5. Might be V Superman, though I suppose he wasn't used nearly as much in 300 pts games.

From there I think things switched to strategies (LAMP, Structural Integrity Field + Barrier) rather than specific figures.

Cosmic Spidey is. Quoted from my Top Ten of 2010 article: "Really, a properly played CSM can really suck the fun out of a game — he either steamrolls the opposition, or the CSM player makes such terrible die rolls that he can’t hit the floor aiming down. Either way, someone’s not having fun."

Nightcrawler's really good, yes. But he's not broken (or even undercosted, really. He's paying over 50 points for his first two clicks alone).

Also V Icons Superman.

Eh, if you don't see a problem, you don't see a problem. I do. Mainly that the strategies brought up to deal with Nightcrawler are either A) situational or B) are built specifically to destroy Nightcrawler.

If you dont have a way of dealing with stealthed figures, or of hitting a high defense then you really are not building a well-rounded team.

Teams can be built to deal with a variety of threats, including nightcrawler. Such teams are neither situational nor built specifically for him. You may have to play a bit smarter, but if you are a good player he can be handled, strategy wise. Of course, the dice matters too.

Dealing with Stealth isn't the issue. Dealing with HSS isn't really the issue. The high defense isn't really the issue. The board control isn't really an issue. All of them, rolled together, are issues, IMO.

But meh, not gonna beat the dead horse any more.

I'm voting Nightcrawler due to a number of things.

Senses & Shape Change is stronger than Impervious alone.

There're game mechanics that nerf Imp, but not too much that will get around Senses & SC.

A more rounded team can be built around the less expensive Nightcrawler.

Nightcrawler is more easily obtained, thus a more potential threat to face off against.

After being attacked Nightcrawler can possibly move out of harms way, Cosmic cannot.

Cosmic has some advantages.

His rarity means come folks may not be used to playing against him and thus won't be prepared.

His damage potential means he doesn't really need other figs.

His WC TA opens up other options for use.

I could stay away from this if not for last line... hehe. So without further ado...

True. However one of these figures might be the reason that major events stay away from 400pt tournaments.

True, but by my count only 9 of the 16 teams at GenCon were theme. And only 1 of the top 4 were theme (the Championship team). So I'm not sure it matters that much, especially when One of these needs map choice and the other Auto-wins with it, but probably wins without it.

True, Nightcrawler does get smoked by Mysitcs+Wildcard. Whereas Cosmic Spiderman can copy Shadowpact and take no damage from Mystics.

One can move your figures, if he can hit them. The other one sports the second highest front loaded attack to be found in Modern, outside of colossals.
So one might be able to move your figures, the other might be able to KO your figures.

In Modern? At least 2. In Golden Age? A lot.

Cheers,
Jon Id Schultz

If I HAD to pick? Cosmic Spider-Man easily. Nightcrawler's "brokenness" (like most "broken" figs) was extremely overblown. He may be cheaper than he should be because of his "potential" (and even then you're paying all those points for only 2 clicks) but in actual games he's barely done anything outside of just live a long time or just be outright ignored. There was at least one instance where he managed to kidnap Solo who then proceeded to mess up NC's support and every "incredible" team that included Nightcrawler (killbox, Wolverine for crazy pushing/healing tricks, etc.) have all pretty much failed to live up to their performance expectations. The fact that Nightcrawler needs 2 perplexes to even hit anything on a regular basis severely inhibits his effectiveness and a 300 point team's building options.

Nightcrawler is the ultimate master of theory Heroclix. In theory, he's one of the most broken pieces ever made. But in actual practice, he isn't half as scary as people make him out to be.

I'll reserve final judgment for when I see the explosion of variety that is the list of Worlds teams.

I agree with you, but not neccessarily for your reasons. Rarity, particularly with regards to game balance, is irrelevant. If I was going to gencon and could guarantee I'd finish top 8, but only if I spent 200 dollars to buy some top tier figure, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Fortunately, the player base for this game is smaller--look at magic the gathering's prices for some individual cards (and not just in type 1--Type 2 has some outrageous prices for stuff you need 4 copies of).

Rarity never offsets unbalanced mechanics--it just makes you pay more to abuse them.

I love playing Nightcrawler, and enjoy the challange of playing against him. He can be beaten, its not easy, but it can be done.

Cosmic Spiderman, IMO, could not be beaten by any 320 points worth of characters. In a 400 point game, he has to be hit first and hard if you are going to stand a chance. Can't be outwitted, Imper and Inv the entire dial, can go two rounds back to back, can shoot through walls, never drops below a ten attack, 17 defense, 3 damage, and can potentially do 7 clicks of damage in one attack when hes half K.O.ed.

Somebody, please prove me wrong. Show me any one or two characters within a point or two of him that could beat him without the dice gods weigning in heavly in your favor. I have managed to beat him once, in a 500 point game. Not saying I am a master of the game, but the character just feels like he should be 400 points. I saw him take down the rookie guardian of fear and only took four clix of damage.

I can't post 1 or 2 characters within a few points of him that could beat him, because there's only, what, 2?

I can post any number of figures that cost less than him that could kick his teeth down his throat, though. Any mystic+wildcards, for starters.

Meanwhile, nightcrawler doesn't give a #### about mystic+wildcard. He just teleports them to his cronies and has someone (Iron Fist, perhaps) Heal him back up.

Cosmic Spider-Man, and it's not close.

I'm on Team Nightcrawler.

While I think both figures are fun-sucking pieces, Nightcrawler allows for a bunch of other pieces to be teamed up with him, too, in or out of theme.