After a bit of hiatus (rough week):

RARES

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The rares in this set are brilliantly designed, with tons of fun strategic powers. There are tons of very unique mechanics here, with figures that are well outside the norm. For sealed play, that doesn’t necessarily translate to wins however. A lot of these pieces are a bit niche, or are outclassed by lower rarity figures. While that’s a great thing for game balance in sealed play, it also means this is a slot full of figures likely to end up on the bench. With the exception of the People’s Collective Champion, there are no must runs here, so I’d take a look at your commons and uncommons first and then see if any of these folks fit in well with your tentative squad.

035: Hercules (150): - Rangeless bricks in the 100+ range have to answer the question “How does this piece fair against Siege, Sunfire, Guardian, and other long-range bombers”? While Sasquatch’s answer was to provide superior reach and team support via being a Giant with Outwit, Hercules answer is that those are all just birds to him, and he cares not for their penetrating damage or trickery. Hercules has true one-shot potential, a rarity in this set, thanks to his traited Super Strength and opening Perplex. Despite that, I have concerns – he doesn’t have consistent move-and-attack, so if he gets shot coming in he may end up stranded and once he gets knocked out of his Impervious clicks, he’s a sitting duck. With the right support (Darkstar) he can be a huge threat, but I worry too much can go wrong to give him a hearty recommendation. I also feel like his trait is so fun that my recommendation doesn’t matter, but I will say it is almost never going to happen.

035: Hercules (60): - Hercules has the same problem at his budget starting line; one shot and he’s done, stuck on Plasticity and little more than a tie-up piece. IF you can get a first shot off, it’s nasty – Exploit Weakness is great and rare in this set. I would look to other pieces for the gift of battling well, however.

036: Iceman (100): - Iceman is a smidgen more expensive than most folks in this weight class that have the 10/3 spread with a long swing range + willpower, so what tricks does he offer to make up for it? Well, he has rock solid defenses, a Wildcard TA, a lethal Champions trait (arguably the most powerful), some conditional Barrier to prevent retaliation, and some conditional AoE damage that can wreck folks. I feel like he’s a weak four or a strong three, but erred on the side of higher given the prevalence of great TAs for him to borrow in this set. If you are running Bobby, the value of Incapacitate on other pieces skyrockets as it allows you to lock down a group before setting them up for a big blast of damage.

036: Iceman (60): - Iceman at 60 is a running-and-gunning harasser. I have a hard time wanting to invest 60 points in a piece that can’t break reducers, given the relative lack of Outwit in this set, but Barrier is a rare novelty and his trait can be a game-changer. Still, I’d want to run Bobby at another starting line most likely, and fine a better way to use those points.

036: Iceman (30): - For 30 points, you have a cheap mobile Barrier piece that blocks well thanks to his 18 defense and can cause a snowball effect once you earn a KO thanks to his trait – KO one opponent, and suddenly you can completely lock opponents out of the option to effectively retaliate. There are worse ways to fill out a squad. I’d bump him up a star if I had any other good Champions pieces (and there are many in the C and U slots), as it doubles the potency of his trait.

037a: Talisman: - Even considering how good Outwit is in this set, and even considering how many wildcards are in the set, I simply can’t get on board for a 60 point piece that offers no offensive capabilities given the wealth of great secondary attackers in this set at the same point level. He’s not even a great tie-up/harasser; his Incap is solid and accurate but he’s a non-threat without Willpower or better defenses to back it up.

038: Omega: - Omega looks like a pretty average attacker, sporting that good old 10/3 offensive line, but he’s got a few neat tricks. His end-dial Pulse Wave can be devastating, and his Perplexing Pog gives him a little bit of added utility (with the risk of losing his Willpower and taking damage if the pog is killed). Overall Omega is fine, and perfectly solid, but feels a bit too vanilla up front and a bit too risky on the back-end to really stand out.

041: She-hulk (200): - 200 points is a lot in this set, crossing into two-woman army territory. She-hulk is a great dial for a brawler, with her numbers being better than they look thanks to traited enemy-only Perplex to drop down defenses, attacks, or damages as needed and a full dial of heavy reducers and move-and-attack. With the right ally, she can be a devastating piece (a Mystic that makes for a Themed Team is the dream, such as Shamrock or Ghost Rider + some other filler) but she needs a lot to go right and there’s just enough Outwit, Penetrating, and long range in the set to give me pause.

041: She-hulk (80): - I’m a lot more excited about the budget option here. Starting on Outwit is great, and she’s still a durable, mobile threat. Her attack value sinks a little at the end, which is going to force her to use her CCE for Attack boosts, but I think she’s still a great asset to many teams.

042: Daredevil (100): - Behold, variance in Heroclix form. Matty is hard to rate because it all comes down to a 50-50 at 100 points – if you nail his first Super Senses roll, Matt is ludicrously deadly since he gets to remove a token, teleport adjacent, give that token to his attacker, and then free attack them next turn. If you miss, Matt is going to get wrecked and probably stranded on his fourth click, unable to maneuver into position to effectively attack. On balance, I think too much can go wrong as Outwit, PC, Precision Strike, or a few other counters in this set can trick this devil, but for players that like big swingy moments this is a devil of a good time. I am giving him a 3 because he’s not awful if he misses his super senses and it is such a big game if he hits it the first time (to say nothing of hitting it two or three times in a row), but his true rating is “1” or “4” depending on your luck. He REALLY wants to be paired with Shamrock, in the worst way.

042: Daredevil (75): - At 75, Matt plays a different role, that of harasser. He can move effectively across a battlefield and dish out tokens to whoever he wants thanks to Improved Targeting + Sharpshooter. His damage is low but he’s a good tie up. Overall I think there’s better use for your 75 points in this set, but he’s not bad by any stretch. One important note for both lines of Daredevil is that he’s GREAT with Mystics via his Wildcard, since his “Hyper Hearing” is present at the top of both dials. It gives you a powerful “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” – miss and get an action token, hit and get penetrating damage. Devilish stuff. I'd bump him up a star if Mystics is reliably available to him.

043: Angar the Screamer: - I am a huge fan of Angar in this set. Shape Change + Stealth + Willpower will help him maneuver safely into position, allowing him to drop that nasty 3 penetrating damage at a key moment against a key target thanks to his Improved Targeting. If you can fire that off three times (let him clear and then Blast, Willpower Blast, MOE Blast) he’ll have easily earned his keep, but even one shot is solid. After taking damage (either from an attack or his own MOE aggression), he switches tactics. His Pulse Wave and Perplex still do work offensively, but Mind Control with three targets is spicy on a cheaper piece, and getting to Running Shot in with it against up to 5 targets at the end-dial is just savage. He’ll take some patience and finesse, but for a reasonable 70 points he packs a ton of potential. Note, if you don’t have a better use for 10 points and are going to end up with a underbuilt force anyways, his trait is worth it. There are a ton of lethal pieces in this set that are highly reliant on Super Senses.

045: Aquarian: - I can hear the questions…why is Talisman a one shield and Aquarian a three-shield piece? Well, the difference is that Aquarian’s power has a huge impact on the game, and with 10 move + Sidestep + Flight, you should be able to maneuver him into a place where he cripples opposing teams while allowing yours unfettered offense. Forcing all pieces to Double Power action to do anything useful is plain brutal, especially given the relative rarity of Indom and Willpower in this set. Further, he is more consistent support since he can taxi and Outwit reliably. Aquarian is also hard to remove – Talisman is one shot away from uselessness, while Aquarian is going to require serious, dedicated effort to take down. Finally, all this plays into his hand – after sapping and wasting the actions of an opposing team, Aquarian turns that Flower Power into Glower Power at the end, with a lethal Pulse Wave surprise. Aquarian isn’t a must play because he’s going to be a challenging, skill-testing piece to use well, but his impact on the board is going to be pretty radical for 60 points, and he’s a major piece to prepare for.

047: Collective Man: - Okay, he’s a little complicated so do your homework, but basically Collective Man is ludicrously, insanely great and a must-play at whatever point total your build accommodates (although I recommend running him at 50 or 10). I’ll leave it to the LotR and Gears of War enthusiasts to figure out why, but if it helps the uninitiated look at him as a 50 point piece with a bizarro dial and treat his Special Power on click 1 (actually click 5) as Regeneration as it worked under the old rules. That dial would be insane for 50 points, and then factor in that he basically has a trait that says “Collective Man can’t take more than 1 damage from an attack, not even Pulse Wave suckers”. Now consider that for a rules pro, he can do so much more and can change depending on the needs of the match. Seriously, Collective Man is. Super. Great.

048: Blitzkrieg: - The opening PB/RS combo is as good as ever, even though he’s no Sunfire. In exchange for Sunfire’s superior offensive powers, Blitzkrieg here offers a neat power to dish out lightning to any target, ignoring stealth and forgoing an attack roll. As one of the few pieces in the set that can bust stealth, bust super senses, and bust Collective Man, Blitzkrieg is a decent piece, but his special requires him to get VERY close and doesn’t allow for a combo with his Running Shot. For my money, I'd use his superior range and bank on that power as a disincentive to close in on him but having the option to run in close and Lord Over the little people is good to have. That limitation, and his general glass-cannon appearance, keep him just shy of being a must-run but he's still a great pull.

Thanks my man, looks like rares stuttered on delivery, but I'm glad collective man is owning the rarity. Who'd have thought collective man would be meta?

Like I said in the review, all the rares are magnificent from a design perspective. Every single one has something unique and clever, and I love it (hence the primer treatment). It's just that Sunfire, Guardian, Sasquatch, and Siege are so powerful and meanwhile figures like Quicksand, Darkstar, Talisman (twoyoungmen), Black Widow, Shamrock, and Sabra are so efficient as support/control pieces (and, in sealed, so much more common - literally) that a rare has to fill a totally different niche or do something exceptional to stand out.

#cc057 Veteran Mistress Death
Real Name: Death
Team: Mystics,Power Cosmic
Range: 6
Points: 300/200
Keywords: Cosmic, Death's Minions, Deity, Minions of Thanos, Mystical, Ruler

12 11 18 5

13 11 18 5

14 12 17 6

| | | |

15 11 18 5

14 11 17 4

15 11 17 4

14 10 16 4

11 10 16 3

10 10 17 2

9 9 18 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

You Would Bargain With Me?: At the beginning of the game, you may KO another friendly character. If you do, KO an opposing character of equal or less points.
Death Comes For Us All
You Cannot Escape Me
The True Enemy of All Life
Grim Reaper
Inevitable: Mistress Death can use Precision Strike and Poison. When she uses Poison, opposing characters adjacent to a friendly character with the Death's Minions keyword or within a number of squares equal to her click number are considered adjacent.
No One Knows When Their Time Is At An End
Physical Manifestation of An Abstraction
Fundamental Force
Femme Fatale
The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed: STOP. Mistress Death can use Mastermind and modifies her defense value by +1 for each opposing character on the map.
All Withers And Decays
Kiss of Death
My Domain Is Closed To You: Mistress Death can use Perplex and Steal Energy. Once per game, choose a friendly character. When the chosen character would be KO'd by an attack, instead turn them to their last non-KO click.

Like Thanos & Deadpool I think I'm in love with Mistress Death!

You Would Bargain With Me?: At the beginning of the game, you may KO another friendly character. If you do, KO an opposing character of equal or less points.

This trait is worth the price of admission by itself, a cure for every HaHa Joker, Nighthawk prime, Faust or pick a power figure in the game.

I've always liked the Marvel personification of death a bit better than DC's ( yes I'm weird ) and when she finally talks to Thanos it is suitably disturbing.

I think I'd have to play her at 300, sidestep fits her slow but inevitable nature to a tee.

Wow. This is just wow. Really outstanding design. It's a smart design, in that in a normal 300 points game she'll be limited to koing a <101-point character and won't be unable to use the trait at 300 points. I think that alone keeps it in balance. Because of that balance I doubt I'd hate this piece as much as Copycat.

That poison SP is downright NASTY in full caps. The other special powers are nicely done and thematic to the character.

You've done some great work here. You've really made a lady death here that is far superior in design and effect than either of WK's attempts. Well done.

Yeah I felt this could lead to some powerful pyhrric victory sacrifice, but is balanced by the fact that the piece you really want to get rid of may be cheaper than your sacrificial lamb, so there's a good chance of some bite to it on your end butyl theoretically well worth the cost, especially in standard format. I also went ahead and gave her minions of Thanos so she could theme with her boyfriend. And having said that, I'm editing in deadpool corps kw for fun
Thank you, kindly. I wanted to add in a thematic element to the design and link her to the story more, hence the death's minions kw bonus for her poison, and the increasing wave of death should make the sp feel as inevitable as it's flavor text. The wonky sp would nigh-breakingly make someone immortal (pack someone with a good last click ) so long as that sp is showing forcing your opponent to deal with her (and suck down that mystics) while her champion is under her protection. But be sure not to steal energy her off those clicks to his peril . Having gotten 2 very cheap dials for her, I wanted to go all out force of nature (anti-nature?) and she screamed to me printed 6, so watch out for that mean click 3.

Lastly, the biblically primed end dial sp is designed to ensure she's the last entity standing on your force, surviving til it's down to her and likely your last living hope to finally put her to the grave

#cc028 Veteran Diamond Lil
Real Name: Lillian Crawley
Team: Alpha Flight
Range: 0
Points: 90/60
Keywords: Alpha Flight, Omega Flight

9 10 18 3

| | | |

8 10 17 3

7 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Impenetrable Bio-Aura: If Diamond Lil is 90 points she can use Invincible. If she is 60 points she can use Invulnerability.
Combatative Personality
Fingernails
Take One For The Team: Adjacent friendly characters can use Mastermind, but only to transfer damage to Diamond Lil.
Quick Temper

Traited Invinc or Invuln for Diamond Lil is definitely the way to go. I like the single click of reverse mastermind. She is a beast at 60 and still way worth her points at 90.

yeah it seemed like the only way to go with her, but I figured i'd give it a bit of flavor by changing its power level based on her point cost. and the single click of reverse mm seemed like a good complement to her durability based powerset, especially once you look at the vet as the alpha flight heel-face turn

#cc029 Unique Smart Alec
Real Name: Alexander Thorne
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 50
Keywords: Alpha Flight, Omega Flight, Scientist

7 9 16 1

7 8 16 1

6 8 16 1

6 8 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Targeting: Encephalo-Helmet: █,●
Chessmaster
I Am The Smartest Man In The World!: Smart Alec can use Perplex, Leadership and Outwit.
This Is Beneath Me
The Man With The Computer Brain
It's Just That Reed Richards Gets All The Press While I'm Stuck Here: Smart Alec can use Stealth. He may use a damage power that an adjacent opposing character can use.
Smartest Man In Canada
Intellect Unsurpassed
Pure Genius

The only thing this guys missing is getting shrunk down by Shaman and put in his pouch Seriously, I like how you've done his super-genius effects. Giving him the stock and trade leadership, Perplex, and Outwit as his attack SP and letting him use adjacent character's damage powers is a nice addition. This guy would be a lot of fun to play for his points.

#cc002 Veteran Flashback
Real Name: Gardner Monroe
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 30
Keywords: Future, Omega Flight

7 9 17 2

7 9 17 2

6 10 16 2

6 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

You've Murdered My Future!!: When Flashback is KO'd roll 1d6. On a result of 1, KO all friendly characters named Flashback.
Dogpile
One Man Army
Temporal Anomaly: This character's actions do not count against your action total if another friendly character named Flashback was given a non-free action this turn. Flashback can use the carry ability, but only to carry friendly characters named Flashback.
Watch Each Other's Backs
Come In Fresh
Future Self
Gang Up: UNIQUE MODIFIER - Flashback can use Empower.

Man, I am loving the Alpha and Omega flights love in this set.
You've done a good job coming up with a design for a character with not a lot of source material to pull from. The trait was the essential element and I like the straight on, all or nothing approach. I like making the empower a unique modifier.

Still missing Madison Jeffries

Thanks, I made him very top heavy by design, emphasizing his arrogance and how easy it is for his downfall. Plus, it puts a sense of urgency to his mm. As you saw with today's dial, original omega flight ain't lacking in support
Cool, I wanted them to be a potent "generic," but internally manageable so as not to be broken. So they're a source of cheap and plentiful prob, but take 1 out and it could be a keystone army, so there's quite a bit of a gamble in hard packing them beyond just the pc they bring . Plus when they have prob, they have a naked defense. I also tempered their empower so their own dmg doesn't get out of hand.