Heroclix

Let’s Build An Excalibur Team!!

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment

Here’s a keyword team with some meta implications. It’s based around two powerful team up cards. The first for Rachel Grey reads, “TEAM UP: EXCALIBUR THEMED TEAM  If 4+ friendly characters with the Excalibur keyword are on the map, they can’t be targeted by opposing characters 5+ squares away.” This is the same thing as the “Behind the Scenes” trait from the XDPS, but it will protect your entire team. It’s also superior to what Prime Bishop can do because he lets opponents target from 1 square further away and only prevents attacks instead of all targetting.

The second team up card is for Rogue. It states “TEAM UP: , CAPTAIN BRITAIN, GAMBIT, JUBILEE, RICTOR If 1+ listed friendly characters are on the map, Rogue and listed character’s Excalibur, Mystical Protectors trait also triggers with close attacks. If 3+ are on the map, when they hit, after resolutions heal the attacker 1 click.” With Rachel Grey forcing the other team into close quarters this team up is a must. Also, we’ll be using three of the listed characters, so they will heal a click whenever they hit any opposing character.

Here’s the team I had in mind:

  • Theme: Excalibur +6
  • HoX068-70 Apocalypse (Krakoan) (70 points)
  • SVACs002 Illusion Generator (10 points)
  • HoX036-60 Rogue (60 points) – with team up
  • HoX052-50 Gambit (50 points)
  • WKMP19-s107 Incandescence (Mandarin Ring) (5 points)
  • HoX001.01 Rachel Grey  (40 points) – with team up
  • HoX063 Mother (35 points)
  • HoX053-30 Captain Britain (35 points)
  • Total = 300 points.

Here’s what each piece brings to the team:

HoX068-70 Apocalypse (Krakoan) – This is an Excalibur keyword theme team, but each piece also has the Xmen keyword and is lower points than Apocalypse. That’s not an accident. It’s so that Apocalypse can use his Krakoan Revival trait. If your opponent wants to KO any of your pieces, he will need to KO Apocalypse first. That’s no easy task because of Apocalypse’s stop click that offers immediate healing the first time it’s revealed and when it shows up a again it has invulnerability and mastermind. Because these powers appear on the stop click they can’t be outwitted or bypassed via pulse wave. A single target pulse wave can be redirected via mastermind and a multi-target pulse wave will have it’s damage reduced to zero by invulnerability. Additionally Apocalypse can be healed easily with the Xmen TA and anyone he masterminds damage to that would be KOed can simply be revived. Also, every time he is hit activates his mystics TA. KOing him is not impossible, but it’s a puzzle that some teams may not have an answer for.

SVACs002 Illusion Generator – Since you know Apocalypse will be the prime target, you might as well give him as much protection as possible. This gives shape change (which can’t be outwitted due to Apocalypse’s cosmic energy) and every time he makes the roll an autonomous bystander is generated that you can put in the opponents line of fire. These bystanders will make opponents waste even more actions killing bystanders instead of what they are really after.

HoX036-60 Rogue – Aside from bringing her team up card to the team, she is a hypersonic harasser with battle fury and she brings a special trick that your opponent may not see coming. “TURNS OUT, I DON’T NEED THE GLOVES: FREE: Choose an adjacent character and a standard power they can use. Until your next turn, Rogue can use that power and has that character’s printed range value.” Also, like Apocalypse she has the mystics TA.

HoX052-50 Gambit – He’s the best character in the set for killing opposing bystanders and you know opponents are going to be running bystanders because you will be giving them bystanders with Krakoan Revival. Aside from KOing bystanders Gambit is just an excellent attacker whose triple target energy explosion will be able to target large numbers of enemies at the same time. He also has the mystics TA.

WKMP19-s107 Incandescence (Mandarin Ring) – Use this to super charge Gambit’s attacks. It turns him into a damage dealing machine.

HoX001.01 Rachel Grey – Aside from her excellent Team up card she can be a decent super figure with her Enhancement and Telekinesis. She’s also useful for healing with her Xmen Team Ability and on the latter half of her dial she can be a decent attacker.

HoX063 Mother (35 points) – Keep her in your starting area and just continuously use her first +1 title character ability.  Depending on what the other team is doing you will probably just use her -3 ability on turn 4 and let her be killed by damage at the end  of that turn. You’ll give your opponent 35 points and let them damage one of your figures and place it in your starting area, but the trade off is worth it. After turn 4 all of the remaining 5 figures on your team will be able to use perplex for the rest of the game. This will take your team with otherwise average attacking stats and just supercharge them. It’s just a ridiculous advantage. Thanks to Krakoan Revival, your opponent can’t do anything to stop this unless they KO Apocalypse first, and that’s just not going to happen by turn 4.

HoX053-30 Captain Britain – On a team with 6 people leadership is a must and her leadership can potentially remove 2 action tokens in a turn. Aside from that, she brings outwit, mystics TA, and could be a capable attacker if someone increases her attack value via perplex. Rachel Grey is already ensuring that opponents will be in charge range and that’s where she Captain Britain thrives.

That’s it for today.

Let’s Build An Old Man Phoenix Team!!

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment

Just like my previous article about Apocalypse Prime (and my article about Maggott that got debunked on Facebook), here’s another build about a top piece from House of X HoX067 Old Man Phoenix.

Here’s the team I had in mind:

  • Theme: Xmen +5
  • HoX067 Old Man Phoenix (160 points)
  • SVCS004 Carnage Symbiote (10 Points)
  • HoX003b Bishop (40 points)
  • HoX006 Cypher (35 points)
  • xdpG020p Dark Phoenix (30 points)
  • HoX044-25 Magneto w/ Xmen Team up HoX044.03 (25 points)
  • Total = 300 points.

Here’s what each piece brings to the team:

HoX067 Old Man Phoenix (160 points)– This is your primary attacker. He enjoys flurrying, using his claws, and healing whatever damage opponents throw at him. He’s powerful, but also very straight forward so not a ton to write about here.

SVCS004 Carnage Symbiote (10 Points) – Assign this to Old Man Phoenix. It grants him Shape Change (that can’t be outwitted) and even more healing because more healing is always a good thing. Also Plasticity means that when he says “I go where I want to go”, no one will argue.

HoX003b Bishop (40 points) – The last thing you want to do is get your Shiny new Wolverine shot full of holes from across the board. Bishop will make sure that opponents will have to stay close in order to hurt you and that’s exactly how Old Man Phoenix likes it. Plus he makes a good second attacker and his outwit could come in handy.

HoX006 Cypher (35 points) – So the combination of Cyber and Prime Bishop should hopefully let your Old Man Phoenix get the drop on on opponents despite having a zero range. The combo of sidestep and TK is perfect for firing your primary attacker into battle. As bonus the perplex is handy and the special barrier will remind you a little of Valaria Von Doom in her prime. What I mean by that is that since Cypher can see through characters he can literally put his barrier behind an opposing character and then automatically knock that opponent into it. He can also use barrier to surround an opponent on all four sides because of his improved targeting.

xdpG020p Dark Phoenix (30 points) – She’s a long range attacker and currently the games best retaliator in modern. You opponent is going to need a lot of hits on Old Man Phoenix to KO him, and Phoenix is a great (and thematic) distraction that will hopefully  give him time to heal some of his wounds. Also if you up her damage to 4 with Cypher she will heal if she does that amount of damage to (or KOs) an opposing figure, and that will be a huge headache for your opponent.

HoX044-25 Magneto w/ Xmen Team up HoX044.03 – Magneto brings a ton of options for a very low point cost. Like Phoenix he’s a long range attacker and retaliator at the same time. But when he retaliates he can be placed anywhere that he can make a ranged attack on his target. With his long range and improved targeting that’s almost anywhere on the board. He ignores characters for targeting so he can target the most vulnerable opposing character even if that figure is behind someone. Or he can target your opponents whole team at once with his triple target energy explosion. Additionally his teamup states, “When Magneto attacks only characters with the Ruler keyword or that can use Leadership, after resolutions remove an action token from him and give each hit character an action token. (After revealing forces, you may replace character cards with their alternates. You can’t choose a Team Up card if your starting characters share a name).” That can make him a tokening nightmare and combines well with his brotherhood TA.

That’s it for today.

When You Absolutely, Positively HAVE To KO Every $&*#(@! In The Room… Accept No Substitutes!! (Or, A Second Opinion On The Top Ten Figures in Captain America and the Avengers!!) (Or OR, The Seventh Night of Clix-Mas!!)

/ HypeFox / 1 Comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome back to the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas 2020! For Night One’s announcement trailer, click here. We built an Excalibur Themed Team with some new pieces on Night 2; Ninwashui finally released his SVC Top Ten on Night 3; he came back to talk Watchlist results on Night 4; and he came back once more to build an Apocalypse Prime army on Night 5! And we postulated that Bystander Generators are the new Duos on Night 6!]

[EDITOR’S NOTE 2: Why are you getting a Top Ten for a set that released in February?! Well, this article has been stuck in WordPress hell for the better part of a year. I normally write in the Classic Editor, but somehow, some way, WordPress decided to convert the entire article into their new Block format with, well, disastrous results. Still, we thought it would be neat to finally finish an article that was started before Covid was even a thing. Hope you guys and gals enjoy a look back at a time capsule from… well, still from 2020, but it feels like a lifetime ago!]

Cap and the Avengers 3

Let the new Clix year begin!!

Oh. Wait. It’s already begun.

Well then. Ninwashui already led off with his Top Ten figures from CAATV, so it’s time I got back on the saddle… to explain how wrong he was with his Captain America selections (well… a few of them, anyway)!

Sorry this has taken so long, but I’ve had a lot of personal things going on these past two three nine <ahem> ten months. But now I’m back!

But before we get to the CORRECT rankings, let’s look at…

SOME NOTES ABOUT THE SET:

War Machine dual Target

Rhodey was best known for once bringing three guns to a knife fight.–Wow!! That was quite the lil’ power creepage, eh? How many pieces did we get in this set that get two attacks a turn? Yes, there are conditions for most of these pieces to make the second attack (Thor, War Machine), but those conditions (usually just, y’know, hit with the first attack) are fairly easy to meet and the benefits are ridiculous! Punisher War Machine just literally needs to have two tokens to unleash hell.

Captain Marvel Busting Through

–Beyond that, there’s a higher than usual amount of figures that get two-for-one special abilities or Traits. Sharon Carter has a Perplex that grants Outwit to any friendly character she uses it on (provided they have the S.H.I.E.L.D. keyword). SR Captain Marvel deals automatic penetrating damage AFTER she makes a Hypersonic Attack. Okay, she probably belongs in the list above. But still. The pieces in this set aren’t just strong; many are among the most versatile figures Wizkids has ever printed!

Ultron Chase

–Once again, we have a set of Marvel Chases that don’t have a strong thematic connection. In this case, they’re connection was actually material–as in, they are each the only pieces in the set that come with Clix FX, a previous mechanic making a welcome return here.

(Anytime I can see a visual representation of a mechanic on the map, I’m a happy camper. Makes it harder to forget elements during a match!)

So with that, let’s get on to five…

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Namor 2

5. CAAV069 Namor — 75 Points — Chase:

This dial would probably crack the Top 10 of most other sets. Unfortunately, the King of Atlantis here is trapped in an absolutely stacked lineup, so he will have to settle for Honorable Mention.

Still, a 12 Attack top dial with a native 4 Damage for 75 points is always going to get some notice. But what I really love about this version of Namor is how his two Traits really open up Water Builds, a sub-genre of team building that’s never really been Meta but is always a ton of fun.

Namor comes with a Flood Marker Clix FX that counts a Water Terrain and works with his first Trait (AVENGING SON OF ATLANTIS: Namor starts the game with the Flood marker in his square. // The Flood marker is water terrain. // Smoke Cloud as FREE, but to generate water terrain markers instead of hindering terrain markers. // FREE: Place the Flood marker in Namor’s square.). So on any Map, he can literally flood seven squares every turn, which can activate Traits and Special Powers on a ton of other Dolphin-symbol characters (check out the aptly-named Dolphin from DC Rebirth, for example. If you can guarantee she starts her Charge in Water Terrain every time she attacks, she doesn’t halve her movement and suddenly she’s probably worth double her Point Cost).

His second Trait complements the first and helps other Dolphin characters hit their marks (MASTER OF THE SEVEN SEAS: (Dolphin symbol). // Friendly characters with (Dolphin symbol) or who share a keyword (with Namor) modify attack +1 if making a close attack while occupying water terrain.).

Losing Map Roll is always a big risk with Water Builds, but Namor mitigates that risk quite a bit!

Songbird

4. CAAV065 Songbird — 60 Points — Super Rare:

As we’ll soon see, the Super Rare slot in this set is PACKED with heavy hitters!

So there’s nothing really tricky here. Songbird is just REALLY efficient for her points.

Top dial, she’s rocking a 10 Movement with Running Shot, an 11 Attack with Pulse Wave, 18 Defense with Super Senses and 3 Damage with Probability Control. That right there is about as packed as you can get for 60 Points!

She also has one of the set’s Theme-based token Traits (ASSEMBLED BOLTS AND MASTERS: Once per turn when Songbird hits, after resolutions you may roll a d6. 5-6: If your force has 3+ friendly characters with the Masters Of Evil or Thunderbolts keywords, remove an action token from Songbird -or- give an action token to a hit target. If your force has 6+, do both.), which is fine, but her second Trait (SOLID SOUND CONSTRUCTS: Barrier as FREE, but only to generate 1 marker then remove all other blocking terrain markers adjacent to the generated marker.) is borderline amazing!

Basically, she can put up one Barrier marker to make it difficult to target her, or you can use that Trait offensively to destroy opposing Barrier markers and open up strategic lines of fire!

This is the best version of Songbird they’ve ever made (and get used to that, because it’s going to be true for a bunch of different characters that we’re going to be covering!).

Sharon Carter

3. CAAV006 Sharon Carter — 35 Points — Common:

So, just in case you were thinking the S.H.I.E.L.D. keyword would be gone from the Meta for awhile, here’s the first of MANY pieces with that keyword that we’ll be discussing today.

Sharon only has three clicks, but she’s ridiculously affordable, has great survival instincts with the recurring Espionage Trait (ESPIONAGE: Stealth, Improved Movement: Hindering, Improved Targeting: Hindering.), gives your squad some cheap Leadership AND comes packing with a Special Damage Power (STAND BY FOR UPDATES: Perplex. When Sharon Carter uses it to target another friendly character with the S.H.I.E.L.D. keyword, that character can use Outwit until your next turn.) that can be gamechanging.

Her Leadership special works better when she’s teamed with any almost any version of Steve Rogers, but that Damage Special absolutely breaks a different soldier that we’ll be talking about when we get to the top of this list…

Taskmaster2

2. CAAV049 Taskmaster — 60 Points — Rare:

Yet another switchblade version of one of my favorite villains, this Taskmaster comes STACKED with powers and abilities!

He moves through Hindering Terrain, he has the Wildcard TA, starts with a 12 (TWELVE!!) Attack with B/C/F AND Perplex, and his pick-a-power Trait (YOU FORGET THAT I TOOK ON THE AVENGERS: FREE: Choose a standard speed or defense power printed on this card. Taskmaster can use that power until your next turn.) makes him extremely hard to KO. Heck, with Stealth up top, he’s hard to even touch!

The Black Widow Movie set gave us a bunch more Taskmasters, but I don’t know that it gave us anything (for the points) that’s better than this.

1. CAAV060 Blade — 50 Points — Super Rare:

A potentially neverending Charge (provided he offs an enemy with the Monster or Mystical keyword each time); Stealth; Improved Movement: Hindering; Improved Targeting: Hindering; Steal Energy (with the ability to heal past his starting line); Blades (of course) and a 17 Defense with Combat Reflexes.
Yes, he’s a bit chewy, but he recovers well and his offense could potentially swing the match. His subpar 10 Attack at this level is the only thing keeping him from the Top Ten.
And NOW…..

THE TOP TEN FIGURES IN CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE AVENGERS!!

War Machine CAAV

10. CAAV053A War Machine — 100 Points — Super Rare:

Two Team Abilities. A Trait (MINI-GUN TARGET LOCK: When War Machine hits, after resolutions you may give a hit character a Target Lock token, then remove all other Target Lock tokens. // FREE: Make a range attack using War Machine’s printed attack and damage values, but only to target the character with his Target Lock token.) that allows up to a second ranged attack in one turn.

Plus Indomitable, Improved Targeting: Hindering, the ability to make ranged attacks while based and some pretty good stats. Also, this Preview set off a firestorm of anticipation among Heroclix fans for this set.

Hell, War Machine would be higher on this list if his B-Side wasn’t EVEN BETTER…

Old Steve Rogers

9. CAAV038 Steve Rogers — 50 Points — Rare:

Stats are aight. He has the recurring Living Legend Trait (LIVING LEGEND: The first time each game Steve Rogers would be KO’d, instead turn him to his last non-KO click, then roll a d6 and heal him equal to half the result. Protected: Pulse Wave.), so he’s a bit harder to put away than his point cost might suggest.

But his Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. Building Trait (WE’LL TAKE ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET, IF YOU’RE WORTHY: Leadership. During force construction, you may choose a standard character of 50 points or less. That character loses its printed keywords (for the entire game) and then gains either the Avengers –or– S.H.I.E.L.D. keyword (choose one).) is the main reason to play him.

This can even lead to some comic-ly ridiculous scenarios, like:

-Chase Ultron on his rookie dial can now suit up for S.H.I.E.L.D.!
-Valeria Von Doom can now be a child Avenger!
-Heck, if you want, you can take SR Q’s 50 point dial… and do nothing with it (as he’s not a standard character. Not all of these ideas were going to be winners.).

Peggy Cap

I don’t know who photoshopped this, but it’s pretty good!

8. CAAV075E Peggy Carter — Sideline Active (Aka “Free”) — Ultra Chase: 
So you’re telling me that if I field the ridiculously good Steve Rogers I just ranked at #9, I can also back him up with a 50-Point Peggy that Charges, has Precision Strike, has Indomitable, sports Leadership AND generates a really good Bystander Token… and that I can do all that FOR FREE?
That Rogers is good enough on his own. He doesn’t need any more value packed in.
This Peggy is just kind of alright for her points on her normal dial, but her Sideline Active free dial is bananas!
Maria Hill
7. CAAV008 Maria Hill — 45 Points — Common:
Why is a 45-Point Common all the way up at #7 in my Top Ten? Because she has an Omega-Level Movement Special Power (WELCOME TO PLEASANT HILL: Mind Control. Once per turn when a friendly character uses Mind Control to target a character that hasn’t been damaged this turn, after resolutions that targeted character can’t make attacks or be attacked until your next turn unless it’s the only character on its force.) that opens up all kinds of new Build possibilities!
I remember when Ninwashui and I thought Mind Control was one of the weaker powers in the game a few years ago; well… not anymore. Suddenly Mind Control is essentially a Maze of Ith (for non-MTG lifers, read “neutralizing force”) for your opponent’s best piece.
She also has Leadership coupled with the Espionage Trait and Shape Change for survivability. Even when she finally loses her special power, she gains Perplex and the ability to do Penetrating damage.
Truly a groundbreaking piece!
Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider
6. CAAV071 Ghost Rider — 70 Points — Chase:
His dial is great for his points (except for an average to low Attack across the dial), but he adds some wrinkles that really make him worthwhile.
First, his Special Ram ability (THE AVENGERS HAVE A SWEET NEW RIDE: Passenger: 3, but only to carry character who share a keyword regardless of [Wing symbol]. // Ram. When Ghost Rider uses it, he modifies speed +3 and does not take unavoidable damage from it.) is basically the best of its kind in the game.
Secondly, he has the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Mystical keywords… I mean, what team DOESN’T he fit on?
Ultron Age of Ultron
5. CAAV074(?) Ultron — (???) — Chase:
Yup! Another Chase from just a killer run of Chases (and we’re not done yet). I just threw question marks up there for his exact set number and Point cost because, honestly, each of his three point levels is just stupidly ridiculous.
For God’s sake, they even brought back his classic 14 Attack Value, which is honestly just stupid. If his dial was naked and you just had to make due with his native stats, he’d be a great value. Instead, you can pretty much just name a random great power, and he probably has it.
The second click on his 150-Point dial has a 13 Attack with Pen/Psy, 18 Defense with Impervious and 3 Damage with Perplex. Yeah. A 13 Attack Value. On his second click. #$%# off, Wizkids!
If your opponent places this guy in his Starting Area when forces are revealed, good luck.
Immortal Hulk
4. CAAV058 Immortal Hulk — 100 Points — Super Rare:
At some point when designing this set, someone in charge at Wizkids looked at all the broken pieces they were already stuffing into this set and thought, “Hey… why don’t we make a Hulk piece where we combine the survivability of that “Ha-Ha Joker” from Joker’s Wild with, y’know, the offense of an enraged, uh, Hulk. That seems like it’d be a pretty fair figure to play against.”
That was a real thought that a real adult had.
This piece is just stupid. He’s already starting to put his stamp on the Meta.
I actually got to play against this guy in Sealed, and the only reason I beat him is because I miraculously pulled the #1 piece on this list.
Thor Chase 2
3. CAAV070 Thor –– 125 Points — Chase:
Another piece that–like Ultron–is darn near broken at any of its point levels.
It must have come from the same design space as that Immortal Hulk we just talked about.
Designer One: “Uh… what if we designed the Quintessential Thor dial”
Designer Two: “Hmmm… okay, we could–
Designer One: “And then added Probability Control!”
Designer Two: “But… why though?”
Again: this was a real thought that a real adult had.
Thor’s Lightning Marker Trait (BRING THE LIGHTNING: Thor has PROTECTED: Energy Explosion. // Thor starts the game with the Lightning marker attached. // When Thor hits with an attack not using Energy Explosion, you may place the Lightning marker in the square of a hit character. If you do, after resolutions make a range attack using Energy Explosion at no cost targeting that character regardless of range or line of fire. At the beginning of your next turn, attach the Lightning marker to Thor.) alone will make sure you get your investment out of fielding this absolute Monster.
Captain Marvel Anime
2. CAAV054 Captain Marvel — 95 Points — Super Rare:
Wizkids has been on a mission lately to make the perfect Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel, and if there’s a better Captain Marvel to been had, I’ve not seen it.
Her top dial Movement Special Power (HIGHER!: Hypersonic Speed. When Captain Marvel uses it, after resolutions deal 1 penetrating damage to an opposing character she moved through. If that character is a vehicle, deal it 3 penetrating damage instead.) is among the best versions of Hypersonic Speed we’ve ever had.
And the Chewie Bystander Token she generates is also top notch.
Altogether, she is going to be a force until she rotates.
Punisher War Machine 2
1. CAAV053B Punisher War Machine — 95 Points — Super Rare PRIME:
And now we circle back to the title of the article!
When you absolutely, positively have to KO everything in the room…
Here’s the best Colossal Stamina Trait you’ll ever see (THE WAR NEVER ENDS: Colossal Stamina. // If Punisher War Machine has two action tokens, he has “FREE: Make an attack.”).
He also has a great Attack Special Power (JUST NEED TO LIGHT THE FUSE: Energy Explosion, KNOCKBACK.).
By the way, he sees through Hindering and has a starting 12 Attack and 4 Damage.
He is a one-man army except he only costs 95 Points at most.
And he is the number one figure in this set!!
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the Comments below.
And we’ll see you here tomorrow night!!

The Best Modern Day Duo Figures… Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas 2020!!

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome back to the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas 2020! For Night One’s announcement trailer, click here. We built an Excalibur Themed Team with some new pieces on Night 2; Ninwashui finally released his SVC Top Ten on Night 3; he came back to talk Watchlist results on Night 4; and he came back once more to build an Apocalypse Prime army on Night 5!]

Y’know, back in the day (circa like 2012-2014-ish), some of my favorite figures to collect and play were Duo pieces that represented a sort-of team-up between two characters within one dial. My all-time favorites were probably Sentry and Void (which, actually, wasn’t TECHNICALLY a Duo fig, but whatever) from Chaos War and Captain America and Black Widow from the epic Captain America and the Winter Soldier Movie Set.

But a few years ago, Wizkids phased out the DUO symbol; no more Duos for us, it seemed…

[And no, I’m not talking about dial flipper pairs like Power Man & Iron Fist or Hawkman & Hawkgirl.]

And yet…

Over the last two years, a new sort of Duo figure paradigm has emerged. Instead of two heroes (Iron Man and War Machine) or two villains (Lex Luthor and Joker) or some mix thereof (Professor X and Magneto) plastered onto one dial, Wizkids has started taking prominent characters from the comics and given them one of their supporting (sidekick; pet; kid; sibling; love interest; TMZ; you get the idea…) characters as a Bystander Token!

And now, these pieces have started to take over even the Meta!

So let’s count down the 10 best pieces in Modern that generate Bystander Tokens!

Wait, are we living in Earth X right now?

10. EAX056 Iron Man (w/ Iron Avengers):

Okay, we’re starting with a bit of a cheat here, since Iron Man actually comes packing an entire Bystander Avengers, but this is one of the best Bystander generators they’ve ever made, helped in particular by a Map which was specifically made for him!

9. ABPI 041a Falcon (w/ Redwing):

Redwing brings Hypersonic Speed, Precision Strike, Super Senses, a Resurrection Trait (VAMPIRIC BIRD: Once per game, when Redwing would be KO’d, instead it isn’t. Protected: Pulse Wave.).

But to make this list, there needs to be some synergy between the Clix itself and the Pog it generates; well, Redwing’s second Trait (ALWAYS BY OUR SIDE: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. [4-6]: Remove an action token from a friendly adjacent character named Falcon or Captain America.) ensures a 50% chance to bring just that!

8. F4037 Dr. Fantastic (w/ Franklin Galactus):

Franklin Galactus is one of the most powerful tokens Wizkids has ever published; 10 Range, 12 Attack with Pulse Wave and a native 5 Damage.

The only reason this doesn’t end up higher is because Dr. Fantastic can’t generate him until the end of his dial.

7. HX055 Kate Pryde (w/ Lockheed):

Another Lockheed!! This version brings Energy Explosion and Perplex!! Perfectly complements Kate’s Probability Control and Precision Strike!

6. F4049 The Thing (w/ Chuck and Buzz):

What a design! This version of The Thing is actually a 4-click supporting character! And both of his sons are efficient close attackers; each of them are capable of serious damage when Thing uses his Empower with them!

5. F4047A Silver Surfer (w/ Dawn Greenwood):

Okay, first of all, this Surfer is practically Meta-Worthy. Next, Dawn Greenwood has the potential to completely enhance him. She can pull him to her from across the Map; she has both Enhancement and Perplex, although the latter only works on Surfer; and if your opponent bothers to KO her, all of Surfer’s stats get +1 for the rest of the game!

4. HX003 Bishop (w/ Shard):

Bishop on his own is good. But he also generates his sister Shard, who gives all friendly characters a “Behind the Scenes” type of Trait where they can’t be targeted unless their opponent is within 4 squares!

3. SVC014 Mary Jane Watson (w/ Paparazzi):

Mary Jane has turned up on so many WINNING teams of late you’d think she was the main attraction of SVC.

She can use her star power to generate up to three Paparazzi tokens who are all Autonomous and all have the power to Incapacitate your opponent’s best figures.

2. CAAV054 Captain Marvel (w/ Chewie):

Chewie is a Bystander Token that Carol generates for free whenever she wants. Chewie has Flurry, Plasticity, B/C/F AND Perplex. You literally cannot get more than that on a free Bystander Token. If your rolls are lucky enough, your 0 point Bystander here can deal up to 12 damage a turn!!

  1. ABPI074 Thanos (w/ Skreet):

Thanos is an awesome Meta-worthy piece. Skreet, his Bystander Token, has the best Perplex in the game. Plus she can deal Penetrating Damage on her own too.

Sometimes, it’s not that complicated…

What are your favorite Bystander Tokens? Sound off in the Comments below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Night 7 drops tomorrow!

Let’s Build An Apocalypse Prime Team!! Or… The Fifth Night of Clix-Mas 2020!!

/ ninwashui / Leave a comment

So now that all of the pieces from House of X are known I wanted to build a dream team around one of the top pieces from that set. This guy:

Specifically the 150 point version of him. I’ve been theory crafting teams based on his keywords and I believe using the Ruler keyword to add him to the Spiderman Family keyword creates the best team for him. Here’s the team I had in mind:

  • Theme: Spiderman Family +5
  • HX059BV Apocalypse (150 points)
  • SVCS004 Carnage Symbiote (10 Points)
  • SVC068 Spider-Pharaoh (60 points)
  • WKMP19-S101 Remaker (Mandarin Ring) (5 points)
  • SVC028 Flash Thompson (35 points)
  • SVC027 Gwen Stacy (25 points)
  • SVC014 Mary Jane Watson (15 points)
  • Total = 300 points.

Here’s what each piece brings to the team:

HX059BV Apocalypse (150 points) – This is your primary attacker. He gets to chose one power each turn via his CELESTIAL TECH and this gives him a wealth of options for both attack and defense. You’ll likely choose Hypersonic Speed when first closing with the enemy and then flurry or pulse wave when you are engaged with the enemy. Defensively he is Protected against both Outwit and Psychic Blast. He has full dial Steal energy and the BEHIND THE SCENES trait. And if he chooses to use his CELESTIAL TECH trait defensively he could chose Mastermind and shunt attacks to his secondary attackers or even better some of Mary Jane’s Paparazzi bystanders. He could also chose Regeneration if he’s taken damage.

SVCS004 Carnage Symbiote (10 Points) – Assign this to Apocalypse. It grants him Shape Change (that can’t be outwitted) and Healing to go along with the other defenses and healing I already mentioned. The plasticity will make sure that once he gets up to his target, they won’t get away.

SVC068 Spider-Pharaoh (60 points) – Group transportation and several support figures rolled into one. You’ll most often use her Leadership, Probability Control, and Empower to support the Close Combat attackers on your team, but don’t forget that she is a capable attacker herself with 4 starting damage. 

WKMP19-S101 Remaker (Mandarin Ring) (5 points) – Equip this to Spider-Pharaoh for the extra defense shape change offers and the poison may come in handy for close encounters.

SVC028 Flash Thompson (35 points) – Your secondary attacker. Grant him Exploit Weakness and steal energy by naming him the Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death. There are two awesome reasons to use him. He shuts down opposing shape change within 4 squares even if those figures can’t be outwitted. And the second reason is that if the Opponent KOs him, the Agent Venom he turns into is a super deadly close combat attacker with Flurry Blades/Claws/Fangs and Battle Fury.

SVC027 Gwen Stacy (25 points) – Another secondary attacker. Grant her Poison and steal energy by naming her the Apocalypse’s Horseman of Pestilence. Just like flash Thompson she can take away enemy defenses just by being near them, although she removes super senses instead of shape change. And while she does turn into a nice version of Ghost Spider, it’s not nearly as deadly a transformation as Flash Thompson’s.

SVC014 Mary Jane Watson (15 points) – There’s not much more I can say about Mary Jane that I didn’t already say in my Spiderman and Venom Absolute Carnage Top 10. You can assign her to be Apocalypse’s Horseman of Famine, but that won’t make much difference in most games.

That’s it for today. Stay Safe out there.

Let’s Build An Excalibur Themed Team!! Or… The Second Night of Clix-Mas 2020!!

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment
No, not this one. Jubilee and Gambit and Rogue? Wait, is that Apocalypse? What is happening here?
Okay, this is more like it.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Night 2 of the 2020 Twelve Nights of Clix-Mas!! For Night One’s announcement trailer, click here.]

So we’re still waiting for House of X to debut, but we’ve already gotten spoilers for all the figures. And now we’re starting to see the breadth of the Team-Up cards that are included in this set.

It seems like the power level of Team-Up cards has gone up a bit, and there’s one in particular I want to focus on here:

It’s card number 001.01 (Common Rachel Grey):

“TEAM UP: EXCALIBUR THEMED TEAM: If 4+ friendly characters with the Excalibur keyword are on the map, they can�t be targeted by opposing characters 5+ squares away. (After revealing forces, you may replace character cards with their alternates. You can’t choose a Team Up if your starting characters share a name).”

Yup! It’s that ol’ “Behind the Scenes” Trait from Onslaught and Mojo, only here, it goes to your whole team!

There are a couple caveats though.

First, you have to play 40 Point Rachel Grey. She’s a Flyer with TK and Enhancement, so she’s not a bad support piece. But not exactly Meta either. Second, you have to at least 4 characters, or you don’t get the benefit.

Luckily, the new set gives us a ton of great new Excalibur options!

Common Trinary, Rare Rogue, SR Gambit, SR Nightcrawler are just some of the 17 new Excalibur pieces you can use to build your army.

For this Build, I’m going to forego Equipment and go au natural!!

EXCALIBUR!!

5 Character Themed Team

HX001.01 Rachel Grey (40 Points)

HX055 Kate Pryde (65 Points)

HX061V Juggernaut (100 Points)

HX068V Apocalypse (70 Points)

XDPSG010P Phoenix (25 Points)

How It Works:

This is a fun Excalibur design that gives Juggernaut a chance to go crazy without being sniped from across the map. Kate Pryde can actually carry Apocalypse into position and offers the ability to “de-equip” opposing characters. She also provides both Prob and a sixth member for the team in the form of Lockheed, one of the better Pogs in MODERN right now.

Apocalypse has only 4 clicks, but they’re all good, and with Rachel’s help, he can fire off Pen/Psy shots for up to 4 Damage.

And Phoenix, as a Colossal Retaliator, only gets better when your opponent can’t snipe her before she gets to, y’know, Retaliate.

Finally, if things go south, both Apocalypse and Kate Pryde have Krakoan Revival to get Rachel or Kate herself back into the fight!!

What keywords are you excited to build around with the new set coming out soon?

Let us know in the Comments below.

And we’ll see you… tomorrow night!

12 Nights of Clix-Mas 2020… Night One?

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment
This feels like the appropriate Clix-Mas imagery for this year…

It’s been a tough year, hasn’t it?

Putting aside the disruption to the normal Clix year, on a personal level I know at least two folks from my local venue who have suffered from Covid-19 (luckily, both seem to have come out the other side no worse for wear–albeit after some struggles).

Several extended family members too.

Now normally, we would have already started our 12 Nights of Clix-Mas coverage already. But honestly, we’ve faced a ton of personal and professional challenges this year (haven’t we all), and we just haven’t had time to write like we normally would.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: It hasn’t helped that WordPress has forced us into this weird new block format that has so far eaten at least one nearly complete Top 10 column. Sigh…. ]

But we’ve still got plenty of opinions about Heroclix specifically, and entertainment in general.

I’m gonna try to publish 12 articles between now and Christmas. This year I may fail more spectacularly than I ever have before.

But we’re gonna try.

So here we go with tonight’s Night One announcement!

Tomorrow… God willing… will be Night Two, where we’ll actually get into, like, some topics and stuff.

Stay Safe everybody!

We’ll see you soon.

By The Numbers: A Captain America and the Avengers Preview!!

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Roberto Ty is back with a preview of the next set! Roberto’s already on to some other column ideas, so if you like what you see here, let him know in the Comments below!]

Cap Prerelease

Pre-release events for Captain American and the Avengers began Wednesday, January 22nd. The set has been largely spoiled through various unboxing videos and retail store online previews. As with any new set, the anticipation is high for new figures that will impact the Metagame. Before looking at Meta construction, most players will have the chance to test run the new figures in Sealed Pre-release events. The Sealed format offers a more level playing field for casual and competitive players alike…if the set design is balanced. While I’m sure there will be primers written in the next few days that will do a deep dive, figure by figure analysis, I prepare by taking a broader view at the numbers.

Rarity Distribution

 

Rarity # Figures
Common 17 plus 1 Prime
Uncommon 17 plus 1 Prime
Rare 17 plus 1 Prime
Super Rare 17 plus 1 Prime
Chase 6 with ClixFX base
Ultra Chase 1

 

The Numbers

The following numbers are based on what has been spoiled so far. We’re still missing a handful of figures, but this small number shouldn’t impact greatly our general analysis.

Point Value Distribution

 

Point Value # Figures
150 2
125 2
100 7
95 1
90 5
85 7
75 17
70 2
65 7
60 8
55 1
50 21
45 5
40 3
35 1
30 4
25 3
20 2
15 1

 

The bulk point values for figures fall in these two values, 50 and 75 points, providing most builds the potential to field at least 3 figures on average. At the high-end is 150-point Captain Marvel and on the low-end a 15-point S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. As most experienced players know, a tentpole figure doesn’t always translate to success. Low-point support pieces are just as critical and this set has many low-point characters to fill out your teams. There are 16 figures under 50 points.

Keywords and Team Abilities

 

Keyword # Figures
Avengers 29
Soldier 21
S.H.I.E.L.D. 19
Thunderbolts 19
Scientist 18
Spy 17
Masters of Evil 17
A.I.M. 11
Ruler 11

 

No surprise here, the dominant keyword for an Avengers set is Avengers, followed by Soldier, Scientist, S.H.I.E.L.D., Thunderbolts, Spy, Masters of Evil, and A.I.M. Since Probability Control is typically in short supply, making a Named Themed Team is another way for you to manipulate the dice in your favor. Look to build an Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil, or A.I.M. named theme team.

 

Team Ability # Figures
No Affiliation 32
S.H.I.E.L.D. 10
Masters of Evil 10
Avengers 8
Team Player 6
Mystics 4
Underworld 3
Power Cosmic 2
Hydra 2
Defenders 1
Spider-Man 1

 

While the Avengers keyword dominated, the team ability doesn’t top the list. Instead, S.H.I.E.L.D. is prevalent, thanks to all the low-cost support agents and officers. Let’s review these team abilities. Knowing what they do will help you build your sealed team quicker.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Adjacent friendly characters modify range +1. POWER: Choose an adjacent friendly character. Once this turn, the chosen character modifies its damage +1 when making a ranged attack.

Masters of Evil. Colossal Stamina.

Avengers. When this character is given a MOVE action, modify speed +1.

Team Player. Wild Card. Uncopyable.

Of these team abilities, S.H.I.E.L.D can really have a great impact on your build, especially if your team has range. So let’s look at the range breakdown next.

Range and Improved Abilities

Range # Figures
0 10
1-5 33
6 16
7 10
8 4
9 1

 

Expect the bulk of your team to have limited range. This means that if you do pull a figure with a range of 6+, set it in the pile for consideration to make your team. Characters with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability can aid your team if your range is limited.

  • Improved Ability
 # Figures
  • Movement: Hindering
 27
  • Targeting: Hindering
 19

 

Thanks to the Espionage trait, many characters have Stealth, Improved Movement: Hindering, and Improved Targeting: Hindering. Let’s look at the dominant traits next.

Traits

 

☆ Trait # Figures
☆ Assembled Bolts and Masters 19
☆ Assembled Avengers 14
☆ Espionage 13

 

☆ Assembled Bolts and Masters. Once per turn when (name of character) hits, after resolutions you may roll a d6. 5-6: If your force has 3+ friendly characters with the Masters of Evil or Thunderbolts keywords, remove an action token from Ghost -or- give an action token to a hit target. If your force has 6+, do both.

☆ Espionage. Stealth, Improved Movement: Hindering, and Improved Targeting: Hindering.

☆ Assembled Avengers. Once per turn when (name of character) hits, after resolutions you may roll a d6. 5-6: If your force has 3+ friendly characters with the Avengers keyword, remove an action token from Iron Man -or- give an action token to a hit target. If your force has 6+, do both.

I think the most impactful Trait is Espionage, primarily as a Stealth-busting option. There is a large number of characters with Stealth, but thanks to this Trait I wouldn’t build around it.

Team Mobility: Flight and Telekinesis

 

Team Mobility # Figures
Flight 19*
Telekinesis 3
*051 Moonstone has flight, but Passenger: 0.

 

The ability to move your team can often be the difference in a victory or a loss. In this set, there are 19 characters with flight, with only 18 being able to carry. I would, therefore, value flight characters and automatically put them in the pile for consideration when building my sealed team.

The other method for moving your teammates is Telekinesis. Unfortunately this power is in short supply with only 3 characters possessing the power.

Indomitable and Willpower

INDOMITABLE
Rarity # Figures
Common 3
Uncommon 4
Rare 3
Super Rare 8
Chase 3
Ultra Chase 1
TOTAL 22
WILLPOWER
Rarity # Figures
Common 3
Uncommon 1
Rare 1
Chase 1
TOTAL 6

 

The ability to perform an action in consecutive turns without taking pushing damage can be a difference maker. Indomitable is more prevalent in the Super Rare rarity while Willpower isn’t too common a special power at all. If you pull a Super Rare or higher, chances are you’re playing it. Therefore if you do find a lower rarity character with either Indomitable or Willpower, you just might put the figure in your consideration pile.

Powers

A little programming note before we breakdown the powers for movement, attack, defense, and damage. If a power is included in a special power, then I listed it as that power and not under the special power breakdown. For example, if a special damage power provided Shape Change then I listed it under Shape Change and not under the special. In evaluating the powers, I considered the starting clicks and not later clicks. While later-dial powers are a consideration when building your force, most of the time these are tiebreakers evaluations.

Movement

 

Power # Figures
Running Shot 27
Stealth 25
Charge 21
Sidestep 17
Phasing / Teleport 5
Mind Control 3
Hypersonic Speed 2
Plasticity 2
Force Blast 2
Flurry 1
Leap / Climb 1
Earthbound / Neutralized 1

 

As discussed earlier, the Espionage trait provides many characters with Stealth, but they also neutralize that power through their Improved Targeting: Hindering. I wouldn’t build round Stealth in sealed.

Next is Running Shot. With the bulk of characters having 5 or less range, look for Running Shot characters that have 6+ range to include on your build.

Both Charge and Sidestep see a good representation in this set, coming in at 18 and 15 figures respectively.

Looking at the higher quantities is one way to evaluate the figures to include on your team. Another is to look at the small numbers on powerful abilities like Hypersonic Speed. With only 2 figures, pulling a Hypersonic Speed character for your team gives you a mobility advantage other players might not have.

Attack

 

Attack Value # Figures
14 1
12 10
11 42
10 20
9 3
Attack Power # Figures
Precision Strike 14
Penetrating / Psychic Blast 11
SPECIAL 10
Energy Explosion 10
Super Strength 7
Blades, Claws, and Fangs 7
Quake 7
Incapacitate 5
Telekinesis 3
Pulse Wave 1
Steal Energy 1

 

The majority of figures have an 11 or 10 attack, which is common in modern. Some of the attack powers like, Precision Strike, will be better evaluated when we look at the defensive powers. Certainly both Precision Strike and Penetrating/Psychic Blast will be strong against higher rarity tent poles that are more likely to have better defenses.

Defense

 

Defense Value # Figures
19 1
18 39
17 35
16 2
Defense Power # Figures
Toughness 13
Impervious 11
Invincible 11
SPECIAL 10
Energy Shield Deflection 9
Combat Reflexes 9
Invulnerability 9
Super Senses 8
Mastermind 7
Willpower 6
STOP 5
Defend 3
Barrier 3
Regeneration 1

 

18 and 17 defenses are the most common. With 11 being the most common attack value, there is a 58.3% chance of hitting. See the probability chart below.

 

PROBABILITY CHART*
Defense
Attack 19 18 17 16
12 58.3 72.2 83.3 91.7
11 41.7 58.3 72.2 83.3
10 27.8 41.7 58.3 72.2
9 16.7 27.8 41.7 58.3
* Probability chart courtesy of Ninwashui

 

Damage

 

Damage Value # Figures
5 1
4 18
3 41
2 12
1 6
Damage Power # Figures
SPECIAL 17
Leadership 17
Outwit 16
Perplex 12
Shape Change 11
Probability Control 8
Exploit Weakness 5
Empower 5
Close Combat Expert 4
Battle Fury 3
Enhancement 3
Ranged Combat Expert 1

 

Because of the low-cost of many figures in this set, many teams will have 4 or more characters on their team. Leadership will be critical and thankfully there’s plenty of it. With few characters having PROTECTED: Outwit (either from a special trait/power or the Power Cosmic team ability), Outwit is a must include on your team. Other common support powers, like Perplex and Probability Control, will also be an auto-includes, but look for other less common powers that enhance damage, like Empower, Enhancement, or the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability to help your team to victory.

When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield

Breaking the set down to numbers is allows you to look at the set broadly without studying every figure for your pre-release. We get a sense of what to expect and can quickly evaluate figures for our team builds. Some key takeaways are:

  1. Leadership. Chances are you’ll have more than 3 characters on your team, you’ll need leadership to increase your action total by 1 in a standard 300-point build. Good chance you’ll pull a character with Leadership.
  2. Mobility. You’ll want to have flyers. You’ll need to taxi your team, right?
  3. Range. Ranges of 1-5 is common. Look for 6+ to gain an edge.
  4. Move and Attack. Running Shot, Charge, and Sidestep dominate. Hypersonic Speed would give you the edge, but highly unlikely you’ll land 1 of the 2 characters with it.
  5. Outwit. You’d better include it on your build. There’s a lot of it so you know your opponent will be doing the same.
  6. Perplex. Not prevalent enough to guarantee that you’ll pull a character with it. Look for other means to modify your stats with powers like Empower, Enhancement, or the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability. But if you do manage to get a character with it, you better include it on your team. Just a look at the probability chart and you’ll easily see how modifying values will greatly increase your victory chances.
  7. Probability Control. Always useful to have, just hard to come by. Look to build a named theme team to get access to it. Plenty of Avengers keyword in this set.
  8. Precision Strike and Penetrating/Psychic Blast. These two powers are always good to have. So when you pull them, put these figures in the strong consideration pile for your team.

 

What’s Next?

While I would love to do a detailed breakdown of figures before the release in a few weeks, it’s unlikely I’ll have the time. However, look for more game recap articles that will hopefully give you insight into what’s really working in this set. After all, what’s good on paper isn’t always good in practice.

Good luck and have fun at your Pre-release and Release events!

Here Is Your Clix-Mas Checklist!! (Or, The Twelfth Night of Clix-Mas 2019 And Where We Want to Go From Here!!)

/ HypeFox / 1 Comment

Christmas Grab Bag.jpg

Thank you for checking out our Clix-Mas 2019 extravaganza! Here is the final roll call for the other eleven entries in this year’s series:

Night One: We announced the kick-off of Clix-Mas 2019 and laid the ground rules for success or failure;

Night Two: Roberto Ty dropped by for an in-depth review of Call-In Cards and their current place in the Meta;

Night Three: HypeFox took a look at the 10 Best Chases of the Year;

Night Four: Ninwashui finally showed up to dissect his recently successful Brotherhood Pauper Build and create a Modern-competitive revision;

Night Five: HypeFox wrote a missive about the Five Things Wizkid Did Right This Year;

Night Six: HypeFox previewed everything we know about Heroclix’s 2020 releases;

Night Seven: We brought back our “Simply The Best” series! Look for Part Two, coming soon;

Night Eight: HypeFox picked three IP’s that he thought would make great Heroclix sets;

Night Nine: HypeFox briefly reviewed the history of MCU Heroclix sets and ranted about the one MCU figure we still need;

Night Ten: Roberto Ty returned for a comprehensive review of the current state of Colossal Retaliators;

Night Eleven: HypeFox returned with a brief shout-out to his favorite aspect of Heroclix;

Which brings us to tonight!

In looking back, I’m proud of what we accomplished. I think we actually brought more content (in terms of word count and article depth) than we ever have before in any prior Clix-Mas, and more writers contributed than ever before!

As always, we hope to bring you content on a more regular basis, including finishing up 2019’s “Simply the Best,” and releasing several more articles before the 2020 Clix year gets up and running in February!

Until then, thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a wish for a wonderful New Year to all of you.

See you soon!

 

Editorial: What I Love Most About Heroclix!! (Or, The Eleventh Night of Clix-Mas 2019!!)

/ HypeFox / 3 Comments

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Night Five of the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas 2019!! First, we reviewed the ground rules; for Night 2, we hit the ground running with an in-depth review of Call-In Cards from friend of the blog, Roberto Ty! Night Three brought us HypeFox’s look at the 10 best Chases of the year. And then we had a rare holiday appearance from writer/co-founder of the blog Ninwashui. It’s a Clix-Mas Miracle!! Then, we talked about the Five Things Wizkids Did Right This Year! Next, The Ghost of Clix-Mas Future took us through a preview of just about every Heroclix release that’s been announced for 2020 so far! We revisited our Simply The Best series for Night 7! Three nights ago we listed three licensed properties we’d love to see Clix’d! And two nights ago we tracked the history of MCU movie sets and the one piece from Marvel’s movie franchises that hasn’t been made yet! Last night, Roberto Ty came back with a comprehensive look at Colossal Retaliators in the Meta!]

Wizkids Heroclix.jpg

So this Clix-Mas has been flying by for me. We’re already here on Night Eleven!

And as we wind down this Clix-Mas season, I wanted to take a minute to write about my favorite aspect of Heroclix.

Heroclix is one of the most customizable games that has ever been designed. The Point Value system allows for games at all points levels, from micro-battles at 100 Points to Epic, Mega-Colossal Brawls that top 3000 Points or more.

And Wizkids still supports those Epic Game formats, even though the standard game is still 300 Points. But the customization goes beyond that.

Heroclix is almost like Dungeons & Dragons in that you can really craft any Scenario that you’d like. Do you want to restrict games to Golden Age or Modern? That’s fine, but you can go much further than that, too.

Hell, a few years ago,I created a Scenario set entirely within the Magic: The Gathering Universe! And it actually kinda worked!

And one of the most popular games we run at our local venue was a Heroclix version of Super Smash Bros.that Ninwashui and I created!

So every now and then, when I see people complaining about how a certain piece “ruins the Meta” or how Heroclix is dying because of some random issue (and Lord knows I’ve done this myself), I just think “Hey, if you don’t like that format… make your own!”

It’s perfectly doable!

So that’s all I have for today. Just wanted to take a quick minute to reflect on the nearly infinite ways the game can be customized.

Have you played or created a fun new Heroclix Scenario? Let me know in the Comments below.