With each new set released, new questions arise, and I'm surprised at the number of answers that contradict my initial understanding or intuition. It may be time to review what powers and team abilities will and won't work together.

One strange example is Despero's Super Strength. If he's holding an object and is hit hard enough to click from Super Strength to Psychic Blast and back to Super Strength, does he drop the object ? I think he's the first character with non-contiguous Super Strength clicks, but it's a question that may need to be addressed before it happens in an important tournament.

As another example, it seems like the two Combat Expert powers are becoming needlessly complicated to use because of the simple wording of the power, then redundant statements in the FAQ.

For example, the FAQ is quite unambiguous that Running Shot doesn't work with Ranged Combat Expert, but Hypersonic Speed isn't mentioned (although it falls under the broad (and unclear) statement the power doesn't work with any other except Probability Control). It seems like it's just a matter of time until a Ranged Combat Expert with Hypersonic Speed appears, and an argument may well ensue. And do Combat Experts have to drop their Defense powers to get the bonus ?

There are also some unusual notions in the rules, like Outwit being available through a team ability, but no rules consideration for characters with Outwit and a Combat Expert power.

And why can team abilities change the printed values of a Combat Expert while powers may not ? (leaving alone the FAQ statement that Enhancement can't aid Close Combat Expert).

Perhaps we need to get some really clear cut basic rules and apply them. I'm not sure what they might all entail, but something like the following as a start:

1) A printed number can only be added to, subtracted from, or replaced by a single source (i.e. one power or team ability being used by a single individual). Prevents stacking up multiple Perplexes of the same value, excessive SHIELD fire support or Enhancement, Experts plus Perplex, etc. Prevents perplexing up after Defend or Sinister Syndicate, or even Energy Shield on top of JSA team ability.

2) A single power or team ability can only be used to aid a single number or target. So, you can Defend one adjacent friendly fig, but not all of them. Bullseye can loan his AV to one adjacent Syndicate member, but not all of them.

3) Combat Expert powers can only be used on attacks against a single target and cannot be used with powers that let the Expert move and attack. Combat Expert powers affect the printed damage value for the appropriate attack action, so (by 1 above) don't stack with Perplex, Enhancement, SHIELD team bonus, etc.

4) A die roll may only be rerolled once. Preventing too much Probability Control.

5) Clean up some powers and team ability definitions. Define Impervious to be clearly Invulnerable + a save, for example. Look for major or popular characters who can't be simulated in the rules, and ask if there's a way to make them a playable part of the game, and the rrules they'd require.

6) Consider toning Support down to D3, or even just an action token transfer (the Support figure takes an action token from the target). A dramatic change to play strategy, but there really aren't that many examples of healing performed to that degree during combat in the genre.