expecting?”
2. WOL062P Ion – Green Lantern Corps Entity: So, looking back over this list, I’ve been pretty critical of most of the Wave 2 Entities. But I can’t complain about Ion. Ion’s third Trait (and I think he’s the only Entity with 3 Traits, by the way) is, in a word, prettyf@#$ingsick (I AM ION, INCARNATION OF THE CORPS: Characters using the Possessed ability while Ion is the Possessor may choose to modify 2 combat values from Ion instead of 1 and may use 2 powers from Ion instead of 1.).
His combat values are a bit depressed compared to the rest of the Entities; that’s about his only downside, but you can kind of fix that with character choice; a lot of folks tend to pick the biggest and best character they can find and throw an Entity on it. But with Ion especially, you really want a character who will benefit from the double stat boost even before you start looking at the powers Ion can grant.
On Click 2, Ion also gains a Movement Special (FORCE OF WILL: Friendly characters can use Willpower. If they can already do so, increase their defense value by the number of action tokens on them.) that could be extremely useful, especially if you’ve constructed a team with this in mind.
But it all comes back to Ion’s Trait; it’s so powerful that you wonder how it can cost the same 25 points as the others.
GRADE: 5 Oxygen Filtration Masks
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $280 and climbing. (Good Gosh!!)
“Impurity restored. Y’know, in the balance of the game.”
1. WOL065P Parallax – Sinestro Corps Entity: So, one way to evaluate the Entities that I haven’t really touched on is to look at their point values. Each one cost 25 points to use, but they all grant access to different point level dials. Parallax here has the most expensive dial at 250. That’s means Parallax gives you access to a dial that costs 100 freaking points more than Entity’s dial. And access to either dial COSTS THE SAME AMOUNT OF POINTS!
Top dial is where Parallax shines the most. He grants your choice of: Stealth; Penetrating/Psychic Blast; Impervious or the ridiculously good Damage Special (COSMIC FEAR: Parallax can use Perplex, but only to decrease combat values. Parallax can use the Quintessence team ability.). That’s right–you can give a character top dial Quintessence. Just stupid. And if you can get Parallax to his second click, he’ll grant access to Hypersonic Speed too (just like Ophidian).
Out of all of the Entities, Parallax is the one you should chasing. Or CHASE’n, as the case may be. In Wave 1 (or any Wave, for that matter) you cannot and will not pull a better figure.
GRADE: 6 (out of 5) Oxygen Filtration Masks!
CURRENT VALUE ON EBAY: $120-$200 (The secret’s out. You are going to have to spend some cash if you want Parallax. Or any of these pieces for that matter, but especially Parallax.)
Okay! That’s all for the Entities. Agree with our rankings? Disagree? Sound off in the forums below!
And until next time, stay safe, and watch where you draw those lines of fire!
Critical Missives 