Heroclix – Now with extra Deadpool (A set review for Deadpool)

May 30, 2014June 12, 2014 / ninwashui / 3 Comments

About the Set:

I really liked the 12 attack Assassin subtheme (DP036 Bullseye, DP057 Tiamat, DP201 Deadpool) and 12 attack martial arts sub theme (DP031 Elektra, DP047A Shang-Chi, DP047B Cat). Actually, I like 12 attack on exceptionally skilled characters that have great story reasons for being that skillful or powerful.

Plus I hate missing.

The Chases are cool to have, but not so uber that my team of scrubs has no chance. Which is how they should be. There are some characters that are sub-par (DP002 Headpool), but for the most part it’s a very good set for sealed. Not too many unusable characters like I thought were in the Incredible Iron Man set. Even the weird ones that I’ve never heard of (DP024 Number One, DP025 Flag-Smasher, DP040 Doctor Bong) seem playable for their costs.

A Note on the Current Meta:

The current meta seems to be:

1. Play Shuma Gorath, Mole Man, and a power plant.

2. Play Splitlip, and the BOS.

3. Play Phantom Girl and the belt.

4 ????

My 5 Honorable Mentions for Best Figures in the Set:

*DP041 G.W. Bridge would have made the list here, but look for a different article featuring him soon.

5. DP059 Kingpin – I wouldn’t play this piece without a plan (like including DP021 Outlaw, FIB002 Skadi’s Warbot, SOG038 David Cain to make a good 300 point team). You need to use his white power a lot to make him worthwhile to field. A fun piece to build a team around, especially since he has the assassin keyword.

4. DP020 Weasel – The Weasel in the Deadpool set (who isn’t Pauley Shore – I double checked) is really just a walking relic. In fact, think of him as a hammer that walks next to your primary attacker instead of being equipped. The bonuses he gives are +1 to range, +1 to damage, and essentially +2 to attack! All for 27 points. He’ll mess up your theme team, but for what he brings to the table it’s worth it. Imagine playing two or three of him. Try using him to build (and then power) a doomsday weapon for AVM016 Red Skull.

Not that weasel…

3. DP038 Copycat – Mess up your opponent’s theme team. Grab his SLOSH048 Tellus. Have your opponent’s DP019B Evil Deadpool fight right next to yours. The more powerful your opponent’s figures are the better you will get In exchange. Anything under 101 points is fair game.

2. DP048 Blink – To make the most of her powers, the rest of your team needs to share a keyword with her. If they do she will be your team taxi and then your teams close combat expert. She has a way of moving around the board that is unique to her in all of HeroClix. If she had indomitable, she would be in my top 10.

1. DP202 Daredevil – He’s not too flashy, but he is very well rounded with both improved targeting and movement. He is also the only piece for the entire Deadpool set to have made a top 4 team at an ROC tournament.

The top ten figures from the Deadpool set:

10. DP019A Deadpool – Every time I have faced this guy in combat he has done well. Especially when equipped with this his DPW003 “4th Wall? What 4th Wall?” word bubble. He has great up front stats and a long dial. His RIDICULOUS REGENERATION looks confusing, but it’s really just improved super senses (no damage on 4-6) that can’t be countered or bypassed with precision strike. I call that a great power. Compare him to similar IIM029A War Machine and you’ll see you get a lot more for that extra 10 points.

9. DP060 Superior Spider-Man – After a few turns of making and attaching DP099A Spider-Bot (Mark 1), the Superior Spider-Man is going to have +2 to all super senses rolls. (missing only on a 1 or 2). After that you can make DP099B Spider-Bot (Mark 2) for free and use the plasticity to hold opposing forces in place until Doc Occ has a chance to deal with them.

Electro: For when you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAVE TO ZOMBIFY EVERY M*TH*RF*CK*R IN THE ROOM–ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!

8. DP064 Electro – Electro is the best of the zombie chases because of his unparalleled ability to spread the zombie plague and earn food tokens for himself. Left unchecked your opponents forces will look they are in the Thriller video very quickly.

7. DP043 Black Talon – When SLOSH048 Tellus came out I said there was a way to break him and I just don’t know what it is yet. The same thing goes for this character. He’s very similar to the soon to be retired Mole Man, except he works with ANYONE. Want to get that wrecking crew team off the ground that’s never been powerful enough before? This is your answer. The same goes with just about anything else. Two actions in a one turn is really powerful when it can be used on anyone. For extra fun use him with DP019B Evil Deadpool whose low defense and high damage potential are perfect to be mind controlled.

Don’t forget he can also mind control your opponents characters at an 8 range. And with his trait even your opponents KOed characters are potential targets. I actually used his charge and BCF to KO an opposing character in sealed, but it felt like I wasn’t using this guy to his full potential that turn.

6. DP057 Tiamat – With Tiamat fronting your team I can see you winning 300 to nothing in short order. I can also see you whiffing the first couple of attacks and losing in short order. At his point level he is the whole team and if he doesn’t hit (and attack twice) then you could be in big trouble. On the other hand, his ability to mow down characters with soft defenses is nothing short of obscene. I played against him in sealed and lost 300 to nothing. You experiences may vary.

5. DP031 Elektra – HCrealm’s ‘Snake Eyes Again’ jokingly gave her the following trait, “Fanboy frenzy: Elektra can use every standard power in the PAC.” He wasn’t far off. On her 4th click she can use Charge, Flurry, Stealth, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Incapacitate, Precision Strike, Close Combat Expert, Exploit Weakness and Ranged Combat Expert. Add to that her improved movement and the fact that the first time she is KOed you can resurrect her and you’ve got a winner. She and four DP006 Hand Ninja are 287 points. That sounds like a lot of fun to me.

4. DP019B Evil Deadpool – You get a lot here for the cost and that’s the key. At 100 points he is likely your secondary attacker. If he gets a chance to regenerate even once then he’s worth far more that that. If you want to make this guy really work for you, you need to control the damage he takes to get him to his regen clicks and not past them. Mastermind looks like a good way to do that. Once Evil Deadpool takes enough damage stop sending it his way for a turn. It seems like IIM042 Iron Doom would make a good partner for this guy.

3. DP055 Deadpool – I took a while comparing this guy to DP049 Deadpool and Bob and in the end decided he brought more to the table. AVX014 Magneto showed me how fun running shot is with Pulse Wave. This guy has a better attack, decent defens and built in prob with his DPW003 “4th Wall? What 4th Wall?” word bubble for those times your opponents actually hit an 18-19 D. Magneto’s starting defenses are better, but “Thorpool” is much more dangerous mid to late dial.

2. DP047A Shang-Chi – With Improved movement, an awesome trait, and more offense this guy is just plain better than SOG039 Lady Shiva. He needs other close combat attackers around to get the best use out of his empower (like AVX102 Lei-Kung the Thunderer), but his stats and power level are unmatched in his price range.

1. DP051 Banshee – If he was 50 points more he would still be darn good. Banshee’s stats are great for his price range and his trait is very good, but the real reason to play him is his improved targeting: ignore elevated. That power is super rare and it’s never been on a figure even half this good. Imagine blasting someone from the other side of Wundagore Mountain while ignoring the mountain completely. That targeting advantage is what makes this character the best in the set.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: And for a slightly different take on the Deadpool set, be sure to check out HypeFox’s Second Opinion article!)

Local Tournament Report – 5/14/14 Ninwashui’s Kitchen Table

May 18, 2014May 19, 2014 / ninwashui / Leave a comment

There’s a new HeroClix set out – today’s going to be a wonderful day!

The Format: Ninwashui and Hypefox each bought two boosters of Deadpool the day it came out because they are like addicts and can’t wait until their normal venue has a sealed tournament next week. They decide to justify their purchases by saying they are “practicing” for next week’s Deadpool 400 point sealed event at Comics n’ More. No prize, but the loser will receive a large helping of shame for not being able to win a tournament with only two people in it. Because of the unusual venue there are battlefield conditions that will affect play. Namely my kids who think HeroClix figures look like toys. The game is delayed for about 20 minutes after team construction while the kids steal figures and run off with them. Concentration is difficult under these circumstances.

What I played:

DP011 Silver Sable

DP022 Kidpool (DPW005 “Broccoli! Why Can’t it Be Meat?”)

DP023 Black Cat

DP028 Siryn

DP048 Blink

Total: 397 points

This was actually a picture of normal Cyclops trying to light his grill. Ouch.

Round 1 Facing:

DP003 Dogpool (with DPW002 “I’m Going to Lick Your Hand”)

DP019A Deadpool (with DPW003 “4th Wall? What 4th Wall?”)

DP032 Punisher

DP058A Typhoid Mary

Total: 400 points

My opponent is the recent champion of my venue’s AvX and earned the Dark Phoenix Cyclops. He’s fresh off his big win, possibly over confident, and easily distracted by my children. I’m fresh off coming in near last place in that series, hungry for some payback, and exceptionally skilled at ignoring my children. That came out wrong, but you know what I mean.

FIGHT!

We fight on the K’un Lun map from the AvX Month 4 kit. I have my team move to the elevated terrain on the left hand side. Blink carries Kidpool. Siryn carries Silver Sable. I leave my whole team out of danger away from the edge, except for Siryn who has energy shield deflection. On his turn My opponent sends Dogpool and Deadpool up the center. Punisher and Typhoid Mary stay on elevated terrain. Deadpool has exactly enough range and movement to juuuuust get a running shot off on Siryn. I sit back confident knowing he is more likely to miss than hit. Deadpool rolls a 10. Instant hit for 4 damage. Siryn is on her second to last click. On my turn I realize no one on my team has will power and I don’t want to push. That leaves me only Kidpool and Silver Sable. Kidpool runs to base Deadpool so he doesn’t get another shot off and KO Siryn. Silver Sable outwits Dogpool’s see-through-stealth-Perplex to avoid the embarrassment of standing in front of the other team with no Stealth while covered in doggie drool.

Ninwashui’s worst nightmare is facing this lil’ guy directly across from his Stealthed characters on a Heroclix map.

On my opponent’s turn Typhoid Mary outwits Kidpool’s Shape change and shoots him for two damage… with knockback. Deadpool is suddenly free. He takes a shot at Siryn. She (of course) misses her super sense roll and is KOed. Dogpool opts not to push and Punisher doesn’t as well. On my turn Black Cat bases Dogpool. Blinks “blinks” in to attack Dogpool. She rolls a 4 and misses. Silver Sable Shoots Typhoid Mary for 3 and after taking two Typhoid transforms to Bloody Mary. I point out her transformation power is useless in sealed because you need her other half until Hypefox snickers and shows me that it came in the same pack as a separate base. Yep, Typhoid Mary… is a switch click. Very cool. Silver Sable then outwits Deadpool’s toughness and Kidpool charges in with blades/flurry/precision strike. I roll a 5 and then a 3 to miss twice. Kidpool takes a click of pushing damage and is on his last click. Things aren’t going well.

On my opponent’s turn he uses Dogpool’s perplex to outwit black cat’s stealth. Punisher proceeds to do 4 with a running shot. Dogpool attacks her but misses. Deadpool KOs Kidpool. The other pieces clear. On my turn Black Cat uses blades/flurry to take Dogpool from full to KO.

And it’s then that battlefield conditions take over, which is to say my 3 year old climbed on Hypefox’s head and stayed there for a good five minutes.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: By “five minutes” I assume you mean THE REST OF THE GAME.)

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wish I had a picture.)

It looked kinda like that…

From there everything changed. Our luck reversed. He started rolling threes and I started rolling tens. Bloody Mary charged Black Cat and took her out. Silver Sable shot her again and turned her back into Typhoid Mary on a poison click. She based Silver Sable and used poison to do a damage and cancel Stealth. Punisher not wanting to miss gave himself 12 Attack, but only hit for 2. That gave Sable her Stealth back. She unloaded on Mary for the KO. While that was going on, Blink decided to “Blink” over and tie up Deadpool They both missed each other for several turns. After KO’ing Mary, Sable hit Punisher for 4 and then Blink swooped in to finish him off before opting to return to her original place keeping Deadpool based. Deadpool keeps missing. When my team next clears Sable hits Deadpool for 4 from range and Blink hits twice with flurry for the KO and the win.

What I learned:

All casual games needed to be played with my kids around from now on. They just love their Uncle Hype.
I knew Deadpool’s dial was tough, there was a reason I left him for last. He’s good on offense and defense (especially with his word balloon).
Kidpool was unimpressive and his word balloon was useless.
Siryn died too quickly to learn anything, but seems like she should be promising.
Typhoid Mary was nice. Bravo to WizKids for including her switch click in the pack with her.
Punisher seems promising if you don’t have a kid on your head and can remember his trait. Great Offense. Average Defense.
HypeFox forgot about Punisher’s Trait. In his defense, it’s hard to remember that a character like the Punisher would have a Trait called “The Guilty Must Be Punished.”
Silver Sable did quite well even after taking a hit.
Blink was great. I would definitely play her again.

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

May 1, 2014May 2, 2014 / ninwashui / 2 Comments

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

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

What I played:

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

AVX014 Magneto

WXM045 Phoenix (With Namor Fragment)

WXM038 Legion (With Cyclops Fragment)

Total = 500 Points

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

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

Round 1:

Facing:

AVX001 Captain America

SLOSH005B Mon-El

IIM051 Iron Pharaoh (1500 BC)

Total = 485 Points

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Round 2:

Facing:

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

AVX009 Cyclops (With Namor Fragment)

AVX010 Emma Frost

AVX101 Cable (With Cyclops Fragment)

IH035 Wolverine

Total = 496 Points

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Cosplayers love me.”

Round 3:

Facing:

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

FI031 Wolverine (With Namor Fragment)

WXM031 Gambit (With Colossus Fragment)

AVX009E Cyclops (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM063 Psylocke

WXM047B Jubilee

Total = 495 Points

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I learned:

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

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

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

April 17, 2014April 18, 2014 / ninwashui / Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Now on with the teams!

Team 1: TK for the win.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

AVX014 Magneto

WXM045 Phoenix (With Namor Fragment)

WXM038 Legion (With Cyclops Fragment)

Total = 500 Points

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

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

Team 2: Revenge of the Nerfed X-Force.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

WXM042 Fantomex

WXM041 Spiral (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM018 Sunspot (With Namor Fragment)

AVX005R Wolverine

WXM010 Shatterstar

Total = 499 Points

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

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

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force

AVXR101 Fragment – Cyclops

AVXR102 Fragment – Namor

AVXR100X Assigned Character

IM3017E Iron Man and Iron Patriot (With Cyclops Fragment)

AVX012 Colossus (With Namor Fragment)

Total = 499 Points

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

Team 4: A balanced team.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

WXM046 Warlock (With Namor Fragment)

AVX009 Cyclops (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM209 Jean Grey

M10A007 Storm

Total = 500 Points

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

Team 5: The Dune Buggy of Death.

Standard Phoenix Force Resource

AVX012 Colossus(With Namor Fragment)

WXM046 Warlock (With Cyclops Fragment)

WXM033 Forge

WXM017 Jean Grey

Total = 496 Points

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

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

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

I Must’ve Forgot–You Can’t Trust Me!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/13/2014!!)

April 15, 2014April 15, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

I’m back!

So we’re not too far off from our normal schedule. Oh, hey, remember how, during the last Weekly Roundup I told you the weather had warmed up and things were getting back to normal here in Southeastern Michigan?

Well, it hit 80 here two days ago.

And looking out my window now, I see a fresh dusting of #$&^%#$%#%#^$(^% SNOW!! AGAIN!! COME THE #$#@ ON ALREADY!!

Man!! Y’know what? I can’t deal with this anymore! Let’s just get right to it, shall we? Let’s get right into…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!! Hop to it, ‘Clix Nation!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix returned with a full-sized episode–Number 40! This week the guys discuss all the War of the Light Dials (mostly prize support) that have been spoiled. If you still want to see what entries have been inspired by the Dial H April Dial Design Contest (this thing seems to grow every month!), you can do so right here (the idea this month is for all the competitors to design their own Fast Forces team! I’m working on a Cull Obsidian Fast Forces as I write this. Proxima Midnight was Week 1, Ebony Maw was Week 2, and now I’m completing the team this week with Thanos, Corvus Glaive, Supergiant and Black Dwarf).

–ClixCast, dark again, checked it, wrecked it, let’s move on (with apologies to Tag Team).

–Push to Regen was new on April 5th. Not sure when their next show was, but check their Podbean for updates!

–The Quarry latest episode is still… Episode 15! No news yet on when an edited version of the mysterious 13th Episode will appear…

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming tourney listings, which you can find right here!

-ROC’ing the UK results!

–ROC Event rule change! That… applies only to the members of the ROC Board. Huh?! Actually, this is just cleaning up some eligibility language and basically says that members of the ROC Board and others in a position of authority must turn over any money they win to… the ROC. To further the ROC’s goal of global domination!!

Previews:

-Do you like the Heroes for Hire? Do you want to play a HfH team with Misty Knight or Colleen Wing, but you don’t have the Super Rare Duo piece from ASM? Well, buy a few packs of Deadpool when it’s released in May, and you’re likely to get both of them! They’re both Commons; Misty Knight has more top dial damage dealing capabilities, but if you’re a gambling man, Colleen Wing gets B/C/F down dial. Both are kind of average, in my opinion, but they each have decent keywords and give you more options for Heroes for Hire.

-Lots o’ Green Lanterns from War of the Light were revealed, dials and all, by Newsarama! Don’t know that any of the figures spoiled will really affect the Meta (these guys all cost a lot without being totally viable as primary attackers), but they sure look like a lot of fun, and some of them may get way better with the new Construct mechanic!

-Speaking of, the Green Lantern Power Battery was also spoiled! If you thought the Phoenix Force was confusing, just wait! The Power Battery is a pseudo-character that stays in play the entire game and can be attacked and KO’d like a character (although it’s almost impossible to damage it?!?) and can cost up to 70 points (Good Lord!).

-Not to be forgotten in all the War of the Light frenzy, Cable is going to be a Super Rare in Deadpool! And he’s really expensive for what he does. Still, I like him better than AvX Cable.

Yep, after 2 months, this was the best image I could come up with for “Entertainment News.”

Entertainment News:

-Once again, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out in theaters now and it is awesome! It was number one at the box office for a second week in a row. There are two scenes AFTER the credits start rolling, it moves the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bold new direction, but most of all… it was fun! Great story, some great reveals… and oh, by the way, DON’T WATCH AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. UNTIL YOU WATCH CAP 2!! Speaking of which…

“I have a tattoo that says ‘SPOILER ALERT.'”

-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. … Holy Schnikes. I can’t write SPOILER ALERT enough to talk about this show, but last week did NOT disappoint. If you like rollercoasters, watch this damn show! Some terrific turns last week; can’t wait for tonight’s ep! By the way, the title of this week’s Weekly Roundup is a Twentyonepilots lyric from their hit song “Holding On To You,” but it might as well have been the title of last week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. …

Critical Missives:

–Just one new article last week, but it was a doozy! 3000+ words that covered figures who get a particularly nice bump from AvX!

That’s all I got this week! See ya later this week for more Clix goodness!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

The Only Way to Fix a Fixer Upper!! (Or, The Pieces That Improve the Most When You Play Them With the Phoenix Force Resource!!)

April 12, 2014April 13, 2014 / HypeFox / 8 Comments

"She was messing with the Phoenix Force, wasn't she?"

“The only way to fix a fixer upper is… to give it Running Shot?”

Well Hello there!

Today, we’re going to take a brief look at the Phoenix Force and try and pick some figures who have kind of fallen through the cracks recently and see what happens to them when you give them access to the Phoenix Force! Every time a new resource is released, some of the best minds in the game (Editor’s Note: And sometimes even we here at Critical Missives!) will reevaluate the current Meta and see who benefits from what the new resource has to offer. Granted, just about ANY figure gets better when you assign a resource to it, but, as we all know, not all dials are created equal. Similarly, not all dials benefit equally from every resource.

(FYI–While this list is hardly comprehensive, it should be noted that I’ll be sticking to Modern Age figures)

Well, that’s kinda what we’re doing today.

Who benefits?

So, before we get started, I should point out that the Phoenix Force is a little complicated (I know–what resource isn’t? But it doesn’t help that the instructions have a MAJOR misprint either), so if you have any questions about the basic (and even advanced) mechanics of HOW the resource works, check out Hunter’s (from Dial H for Heroclix) YouTube explanation video. He goes over the resource from every angle, and answers most of the questions you might have about it.

What I personally like about this resource is that you assign figures Fragment Relics at the start of the game (for free) and get benefits RIGHT AWAY (no moving to pick up hammers, etc.). Yes, the resource does progress in terms of the abilities it grants like other resources, but it gives you more abilities more quickly than other resources–specifically, this resource’s first click mods can be taken advantage of much more easily than some of the other resources out there.

Okay! Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to break down some of my favorite figs based on their current HCRealms.com Unit ratings (1-5 Stars) and talk about some of their fatal flaws and how the Phoenix Force can potentially put them over the top!

Let’s start with some…

4-Star Figures!

Now THAT is an Iron Doom!

—IIM042 Iron Doom (IIM Super Rare) — 200 Points

What He Brings Himself on His 1st Click: Indomitable with 8 Range, Wildcard TA, 8 Movement with Running Shot (although that’s his ONLY click of Running Shot), Naked 12 Attack, 18 Defense with Super Senses, Master Mind and Leadership (and he prevents other figures of lower point costs from using either Master Mind OR Leadership–a proviso that is much more interesting in a world filled with CATWS005 Shield Agents!) and 4 Damage with an awesome SP (LORD OF THE WORLD: Iron Doom can use Outwit and Perplex. Give him a free action and roll a d6 that can’t be rerolled. On an result of 4-6, when he uses Outwit, he may counter a power possessed by an opposing character anywhere on the map.).

Whew! That’s a lot. So why don’t we see him more? In other words, …

What’s Wrong With Him?: Well, he’s tough to fit in on a 300 point team for a few reasons (although we’ll discuss his role in higher point games in a second). He doesn’t fly, nor does he have ANY improved movement or targeting. That’s a HUGE negative for a figure of that point cost. Also, he only has Running Shot for 1 click! That’s it! That’s actually one reason why I found this figure so cool, at least from a design standpoint–it’s like the dial designer said to himself, “If I omit virtually every standard Move and Attack power, can I get away with giving this piece EVERY OTHER SINGLE POWER IN THE GAME?!?!” Plus, it’s Tony Stark AS Doctor Doom. Just a fun concept. So I like the flavor of this guy. But when it comes to his place in the game, if your opponent gets even 1 damage through, he’s lost all efficiency. That’s where the Phoenix Force comes in.

The Phoenix Fix: Now, you can fix SOME of what ails Iron Doom by teaming him with a 50 Point IM3006 Tony Stark, who would provide Mastermind fodder (not a great choice for Mastermind, but in a 300 Point game, that’d be all you could afford), Avengers Initiative TA (which would give Doom Improved Movement AND Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering), Enhancement and Outwit (and with the new Theme Team rules, you now have a Theme Team as they’re both Scientists). But that basic Move and Attack issue remains.

If you play the Phoenix Force with 4 Fragments (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus and Magik) and 2 Assigned Characters (Iron Doom with the Cyclops Fragment and Tony Stark with the Fragment of your choice–probably Emma Frost or Magik, unless your opponent is playing Lydea Mallor or someone of her ilk; then, you’d probably want to assign him the Colossus Fragment to keep her from getting it), you’d still have 20 points left over for either a Splitlip (who would mess up your Theme Team bonus, although that’s not a huge deal), a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. Support Horde Tokens, a KGB Horde Token (gives you a small amount of Prob) or some Warbots. Whatever you choose is probably going to be carried by Iron Doom and might be used as Master Mind fodder in a pinch, so choose wisely. But, for the purposes of this build, we’ll go with Splitlip and say screw the Theme Bonus.

Team Name: No Escaping Your DOOM!!

IIM042 Iron Doom

IM3006 Tony Stark

FI301 Splitlip

The Phoenix Force

Assigned Character x2

Cyclops Fragment, Colossus Fragment, Emma Frost Fragment, Magik Fragment

=300 Points

Now, to start the game, Iron Doom has: Indomitable with 8 Range AND Avengers Initiative TA; 8 Movement with Flight, Running Shot AND Charge; 12 Attack (or 13 or 14, depending on how you use RCE) with Blades/Claws/Fangs and Poison; 19 Defense with Leadership, Master Mind and Super Senses; 4 Damage with RCE, Empower, Perplex AND an Outwit that can potentially Outwit a power ANYWHERE ON THE BOARD. And, during the start of your turn, you can also give him Invuln, Mystics TA against ranged attacks or TK. Plus, when you can get Tony Stark to fly in next to him, you have up to +3 to Ranged Damage (from Splitlip AND Tony Stark’s Enhancement plus 1 or 2 more from the RCE that the Cyclops Fragment grants him) AND a Master Mind target who has access to either Toughness (Splitlip) or Invuln (again, Tony Stark if you can get your positioning right)! That’s a figure who’s hard to take down. This isn’t a team that will win a ROC, but it’ll be competitive in most House Games.

In Epic games (400 points or more) Iron Doom only gets better! With Wildcard TA’s, you’ll have room for even more Support, and you can add in another Fragment to get this team access to the second-to-last Power Set to start the game (Running Shot instead of Charge, +1 to Attack instead of Defense, etc.). In a serious 400 or 500 Point game, a Phoenix Force-powered Iron Doom really does become viable as the main piece on a competitive force.

“I’m not a 5-star figure, eh?”

—AVX006E Scarlet Witch (Starter Set) — 100 Points

Yep! I was shocked too. She’s only a 4-star fig as of today. Let’s take a look!

What She Brings Herself on Her 1st Click: 8 Range! For the cost of 1 pushing damage, she can flat destroy your opponent’s strategy if they’re depending on TA’s (NO MORE MUTANTS: Once per game, give Scarlet Witch a double power action and choose a team ability. Any other character that can use that team ability must roll a d6 that can’t be rerolled and if the result is 1 – 5, that character can’t use the chosen team ability for the rest of the game.). She also has a 9 Movement with Phasing, 10 Attack with Precision Strike, 16 Defense with another awesome SP (MYSTICAL WARDS: Scarlet Witch can use Energy Shield/Deflection. When Scarlet Witch is hit with an attack, the roll is ignored and the attacker must roll again. This new roll can’t be rerolled or ignored.) and 3 Damage with possibly the best supporting SP IN THE GAME (CASTING SPELLS: Scarlet Witch can use Perplex, Probability Control, and Support.)! So, essentially, she’s the best support figure/secondary attacker in Modern right now (in my opinion, of course).

What’s Wrong With Her?: Well… not much! Like Iron Doom she doesn’t fly, but with Phasing she really doesn’t have to. She has no reducers, but that’s assuming you can hit her 18 damage from Range TWICE!! No, the main thing that she’s missing is, again, move-and-attack. She has almost every other desirable power in the game! Having said that, at some point you’ll probably want to use that No More Mutants Trait, which means that she’ll either need Willpower OR Regeneration. Let’s see if the Phoenix Force can help with that!

The Phoenix Fix: I would use her on a team with a couple Fragment users and leave 1 Fragment on the resource. Wanda would gain Charge (now we have Move-and-attack!), +1 to Attack and Toughness (we have a reducer!). So we’ve solved two of her three problems just with what the Phoenix Force gives her on its first click. You’d still need a figure with Support to heal her after she uses No More Mutants (unless you use someone like AvX Black Panther to give her Willpower), but we’ve fixed most of what ails her already! For a basic army build featuring Scarlet Witch and the Phoenix Force, let’s try a Mystical build like this:

Team Name: Life’s a Witch, and Then You DIE!!

AVX006E Scarlet Witch

IIM040 Shaman

FI007 Iron Fist

The Phoenix Force

Assigned Character x2

Cyclops Fragment

Colossus Fragment

Emma Frost Fragment

=299 Points

Wanda would be dangerous from close or from range, the Emma Frost Fragment would give you multiple TK options with her and Shaman, and if you won the map roll (granted, you’d only have +3 to map roll, but that’s not too shabby) and got to go first, you’d be able to fly into position and then zap your opponents flyers with Shaman’s “No Flights” spell, which you’re much more prepared to deal with than they are (hopefully!) with Wanda having phasing and Shaman being able to fly still and White Ranger Iron Fist ignoring both Hindering AND Elevated Terrain. If you were able to take the fight to, say, AvX’s Wundagore Mountain map, you’d have a SIGNIFICANT advantage. This is a team that wouldn’t necessarily do one thing extremely well, but it would do almost everything. Plus, the ability to take away both your opponent’s best TA AND their Flight ability is kind of nasty. If the Map roll goes your way, you can give your opponent fits. And if you assign Cyclops’s Fragment to Shaman, if you can move the resource dial even once, all of the sudden he’s got Sidestep and RCE (one of the cooler combos in the game right now) with a 10 Attack and 3 Damage, 7 range, and an 18 Defense with Barrier and ES/D with a Perplex floating around!! He’s now a Ranged Attacker TO BE FEARED, especially with Wanda backing him up with her Perplex and Prob. This team would take a minute to get going, but they’d be a nightmare to hit from range AND have a fantastic tie-up piece in White Ranger Iron Fist who can dish out healthy amounts of damage himself!

Okay, that blurb turned into a write-up of BOTH Scarlet Witch and Shaman, so consider that 2 for the price of 1 (for the record, Shaman is also a 4-star character, so it still works!)! Can’t believe I almost forgot him!

“Y’all mother$@#%&!$ forgot about Dre!”

Alright, now let’s look at some…

5-Star Figures!

We’re also going to take a look at two pieces who ALREADY rate 5-stars on HCRealms,com, but with the Phoenix Force, they get downright broken!!

First up is…

“Finally, I will lead an army worthy of–dammit, it’s just my infirm uncle, a midget and a bloody Troll! What mewling quim came up with this collection of @$$holes?”

—AVM211 Loki (Chase) — 220 Points

He is already a MONSTER (as he should be–he did take on the combined box office power of Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg AND Samuel L. Jackson–Good God, what a cast! No wonder this thing made a billion dollars!), but as Michigan State’s own Mike Valenti likes to say, let’s do the format!

What He Brings Himself on His 1st Click: How about the Power Cosmic TA (Willpower, powers can’t be countered). How about the Mystics TA (so if you manage to penetrate his defenses, you get a click of unavoidable damage for your troubles)? How about any copyable TA’s possessed by your opponent? (Three sentences in and we’re not even done with his Team Abilities? Good Lord!)

When you get to his dial, he has 11 Movement with Phasing, 11 Attack with Pulse Wave, 18 Defense with Super Senses and Traited Toughness, and 4 Damage with Shape Change! Now THAT is a dial!

What’s Wrong With Him?: Well, again, he’s almost impossible to fit on a 300 point team because of his cost, and because of that we’re gonna discuss some higher point games with Loki. But beyond his cost, just like Iron Doom, he doesn’t fly. Phasing helps slightly with that; although it can’t be used in conjunction with Charge or Running Shot. It doesn’t matter anyway though because Loki has neither. That is his fatal flaw. But we’re going to fix that with The Phoenix Force!

The Phoenix Fix: We’re gonna run a 400 point game here. The Phoenix Force with 5 Fragments plus 2 Assigned Characters is 33 Points, so when you add Loki in we’re at 253. Add in Splitlip for Loki to carry around the map, and now we’re in business! Asgardian Troll is a fun lil’ close combat attacker, and The Serpent is your other Assigned Character, even though he’s mostly just Phasing around the map to maintain adjacency to his nephew. So, assuming that you leave the Colossus Fragment on the resource dial and have Loki use the Cyclops Fragment and carry Splitlip, his first click looks like this: 11 Movement with Phasing and Running Shot with 9 Range; 11 Attack with Pulse Wave and Energy Explosion; 18 Defense with un-Outwittable Toughness and Invuln (since you’d select that as your Phoenix Power every turn just about) and Super Senses AND Defend; and 4 Damage with Shape Change! Jerry Seinfeld has a message for your opponents while they evaluate a Phoenix-powered Loki:

If you don’t have a really good Pulse Wave piece who has a way to get a significant Alpha Strike in, you’re in trouble before you even sit down to play. And we haven’t even gone into everything Loki gets with all the TA’s. Plus, if the Serpent is next to Loki, The Serpent’s Leadership has the potential to take tokens off of Loki even though Loki’s more points! Shhheeeeessssh!. So it goes a lil’ something like this:

Team Name: Stay Up All Night to Get Loki!!

AVM011 Loki

FI027 The Serpent

FI301 Splitlip

FI002 Asgardian Troll

The Phoenix Force

2 Assigned Characters

All Five Fragments

=398 Points

And now for our last 5-Star figure! It’s none other than…

“We’re in the best Phase 2 movie, right? Right?”

CATWS017 Captain America and Black Widow (Chase) — 130 Points

Our last figure up for discussion is also the newest! Let’s take a look!

What They Bring Themselves on Their 1st Click: How about the kitchen sink? I mean, S.H.I.E.L.D. AND Avengers Initiative TA’s, 10 Movement with Sidestep and Traited Stealth, 11 Attack with Precision Strike and Duo Attack, 18 Defense with Toughness and 3 Damage that ignores the Duo Attack modifier! In a word, Awesomesauce. Which is kind of like two words that I mushed together.

What’s Wrong With Them?: Again, not much! They’re a 5-Star character. Outside of Sidestep, they have no move-and-attack though…

The Phoenix Fix: In a 300-Point game, Cap and BW are really good. But, when we give them some S.H.I.E.L.D. Movie Fig support, along with THE PHOENIX FORCE, they really shine! How about:

Team Name: I Have a Plan–Attack!! (Okay, I know that was a Iron Man line, not a Cap quote, but at least he was saying it to both Cap and Black Widow! So that kinda still counts!)

CATWS017 Captain America and Black Widow

CATWS011 Maria Hill

AVM206 Agent Coulson

CATWSH001 SHIELD Support

The Phoenix Force

Assigned Character x2

All 5 Fragments

S.H.I.E.L.D. ATA x3

=292

Cap and BW now have Running Shot, 12 Attack, 18 Defense with Defend and RCE when you give them the Cyclops Fragment! Here’s a Heroclix formula for you: Traited Stealth + Sidestep + 6 Range + RCE + Avengers Initiative TA + DUO FREAKING ATTACK THAT IGNORES THE NEGATIVE DAMAGE MODIFIER ALL OTHER DUO ATTACKS ARE SUBJECT TO = YOUR OPPONENT DOING THIS:

Followed by his friend coming over from another game to see what’s going on:

Until finally the Judge comes over to wonder what all the fuss is about and sees what the hell you’re playing for what was supposed to be a “fun build” tournament:

Again, just for emphasis, you’ve just made a figure who has: Un-Outwittable Stealth; the ability to move and see through Hindering (i.e., most Stealth); Flight; Running Shot; Sidestep; 6 Range with 2 Targets; RCE; Energy Explosion with two targets; Poison; 3 Damage with improved Duo Attack; 18 Defense with Defend; the Phone Book; the Kitchen Sink; and on and on…

And Maria Hill can TK them around the Map with her Fragment! They’ll each have access to Invuln via the Colossus Fragment, and at this point you’re just a really, really bad person who, as Ninwashui likes to say, probably lacks a moral compass.

So, there ya go! There’s four fun builds based around the newest Marvel Heroclix resource. Have fun! Experiment! Folks are not even close to breaking this thing’s true potential yet.

And–more importantly–I got through a 3000-word article without mentioning Iron Pharaoh!! That absolutely has to be some kind of record!!

I am STILL a thing, going forward. Ever forward…

Or, you know, at least I almost did!

So what figs do you think will benefit the most from The Phoenix Force? Post your suggestions in the Comments below, and we’ll be back again in a few days for another Weekly Roundup!

Getting Warmer (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/06/2014!!)

April 7, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Well hello there Batman!! This is the first week of the year that us Michiganders haven’t been completely f-ing snowed in!! We set all kinds of snowfall records. I usually love Winter, but I’m done. 50 degrees Fahrenheit is like Heaven right now…

But enough weather talk. That’s not what you came here for! You’re here for…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!! Here we go, ‘Clix Nation!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix was back again with another short-ish episode (well, short for them–it’s still over an hour). This week the guys discuss the buildup of spoilers over the last week, including some Gen Con exclusives. Additionally, their new Best Build Contest for April is live. I kinda like the army I cooked up, but you can check out everyone’s army (and, more importantly, the build parameters so you can construct your own entry) right here (mine is posted under the User Name “The Underneath”). If you want to see what entries have been inspired by the Dial H April Dial Design Contest (this thing seems to grow every month!), you can do so right here (the idea this month is for all the competitors to design their own Fast Forces team! I’m working on a Cull Obsidian Fast Forces as I write this. Proxima Midnight was Week 1, and now I’m working on Ebony Maw).

–ClixCast was dark again this week. This is as long as they’ve gone without a show in a while now…

–Push to Regen is still on its two-month hiatus. Which might actually be a three-month hiatus–wait, what? They’re back?! Oh, my stars and garters! Alrighty then! Welcome back guys!

–The Quarry is back with some freshly mined content. I give you… Episode 15! Wherein all the madness of Clixathon is broken down by a roundtable of experts…

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming tourney listings, which you can find right here!

Previews:

–Well, with Improved Targeting now a THING, you knew it was only a matter of time before we saw another Bullseye. He’s a rare from the upcoming Deadpool set, and for 110 points, I really like him. His dial is short but sweet, with only 6 total clicks but sporting Running Shot, an 8 Range, 12 Attack and 3 Damage with Prob top dial. With the Phoenix Force or the Book of the Skull, he can be very deadly.

–The 2014 Convention Exclusive figures have been announced, and it is an ECLECTIC mix to say the least. But soon to be legal at a tournament near you are:

—Doop (Gee, I wonder if he’ll be like this awesome amateur dial someone cooked up on HCRealms… I don’t know who THEUNDERNEATH is, but he must be one handsome genius! Oh, wait, they spoiled the dial… and he’s not. Frowny face. But, his sculpt is awesome! Happy Face!)

—Hulk & Red She-Hulk (Okay…)

—Whiplash (Huh?!)

—Impossible Man (Okay, he could be cool… and I don’t think he’s been ‘Clix’d since Secret Invasion…)

—ZOMBIE FREAKING GALACTUS on a 2×2 Colossal Base (AWESOME!!)

—Amazo (I still remember his original version–he was a badass with Hypersonic Speed back when Hypersonic Speed was darn near broken!)

—Jonah Hex (Click the link for his dial–nice lil’ secondary attacker for 100 points. The best Jonah yet, although that is saying almost nothing.)

—World’s Finest (Power Girl & Huntress–the New 52 version. They also set them up like Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, where you can play individually or as a Duo)

—Resurrection Man (Yeah! About time!)

—Black Lantern Anti-Monitor Collossal (Lol. Another Zombie Colossal. Both are beyond cool. Both will be had by me somehow!!)

-And as if all that wasn’t enough, DoFP revealed… Senator Kelly.

Yep, after 2 months, this was the best image I could come up with for “Entertainment News.”

Entertainment News:

–Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out and it is awesome! There are two scenes AFTER the credits start rolling, it moves the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bold new direction, but most of all… it was fun! Great story, some great reveals… I’ll be going back for a second helping at some point. And it looks like I’m not alone–the movie debuted to almost $100 million, a record for April. No SPOILERS though–maybe next week, after everyone’s had a chance or two to see it!

-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is brand new tomorrow, and its “UPRISING” storyline ties right into Cap 2. Should be explosive! Look for Bill Paxton and a host of guest stars to help/hinder our heroes tomorrow night on ABC!

Critical Missives:

–Just one new article this week, expounding on the brokenness of SLoSH main set Bizarro!

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print here in ClixLand! See ya later this week!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

How Bizarre, How Bizarre!! (Or, What to Make of Bizarro and the Flash Figure Review #1!!)

April 5, 2014April 5, 2014 / HypeFox / 3 Comments

Bizarro Ted from How I Met Your Mother. Or maybe Bizarro Grimm?

And now for something completely different! Occasionally, certain figures need to be talked about at lengths that don’t quite jibe with the brief write-ups we get when we do Set Reviews. When that happens, we’ll sometimes omit those figures from the actual Set Reviews altogether so that we can have a little more room to expound on things–in this case, almost 900 words. It’s something we like to call a:

FLASH FIGURE REVIEW!!

Or should I say, “Me am Flash Figure Review #1!!”

So after discussing the SLoSH Top 10, I mentioned that Slosh039 Bizarro really needed a column all his own, and thus I wasn’t going to include him in the set review itself. Well, his day has come!

Wow! Bizarro is at times the best use of points you’ll ever field. His Trait is his major asset: “ME AM NOT BIZARRO!: Bizarro costs 25 points for each Orrazib token you place on his card, up to 12 tokens. When Bizarro takes damage, remove one Orrazib token from his card. When Bizarro is healed, add one Orrazib token to his card (no more than the initial amount). When there are no Orrazib tokens on this card, KO Bizarro. At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6 and click Bizarro that many times. This ability can’t be ignored.”

Did you take all that in? 25 Points for a Orrazib token–you can pay as little as 25 Points for 1 token or 300 Points for 12. So far so good. Interesting mechanic, and the fact that you roll through his 12 clicks is both good and bad (or great if you continually land on Click #7). Looking at Bizarro’s dial, he has great defensive powers (if not a great defensive value) throughout his whole dial (8 Clicks of Super Senses, 4 Clicks of Impervious). He’s always gonna have at least 3 damage showing, and he can frequently augment that with Super Strength or RCE (or sometimes both). The point of all this is to say that yes, pretty much every one of these clicks is worth 25 Points. But his stats and standard powers aren’t what make Bizarro so unstoppable. Look at the Trait again.

“When Bizarro takes damage, remove one Orrazib token from his card.” This power is what makes Bizarro so damn near to broken. Every packet of 25 Points you spend (beyond the first) on Bizarro nets you all of his stats and standard powers… AND A STOP CLICK! That’s right, one of the best–if not THE best–defensive mechanics in the game is thrown in on every click beyond the first… FOR FREE! What?! Outwit all of his defensive powers if you want, but each attack you aim at Bizarro will–at most–do one damage. There’s not another figure in the game with access to 11 Stop Clicks. As far as I know, in Modern, there’s a couple figures–MAYBE–with access to two Stop Clicks: TAB APP Wolverine and Chase Guardian from SL0SH (yes, there may be a couple more that are escaping my brain at the moment–but you get the point). Chase Guardian is more than 200 Points. A 200 Point Bizarro would have SEVEN Stop Clicks! That is unreal!

I don’t know how WizKids values Stop Clicks in terms of Point Cost, but I can argue that a Stop Click should cost at least 10 Points all by itself (it’s forcing your opponent to invest at least one more action–and possibly more–to KO a figure that would have otherwise already been KO’d. It’s like a football game going to overtime; anything can happen, which is good for you, but terrible for your opponent). Well, we just looked at Bizarro’s dial–each of those clicks seems to be worth 25 Points as they sit. When you add in the Stop Clicks, you are exceeding 25 Points worth of value ON EACH CLICK YOU PAY FOR AFTER THE FIRST. And what am I always telling people? Don’t pay retail point costs when you can get better value if you just shop around (ie, do your research). Well, Bizarro is like the Costco of Heroclix figures–the more you spend, the more you save. In building your army, it is always to your advantage when you field a team that’s within the build rules of the game you’re playing yet contains more points than the game’s build allows. Well, Bizarro is one way to do that (Primes are another way).

Me am no have seven stop clicks? Me am think that not ridiculous!

Me am no have down to eleven start clicks? Me am think that not ridiculous!

And it’s also the reason Bizarro has been showing up so much in the Meta! The sweet spot in terms of his casting cost seems to be somewhere between 3 and 7 Orrazib tokens. In that range, he becomes SO damn hard to kill unless his opponent is playing some sort of swarm team. His only drawback is the possibility you’ll land on one of his four clicks of Sidestep (instead of the 8 clicks of Charge and Hypersonic Speed he has). But even that’s not too bad, especially when Bizarro has a Range of 6.

To make matters more broken, Bizarro has the Superman Enemy TA, which means that if you partner him with someone else who has that TA (cough-Luthor) or a Wildcard TA (Like the entire freaking SLoSH set), you can start all sorts of Outwit shenanigans.

His adaptable cost also make him really popular as a “filler” piece in a lot of armies that come up slightly short in points. I’ve played against Bizarro a couple times now, and I didn’t enjoy either game much because Bizarro was nigh impossible for my guys to take down. For all the fuss everyone has made about Slosh026 Mr. Miracle being hard to take down, Bizarro is almost as difficult to hurt in any substantial way.

So, in conclusion, he is definitely worth seeking out if you want to field a really good Legion of Doom team. Or if you just like 5 star figures. Will he end up on Watchist 2? Possibly. But for now, you can use him to your heart’s content!!

Army Build:

For some fun and basic (“basic” meaning “resource-less”) shenanigans with this character, try:

Slosh039 Bizarro @ 75 Points

Slosh011 Sensor Girl @75 Points

Slosh024 Lex Luthor@ 150 Points

Well, that’s all for today–see you this weekend for the Weekly Roundup!!

I’ll Get Her Out on the Falcon!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 03/30/2014!!)

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Well, looks like it’ll be another Mid-Weekly Roundup! Sorry, the beginning of this week has gotten away from me a little bit. But we’re back with the Week (and a half) that was in Clix!! Which means…

IT’S TIME FOR THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

Podcasts:

–Dial H for Heroclix was new again this week (it’s ALWAYS new!) with Episode 38! Up for discussion this week are the Spoiled dials and cards for AvX Month 4 prizes along with their main topic of what the gang likes and dislikes about the current Storyline OP system. Additionally, their new Best Build Contest for April is live. I kinda like the army I cooked up, but you can check out everyone’s army (and, more importantly, the build parameters so you can construct your own entry) right here (mine is posted under the User Name “The Underneath”). By the way… the Phoenix Force is COMPLICATED! FYI.

–ClixCast was dark again this week. C’mon guys, don’t pull a Duo Attack and just vanish on us!

–Push to Regen is still on its two-month hiatus. Although it’s been two months now. Hmmm…

–The Quarry is back with Episode 14. Episode 13 disappeared without a trace and is currently undergoing “editing.” As to what’s being edited, your guess is as good as mine. But Episode 14 is live!

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–New Tourney announcement!

–Up to date upcoming listings, which you can find right here (minus the new announcement I just listed)!

-Clixathon results are in, and you can view them right here! (Oh, that Meta is CONSTANTLY evolving, ain’t it. Except for Brother Voodoo and Lydea Mallor. They are just CONSTANTS.)

Previews:

–Once again, every figure in War of the Light has been spoiled (in terms of their name, number in the set and point cost)!! Check ‘em out here! Also, WizKids released all the first Scenario Pack contents along with links to each month’s prizes and suggested builds.

–We’re gettin’ a rare Canucklehead in X-Men, DoFP, and his sculpt will look familiar to comic fans. He’s about as high-costing a Wolverine (156 points) as I can remember, but he’s a Close Combat machine.

–Since his name is on the damn set, you’d almost expect there to be a Deadpool Prime, right? His name is Evil Deadpool, and he’s pretty damn cool.

Entertainment News:

–Wow! What an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Lots of great guest stars, an intriguing mystery and a badass Deathlok… where has this show been hiding?! My favorite little throwaway bit was when Victoria Hand told Agent Sitwell to basically go and report to the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Btw, if you haven’t picked up Sitwell’s Target exclusive rare fig yet, you are missing out. He’s awesome!

–And I still have not yet decided on an Entertainment News segment logo…

Critical Missives:

–Lots of activity on the site this week! We had:

–Ninwashui’s local tourney report for AvX Month 2!

–His followup article on what he wished he had played in the tourney along with an exploit or two for your future dominating pleasure. (Whoa! That’s an awkward sentence! Not quite what I meant…)

–And my article detailing the results of my second Build column!

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print here in ClixLand! See ya later this week!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

The Build 2, Part 2!! (Or, The Results Are In!!)

March 29, 2014March 29, 2014 / HypeFox / 2 Comments

Let’s… GET IT ON! For REALS this time!

Okay! So… that happened!

Click here if you need to be refreshed on the game type and stipulations! Once you’re caught up, head right back here, cuz the results… are in!

Essentially, this is what it came down to. Except I used a lil’ older version of ol’ Shellhead…

ROUND 1! FIGHT!

My first match was against Ninwashui. He was using AVX009e Cyclops, AVX010e Emma Frost & AVX014 Magneto. Oh, Magneto… I’d forgotten about you and your 20 Defense against ranged attacks. Eeeshh. When rolling for map, we actually tied. On the second roll, I beat him with my superior Theme bonus and took the battle to Wundagore, which ended up being a sizable advantage for me, since his characters had to walk around the long way. Cyclops was, frankly, toast, although in fairness, this was a terrible matchup for that figure. With no taxi, he was tokened by the time he got into the fight, and the Golden Falcon Special Terrain marker was right there to meet him. With the bonuses the Pharaoh gets because Cyke is a “Ruler,” the X-Men’s Fearless Leader went down like a sack of hot, moist and delicious potatoes.

I was able to get one Mind Control through with Brother Voodoo on Magneto, but it ended up being an odd play. I blasted Emma Frost for a healthy amount of damage, but to do so, I had to move Magneto on a Running Shot to the place where Ninwashui probably would have wanted him anyway, so he could start going crazy with Pulse Wave. Luckily for me, my defenses were still pretty high, and even though Mags eventually whittled down Voodoo, Scarlet Witch and Astral Doc Strange, I still had a full Shaman and half an Iron Pharaoh left while Mags was double chipped with no other friendlies to TK anywhere (I think Mags was a couple clicks in, but I could be wrong). Time was called at that point, but it would have been interesting if the match had continued. I believe I still would have won based on where Magneto was at on his dial and the fact that I would have gotten in another Pharaoh attack or two before Magneto could go again (Magneto also buffs the Pharaoh since he too is a “Ruler”).

What I Learned From This Round:

–My strategy for why I built the team I built seems sound at this point. The movement advantage I enjoyed this round certainly paid off in delaying any confrontations until the Golden Falcon soared into the enemy.

–Full dial AvX Magneto is redonkulous. His defense against ranged attacks borders on insane, especially when its combined with Invincible. No matter what angle of attack you take… he’s gonna be around for awhile. The fact that he can run a limited TK for free when he has two action tokens means that even when Mags couldn’t fly or carry, Ninwashui still had a half-decent taxi on his force. He’s got all that PLUS 11 Attack with Pulse Wave and an 8 Range on his first click. He’s a figure I should have been more prepared to face, given that he’s from the freaking AvX Starters. Still, I was taken a bit by surprise by just how powerful he was, particularly in a game that was designed to limit the usefulness of any figure that flies.

–Oh yeah–Iron Pharaoh is really good. You probably know that, but I just thought I’d repeat it in case you’d forgotten.

–Shaman’s “No Flights” spell is a FREE ACTION! Wow. Completely changes the game and it’s not even a power action. Unbelievable! While his no flying shenanigans were the inspiration for this team, his 7 range Perp along with his high defense against ranged attacks were just as important this round.

–Brother Voodoo is Brother Voodoo. He’s sick and wrong. He’s also the first figure that Ninwashui tried to kill. Eventually, he succeeded, but not until the rest of my army had basically taken out the rest of his army. Using Brother Voodoo as bait would be a recurring theme on the night…

What's that Wanda? No, not--it's no more "flights!" Wait, which spell did YOU cast?

Wanda, what was that? No, not–it’s “no more FLIGHTS!” Wait, which “no more” spell did you cast?

ROUND 2! FIGHT!!

For the second round, I played R, a player who’s just gotten back into the game after a long hiatus. Even though he’s still gaining familiarity with the new rules and pieces, he’s extremely adept at positioning his pieces and he learns very quickly. Last month, at the venue’s first AvX event, R defeated me soundly in the championship match. I missed some rolls (doesn’t everyone when they lose?), but, to be frank, R outmaneuvered me at every turn that game. His tactics were simply better.

This time, he was playing AVX003E Thor, WXM040 Hope Summers, AVX008 Professor X & AVX005R Wolverine. So how’d it go?

As good a player as R is, this was an absolute nightmare matchup for him. We ended up marching on Wundagore Mountain again, and after another quick spellcasting by Shaman, R’s entire force was stuck on foot. To make matters worse, my two main attack pieces–Iron Pharaoh and Brother Voodoo–could either attack Professor X from more than 8 squares away or could use a billion different FREE actions so that the good Professor’s fantastically good Movement Special Power (I CAN’T LET YOU DO THIS: Professor X can use Mind Control and is not dealt unavoidable damage from it. Opposing characters within range must be given double power actions instead of power actions.) never went off. He killed Astral Dr. Strange and got Brother Voodoo down to his last click, but by that point the Pharaoh had run amok and Shaman had gotten into the fight (he can sling 3 damage with a range of 7 plus a Perplex he can float around to whoever needs it).

What I Learned From This Round:

–Once again, the strategy behind my build paid off. R’s team was solidly constructed; on most other maps, he would have been competitive and Professor X would have caused his opponent a LOT of problems. But the fact that a flier (Thor) was his main taxi and my team was stacked with a lot of Free Actions ultimately lead to his downfall in this match.

–Shaman can do some damage! He’s great to set up your positioning, but he’s not afraid to mix it up himself.

–Iron Pharaoh? Still good. FYI.

This win put me straight into the finals and…

Wait, you’re not Cyclops!

ROUND 3!! FIGHT!!

This time I played B., another local regular. He’s a very skilled player who knows about the current Meta but actively prefers to come up with his own creative twists on what he plays. Today was no different. As we sat down to play, B revealed his force: AVX009 Cyclops, Tab-M004 Wolverine, WXM023A Deathbird and ASM022 Cloak. Can you guess which one of those four blew up my strategy?

It was Cloak! Hadn’t even considered the possibility of facing him (even though he’s got the X-Men keyword!). But his Phasing Movement PLUS Traited Stealth and Carry were a giant headache to deal with for me. He’s only 55 points, but he has 6 (SIX!!) clicks and useful powers all the way down his dial.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Our match started with me finally LOSING map roll and B. choosing to take us right to the Savage Land side of the map. This side of the map had plenty of Hindering Terrain and Water but not much Elevated Terrain, which was really what slows people down after “No Flights” goes off. The other crappy part (for me, I mean) about losing Map Roll is that my opponent got to go first after choosing which side of the map we’d play on, which meant he’d get a taxi turn out of Deathbird before I could hit the NF button.

That ended up being exactly what happened, as he used Cloak and Deathbird to ferry Cyke and Wolverine over to a four-square patch of hindering terrain to keep them safe. This wasn’t a very far advance at all, and it took them over to the other side of the map.

On my first turn, I moved out my Falcon 3 squares, perplexed up Brother Voodoo Attack value with Scarlet Witch and Shaman and sent him out to take Cyke with his Traited Free Action Mind Control (I wanted Cloak, so I could separate him from the group, but his Stealth made him untargetable). With ES/D, Cyclops had a 20 Defense, but Brother Voodoo had a 12 or 13 Attack at this point with all the modifiers plus his own Prob Control, and I ended up hitting with the MC. In turn, Cyclops blasted Cloak for four (which, at the time, I thought would either kill Cloak or at least get him out of Phasing. WRONG!). So I got the Alpha Strike, but boy, would I pay for it in the next couple turns. My last action of the turn was to bust off “No Flights,” which was able to catch everyone in Hindering. Astral Dr. Strange was also sent into the fray, although it’d take a couple turns to get to his grouping. My last action of the turn was to bust off “No Flights,” which was able to catch everyone in Hindering.

On his turn, he mostly de-chipped and/or got his forces out of Hindering (so that when he was ready to Run Shot or Charge, he wouldn’t also have to pay the Hindering Movement bonus). On turn 2, I moved the Falcon out a little more (although he had been careful with his positioning, so Pharaoh still couldn’t touch any of his figs) and tried to Incapacitate Cloak so that B. would have to push him if he wanted to Carry anyone. Even with Strange’s 8 attack I hit–and Cloak promptly hit his Super Senses roll. Tried to use free action MC again with Voodoo but missed.

My opponent retaliated the next turn by blasting Voodoo with Cyke for four. He then offed Strange’s Astral Projection with a Charge/Blades from Wolverine.

My turn. I pushed Voodoo back to Scarlet Witch for a quick heal. The push sent Voodoo to his last click. I moved Wanda into position for a heal next turn. On B.’s turn, he looked at the map 10 different ways before he had to concede that he wasn’t going to be able to base Voodoo and Witch or Outwit Witch’s Support in such a manner that the Falcon couldn’t just swoop over and Outwit his Outwit.

Back to my turn, and I make my Support roll. I need a 6, but I rolled a 3. No problem. Prob it–and I Prob myself right into a Critical Miss–the Nightmare Scenario. The Crit Miss means Voodoo takes 1 damage… and he’s done. So now my opponent has a Cloak who’s down dial quite a bit, but I’m down 2 whole figs–Voodoo and Astral Dr. Strange. My reckless opening gambit that appeared to have paid off actually didn’t, and my opponent presses his advantage on his next turn. I believe he needed a 9 or 10 to hit Scarlet Witch with Cyke–he nails the first roll, and after her defensive Prob ability, he nails a 10 on the second roll. Wanda hits him back for 1 Mystics damage, but she’s toast. Things are looking bad.

My only advantage was that Cyke was now in range of the Golden Falcon. With his “Ruler” keyword (as we’ve discussed before) and the Pharaoh’s Outwit, this is definitely not a fair fight, and within 2 turns, the Pharaoh wipes Cyclops off of the board AND pushes to his superior second click (Iron Pharaoh loses Invuln on his second click for Toughness, but his Attack goes from 10 to 11 and he gains PHARAOH’S SLAVE: Iron Pharaoh can use Mind Control, but only to target characters of fewer points that himself. When he does, after actions resolve, deal 1 unavoidable damage to the character he hit with his Mind Control.) This was huge, because with Cyclops off the board, all of my opponent’s figs were could be targeted by this ability.

The next couple turns were mostly about dechipping and positioning the Falcon (for me) and positioning and advancing with Cloak carrying Deathbird (for him). Yep! B. was using my own spell against me by having his remaining taxi carry his other taxi since I had given her the “Boot” symbol instead of her normal “Flight” icon.

Eventually he was ready (I believe it was right after I dechipped the Pharaoh) and he had Cloak carry Deathbird right up to my Elevated Terrain perch and set Cloak right between Iron Pharaoh and Shaman, my two remaining figs, and he walked Wolvie right up to the staircase, a point from which the Canucklehead could Charage next turn.

On my turn, I attacked Cloak with the Pharaoh and took him out, albeit a turn too late. As my opponent noted, “He did his job.” I’ll say! I debated attacking Deathbird with Shaman, but I decided to Barrier instead to cut off Wolverine from the fray. This was a mistake that ended up being a blessing.

My opponent’s turn. He Outwits the Barrier with Deathbird (Whoops!! Totally forgot about that!) AND marches Wolvie up to hit Shaman for 3. He dechips Deathbird and it’s my turn. Pharaoh has survived (relatively) intact.

This was the break I needed. I hit Wolvie (who was now on Click 3 I believe) with Pharaoh’s Slave and use him to Flurry/Exploit Deathbird and do a Slave damage to Wolverine. Within 2 turns, Deathbird is dead and both my characters have evacuated the high ground. I miss a Support roll from Shaman on Iron Pharaoh, but it doesn’t matter. Wolverine is essentially immobile, I can start shooting at him from a safe distance with the Golden Falcon, and time is soon called.

This was a grueling game, and there were several moments where I think I was really outplayed. I’m proud of myself for refocusing and getting myself out of said holes, but B. designed a great team and played a great game. He actually ended up with more overall points than me for this particular tournament. But, because of my win here, I went 3-0 and won the whole thing.

What I Learned From This Round:

–Well well well, my map exploitation strategy had one glaring hole–I wasn’t always going win the Map Roll and get Map Choice! Seems like a pretty big oversight, but the Savage Land map wasn’t entirely incompatible with my strategy anyway. Still, worth noting.

–That Cloak is a monster for his points. I’m definitely going to work him into a team of my own at some point. He was useful the whole game; even when surrounded by Wolverine and Deathbird, I still had to attack him because his down dial Poison would have wrecked Shaman. Just a great piece.

–Both Shaman and Iron Pharaoh took a licking and kept on ticking. These are both 5-star pieces in my book. The versatility of this team saw me through in the end. Four of the five pieces I fielded had a way to modify either their own attack values (Iron Pharaoh and Brother Voodoo) or anyone’s values (Shaman and Scarlet Witch with their Top Dial Perplex).

–As proud of this team as I was, I think I learned as much or more about them by watching the way my opponents chose to attack them. 3 different opponents used 3 different strategies. A fun night.

The SPOILS!!

AVX101 Cable!!

Well, all’s well that ends well! For Ninwashui’s take on the night’s events, click here.

To see what Ninwashui wishes he would have played (and how he would attack the Pharaoh, Tellus and other Modern Age Meta figures), click here!

See you tomorrow for the Weekly Roundup!

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Critical Missives

News and opinions about gaming and pop culture filtered through a HeroClix lens!!

Uncategorized

Heroclix – Now with extra Deadpool (A set review for Deadpool)

Local Tournament Report – 5/14/14 Ninwashui’s Kitchen Table

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

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

I Must’ve Forgot–You Can’t Trust Me!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/13/2014!!)

The Only Way to Fix a Fixer Upper!! (Or, The Pieces That Improve the Most When You Play Them With the Phoenix Force Resource!!)

Getting Warmer (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/06/2014!!)

How Bizarre, How Bizarre!! (Or, What to Make of Bizarro and the Flash Figure Review #1!!)

I’ll Get Her Out on the Falcon!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 03/30/2014!!)

The Build 2, Part 2!! (Or, The Results Are In!!)

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