Gotta say I would have agreed with you on the Beast, but that was before I played him. Granted, I had two of them on my team, but they were worth more than their point cost. Perplex and Outwit on one figure is awesome to have in sealed, especially in this set. You should be able to have at least one other X team member on your force, so this is a good set to get some use out of the TA.

That 17 def doesn't seem like much, but if you check out Crows breakdown on the average stats, I believe the average overall AV is 8.something. Push him to get that 10 AV with 17 CR and he's a close combat pest of the highest order, oh ya, and he's got outwit on that click.

I'd rate him 3 - 4 smiley faces.

Mimic might have the only HSS in the set, but with the amount of outwit available, I don't see that as big of a problem as normal. I pulled him and thought of playing him just for the HSS (and regen) but went for the bigger team. Sure glad I did.

Disclaimer: I loathe, despise, and all-around hate rules lawyering.

That said, regarding that special power...

Is "knocking back" (as in moving away) an enemy figure the same as the "Knockback" mechanic?

I realize trying to navigate the rules is often problematic (especially when going for "comic book realism"), but it seems wrong when figures with Charge come barreling into combat don't suffer from ice slicks like everyone else.

With that in mind, I'd argue that "knocked back" and "Knockback" are different things, and just an issue of poor word choice in the descriptor, instead of just petty semantics.

Discuss.

Thanks for the review. Man, how come the figs I wanted the most from this portion of the set are some of the worst? Oh well, guess we'll just have to hope for better next time. Gorgon and Zzzaxx look pretty good, and so does Professor X.

Thanks,

Yes, knockback is knockback. If it wasn't subject to the usual knockback restrictions then it would say " the character is immediately moved away from Iceman a number of squares equal to the result, in a direction of your choosing." That wording would not be subject to Charge's Knockback immunity, but also wouldn't deal knockback damage if they hit something.

It does represent an interesting question, it says you can move them away from Iceman in a direction of your choosing. Does that mean you can move them THROUGH Iceman? Like if they approach them from your right side, and you get to move them three spaces, could you move them through Iceman to his left side? And would you start counting from their original location, or from the square in which they leave adjacency from Iceman?

That'd be great if you could take an opposing character that becomes adjacent to you, move him to the opposite side he attacked from, and then move him an additional three spaces away from his friends, and into your own firing squad.

Wouldn't be inaccurate either, since a rushing in opponent would be more likely to keep rushing in out of control than to reverse his direction.

I have to say that Gambit was an absolute monster at the prerelease I played at. He took out a Green Scar as well as a Maestro and many others with the help of Warskrull, Shatterstar, and a Cuckoo. MVP all the way

Nice review as always...

I definately agree with Professor X's rating. He was a beast at the pre-release thanks to all the mutant/X-men keywords and is seriously abetted by the map choice. Just park him on the elevated terrain and he can see just about anything!

By the way, I have a hard time believing "knocked back" refers to traditional knockback. If it did, why wouldn't they stick with the familiar phraseology of "suffers knockback?" Also, the context of being "moved in a direction of ones choosing" is certainly different from any knockback we've ever seen (maybe they should call it knock-forward ) and seems to imply that this power is something different entirely. Just a budding lawyer's opinion...

Let me repeat my utter disgust at rules-mongering, but I am unconvinced if "knocked back" the words are the same as "Knockback" the mechanic, because of the reason articulated below:

Exactly.

Some clarifications are needed:

) Are Chargers affected?
) Do targets suffer damage if they hit a wall? Sure, if they went off a building, no problem, but...?

That said, regarding your other comment...

To cleanse my soul of pedantry, I can't disagree with your reasoning at "moving through" Iceman. Makes perfect sense to me.

I agree with malakim2099. beast deserves at least 3 . I played him in the pre-release sealed tournament and he is a decent support peace. with leap and climb he can always stay out of harms way and keep on perplexing or outwitting. with these options he even has the chance to hurt characs with invulnerability if he stays in close combat.

Let me echo the praise for Beast! Didn't think he was worth the points either, but he and Prof. X together rock the map with either double perplex or double outwit. I think he is worth the cost as support, tie-up and as a secondary attacker.

It's like Beast is standing calmly there with his vial going, hmmm, let me just check my calculations . . . yep, it's a 100% formula of pure whoop *$$!

Again AZS, thanks for the review!

I was packing two Bishops and a Gambit at the pre-re, and with that much outwit my only problem was Danger (which came with some Hood Stealth and Mimic fly-byes).
Honestly, both Gambit and Mimic might be clocking in better than they look on paper.
And Danger has got to be a near-5 minimum. There just not a lot of counters for her first two clicks.

Let's make this really simple, shall we?

Does Forceblast cause Knockback? (the answer to that, is yes by the way)

Now let's' check up on Forceblast in the PAC:

"Force Blast (optional) : Give this character a power action and roll a six-sided die; a single target adjacent opposing character is *knocked back* from this character a number of squares equal to the result..."

So YES, Iceman's Special Power causes Knockback, meaning that Giants, double-based figures, chargers, Colossals and transporters all ignore it.

Yes, knocking the figure off elevated terrain or into a wall will deal them knockback damage and no, you CANNOT knockback an opposing figure through Iceman's square. You are free to TRY to do so by chosing the direction currently blocked by Iceman, but it won't have any effect at all.

It never occurred to me to check up on Force Blast in the PAC. That use of "knocked back" answers everything.

Much obliged, hoss.

(And just to be extra super-duper clear, I swear that, seeming evidence to the contrary, I'm NOT a rules-lawyer.)

Agree across the board. Well done!


AUKOS

Good Stuff man!

I seldom agree with everything in your reviews AZS, but I think you got the M&M uncommons spot on. Kudos!