Welcome to another top ten list! This week we look at the Mutations and Monsters Colossus specifically his Special Power known as Fastball Special. What makes a good Fastball Special candidate? Read the Spotlight on Special Powers: Fastball Special to see what powers, abilities, and combinations make the cut.

Step inside to read up on the top ten figures to use with this power!

Welcome to another Top Ten list!


This week, we're examinging figures that Colossus can throw in harm's way to hurt the enemy with his Special Power - Fastball Special.




Honorable Mentions:
Cuckoo.

A point blank Mind Control with a built in Probability Control reroll for 40 points could catch some people off guard and ruin the opposing team's day as this crazy bird takes to the skies and makes the enemy dance to her song. Put Inside Information on the Cuckoo to get an attack bonus on her Mind Control that offsets the -2 penalty - depending on who you target of course.

Unus the Untouchable should be able to tie up an opposing team for a little while, as should the Living Monolith. The latter's Giant status makes him more effective as a tie up piece than Unus - but alas, Living Mono is easier to smack around and damage than Mr. Untouchable.

Also worth mentioning: brawlers like Shang Chi & Wildcat with Flurry, 3 damage & high AVs. These martial artists are worth their weight in Fastball gold, but were passed over for some more creative choices (#'s 9 & 10) below - especially considering the superior choices (#'s 3 & 5) available at a marginal increase.

Honorable Retired Mentions -
Morlock Leader, Spiral, Wolverine (Ult), Logan (CT). Nothing says disintigrate like BCF & Flurry. Most of these figures have low DVs - so Compel them to attack again if you don't like the results from the first rolls.

Nightmare + Stunning Blow could be a real pain for an opponent. His AV is so high, it likely won't keep his punch from landing, and Stunning Blow should counter the damage offset nicely.

Finally, a disclaimer before we begin: this list is somewhat subjective. It was compiled from all available unretired figures, and tries to employ a variety of strategies, some discussed in Friday's Fastball Special Spotlight article. Character value was weighed with factors such as cost, utility, versatility, odds of survivng a retaliatory strike, and total team contribution. It's by no means an end all-be all list of Fastball Special candidates. Feel free to submit your own top ten list candidate by posting below.

#10 R Triplicate Girl + Drag

Rather than attack, why not use the Fastball to reposition the opponent? With Drag you can do just that:

It's hard to go wrong with this 40 point investment, and there's only a 16% chance of failing the breakaway roll. For a similar investment but another tactic - throw Phantom Girl across the board to eat up objects carried by the opposing team and tie up their pieces while Colossus moves into position. Her Phasing/Teleport should let her break away automatically, allowing her to use her Disrupt Special Power on any objects in her path.

#9 Icicle

At 72 points he's a little pricey to be thrown into battle - still this "snowball" special is very cool. When he lands, Icicle can use his Copscicle SP to erect a barrier that can protect him from a retaliatory attack, and dish out tokens all at once - no attack roll necessary! Equip him with Construct to make him really annoying. Be sure to have some fast moving Mastermind fodder like Lila Cheney follow him up to the enemy to draw fire away from Icicle and take one for the team.

#8 Wolverine U (AW)

The Armor Wars Wolverine makes a good Fastballer thanks to his Blades, but also because of his second click featuring Willpower. His nine click long dial isn't too shabby for 60 points. Put Protected on the Canuck and don't worry about an initial retaliatory strike. Plus - it's Wolverine! How much more thematic can a Fastball Special get?

#7 Shatterstar

Shatterstar drops in at #7 thanks to his second click. A 17 with Combat Reflexes means a grounded opponent will have to roll big numbers to return the favor from the initial TK attack, not to mention any possible success Shatterstar has - with his modified 9 AV. He'll be using a sword - so the BFC roll will supercede the damage decrease. A good expendature of 57 points overall.

#6 Karnak

The little Inhuman with a big head and bigger damage arrives at number 6 thanks to a second click of 11 AV 4 damage paired with Exploit Weakness. Toughness will help soak any retaliatory damage he may get dealt the following turn and with a little luck he'll get knocked onto his Flurry/BCF spot to really put the hurt on.

#5 AW Spider-man

Oh look, another figure that shares the mutant keyword with old Piotr and it's... Spider-Man?!?! Apparently in the House of M Spidey masqueraded as a Mutant so people wouldn't hate him. Wierd but true. At any rate, Spidey makes the list at #5 thanks to a high AV paired with 3 damage and Flurry. Even if Spidey isn't the target of an Outsider TA he can still have good odds at dishing out some damage - especially if he's equipped with Armor Piercing. His 17 Super Senses should help protect him from a retalliatory strike, and the rest of his dial is stellar - should he take a minor hit he could end up on a click of 18 Defense with Combat Reflexes.

#4 R Shazam

There's something wrong about the image of Colossus throwing a little boy into battle, but the old "throw & grow" applies here as Billy pushes past his activation click and into greased lightning - in the form of Captain Marvel. 17 Impervious on defense should help him suck up a counterstrike - should he stick around for it. With Hypersonic Speed showing on his second click he's better off doing a hit and run - leaving an opponent pressed to chase down both the pitcher and the ball. Be sure to yell "Shazam!" if the Fastball hits its target.

#3 Ronin

Ronin screams "throw me!." Okay not really. More like signs it. His 10 AV is bumped up to a respectable 11 with Alpha Flight and he has plenty of options. Flurry with a 3 damage value or Stunning Blow for 3 clicks (Stunning Blow damage doesn't get reduced by FBS thanks to the text on the feat card). Finally a 16 defense isn't extraordinary, unless it's backed up with Super Senses, which in this case - it is. Ronin doesn't need an Outsider's help to be a good Fastball, but it does make him all the more dangerous on the playing field.

#2 SR (Iron Spider) Spider-man

The adventures of Pete and Pete continue as Peter Parker makes it onto the list again, and - surprise! - shares another Keyword with Peter Rasputin. In this case It's Armor. Pushing Spidey past his 17/Invulnerable/Outwit click may seem counter-intuitive but trust me, it's worth it. The Fastball power puts him onto his Webbing special power, which means he can dish out 2 tokens to his opponent with an 11 attack no less. Alpha Flight him to get a +1 AV bonus, and here's a nasty trick: have him carry an object before he gets tossed and drop it under him as he pushes to that second click and loses Super Strength. A Shield Disruptor will lower the opponent's defenses (spidey's too... ) while a Laser Turret will give Spidey an additional attack that round.

#1 E Metamorpho.

Metamorpho is a Fastball Dream. Plasticity, Poison, Shapechange, all on the second click and all wrapped up with the Outsider's TA as a bow on top. Box him up with Armor Piercing so the Posion damage sticks, and add a dollop of Entangle to make it twice as hard for grounded opponents to hit him - one roll for Shape Change, one for Entangle. Camoflauge will help prevent Rex from being targeted by ranged attacks, and If those odds aren't good enough, slap Protected on his fanny to ensure he survives an inital strike, and the Element Man should be able to tie up most of the opposition while Colossus slowly advances to lay a beatdown!


Stay tuned as Colossus Week continues with Wednesday's DemonRS: Comprehensive Review on Colossus. Saturday Shield001 builds some Competitive Theme Teams with the Armored X-man.

Thanks for reading, and as always - post some feedback below!

Nice Read..
One thing also.. Colossus can't FBS giants.. they don't have the uhh "kapow" damage symbol, so Living monolith is completely out of the question.

One thing I also don't understand, why is the stunning blow on Ronin listed as unreduceable?

Oh and one more thing (this is edit #3), Why no hulks on the list? It's a great way to bypass the activation click, or Have the Hulk uhh.. hulk up more... And If he's hit with a retaliatory hit.. Well it tends not to matter as much on a Hulk piece as he just gets more scary.

Great read though! I really want to try the Rookie Shazam trick!

Those are great choices.

I'd like to add in an odd honorable and expensive mention for Omega Red feated with Armor Piercing as well.

You can FBS Living Monolith as long as he's on the top of his dial. He has Earthbound on his first click as well as Super Adaptoid.

Seems like alot of work when you could just TK almost ANY figure without the negatives and damage they take.

I do like crazy combos though.

CptBlood

if you need more clicks to be activated even FBS on a telephone booth could be nice

On LM's opening click he is earthbound.

Yeah - but if Colossus hits with the TK attack - the opposing figure takes 2 damage - on top of whatever damage is dished out by the attacker. It's not much - but every little bit helps.

1.) Colossus could FBS any Giant that was Grounded at the time via EARTHBOUND (Like Living Monolith, Giganta) or figures with Special Powers that allow them to become like Box, High Evolutionary, or Joker (JL).

2.) The text on the Stunning Blow feat says the "in addition to the normal effect of Incapacitate the character may deal damage equal to its unmodified damage value." Which means it doesn't suffer from the -2 penalty from FBS. I may have worded it poorly in the article. I will reread and edit if necessary.

3.) Hulks are pretty good candidates - there were none that came to mind as particularly useful right now available in a constructed environment. If you do it to Rampaging Hulk you move him off his "Squash" click. Other Hulks are Pretty pricey - notice only 1 figure above 100 points made the list. This is because I wanted to keep it feasable within a 300 point build. Iron Spidey pushes the envelope a little - but can fit onto a 300 point Armor Keywortd team with Stingray & Colossus.

Thanks for the comments!

This is true. Colossus can't FBS giants. However, a Giant with Earthbound is...not a giant. It's considered to have the Starburst damage symbol and is therefore a viable FBS candidate. (Which is why Living Monolith is such a sweet FBS piece: get him off his activation click, just like Shazam! or your proposed Hulks.)

EDIT: The 'm0use beat me to the punch!

Beat you AND spiked it with Jim Beam for the Holiday Party.

W00T!

Webster's Dictionary word of the year, baby, spelled with two zeroes!

They also added Ginormous to the dictionary!

I sense there is some truthiness to that which you speak...