Celebrate the Release of WW80 and the changes to the rules with an OP Kit featuring Characters that change.
Wolverine; going from his adamantium skeleton and having it drained and reverting to bone claws.
Angel; after a sinister experiment he became the Horsemen of Death known as Arcangel
Beast; the man that creates a serum ultimately growing blue fur.

Due to limitations of the Dial Generator I couldn’t get the dials to play exactly as I wanted so I will discuss the changes below but before that let me discuss the direction I took with these clicks to stay congruent with the rule changes.

Since we are removing powers that make us feel bad or are too complicated for new players I decided to remove them all from the game. Impervious makes me feel bad, if the opponent has it I feel bad when they roll a 5/6 and if I have it I feel bad when I don’t roll a 5/6. Per WizKids own reasoning this power had to go.
When players look at their dials and see dark green in the speed section they have to memorize that dark green means charge, and that charge means move up to half your speed value then CLOSE as FREE. That’s too much to remember and too complicated, it had to go. It also made me feel bad when I was a new player and found out you couldn’t Charge and Close Combat Expert; double whammy - I feel bad and it’s too complicated.

In lieu of this, when you look at the dials you will see speed, attack, defense, and damage powers on the clicks; know now they are all traited. Majority of the information a player would need now is all on the card. PACS no longer need to exist. When I look at games like Magic the gathering which is complicated or the fact that young CHILDREN can learn Pokemon TCG I highly doubt Heroclix is any more or less complicated to learn, so why not learn it? Accessibility perhaps? Once you understand the base rules for Magic and Pokemon TCG all the information you need to play is printed on the card itself. Maybe the answer isn’t removing powers but rather explaining them better on the cards?

Therefore I also removed POWER actions because they are too complicated. POWER vs RANGE vs CLOSE actions is difficult to grasp let alone when you add in the fact that ranged action and ranged attack are two different things. They make me feel bad and are too complicated…per WizKids guidelines they have to go. Instead now everything is either a COSTED action and given an action token or a FREE action and not given an action token.

To make matters better…I also removed the flight and water symbol from the game. They were redundant, redundancy complicates things, and complicated things make me feel bad. There’s no need for them. Why should I have to remember flight symbol gives improved movement and passenger one when the card itself can just state that?

At this point you’re either foaming at the mouth or have fallen out of your chair laughing. Allow me to discuss the changes I did to the game that cannot be represented in the dial generator and really either give you a reason to curse me/laugh out loud.

Blue Card / Red Card system.
With the recent allowance for all players to look at the backs of cards it makes having the back of a card now irrelevant. In fact it would be easier to just have the dial on the front of the card to see what is happening and the back entirely blank.
Introducing the blue card red card system!!
One side of the card will be blue at the top. It will include the characters name, keywords, range, targets, IM & IT’s, passengers, team abilities, list out any powers they can use, and have the dial at the bottom. The other side of the card will be red at top and have all the same information; albeit it does not need to be verbatim. The blue and red will correlate with the colors of the click numbers themselves. Where as a 60 point figure will have 6 clicks. Clicks 1,2,&3 will be in blue numbers and clicks 4,5,&6 will be in red. When a blue click number is showing you play using the blue side of the card. When the red click number is showing you play with the red side of the card. Don’t feel there’s enough variety? We can include bi-fold cards that now have blue, yellow, green, and red click numbers.
What this will allow for is characters like Angel that turn into Arcangel to be Angel on the blue side but Arcangel on the red. On blue click numbers he has the X-Men keyword and certain powers. Once he changes to red he plays with the Arcangel card and has the horsemen keyword instead with different powers. You can still accurately represent Bruce Banner changing into the Hulk and back again with clicks 1&2 being blue for banner, clicks 3-9 being red for the hulk, then clicks 10&11 being blue for Banner again.
This complicates things too much you say? Matching colors is too tricky? Well I know I can ask a 3yo, “what color is this number?” “Blue.” “And what side of the card matches that color?” “the blue side!!” “Very good toddler, very good.” If matching colors is becoming too complicated and makes us feel bad we have some deeper issues here.

Wait a second, he put a lot of thought into this? Is he joking about what he is saying or completely serious?
This is a satire piece so I hope you can see the humor in the craziness of the statements. However, in all seriousness, there are some broken elements in the game that the players, stores, and WizKids need to address…and I am calling WizKids bluff on this. Right now I feel WizKids is sitting on a toilet with Heroclix in the bowl and they are just pinching out rabbit pellet after rabbit pellet. Well you know what? Here’s a full bottle of miramax, either poop all over the game or get off the toilet.

Would my satire rules make the game easier? I dunno? I think it brings about its own set of challenging, especially when you look at the clicks I made for it. I can tell you what won’t make the game easier nor bring in new players:

Making “simpler” commons/uncommons. If HOX is any indication Rachel Summers is not a simple click, her dial changes, TK is not a simple power, and she has force blast which has been benched. I also find it hard to believe that commons and uncommons will be simpler when SVC had commons with the secret identity trait and uncommon Marvel Girl from HOX has Krakoin Revival…a power so complicated you have to cite on Marvel Girl’s card to see the seperate FULL bi-fold that was included. And why does Marvel Girl have PC? That’s an entirely separate issue…. To make clicks simple look at keeping the powers the same the whole way through and reduce the amount of rolling they would have to do, such as remembering to roll shape change, remembering to roll leadership, etc. The preview for the new WW80 clicks are extremely complicated. The commons/uncommons are thus far 50 points for 5 clicks or 60 points for 6 clicks but lack 1 or four powers. Still each one of them has around 6 powers on the dial in total meaning fielding a group of them means you’d still have to memorize over 10 powers to play. Yea, real simple for new players. Furthermore each one of these clicks has a “start the game equipped feature.” As if new players understand equipping. New players have a difficult time understanding the difference between equipped versus held. I cannot hold two objects. I cannot equipped two objects. But I can equip one object and hold one object. If someone is holding an object they cannot be carried or carry but if someone is equipped they can still carry or be carried. Yea, let’s put that on all our commons/uncommons…that’s real simple for new players to understand!! We are so smart!!

Making commons/uncommons low points. Well, let’s play this out shall we? In a 300 point team where all commons/uncommons are now 50 points I need 6 figures on my force. I have to worry about six different figures? Positioning them, their individual powers, kill boxes, modifier placements, terrain…let along the entire other force I’m fighting??? NO!! This will be overwhelming as all get up for new players. If this is accessibility concept you want to predicate building commons/uncommons on, then they should all become 300 point tanks. That way I only need to play 1 figure and worry about that one figure, and what it does, and it never changes so I can focus on what my opponent is doing. With the direction WizKids says they need to go, want to know what the perfect common figure looks like? HOX Old Man Phoenix. That click is perfect for new players. It stays the same, great combat values, hard to take down, and will get to at least see some action on the board. HOX Old Man Phoenix should’ve been a common if they wanted commons and uncommons to appeal to new players.

The common consensus in forums seems to be that everything being done will equate to no recruitment of new players. What can be done to recruit new players then?

Ignore the rarity of figures and focus on core characters in every booster. I knew of the game for years before I actually bought my first click and played. The biggest hurdle for me was I just wanted to play a character I liked. I’m not saying to remove rarity from the game, keep it!! But stop assuming new players understand it. I once witnessed a sealed for XXS where a new player (first time ever playing the game) pulled chase AOA Ice Man; his favorite character was Storm. Another player convinced him to do a straight 1:1 trade, the Chase Ice Man for the rare Storm so they each got the character they liked. I couldn’t let this happen and tried explaining the situation to the judge and the new player. The judge’s hands were tied if the new player was okay with the trade and the new player insisted he’d rather have Storm instead. I never saw him again. Imagine be a fan of X-Men but not fully embedded in the lore; your knowledge is limited to the movies and cartoons. You see the HOX boosters and buy one. In the Booster you get Cosair, Hepzebah, Raza, Rare Prime Emporer Vulcan, and SR Waldo…now most of us would understand the rarity and be content with the booster results but to a new player…that’s garbage. Where’s Cyclops, Wolverine, and Storm in this X-Men booster? I’d end up trading (as a new player) my Emperor Vulcan for the common Psylocke because I think she’s much cooler. Bring in new players by acknowledging who the fan favorites, most popular, titular core characters are and make sure one of those ends up in each booster REGARDLESS of rarity and make sure each of the core characters are simple, straight-forward, and tank-ish enough for new players to play.

Fast Forces suck for new players!! Fast Forces…contains a 300 point team you can take right out of the box and start playing the game. Fantastic!! Except it doesn’t. There’s no PAC to explain powers, it doesn’t come with a map, it doesn’t come with action tokens, it doesn’t even come with dice. How about 101 sets? A 101 set is a duel sided battle royal map. It’s strictly square but still sized to traditional size with just blank extra space. In the extra space is written a PAC, the different types of terrain and how to move/target in them, and what your turn looks like. Every case a store orders comes with a 101 kit. The maps are not meta by any means, very important to make sure that veterans don’t seek them out. The maps stay the same stay the same stay the same and never retire that way WizKids doesn’t had to put any R&D into them. Sell them for $5 and they come with six tokens and a pair of dice. New players can buy them with a booster to have a full team!!

A little bit of advertising. We are fortunate to still have in-person games. But everyone in the store outside of the heroclix players have no idea what the game is. How about with every set release sending a poster. The poster can have the set, list the OP kits for the next three months, and give the release date of the next set. You know, get people that don’t know about the online forums excited too?

Reduce the cost barrier of entry!! If I want Old Man Phoenix I have to pay $250 ATM for him. I’m not saying he’s not worth it, but that’s pricey to get a character that I want. And yes, there are lots of characters I like that aren’t at that price point, but still, a lot of the sought after figures are $10-$15; that’s the price of a full booster. And a booster is $15…just to buy a bunch of characters I don’t like and lose? Yea, no dice. For new players I think always having a gravity feed out is the best. Every gravity feed can sell individual for $3.99…an affordable price point for 1 click. And, from this point forward, every gravity feed character has a 300 point dial…that way a new player can just buy the one click, pay the $5 for the 101 set, and be fully able to play the game without having to handle too much.

Speaking back to advertising, appealing to new players, let’s just look at sales in general. How can a store successfully sell product? Whether to new or existing players? 3 simple rules…1 the longer someone is in a store the more likely they will buy, 2 if you can put merchandise in someone’s hand they are more likely to buy, 3 if you can get them thinking about the product when not in the store they are more likely to come in to buy. How can WizKids do this? Stores that hold weekly events WizKids gifts a Display case. If a store places an order for $XXX they have the option to buy a complete factory set of the latest set for $YYY and each piece will come with an MSRP. What will this do? Well for one, it’s advertising by actually having the pieces displayed in the store. It keeps people in the store longer and leads to asking questions. People can take the pieces out and hold them, potentially not wanting to give them back. It will control the barrier fee of entry. If WizKids sets the MSRP of individual clicks then suddenly places that troll the internet with toads and giant incorporated businesses that sell cool stuff can no longer compete with those prices and the instant gratification. New players can get the exact characters they want to play, veterans can buy the entire set of chases on release day, the store immediately makes back its entire cost of the set and agrees to carry more in the future. Seeing the case, leaving the store, and remembering everything in the case will get players thinking about the game while not in the store and help encourage them to come back.

At the end of the day, the players are intelligent, we can all agree that nothing being done is to ease and recruit new players. Mechanics are changing but they are not becoming easier…in some instances they are actually making the game harder. Therefore I feel what is really aggravating to the player base is what is the real agenda or what are they really trying to do? If I had to suspect a guess? Based off of the past year…I’d say the benching of powers among other things was to make the game easier to code into a digital game; app, PC, or cartridge…so that all players can continue to play the game. That’s my outlandish conspiracy theory.

Take everything I’ve written with a grain of salt. WizKids will do what they’re gonna do and you know what? No matter what they do myself and most of us will continue to play no matter how much we agree or disagree. Why? Because there is no other game out there to replace heroclix that allows us play against friends using our favorite super heroes.

Let’s agree to be constructive rather than vindictive in helping this game be what we deem best. Please comment, write feedback, and more!! But let’s keep everything we ask of WizKids to be goal and solution oriented rather than a dead in the water filibuster; that’s where we will really see the game grow.

Please enjoy my Wolverine, Angel/Arcangel, and Beast OP Kit!! Comment away, the more noise we make the more we will be heard. The more CONSTRUCTIVE noise we make the more we will be listened.

Wolverine 1/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 125
Keywords: X-Men, X-Force, Weapon X, Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Shield, Hydra

9 12 18 3

8 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

7 10 17 2

6 10 17 2

6 10 17 2

5 10 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM IT: Hindering, Characters
Remove the Adamantium: When Wolverine 1/2 would be KO'd instead place a heavy object in his square and play Wolverine 2/2 in the last square he occupied
Berserker Barrage: POWER: Move up to half speed value then close as FREE.
Adamantium Skeleton: +2 Defense from close attacks/Can reduce damage -1
Adamantium Claws: Damage dealt from close attacks cannot be reduced

Wolverine 2/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 125
Keywords: X-Men, X-Force, Weapon X, Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Shield, Hydra

9 12 18 3

8 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

7 10 17 2

6 10 17 2

6 10 17 2

5 10 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM IT: Hindering, Characters
Berserker Barrage: COSTED: Move up to half speed value then close as FREE.
Healing Factor: COSTED: Roll 2D6, halve the result, and heal Wolverine 2/2 the value.
Bone Claws: FREE: Roll 2D6 and halve the result, the value replaces Wolverine 2/2's damage value until your next turn.

Angel 1/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 125
Keywords: X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, Defenders

14 11 20 3

13 10 18 2

13 10 18 2

13 10 18 2

12 9 17 1

12 9 16 1

12 9 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM & Passenger: Hindering, Elevated, Outdoor Blocking, Adjacency. Passenger: 1
Becoming Death: When Angel 1/2 would be KO'd instead replace him with Arcangel 2/2
Soar: COSTED: Move up to half speed value then Angel or a character he carried may be given a COSTED action as FREE
Feather Wings: +2 defense from range attacks. COSTED: Choose an adjacent Friendly character same size or smaller, until your next turn Angel and that character cannot be targeted with close attacks and opposing characters half range when targeting them.

Arcangel 2/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 6
Points: 125
Keywords: Horsemen

14 11 20 3

13 10 18 2

13 10 18 2

13 10 18 2

12 9 17 1

12 9 16 1

12 9 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM: Hindering, Elevated, Outdoor Blocking, Adjacency.
Soar: COSTED: Move up to half speed value then Angel may be given a COSTED action as FREE
Metallic Wings: FREE: When Arcangel hits with a ranged attack all characters adjacent to the target may also become hit.
Poison tipped feathers: Hit characters are each given an action token after resolutions.

Beast 1/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 1
Points: 125
Keywords: X-Men, X-Factor

8 12 18 3

7 12 18 2

7 12 18 2

7 12 18 2

6 10 16 1

5 10 16 1

5 10 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM IT: IM: Hindering & Elevated. IT: Adjacency
Growing Blue Fur: When Beast 1/2 would be KO'd instead replace him with Beast 2/2 on click 1.
Acrobatic: FREE: Move locked value of 2.
Simian Reflexes: +3 defense for close attacks
Genius: FREE: Choose an opposing character within 4 squares and LOF, they cannot use their damage power until your next turn.

Beast 2/2
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 1
Points: 125
Keywords: X-Men, Defenders, Illuminati

8 12 18 3

7 12 18 2

7 12 18 2

7 12 18 2

6 10 16 1

5 10 16 1

5 10 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

IM IT: IM: Hindering & Elevated. IT: Adjacency
Acrobatic: FREE: Move locked value of 2.
Unleash the Beast: When Beast hits with a COSTED close attack he may be given another COSTED action as free.
Rip to Shreds: When Beast hits Multiple targets with a ranged attack he may deal his printed damage value to each hit target.