[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Night Three of the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas 2019!! First, we reviewed the ground rules; yesterday, we hit the ground running with an in-depth review of Call-In Cards from friend of the blog, Roberto Ty!]
Ironically NOT a Chase…
Every time a set is announced, the most intense speculation always surrounds the same question… What are the Chases going to be?
In some cases, the speculation is justified. Elseworlds’s DKR Chases were all great; the World’s Finest Kingdom Come Chases almost all ended up in the Modern Age Meta of their day. In other sets, though, the Chases end up being a huge letdown. And yes, I’m looking at you, Joker’s Wild, and your crappy, no-good Bizarro Chases. Even the best of the bunch, Bizarro Green Arrow, only showed up in the Meta to essentially make games take forever. And What If’s Chases only became moderately useful in Modern AFTER Earth X released earlier this year, nearly two years after they debuted!
With that said, let’s take a look at which Chases from this year’s sets hit the mark and etched a spot in Heroclix history!
These are the best 10 Chases from 2019!!
Kobik
Thanos
10. TREKRF033 Mirror Beverly Crusher — 100 Points — Chase: 100 Points is a lot to pay for a support piece. Like, a LOT a lot, which is why I can’t put her higher on this list than 10. But… if you ARE going to put 1/3 of your points into a supporting figure, you’re going to want that figure to have a Special Damage Power kind of like Bev’s (USE MY SON’S GENIUS TO ADVANCE MY CAREER: Outwit, Perplex, Probability Control, Support.)
That is literally EVERY support power you could ever want. And you can use them all, every turn. None of this Alex Wilder “I can only use two support powers at a time and my opponent gets to pick which two” horse puckey.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: You know Alex Wilder only costs, like, a fourth of what ol’ Bev costs, right?]
[AUTHOR’S NOTE: What?]
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Yeah, he’s only like 25 points.]
[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Okay, but Mirror Beverly has more powers I haven’t mentioned yet.]
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Oh, please continue then.]
She’s also got Poison, Mystics (via her Mirror Universe TA), Sidestep and a not-insignificant 3 Damage showing top dial if an opposing fig tries to base her, and her special Shape Change Trait [MIRROR, MIRROR: Shape Change. When Mirror Beverly Crusher uses Shape Change and succeeds, give her a Mirror token, and if she fails, remove all Mirror tokens. When she uses Shape Change, increase the result by +1 for each Mirror token (a roll of 1 always fails).] makes her even harder to pin down. There’s actually a lot of risk associated in opposing characters targeting her.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: So Outwit, Perp, Prob, Sidestep, Shape Change… yeah, Alex Wilder has access to all of those powers. Plus, y’know, Stealth.]
[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Oh really? Well, Alex Wilder isn’t a Chase, so if you want me to ever finish this article and post it, I’m going to need you to get alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way off my back about this pick.]
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Well okay then! Lemme just go ahead and get off of that thing!]
9. EAX064 Venom Iron Man — 100 Points — Chase: Short 6-Clix dial. Only a 6 Range. Buuuuut… he’s also got a laundry list of powers a mile long on his top dial. To wit:
Running Shot; Pen/Psy; Invincible; Shape Change; Plasticity; he also Auto breaks AND sees through Hindering. Plus, if you’re attacking a piece with two action tokens, he’s a 12/4 on offense. If you can roll a 6, you can potentially one-shot a Meta support piece like Unseen.
8. ABPI072 Black Panther — 85 Points — Chase: Hypersonic Speed with sky-high Attack (12) and Defense (19) values. Plus, your opponent won’t even be able to target him if you play him on the right map due to his first Trait (THE PANTHER GOD: Stealth. Opposing lines of fire can’t be drawn to Black Panther if he occupies printed hindering terrain. Protected: Pulse Wave.).
His only downside is that his damage output is heavily dependent on Blades/Claws/Fangs, which is obviously unreliable.
PRO TIP: Pay the extra 30 points for Kobik’s Cosmic Cube and equip it on Black Panther for all sorts of fun shenanigans.
7. XDPS047 Jean Grey — 75 Points — Chase: There’s her normal dial, with Sidestep, a Pen/Psy, 11 Attack and 4 Damage top dial with a 7 Range–all in all, pretty solid for 75 Points. But when you dig into her Traits, a really cool, subversive shadow dial emerges that lets you play her in a totally different way.
Her first Trait [INNER CIRCLE CLUB: BLACK QUEEN: Outwit, but only to choose a black power or a special power. // Mind Control. When Jean Grey uses it as RANGE, modify attack +1 and she may instead target any number of characters of lower point value. (Must still be opposing and within range and line of fire.)] gives her the ability to mentally stomp the entire freaking yard with Mind Control and then Outwit your opponent’s most potent Special Power.
Jean’s Special Movement Power (JASON WYNGARDE HAS SHOWN US THE WAY: Sidestep. Other friendly characters can target Jean Grey when using Mind Control.) offers you a way to get her into position and make more attacks than she should normally be allowed to make.
Her dial finishes off with a Stop Click that gives you the opportunity to morph her into the Colossal Dark Phoenix, which is one of the best Colossals in the game.
This is one of those pieces that needs a really skilled player to maximize her effectiveness, but if you can master her abilities, she’ll be darn near broken!
6. RE068E Barbatos — 100 Points — Chase: Both of his dials are great, but for 100 Points, you get a piece with the Batman TA, Batman Enemy TA, 8 Range, Pen/Psy, Impervious and the ability to Phase 4 squares and still attack.
He also has the Quintessence TA and the ability to shut down Ranged Attacks by giving Battle Fury to opposing figures within six squares. Being able to shoot opposing characters while they can’t shoot you has ALWAYS been good in Heroclix.
All of these powers combine to give you a high-ceiling Secondary Attacker who can help you control your positioning on the board.
5. XDPS048 Jason Wyngarde — 75 Points — Chase: His stats aren’t as good as Jean Grey’s, but he does have two Traits that make up for that fact. First, his Mind Control Trait (DON’T LET THE DREAMS OF ANOTHER LIFE TROUBLE YOU: Mind Control. When Jason Wyngarde uses it as RANGE, he may count range and draw line of fire from any character he hit this turn and if he hits, after resolutions he can use Mind Control at no cost, but only to target a character he hasn’t targeted with Mind Control this turn. (He may repeat this.)] lets you potentially Mind Control the whole opposing team. Which, y’know, is pretty good. It’s the MC version of Chase Movie Yondu’s “Whistling Arrow Attack” or Chase HawkGuy’s “Rapid-Fire Trick Shooting.”
It’s just got a waaaaay cooler name.
Wyngarde’s Second Trait (PSIONIC ILLUSION: FREE: Choose a character on your sideline of 150 points or less (on their highest-point line). Generate a bystander printed on that character’s card. Each bystander generated this way has [MAX 1]. You may activate this ability only twice per game.) lets you pop out some of the best Bystander Tokens in the game as long as you had the foresight to put those pieces on your Sideline. Want some Iron Avengers on your Hellfire Club team? Now you can!
4. CMM021 Captain Marvel — 150 Points — Chase: When you absolutely have to murder the entire opposing team, accept no substitutes. Where to begin?
She’s got great stats, a high Threat Range (14 Squares before any Perplexes, plus the Avengers Initiative Team Ability lets her target through Hindering), a Special that lets her attack twice in one turn (STRAFING RUN: [Improved Movement: Characters], Running Shot. When Captain Marvel uses it, after resolutions she may use Charge at no cost, but can’t target the same character.) and a Trait that grants her and certain buddies both Prob AND an immunity to opposing Prob!
And if your opponent manages to deal her two or more damage, she supercharges into a Hypersonic, Pulse Wave, 12 Attack and 5 Damage demon-woman who can neither be stopped nor reasoned with.
The only reason she’s not Top 3 on this list is her vulnerability to Outwit in certain circumstances. In a Meta or tournament environment, 150 Points is a lot to sink into a piece that doesn’t have some form of “Protected: Outwit” for the entire dial, so it’s a little dicey building around her (although certainly not impossible).
But for friendly games, she’s a powerhouse!
3. EAX062E Captain Venom — 50 Points — Chase: Just a boatload of stats and powers for 50 Points. Top dial, we’re talking Charge, Quake, Combat Reflexes, Plasticity, Shape Change and a Special Leadership (READY TO SERVE MY SPECIES: Leadership. When another friendly character with the Monster keyword attacks, modify its attack +1 if Captain Venom attacked this turn.) that improves his entire team on offense WHETHER OR NOT HE ACTUALLY HITS THE LEADERSHIP!
He has the “Call in Help from the Venom-Verse” Trait and also ignores Hindering and Elevated Terrain on movement and Auto breaks from opposing characters.
But the craziest thing about him is that all those powers I just listed are really just icing on the cake! He’s almost completely earned his points before the game actually begins, thanks to his Build Trait (EDDIE, YOU’RE JUST THE MAN WE NEED: During game setup when establishing themed teams, you may treat the Monster keyword as a named keyword.).
Now, for 50 Points, you can group any amount of disparate Monster-keyworded characters together and get not just a Map bonus but also a bunch of free Themed Team Probs!
2. ABPI069 Kobik (w/”Hi, I’m Kobik) — 115 Points — Chase: Pretty much the best support character in the game, with Mind Control, Super Senses (with a 19 Defense) and a great Special Damage Power (DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?: Perplex, Probability Control, Shape Change.) that makes her a nightmare for opponents.
And then she adds in a pretty filthy Trait (REWRITE AFFILIATIONS: FREE: Choose both a friendly character and an opposing character with printed team abilities. Those characters can use the team abilities printed on the other character instead of their own printed team abilities until your next turn.) that lets you steal opposing Power Cosmic TA’s.
She also starts with one of the best Equipments in the game (ABPIS008 Cosmic Cube: FREE: Choose one: Place this character up to 3 squares away from its current square; -or- Until your next turn, [Improved Targeting: Elevated, Hindering] and modify range +2; -or- Give an action token to an adjacent opposing character. If you can’t, deal them 1 penetrating damage.)
And her 100 Point cost actually serves as an advantage in a Call-In Meta environment, since she can Call-In heavy hitters and still pull off her other tricks as Free Actions.
There’s a reason she’s shown up on so many Top 8 teams in pro tournaments already!
1. ABPI074 Thanos — 160 Points — Ultra-Chase: I mean, his 110 Point level is arguably even better, but holy cow! Hands down the best Ultra-Chase Wizkids has ever made.
His stats are great, he’s got one of the best Perplex Specials they’ve ever thought up (THE BIOLOGICAL APPLICATION OF COSMIC POWER: Perplex, but only to target other characters. When Thanos uses it to target a friendly character, that character can use [Power Cosmic] until your next turn. When Thanos uses it to target an opposing character, that character can’t use Willpower or PROTECTED: Outwit or Protected: Outwit until your next turn.), and then he spits out a Skreet Bystander Token that’s nearly impossible to kill (20 Defense with Impervious at Range) and who possesses arguably an EVEN BETTER Perplex (CHAOS MITE: Perplex, but only to target other characters. When Skreet uses it, she modifies a value +2 or -2 instead, then rolls a d6. [1-2]: The modifier becomes 0 instead.) than Thanos’s Perplex, which you just thought was the best Perp ever.
I mean, seriously, when else does Wizkids let you use a +2 Perp on Damage? Almost never.
And the Ego Gem he starts with is probably the second best piece of Equipment they’ve ever made, since it not only gives you a second Perplex-style source, but it allows Thanos to go out and collect more gems!
I could go on and on about how much I love this piece, but we’ve already passed 2000 words, so I just leave it right here.
Which were your favorite Chases? Let us know in the Comments below, and we’ll see your right here for the Fourth Night of Clix-Mas real soon!
Critical Missives 