It's Prime Time!

The Venom symbiote has fluctuated between heroic and villainous hosts, leaving us to wonder at its own intentions. The Anti-Venom 'synthetic symbiote', however, was a distinctly heroic extension of its host, a reformed Eddie Brock. That doesn't mean that Anti-Venom is any less of a threat; Brock's version of vigilante justice has often put him at odds with more idealistic heroes like Spider-Man and the Avengers. So which Brock is right for you?

Prime Time is a bi-weekly focus on the most exclusive members of any team. How does the A-side compare to the B-side? Should you track down both? Just how well does that Prime justify the green ring? The answers are all inside.

The 90's hype of Venom was still lingering in the back of HeroClix fans' minds when he made his long-awaited debut in Critical Mass. Despite a challenging dial to effectively utilize, the Veteran was a sought after piece, and stayed that way until Venom's second outing as a promotional figure in Sinister (another challenging dial to make the most of, and a figure that can still fetch a nice price, if only for the sculpt). By that time, the Venom symbiote had changed hosts in the comics, and HeroClix followed suit. The original Eddie Venom was revisited in Web of Spider-Man, along with the first appearance of Anti-Venom (who was, at the time, a brand new incarnation of the character over in the comics). Neither made much of a splash.

Perhaps Brock's best outing came recently in the form of an LE. While his 120 point dial was hard to justify without near certainty that the enemy would be wearing webs, die-hard Venom fans still pushed to make him succeed.

All of this should provide a nice background for the state of Eddie Brock in HeroClix at the release of Superior Foes of Spider-Man; namely, that while many remakes get derided as unnecessary filler, Venom is never met with that reaction, because many feel Venom has never gotten his due.



A-Sides: Venom
Unique Keywords: 2
Point Allocation: 42%
Role: Secondary Attacker and Tie-Up
Reason for Use: Durable mini-brick, mobile melee, stable Syndicate attack value



So where do the two sides of Eddie Brock rate? Let's start by putting fandom aside; there's ne question that Venom has a following that Anti-Venom will never achieve. If this were a popularity contest between Symbiote suits, Anti-Venom would rank somewhere near the Life Foundation. And not that awesome Scream chick either. I mean more like Riot, the grey Venom without a white spider logo. None of this is to rag on Anti-Venom as a character; it's just to say that most people would have been content to have one version of him back in WoS and call that good. After all, we don't have Scream yet...

But Anti-Venom undeniably offers something cool to dial designers. Multi-target Outwit, even at short range, is extremely disruptive. The Prime treatment was basically made for alternate versions such as this one. And any time you can sneak Support onto an unusual character-type is a golden opportunity.

So what do you value about Venom? Is it the Syndicate keyword and team ability? Is it the steady attack value? Is it the aggressive and self-serving healing? Is it the character? If so, Anti-Venom won't do. The way that Anti-Venom succeeds is by wanting, primarily, a second-string tie-up with great survival chances, and seeing that Anti-Venom gives you that, plus a traited Outwit-ish ability, for 25 points less.

In the end, most people want something that Venom exclusively offers, and won't find Anti-Venom to be a suitable alternative. If you're most people, I'd recommend you stick with the uncommon Venom - but keep your eyes peeled for a chance at the prime as well!

Anti-Venom belongs to the widely-popular Monster family, where he faces stiff competition from a number of Modern Age primes.

Monster
Kraven was recently the focus of a 4-way Prime Time review, where he was forced to compete against himself in the Prime-Off. But whereas Anti-Venom brings a bit of everything to the table, Prime Kraven is a focused piece with one role. Because of that, it's easy to use Kraven to the best of his potential, while Anti-Venom can falter if you're not careful. Kraven.

Baron Blood has an advantage in mobility and that vampiric top-dial potential, but I just find Anti-Venom's suite of powers to be so... obnoxious! Even considering the constant healing that the Baron should be doing (if he can land his attacks), Brock feels more durable and threatening. Anti-Venom.

Brutaal is one of the top Primes for the Monster theme, and Anti-Venom isn't going to be the Prime that challenges that spot. Stick with Brutaal unless you can't afford him.

Bizarro Flash is designed to counter Hypersonic Speedsters- but honestly, Anti-Venom does it nearly as well. This one comes down to taste, but as Bizarro Flash is more pigeon-holed, I lean toward the flexibility offered by Anti-Venom.

Zoom (Black Lantern) is the Monster Prime to challenge Brutaal. Again, the only reason you'd consider Anti-Venom instead is if you can't afford Zoom, points- or dollars-wise. Despite the fact that Anti-Venom is actually a rather perfect counter to him, Zoom is the better choice.

Reporter (Wait, there's actually another prime reporter?!)
Looker recently joined the Prime ranks and while she's actually a Monster too, I'm going to rank her in the less competitive group. Like all vampiric dials, Looker is a risky piece, beginning with a short dial and less optimized stats to compensate for all that top-dial potential. Unless you have some help from teammates or resources, Looker is likely to take a beating long before Anti-Venom's evasions have failed him. Anti-Venom is the Modern-Age Reporter Prime.

That's all for this week! Next time, we'll tackle someone generic.

Thanks for the article.

I still can't believe they remade antivenom and didn't give him the revengers kw . And I think a Brock toxin would've gotten more mileage

Most important category for any symbiote

Is Venom

SFoSM 023a
10/10 is definitely Venom

SFoSM 023b
6/10 is only somewhat Venom

I wrote about Venom! I expected more conversation...

Well let's see if I can help with that!

I have been a fan of Venom for a while and was very excited to see there would be symbiotes in SFSM, not to mention a prime, a rare, AND a symbiote object (which was the most exciting to me, not just in function but conceptually). I have almost all of the past versions of Venom (save for the Civil War version...someone PM me for trade! Haha) so there are a few comparisons to be made.

One of the things that any Venom really needs is improved movement or a built-in leap/climb. He essentially travels like Spider-man so let's act like it! The oldest Venoms had leap/climb the entire dial and the HoT version had it traited - even the WoS versions had it mixed in. We don't see him again until the Deadpool set in which we are looking at the Flash Thompson incarnations (the FF having leap/climb but it's a sub-par figure as a whole) and the Zombie, both of which could have some trouble moving around on the field (although the zombie does ignore characters). We then finally get to the wkM15-007 Venom that came in the symbiote OP and WOW! Improved movement that ignored hindering, elevated, AND characters? Sign me up! It also helps that he is a wonderful addition to a Sinister Syndicate team with the top-dial 18 defend and shareable 11 attack with TA. We then move to Civil War where he has leap/climb traited (among other things - lot of power in a 90pt figure!) and finally to the SFSM Venoms.

Anti-Venom was a bit disappointing to me (and other as well) for a few reasons (keywords, not the best value for 100pts compared to others, etc). The biggest disappointment, however, was the lack of any improved movement or leap/climb. I would have easily settled for ignoring elevated like the Venom from the same set at the very least. For a figure that relies on getting fairly close and locking people down/countering powers, he is going to have some trouble getting around. The fact that he's a symbiote (and therefore can automatically break away) helps prevent him from being locked down in unfavorable circumstances, it does not really help position him where he needs to be. With a bit more mobility he could be a VERY annoying figure to fight against. Could you imagine if he had the same improved movement of the OP kit Venom? In fact, one of the biggest reasons I decided to buy the FF was to obtain the web shooter to use with Anti-Venom. I have yet to put the combination into action but I'm sure this topic will prompt me to do so soon!

Keywords on Anti-Venom have really held me back, but even if he had the appropriate Revengers keyword, I'm not sure I would use that team. From the way he's drawn (vs. Venom), I see why he's not a Brute. It would have been a stretch, but Spider-Man Family would have gone MILES for this guy.

I own and have played with/against most every Venom (I don't own CW Venom, like almost everyone else!). The UC Venom is almost fantastic, but I always reach for the OP Venom. Despite being 5 points cheaper, I feel he holds his own and supports a Sinister Syndicate team better with that top dial 11 and Defend.

Anti-Venom, however, I just got and haven't had a chance to use him. A player at my venue was using him (didn't get to play since I was judging that night) and he was crazy lucky on his Regeneration rolls..... Got to top dial TWICE and to click 4 near the end of the game. He totally forgot about the outwit ability, which would have really helped.

I plan on putting Hulkbuster Armor on his to give him Invulnerability. I think that would really help him out in the long run... And really it's just 10 extra points. I have all the other Symbiotes and a few Monsters that would compliment him well, but I really worry about a ranged team with these kind of figures. (Wish he had more keywords!! Argh!)

Honestly I'd even be in favor of regular Venom getting Spider-man Family. They team up an awful lot for people that supposedly hate each other. And nothing would be better for the symbiote's whole love/hate/crazy-ex-girlfriend behavior towards Peter than getting both the Spider-man Family and Sinister Syndicate keywords.

And considering that I usually end up using the monster keyword to pair him up with other symbiotes he'd be trying to kill, Spider-man Family doesn't seem like that much of stretch

Totes frenemies?

I think I've been pretty disappointed with every incarnation of Brock we've gotten except the LE. And even then, I find either his dial life, combat values, or occasional lack of indom poorly representative of the character. Seeing the treatment that Sabretooth gets in heroclix dials makes me particularly frustrated, given that Venom would annhililate sabretooth without a doubt.

never liked the anti-venom costume either, a Brock-toxin would have piqued my interest but as I've posited before, wizkids has no clue what is going on in spider-man comics and have never picked up more issues than the opening pages when designing spider-related characters