Welcome to the Primer Review for Marvel’s Mutations and Monsters!
The M&M ‘sealed event’ replaces the classic Marquee tournament, which we haven’t seen in a while anyway.

Like the summer-long sealed games (you remember those, right?), The Mutations and Monsters sealed event is a 2 booster, 300 point game.
There is a lot of variety in this set all around; figure selection, point cost spread and playability. So you should have a good chance at building a playable team.

The dials for this review are based on the M&M dial thread. Please let me know of any discrepancies and I will correct them.

Part 1 – Commons
Part 2 – Uncommons
Part 3 – Rares
Part 4 – Super Rares
Part 5 – Cards (Fri)

These reviews are intended strictly for sealed, 300 point games with only this set.

Click ‘Read More…’ below for the full review.

Welcome to another Primer Review!


For the review:
This is for a 300 point, 2 booster Sealed event only.
Using a Smiley rating system.

– Steer clear of this figure.
:disappoin:disappoin – Not very good. Considered with caution.
– Fair. Based on how you need to fill out a team.
– Good. Definitely consider this figure.
– Great! Should be a top choice for your team.

Please Read:

* These figures are compared only within the M&M set, only for sealed play.

* There are only a few 1 or 5 smiley ratings, based on their sealed play strength.
So even though your favorite character didn’t get five smilies like you think it should, the ratings are only my recommendation. If you really like a fig, by all means play it.

* Everything written here is intended to be very broad in order to give a general idea of what may or may not work - These are not specific suggestions “you must play this!”
These are just my recommendations, and the combination of figures played can drastically affect some fig’s overall effectiveness.

*!!* Lastly, this review is just my opinion, and these are a lot of work to write - so I ask you very kindly, please don’t get angry at me for my ratings. I give reasonable explanations for each choice.
If you disagree (and you are welcome to do so), please try to do the same.

Part 4 – Super Rares:

049 Cassandra Nova


Ah, comics, our 4 color soap operas. And what would a soap opera be without an evil twin?
Cassandra is Professor X’s evil counterpart, and that comes through pretty clearly in the dial design as well.
12 Range allows Cassie to hang back and take on opponents at arm’s reach. But, don’t hang too far back, Outwit still only has a 10 range.
The Special Power here is pretty potent. Willpower, Shape Change and Mastermind! Factoring in Regen, and by all rights, she should be tough to put down for the count.
Offensively, Pulse Wave and PsyBlast are good for dealing with Inv/Imp figs. But Pulse Wave is also counter intuitive for her using Mastermind.
Mind Control can have it’s uses, but be careful about the feedback damage.
Cassie’s biggest hindrance though is her low damage. For nearly half your team build, you’re just picking away at opponents for 2 clicks. Even with Outwit and Perplex to help, it doesn’t cover the point spread enough.
In constructed games she could be tremendously dangerous and fun, but in sealed she’s hugely dependant on who else you pull. With some good bruisers to back her up, she could be great. But if you only have some 3 damage mid-price figs, it could be tough.
Cassandra Nova -


050 E Hulkbuster

Speed - Flight Stabilizers: Hulkbuster can use Charge and Running Shot. Hulkbuster is adjacent to a giant character only when he is within 1 square of it.
Attack - Weapons as Big as the Fight: Hulkbuster can use Super-Strength or Energy Explosion

Hulkbuster is a beefy figure for sure. His 165 point cost shows that without a doubt, but his ample powers and deep dial also echo this point.
With over half his dial having Inv/Impervious with high stats, Hulkbuster can take a hit and live to tell about it. His special powers are straightforward, but very useful.
So with all this, why is he still only a ho-hum figure? The answer lies in his offensive stats. With only a 10 AV, Hulkbuster is hard pressed to hit the high number of 18 defenses in this set (his own included.) It’s not impossible, but for the high cost of the figure, it’s not very reliable either.
Besides that, his damage is similarly lackluster. 3 damage up front is weak, and only stands any kind of chance with an object and thanks to Exploit weakness. But making a ranged attack against the Hulk (or any other Inv/Imperv fig) is definitely going the slow route.
So you say “but he’s meant to be a close combat monster!” Ok, but you can’t use CCE with Charge or an object, and his damage drops to just 2 for several clicks.
Overall, he’s kinda cool, but a little misleading for the point cost. If you pull any Perplex to help his AV or Damage value, he could be ok, but with the ample number of low cost effective figs in the set you are bound to get better choices.
Hulkbuster - :disappoin :disappoin


#051 V Silver Savage
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 96
Keywords: Herald, Warrior

8 9 17 3

8 10 16 3

8 11 15 2

8 10 16 2

7 9 16 3

7 9 15 3

7 8 15 3

7 8 14 3

7 8 14 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Who would have thought you could see a version of Silver Surfer for under 100 points?
What you get for less than a c-note is fairly worthwhile. The opening attack with Charge and Exploit weakness is decent, though the AV leaves a little to be desired.
If you swing and miss your first shot, better hope the retaliation only deals 3 or 4 damage, because clicks 2 & 3 are Silver’s best – with higher AV and CCE for bigger damage. After a few more clicks, Savage starts bashing people with his board, in the form of Flurry (don’t ask). The AV/Damage is a little bass-ackwards, but Flurry is still good. If you can situate him around a few lower cost opponents he can take them out in a couple of turns.
The dial finishes out with several clicks of 3 damage, which may or may not be playable at that point with an 8 AV. Even so, it’s a deep and strong dial for the cost. There’s a good bit of variety in there, and Savage doesn’t peak too soon, or take too long to get going. For the cost, he’s extremely playable. However, he’s not so great that he’s going to carry a team. He’s just a really good brick. Which is surprising for Silver Surfer.
Silver Savage -


052 Mastermind

Speed - Mind Games: Mastermind can use Mind Control and Stealth. Modify Mastermind’s attack value by +2 when he uses Incapacitate or Mind Control.
Defense - Chimera: Mastermind can use Mastermind and Super Senses.

Similar to Cassandra Nova, Mastermind has some nifty elements but doesn’t deal a whole lot of damage. His Special Powers offer some flexibility and defense, but he’s still only 6 clicks deep for over 100 points, with no damage reducing powers.
With such low damage, his best offense is the double target Incapacitate. That alone can give many of the big brick figs a hard time. Between Incap and Outwit, Mastermind can give his teammates some good openings for attack.
The other element that helps Mastermind in comparison to Cassandra is he’s significantly less points, so you can conceivably build a better team around him.
Still, 117 points is not insignificant, and even with the Mastermind defense power, the damage still has to go somewhere.
Ultimately, you have to get some really perfect pulls to make this figure work well on your team. He could be ‘ok’ in some situations, but he’ll also be a point drain and possibly even a liability (he can easily be ‘one hitted’ into oblivion.)
Mastermind - :disappoin :disappoin


053 Emma Frost

Headmistress Emma Frost can use Leadership and Perplex

On the secondary market Emma Frost might not be as sought after as some of the other Super Rares, but in the sealed format she is a little more playable.
Frost isn’t easily classified as an attack piece, or support, rather she brings a wide range of abilities to her team. Her PsyBlast gives her a major offensive weapon while the ‘Headmistress’ SP lends support to the team. Leadership is ok, but the Perplex is the big bonus here. Then Mind Control gives her yet another different option.
If you’re worried about her vulnerability, push her once to get to better defense. CCE seems in place to limit her ranged combat ability while keeping her close combat attack strong.
Then on the back half of her dial she has 4 very playable clicks with Support, but still keeping her PsyBlast.
One of the real tricks to playing this figure will be to successfully use her X-men TA. By using this to trade clicks with other X-men you can control what click you keep Emma on. And you can use her Leadership to gain the extra action you might need to use the TA. Just keep in mind that if you lose the power before you use the Leadership action, you lose the extra action too!
Emma Frost -


#054 E Living Monolith
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 8
Points: 104
Keywords: Mutant
[click]

7 8 15 1

8 9 17 2

8 10 17 3

6 10 18 4

6 9 17 5

6 9 16 4

6 8 16 4

5 8 16 3

5 7 16 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

He’s alive!
The only other fig besides Hulk with an activation click. At least he has Leadership to help offset the action burned to activate him. On the flipside, he’s not a giant on his first click so he can be carried closer into battle.
Running Shot on his ‘first’ activated click works well with his 8 Range. Though AV is just ‘meh.’
Defense is where Mono shines, with lots of high numbers and damage reducers. He’s a tough cookie to take down. But, he’s also only 7 clicks deep (after pushing to get going.) And he’s an easy target to get picked apart by rangers.
But, as he gets pinged or pushed his stats go up, peaking at a whopping 5 damage! (for only 104 points!)
But, after that 5 damage, things drop quickly with AV going to just 8 and defense diminishing.
The thing about Monolith’s dial is that he looks a little better than he actually is. On the flip side though, he’s really pretty cheap for what he offers. Which is ultimately a good balance.
Living Monolith -


#55 E Iron Man

This Iron Man is not half the clix he used to be.
No move/attack powers makes him somewhat sedentary. Though without any legs, that kinda makes sense.
He makes up for it with a decent range and Perplex, but that only goes so far.
Another contradiction is having Steal Energy – a close combat power – on his ES/D clicks – a ranged combat defense. So he’ll likely get eaten alive before he gets to make mincemeat out of anyone else.
70 points is a pretty average price point for this set; meaning you’re likely to get a number of other figures in this ballpark that you could play instead of this one. Look them over, and put your best foot forward.
Zombie Iron Man - :disappoin :disappoin


#056 U Wolverine
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 8
Points: 148
Keywords: Monster

10 10 18 3

8 9 17 3

9 9 16 3

8 8 16 3

8 9 15 3

8 10 14 2

8 11 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

So, a Cosmic Power zombie figure is a neat concept. And just about the only way you’d ever see a flying Wolverine with range and PsyBlast!
Then there’s the aspect of getting a Power Cosmic fig for only 150 points.
It all seems like a pretty good deal.
Careful though, because he’ll probably disappoint.
The Running Shot with PsyBlast and built in Willpower is a good opening combo. The 18 defense is hard to hit, but Toughness only goes so far. Once that 18 is pierced, it goes downhill from there.
3 Damage with PsyBlast/EW is fairly solid, but AV is just ‘ok’ for the figure’s cost.
The mid-dial jam with Battle Fury trips him up a bit, and requires you to change tactics from range to close combat. It also displaces EW, making Steal Energy less effective. The final clicks have an increase in AV, but Wolvie shouldn’t really ever get a chance to use that since his defense is down to a completely unprotected 14. Any fig on the map can plink him for 1 or 2 damage to KO.
He starts off strong, but the overall dial is too shallow and the other than the first few clicks, too weak or too vulnerable.
Wolverine - :disappoin :disappoin


#057 E Storm
Team: X-Men
Range: 10
Points: 100
Keywords: Mutant, X-Men

10 10 17 3

10 10 17 3

8 9 16 2

8 9 16 2

8 9 15 2

7 8 15 2

7 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Attack - Goddess: Storm can use Energy Explosion, Force Blast, Quake and Smoke Cloud.

Possibly one of the best ‘C-note’ figs in the game, and certainly a good deal in this format with all the X-men teammates running around.
Obviously Storm’s best attribute is her range, which is supplemented by her 17 def with ES/D.
Running Shot and good movement help her get into position for an optimal attack, and the double target gives her lots of options; Dual target EE, split your chances for a hit, or split damage.
The Special Power also puts a lot of powers at her disposal, but only Energy Explosion is of any real note. Force Blast and Quake are worth remembering that they exist in case she gets bases, but Smoke Cloud? Nah.
Push Storm once and she trades Leadership for RCE to deal some serious damage. And then use the X-men TA to heal her back up if you want.
Stealth mid dial helps with some added protection, particularly when she changes over from ES/D to Willpower. And then finally going out with Pulse Wave for a bang. There’s nothing on this dial that isn’t good, and it’s all priced just right for 100 points.
Storm -


#058 V Warskrull
Team: Skrull
Range: 6
Points: 110
Keywords: Skrull, Soldier, Spy, Warrior

8 9 18 3

7 10 17 3

7 9 16 3

6 9 16 2

6 8 15 2

6 7 15 2

5 7 14 3

5 6 14 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Damage - Megamorph: Warskull can use Outwit and Shape Change

Part ranger, part close combatant, all green and poorly written. (Per the Skrull war/illuminati storyline. Oy.)

An opening attack of Charge and Super Strength! Wow! What a revelation for this set! (Hey, this is #58 out of 60, things start to get redundant after a while.) But, Warskrull does manage to mix things up quite a bit on subsequent clicks. Stealth offers nice cover, and Pulse Wave makes a surprise appearance. Some Blades later, a dash more Super Strength, and a dial full of Shape Change makes this an all around interesting figure.
The Special Power up front nicely combines two useful powers without hurting either of them. And Shape Change adds an extra layer of defense. That is particularly nice with Stealth since enemies may Charge Warskrull and then realize after they get to him that they can’t attack (oops!)
Warskrull does have a few drawbacks thought. AV starts off ok, but drops quickly after mid dial so that WS is mostly just trying to survive by the end. And movement similarly drops pretty quickly so WS will have a hard time getting around.
Even so, the general variety of powers and overlapping defenses make him pretty playable. Add to that 3 clicks of Outwit to start and WS is a very formidable piece.
WarSkrull -


#059 U Apocalypse
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 10
Points: 250
Keywords: Mutant, Past, Ruler

9 11 18 5

8 12 17 4

8 11 17 4

9 10 16 4

10 10 16 3

10 9 16 3

9 9 15 3

9 9 15 3

8 8 14 4

7 8 14 4

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Speed - Molecular Control: Apocalypse can use Phasing/Teleport, Plasticity and Shape Change
Attack - Psionic Power: Apocalypse can use Incap, Mind Control, and Psychic Blast. When Apocalypse would take pushing Damage, roll 1 d6, On a result of a 4-6, he instead does not take pushing damage.
Defense - The Strong Will Survive: Apocalypse can use Regen and toughness

The beast of the set, Apocalypse finally gets his due.
Even without any Move/Attack powers, Apoc manages to severely rock the house. His stats are all solid, and his abundance of powers (via SP’s) is almost overwhelming.
Still, it’s not enough to just put him on the board and assume you’re going to win. You have to actually play him. One part of that is pushing on click 1 to press an attack. You get to deal his big 5 damage again, and push onto click 2 where his attack Special Power comes into play. Yeah damage is down a point, but now he sports PsyBlast, possible willpower, and some other stuff. Plus AV goes up a point, so you’re making a sure thing even better. Now that he has his psudo-willpower, you should at least try to act with him consecutively, maybe you’ll take a push, maybe you won’t. It won’t kill you.
The Mid Dial clicks do get a little hairy if Apoc takes too much damage. Flurry of course doesn’t work with EW, though it does work with Steal Energy. And between SE and his Regen, he should be tremendously hard to put down for the count.
Apocalypse is not a ‘gimme’ win, you will have to fight for it. Especially if your opponent has a swarm team and/or some Outwit. Stealth is also a natural enemy. But, those are just minor things that will trip him up, but not totally knock him down. This is the figure that will be the hardest to face down, so.. uh, good luck with that.
Apocalypse -


#060 U Maestro
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0 /
Points: 195
Keywords: Future, Monster, Ruler

8 10 18 5

8 10 18 5

8 10 18 4

10 10 18 4

8 9 17 4

8 9 17 3

7 9 16 3

7 8 16 3

7 9 15 3

7 8 14 4

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Attack - Gamma-Saturated: Maestro can use Quake and Super Strength. Give Maestro a power action and he can make a close combat attack as a free action; modify his attack value by +2 for the attack.

It’s difficult what to make of Maestro. On the one hand, he’s definitely a brute. But on the other hand, not starting with a move/attack power, the fact that he can’t use the SP +2 AV with Charge or Flurry, and 10 clicks of Battle Fury (so he can’t be carried) are somewhat of a hindrance.
But, Maestro is none-the-less pretty straight forward. Move him into battle and start swingin’ until you hit stuff and it falls down. Not a lot of subtlety here. High damage and tremendously consistent stats are the order of the day.
If you can get past the issue of actually moving him into battle without him getting ranged to death in the process, he has a good chance of kicking butt.
So, really it comes down to whether you pull an accompanying 100 points worth of kick-### to go with old man Hulk.
Maestro -


Check back tomorrow for the final installment; Feats, BFCs and Pogs.

For those in the States, hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this review, please let me know by posting to this thread or clicking the (+/-) button.
Thanks!

This was a great read. Now if I could just pull a Storm...

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for such great figures. Cheers!

thanx for the hard work!
lil surprised with Storm gettin 5 stars.

well done sir. thank you. i've been waiting for this section...

Yeah, it's situations like this that make me wish that Special Abilities counted for Feats, because it would ALMOST be worth using Smoke Clound with he mid-dial for her Stealth, especially if she had a team with more Stealth on it, IF she could also move or something as well. Smoke Cloud alone is almost never worth it on anyone.

The Special Powers aren't listed

Aside from that, not much to argue about with what you've said here.

Who would actually not play him.

Great review! I didn't realize how nice Storm was. I have to get one!

And WarSkull rules!

As always a great review - I'm hoping to pull a Storm too, trading for her will probably be difficult.

And a comment:
As far as I know, losing Leadership does not mean you lose the extra action - at least, the PAC makes no mention of it. It does point out that the effect of Perplex and Outwit ends if you lose the respective power, but Leadership has no such restrictions.

I pulled a Storm and I won the pre-relase.. i was also playing Maverick (Is awesome) Marvel Girl and Giant Man (awesome in sealed too).

I couldn't agree with you more about Storm. I do think Hulkbuster and Wolverine are better than you rated them. Put marvel girl with any of them and you can win. At my pre-release Hulkbuster and Wolverine Dominated.

Great Review! A lot of the figures at the prerelease performed just the way the reviews suggested they would in sealed. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the reviews, man! I always love reading them when they come out.

Well done on all counts AZS.

I couldn't agree more about Storm. She's my 'must have' from this set.