Maybe I'm coming at this from the perspective of a judge and not as a player.

I dislike when people find broken combos and loopholes. It sucks when a player discovers something due to a loophole and I have to see all the faces of that players opponents who get upset and I have to tell them that what he/she is doing is legal.

It's awful.

I will always be on the side of preventing more loopholes and broken combos. The current rule does that and I hope they never change it.

Yep, this. ::filler::

So long as you're paying for the points and using the intended game mechanics, I don't see how you're bypassing "negative" aspects to a character by choosing your source. Is it any less "broken" then Worldbreaker or Thanos using Super Senses from the Time Gem? I'd argue it's less so. I'd have to assume that some of Dark Phoenix cost is built around that trait. So, in essence, she is receiving LESS of a game play benefit than a character without Super Senses gets from the Time Gem.

Agree with this as well.

I don't believe one can look at a few extreme examples to make a rule that governs ALL figures. There will always be exceptions, there will always be those looking to exploit those exceptions, but the 99.9% of figures that aren't exceptions would be able to use everything they paid for in their point cost.

It's not a limitation. Phoenix SS is a trait which means it can't be countered and on her until she dies. It's only limited in the fact that it only works on a 6. In all respects this trait makes her superior to any character without this trait. Granting her regular SS doesn't break anything. You can rest assured that this trait cost Phoenix several extra points.

One could argue that adding the belt or gauntlet (or feat) to a figure is skirting a character's built-in limitations.

Of course it makes her better, but she's added the cost of the Gauntlet to do it. She paid for it when she got the gauntlet assigned to her.

If competitive play wasn't contingent upon exploiting loopholes and using the top 5% of figures to do it, you'd have a point.

I'd rather competitive play not be more exploitative than it is now.

Instead of going from 0 to 1-in-3?

Though I hate to play against broken teams, I really don't see the issue with player's choice.

The argument about Pheonix and her SS is a tricky one to really think about, but don't be mislead in thinking that the gauntlet gives her extra power over any other figure that would equip the gauntlet. The special SS she has is factored into her point total, and a benefit to the figure. It's better than not having SS at all, after all. When the gauntlet is applied, she would gain normal SS and lose her special SS. Since her special SS is actually a benefit to the character, you're hurting her value more than giving gauntlet SS to a figure that just doesn't have it alltogether.

Right. And those "several extra points" are likely less than a similar character would have (WoS Spidey, for example) because of the limitation built into the power.

Believe me, I get what you're saying. But to me, it's penalizing the majority due to the jerkiness of the minority.

This seems to be going in the direction of those rules threads (most of them, IMO) that I generally despise, so I'll just re-echo Chris's point.

Right. But the jerkiness of the minority can (and has) CRIPPLE venues. We see it constantly hereabouts.

I'd rather that not happen.