Should Everything Old Be New Again? Part 2!! (Or, Theory Crafting a Marvel Core Set!!) (Or, The Sixth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again (and this time, with feeling!), we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 5! If you missed The First Night of Clix-Mas, you can read what it’s all about right here! Night 2 was the nascent edition of a new holiday scenario we’ve been cooking up and can be found… here-ish! Night 3 took a brief look back at Horrorclix. Night 4 was the debut of a new feature called “Overlooked” which examined some pieces from World’s Finest that don’t see quite as much play as they seemingly should… . And Night 5 was Part 1 of a brief 3-part series that examines how Heroclix would look if there were a Core Set released every year or two… ]

speed-demon

Okay! Yesterday, we talked about what a Core Set is and why Heroclix could use one. Today, I’m gonna put together a mock Core Set for Marvel Heroclix to see what the concept would look like in action!

Here’s how I’m gonna put it together!

–The set would be distributed via 5-figure Booster packs, with 10 Packs equaling a Brick, and 2 Bricks equaling a Case (no change from a normal expansion).

–The set would contain 70 figures; 16 Commons + 1 Prime; 16 Uncommons + 1 Prime; 16 Rares + 1 Prime; 12 Super Rares + 1 Prime; and 6 Chases.

–All figures would be reprints EXCEPT the Primes and the Chases. The reprints would primarily come from all the Marvel sets that rotated out of Modern from the previous year (with the exception of certain “Micro Sets” like the Movie tie-in Sets and Fast Forces, although regular set Gravity Feeds should be fair game) with just a few older pieces. So, for this Core Set, we’d mostly be choosing pieces from Wolverine and the X-Men, Invincible Iron Man, Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy, with just a few exceptions.

–With the Primes and Chases, I would try to add to or even finish Sub-Themes from the rotated sets so that the new pieces fit right in with the reprints.

–Some figures might change rarity. I would make a rule that nothing can move up in rarity (for example, I would never let an Uncommon in a prior set suddenly become a Rare in the Core Set), but figures can move down a tier (a Rare in, say, GOTG could thus become an Uncommon in the Core Set).

Okay! So what would my Marvel 2017 Core Set look like? I’m glad you asked! I present to you…

THE THEORETICAL 2017 MARVEL HEROCLIX CORE SET!!

COMMONS: 

thule-society-priest

MC17001 Thule Society Priest (formally FI001)(Meet one of the exceptions! This guy comes from Fear Itself, obviously, but he was a well-designed, well-balanced piece that deserves to come back for a year!)

MC17002 Rescue (formally IIM002)

MC17003 Mantis (formally GOTG003)

MC17004 Secret Empire Number 9 (formally DP204)

MC17005 U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. Soldier (formally DP005)

MC17006 Dreadnought (formally IIM006)

Weapon X Scientist.jpg

MC17007A Weapon X Scientist (formally DP007A)

MC17007B William Stryker (Our first new piece, this would brind Stryker into the Modern Age–he was last seen years ago in Giant-Size X-Men. Given how many mutants will be running around in 2017, we probably need more X-Men villains and, after all of his X-Men movie franchise appearances, Stryker is one of the most well-known X-Men villains.

MC17008 Colleen Wing (formally DP008)

MC17009 Misty Knight (formally DP009)

MC17010 Lady Deathstrike (formally WXM210)

MC17011 Justin Hammer (formally IIM008)

MC17012 Tana Nile (formally GOTG012B)

MC17013 Recorder #451 (formally GOTG013B)

MC17014 Bulldozer (formally IIM014)

MC17015 Tony Stark (formally IIM015)

MC17016 Nebula (formally GOTG016)

 

UNCOMMONS:

yondu

MC17017 Yondu (formally GOTG024)

MC17018 Alpha Primitive (formally GOTG018)

MC17019 Captain Marvel (formally GOTG207)

MC17020 Weasel (formally DP020)

MC17021 Flatman (formally WXM021)

MC17022 Talon (formally GOTG022)

black-cat

MC17023A Black Cat (formally DP023)

MC17023B Mink (Another new figure, both for this set and for Heroclix, Mink hails from Mark Gruenwald’s wonderful Squadron Supreme run. Although she wouldn’t have the Squadron Supreme keyword herself, I could imagine her having a Trait that would keep her from breaking Theme as long as she was on a force with a character named Nighthawk. Which should be possible with the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712 ATA, once Mink’s Trait was worded properly.)

MC17024 Number One (formally DP024)

MC17025 Flag-Smasher (formally DP025)

MC17026 Crystal (formally GOTG026)

MC17027 Piledriver (formally IIM027)

MC17028 Ebony Maw (formally GOTG025)

MC17029 War Machine (formally IIM029A–was a Rare, now Uncommon)

MC17030 Star-Lord (formally GOTG030)

MC17031 Gambit (formally WXM031–was a Rare, now Uncommon)

MC17032 Punisher (formally DP032)

 

RARES:

forge-rare

MC17033 Forge (formally WXM033)

MC17034 Legion (formally WXM038)

MC17035 Killraven (formally GOTG035)

MC17036 Bullseye (formally DP036)

MC17037 Iron Monger 2.0 (formally IIM037)

MC17038 Maximus (formally GOTG 038)

MC17039 Big Bertha (formally WXM039)

MC17040 Thunderball (formally IIM039)

MC17041 Deathurge (formally GOTG041)

MC17042 Grasshopper (formally DP042)

MC17043 Black Bolt (formally GOTG036)

MC17044 Silver Samurai (formally WXM044)

MC17045 Shriek (formally GOTG044)

MC17046 Black Dwarf (formally GOTG036)

thanos-rare

MC17047A Thanos (formally GOTG047A)

MC17047B Thanos (Another new piece, this would be our Rare Prime, and it’s… Marvel Zombies Thanos. Why he wasn’t made as a Chase piece in the original GOTG set, I don’t know. But we’ll fix that right here! He won’t be a SwitchClix, but he will have the Z-Virus keyword!)

MC17048 Supergiant (formally GOTG048)

 

SUPER RARES:

corvus-super-rare

MC17049 Corvus Glaive (formally GOTG049)

MC17050 Proxima Midnight (formally GOTG050)

nate-grey-super-rare-prime

MC17051A X-Man (formally WXM051)

MC17051B Nate Grey (The final new Prime for the set, this version of Nate would carry the Age of Apocalypse keyword and represent the character from when he debuted during the A0A event.)

MC17052 Wrecker (formally IIM050)

MC17053 Speed Demon (formally DP053A)

MC17054 Arnim Zola (formally DP054)

MC17055 Iron Man (formally GOTG055)

MC17056 Shaman (formally IIM40)

MC17057 Iron Doom (formally IIM042)

MC17058 Groot (formally GOTG051)

MC17059 Rocket Raccoon (formally GOTG052)

MC17060  Thane (formally GOTG060)

 

CHASES:

(For the Chases, there are just so many AoA characters who have either never been Clix’d, or else haven’t been Clix’d in YEARS. So I would finish the Core Set off with more AoA Chases!)

MC17061 Prelate Scott Summers (AoA version of Cyclops, missing an eye.)

MC17062 Jean Grey (AoA version.)

MC17063 Prelate Alex Summers (AoA version of Havok.)

MC17064 Dark Beast (AoA version of Beast.)

MC17065 Nemesis (AoA version of Genocide. Also known as Holocaust. Hasn’t been Clix’d since Giant-Size X-Men.)

MC17066 Apocalypse (AoA version, obviously. Sculpt would be similar in stature to Tyrant’s from GOTG.)

 

And there you have it. Now imagine a set like this being available all year long to be used with upcoming releases and tournaments! You would crack one of these and one pack of any current Marvel set–or even a new set during launch!

So do you like the idea of a Core Set yet? Sound off in the Comments below! And tune in tomorrow for a look a theoretical DC Core Set!

Should Everything Old Be New Again? Part 1!! (Or, Does Heroclix Need a Rotating Base Set?)(Or, The Fifth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again (and this time, with feeling!), we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 5! If you missed The First Night of Clix-Mas, you can read what it’s all about right here! Night 2 was the nascent edition of a new holiday scenario we’ve been cooking up and can be found… here-ish! Night 3 took a brief look back at Horrorclix. Night 4 was the debut of a new feature called “Overlooked” which examined some pieces from World’s Finest that don’t see quite as much play as they seemingly should… ]

han-young

Everything old…

han-old

... is new again!

Welcome to Night 5 of the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas!!

Tonight is also Part 1 (of 3) of a brief series wherein I ask the question, “Does Heroclix need a base set?,” attempt to answer that question, and then take a look at what a Marvel base set and DC base set would look like.

First, though… what is a base set?

Well… I’m specifically talking about a Modern Age set that would (primarily) contain figures from recently rotated expansions that would give newer players a slightly easier entry into the game than going full bore into the lastest booster set. Additionally, it would allow veteran players a second opportunity to use select pieces from retired sets in Modern Age games as the Meta moves forward.

If this is starting to sound a little familiar, well…

magic-alpha

It’s probably because Magic: The Gathering…

magic-origins

… has been doing this for 23 years!

Yup! Magic has already pioneered the Core set concept. I’m just blatantly stealing from them. In fact, most successful TCG’s have used some form of this idea at some point. Heck, even Heroclix has had a set of reprints before–Marvel Classics, anyone?

Except I think it’s time for Wizkids to take it to the next level. If I were them, I would release one Marvel Set and one DC Set every year that featured pieces from every set that just rotated out, and I would keep each piece at the same rarity level–Common, Uncommon, Rare or Super Rare–that it was in its original set. But then I would create all new Primes and Chases! And it would all be Modern Age.

This would open up the Meta to awesome new Build possibilities every year while still allowing long time players to feel like all–or at least some–of their old pieces have value beyond just the occasional Golden Age tournament at their local venue.

From Wizkids’s perspective, they would be able to add another two full set releases to the calendar, yet those releases would have cheaper overhead to produce since 80-90% of the release would feature re-used sculpts.

Currently, Wizkids schedules big expansion set releases for February, May, August and November. I would push each of those releases back a month so that we get sets in March, June, September and December, with the normal January dead zone now becoming the month every year where Wizkids releases their new Core sets.

Now, what would those sets look like? I’m glad you asked!

Because that is tomorrow’s topic!

Until then, stay Safe, and Watch Where You Draw Your Lines of Fire!!

OverLooked!! (Or, Three 5-Star World’s Finest Pieces That Went Overlooked in 2016!!) (Or, The Fourth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again (and this time, with feeling!), we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 4! If you missed The First Night of Clix-Mas, you can read what it’s all about right here! Night 2 was the nascent edition of a new holiday scenario we’ve been cooking up and can be found… here-ish! Night 3 took a brief look back at Horrorclix.]

sad-batman

So, I skipped Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in theaters this year. Kept meaning to go, but I never did. The truth is, I show up opening weekend now for just about any MCU property (bring on “Marvel’s Fancy Ghosts!!“) because Marvel movies have earned my trust–the DCEU really hasn’t yet. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Anyway, I finally bought BvS: DoJ on Blu-Ray and watched the whole Extended Edition (or whatever it’s called) the other day. Yeeeesh. It is a mess (why was Lois Lane even IN this movie?!), and critics were right to write it off. Buuuut… But…

Ben Affleck is trying in this movie. He really is. It’s a good performance that will, frankly, end up overlooked in the annals of cinema when people think back on 2016.

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to today! 2016 saw the release of NINE different Heroclix sets (which doesn’t even count all the Fast Forces, Starters and Monthly OP LE’s we got). We got a ton of 5-Star worthy figures this year, but not all have made their way into the Meta.

So today, we’re going to take a look at three overlooked 5-Star figures from this year’s first set, World’s Finest, and try to figure out what went wrong!

overwatch-calvarys-not-coming

Cheers love! The cavalry’s… not coming.

THE THREE MOST OVERLOOKED 5-STAR FIGURES OF WORLD’S FINEST!!

Nightlantern

3. WF037B Nightlantern: The Rare Prime from the year’s first full set, World’s Finest, Nightlantern still carries a 5-Star rating on HCRealms.com and was supposed to set the Meta on fire with his “Everyone is now an Entity!!” Trait (EVERY PERSON I KNOW IS AN AMALGAM OF TWO FROM YOUR UNIVERSE?: When building your force, you may pay 25 points and put a standard character on your sideline, called an Amalgam. At the beginning of the game, equip the Amalgam to a standard friendly character (other than Nightlantern) that is higher points than the Amalgam’s highest point value and link it to that character’s dial. For the rest of the game, the Amalgam provides the below effect when equipped: EFFECT: At the beginning of your turn or when when this character is clicked, you may choose a standard power on the equipped dial. This character can use that power until your next turn or clicked.).

When the set was first released, Nightlantern was going for a blistering $65-$75–unheard of for a Rare Prime, but folks were obsessed with all the possibilities he provided. Well, fast forward 10 months, and folks are dying to unload him for less than half of that original amount.

What Went Wrong: The Meta just never evened out for this piece. It doesn’t help that his dial is a little pricey at 150 for what you get (remember, that 150 doesn’t even include the extra 25 Points for an Amalgam): One Click of Hypersonic, 2 almost useless Clicks of TK and Leadership, etc.

Basically, to make use of his best ability (his Trait), you have to invest more than half of your total Build points in a 300 Point game. That is tough to make work.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Sure it’s tough, but that didn’t stop us from compiling a pretty comprehensive list of possibilities back in March!]

In a Meta era where folks are building entire teams around maximizing the number of Call-In Cheese Wheels they can use in one game, finding 25 Points to spend on an Amalgam is nearly impossible (or, to look at it another way, you’re spending the exact same amount of points that 5 Call-Ins would cost you).

Will We See Him Again?: If Wizkids decides that they’ve had enough of the Avengers Round Table and the Avengers ID cards and rotates them out around May of next year, then maybe. The JLA Teleporter will still be around, but if it’s suddenly impossible to call-in Hawkeye, Thor or Nick Fury, the Call-In strategy as a whole may fall out of favor.

There’s not really any recent Resources to pick from, so in this scenario (remember, Pandora’s Box and the 7 Deadly Sins would have rotated out as well, since they were released prior to the Round Table in 2015) players looking to upgrade a character with some off the board shenanigans would almost certainly give Nightlantern another look.

But it’s not nearly clear yet which way Wizkids is going to go with next year’s set rotations.

KC SUpes

2. WF061R Superman: This is the World’s Finest Chase KC Supes on his “Tower Click.” For just 35 Points, he’s extremely tough to KO (18 Defense, Invincible PLUS the KC TA), but he has the potential to lock down two of your opponent’s best pieces every turn with his Damage Special (I WANT TO FARM IN PEACE: Superman can use Incapacitate with two targets and an attack value of 12. Hit characters can’t make ranged attacks during their turn.).

Considering that he also has an 8 Range and the Superman Ally TA, there’s not a lot of places for your opponent to hide, especially if you win Map Roll and are able to take the game someplace without much Blocking or Elevated Terrain. Ended up ranked at number five in our World’s Finest Top Ten, which was pretty high considering how stacked that set was!

What Went Wrong: A few things. First, just like with Nightlantern, if you’re playing a popular Meta Build like an Ultron Drone Call-In team or a Devil Dinosaur Critter Spawn team, Superman doesn’t really fit so well into either of those archetypes. You’re 35 Points would be better spent elsewhere.

And even if you’re not playing one of those two teams, this version of Supes isn’t a great counter to either of those rosters, either. There’s just too many targets, even with his double bolts. Nick Fury? Sure! Supes can see through Stealth and tag him almost every turn (or at least make Fury spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with a 35-Point piece while you surround him with the rest of your force).

The other thing that hurt Supes here in the Meta was a controversial post-release ruling in May that basically made it impossible to use Supes–or any KC “Tower Click” figure–as a “Time Walk” Call-In piece. So he was kind of neutered both coming and going.

Will We See Him Again?: Probably not. The Call-In ban really hurts. However…

Wizkids just ruled recently that–in certain circumstances–Superior Foes Chameleon can actually use KC “Tower Click” pieces as a disguise. This may breathe new life into Supes’s Meta career, assuming Chameleon catches on a little bit more. Control is just that important in the Meta right now.

And of course, his regular dial should continue to see Meta play as a Call-In on its own…

weapon-drop

Oh. Yeah…

1. FFWFS100 Weapon Drop: This is almost a Resource masquerading as a Special Object. Offering (somewhat unpredictable) access to great abilities like Pulse Wave, Regen and Pen/Psy, the Weapon Drop seemed poised to become this cycle’s Gamma Bomb, a must-have Special Object that would show up time and time again.

And yet, despite all that, and despite its 5-Star rating on HCRealms.com… you just don’t really see it played that much.

What Went Wrong: Nothing in particular–I just think its time has not come yet. World’s Finest was released in February, and at that point, there was really less than two months left in the 300 ROC Limited format. I don’t think there was enough time for players to really embrace this piece’s Meta potential before the ROC rotated in a straight 300 Modern format.

Will We See It Again?: Well, as we slowly get back to that format, I think you’ll start to see the Weapon Drop show up more and more.

In a Resource-rich environment, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. In a Resource-less environment, though, it suddenly becomes extremely versatile and powerful.

 

Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the Comments below. And let us know if you enjoyed this look back at World’s Finest and if you want to see OverLooked become a regular feature on the site!

Lastly, don’t forget to come right back to this space tomorrow(-ish) for more 12 Days of Clix-Mas!!

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

 

A Look Back in Horror!! (Or, What the Heck Were HorrorClix?!) (Or, The Third Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again (and this time, with feeling!), we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 3! If you missed The First Night of Clix-Mas, you can read what it’s all about right here! Night 2 was the nascent edition of a new holiday scenario we’ve been cooking up and can be found… here-ish!]

Welcome back to Critical Missives’ 12 Nights of Clix-Mas!

Today we’re going to look back at one of the ghosts of Clix-Mas Past (Horrorclix!) before we take a tiny little peak at one of the newly announced Ghosts of Clix-Mas Future (aka next year’s Heroclix: Undead set!)!

The Origin of Horroclix:

spidey-zombie-card

Back in 2006, Heroclix had been humming along for quite successfully for more than four years. In November of that year, Wizkids released their 24th offering, Supernova, which added a new rarity (sort-of).

Until Supernova, Heroclix didn’t have “Chase” figures. They would generally publish Rookie, Experienced and Veteran versions of the same character in the same set. Then there would be much rarer single versions of figures called “Uniques” which always ended up being the most valuable and hardest to pull pieces.

Well, when Supernova hit, Wizkids had added four special figures that were classified as “Ultra-rare” and were only pulled at a rate of about 1 in a 100 boxes. These figures were based on the hugely successful “Marvel Zombies” limited series and came packed in small poly-bags with another new addition the game had never seen before–a card!

Another New Addiction:

Yup! These were the gateway pieces that introduced the world to Horrorclix, a sort-of Heroclix spin-off. It had it’s own rules, but it was basically Heroclix if Heroclix pulled it’s figures from horror movies and novels (and the twisted imaginations of Wizkids employees themselves).

As you can see from Zombie Spidey’s card above, it didn’t take much to convert a Heroclix piece into a Horrorclix piece… or vice versa. Indeed, we probably wouldn’t have cards and keywords had Horrorclix not innovated those ideas.

The four Marvel Zombie Chase pieces (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Colonel America and Hulk) were the only Marvel or DC Horrorclix they ever made, although Wizkids would continue to explore the Marvel Zombie universe in Heroclix almost exactly a year later with representations of Zombie Iron Man, another Zombie Spidey, Zombie Giant-Man eating Black Panther and Zombie Wolverine in Galactus’s costume  (since he had chowed down on the Eater of Worlds).

Instead, Wizkids focused on licenses that had deeper ties to the realm horror, including Aliens, Predator, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. as well as both Freddy Krueger and Jason from Friday the 13th.

the-great-cthulhu

And just as they had started making Colossal Heroclix like Galactus, Wizkids also started giving the same treatment to such genre staples as The Great Cthulhu (still so rare that he regularly sells for between $125-$225 on eBay) and the Alien Queen (with detachable Egg Sac! Yum!!).

And then, at the height of all things Clix, came the news in 2008 that Topps had bought the Clix license and was shutting EVERYTHING down. While Heroclix would be resurrected within the next year, sadly, Horroclix was no more.

Two years ago, Wizkids revisited the Marvel Zombies universe and created 16 different Chase pieces over the course of two Heroclix sets (Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy), but Horrorclix itself remained dead…

Carving a New Future (?):

scarecrow-horrorclix

Which leads us to the announcement just this very month! Wizkids has decided to a new Gravity Feed Set filled with 19 brand new horror characters, from generic Werewolves, Zombies and ghosts to specific public domain characters like Dr. Jekyll. In all, there will be 9 new Commons, 8 Rares and 2 Chases.

But… these will be Heroclix pieces that use Heroclix dials!

That’s right! Horrorclix is still dead, but its influence–and now, some of its characters–will live on in Heroclix!

At this point, any non-Marvel, non-DC set Wizkids puts out is certainly a risk (although the Turtles releases seem to be selling just fine), but I actually think this set will be a refreshing change of pace (assuming it’s Modern Age legal, of course!). And it just might bring back some fond memories for those of us who remember what it was like to pit Batman against Jason or have the Avengers and JLA team up against the Great Cthulhu!

 

Okay! What do you guys think? Do you remember Horrorclix? Are you excited for the new set? Let us know in the Comments section. And join us right back here tomorrow for more Clix-Mas!!

 

 

 

Twelve Topics in 12 Nights!! (Or, The 12 Nights of Clix-Mas Returns!!)

happy-holidays

Welcome to the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas, 2016!! We had so much fun with this gimmick two years ago that we decided to try it again last year. And we failed!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: We only made it to Night 9… ]

Never ones to learn even the most basic of lessons, though, we’ve decided to try it again!!

Now, for those readers who missed the last couple years’ festivities, every night for the next 12 nights, we’re gonna post some sort of Heroclix-related content. Might be as little as a couple of funny pictures, or as much as a 5000-word Top Ten Set Review. Each night will bring something new!

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Well, every night-ISH. The more perceptive among our readers probably noticed we’re starting a day or so early so that if we miss a day, we’re not all of the sudden horribly behind.]

 

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry/Happy Kwanzaa, and may you and yours be safe this Season!!

And with that, make sure to come right back here tomorrow for Night 2! We’ll be talking about a special Scenario called “Home for the Holidays!”

How Apropos!

Until Then, Stay Safe, and Watch Where You Draw Your Lines of Fire!

Upcoming Games: Red Vs. Green!! (Or, the Ninth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again, we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 9! If you missed The First Night of Clix-mas, you can catch up right here! Night 2 is here. Night 3 is here, you can find the 4th Night of Clix-Mas by clicking here, and Night 5 went down right here! Night 6 is now up, and can be found here. Night 7 showed up right about… here, while Night 8 came stumbling through the door over here.]

Can't tell if cosplay or real footage...

Can’t tell if cosplay or real footage…

Another quick local game announcement for SE Michigan Clix’ers…

At 6:15pm on Wednesday, December 30th at Comics & More in Madison Heights, we’ll be playing: Red Vs. Green!

This is a holiday-themed, 400-Point Golden Age game with an entry fee of $5.00.

We will be playing for figures from the “Suicide Squad” monthly LE kit: Deadshot (new sculpt), Amanda Waller (new dial) and Captain Boomerang (new dial), with the winner getting their choice of any of those pieces!! However…

IMPORTANT PRIZE NOTE: IF WE GET THE WIZKIDS ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN HOLIDAY KIT IN TIME, WE WILL AWARD PRIZES FROM THAT INSTEAD!! 

The Stipulations: Each entrant will construct two teams: one team shall be comprised of figures whose primary sculpt color is Red; the other team shall be comprised of figures whose primary sculpt color is Green.

Once everyone is paired each round, players will roll for Map Choice as per usual. The winner of the Map Roll shall choose which colored team he or she wishes to play; their opponent must play a team of the opposite color.

Resources, Relics, Bystander Tokens, Constructs and ID Cards are not allowed as part of your Force Build. If a character BRINGS a Relic or Bystander Token with them into play at the start of the game, however, that IS allowed (Emerald Empress and Rick Jones come to mind as examples, although Rick Jones’s sculpt would disqualify him).

In the same vein, Entity Possession is NOT allowed UNLESS the possessing figure started the game on the map (for example, if you paid 185 Points to add Butcher to your Red Team Build, if he’s KO’d, you may then have him Possess another friendly character as per normal; you may NOT field his 25-Point dial).

Colossals and Vehicles are allowed, provided that they are primarily red or green.

 

Spidey Human Torch Christmas

A Quick Note About the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas (2015):

"HypeFox and Ninwashui... YOU HAVE FAILED THIS BLOG!"

HypeFox and Ninwashui… YOU HAVE FAILED THIS BLOG!

Well, tonight is Christmas, and, as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, we’re only on Night 9! Yup. We fell three entries short of our 12-entry goal this. Looking back on things, it’s crazy that we actually accomplished our goal last year–the first year we tried to publish 12 articles in 12 days. This year was a big year personally for both Ninwashui and myself, and we just weren’t quite able to reach the finish line.

Nevertheless, even though we didn’t finish in time this year, that doesn’t mean we won’t finish! You will get your remaining 3 Clix-Mas articles before the clock strikes 2016, so keep checking back with the main page for more new content!

I truly hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season, and we look forward to bringing you more Clix content in the year ahead. Thanks to all of you, we’ve experienced quite a bit of growth this year (more on that on Night 12), and we really appreciate all the great feedback!

Until Then, Stay Safe, and Watch Where You Draw Your Lines of Fire!!

Who Watches the Watchlist: Part Deux!! (Or, The Eighth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again, we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 6! If you missed The First Night of Clix-mas, you can catch up right here! Night 2 is here. Night 3 is here, you can find the 4th Night of Clix-Mas by clicking here, and Night 5 went down right here! Night 6 is now up, and can be found here. Night 7 showed up right about… here.]

Hot Shots Part Deux

Hello again!

Two nights ago, we reviewed the Watchlist changes from the beginning of the year. Now we’re gonna take a look at the most recent Watchlist from July 27th of this year. Did these changes make the game better? Or did they go too far in some cases? Let’s take a look!

2015 Q2 WATCHLIST:

AKA “The Felix Faust” Watchlist! Who, it so happens, is our first corrected piece to review! Let’s take a look:

Felix Faust

  • Felix Faust: There were two main changes wrought by Faust’s World Championship dominance. First, all of Faust’s nastiest d20 abilities now have a maximum effectiveness range of 7 squares. What’s that, you say? 7 squares is still pretty damn good? Well, normally I’d agree, but considering that before the Watchlist these shutdown abilities had an effective range of THE ENTIRE MAP, so I supposed I’d have to say that this was a step in the right direction. Pieces that are meant to shutdown the opponent’s pieces are always going to be hard to balance. In this case Faust was just ungodly for his measly 70 Point asking price. The second change that came in the wake of Faust running roughshod over THE WORLD is that d20 rolls can no longer be rerolled. Yup. Rerolling d20’s was a thing in the summer of 2015, since it enabled you to lock your opponent down completely. No more! Verdict: Having played against Mr. Faust since these changes came down, I can say that they probably didn’t do enough. He’s still able to dominate a game if his controller has ANY kind of dice luck!

Doc Strange

  • Doctor Strange: No changes to the good Doctor, which isn’t that surprising given that Doctor Strange here costs about 80 more points. Verdict: This was the right call. Why Faust was so much cheaper is beyond just about everyone.

Avengers Age of Ultron Scarlet Witch

  • Scarlet Witch: This one’s a little harder to discuss, since her problematic ability is written like a phone book. For the record, this is how her power now reads: HEX MAGIC: Once per turn, after an attack roll has been determined, Scarlet Witch may give the attacker up to 3 Hex Magic tokens if the attacker is within range. A character may not be given Hex Magic tokens if they would have more than 3 Hex Magic tokens on their card. For each token she gives the attacker, reduce the attack total by 1. Opposing characters may be given a free action to remove a Hex Magic token and modify any friendly character’s attack value by +1 this turn. Basically, they added the “A character may not be given Hex Magic Tokens if they would have more than 3 Hex Magic tokens on their card” bit. Verdict: Her ability was worded veeerry loosely originally, so I’m not surprised it got changed. Pretty moderate change, too. And definitely necessary.

Yellow Power Battery

  • Yellow Power Battery: No change. Verdict: Nor should there have been. This Battery works just fine.
  • Orange Power Battery: Ditto. Verdict: Ditto.

And there ya go! This Watchlist wasn’t as packed as the last one. Does that mean WizKids has learned their lessons and taken the appropriate measures to make sure we’ll never have to deal with another Watchlist ever again?

Uhh… no. But that’s okay. At least WizKids is quicker to own up to a huge failure now and do whatever it takes to fix it. It seems like they’re making a concerted effort to achieve a modicum of transparency.

Having said all that, I’ll see ya tomorrow night for the 9th Night of Clix-Mas!!

Who Watches the Watchlist? (Or, The 6th Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again, we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 6! If you missed The First Night of Clix-mas, you can catch up right here! Night 2 is here. Night 3 is here, you can find the 4th Night of Clix-Mas by clicking here, and Night 5 went down right here!]

Watchmen by monkeybiziu.

Uh… the Watcher? Banner art by monkeybiziu.

Welcome back to the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas!!

Tonight, we’re gonna go back and look at the first Watchlist that dropped this year and the changes that it brought with it. Did those changes make the game better? Did they course correct too far in some cases? Let’s take a look!

(And yes, we’ll take a brief look at the most recent Watchlist from this year very soon in one of the coming 12 Nights of Clix-Mas articles!)

2014 Q4 WATCHLIST:

Ah, come back with me now, back to last January. It was a time when men were men, and Entities still transferred all of their keywords to the piece they were possessing! Yup! That was the main reason for the Q4 Watchlist: the Entity issue! Let’s go point by point and see what worked, and what didn’t!

Ion War of Light Butcher Entity

  • Entities: The main change here was that Entities would no longer transfer all of their keywords–particularly the “Entity” keyword. All they would transfer from here on out was their Lantern Corps keyword. Verdict: This was actually a very successful change that brought a bunch of balance to the game. The Entities were already powerful enough; by allowing them to transfer the “Entity” keyword to the piece they were Possessing, it allowed power players to make really overpowered Themed Teams out of characters who should never grant Theme when paired together. Entities were still played heavily after this change, but the playing field was leveled just a bit, which is exactly what a Watchlist fix should do. Selfishly, I wish that they’d still let them transfer their “Cosmic” keyword as well (all but Black Hand have it, I believe), as that would have kept a few more interesting Build options available, but that’s a small complaint when so much good was accomplished here.

bill-agent-of-aim

  • Bill, Agent of A.I.M.: The reason most people played him was his Special Attack Power (MY HIGH-ENERGY FINDER THING:Give Bill, Agent of A.I.M. a power action and choose the highest-point opposing character. Until your next turn, that character can be targeted with a ranged combat attack by one friendly character without line of fire to that opposing character.) that shows up on Click 2. This power was changed so that the character getting the benefit of Bill’s technology has to be adjacent to Bill. Verdict: This was a pretty reasonable change, and while it did make Bill slightly less useful, his power was still good enough to keep Bill in the Meta rotation.

Iron Pharaoh cover

  • Iron Pharaoh: This one really hit me hard. His special Trait (GOLDEN FALCON, SOARING: When Iron Pharaoh is first placed on the map, place a Falcon special terrain marker in an adjacent square. Give Iron Pharaoh a free action to move this marker up to 3 squares. Iron Pharaoh can draw lines of fire and count range (up to 3 squares) from the Falcon marker using Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Elevated Terrain, Ignores Outdoor Blocking Terrain, Ignores Characters.) was just absolutely gutted. After the Watchlist, the Pharaoh had to choose to either move OR attack, something the figure was never really designed to do. Verdict: While Iron Pharaoh was certainly a powerful force in the Meta, an occasional ROC win doth not a broken piece make. But even if you accept that Iron Pharaoh was a problem piece (and ignore the fact that within a year, WizKids would have published several silver bullet pieces for the Pharaoh, like Jack Hawksmoor), the official change really destroyed this piece, to the point that he was almost unplayable afterwards. This particular change was probably WizKids’s biggest overreach since they’d been publishing a Watchlist.
This is how Iron Pharaoh owners felt after the Watchlist dropped.

This is how Iron Pharaoh owners felt after the Watchlist dropped.

Bizarro

  • Bizarro: This was another pretty simple pair of fixes. WizKids decided that he could only be played in 25 Point increments up to 150 Points (as opposed to playing him all the way up to 300). Also, it was decreed that Bizarro could ONLY be healed through the use of Support. Verdict: This was another winner. It’s hard to describe how dominant Bizarro was in the Meta back in 2014 if you’re a newer player, but he was everywhere. He still turns up on certain Meta teams to this day, so he’s still a quality piece, but at least he’s fair now.

Proxima Midnight

  • Proxima Midnight: Proxima was reviewed, but it was decided that she was working as intended. Verdict: Sanity prevails. There’s nothing wrong with being a good piece–it’s when a piece becomes gamebreaking that a designer really needs to get involved. If only they’d been as levelheaded about Iron Pharaoh…

Well, that’s all for tonight! And yes, we’re running a few days behind if we’re gonna get everything out by Christmas. Just stay tuned, though, and we should have articles coming fast and furious in the next two days!

Heat Check: Caller ID!! (Or, The Top Three ID Card Call-Ins at Every Point Level Right Now!!) (Or Or, The 5th Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again, we are shamelessly unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 5! If you missed The First Night of Clix-Mas, you can catch up right here! Night 2 is here. Night 3 is here, and you can find the 4th Night of Clix-Mas by clicking here.]

Spidey ID

So in my Mirror Master Team Build article, I lamented the fact that nowhere online does there exist a list showing  all 329 possible character Call-Ins available in Modern Age play from the 56 currently available ID cards (we’ll cross the Justice League ID Card bridge when we come to it).

What? How did I know that there are 329 possible Call-Ins? Because I just finished building that list!

So before I get to actually publishing said list, as a special 12 Nights of Clix-Mas treat, I’d like share with you now the Top 3 Call-Ins in Modern Age at each 50 point interval (from 50 to 300)!

The Top 3 Call-Ins in the 1 to 50 Point Range:

Looks like something else just called-in Jemma...

Looks like something else just called-in Jemma…

  1. FFNFAOS005 Simmons 50 PointsCalled-In via NFAOSNFID-007 S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7: If you call Jemma in with her ID card, she has Outwit and can give the person who called her in another yet another use of Outwit. She also has the S.H.I.E.L.D. Team Ability and the FIELD TEAM BACKUP ability if you are using her with other Field Team members. Since she is called in via the Level 7 card, she also gives anyone next to her the S.H.I.E.L.D. TA and modifies their Attack Value by +1 when making a ranged combat attack.

  2. NFAOS014B Hydra Agent H 30 Points — Called-In via NFAOSNFID-008 S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 1: She has 7 Range, 10 Attack and Ranged Combat Expert. She has both the Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. TA’s and the combination of the ID card and her Trait means that she shares those two TA’s with whomever is next to her. Plus, at 30 points, she can be called in by almost anyone (including WOL099 Despotellis).

  3. AOU204E Yellowjacket — 50 Points — Called-In via FFOAAUID-100 Hank Pym: Yellowjacket is capable of dealing Penetrating Damage in both close and ranged combat situations with automatic Knockback from Force Blast. In addition, when he comes into play you get a free AOUB001 Ant Swarm Bystander Token that stays in play even after Yellowjacket is removed from the game. The Hank Pym ID Card also gives the following Inspiration: “Modify range value by +3 when using Outwit or Perplex. Modify defense value by +3 when attacked by an opposing character with the Robot keyword.” The Robot clause is obviously situational, but the stipulation-less Range boost to Outwit and Perplex can really catch your opponent by surprise.

The Top 3 Call-Ins in the 51 to 100 Point Range:

3D Man AVAS

  1. AVAS013B 3-D Man — 90 Points — Called-In via AVASAVID-015 Triathlon I could continue to beat this drum and describe to you again why this is possibly the best ID Card character out there, but I already did that once in my Avengers Assemble top 10 article.

  2.  GOTG031 Nova — 60 Points — Called-In via AVASAVID-007 Nova: His dial is 60 points so you will likely have 2 or 3 characters on a 300 point team that can call him in. And when they do, you’ll have one of the best Pulse Wave pieces in the game. He’s only got a 10 attack, but unlike everyone else in the game when he uses Pulse Wave he does 2 damage (not just 1) to everyone he hits when he targets more than one character. We all know Pulse Wave is the game’s strongest basic power, so access to an improved version of it at a crucial point in the game for just 5 points seems like a great deal to me.

  3. AOU020 Captain America — 65 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-103 Captain America: He’s a great character to play as well as Call-In. His Special Mmovement Power states, “CAP’S MOTORCYCLE: Captain America can use Defend and has “transporter boot speed symbol”. He doesn’t modify his attack value by -2 from the Move and Attack ability.” On the defensive side, his Trait says “TAKE COVER!: Adjacent friendly characters modify their defense values by +1 against ranged combat attacks, if not already modified by this effect.” Just to review, he has 17 Defense with Defend, his ID card grants ESD to all adjacent figures, and his trait grants +1 versus ranged attacks. Taken together that means that any character standing next to him that turn will have a minimum 20 Defense against ranged attacks.

The Top 3 Call-Ins in the 101 to 150 Point Range:

Nick Fury Original Sin

  1. NFAOS056 Nick Fury — 120 Points — Called-In via NFAOSNFID-007 S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7: As recent ROC results are starting to show, NFAOS056 Nick Fury is the probably the most powerful figure in the game right now (just like I predicted he would be in my Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Top Ten article). Calling him in as a 5 point ID character practically guarantees that he will put a 4-damage-sized hole into your opponent’s most costly figure, and he can do that while shooting through Elevated Terrain, Hindering Terrain and/or characters from 9 spaces away. If you aren’t playing Nick Fury on your team, then there is almost no excuse to not run him as an ID character.

  2. AOU047E Quasar — 125 Points — Called-In via NFAOSNFID-004 Quasar: If an opposing figure is closing in then you can use Quasar’s Pulse Wave, but the real selling point with him is when you target a single opponent. Assuming you hit, you can completely block off your opponent with “CONTAIN STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE: When Quasar targets and damages a single opposing character, after action resolve, he can use Barrier as a free action, but may only place blocking terrain markers adjacent to the hit character.” As an added bonus Quasar’s inspiration also gives adjacent characters telekinesis.

  3. NFAOS051 Steve Rogers — 150 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-103 Captain America: He’s not the most damaging attacker with only three base Damage and double target Energy Explosion, but what he is good for is all of the support he can give to other ranged attackers around him. If he hits with his attack (he has a 12 Attack Value), then all other friendly attackers can use Probability Control on their own rolls. He also has Enhancement and the S.H.I.E.L.D. TA. Best of all, on defense he gives everyone Energy Shield/Deflection.

The Top 3 Call Ins in the 151 to 200 Point Range:

War Machine

  1. AOU26 War Machine200 Points — Called-In via NFAOSNFID-010 War Machine: War Machine’s major weakness when played in an army is his lack of Willpower. Thankfully that’s not a problem with ID Card characters. His VARIABLE THREAT RESPONSE power allows you to choose Psychic Blast, Pulse Wave, Precision Strike, or Triple target Energy Explosion! In addition,he ignores Hindering Terrain and if he is attacking more than one character at range, he can use Probability Control.

  2. AOU018 Thor  — 200 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-104 Thor: Thor has double ranged targets and the following power: “GOD OF THUNDER: Thor can use Energy Explosion, when he does, damage dealt is penetrating damage.” He also ignores Hindering Terrain for targeting. But, the real reason to use him is “FOR MY HEART BELONGS TO THEE: Once per game, give Thor a free action and place a Jane Foster bystander token as described on this card into an adjacent square.

  3. AVX104 Phoenixbuster Iron Man –175 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-101 Iron Man: This guy has a great power, “HERE GOES NUTHIN’: Phoenixbuster Iron Man’s attacks deal penetrating damage if the target character is assigned a relic or a resource or possesses any of the following: “Giant damage symbol”, “Colossal damage symbol”, the Power Cosmic team ability, the Cosmic or Phoenix Force keyword, or the word Phoenix in its name as a separate word.” As a backup plan he has Running Shot and Pulse Wave, which, historically speaking, is a damn good backup plan.

The Top 3 Call-Ins in the 201 to 250 Point Range:

Hercules

  1. AOU033 Hercules — 220 Points — Called-In via AVASAVID-004 Hercules: There are two great reasons to choose Hercules. The first is his offense, “IF IT IS BATTLE YOU CRAVE, HERCULES SHALL OBLIGE!: Hercules can use Charge, Flurry, and Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores blocking terrain and destroys blocking terrain as the character moves through it.” “Oh, you thought you were safe from my team because you were hiding behind two-square-thick Blocking Terrain? I think not, scoundrel!” The second is his ability to tie up and weaken the opposing team with “GRAPPLING THE LERNAEAN HYDRA: Hercules can use Plasticity. Each opposing character adjacent to Hercules modifies its attack and damage values by -1 if it has any action tokens.” If you put Hercules next to the opposing army, they will likely just have to pass that next turn. And dead turns for your opponent = victory for you.
  2.  AVAS053A Thor — 228 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-104 Thor: I picked this character in this point range because of his great ability to deal damage with Pulse Wave. In addition, he also has some great support with Enhancement and the ability to grant adjacent Avengers Energy Explosion.
  3. AAOU001 Iron Man — 250 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-101 Iron Man: Iron Man has Avengers Initiative TA, Outwit, 12 Attack and Precision Strike. If you end up hitting an opposing figure, you also get to use his Trait: “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!: When Iron Man hits one or more characters with an attack and actions resolve, the opposing player chooses: You place a friendly AAOU #002 Iron Legion from outside the game into your starting area or, modify the defense value of your friendly characters by +1 until your next turn.

The Top 3 Call-Ins in the 251 to 300 Point Range:

MCU Hulk

  1. AAOU008 Hulk — 300 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-102 Hulk: With 6 Damage, 13 Attack, Charge and Super Strength, Hulk can deal up to 9 damage in a single hit! With raw stats like that he doesn’t need any other reasons to be on this list. Sadly you won’t be able to call him in during a 300 point game.

  2. WXM058 Namor — 295 Points — Called-In via WKMVID-006 Namor: Namor is the highest point level character possible to call in for a 300 point game. He has 12 Attack, 5 Damage, and a Trait “PHOENIX FIVE: Opposing characters targeted by friendly characters with the Phoenix Force keyword subtract 1 from their d6 roll when using Impervious, Shape Change, or Super Senses.

  3. IIM043 Iron Man and War Machine — 265 Points — Called-In via AOUAUID-101 Iron Man: This figure has 11 Attack, 4 Damage, triple target Energy Explosion, and–most importantly–Duo Attack!

That’s it for this article. I am going to see about getting my ID Card Call-In list published online and I’ll let everyone know about THAT… a little later.

 

 

The Ghosts of Clix-Mas Future Part 2: Electric Bugaloo!! (Or, The 4th Night of Clix-Mas!!)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: We are unleashing the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas! Tonight is Night 4! If you missed The First Night of Clix-mas, you can catch up right here! Night 2 is here. And last night’s article (Night 3) is here.]

Clixmas future masthead 2

Welcome to the 4th Night of Clix-Mas! Last night we took a look at the Clix we know we’re getting in the first six months of 2016. Tonight, we’re gonna put our thinking caps on and speculate at what we MIGHT be getting in the second half of the year.

JULY 2016:

'Murica!! F-yeah!!

‘Murica!! F-yeah!!

Outside of a Monthly OP kit (The Defenders, with a new Moon Knight sculpt plus another Shang-Chi dial and Shroud dial. Moon Knight hasn’t been seen since ASM, so he’s pretty sorely needed, but the Shang-Chi and Shroud we got in Deadpool were both good, and there’s a chance they’ll still be Modern legal when this kit comes out.) and the third month of Civil War, I think July will be pretty dry for Clix releases. Which I’m fine with, given the crush of Spring product we just talked about last night.

AUGUST 2016:

I have no idea who took this photo, but it's awesome. I found it here.

I have no idea who took this photo, but it’s awesome. I found it here.

Here’s where things get interesting. There’s been an August Clix set release for the past two years, and each one has been Marvel. Now, we’d be coming off of the Civil War Movie Set, Uncanny X-Men AND the Civil War SLOP set by the time August rolls around, so WizKids might want to change it up a bit and go DC, right?

Not so Fast

Looking back, there were even MORE Marvel sets before August last year (or at least it sure seems like there were), and August brought us Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and some brand new Vehicle rules. So this really could go either way.

Here’s how I would handicap it:

If it’s Marvel, this has to be a Spidey set, right? The two things we haven’t seen in awhile from Marvel Clix are a ton of Spideys and monsters, both generic and otherwise. Both were prominent in the recently rotated Amazing Spider-Man, and monsters aren’t going to sell a set on their own.

If it’s a DC set, then this could really be anything, then, but let’s narrow it down based on what we know. We know WizKids likes making money (this may shock you, but most businesses work like this); we know that WizKids likes to headline sets with major characters in the set name and/or on the box, even if they barely show up in the set itself (coughSLoSHcough), because it tends to boost sales.

(At the risk of starting a Marvel/DC flame war, you could argue that WizKids has been a little more adventurous with their Marvel license having based sets around Deadpool, GotG and Nick Fury in the last two years alone. Hmmm…)

We also know that DC has pretty much thumped the Trinity drum to death the last year and a half with sets based on, well, the Trinity (Trinity War), Superman (Superman/Wonder Woman and the upcoming World’s Finest), Wonder Woman (see previous examples) and Batman (again, see previous examples).

While it’s still possible we’ll see an all Batman set, it’s almost as likely that we’ll see something Green Lantern related, especially if War of Light rotates out of Modern (which would be aggressive on WizKids’s part, but not inconceivable, given how much trouble the Entities caused). With sub-themes that could fit in the Lantern framework, this would be a decent way to go.

But.

If WizKids was ever going to base a set on a non-Trinity, non-Justice League IP, this would be the perfect time to unleash a Suicide Squad set. While that would have been unthinkable even three years ago, we got Guardians of the Galaxy in August of 2014 because of the movie that was being released at the same time; well, Suicide Squad is in theaters starting in early August of 2016.

The final prediction and handicap:

Suicide Squad

A DC Suicide Squad set: (I’ll give it as high as 3-1 odds)

Runner-Up: A Marvel Spider-Verse set (which I’d put at about 5-1 odds)

SEPTEMBER 2016:

Again, just a Monthly OP kit. Which could really be anything.

OCTOBER 2016:

Of course we’ll get another Monthly OP kit, but I could also see WizKids sneaking in a second Turtles Gravity Feed here if the first one sells as much as it seems like it will. Yu-Gi-Oh! is always a possibility, too.

NOVEMBER 2016:

Another Monthly, but the main draw here will be the last set of 2016. And based on everything we just discussed (remember, I predicted Suicide Squad for August), I’m going to say that in November, Marvel takes a chance on another character not named Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk or Spidey:

Doctor-Strange-1

Doctor Strange!

Yes, this could still be a Spider-Verse set, but there is going to be a ton of marketing dollars thrown around for this movie, so if WizKids wanted to switch things up, this would be the time to do it, since those marketing dollars will mitigate a lot of risk!

Plus, we could see a Secret Wars Chase sub-Theme (with Strange as the leader of the Black Priests, Ultimate Reed as the Maker and maybe, just maybe we’d even get a Rabum Alal Doom!) or even a monsters-as-Howling Commandos sub-theme (which would open the door for a lot of monster Clix updates!).

(5-1 Odds)

DECEMBER 2016: 

The Monthly OP kit will feature another Holiday-themed figure. Gonna guess it’ll be either ol’ Saint Nick himself, one of his reindeer or a Snowman.

Well, there you have it. Tons of needless speculation about what may or may not come in time for Christmas 2016!

And for more crazy Heroclix discussion, check this space tomorrow!!