I'm still a fan of Rookie Blizzard and LE Operative 128.

Blizzard is a nice disposable PW piece. His 9 AV gives him decent hit chances and he only has 1 natural damage anyway so you don't worry about trying to get a single-target or bloat him with Nova Blast. If the enemy ignores him or hits him lightly he might still have Barrier to help out and if the enemy focuses 5 damage on him then they only got 35 points. Not a bad piece if you don't worry about expending your resources as you play.

Operative 128 is a great swarm team leader, even more so if you have wild-cards. 16 points for a HYDRA TA Leadership piece who might be able to ping for 2 damage. If he isn't KOed in his first hit he quickly adapts to being MM fodder or mobile blocking terrain as needed. Add in that he is a spy and you could get cheap leadership to boost all the new spies in SI.

I thought I would be the first one to mention Blizzard, but Mr. P beat me to it. My preference is for the Vet. Not only will his 11AV Pulse Wave hit and damage almost anyone, but he's the only figure in Heroclix who can put up a Barrier every turn for 5 consecutive turns. If you can't think of a good use for that, you haven't played on the Prison Map enough.

I would also like to direct people to Veteran Skrull Warrior. Still a very annoying 17 points. The gobs of Enhancement around make his 8 range useful, and the fact that there are bigger and better minions around (Doombot, SIN SHIELD Sniper, LE Henchman) means that he is almost always underestimated.

Apart from those two, the only other character I use from IC anymore is LE Yellowjacket. Part good luck piece, part unbelievable Defense Value.

Nice article. Though, seeing the title, the first thing to leap to mind was U Elektra. Kind of nice that she wasn't mentioned though, as her use is maybe too obvious, and doesn't need a write-up to explain her being there.

The other thing was E Captain America, though it's the feat: Contingency Plan, that makes him a figure to have.

Vet Pyro: Reasonable stats, decent TA, and one of the best/affordable barrier pieces in the game. Feats up nicely with Trick Shot and easily Inspired by pieces like...

Magneto (R/E/V) The best versions to which to attach inspiring command. One of the best "bait" pieces in the game.

U Cyclops: While outclassed by the FC Cyclops, this is the budget-friendly piece for truly budget-conscious force builds.

Victor Creed is overpriced in every possible way. You will get more mileage (and more KOs) with the Experienced Sabretooth.

Sentinel: At 100 points, this piece was always a threat to any non-swarm team. Too bad the rules were changed to allow OUTWIT of the CAPTURE ability (sounds like somebody got punked by Sentinels to me!)

I disagree with the 'must have' claims for Dr. Strange and Vision...by that reckoning Ultron should have been included as well.

Well the way the article was written it included the REV for most of the figs - and I would totally agree with Pyro. The R is one of the best barrier pieces, two of them on your team for 54 points? Sweet. Can do damage and can barrier when needed, I love that piece.

I like that this list ISN'T all the usual suspects. Sure, R Black Panther was the cat's meow back in the day, but now we expect a bit more from our stealthy Outwitters. If you have the extra 10 points, AA Question's got it all over him.

Ol_Dut's also giving love to the bricks, who are newly playable in the F4 ruleset and better-priced than most of the newer figures. Despite lower DV numbers, his examples can still take a hit and keep going...something that IC Firelord really can't do anymore since the Support power got nerfed back in Danger Room.

Firelord is still one of the best pieces around, maybe not defensively, but is an offensive monster. For such cheap points his attack/damage output is just awesome.

Great article! As someone who got into the game recently, it's daunting looking at the old sets and trying to figure out who could still contribute. The article (and the additional comments) are very insightful.

I can't wait for the next installment.

I was impressed by that (even though 'the best of Infinity Challenge' demands otherwise), but the likes of Hercules was always routinely considered underappreciated and Vision has been consistently overrated.

If I was to seriously step off the reservation, and ignore all the obvious likes of Pyro and Bullseye and Elektra and Firelord and Black Panther and the rest of the ones we know on a first name basis, I'd look at the following:

Rookie Controller. 31 points for what looks like a chump mind control figure, which is what an unsuspecting opponent will think when you toss him into the mix as a tie up figure. Then suddenly a little feedback damage (or a small wack) latter, and suddenly there is this mid dial close combat beast in their midst. Once the pain and panic goes away (Controller is unlikely to swing the game, but its not unusual for him to inflict confusion and damage), the realization that such a cheap a Jeckyl & Hyde transformation still left the rest of the team to be dealt with sets in.

Experienced Captain America. Frankly none of the IC incarnations of Cap either fit the comic bill or stood out as grandly playable. But the dial full of Stealth actually put a spot of merit on an otherwise mediocre pedigree, for 47 points giving a leadership utility piece some stealth sniper capability.

Experienced Quicksilver / Veteran Whirlwind. Yes, everyone and his canine companion played the old Perplex & toss with Veteran Quicksilver. But somehow there just wasn't as much love for his cheaper (and team ability packing) Experienced version, mostly because of that +1 attack and second click of two damage. But never discount the worth of a suicide tie up piece to get into position on its own dime (or try to get away on its own dime), and never put too much stock in its ability to be around long enough to worry about pushing for 4 more damage. And as for Whirlwind, paying 13 more points for -1 attack is cause for hesitation, but a natural 3 damage can be mighty tempting. And the temptation grows each time it pays off. Don't count this one out, just because Quicksilver looks like the obvious better buy.

Usually ended up packing the Experienced, as the few extra points for the Vet was more than I was typically willing to spend for a Barrier fig with tertiary attack ability. Especially given the trade up from Rookie to Experienced outshines what you get in the next bump up.

Charge followed by Stealth. That was what made that figure work, especially after Auto Regen was made. The Experienced didn't have the Charge option, the Veteran was a complete sitting duck after Charge ran out. Victor could shred and then (by push or damage) gain some defense against the inevitable range retaliation. Over time Victor was outclassed by better Charge & Blades figures (mostly cheaper and more disposable options), but IMO he still remains the most versatile and survivable of the IC blades figures.

Still can't get behind supporting Vision. A consistent 2 damage for over a hundred points just means the stink never stops. That inability to do serious damage combined with that rapidly crumbling defense means any match up at close or range is probably not going to go well. And yes, for the points Rookie Ultron owns Vision (at range Vision can't punch through the Invuln, and trying to get close means Vision will probably get clocked twice before throwing down with an object, and thus subsequently lose the resulting race for the KO line).

If The_Le had made this article and entitled it "The 6 best figures in IC", how many angry posts would we have by now?

WELCOME BACK OL_DUT. I sorely missed your articles. And now I know that jackstar has a man-crush on Hercules!

good review, i hope you do one for each set, also you always have the best avatars...where does he get those wonderful toys!

It's not the subject matter necessarily with TheLe's articles, but rather the tone of them.

Moving on. Nice list and article, but I feel that the re-makes of Vision, Hercules, and Strange make their pieces from IC truly obsolete.

Nice article. Fully agree with Herc and Strange making the list despite their excellent remakes (although I think the new Vision dials are better). I am horrified that you left of Black Panther though, and also agree with those singing the praises of Vet Bullseye and Firelord. They really should have made it on.

Man, I STILL run into these notices!
More writing from ol_Dut! Woo-hoo!
Unfortunately, with the *ahem* 'hiatus' we and Heroclix presently are faced with, I have not played in FAR too long a time, and reading this article certainly brought back fond memories of playing with good friends. Even some non-plastic, un-dialed ones, too!
Just a couple of my favorite IC pieces are:

LE Yellowjacket. Always have had either luck or fun (but usually both) when using this critter. WAAAAAY back in the day, he incapped an OWAW Superman through his entire dial and won the game for me. I used him not too many games ago on a 'Brute' theme team, and although he didn't last too long (curse you, Sinister Syndicate! ), was still able to cause beads of perspiration and lines of consternation to form on my opponent's brow...

E Klaw. Just a really solid figure through and through: wildcard, versatile (offense or defense, whatever you need him to be), useful through the majority of his dial (not always the biggest strength of IC pieces). There's a lot of love for him 'round 'bout these parts...

Rookie Whirlwind. Six clicks of life, great movement, twenty points. I will say that again; six clicks of life, great movement, twenty points.

And even though he's been mentioned several times already, E Pyro seriously has to be on my IC VIP list. Always love this guy (Marshal Law summed up why I prefer the E to the V very nicely in his second post), and preferably with the MoE misprint.

Thanks for putting this great read together, and I eagerly await future installments!
Be well,
-jason